When indication came across Dr. Mark Manchin’s desk that the secretary of a Harrison County middle school had just completed her fourth annual audit in perfect fashion, he decided it was an occasion to honor.

 

After all, it is the first time it has happened on the secondary school level. 

 

Tuesday night at the Harrison County Board of Education meeting, Janet Hathaway was acknowledged for her exemplary bookkeeping for Bridgeport Middle School.

 

Former BMS principal and now supervisor of personnel for Harrison County Schools, Carole Crawford said there are many challenging jobs within the school system and one of the most difficult – and most important – is that of the financial secretary. Having worked with Hathaway for three years, she said no one does the job better.

 

“Janet is able to be the pleasant, welcoming face of BMS, the school accountant, the parent connection and the secretary to all and make the job appear seamless,” Crawford said. “As an administrator at BMS, I worked with Janet and I was thrilled that she had the financial knowledge to work closely with me with allocations, balances and expenditures. Janet takes great pride in doing her job with perfection as evidenced in her repeated audits of zero findings.”

 

As an administrator, being fiscally responsible is a top priority and an area that one can easily get into trouble if there isn’t daily communication with the school’s financial secretary, Crawford said.

 

“Thank goodness Janet was my person,” she said. “As we closed our books and my career as principal, I want to congratulate her and thank her.”

 

Manchin explained why Hathaway's performance was worthy of honor.

 

“Schools deal with large amounts of money on a daily basis and requires very precise record keeping,” he said. “It’s easy to make a mistake. To have no mistakes for four years is truly exemplary.”

 

Hathaway, who also serves as assistant coach for the Bridgeport High School cheerleaders, said she was just doing her job. She was surprised when she was contacted about being recognized by the BOE, but said she is honored by the recognition. At BMS, she now works under Principal Dave Mazza and Assistant Gary Oldaker. At Tuesday evening's meeting, Hathaway received a certificate of acknowledgement.