After working for nearly three decades as Chief Financial Officer for Mount Pleasant Community School District, Ed Chabal brings a wealth of knowledge to the CESO Finance team. During his successful career, Ed was an active member and president of the Iowa Association of School Business Officials (ASBO), and president of ASBO International’s Board of Directors. His extensive leadership experience also included serving as a faculty member of the Iowa Superintendents School Finance and Leadership Consortium and as a mentor for new school business officials in Iowa. Ed holds a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Iowa State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Iowa Wesleyan University. 

Ed and his wife live in Washington, Iowa where they own and manage an antique store in the heart of downtown. They both enjoy staying active in their community, but nothing is better than spending time and creating memories with family and their new grandchild.

With a finance degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato, Isaiah Thompson interned at financial planning and insurance companies before finding a great fit as a finance assistant at Eden Prairie Schools. There, he focused on learning district finance basics and became passionate about making a difference for students. In his role as a finance specialist at CESO, he is strengthening his school finance skills and gaining a broader perspective by working with multiple clients.

Isaiah enjoys spending time with his red lab and doing anything that lets him be outside. Current favorites include hiking, paddleboarding, and playing golf, basketball, and tennis.

Sandy Gaulke has over 20 years of experience with the Department of Education data reporting including MARSS, Ed-Fi, and multiple SIS platforms. Throughout her time in several districts, she focused on managing and improving software systems to streamline efficiency. Her expertise allows CESO to partner with districts to offer this critical service.

She enjoys reading, crafting, and sewing during the cold weather season. In warmer weather, she gardens, fishes, hunts, and auto races.

Jenetta LaFerriere began her work with schools as a paraprofessional before joining the front office team at the local high school and then the district office. Her district office experience includes payroll, human resources, and business manager roles. Prior to joining CESO, she most recently worked at Creative Planning.

She lives with her husband and their six children in Northern Minnesota where she enjoys camping, golf, fishing, and hiking. Jenetta can often also be found tending to her chickens and caring for a large vegetable garden.

As Senior Strategy Consultant, DeeDee Kahring maximizes clients' operations across the board with a focus on Finance, Thought & Strategy Coaching. and Superintendent Aftercare Solutions. Previously the Executive Director of Finance & Operations for Wayzata Public Schools (Minnesota), DeeDee is well-known in K-12 education and brings a wealth of knowledge to her clients from her highly successful career. She has also led finance and business operations for other Minnesota school districts including Eastern Carver County Schools and Cambridge-Isanti Schools as well as public companies like Springsted Incorporated and Emerson Automation Solutions.

Her comprehensive experience managing complex projects - like long-range planning, capital project funding, special project planning, referenda, negotiations costing models, property purchases, and construction budgeting - combined with her passion for coaching fellow leaders make her an ideal partner to drive financial stability and leadership retention for our clients.

DeeDee earned her Bachelor's in Finance from Minnesota State University-Mankato and her Master of Business Administrator from the University of Iowa. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota and enjoys time with her grandchildren while also staying active through curling, golf, and travel. For her next adventure, she is setting sail on a Danube River Cruise.

Janet Doman brings a combination of both private sector and school district experience to CESO. After graduating from Winona State University with a Bachelor's in Accounting & Business Administration, she worked at a CPA firm and a non-profit organization prior to joining the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District 622. Within the district she focused on Special Education and General Accounting as well as held a Finance Supervisor role.

As a Finance Consultant, she enjoys the synergy of providing best practice insights to clients while learning new best practices in return to create even more powerful recommendations to optimize K-12 finance operations.

Janet grew up in Southern Minnesota and now lives in the southeastern Twin Cities Metro. She and her family, including her two adult daughters, enjoy spending time at the lake and hiking near their cabin in Wisconsin.

Lauren joined CESO in 2022 as a Finance Consultant after spending over a decade in finance and accounting roles. Her combination of big-picture strategic thinking and in-depth knowledge of K-12 finance operations makes her a powerful resource for school district teams.

Prior to being the Director of Finance for Orono Public Schools (MN), Lauren spent four years in the private sector serving as Accounting Manager and Senior Financial Accountant for a Minneapolis-based Fortune 100 company. Prior to that she spent three years as a Governmental Auditor for several Minnesota school districts.

She graduated from the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and earned her MBA from Hamline University in 2019. She has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant since 2012.

Through his work on the CESO Finance team, Nik manages internal finance operations for each of our key service areas. Before joining CESO in 2019, he worked for three years in tax information reporting after earning his Bachelor degree in Business Administrator from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. Nik loves building and refining financial processes to help our teams deliver the best possible service to all CESO clients.

Margo worked in school finance and operations in four Minnesota districts (Edina, Prior Lake-Savage, Faribault and Owatonna) over her 35 year career. Her experience includes public communication for all areas of school finance and operations plus implementation of processes that contribute toward the long-term fiscal health of the district. Margo's passion for her work continues to be the belief that through sound operational management we positively impact students, staff, families, and communities. She is an advocate for equitable allocation of limited resources to ensure successful education for all.

She received the 2019 Minnesota Association of School Business Officials (MASBO) Outstanding Lifetime Contribution Award and is past President of MASBO. Throughout the years, she has served in various leadership roles at MASBO, Schools for Equity in Education, Schoolfinances.com, and the Minnesota Department of Education. In addition to being a MASBO mentor, she shares her knowledge through Ehler's school finance workshops and Minnesota State University.

With over 15 years of experience in finance - with the past eight in district or school-adjacent roles - Kris Kratz brings a compelling mix of public and private sector knowledge to our CESO team. In her role, she provides leadership and guidance to district clients by advocating for accounting best practices, assisting with MDE reporting and project management, and more.

Kris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting with an emphasis on Information Systems from St. Cloud State University and is a member of the Minnesota Association for School Business Officials (MASBO).

As a Finance Consultant, Bonnie brings years of experience with her - most recently from Willmar Public Schools (MN) as a staff accountant, payroll manager, and then district accountant. In joining CESO, she's also come full circle as she provided consulting financial services to clients during her time at CliftonLarsonAllen. Her unique perspective benefits districts of all sizes. Outside of work, Bonnie tends to a large vegetable garden and she and her husband take their camper to warmer places like Texas and Florida. If it's anywhere near a beach, you can bet that Bonnie will be there!

Adrienne joined the CESO team after 13+ years of public sector finance experience with Minneapolis-based accounting firm Malloy, Montague, Karnowski, Radosevich & Co (MMKR). She specialized in public accounting and governmental audits, successfully guiding clients through the ever-changing complexities related to administering federal funds. Additionally, CESO can provide unique federal funding help as she has emerged as a leading resource on Federal Uniform Guidance and compliance with various federal financial programs for school districts and local governments.

A junior at North Central University, Evan is excited to expand his business experience through an internship on the CESO Finance team. He believes strongly in the power of community connection and is seeing first hand how fiscal responsibility strategically strengthens school district communities.

Pam joins CESO with over 20 years of experience working within school finance in Minnesota districts. A true Minnesotan at heart, she grew up in Duluth and earned her accounting degree from the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Pam also holds a School Finance and Operations (SFO) certification.

In addition to spending the past 12 years as Finance & Human Resources Manager for Eastern Carver County Schools, she has also served in roles such as Payroll Director for Minneapolis Public Schools, Accounting Supervisor for Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan ISD 196 and Finance Project Manager for Burnsville School District. Prior to working in school finance, she was a controller for several private businesses in the Twin Cities.

A past winner of the annual MASBO School Business Official of the Year Award, she is passionate about mentoring other school finance professionals by building meaningful relationships. She thrives on finding what sparks each person's interest and developing a plan to help them achieve their goals.

Outside of work, she enjoys reading, playing pickeball and spending time with her three adult children and two grandchildren. She now escapes Minnesota winters whenever she can - usually in Florida - and is currently open to any feedback on how to improve her golf game.