Linda Bekeny

By Marjorie Hernandez
August 16, 2004

Linda Bekeny's love for numbers came second only to her passion for serving children.

That's why the mother of three decided to combine her skills and love of service toward a career in education that has spanned more than 12 years. One of the newest additions to the Rio School District staff, Bekeny joined the administrative team in July as director of fiscal services.

"I'm definitely a numbers person, but I do like working with people, too," Bekeny said. "It's all about teamwork and that's one of my goals."

As director of fiscal services, Bekeny is in charge of the district's finances, child nutrition, accounts payable and payroll.

For the past 12 years, Bekeny was the supervisor of fiscal services at Conejo Valley Unified, a district that serves more than 21,000 students. Bekeny said she decided to join the Rio School District to take on more responsibilities.

But Bekeny is not all about work. When she's not running around the administration office, Bekeny slips on her sneakers to walk with friends. From 1999 to 2001, Bekeny decided to pound the pavement and walk the Los Angeles Marathon.

"My goal was to get up the next day for work and not be sore," Bekeny said.

Once a month, Bekeny dons a purple outfit and red hat to join about 20 other women in the Red Hat Society, a group of women who travel on social outings and philanthropic events. Bekeny also plays bunco, a dice game she describes as "the suburban form of craps."

"It's a lot of fun," Bekeny said. "We have dinner, drinks and win prizes. All the husbands don't want to be at home because they don't want to hear the screaming."

Q: As the director of fiscal services, what are your goals for the upcoming school year?

A: Our goal is to get a budget that we can work with. It's going to be a learning year. We have a lot of new principals and I would like to give them some guidance so they will be in control of their budgets.

Q: What are some of the challenges you foresee?

A: The biggest challenge is manpower. Coming from a larger district to a much smaller district means there are fewer employees. You have to get involved at all levels and you have to multi-task. But that's not really a challenge. It's more about getting used to it.

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: I want to get to know the people in the district and also have a realistic budget that we can work with and see where this goes.

-- Marjorie Hernandez