The Cardinal School District has hired a new treasurer. Former Crestwood treasurer Katie Hoffmeister has been hired to assume the duties of Cardinal School District’s treasurer, having been formally hired on May 13.
“Being back in the county that I grew up in and contribute to essentially the geographical area that I grew up in and chose to live in, I consider it coming home in a sense,” Hoffmeister told The Weekly Villager on June 19.
The 2007 Chardon graduate officially began her position as the new Cardinal School District’s treasurer on June 1, replacing Dan Wilson, who retired after two years of service.
Hoffmeister comes to Cardinal after spending the last three-and-a-half years as the treasurer of the Crestwood School District.
According to Hoffmeister, hearing the news that Cardinal had a vacancy at treasurer was an opportunity she could not pass up, being that she still resided in her hometown of Chardon.
“I saw it as the opportunity to get closer to my family, return to the county that I adore and a school district that I always knew growing up just because of the proximity of my town,” she added. “I applied and interviewed and really thought long and hard about it; I thought maybe it is time for the next step, although I did not necessarily plan on it.”
Although Hoffmeister described her becoming Cardinal’s new treasurer as a homecoming, she called her three-and-a-half years with the Crestwood School District an invaluable period.
“The amount that I grew at Crestwood is immeasurable,” she noted. “Crestwood is an amazing district, and it was a tough decision to leave but coming back closer to my home county and next to my hometown was really a driving factor. The Crestwood, Mantua, Shalersville and Hiram communities, they are one of a kind. I have met a lot of people that I probably will continue maintaining a relationship with far past working at Crestwood.”
In her short time working in Crestwood, Hoffmeister said she saw the administration make significant steps in the right direction to improve their financial outlook.
She acknowledged that when she first arrived at Crestwood, the financial situation was a slippery slope. She worked to instill proper procedures and stay aware of events at the state level to turn things around,
“Staying on top of bills in the legislature, budgets set for school districts, tax changes — $6.5 million over one two-year period — was extremely important”, she said.
Hoffmeister said that one of the benefits of working in the Crestwood was that she became adept at maximizing each dollar.
“When I left Crestwood, Crestwood was in the positive and holding strong financially and facing plans for capital improvements,” she added. “Those types of struggles you have to work through as things are changing at the state level or the way that property taxes are being assessed is what really made me strong and being able to identify areas that could be improved.”
Having only just started at Cardinal, she said that the financial situation appears promising and the experience of working in a small school district like Crestwood will serve her well in her new role in Middlefield, which consists of a much smaller school district than Mantua.
Hoffmeister said that one of her primary goals is to continue being an advocate for school funding, adopting proper processes and procedures to maximize the impact of every dollar.
“I think that makes it a strong district,” she said. “There have been a lot of people that I work with here at Cardinal that I worked with at the Educational Service Center of the Western Reserve; they are truly genuine people. I think that is just as important as any other school.”
Having resided in Geauga County for most of her life, Hoffmeister said that she already had a strong understanding of Cardinal’s financial situation, as all Geauga County School Districts are intertwined.
“I have followed Cardinal and all of the Geauga County School Districts because it is my career, this is my hometown and I have watched the budget meetings and have seen where the schools are at,” she said. “We do have to make strong decisions but all of the schools in Geauga County in general have done an amazing job with the adversities of what happened at the state with tax reforms and budget cuts. Schools have really united in Geauga County; they all have become strong to get there.”
