Philadelphia schools get new finance chief
The Philadelphia School District has a new chief financial officer. Uri Monson, now the top finance official for Montgomery County, will move into the long-vacant Philadelphia job next month.
The Philadelphia School District has a new chief financial officer.
Uri Monson, now the top finance official for Montgomery County, will move into the long-vacant Philadelphia job next month.
He will be paid $190,000 to manage the district's $3.2 billion budget.
Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said the district, which lost former CFO Matt Stanski at the end of the last school year, needs "a strong, thoughtful, and steady approach to its finances, given the instability of revenues."
Long on shaky financial ground, the school system is not guaranteed to have enough money to get through the end of the school year because of the budget stalemate in Harrisburg.
Philadelphia is lucky to get Monson, Hite said.
"Uri has extensive public finance experience, having served as Montgomery County's CFO during difficult financial times," Hite said in a statement.
Prior to Monson's work in Montgomery County, he was the executive director of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority - the organization charged with reviewing the city's budget to ensure financial stability.
He earned top marks from Montgomery County leaders, for whom he managed an operating budget of $371 million.
"Uri has left an indelible mark on Montgomery County," said Josh Shapiro, chair of the Montgomery County commissioners. "His innovative budgeting and ethical leadership has helped us clean up the mess we inherited."
Monson, who grew up in Center City and lives in Montgomery County, holds a master's degree in public policy from Columbia University. He once worked for the U.S. Department of Education.
"If my skills can help improve the situation in Philadelphia, that's a good goal for me," Monson said.
He is well aware of the difficulties Philadelphia faces in Harrisburg and elsewhere from the unique spot Philadelphia's school district occupies - "you have absolutely no control over your revenue."
But, Monson said, he likes a challenge, and he was impressed by Hite and his team.
"I think they're poised to be going from fighting fires to making decisions about how best to allocate," Monson said. "I'd like to be part of that."
Stanski left Philadelphia last year to be closer to home in Maryland. He was paid $175,000.
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