2021 George Gray New School Business Manager of the Year Award Recipient
Leah Hauser, Director of Business Services, Sparta Area School District
The Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials (WASBO) has selected Leah Hauser, Director of Business Services, Sparta Area School District, as the recipient of the 2021 George Gray WASBO New School Business Manager of the Year award. She will be officially honored in January during the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) - the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators (WASDA) - WASBO State Education Convention in Milwaukee, Wis.
This award was renamed in honor of George Gray, who was responsible for creating the School of Business Management Master of Science degree program at UW-Whitewater that trained several Wisconsin’s school business managers through the “Fairly Normal School District” budget mock Annual Meeting. Hauser was named George Gray WASBO New School Business Manager of the Year in recognition of her leadership in schools, innovative practices, and role in her community.
Just as George Gray before her, Hauser’s “skills curiosity, drive and caring are second-to-none.” Her business office is often described as running “like a well-oiled machine,” according to her nomination letters. Hauser also is “masterful” at making the complicated jargon associated with the business office easily understandable to the school board and community. In addition to being fiscally responsible, she was instrumental in reworking her district’s Teacher Compensation Model, which went from a complicated “selected performance” model to a detailed lane-and-step system that implemented incremental pay increases over a career. This was based on an actuarial study of every single employee in the district’s system. Sparta is in the middle of a major district expansion, including building a new elementary school, a new wing and selling two buildings. Hauser has been instrumental in every step of that process. Her planning goes far beyond the actual buildings, though, as she has created long-rang technology and staffing plans that have helped the district clearly prioritize resources.
As a leader in the areas of risk management and employee benefits, Hauser helped oversee various accident prevention projects that cut the number of incidents from 2015 to 2019 in half. She often serves as the district’s spokesperson on the Chamber of Commerce Board. One of her nomination letters notes that she was crucial in orchestrating the Sparta Area Young Professionals group. She also works with the Sparta Area Boys and Girls Club and can often be seen volunteering at local events like the Tail Gate Party with the Packers and the Sparta Santa Scrambler Race.
One of her nomination letters notes that “Ms. Hauser is a reflective, lifelong learner with a passion for ensuring our resources are providing the most that they can for the students we serve.”
This honor carries with it a $1,000 cash award for Hauser’s continued professional development, sponsored by Hays Companies.
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