Menlo Park schools hire business official from South Lake Tahoe Menlo Park schools hire business official from South Lake Tahoe (February 11, 2004)

By Marjorie Mader

Almanac Staff Writer

The new business office for the Menlo Park City School District is ready and running with a new "chief business official" at its helm.

She is Diane Head, previously chief financial officer for the South Lake Tahoe Unified School District, where she started as an accountant 10 years ago. The Tahoe district's budget of $38 million is about twice the size of Menlo Park's. It has 5,100 students in five elementary schools, a middle school, a high school and a couple smaller continuation schools. Her annual salary in the Menlo Park district is $101,735.

Hiring Ms. Head was the final step in the Menlo Park district's developing a separate business office after ending the joint business office agreement with the neighboring Las Lomitas district, said Superintendent Ken Ranella. The joint business office goes back to 1978.

De Modderman, who served as business manager for both districts since 1981, will continue as business manager full-time for Las Lomitas.

Ms. Head started working February 2 in the Menlo Park district's recently organized business office. It is located in a former classroom, Room 16 at Encinal School, across from the district office at 181 Encinal Ave. in Atherton. Future plans call for the business office to be housed in a proposed expanded and renovated district office.

"I'm really excited to be in the Menlo Park district where there's so much community support for the schools," said Ms. Head. She also said she's "blessed to get people with experience" to work with her.

After Ms. Head was hired, she participated in the hiring of two full-time technicians: Marlene Weidner, payroll technician, and Valerie McVay, accounts payable. Ms. Weidner worked about 10 years ago in the joint business office with Las Lomitas; Ms. McVay recently was a temporary employee in the same office.

Ms. Head applied for the Menlo Park job after seeing it posted by the search firm School Services of California. She was among five finalists considered for the new position.

Before working in the Lake Tahoe district, Ms. Head worked in the business office at Lake Tahoe Community College. She majored in business administration at Stanislaus State in Turloch.

Ms. Head, who is living temporarily in San Mateo, said she will miss the beauty of the Sierra, but not the cold. She said she looks forward to the challenges of her new position and getting acquainted with the Bay Area. She has two sons, Tim, a high school senior, and Greg, who's studying at the University of California, San Diego.

E-mail Marjorie Mader at mmader@AlmanacNews.com

E-mail a friend a link to this story.