Mt. Pleasant School District’s Ed Chabal elected as ASBO VP

MT. PLEASANT -It's all about the numbers for Ed Chabal, Mt. Pleasant Community School District's director of business and finance. The Iowa State and Iowa Wesleyan graduate has been in his position for 22 years and has just been elected to serve as the International Vice President for the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) beginning Jan. 1, 2020.

Following a year as Vice President, Chabal will take over the role of President in 2021. The finance director was officially inducted into the role at the most recent ASBO conference in late October. Before joining the school district in 1997, Chabal worked at a CPA firm. His decision to take up the job in education was a 'natural transition.”

'I did some auditing with the CPA firm and we get audited every year here, but it just made it a little more personal knowing that I would ultimately be making a difference in kids and students lives,” Chabal said. Annually, Chabal is directly in charge of the general fund of the school district, which amounts to about 30 million dollars. The director of business and finance also completes the necessary paperwork and calculations for the yearly audit by the state.

Speaking on his decadeslong career with Mt. Pleasant schools, Chabal said, 'It's been very rewarding. It's a career where you can make a difference because ultimately, it can guide the programming of the district, because there are financial constraints. So you have to use the best judgment you can to provide the resources to the staff so that they can educate the kids.”

His new role with the ASBO was a long time coming. Chabal joined the state organization in 1998, soon after he began working with the school district, which later turned into involvement with the international association and becoming a member of the international board.

Chabal explains that ASBO International not only focuses on professional development of its members but also aims to become the leading voice in educational funding for legislators in Washington, D.C. According to its strategic plan, the organization's core values include advocating for the needs and differences of every child and committing to absolute integrity, accountability and transparency as well as embracing change, innovation and data-driven decision making. The international association has about 10,500 members and represents over 30,000 school business officials.

In terms of goals he hopes to set as he begins to take on a leadership role within the organization, Chabal is excited to be able to have a hand in furthering the networking and connections between members across the world.

At the most recent conference in D.C., Chabal was able to meet members from across the country as well as global members from South Africa and New Zealand.

'It's great because even though we come from different places, the struggles are the same … and our goals are the same, which is to increase funding for schools,” Chabal noted. He hopes members of the organization will be able to work together and reach out to one another for help when needed and share ideas.

'I'm looking forward to bringing everyone together and to continue the work on the legislative front,” Chabal said. The Director of Business and Finance is also looking forward to working with staff from the association to organize their annual conferences and choose motivational speakers.

'It's a very humbling honor,” the finance director said of being elected by association members into the Vice President and President position.

'There's no better feeling than knowing that the people who have elected you, believe in you and trust you,” Chabal added. The Iowa-native will be the first from the state to lead the organization since 1939.

Chabal also noted that he's excited to be able to represent not only the state but smaller school districts like Mt. Pleasant.

'A lot of these board members are from large school districts … they have tens, if not hundreds of thousands of students in their school districts and here I am from a school district of 2,200 students. I want to hopefully show people that they can do. It doesn't matter how big of a district you're in. It's hard work and dedication that can get you to the top and you can also make a difference,” Chabal said.

Mt. Pleasant School District's superintendent John Henriksen says he believes Chabal 'will represent Iowa and Mt. Pleasant with great dignity and expertise” and describes the director of business and finance as 'incredibly humble” and 'down to earth.”

'It's an outstanding honor for Ed and well-deserved … He's always ready to give credit to somebody else for what they have done,” Henriksen added.

Tonya Stutzman, who works closely with Chabal at the school district and accompanied the finance director to the most recent ASBO conference, further explained that Chabal's selection as the next Vice President of the association well-deserved.

'I have a lot of respect for what he has ahead of him … he's an incredibly hard worker,” Stutzman said.

'He's going to be a great addition to the ASBO staff … I don't know if the community knows how big of an honor this is. He's going to have a lot of influence on what the association is going to do and he'll be able to speak out for that position and get lots of great ideas from other states and countries,” she added.