Shannon Barry has been appointed as the WPS Interim School Business Administrator. (THE WESTFIELD NEWS FILE PHOTO)
WESTFIELD – On April 6, the School Committee unanimously approved the appointment of Shannon Barry as the Interim School Business Administrator for a term beginning on June 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.
Barry will replace Chief Operating Officer Ronald R. Rix, who will retire on July 7, 2020.
School Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski said that Barry has been a part of the Westfield Publlic Schools for the past five years. She first started as the grants coordinator, and recently took on a larger role in the business office as the grants manager/business analyst.
Prior to joining the Westfield Schools, Barry worked in the Springfield Public Schools for seven years, starting as a district assessment coordinator, and later as an administrator overseeing homeless education services for the district, among other programs. Prior to her employment in Springfield, Barry was an elementary school teacher.
Barry holds a master’s in business administration with an accounting concentration from Fitchburg State University, a master’s in elementary education from Smith College, and bachelor’s in marketing from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.
“I have every confidence that Ms. Barry can be an effective school business administrator for our district. Her work in the Grants Department has been exemplary and she has been closely involved in the district’s budget for the last several years,” Czaporowski said.
At the meeting, Czaporowski said the position of Interim Business Administrator differs from CFO as it does not include the oversight of the maintenance, technology or food services departments.
The permanent School Business Administrator position will be posted in January 2021.
