MARION, Ohio – An Ohio teacher who was fired two years ago for an inappropriate relationship with a female student is now running for the school board, unopposed.

Mark Bollinger taught for River Valley Local Schools for 18 years until he was fired in July 2015 for a sexually charged relationship with his 19-year-old neighbor, a girl who attended the same River Valley High School where Bollinger taught, The Marion Star reports.

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An Attorney’s General investigator found Bollinger flirted with the teen through text messages and “groomed her in an obvious sexual pursuit,” citing messages the teacher sent the girl during class time and at night.

“Bollinger professed jealousy of boys who were around (her), told her repeatedly that he loved and ‘wanted’ her, pulled her out of classes and texted her during class periods when he should have been teaching,” according to the investigative report cited by 10TV.

The report concluded that “short of molesting or physically abusing a student, it was hard to imagine a more serious case of teacher misconduct.” It also alleged Bollinger provided two teens with alcohol at an area hotel room.

Bollinger alleged the text messages were taken out of context, and insisted he did not engage in sexual activities with the student until after she graduated from River Valley High School, when he said the two kissed and had sex.

The student said she kissed Bollinger several times before she graduated, and last month filed a petition in the Marion County Common Pleas Court for a personal protection order against the former teacher because Bollinger continues to contact her at work and on social media, despite her efforts to cut off contact, according to the news site.

Regardless, school board members voted to terminate Bollinger in 2015 and requested that the state education department revoke his teaching certificate. State hearing officer Lisa Slotnick recommended that the state board revoke Bollinger’s teaching certificate permanently after a hearing in March, and a final decision is expected in September, the Star reports.

“Although Mr. Bollinger denied that anything inappropriate happened prior to (the student’s) graduation, Mr. Bollinger’s own text messages showed that this was not the case. Mr. Bollinger crossed student-teacher boundaries during the first night he texted” the student, Slotnick wrote in her report.

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Bollinger is now one of three candidates running for three open seats on the school board, though a write-in candidate is expected to challenge the former teacher but has not yet been approved for the ballot by local election officials.

River Valley Superintendent James Peterson and board president Brian Stover weighed in on Bollinger’s candidacy.

“It made me sick. Made me sick to my stomach,” Stover told 10TV. “I feel for the community. I feel for the student involved, I feel for his family.”

“You have someone who used their position to gain leverage for personal gain over a young person,” he said.

Peterson questioned Bollinger’s motivations.

“Do you have a personal agenda?” he said. “Are you running because you want to do what’s best for the students in River Valley? If that was the case, why didn’t you do that when you were employed by River Valley?”

“More and more people will become aware of this situation and certainly, hopefully, make the right decision when they go to the ballot booth in November,” Peterson told WSYX.

Bollinger, meanwhile, defended himself in a lengthy statement published by 10TV.

He wrote that he running for a seat on the board “in hopes of bringing transparency and accountability to the district” and cited the district’s dismal performance on state standardized tests.

“My termination from River Valley is being made an issue by individuals who are opposed or scared of complete transparency,” he alleged.

Bollinger said his “hundreds of former students” as well as “friends and family” will testify to his commitment to local schools, where three of his children attend.

Besides, he wrote, “the student involved in my termination was my then 19 year old neighbor who I never had in class as a student, as a player on a team, or in any capacity” – aside from the sexual relationship, of course.