Heskin honored by Chamber

Balance sheets and budgets, accounts receivable and audits, Janet Heskin knows her way around them all. Heskin has served as the Business Manager for New Rockford-Sheyenne School District since August 2002, and she was recognized as the Chamber's Employee of the Month for the month of April.

Truly, she has always loved math. Heskin said from a young age she knew she would likely put her affinity for numbers to work. A graduate of Fessenden High School, Heskin grew up near Bremen. She began her "career" in finance alongside her grandfather, who operated the store and post office in Bremen. She was a clerk there, ringing up customers' purchases. She took college accounting classes after graduation, to get acclimated to finance, and then learned by doing.

Now in her 19th year in the position, Heskin has had four "bosses" at NR-S. Tim Guler was the superintendent when she was hired, then Norm Baumgarn served as interim superintendent after Guler's death. Kurt Eddy took the position until his retirement from education in 2012, and Dr. Jill Louters has served as the superintendent since.

"Janet is very devoted to her work. She strives to ensure that procedures and processes are correct and compliant. She is very committed to detail and ensuring that school district stakeholders' needs are met," Louters said Tuesday. The Chamber's board of directors echo that sentiment, as upon her nomination at the April meeting, all the members in attendance unanimously voted to recognize Heskin. Her dedication to the school district is well noted and much appreciated.

The most challenging work for Heskin was the reorganization of the New Rockford and Sheyenne school districts during the 2005-06 year. Analyzing the financial statements of two districts, and then going through the process of combining them into one, was a daunting task.

The biggest change has been the move to electronic record keeping and reporting. Where there used to be green general ledgers, pencils and adding machines, now there are websites, permissions, emails and passwords.

A recent change involves the delivery of information to board members and the general public. All the materials reviewed by board members at public meetings, including the financial statements prepared by Heskin, are now on the school's website. A patron interested in following along as the board discusses district matters can simply go to the "Board Packet" page on the website. Whereas a year ago, there was a digital folder with various electronic documents to sift through, now the agenda itself is interactive. Board members and patrons simply click on the name of the agenda item, and any supporting materials are shown right on a phone, computer or tablet. As a member of the press, this is particularly useful to me, as it allows me to better understand the context of the discussion.

The pandemic pushed the district to rely even more on technology, as board meetings have been held virtually by Zoom since the pandemic began. Heskin says some board members really appreciated the opportunity to log in from wherever they were. However, school board meetings are meant to be held in public, and now that 75% of the staff have been vaccinated, the board has resumed in-person meetings.

This will be Heskin's last year at NR-S. "I decided that I couldn't work here forever," she said of her decision to retire. Her replacement, Dave Skogen, reported to the board for the first time at the April 12 meeting.

"I'm very loyal to the school, and I want the best for it," Heskin said. She plans to continue full-time until Skogen feels comfortable in his new role. Then, she will be available by phone or email to address needs as they arise, at least until the end of the school's fiscal year at the end of June. She says her goal is to ensure that he is successful.

Prior to her tenure at NR-S, Heskin was the business manager at 4th Corporation for 20 years. "Most people's brains have squiggly lines, but yours have dollar signs," Heskin recalls former 4th Corporation Director Peggy Hibsch telling her.

Heskin's first job was at Independent Lumberyard in downtown New Rockford, which operated out of the Alan's Furnace Service building at the time.

Nominations are open for next month's Employee of the Month award. Nomination forms are available at the Transcript office or online at cityofnewrockford.com/chamber. Nominations can also be emailed to [email protected].