Ost named temporary business manager

The Jamestown Public School Board voted to promote its business office manager to interim business manager for the district at a special meeting Thursday.

Joe Sykora, the district’s business manager for about 12 years, accepted a position at the West Fargo school district beginning July 1.

To fill that position, the board selected Sally Ost, the business office manager for the district, to fill in temporarily with the option of applying for the permanent position along with applicants from outside the district.

“I do think, in fairness to everybody, it’s probably best to open up,” said Rosemary McDougall, board member, saying the public should also be given the opportunity to apply.

Roy Musland, board member, agreed, saying hiring from within without accepting outside applications may give the appearance of “a good old boys’ club.”

Ost, who has a two-year degree and is pursuing a four-year degree, held the business manager position but left for personal reasons, said Superintendent Bob Toso. He said he couldn’t comment on how well Ost did in the position because he wasn’t with the district at the time.

Tanya Ostlie, board member, said the district could look to save money by hiring someone at a salary less than what Sykora was making. For the 2008-2009 school year, Sykora had a salary of $83,006.

“I feel very strongly that we could get a quality person for 50 or 55 (thousand dollars),” she said.

Toso said he expected the district to have to pay between $60,000 and $70,000, based on experience.

Sykora has a master’s degree in both business administration and education administration. Toso said it was unlikely that potential candidates will have similar backgrounds.

“If you’re going to be looking for that,” he said, “I’d say that’s not going to happen.”

The district may need to offer a higher salary to the applicant because the position requires managing a $19 million budget. Even a 1 percent error, Toso said, could cost the district nearly $200,000.

The district will accept applications throughout July.

Sun reporter Katie Ryan can be reached at 701-952-8454

or by e-mail at

kryan@jamestownsun.com

Tags: jamestownpublicschool, business, sykora, ost