Chelsea Public Schools in January announced the appointment of Billie Jo Turner as the school district’s new Chief of Finance and Operations. Turner arrives in Chelsea with nearly 25 years of financial and operational management experience.
Turner’s experience includes the areas of accounting, payroll, purchasing, human resources, grant management, transportation, food service, facilities and risk management. She began her career in school finance in 1998 when she took on the role of Budget Analyst for Lowell Public Schools. After serving for almost 13 years in various roles within LPS, she left to serve as a CFO in both charter and regional school districts.
She has gone through several pivotal periods during her career including the financial management of the Ed Reform 2000 conversion, navigating a pandemic while managing the finances during a tumultuous period and the implementation of Fair Student Funding. Most recently, she was the Chief Financial Officer for Lowell Public Schools.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in accounting from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and a Masters in Education from Cambridge College.