Cordelia Hardin’s “steadfast” leadership leaves lasting legacy
By Juliann Morris
August 30, 2023—During her 20 years leading Jefferson County Public Schools' (JCPS) financial division, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Cordelia Hardin has earned a reputation as a “steadfast” leader who puts in the work and does the right thing—always with grace and expert precision.
“She’s always nice, she always has time for you, and she stays calm, cool, and collected through just about everything,” said Eddie Muns, executive administrator of accounting services. “It’s like she’s made of granite.”
Hardin will retire this week after 32 years of service, 20 of those as CFO, a tenure that Muns called “unheard of” for a large urban school district. She has worked under five different superintendents and deftly navigated shifts in personalities, priorities, and industry standards, all while balancing a budget of more than $2 billion.
MAKING AN IMPACT
Working in a field known for unbending rules, Hardin said she has loved finding creative ways to fund worthwhile programs that hit roadblocks.
“The challenge comes when you know it’s the right thing to do for students, but you’ve got a regulation or funding source restriction that’s in your way,” she said. “It was often a matter of, ‘how can we make this qualify under these spending rules or eligible for this specific funding source.’ So I would ask for more information about the program, exactly what it did, what children were involved, and from that, we could maybe say, ‘ok, it’s allowed under this regulation or funding source.’”
Her role at the helm of finance also gave her a chance to make an impact in two areas she was passionate about—career and technical education (CTE) and special education.
Hardin’s father only had a seventh grade education, she said. He quit school to help support his family and was a plumber, builder, and tool and die man.
“You need educated, college-degreed individuals,” Hardin said. “But you also need the person who is willing to work with their hands and get dirty. The CTE program was always so important to me because I saw how it helped my father make a living for our family.”
Hardin’s list of accomplishments is long. Last year, the Council of Great City Schools awarded her the national 2021 Bill Wise Award in Urban Education. Under Hardin’s watch, JCPS was the first district in Kentucky to:
Collect money electronically
Offer bookkeeping support from Central Office
Prepare a full Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and issue a Popular Annual Financial Report (and currently the only school district in Kentucky that has received Government Finance Officers Association Certificates of Excellence for those reports)
Pay accounts payable by electronic funds transfer
Mandate employee direct deposit
Implement electronic signatures across all employees
The district also received clean audit reports and no internal control audit findings every year with Hardin as CFO.
One of her proudest accomplishments was implementing a student-weighted equity formula to distribute flexible funding based on student need, something she said she couldn’t have done without the support of her strong team.
“I’ve been fortunate to select some good people, and because of them, I think finance has done well,” Hardin said.
A CHAMPION FOR JCPS
Hardin worked in private industry for 21 years before joining JCPS in 1991 as a payroll coordinator. After eight years, she transferred to Human Resources, where she worked for four years before becoming Chief Financial Officer in 2003. She’s been looking out for the district’s best interests since day one, pushing to make sure JCPS gets the most from its assets and budget.
Not long after she became CFO, a company approached JCPS about purchasing the district’s bands on an Educational Broadcast System. They offered $10,000 at first. But Hardin said she knew it had to be worth more than that, so she said no. Then they offered $20,000, and again, she said no.
“So she did something that, to my knowledge, had never been done before in the state of Kentucky, or at least by a school district,” Muns said. “She offered to lease that frequency for a 30-year contract and put that on the market.”
JCPS ended up securing a $4 million down payment and an annuity that started at hundreds of thousands of dollars and escalated each year. It’s now generating more than $1 million per year, Muns said.
Gina Kokojan, executive administrator of payroll, described Hardin as a mentor and champion whose impact is felt district-wide.
“Her wisdom and guidance has been a positive force not only for me personally, but for the entire district,” Kokojan said. “She has had such a positive impact on so many and will be greatly missed by all.”
Hardin’s last day is Thursday, September 1. She’ll miss the people the most, she said, and knowing that she’s helped make an impact in students’ and staff members’ lives.
“My husband needs me now, so it's time to make him the priority instead of the job,” Hardin said. “But this has been such a great place to work. I’ve been blessed. Absolutely blessed.”