Hillsboro City Schools board makes approvals for new school year

The Hillsboro City Schools Board of Education heard updates and made approvals related to the new 2025-26 school year, as the Monday, Aug. 18 meeting was held on the fourth day of the first semester.

Superintendent Tim Davis said Hillsboro City Schools are off to a “great start for the school year.

“I’m very pleased with all the stuff that we've got going,” Davis said. “We got a lot of new stuff that is and is not up and running, based on some new data entry stuff and assessments. As far as all of our new staff and everybody that's come in, we've had a great start to the school year. 

“Four days in, I couldn't be happier with the way we started. Right around the corner is fall sports and athletics, which is very exciting, and we had a great opening day. We’re looking for a great school year, and that's it, just trying to smooth out everything as we start.”

Board member Larry Lyons said in his report that he attended the elementary and high school open houses prior to the start of the school year.

“The facilities look phenomenal,” Lyons said. “They really, really look nice.”

Lyons added that he has also been “looking at some new equipment” recently with the district’s food service department.

In another report, board member Beverly Rhoads announced that board member Tom Milbery was recognized at the Ohio School Boards Association’s Southwest Region meeting “as a 10-year veteran board member.” She brought the plaque with her to Monday’s meeting and presented it to Milbery, as the board and administrators gave Milbery a round of applause.

Rhoads also reported on the August Great Oaks Board of Directors meeting, which included reports of the Ohio ACTE Conference and the approval of grants and a contract for maintenance and consultation services. New staff members were introduced or discussed at the meeting as well, as Rhoads said there are 31 new employees. 

As mentioned, most of the board’s various approvals throughout their agenda, including employment matters, contracts and field trips, were related to the new school year. Those included the following:

• The board approved a lengthy list of individuals for various contracts and positions. Those included:
– Volunteers: for HES, Megan Apgar, Kaley Ballein, Brittany Dance, Amanda Fife, Micah Herrick, Shana Perkins and Amber Roades; for all, Kia Armstrong, Janet Fair, Jennifer Ramp and Sarah Steman; for MS/HS athletics and band, Marc Bayless; unlisted, Latrell Haithcock; for HES/HMS, Allyce Horne and Melanie Short; and for athletics, Michael Page and Jason L. Young.
– Classified: bus drivers Alora Coburn and Ben Reed (both retroactive to Aug. 6); paraprofessional Shana Perkins (retro Aug. 7); and cook Cortney Shannon.
– Sub Classified: cook/secretary Astrid Karin Anderson; cooks Destiny Sonner (retro Aug. 13) and Josephine Taylor; and custodian James Vaughn.
– Mentor: Beth Purtee.
– DLC: Jenna Allen, Elizabeth “Sage” Buchanan, Jordan Clark, Lydia Falgner, Matt Garman, Tiffany Gobin, Pam Harp, Tonya Hendrix, Emily Holbrook, Debbie Howard, Kim Ison, Ed Letts, Amanda Miller, Ashley Purtee, Beth Purtee, Mercedes Reese, Jessica Rhoades, Verona Roush, Maria Snyder, Tobi Stevens, Marissa Stone, Jackie Thoroman, Kristin Walker, Shannon Wright, Shannon Yochum, Tina Young.
– LPDC: Sarah Hatfield, Mandi Jones, Matt Sexton, Karin Yakimow.
– Sub Certificated: Colton Askew, Annetta Baker, Laney Boldman, Jordan Darling, Sarah Gruber, Elizabeth Howland, Linda MacLeod, Matthew Peters, Cynthia St. Clair, Gage Summers and Heather Tobler.
– Orton-Gillingham Training ($35 per hour): Bernadette Attinger and Samantha Whitenack.
– Supplemental: MS football coach Jordan Bodnar and HS assistant football coach Ben Pence.

• The board approved the 2025-26 bus routes. Davis said there are “just minor changes” from last year’s routes, including for “some of the in-town routes.”

• The board approved a memorandum of understanding with the City of Hillsboro Police Department for the placement of one school resource officer during the 2025-26 school year. Davis said the same officer, Zach Burnett, will continue to serve the district under “pretty much the exact same contract” as the previous year.

• The board approved an out-of-state field trip for four Hillsboro Great Oaks FFA members to attend the Big E National Competition in Springfield, Mass., Sept. 11-14.

• The board approved changes of status for Joshua Hopkins, from bus driver to custodian, effective Aug. 1; and for Sherry Stark, from paraprofessional, no degree step 1 to step 2, effective with the 2025-26 school year.

• The board accepted the resignations of cooks Anna Aber (effective July 31, due to retirement) and Katie Watson (effective Aug. 12); teacher Kimberly Benner (effective May 30, 2026, due to retirement); and paraprofessional Carlee Williams (effective July 26).

• The board approved a leave of absence for teacher Donica Grow, effective Aug. 6-18.

•  The board approved an out-of-state field trip to Washington, D.C. for the eighth grade class, scheduled for May 12-15.

• The board accepted the following donations: Fall Creek Friends ($600), Hillsboro Eagles Past Presidents Club ($200) and Kroger ($500), all toward school supplies; and Walmart, $208 toward elementary school supplies.

• The board approved a 20-book class set of “The School of Photography: Beginner’s Guide” for use in high school photography classes, which will be used to provide students with foundational knowledge and techniques in photography, at a cost of $330.80.

• The board approved a memorandum of understanding with Southern Ohio ESC, Fairfield Local and Southern Ohio ESC Speech and Language Pathologist, effective Aug. 18 through the remainder of the 2025-26 school year.

“This was for a student that just moved into the district the first day of school and is going to be having an alternative placement in the Wilmington Learning Academy,” Davis said. “They will be providing the speech services through the ESC, so we have to do an MOU for those services, so we don't have to send our speech pathologist up there to service the student.”

• The board approved a contract for an attendant at Clermont County Educational Service Center North for a student for the 2025-26 school year at a cost of $44,850. In a separate motion, the board approved the SoComm services for two students at the Clermont County ESC North for the 2025-26 school year at a cost of $49,470 per student.

“We send two students,” Davis said. “We provide one transportation paraprofessional that rides up, stays all day and then rides home.”

• The board approved the reimbursement of mileage to Jasmine Faulconer to transport a student round-trip from their residence to Southern Ohio Learning Center in Wilmington for the 2025-26 school year. The IRS mileage should apply.

In other action:

• The board approved the financial reports as presented by treasurer Ben Teeters. Teeters reported a general fund cash balance of $10,574,128 for July 2025, down from $11,867,089 in July 2024; expenses of $2,669,670, up from $2,474,260 last year; and revenues of $2,970,279, down slightly from $2,974,559 a year ago.

• The board approved an out-of-state field trip for international educational travel abroad at the end of the next school year, scheduled for May 31-June 9, 2027.

According to Davis, the trip will include tours of Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and Budapest.

“This was piggybacking off the trip they took to England and Ireland, which it was nothing but positive, great reports from the kids, the staff, everybody that went, so they want to get ahead of the game and get this scheduled,” Davis said. “Another big piece of this is trying to fundraise.”

• The board appointed Rhoads as delegate and Lyons as alternate for the annual business meeting at the Ohio School Boards Association’s Capital Conference Nov. 17.

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