New principal among hires at Hillsboro City Schools board's special meeting

The Hillsboro City Schools Board of Education met briefly in special session Tuesday, July 23 to approve several employment matters, including hiring a new principal, ahead of the first day of school for staff Aug. 7.

“I’m very excited for getting these guys on the agenda with a special meeting so they can get started by August 1 and being able to get out of contracts at other districts,” Hillsboro superintendent Tim Davis said. “I’m just very excited for the new hires that we have.”
 
Among those hired was a one-year contract for Taylor Jodrey, who will be taking over as early childhood principal at Hillsboro Elementary. The previous principal — Pamela Hollon — resigned in June, as she accepted a curriculum specialist position within the district starting with the 2024-25 school year.

Jodrey comes to Hillsboro from North Adams Elementary, where she has been employed as a teacher. She has also served as the assistant coach for the North Adams varsity girls basketball program, under head coach Rob Davis, and was selected by the District 14 Coaches Association as Division III Assistant Coach of the Year this past season.

“Welcome to the district,” Hillsboro school board president Bill Myers told Jodrey, who attended the meeting.

As previously reported, Hillsboro Elementary will also have a new principal for second and third grades in Robert MacLeod, who was hired in May. MacLeod replaces Jacob Zink, who resigned in April, and comes to Hillsboro after serving as a principal in the Bethel-Tate district.    

Two resignations were also accepted in response to a new contract approved at the board’s regular meeting July 15. Hillsboro industrial tech teacher Joshua Pohlman and ag instructor/FFA adviser Brian Cummings both resigned, effective July 31 and June 30, respectively. However, Davis said that they will both be approved for employment through the Great Oaks Board of Directors.

As reported earlier this month, the board approved a Satellite Program Standards and Maintenance Agreement with Great Oaks Career Campuses “to implement a well-coordinated career technical education program at Hillsboro City Schools,” affecting both the welding and FFA programs.

“We are partnering with Great Oaks for the use of kind of splitting our FFA and our welding program at Hillsboro City Schools, as far as career tech,” Davis said at the board’s July 15 meeting. “This is something that other districts have done as well, as far as enhancing their programs and different things, so we are excited about the new venture between us.

“It is a contract, I believe for three years, between us and them, dealing with staff and resources. We're excited to see this agreement go through for both us and them and our students.”

Davis added Tuesday that the teachers will have “the same placement” within the district.

“Everything is still here,” he said. “They will be in the building every day. The only difference is who they are employed by.”

In addition to Cummings, the Hillsboro FFA program will have a new teacher/adviser this year in Paige Teeters, a 2024 graduate of Wilmington College. Teeters, who is also a Fairfield High School graduate, served as Ohio FFA State Vice President during the 2020-21 school year.

The following matters Tuesday were also approved Tuesday, each by a 5-0 vote:

• The board accepted the resignation of Heather Murphy as teacher, effective at the end of the 2023-24 school year, and approved her rehiring as a special education supervisor with a one-year contract.

• The board also approved the following hires: classified, Alisha Zink, secretary; sub certificated, Lori Krista King and Deborah Smith; and volunteer, Megan Apgar (Hillsboro Elementary).

• The board accepted the resignations of paraprofessionals Tammy Newsome (effective end of the 2023-24 school year) and Becky Sink (effective July 19).

• The board approved changes of status for the following staff members for the 2024-25 school year: Kayla DeAtley, from BA150 step 0 to BA 150 step 1; Willie Hollingsworth, from BA step 0 to MA step 5; and David Sedivy, from MA+30 step 16 to MA+30 step 21.

• The board approved McGraw-Hill’s “Street Law,” copyright 2021, for the high school’s 2024-25 social studies curriculum.

“Street law is an elective at the high school,” Davis said. “We need a new curriculum, so we are ordering a class set for that group. It’s not going to be here at the beginning of the school year, but it will be here hopefully in September.”

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