Akron Public Schools treasurer and chief financial officer Ryan Pendleton is leaving to accept another role in education operations in Ohio, the district announced Friday afternoon.
Pendleton is leaving to become the executive director of the North Coast Shared Service Alliance, which coordinates financial and operations support for Northeast Ohio school districts. His position there starts Sept. 1, but Pendleton said he will be available to have overlap time as Akron’s treasurer as needed by the board.
“I’ll be engaged for some period of time, if not an extended period of time,” Pendleton said during a phone following the announcement.
The district is at the cusp of spending nearly $100 million of federal stimulus dollars, known as ESSER funds, and Pendleton has been overseeing the planning and spending of that money.
“I will stay on as long as the board needs me, wants me for ESSER planning,” he said. “I’ll definitely want to be a part of that so we can appropriately spend, allocate and plan those funds for the next two years.”
He also said he plans to continue to live in Akron.
“I have a deep love and admiration for Akron and the students and families here and I will continue to be involved and serve,” he said.
Pendleton was named the 2021 Treasurer of the Year by the Ohio Association of School Business Officials and received the international organization’s Pinnacle Award that year.
He has been heavily involved at the state level advocating for additional funding for schools and was an instrumental part of the effort to revamp Ohio’s school funding formula, which was finally approved decades after Ohio’s formula was declared unconstitutional.
Pendleton said he will continue that work in his new role, advocating for the full implementation of the new formula, which has a six-year phase in plan but has only been guaranteed for its first two years.
Pendleton has served in his current role for eight years. He applied for the Akron superintendent job last year and was interviewed by the board but was not named a finalist.
The treasurer position is one of only two jobs — the other one being the superintendent — appointed by the school board.
Board President N.J. Akbar said in a statement he was accepting Pendleton’s resignation with “mixed emotions.”
“Ryan has continued to make our finances and understanding our financial picture more accessible to everyday Akron citizens and board members alike,” Akbar said. “For this, on behalf of the board, we thank you, Ryan, for your exceptional service to our district and our state.”
Contact education reporter Jennifer Pignolet at jpignolet@thebeaconjournal.com or on Twitter @JenPignolet.
