By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
Pulaski County Special School District’s chief financial officer Anita Farver has resigned a position that placed her at the forefront of investigations into the district’s fiscally distressed coffers.
The reason for the resignation is unclear, but Super-intendent Jerry Guess said in a statement, “Ms. Farver has served the district faithfully for several years and worked tirelessly to manage funds in times of fiscal distress. We appreciate her dedication and hard work and we wish her well in her future endeavors.”
The statement says Farver will be with the district until Sept. 30. She has offered to help with transition to a new chief financial officer.
The job was posted Thurs-day, even though the state has former district financial officer Don Stewart on the cabinet of advisers helping the state get the district out of its financial problems.
Farver was officially named to that position in June 2009, having served as acting chief financial officer for three months before that. She replaced Larry O’Brian, who resigned in March 2009, the same month the district fired then-Superintendent James Sharpe and after an internal investigation into an oversized buyout check that was issued to Sharpe.
Since 2009, PCSSD has been criticized for not putting all of its desegregation funds toward desegregation-relatedexpenses and the Arkansas Legislative Audit Department and the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee have chastised the district for financial mismanagement.
The state Education Depart-ment took over PCSSD in June, dissolving the school board and firing then-superintendent Dr. Charles Hopson.
The audit team has praised Farver’s work with the district on numerous occasions.
Farver has been with the district for four years. She was director of federal programs and professional development from July 2007 until March 2009.
Before coming to PCSSD, Farver was a special assistant to the superintendent for federal programs and assessment at Pine Bluff School District from February 1997 until she joined PCSSD.
