Dr. Jim Scales, superintendent of Hamilton County Schools, announced the hiring of a new chief financial officer for the school system, Thomas Kranz.
Mr. Kranz is currently the chief officer – educational support services at Okaloosa County Schools in Fort Walton Beach, Fl.
He will begin his duties in Hamilton County in early May. He replaces Dale Isabel, who retired in November 2006.
“Mr. Kranz impressed me and the committee with his financial experience and his ability to see the big picture,” Dr. Scales said. “I know he will help lead the way in the financial accountability and transparency of our system.”
Mr. Kranz has more than 20 years of experience as a financial executive. He began his career in 1986 as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Oak Tree Capital, Inc. a diverse investment banking company providing asset management, financial management, investment banking and commercial brokerage services. In 1991 he became the Vice President of Finance and Administration for International Marine Terminals, a bulk stevedoring company. From 1994 to 1996, he served as Chief Financial Officer at Con Pac Inc. and Security National Partners, a large manufacturing and mortgage banking company respectively. From here he became the Chief Financial Officer at Southern Restaurant Group Inc and Cajun Restaurant Group before going to work for Okaloosa County Schools in 2003.
Mr. Kranz was selected as part of Dr. Scales’ new personnel selection process which has candidates complete a writing assessment based on a prompt, give a presentation to a panel on a specific topic related to the position they are applying for and then interview with the panel, which is comprised of members of the community, school staff and administrators. The top candidates from this first round then interviewed with Dr. Scales, who chose Mr. Kranz as the new CFO.