“It is a good district and they have treated me well,” Bollheimer said. “It is a good place to be.”
The Northwestern Local Board of Education is in the process of hiring a new treasurer That person has not been announced yet.
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Bollheimer began his career in education in payroll at Sydney Local Schools. He then moved to Covington schools and was the treasurer there for a little more than two years. Then he was hired on at Northwestern.
“I stayed for a combination of reasons,” he said of his long career at Northwestern. “It’s being in a good place and being in a good community.”
Being a treasurer of a school district can be difficult, he said, but also gives opportunities other jobs can’t.
“People say run it like a business and education is not a business,” he said. “But at the same time, there is somebody who has to look at the business side of things. Often times, the treasurer has to be the one that says no. You have to have thick skin because you have people who don’t always agree with you.”
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Watching the kids graduate every year is a special time, he said, and makes all the hard work worth it.
“The best thing every year is graduation and seeing the kids and how excited they are and what they have accomplished and knowing in some small way you have contributed to that,” He said.
Though he is not in the classroom teaching, part of education is being a good steward of taxpayer money, he said, and he has tried to be that.
“You have to do what’s best for the district and best for the kids,” he said. “You can’t keep going back for more levies because people can’t afford it and they will end up voting no.”
He said Superintendent Jesse Steiner has worked with him to make sure money is being spent properly and there is a focus on the kids.
Bollheimer has won a couple awards. He won treasurer of the year in 2014 and then won the Virginia Ramsey award for service last year. Each award came with a scholarship he was allowed to pass on to a graduating student.
He worked with the counselors at the school to find deserving students who also were in need of the extra cash for tuition.
The students wrote letters to Bollheimer thanking him for the scholarships. He still has the letters and said it is what he is most proud of during his time as treasurer.
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