Hillsboro PTO, student achievements highlighted at Hillsboro City Schools board meeting

Both parents and students of the Hillsboro City Schools district were recognized during the board’s Monday, March 17 meeting, as Hillsboro Elementary’s Parent Teacher Organization was honored and recent student accomplishments were highlighted.

At the start of the meeting, superintendent Tim Davis and Hillsboro Elementary second/third grade principal Robert MacLeod recognized Leo Bible, Shianne Ludlow, Paige Satterfield and Jessie Taberski, who attended on behalf of the Hillsboro Elementary PTO.

Davis read a list provided by Hillsboro Intermediate Principal Darci Miles of the many activities the PTO has “either assisted with or taken completely over.” That includes: the Walk-a-Thon; the fall PTO carnival; a “penguin shop” during the holiday season; organizing Valentine grams; the Scholastic Book Fair; glow parties for fourth and fifth graders; family dances for kindergarten through third grades; the Super Games; party days; and the October costume parade. The PTO has also provided indoor recess games, supplies for students, weekly prizes, meals to staff on parent-teacher conference nights and spiritwear T-shirts for staff and students, and they have co-sponsored field trips, according to Davis.

“It's been a great partnership, and we just want to thank you for all that you're doing,” Davis said. “It’s really been awesome to see, and our kids are very excited about the things that you've got going on and what you've started.

“Thank you for all that you’re doing. It is a blessing to see what has happened, so we want to thank you for that.”

MacLeod added that “having come from a couple different other schools,” Hillsboro’s PTO has been “so easy to work with” and accommodating to whatever needs arise in the elementary.

“They have been outstanding to work with,” MacLeod said. “Paige has been in my ear whenever I have an inkling of needing something. I really appreciate that.”

The recognitions continued in reports to the board, as Davis said “a lot” had happened since their Feb. 17 meeting. He reviewed a lengthy list of recent awards and honors by Hillsboro students, while student representative Madison Dearmon also noted achievements by several Hillsboro Great Oaks FFA members.

Dearmon said that the FFA’s “public speaking CDE state qualifiers, Emma Yochum, Ann Boyd and Claire Winkle, competed at Marysville on February 28” and were successful.

“Emma placed second, and she'll go on to compete at the Big E,” Dearmon said. “It’s a national competition. Ann and Claire both placed fourth in their categories, which is really good, to be out of all the chapters in Ohio.”

The honors outlined in Davis’s report included a number of recent achievements by Hillsboro High School and Middle School students. Those mentioned included:

• Art: HHS students Chelsea Crow Adray and Devan King had artwork selected for display in Cincinnati Art Museum’s Teen Art Expo.

• Athletics:
— Boys Basketball: Tre Captain, honorable mention All-District; Tate Davis, first-team All-FAC and All-District and District Co-Player of the Year for a second consecutive year; and Jack Howland, first-team All-FAC and All-District.

— Girls Basketball: Peighton Bledsoe, honorable mention All-FAC and All-District; Kyra Boyd, first-team All-FAC and All-District; Tylee Davis, first-team All-FAC and All-District; and Kobie Miles, honorable mention All-FAC.

— Boys Bowling - varsity team, Frontier Athletic Conference champions, district champions, 10th at state tournament; Aidan Lemaster, All-FAC; Camden Lively, All-FAC; and Andrew Tomko, All-FAC; individual district runner-up.

— Girls Bowling - varsity team, Frontier Athletic Conference champions, district champions, 11th at state tournament; Sidney Bayless, All-FAC; Rylie Ison, All-FAC, individual district champion; Cami Miller, All-FAC; Rylee Moyer, All-FAC; Madison Nichols, All-FAC; and Molly Smith, Don McKenzie Award winner (for girls winter athlete with highest GPA).

— Boys Wrestling - Kylan Brown, district qualifier; Ryan Burns, FAC champion, district qualifier and earned 100th career win; Landon Frazier, district qualifier; Rush Workman, FAC champion (middle school); and Jace Zugg, FAC champion (middle school).

— Girls Wrestling: Miley Messer, district qualifier; Isabella Storer, FAC champion (middle school); and Raeden Workman, FAC champion (middle school).

• Girls Swimming: Kamryn Asbury, first FAC champion in the 50 freestyle;

• Boys Swimming: Cameron Burkard, FAC champion and district qualifier; Ryan Fender, FAC champion, district qualifier and Don McKenzie Award winner (for boys winter athlete with highest GPA); Robbie Schneider, FAC champion and district qualifier; Jacob Seaman, district qualifier; and Cooper Swope: FAC champion and district qualifier.

• Robotics: The team of HHS students Logan Barton, Conner Kelch, Riley Gallimore and Allie Roush finished second in the state and will be advancing to the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, Texas.

• Symphonic Choir: The HHS Symphonic Choir earned a Superior rating in OMEA district competition and will be advancing to the OMEA state contest.

In other discussion, Davis added in his report that all grade levels are participating in fundraising efforts for the annual Ernie Blankenship Memorial Telethon for the Highland County Society for Children and Adults, set for March 26, while the HHS drama department is “working hard” on their upcoming production of “High School Musical,” March 28-30.

The high school also hosted the annual basketball game between the Special Olympics Wildcats team and members of the HHS basketball program.

“I want to give a shout out to Mrs. Jones and all of our students, staff, community,” Davis said. “We had tons of sponsors. I've got a list that's about four pages of everybody that helped out with that. The gym was packed. The game was awesome.

“I want to thank our community for such a great day, and the participants, the sponsors. It was a great day for our players, for the Wildcats team itself, but it was just was an overall great event.”

Davis pointed out that the district is in its fourth quarter, as state testing will be taking place over various days, primarily in April.

“It's right around the corner, beginning April 14 and 15 for the middle school, for language arts, and then the elementary will start on the Tuesday and Wednesday, April 15 and 16,” Davis said. “Math will be April 28 and 29 for the middle school, and it'll be April 23 and 24 for the elementary. The science parts are April 30 and May 1 for the middle school, and fifth grade science will be April 29 and 30.”

In her report, Dearmon discussed the latest activities of the senior class and the Hillsboro Great Oaks FFA chapter.

Dearmon said the seniors have begun planning their baccalaureate ceremony, meeting “out of school hours” to select guest speakers, themes and other ideas for the program.

The FFA officers are currently “hard at work planning the ’24-25 banquet” set for April 6 and other end-of-year activities, according to Dearmon.

“Tomorrow, actually, on March 18, the chapter will be holding the chapter officer interviews,” she said. “We have 16 students running with only 10 spots to fill, so we're excited that we have students wanting to participate and be a part of it. Our chapter officers really do put in a lot of work, so we're excited to see what the new officers will do for the future of our chapter.”

Several FFA members also enjoyed recent field trips to the Ohio State-Michigan hockey game and to Newport Aquarium, Dearmon said.

In other discussion:

• The board approved an update to school policies, including wording changes to existing policies and some rescissions, as well as additions of new policies. Several of them were in response to new orders at the federal and/or state levels.

The list included: Policy 0131.1 - Technical Corrections; Policy 0171 - Rescind - Review of Policy; Policy 1422.01 - New Drug-Free Workplace; Policy 2260.02 - Single Gender Classes and Activities; Policy 2271 - College Credit Plus Program; Policy 2340 - Field and Other District-Sponsored Trips; Policy 2430.02- Participation of Community/Stem School Students in Extracurricular Activity; Policy 2431 - Interscholastic Athletics; Policy 2460 - Special Education; Policy 2460 - ODE Rescind Special Education; Policy 5113 - Admission of Students Participating Under Interdistrict Open Enrollment; Policy 5131 - Student Transfers; Policy 5223 - Released Time for Religious Instruction During the School Day; Policy 5330 - Use of Medications; Policy 5350 - Student Mental Health, Wellbeing and Suicide Prevention; Policy 5460 - Graduation Requirements; Policy 5610 - Removal, Suspension, Expulsion and Permanent Exclusion of Students; Policy 5751 - Parental Status of Students; Policy 5780.81 - NEW Parents’ Bill of Rights; Policy 6151 - Insufficient Funds/Bad Checks; Policy 7421 - NEW Restroom, Locker Rooms, Shower Rooms and Changing Rooms; Policy 8142 - Criminal History Record Check for Contracted School Services; Policy 8452 - Automated External Defibrillators (AED) and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; Policy 8500 - Food Service; and Policy 8510 - Wellness.

Davis said that NEOLA spent “about three hours” reviewing the changes with the district.

“We had four new laws passed which were covered in the new policies,” board member Larry Lyons. “The changes are incorporated in our policies.”

During Lyons’ legislative update, board president Bill Myers also asked how plans for “the state budget are affecting” the district funding.

“We're probably going to receive a little bit less than what we have,” Lyons said. “They're going back to some prior years. But who knows? It's bouncing back and forth, some pluses, some minuses.

“My guess, and it is purely a guess, is that we're going to go back just a little bit, not significant. I don’t think we’ll be impacted significantly at the state level.”

Board member Tom Milbery asked if Lyons had any information on proposals for free breakfast/lunch for students being continued at the state level as opposed to federally.

“Yes, there is a proposal in, to take a permanent position on free lunches for all students, regardless of their income status,” Lyons said. “It's very preliminary, and I would not take that to the bank at all. It’s just been submitted, and it’s circulating.”

Milbery asked district treasurer Ben Teeters if the district’s summer food truck program is covered by Title I funding.

“We just get reimbursed at a federal level, of so much per meal, from the federal government right now, not the state,” Teeters said. “But if the federal government turns the monies over to the a state, then it'll become a state revenue, rather than federal.”

Board member Jerry Walker also asked how a “current proposal in the state legislature to change seat time, to increase the seat time for students,” would affect the district.

“There have been discussions, but I don't know how concrete of a chance that is of moving forward,” Davis said. “Whether or not it gets put into a bill, I don't know.”

Davis and Lyons both added that the district “already exceeds the minimum” number of hours required.

• Board member Beverly Rhoads shared highlights from the March 12 Great Oaks Board of Directors meeting. Rhoads was one of several Great Oaks board members recognized by the Ohio School Boards Association for her years of service (20) at the OSBA’s spring conference. Ron Friend of Fairfield Local was also honored for 30 years, Rhoads said.    

The Great Oaks board also approved the 2025-26 district calendars, according to Rhoads.

• The board approved the financial reports as presented. Teeters reported a February 2025 cash balance of $10,902,648, up from $9,105,972 in February 2024; expenses of $2,297,520, up from $2,259,041 last year; and revenues of $1,560,193, up from $1,513,091 a year ago.

• The board approved the following individuals for the contracts and positions indicated: volunteers, Crystal Block, Keely Crone and Alex Walker (HES) and Jordan Gillespie (HHS/HMS); sub classified, Victoria Arnold (cook), Heather Jones (van driver) and Eric Luschek (bus driver); and supplemental, Stephanie Haines (HS assistant girls track coach), Taylor Reed (HS assistant basketball cheerleading coach, retroactive to Nov. 4) and Charlie Schneider (HS assistant boys tennis coach). In a separate motion, the board voted 5-0 to approve Scott Haines as HS assistant boys track coach, with Lyons abstaining.

• The board approved Jordan Bailey, Kaylei Hall, Andrew Norton and Emily Workman as early graduates.

• The board approved leaves of absence for teacher Matt Garman, effective March 21-April 4, and paraprofessional Barb Goode, from Jan. 16-March 2.

• The board accepted the following donations: for elementary student supplies, an anonymous $100 donation; for student needs, Bohrer Vet Services (television and speaker valued at $200), Burwinkel-McKenzie family ($100), Highland Lanes (two $25 gift cards), Little Caesars (gift cards valued at $600) and The Alley Neighborhood Grille (two $25 gift cards); and for the high school science showcase, Hillsboro Family Vision ($250), Horne Law Office ($250), Julie Weisner ($500) and Wilkin-Wilkin Insurance ($100).

“As always, it's greatly appreciated,” Myers said. “It never ceases to amaze me, in the community involvement we have. We're very appreciative.”

Publisher's note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the last 25 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: The Highland County Press, P.O. Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include "for website" on the memo line.