Hillsboro FFA members share concerns with school board after adviser resigns

Members of the Hillsboro City Schools Board of Education heard from a group of Hillsboro FFA representatives at the board’s Monday, March 18 meeting, in response to the recent resignation of one of the chapter's two advisers and educators. 

During their employment approvals Monday, the board accepted the resignation of Elizabeth (Libby) McNeal, a longtime vocational agriculture teacher at the middle school/high school and Hillsboro FFA adviser, effective March 22. 

According to superintendent Tim Davis, McNeal accepted another position outside the district. He said that a substitute teacher will take over her classes for the rest of the 2023-24 school year, as there is one other ag instructor/FFA adviser at the high school in Brian Cummings. 

“When we lose staff members, we do a look at class sizes and the staffing that we have before we move on for next year, looking at where we are financially and with staff,” Davis said at the board meeting.

There were 13 concerned students and adults present, with six students asking to be placed on the agenda to speak under public participation. The group — many of whom are officers in Hillsboro FFA — spoke about various aspects of the chapter and encouraged the board and school district to look into replacing McNeal’s position as they plan for that staffing for the 2024-25 school year.

The first speaker, Hillsboro FFA Vice President and President-elect Carter Boyd, shared packets of their notes with the board members. According to Boyd, the group already met with Davis and HHS principal Joe Turner earlier in the day on Monday to share similar “concerns, and they reassured us that they will act in the best interest of the FFA chapter.”

“I'm here with many other Hillsboro FFA members, officers, alumni, parents and other supporters to advocate for the future of our organization,” Boyd told the board. “We all know that Ms. McNeal will be very difficult to replace. However, our chapter is far too large for one adviser. This evening, students will share information to support this statement.”

Boyd quoted from the FFA Creed: “I believe that American agriculture can and will hold true to the best traditions of our national life and that I can exert an influence in my home and community which will stand solid for my part in that inspiring task.

“We hope you take our information into consideration when deciding the future of Hillsboro FFA, which is our home and plays a role into our community,” Boyd said.

The second speaker, Hillsboro FFA Reporter Corbin Winkle, outlined statistics from “the financial side of career-technical education” and the “economic impact” of the FFA chapter.

“The way that we're funded aside from the normal grants and everything that the schools get is we get career tech money,” Winkle said. “Each of our students have to pass a web exam.

“The number of students we get adjusts for how much money we get. This past year, we brought in $109,000 in career-technical education money. The top 25 percent of that is used to pay the teacher’s salary, and the other 75 percent of that can be used however we so please.”

Winkle said that “the more kids that we have in ag, the more money that we're going to be able to get.

“The economic impact of Hillsboro FFA chapter’s on Hillsboro is over $400,000,” he said. “That is when you take into account the amount of community service hours that we put in and the business that we do with businesses in the community.” 

Winkle explained that the Hillsboro FFA also uses the Agricultural Experience Tracker (AET), a “record-keeping system used nationwide” that “helps our students better learn how to keep records and become financially independent.

“Last year, 98 percent of students that were in a career technical class ended up graduating from high school, and 95 percent of those kids ended up in the workforce within the next year,” Winkle told the board. ‘Career-technical education is a great way to get students involved in a skill that they're going to use later in life. FFA helps provide many skills for the students that they can't get in classes, public speaking, job interviews — skills that everyone's going to use later on in their life.

“I hope this positively affects your guys’ outlook and helps you make a good decision that's right for our school and our community.”

Hillsboro FFA Vice President of Agriculture Emma Yochum spoke about class sizes and participation within the ag program at Hillsboro, both at the high school and middle school levels.

“Right now in the Hillsboro FFA, we have 164 kids enrolled, and that’s split between two teachers,” Yochum said. “Next year, we're signed up to have 184 kids enrolled, so that's 20 more than we already had this year. 

“Looking into the future for next year, downsizing our program to only one teacher would be a big hit because we would only be able to serve about 80 to 90 kids. Deciding which of those kids got into the ag program would be a process of tough screening to decide which kids were going to be the most successful in ag. I know a lot of us sitting in this room would probably not have made the kind of happy only had one ag teacher and going through that screening process, so it's going to look a little bit different if we cut almost half of our kids.”

Yochum added that McNeal also taught “two middle school periods” in addition to the high school program.

“What you may not know is those classes were both periods on nine-week rotation, so not only was she teaching two periods, but she taught eight classes total of middle schoolers,” Yochum said. “Our question with not filling her position would be kind of where those middle school kids are going to go without her, and what are we going to do with the extra kids that won't be able to get her classes? 

“Not knowing is holding up a little bit on our scheduling, the middle school scheduling and the high school scheduling.”

On the high school side, Yochum told the board that the FFA program is a way to get upperclassmen to come back into the high school as they are often “leaving the school and not coming back” for work or college classes during the day.

“Part of what we look at in the FFA is how many kids come back for school for just an ag class,” Yochum said. “Members come back to the school just to have one ag class a day — a class that’s not even required to graduate. They come back because of their dedication and their love for our FFA.”

Chapter member Brayden Lane spoke about the importance of McNeal’s position.

“When you’re hiring an ag teacher, you're hiring an educator, FFA adviser and SAE [Supervised Agricultural Experience] project supervisor,” Lane said. “I started my journey in ag with no background and never dreamt it would lead me to the experience and friendships I've made with students and teachers. I signed up to take plant and animal sciences as a sophomore, and now — you can ask others — you can't get me away from the ag rooms.

“FFA and ag education allows for students to feel welcomed and accepted if they're not involved in any other extracurricular activities. I owe much of my success to FFA, and this May I’ll even be obtaining my State FFA degree. That shows that a kid with no ag background can even become successful through this program.”

FFA Sentinel Riley Collins went into more detail on the “opportunities and options” that FFA grants its members. She explained that the ag business classes have the same curriculum as other businesses classes, as both use EVERFI, a financial literacy program. In addition, FFA students have numerous opportunities to learn about potential career paths, Collins said.

“The program offers career days for the students to attend, and we bring in other ag-related businesses to talk to the students to show opportunities after high school,” Collins said. “Farm Credit Mid-America came into the business classes to show opportunities, and this year, just like the past three years, we attended the Sunrise Cooperative career day. The ag business has shown the students their career options without further education after high school. 

“This program offers a career development event, which will give the students opportunities to work in public speaking, job interviewing, sales and overall working with others.”

Collins added that FFA teaches “real-life experiences and responsibilities” to its members beyond the classroom, which can also help them find employment after graduation.

“On a résumé, being involved in the largest-growing organization in the world looks good to most businesses,” Collins said. “Not all students have to pursue an ag-related job, but they do gain strengths from this program that will better them for the future. FFA is a future for all, so we all would like to make sure no students are going to be to miss out on the opportunities that this program provides.”

The final speaker, FFA Vice President of Community Development and Vice President-elect Addy Knauff, concluded the students’ presentation by comparing the Hillsboro City Schools’ mission with that of FFA. As she pointed out, the district’s mission statement is “We provide a well-rounded experience that prepares each student to be successful in life.” The FFA motto is “Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve.”

“The FFA program provides many of the stepping stones for teens to become successful,” Knauff said. “You don't even have to have livestock or a farm. You just need to have a desire to be a part of something bigger. 

“If there's one thing I'd like to leave you all with, it's that FFA impacts kids’ lives and creates people that will be our future business owners, teachers, scientists, salespeople, bankers, community leaders, social servants and more. As you have heard this evening, a robust and well-rounded FFA program is crucial to creating a firm foundation for the future of our communities — for our future. The more you invest today, the more our community will reap those benefits in the coming years.”

Knauff thanked the board for listening to their concerns and offered to answer any questions. In return, the board thanked the group for their presentation.

“That was very well done,” board president Bill Myers said. “We will definitely talk about that, and we will get back to you. We thank you guys for your passion and for your efforts in our school system. You guys are leaders in our school, and we're very proud of you.”

Board member Tom Milbery also thanked the group during his report to the board.

“You folks in FFA, just as you so well presented yourself here this evening, have just done fantastic throughout the years,” Milbery said. “I hold you in great esteem, and I wish you the best and thank you for your presentation.”

The group stayed for the remainder of the meeting, and at its conclusion, the students invited the board to attend their April 7 banquet and shook hands with each board member and administrator.

Davis told The Highland County Press after the meeting that the district “will do our due diligence to look at staffing” regarding McNeal’s position.

“No decision has been made at all,” Davis said. “We met with them because that is something that they’re very passionate about. Like I said, we have great kids, and they did an unbelievable job presenting tonight. That is a testament to our FFA program. 

“They came because they heard that we haven't been replacing positions when people have left, and we're always going to look and see if that's what's best and evaluate that.”  

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