Kay Pugh is the type of leader who writes a 140-page manual detailing how she does her job – then shares it freely with others so they can adapt it to their own needs. “What good would it do me to hold onto it?” says Pugh, who is preparing for retirement after 15 years working with San Diego schools. “I don’t hoard the knowledge. I share the knowledge.”

It’s a philosophy that has served her well as San Diego County Office of Education’s special education financial analyst – especially when she’s explaining the nuances of a special education budget to people without a finance background.

“Special education is such an interesting animal,” she says. “Everyone knows it’s complicated. It’s not the biggest part of anyone’s budget, but it’s the one that can get you in the most trouble.”

Pugh credits her career success to a knack for explaining complex accounting concepts to people who don’t have a finance background.

When meeting with special education directors, superintendents and other leaders, she tailors each presentation to her audience and comes equipped with a variety of specialized visuals, terminology sheets and mini tutorials to help them gain capacity in their budgets and understand how finance works.

Instead of including finance-related jargon and cyphers, she focuses on dollar amounts – something everyone is familiar with.

As state director for CASBO’s San Diego/Imperial Section, her big soapbox is helping people understand account codes.

“It’s so foundational, so important,” she says. “The biggest reaction I hear from people is that they wish they’d known the information sooner.”

The first time she delivered her “Account Codes 101” presentation, the chief business officials sitting in asked for a recording so they could have their new finance staff watch it. After reprising the talk at a few local and state conferences, her presentation will become one of the first courses offered through CASBO School Business University’s new online learning format.

Pugh began developing her teaching skills as a business owner, preparing personal income taxes for clients and fielding their questions about complicated tax concepts. After getting her master’s degree in finance and tax planning from San Diego State University, she taught at MiraCosta College for several years – until she left to raise her two daughters.

A decade later, when re-entering the workforce, she discovered she’d been gone too long to resume teaching. Instead, she got a part-time accounting job with Oceanside Unified School District and worked her way up to the county level eight years ago.

“I figured if get any job at a school district, I’m helping students learn. Even if I’m working in the background, I know what I’m doing is making a difference and helping a kid learn something.”

For Pugh, who once dreamed of becoming a math teacher, her work with both CASBO and San Diego school districts has been a perfect fit.

“Sharing knowledge is the essence of CASBO,” she says. “It allows me to play with numbers and do the things I like, but I get to teach people how to do stuff, too.”