Mike Hagerty knows well the landscape of public education, as well as its constant change. He hopes to help others navigate it, too, by lending his expertise in funding and managing school budgets to a new leadership role.
Hagerty, assistant superintendent at Kent ISD, recently became the 81st president of Michigan School Business Officials. He will serve as president in 2018-19 after serving on the MSBO Board of Directors for the past six years as an MSBO-certified chief financial officer.
Hagerty started in public education in 1995. He’s been an active MSBO member since 2000, serving as chair of MSBO’s Bylaws and Resolution Committee, the organization’s ISD Committee, and as president of Southwest Michigan School Business Officials.
Since coming to Kent ISD in 2008, he has served as the top finance official, managing a budget of more than $250 million, including pass-through funding for area schools.
When Hagerty isn’t crunching numbers to improve public education, you can often find him spending time with his wife, Janel; son Kallin; and twin son and daughter, Quinn and Adalyn. Coaching Kallin’s T-ball and soccer teams, and family trips in the Winnebago help him unwind, he said, so he can focus when he’s back to work on building budgets and helping to solve problems with other public education advocates.
The MSBO Board is made up of nine members elected from around the state. The organization, which strives to improve the leadership and management in school business and operational services, represents more than 2,400 school business officials from most Michigan school districts. Membership includes those who provide leadership in the areas of business office, transportation, facilities, food service, human resources and technology.
