By Kate Seegraves
Staff Writer

Greenon Local Schools treasurer Ryan Jenkins has played a weighty role in his first month on the job.
Jenkins began in the position July 1. In his first few weeks, the district has moved ahead with plans for an emergency levy in the fall and is considering additional budget cuts for the coming school year.

Fortunately, Jenkins brings with him the experience to deal with such challenges.
The Jackson, native took a slightly different path on the road to school administration. He received his bachelor’s degree in risk management and insurance from The Ohio State University, and worked for a year at an insurance company before deciding he wanted to teach.
“I think I probably knew all along I was going to go into education,” he said. “My dad was a teacher, my mom was a teacher, my grandparents were teachers. It runs in the family.”
Jenkins began his education career in 1997 as a math teacher in Athens County, Ohio and moved to Clark County in 2004.
He worked for Northwestern Local Schools from 2004 through 2007 as the high school assistant principal and lead middle school principal, and then moved to Graham Local Schools in August 2007, where he became the district treasurer.
Though Jenkins said he misses “day-to-day interaction” with students, he enjoys having a larger impact on the district as a whole.
“I can apply what I’ve learned about what’s good for kids to an entire organization,” he said. “Now you also have to think about what helps the staff and the community do what’s best for kids. I enjoy knowing that decisions I make can hopefully be even more impactful and help kids be successful.”
Jenkins is also no stranger to a district with financial difficulties. During his time with Graham Local Schools, that district faced similar challenges to what Greenon faces now. Jenkins said he understands what a tough situation Greenon is in, but he also knows what is at stake.
“It’s tough when you’re doing what we’re doing now, talking about budget cuts and lack of funding,” he said. “If a school’s not solvent, we’re not going to be able to choose how to do what’s best for kids. The state’s going to do that, and (it’s) going to start making these decisions.”
As plans for the emergency levy proceed and the district begins to address tough budget reductions, Jenkins sees a window of opportunity for Greenon Local Schools and the surrounding community to reverse the direction in which the district is moving.
“Here we have the opportunity to make some very tough decisions, but to yet enact them before we know the state could come riding in and intervene,” he said.
“I think it’s a two-part process. We have to be willing to tighten our belts and do what we have to do, and we have to ask the community for additional support.”