Blue-ribbon committee to examine finances
Superintendent Dee Fowler sought out the 12 members of what he calls a “Blue Ribbon” Committee. Fowler chose the members based on what they were doing in the community now and he said the only real perquisite was they had to be from Madison.
The group is made up of CEOs, former CEOs, accountants, city leaders, and other accomplished members of the community.
Fowler said it is a good situation for the system because it gives them, what he has reference before as, “third party vindication,” meaning it is not the school system reporting on what steps they have taken and what they have accomplished, people outside of the system, reporting on what the school system is doing.
“This is a totally unbiased opinion on the finances of the school system,” Fowler said.
The school finances have been looked at previously when PARCA, the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, looked at all three school systems in Madison County and said they should be a model for the state, according to Fowler.
Fowler said study was done a while ago and these are different times.
“ The first arrow out of everybody’s quivers, when they start talking about school finances is this; they say you are not spending what you have wisely.”
The group had its first meeting Oct. 6 and Fowler said there are about four or five more planned. The group will present a report once its findings are complete.
All twelve members of the committee are doing this voluntarily.
“If you took these 12 people and they were in a consulting firm, then there is no way we could afford them, and I applaud their efforts of helping the school district,” Fowler said.
Ranae Barlett, a member of the committee, and former law clerk to Judge C. Lynwood Smith, said she is both excited and optimistic about what Fowler and the rest of the committee are trying to do.
The other members are:
George Raymond Stotser - Retired Lieutenant General
Dr. Jim Hatcher - an Orthodontist in Madison since 1990
Daniel Montgomery ” Vice President and Corporation Lead Executive for Northrop
Steve Monger ” Currently Interim UAH Foundation Executive Director and fromaly President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board for Regions Bank in Huntsville.
Frank Pitts ” Founder and CEO of Quantum Research International
Danny Windham ” CEO of Digium and former President and COO of ADTRAN, Inc.
Brett Posy ” Executive Vice President and General Manager of Halsey Foodservice and the current President of the Madison Chamber of Commerce
Larry T. Miles ” a Certified Public Accountant
Dr. Neil Lamb ” Director of Educational Outreach for Hudson-Alpha Institute for Biotechnology
Bill Holtzclaw ” a financial analyst and city council elect for District 7
