Kara D. Onorato was hired as the new business manager of the Conneaut School District when board members met August 11,

Onorato will begin serving as the school district’s assistant business manager on September 7. Onorato will become Business Manager for the school district on January 21, 2011.

Her hiring is because Norman J. [Joe] Yeager, current business manager of Conneaut School District, will retire on January 20, 2011, after serving as the district’s Business Manager for16 years.

Onorato most recently served as the Accounting Supervisor in the Millcreek Township School District at Erie, a position she held since October of 2005.

She was one of five candidates interviewed last month by the school directors.

Voting to hire Onorato were Jody Sperry, Rick Kelly, Dr. Walter Thomas, Dr. Carol Bocan, Cheryl Krachkowski, Gina McCauley, Don Ellis Jr., and David Schaef. Lorri Drumm was absent.

Onorato received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Penn State University, and is currently working toward a Masters in Business Administration at Gannon University.

Her beginning work on Sept. 7, will also allow her to work with Yeager until his retirement and to become familiar with the school district setup and its practices and employees. Yeager will be taking some vacation time and it is expected that some of that time will include January 2011 work days.

Board members also recently approved the retirement of long time Conneaut Lake teacher and coach Mark Ruttenberg effective the end of this upcoming school year and have also been informed that the end of next school year will see the retirement of longtime Linesville High School athletic director John Acklin.

The Conneaut School District serves 2,500 students in six schools from 15 boroughs and townships in western Crawford County. The district’s 2010-2011 budget is approximately 37 million dollars.