Stephens Co. School System Hires New Finance Director

The Stephens County School System hires a new finance director.

On Thursday, the Stephens County Board of Education voted unanimously to hire Alicia Fitzpatrick as the new school system finance director.

Fitzpatrick comes from Madison County, where she served as system bookkeeper.

Stephens County School Superintendent Bryan Dorsey said that in that role, she worked under the Assistant Superintendent in Madison County Schools, who was in charge of finances.

Dorsey said that he feels she brings a wide range of expertise in the finance department that is exactly what the school system is looking for.

“She has over 29 years of public school finance department experience and we have been working with her over a month in a part-time capacity,” said Dorsey.

According to Dorsey, she has been assisting with preparing financial reports for the school system since the position has been vacant.

Fitzpatrick replaces Angel Terry, who resigned from the finance director post back in March after about eight months on the job..

Also, Fitzpatrick is the fifth different finance director for the Stephens County School System since February 2013, when Annah Dodge resigned suddenly from the position.

None of the other four finance director since Dodge has served in the job for more than a year.

Dorsey said that he feels the process that the school system and Fitzpatrick have gone through has not only allowed the school system to get a feel for her, but for her to feel comfortable with the situation she is coming into at the school system.

“We are already able to see some results of her working with us,” said Dorsey. “We feel very confident that she is aware of where we are at as a school system.”

Fitzpatrick’s first day on the job full-time is scheduled to be June 1st.