New Solon School Board Member Appointed

Accountant, Solon parent and frequent school volunteer has been appointed to the .

The board unanimously appointed Heckman during a special meeting on Thursday. He will , the long-time board member who resigned suddenly a few weeks ago.

He beat out who had applied for the seat.

Heckman lives in Solon with his wife Lisa and two sons, who are students in Solon Schools. He is a certified public accountant who works as a vice president of finance for Kirtland Capital Partners in Beachwood.

Reached by phone, Heckman thanked the board members for thier confidence in him.

"I will work tirelessly to perserve the academic excellence and financial integrity of the Solon Schools," Heckman said. "

Board members said Heckman is an involved member of the Solon community, who has financial expertise and, because of his work on school committees, working knowledge of how the board works.

"We felt he was the best candidate," said Board Member Julie Glavin.

Heckman has served as a volunteer on Solon Schools committees, including as co-chairman of the Strategic Planning Finance Action Team and a member of the Strategic Planning Committee.

Heckman in 2011. During the campaign, he pitched himself as someone who can help the district acheive financial success.

He told Solon Patch:

I would like to continue to work toward ensuring the financial stability of the Solon School District. The key to success is being able to forecast and stay ahead of funding discussions at the state level. Dialogue is the key component.  Open communication and working collaboratively with school educators and staff, government officials, residents and business owners/executives in both Solon and Glenwillow is imperative to the system’s financial strength.  I believe it is extremely important for the district to continue to challenge state budget constraints so the quality of education in Solon remains unchanged. 

Board Member Kevin Patton said that Heckman was one of the few board candidates who attends many school board meetings. And last year, Heckman attended an Ohio School Board Association seminar to learn about being a board member.

"We've been very involved in with Solon Schools, and that's never going to change," Heckman said.

Board President Margo Morrow said the 11 candidates were interviewed by the board in 30 minute blocks and all were asked the same questions. No contact was made between the candidates and the board members since those interviews.

Heckman would serve until the end of 2013 when he would have to run for re-election to keep his seat.