FY26 Luncheon Webinar Series

Cynthia Mahr has spent more than twenty-five years in state and school finance. She joined Wellesley Public Schools in 2018. Prior to Wellesley, Cynthia served as the Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations for Weston Public School and Director of Administrative Services for the Public Schools of Brookline. She is a Certified Administrator of School Finance and Operations and a Meritorious Budget Award recipient (Weston and Wellesley) from the Association of School Business Officials International, as well as the recipient of the President's Award from the Massachusetts Association of School Business Officials (MASBO). Cynthia is a Past President of MASBO. Cynthia earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Hartwick College and her Master’s in Public Administration degree from Suffolk University.

Rob O’Donnell is the Director of School Finance at DESE. The unit that he oversees is responsible for the Chapter 70 program, charter tuition and reimbursement calculations, school choice, the End of Year Report data collection, and the development of related data reports.

Jay Sullivan is the Associate Commissioner for District & School Finance in the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education. In this capacity, he directs the Offices of School Finance, School Business and Regional Governance. He also oversees a variety of financial programs, including Special Education Circuit Breaker, School accounting, End of Year Financial Reporting and Auditing, Transportation, as well as federal compliance issues relative to maintenance of effort requirements and the calculation of district’s indirect cost rates. Jay has worked for the Department for over 43 years as an auditor, administrator and business manager.