Hills-Beaver Creek School Board members voted unanimously to hire Herb Benz as a fiscal consultant and interim superintendent.

At a special meeting Feb. 2 Board Chair Gary Esselink said Benz was recommended to the board by its legal council, based on Benz’s experience with school finance.

Benz addressed the nearly 200 people who attended the meeting in Hills.

“My understanding is you need more than a high school principal and a superintendent – that you need some fiscal help. I’m quite familiar with school finance,” Benz said.

“One of the things I’ll be doing is finding out what the fiscal condition of the district is, finding out when the problem started.”

He said that involves looking at the past five years of enrollment and other patterns.

“We need to find out where we’ve been and to find out what needs to be done to make the district healthy,” he said.

“It’s going to be quite a challenge but I am looking forward to it.”

He said his most immediate concern is to get the district out of statutory operating debt.

Benz will begin working at the school Monday, and his interim ends June 30, 2012.