A legacy of financial stewardship

Theresa Boston-Ellis, left, gets a hug from Marion County School Board member Nancy Thrower, right, during Boston-Ellis’ retirement party at Marion Technical Institute in Ocala, Fla. on Friday, August 22, 2025. Boston-Ellis is retiring as the Chief Financial officer of Marion County Public Schools after working for the school board for more than 30 years. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.

If you ask Theresa Boston-Ellis what drove her 33-year career as Marion County Public Schools’ chief financial officer, she will tell you it was the joy of seeing students smile. For Boston-Ellis, those smiles bridged the gap between budgets and lives, which, for her, matter more than a profit margin.

She said she feels her legacy lies in connecting numbers to the success of the district’s estimated 45,000 students.

“I’ve seen a lot of things, but I guess when you talk about what motivates me, it goes back to bridging that gap between the numbers and the students that we are supporting. It gives great pleasure to see students who started in kindergarten and they go all the way through to high school. It was nice to connect the numbers that we work with to the face of a child,” she said.

According to Boston-Ellis, when the school district does well, the community does well.

“The motivation really is the kids, seeing them grow up and go off to college, and a lot of them come back. They may come back and teach, they may come back and do other things, but just to feel like I’m a part of that, and I know that’s cliche, but I would rather be tied into that kind of a connection than, you know, a profit motive,” she said.

Boston-Ellis’ MCPS financial stewardship as the district’s CFO will end on Aug. 29, her last day on the job. As she prepares to retire, her journey from managing budgets on paper ledgers to navigating the complexities of a multimillion-dollar budget reflects a remarkable blend of resilience, adaptability and a deep commitment to the students for whom she works.

Boston-Ellis began her career with the district in 1992 as an entry-level accountant, a time when budgets were tracked on sprawling spreadsheets and reports churned out from printers.

“It was big spreadsheets and reports off the printer,” she recalls, reflecting on an era that required meticulous manual processes.

Over the years, she witnessed the transition to modernized financial systems and oversawtwo major updates to the district’s accounting infrastructure. The changes streamlined operations and consolidated multiple bank accounts, with each one tied to specific funds like the general operating fund, food service fund and capital projects into a single bank with distinct account streams.

“It was challenging because everybody had to learn new ways of doing things,” she noted, acknowledging both the benefits and hurdles of modernization. Yet, her preference for paper persists. “I like the paper so I can make notes and carry it on from year to year.”

Her early days involved labor-intensive processes, with month-end closings taking two weeks and final balances delayed by weeks more.

“By things being modern, you can pull up accounts, you can make better decisions because things are in real time,” she said.

As CFO of Marion County’s largest employer, Boston-Ellis managed a budget where 70% is dedicated to salaries and benefits and navigated the challenge of equitable resource allocation across 64 schools serving diverse student needs. According to Boston-Ellis, the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP), established in 1973, guides this process, ensuring equitable funding based on student counts, cost of living and program needs, such as additional resources for exceptional students.

“We’re charged to distribute those resources as equitably as possible,” she said, emphasizing the importance of valuing every role, from teachers to custodians and bus drivers.

Her private-sector experience in oil, gas and transportation industries before she joined the district shaped her innovative approach.

“It helped me think out of the box,” she explained, and brought creative problem-solving to public education finance, where success is measured not by profit but by student outcomes.

“The school district is a government and there is no profit margin. Our success is measured by how well the students do,” she said.

Boston-Ellis’s leadership was not disconnected from the livelihoods of MCPS employees. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she rode buses with food service workers to deliver meals and gained firsthand insight into their roles. She fostered collaboration by holding meetings where departments like accounting, purchasing and food service shared how their work interconnected, which, she said, enhanced mutual understanding and support.

“When folks feel like you’re invested in them, they’re more supportive. I feel like I was an advocate for every department, so if I understand what they’re doing, I can go talk to leadership about things that need to change,” she said.

Among her proudest achievements was securing a $350 million loan at a low interest rate to build two new elementary schools, a feat made possible by the district’s history of prudent debt management. The district’s transparency and financial reporting also earned national awards..

“I’m really proud of the people that I work with, as I’ve seen them grow from entry-level positions to supervisors and directors,” she said, giving credit to the “village” of colleagues, leadership and board members.

“I’m proud of the school district and the struggle that the district has gone through over the years. It’s been ebbs and flows in terms of funding, the economy, not only in the state of Florida, but the economy in Marion County, and the people have proven to be resilient. No matter what happens, we always come back,” she said.

Her accounting degree from Florida A&M University’s School of Business and Industry, under the guidance of Sybil Mobley, founder of that school, equipped her with technical skills and soft skills like communication and stamina. Internships with the Bank of Boston and the Federal Reserve built her confidence to navigate diverse work environments.

She said her involvement in mentoring and visiting schools, such as Saddlewood Elementary on the first day of school for the 2025-2026 school year, kept her grounded.

“You can’t see me now, but I’m smiling because the kids are so happy,” she said by phone that day. “Some of them, the backpacks are bigger than them. You see the parents’ kind of sad, but the kids are just glad to be in that atmosphere of school. It seems like the teachers were happy and everybody was glad to get back to, I guess, their normal day to day at a school. But that’s really uplifting, and it’s something I can’t really explain, but it’s a good feeling.”

Despite the weight of managing the district’s finances, where funding hinges on student attendance measured five times a year and is subject to legislative changes and economic shifts, she never worked alone.

“It makes me nervous all the time,” she said, citing challenges like rising costs during COVID and budget cuts that required tough decisions. Yet, she offered, her team’s collaboration and the board’s support ensured no jobs were lost, even when borrowing for new schools or adjusting budgets for a new high school.

As she steps into retirement, Boston-Ellis envisions a financially stable district with a “rainy day fund” to weather unexpected challenges. She said her motivation has always been the students, reinforced by personal milestones like watching her son grow from a toddler to a man during her career.

“It really has been the grace of God that has covered me,” she reflected as she credited, her faith, family and colleagues for her success. “It’s not really about me. It truly takes a village.”

PROFESSIONALISM

Boston-Ellis’ coworkers echo a resounding sentiment: professionalism defined her career.

School board member Allison Campbell described her role as exemplifying “professionalism and dedication” and said Boston-Ellis was unmatched in her role.

“I’m gonna miss her poise and her dedication to getting it right and being transparent. I feel like I’ve built a pretty good relationship with her over the course of the last basically six years, because I got to know her a little bit before I became a school board member,” Campbell said.

“She was a subject matter expert from the beginning and knew her craft well. That’s institutional knowledge we’re going to miss for sure. She works such long hours, and she has spent so much time giving to the district, she needs to take some time for herself and let people give to her, because she has given so much of herself to the district and to her sorority and to all that. I don’t want her to be a stranger. I want her to continue to be a thought partner when we need her to be,” Campbell added.

Former MCPS Superintendent Diane Gullet emphasized Boston-Ellis’s integrity and focus on students.

“From the beginning, I could always count on her honesty and professionalism. She was purely focused on doing what was best for the district—our students. It was that simple, and I think it’s what everyone should aspire to in their roles. Doing the right thing for students even when it’s difficult for adults. I told Theresa she deserves a peaceful retirement knowing she served as a model for others and led with a pure servant’s heart. We should all be incredibly grateful. I am. Theresa was one of a kind. She had unwavering integrity and the financial leadership that were vital to our success,” Gullet said.

Interim MCPS Superintendent Danielle Brewer highlighted Boston-Ellis’s compassion and firmness, particularly during crises such as opening schools as hurricane shelters.

“I remember last year, when we opened schools as hurricane shelters, how deeply concerned and supportive she was, especially for our Food and Nutrition Services staff, who worked tirelessly to prepare meals for families seeking safety,” she said.

“She truly embodies professionalism in everything she does. She raised the standard for what it means to lead with integrity and care, and that example is something I’ll carry with me long after her retirement,” Brewer added.

“In my view, the reason why we have maintained stability and healthy reserves is directly due to her leadership and management,” school board member Nancy Thrower said of Boston-Ellis.

“Whenever the board has been in consensus and really passionate about funding certain initiatives, projects, partnerships, Theresa has always found a way to make it work, gently, yet continually reminding us that recurring costs are very important to minimize,” Thrower said, then added that Boston-Ellis had a “completely disarming sense of humor” and was “a quiet guiding light, a compass, a gem.”

“My hope and prayer for Theresa is that she has a very long retirement as she’s had a professional career, and that in her retirement, she is able to do everything that she’s dreamed about and prayed for and been excited about. She’s been so dedicated and such a fixture in all the right ways,” Thrower said.

Theresa Boston-Ellis' Retirement Party

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