After almost 11 years with Delaware City Schools, Treasurer/CFO Melissa Swearingen served her last day on Friday as she prepares to take over as treasurer at Hilliard City Schools.

Swearingen was the assistant treasurer at Hilliard City Schools for nearly nine years before she was hired as the treasurer for Delaware City Schools in January 2013. Swearingen said she has lived in Hilliard for almost 20 years, and Hilliard City Schools reached out earlier this year to see if she’d be interested in the treasurer position.

“I wasn’t looking to leave, but it’s a great opportunity,” she said. “I guess you could say I’m going home.”

Swearingen joked that her commute will “be drastically reduced,” and she’s excited to be closer to her daughter in middle school and her daughter’s activities.

She added that many of the staff members she worked with at Hilliard are still there, and she’s excited to work with those familiar faces.

“I’m looking forward to going back to a lot of people that were there when I worked there the first time around,” Swearingen said. “I’m looking forward to reconnecting and just working in the community that I live in. … My parents and siblings live up here, so I definitely have a connection up here (in Delaware) as well. It’s just a little bit different when you’re living there.”

Swearingen said she’s looking forward to her new role but will miss the people in Delaware City Schools and the community.

“I am excited,” she said. “I’m sad, too. Everyone here is wonderful and has been wonderful during this entire process and supportive of my decision. I will miss the people here the most. … It’s a great group of folks. It really is like a big family.”

According to the Delaware County Board of Elections, Delaware City Schools was on the ballot eight times during Swearingen’s tenure as treasurer, and Swearingen said she appreciated that the community supported the district during every election.

“We have definitely been on the ballot a lot while I was here, and it was just the nature of the growth and the changes that occurred in state funding,” Swearingen said. “That’s one of the things I’m most proud of is the way we were able to continue to receive the support of the community every time we went on the ballot. We’re set up well.”

Swearingen said there were “a lot of great moments” at Delaware, and she liked being part of the construction projects from the beginning and seeing them become reality.

“It’s fun to be a part of all that,” she said.

Swearingen begins serving as the treasurer for Hilliard City Schools on Monday.

“It’s been great. I’m excited, but it’s with a heavy heart that I’m leaving,” she said.

Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903.