Hillsboro school board discusses fall activities; OKs policy revisions

Hillsboro City Schools Board of Education members received updates on a variety of ongoing events during their Monday, Oct. 20 meeting, as the activities for the 2025-26 school year are in full swing.

Superintendent Tim Davis and student representative Abigail Fryman both reported on fall sports, which were coming to a close. As announced by Fryman, recent home football games included homecoming on Oct. 4, were Kobie Miles and JaHari Pitts were named homecoming queen and king, respectively, while senior night for fall athletes took place Oct. 17.

Athletes receiving All-Frontier Athletic Conference honors included Dylan Bender (boys soccer), Tylee Davis (volleyball), Meredith Dietrick (girls soccer), Arianna Evans (girls soccer), Ryan Howland (boys soccer), Kobie Miles (girls soccer), Kayla Seeling (volleyball), Cooper Swope (boys soccer), Taylor Thoroman (girls cross-country) and Ryan Wagoner (volleyball), as reported by Fryman. In addition, Davis recognized Thoroman, Easton Inman, Quinn Swope and Luke Thompson for qualifying for cross-country regionals.

In other student activities, Davis reported that the high school choir held a fall concert Oct. 9, while the theater department will present “The Play That Goes Wrong” Nov. 7-9.

Parent-teacher conferences at the elementary school were scheduled for Oct. 23 and Nov. 6. Davis said that he also attended the Ohio School Boards Association’s Southwest Fall Conference and a professional development day with district staff.

“We had a very successful Professional Development Day last Friday,” Davis said. “We had to do some work for a pilot program for the State of Ohio with training and a survey.”

Board member Larry Lyons also reported that the district had “three great candidates” for the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership award, as he said he participated in the interview process.

In another report, board member Beverly Rhoads recapped the Great Oaks Board of Directors’ Oct. 8 meeting. She announced that the Great Oaks district received the highest possible rating of five stars on their state report card, meeting eight of nine federal indicators. 

The Great Oaks board also approved a contract extension for their treasurer/CFO Brian Rabe through July 2031; accepted a bid for the Diamond Oaks Aviation Exploration lab & Equine Science classroom building project; attended the ribbon cutting event of the new AEV/Construction building at Laurel Oaks; and heard the 2025-26 strategies as presented by president/CEO Harry Snyder as well as Rabe.  

In other discussion:

• The board approved various policy changes as recommended. Those included: 

— The replacement of 1422 Nondiscrimination, Equal Employment Opportunity, and Anti-Harassment, 3122 Nondiscrimination, Equal Employment Opportunity, and Anti-Harassment and 4122 Nondiscrimination, Equal Employment Opportunity, and Anti-Harassment;

— The rescission of 1422.02 Nondiscrimination Based on Genetic Information of the Employee, 1662 Anti-Harassment, 3122.02 Nondiscrimination Based on Genetic Information of the Employee, 3362 Anti-Harassment, 4122.02 Nondiscrimination Based on Genetic Information of the Employee, 4362 Anti-Harassment, 7541 Electronic Data Processing Disaster Recovery Plan, 8300 Continuity of Organizational Operations Plan;

— Technical corrections to 1623 Section 504/ADA Prohibition Against Disability Discrimination in Employment, 2260 Nondiscrimination and Access to Equal Educational Opportunities, 2260.01 Section 504/ADA Prohibition Against Disability Discrimination in Employment, 3123 Section 504/ADA Prohibition Against Disability Discrimination in Employment, 4123 Section 504/ADA Prohibition Against Disability Discrimination in Employment, 6152 Student Fees, Fines, and Charges; and

— Revisions to 2266 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities, 2430.02 Participation of Community/STEM School Students in Extracurricular Activities, 3130 Assignment and Transfers, 5130 Withdrawal from School, 5136 Personal Communication Devices, 5200 Attendance, 5223 Released Time for Religious Instruction During the School Day, 5410 Promotion, Placement, and Retention, 6830 Audit, 7540.02 Digital Content and Accessibility, 8305 Information Security, 8400 School Safety, 8462 Student Abuse and Neglect, 8640 Transportation for Non-Routine Trips and 9270 Equivalent Education Outside the Schools & Participation in Extracurricular for Students Not Enrolled in the District.

• The board approved the financial reports as presented by district treasurer Ben Teeters. Teeters reported a cash balance of $8,953,045.19 for September 2025, down from $13,144,234.40 the previous year, and monthly expenses of $2,499,802.74.

• Via resolution, the board adopted the Special Education Model Policies and Procedures that were released by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce in December 2024 and directed all staff in the district to use and comply with the Model Policies. 

• The board approved a memorandum of understanding with the Hillsboro Education Association concerning varsity wrestling. The MOU creates a new supplemental position for the high school girls varsity wrestling coach and changes the previous “high school varsity wrestling coach” title to “high school boys varsity wrestling coach” to differentiate between the two.

• The board approved the following individuals for the contracts and positions indicated: 

—Volunteers: bowling coaches Marc Bayless, Kim Ison and Tyler King; HHS volunteer George Gavin; volunteers for all buildings Mikayla Hackworth. Krystal Hannah, Erica King, Emily Pohlman, Rachel Reed, Alyssa Reynolds and Tim Simbro; HES volunteers Jordan Hunter, Molly Licea, Shianne Ludlow, Marchella McGinnis and Megan Reno; and wrestling coach Bridgette Storer.

— Supplementals: Camp Joy Coordinators (split) Melissa Boysel and Michele Williams; Elementary Student Council advisers (split) Jennifer Chaney and Mark Koller; MS boys basketball coaches Dave Fauber and Lawton Parry; MS wrestling coaches Kordell Ford and Ben Miller; MS girls basketball coaches Ella Newkirk and Tara Pendell; HS varsity basketball cheerleading coach Taylor Reed; elementary wrestling coordinator/HS assistant wrestling coach Chad Vaughn; and elementary basketball coordinator Dustin Willey.

— Sub classified: custodians Kaley Ballein and Deborah Crowe; cooks Lili Hunt, Surina Potts-Deeter and Walker McTaggart; and aide/cook/secretary Tiffany Lewis, retroactive to Sept. 23.

— Sub certified: Lea Britton, Heather Hughes, Sydney Mycroft, Krista Newton, Tiffanie Nichols, Taylor Reed and Lori Vanzant.

• The board accepted the resignations of Washington D.C. Coordinator Eric Callahan, effective Oct. 20; middle school girls cross-country coach Tara Gilliland, due to not having enough students to form a team this fall; spirit store adviser Angie Juillerat, effective Oct. 15; and HS assistant wrestling coach Bruce Messer, effective with the 2025-26 school year.

• The board approved changes of status for the following individuals: Astrid Karin Anderson, from sub cook to full-time cook, effective Nov. 1; Alora Coburn, from step 3 to step 5, effective with the 2025-26 school year; and Katherine Doss, from cook to head cook, effective Oct. 1.

• The board approved leaves of absence for the following employees: superintendent secretary Deanna Corder (intermittent Oct. 27-Dec. 8); bus driver Karen Fraley (intermittent over the next six months); and Brandy Johnson and Robin Smith (both intermittent Oct. 17, 2025-July 30, 2026).

• In two separate motions, the board approved Heaven King as a 2025 cohort graduate, effective Sept. 22, and Joseph Lovlie and Kravon Scott as early graduates.

• The board accepted a $250 donation from Papa Johns toward school supplies and a $100 donation from Veterans Service toward student supplies.

• The meeting began with a moment of silence in memory of school board president Bill Myers’ mother, who had passed away two days prior to the meeting. Myers was absent Monday.

• During public participation, the board heard from a Hillsboro resident regarding her grandson.

(Editor’s note: Thank you to Ben Teeters for his assistance with this article.)

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