MPS names new Chief School Financial Officer Arthur Watts

Former Montgomery Public Schools employee Arthur Watts is now serving as the system's new chief school financial officer, according to MPS spokesman Tom Salter.

Watts began his role with MPS on Monday, July 23 on a part-time basis until he finishes out his contract as CSFO of Talladega City Schools in the next two weeks. He previously worked for MPS as the assistant to former CSFO Pamela Wooden from November 2015 to June 2016. From there, Watts went on to serve as Talladega.

Following the termination of Wooden in September 2016, the Board of Education voted to hire Watts for the position; however, Watts did not take the job. The position was then filled by interim CSFO Brenda Palmer and supplemented by Jason Taylor, who is CSFO for the MPS intervention.

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During his time with Talladega, he and current MPS Chief Administrative Officer Terry Roller worked together, with Roller serving as the district’s superintendent before coming to MPS.

Prior to Talladega and MPS, Watts served as the CSFO of the Birmingham City School District for 13 years. He also has worked as the custodian of funds for Wilcox County Board of Education and as a senior accountant for the Colonial Bank Group.

One of the roles the Montgomery County Board of Education is meant to serve is the hiring of the CSFO. In May, two candidates were interviewed; however, the board chose to reopen the application process. Thursday afternoon, board president Robert Porterfield was not aware that Watts would be taking over the role and said the board did not make that decision. 

Michael Sibley, director of communications for the Alabama Department of Education, confirmed that Watts was appointed by State Superintendent Eric Mackey. 

District 4 board member Mary Briers agreed with Porterfield that she thought the board would be selecting the CSFO; although, she is happy with the decision since Mackey "just hired someone we wanted to hire." 

"I’m pleased with Watts," Briers said, adding that maybe "some of these things that have transpired could have been alleviated if he had come then."

Filing the position was an important step for the district, with its financial problems being among the biggest issues that led to the state intervention in January.

In the past, MPS failed to submit a budget on time for two years in a row and also failed to meet the state-required one-month minimum operating reserve all but once in the past 10 years. Since intervention, the district sold Georgia Washington in hopes of meeting that operating reserve requirement; however, with the board's credit rating dropping, the years of instability has proved to have a lasting impact. 

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