The Bucyrus City School District Board of Education officially hired Ryan Cook as the new treasurer for the district Wednesday during a special meeting at the Lincoln Administrative Building.
 

Cook has been serving as the interim treasurer since Dec. 1, 2012 through Tri-Rivers Educational Computer Association, (TRECA.)
 

Supt. Kevin Kimmel said the board was impressed with Cook's experience and is happy to have him join the district.
 
"Mr. Cook brings a wealth of experience from the business side of the operations of the school district by running a couple of his own private businesses. Throughout his term as interim treasurer, we have been impressed with his high level of energy and his ability to build strong working relationships with all levels of the school community," Kimmel said.

"He has a diverse background in school finance and private business, and we strongly believe that the combination of these experiences will help our district continue to be good stewards of the public's dollars," board of education president Sandy Stone said. 

Cook said he's excited about the opportunity to work with a great team of professionals. He said there are several issues he looks forward to addressing including funding cuts from the state and the district's healthcare programs.

"Salaries and benefits are 85 percent of our budget. We're very concerned about healthcare and this board is very proactive with that issue. One of the first couple items we have to tackle are the wellness programs and anything we can do to maximize the dollars we're spending for healthcare," Cook said.

 Prior to serving the district as interim treasurer, Cook held the same position in the Cardington-Lincoln and Mount Gilead school districts. He also served as the treasurer for the Ridgedale Local Schools from 2000-2002, and later served a two-year term as a member of the Ridgedale Board of Education from 2006-2008. In addition to his public sector experience, Cook has owned two successful private businesses in Marion County.

Cook is graduate of Ohio State University. He lives in Morral with his wife Tabitha and their children, Noah and Hannah.

Cook joins a district that has cut nearly $2.6 million from its budget during the past two school years in response to funding cuts from the state and federal budgets.

Cook replaces Dawn Jacobs who resigned as treasurer of the district at the end of November 2012. Cook will start full time on March 1 with the district.