In a unanimous vote Monday evening, the School Committee approved hiring Ingrid Nilsson as school business manager, effective Feb. 22. The part-time position was left vacant by the resignation of Aziz Aghayev in January.
Ingrid Nilsson. (Courtesy photo)
Nilsson has been director of school finance for the Westford Public Schools since mid-2019, after serving as assistant director for a year and a half. Both positions were full-time ones, as the Westford district serves 4,700 students in nine schools and has a $63 million budget. Nilsson said she was attracted to the part-time position as Harvard’s business manager because it would allow her “more balance” in her personal life.
A Westford resident for 20 years, Nilsson served on the town’s Finance Committee for 10 years before taking a job with the school district. She chaired the committee for several years. She also chaired Westford’s Community Preservation Committee when the town first joined the state program.
“I truly love being a school business manager,” Nilsson told the School Committee. Asked to say a little about herself, she demurred. “I hate talking about myself. … I can talk numbers all you want.”
In response to School Committee questions, Nilsson said she believes strongly in transparency, in helping people understand “all the different buckets” that provide money for the school budget. “When people understand, they become your best advocates,” she said.
Nilsson holds a state license as a school business administrator and expects to complete her state certification as a public purchasing official in May. Earlier in her career she earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago. She worked in the private sector for a number of years.
