Cedar Rapids school district hires accounting supervisor

CEDAR RAPIDS - Sherry Luskey joined the Cedar Rapids school district in February as its accounting supervisor.

Luskey's position was created as part of a restructuring of the accounting department in an effort to better segregate incompatible duties to strengthen internal controls. The district also added the position of internal auditor, which was filled by Deb Schott of Atkins earlier this month.

A district employee was accused of embezzling more than $200,000 from the district in 2008 and 2009.

Jamie May, 42, of Cedar Rapids, a former accounts receivable clerk, was charged in August with first-degree theft. She died Nov. 1 of cardiac arrhythmia after battling breast cancer. The Linn County Attorney's office dismissed the charge after May's death.

The district will recover the loss through insurance. It has coverage of $500,000.

Luskey, of Charlotte, received her BA in Accounting from Ashford University in Clinton, and earned the Outstanding Accounting Award from the IA Society of CPAs. She worked for more than 20 years at the accounting firm of Clifton Gunderson and was most recently with Winkel, Parker, & Foster.

Schott is a certified internal auditor and CPA previously worked for Mercy Medical Center, Rockwell Collins and the University of Iowa.