The Denair Unified School District is often compared to a close-knit family and this week the District is welcoming new blood through the hire of Linda Covello, the new Chief Business Officer.   

As DUSD heads towards financial independence, Covello will play an integral role in the District’s fiscal recovery as she will help administrators respond to new requirements tied to state funding. Covello will be taking over interim CBO Douglas Crancer's position in the upcoming months and with her first day in the District on April 1, Covello is quickly learning the ropes.

Covello brings impressive credentials from her recent time with the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District where she spent the last five years, most recently as a categorical funding analyst in the finance department. While in Monterey, Covello's duties included accounting and financial oversight for 19 campuses and she is credited with streamlining a number of auditing processes in the Monterey District's budget. In these past five years she was promoted three times, a testament to why new superintendent Aaron Rosander is calling Covello "an emerging fiscal leader."

"Linda helped her previous district maximize funding sources for efficiency and effectiveness," said Rosander.

In Denair, Covello's immediate duties will entail ensuring that the District maintains fiscal integrity and keeping long term school finance and operations goals in mind. According to Covello, her focus is to develop access to financial information for site administrators and create full-time support that has been missing.

"With many changes being made at DUSD, I think the biggest challenge for the District will be moving on from how things have been done or handled in the past," said Covello. "I am confident that DUSD is moving towards a brighter future and I'm very excited to be a part of a District during this time of transformation and growth."

Covello was drawn to the position of CBO at DUSD due to the close-knit environment and some key phrases in the District's motto that stood out to her such as "lifelong love for learning" and "recognizing our children as our future". Originally from Los Banos, the position in Denair is also an opportunity for Covello to move closer to her family.

In the next few months, Covello will be working with Rosander and Crancer as well as fellow leaders and community members in the District to respond to new requirements regarding state funding. Covello has entered at an important time in Denair's fiscal rebuilding process as the District required a loan from the Stanislaus County Office of Education this year to balance its $8.7 million budget. Crancer will remain on board as a part-time advisor throughout the 2014-2015 school year to support Covello and follow through with his investment in Denair's fiscal recovery.