Hillsboro City Schools board updated on start of new school year

Another school year has begun, and Hillsboro City Schools Board of Education members heard updates on the first four days of school and made numerous approvals for the year during their Monday, Aug. 19 meeting.

According to superintendent Tim Davis, the 2024-25 school year is off to a “great start,” beginning with their annual “opening day” assembly.

“We had a great opening day,” Davis said. “I want to thank our band and cheerleaders for helping out on that day. It’s always exciting to get the year started back on a positive, energetic note, so that was a very good day.”

Board member Tom Milbery added in his report that the opening day pep rally felt “more like a celebration,” as he said they discussed the district’s most recent state report card.

“Congratulations to our students, our teachers and our educational leaders,” he said.

Along with the start of the new school year, all fall sports are underway as of this week, Davis said.

“I want to thank all of our coaches, parents and participants, boosters and games, concessions and ticket workers,” the superintendent said. “It takes a lot to put on. I want to thank all our volunteers and our people that are putting those on.”

In other updates, Davis said that the HCS summer food program — the Tomahawk food truck and “Juice Box” bus — served 66,660 free meals to children in the community throughout the months of June and July (and the end of May).

“That number is down from last year's 110,000, due to the fact that we did not provide meals over the weekend,” Davis said. “Last year, we were able to give meals on Friday, lunch and breakfast, and then lunch and breakfast for Saturday and Sunday as well. We did not do that, so that's why that number is less than what's been in the past.

“Thank you to our summer food workers out there every day, providing meals in the food truck and the Juice Box. It’s just outstanding.”

In other reports, board member Beverly Rhoads discussed the Aug. 14 Great Oaks Board of Directors meeting, which also had highlights of the upcoming academic year.

According to Rhoads, the board was told there are 33 new instructors who attended orientation training. Also during the Great Oaks meeting, their board accepted a $5,594,600 bid for the second phase of Laurel Oaks’ expansion project, Rhoads said.

Board member Larry Lyons thanked Nathan Horne and all the volunteers who assisted with the annual golf outing fundraiser for the athletics department.

“There's a tremendous amount of people who helped with the athletic fundraiser,” Lyons said. “They did a nice job and filled up the teams for both the morning group and an afternoon group. They did a great job and ran a good program.”

Lyons also expressed condolences to former Hillsboro teacher Larry Corbin and his family on the unexpected passing of their daughter.

The rest of the meeting was spent making the following approvals:

• The board approved the financial reports as presented. According to district treasurer Ben Teeters, the district had a general fund cash balance of $11,867,089 for July 2024, up from $9,436,418 in July 2023; expenses of $2,474,260, up from $2,249,685 a year ago; and revenues of $2,974,559, up from $2,699,609 last year.

• After amending the original motion on the agenda, the board approved an agreement to subcontract the transportation department’s OBI (On-Bus-Instructor) training with Duane Burns, a state-approved OBI instructor, effective through the end of the 2024 calendar year.

“Currently we have our own OBI, but that person is on leave,” Davis said. “In order to get other drivers ready to go and certified, we need to contract with them until our OBI driver is back from leave.

“We've had multiple in the past, and over the course of a couple years, those drivers are no longer with us. We are in the process of getting more than one OBI, but at this time, we only have one that is certified, and like I said, that person is on leave at this time, so we need to farm that out. During this process, we are going to have a couple other drivers that are trained, so that we can train them in house as well.”

The original motion did not specify how many drivers or a length of time for the agreement, as pointed out by Lyons. Davis said there are “two people that need to be trained,” and that it would be done on an “as needed” basis until their current OBI driver returns.

“Basically what Ron [Ward, transportation supervisor] is saying, it's 22 to 25 hours of OBI training to pass the test and obtain their class B,” Davis said. “Right now, depending on when our OBI trainer gets back, it'll be mainly for these two people to get started and get them done.”

In response to a question from board president Bill Myers, Davis said that the contract could involve training additional staff if the need arises.

“I think we ought to have a time frame on it, or approve it each time we have two or three drivers,” Lyons said.

After a discussion among board members, they rescinded their original motion, then approved the revised motion adding “effective through the end of the 2024 calendar year.”

• The board approved the following individuals for the contracts and positions indicated:
— Classified: paraprofessionals Samantha Crawford (retroactive to Aug. 1), Jamie McRill (retro Aug. 1, step 0 with degree), Kristen Ward and Carlee Williams (retro Aug. 14, step 0 with degree) and cooks Kathy Doss (retro Aug. 7), Catrina Snider (retro Aug. 7) and Katie Watson (retro Aug. 8);
— Hillsboro Christian Academy tutor Kristy Rhodes (retro Aug. 7);
— Sub classified: Kayla Burns and Cathy Teeters (aide, secretary), Joyce Dragon (aide) and Janeen Free (custodian);
— Sub certified: Katelyn Buckler, Kimberly Cochran, Stephanie Harper, Paula Kiser, Sara Lamb, Regan Ostermeier, Gideon Pickering-Polstra, Patricia Reinholz, Cathy Savage (retro Aug. 7) and Jackie Uhrig;
—DLC: Jenna Allen, Shellie Anderson, Olivia Fulton, Tiffany Gobin, Celia Griffin, Jenna Horick, Debbie Howard, Kim Ison, Amanda Miller, Lauren Purtee, Verona Roush, Tobi Stevens, Marissa Stone, Jackie Thoroman, Kelly Yochum;
— Supplementals: Nathan Boatman (HS varsity boys golf coach), Heith Brown, Jason Fox, Cody Mathews and Ben Pence (HS assistant football coaches), Lindsay Inman (fall site supervisor), Eric Kelch (HS boys assistant golf coach), Carey McBride (HS varsity girls golf coach), Jake Spurell (MS football coach) and LaRue Turner (HS girls tennis coach);
— Volunteers: Jordan Allard, Dustin Barr, Heidi Barr, Brittany Bayless, Bridget Campbell, April Calhoun, Chase Colliver, Kayla Conrad, Melissa Custer, Brittany Dance, Mary Dixon, Stephanie Dunseith, Kayla Durr, Jordyn Evans, Shawna Faul, Amanda Fife, Tessa Gaines, Chelsea Gardner, Chase Gilliland, Bertha Hamilton, Allison Harper, Angela Hilterbrand, Allyce Horne, Nancy Horvath, Jordan Hunter, Tasha Kereky, Allison Knisley, Logan Lesley, Debra Lewis, Caleb Link, Shianne Ludlow, Regina Malone, Emily Markgraff, Jeffery Meyer, Branton Miller, Natalie Miller, Erica Morgan, Angelena Newman, Chelsey Ojeda, Rebecca Pittman, Courtney Posey, Paige Satterfield, Catherine Schafer, Megan Scott, Janace Smith, Jessica Taberski, Sherry Ward, Kylee Warner, Tonya Weber, Jessica Wells, Sidney Wilson, Stephanie Worrall and Tracie Wright (HES); Marc Bayless (bowling coach, HHS); Chelsea Campbell, Mary Eldridge, Latrell Haithcock, Jennifer Ramp, Sarah Stemann, Kyle Stinson, Kristina Stoops, Katheryn Wilson and Jordan Zimmerman (all); Kristin Looney (HMS/HHS); and Alison Lyle, Carolyn Magee, Laurie Taylor (HES/HMS).

• The board approved a change of status for the following staff members: Brittany Holsinger, from substitute aide/secretary to full-time paraprofessional, step 0 with degree, effective 2024-25 school year; Emmalynn McGuire, from substitute cook to full-time cook, effective 2024-25 school year; Stephanie Thompson, from food service director step 0 to food service director step 1, effective 2024-25 school year; Lucia Tomko, from MA+15 to MA+30; and Samantha Whitenack, from BA step 0 to BA step 3.

• The board accepted the resignations of paraprofessionals Kayla Conrad (effective end 2023-24 school year) and Roy Hansford (effective Aug. 31, due to retirement) and cook Jamie McRill (effective end 2023-24 school year).

• The board authorized leaves of absence for teacher Jillian Dickel (effective Aug. 28-Nov. 20) and custodian Glenna Purdin (effective Aug. 9-Sept. 9).

• The board appointed Beverly Rhoads as delegate and Larry Lyons as alternate for the annual business meeting at the Capital Conference on Nov. 11.

• The board approved a client services agreement with Soliant Health, LLC for Aug. 21, 2024-May 22, 2025.

“This is for another school psychologist,” Davis said. “We have one already through Soliant. Just now, with this approval, we have another school site psych.

“We do also have an intern, so we’re preparing them for both elementary and high school.”

• The board approved a contract with Plattenburg to render GAAP conversion services from June 30, 2024-June 30, 2026.

“This is to do our GAAP audit,” Teeters said. “The State Auditor's Office has always done it, and this year, they said they didn't have enough personnel to do it, so they wanted to farm it out.”

In response to a question from Lyons, Teeters said the cost is $7,000, “about the same” as what they usually pay.

• The board approved a contract for an attendant at Clermont County Educational Service Center North for two students for the 2024-25 school year at a cost of $43,750 per student. In a separate motion, the board also approved the SoComm services for the students, at a cost of $48,450 per student.

• The board accepted the following donations: AmVets Post 61 Ladies Auxiliary ($300), Kristen Bilyeu ($30), Fall Creek Friends ($700), Hobart ($1,537.37), Leesburg Wesleyan Church ($30), D. Smith ($50) and Walmart ($250), all for elementary school supplies; and from the Hillsboro First Presbyterian Church, $1,300 toward the Tomahawk food truck.

Milbery asked how the donations for elementary school supplies are distributed to students.

“There’s a couple different ways,” Davis said. “One, they do when they donate certain supplies, and they hold it in the office for kids that may need it, whether it's crayons, markers, different things like that.

“We had a bunch of book bags that were supplied as well, so if a kid doesn’t have a book bag, they can get it. If it's just a flat like monetary donation, then it's ‘what do the kids need?’ and they can go get it from Walmart, use that money and get it straight to the kids. We store that for when it's needed.”

• The board approved two Thomas school buses (one from 2006 and one from 2008), a 1993 Chevrolet van, an Allis Chalmers 5020 tractor and a Frontier Flex-Wing mower to be sold at auction. The items will be included in a county auction Oct. 12 at 10 a.m. at the Highland County Fairgrounds, conducted by Rick Williams Auction Company.

• The board approved a transfer of $39,448.69 between Hillsboro Christian Academy line items, from the fiscal year 2024 line item to the fiscal year 2025 item.

“This is just the Christian school’s money that runs through us,” Teeters said. “They get the money every biennium. When the governor has a new budget, they’re allowed to carry over on the first year of the biennium budget. At the end of next year, they’ve got to be spent to zero.”

• In separate motions, the board approved two out-of-state field trips: one for the eighth grade to Washington D.C. on May 13-16, and one for two Hillsboro Great Oaks FFA members, Carter Boyd and Corbin Winkle, to compete in the “Big E” in Springfield, Mass. on Sept. 12-15.

• The board approved 11th grader Daniel Hernandez as an exchange student from Spain.

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