At the 2022 TASBO Engage Conference in Grapevine, TASBO honored school finance icon Omar Garcia with the Champion of Education Award.
TASBO awarded school finance legend Omar Garcia with the Champions of Education Award. Created in 2018, the TASBO Board of Directors extends this award only for the most extraordinary achievements in K-12 public education.
For more than 30 years, Omar Garcia has devoted his time both in public service and in the private sector toward helping school districts navigate the complex landscape of school finance in Texas. Generations of Chief Financial Officers and Business Managers have depended upon the school finance template that he originally developed and continuously maintains to address every new twist and turn in the school finance system.
“It is often said that only a handful of people truly understand how the Texas school finance system works,” said TASBO Executive Director Tracy Ginsburg. “Omar is clearly one of these few experts, and he takes that expertise above and beyond by translating it into a tool that is the benchmark by which all other state aid templates are measured.”
Omar currently is an investment banker for BOK Financial Securities. Prior to joining their company in 2011, Omar worked for the finance division at the Texas Education Agency, and later in the statewide school finance arena at the Region XIII Education Service Center. He has continued to update the school finance template and lend his expertise by presenting at educational events.
Below is a video from the 2022 TASBO Awards Luncheon:
