Board Meeting Recap for August 2023

Forest Hills School District is utilizing these articles as a way to communicate specific action taken at regular Board of Education meetings throughout the year. The Board of Education met on Wednesday, August 16, 2023 at Mercer Elementary School to discuss a variety of topics relevant to students, staff and the community.

The official agenda and related attachments for this meeting can be found on the FHSD BoardDocs page here. You can watch a full recording of the meeting on YouTube here.

Forest Hills Foundation for Education Update

The Forest Hills Foundation for Education reported on a successful and impactful year supporting students and staff in 2022-2023. Over the course of the past school year, FHFE raised $297,000 to support its initiatives. FHSD is so thankful for the long-lasting and ongoing support provided by the foundation. FHFE Executive Director Stacy Gillard also mentioned how the organization is celebrating 15 years and revealed the total impact for Forest Hills students and staff to be $2.7 million from 2008-2023. You can learn more about FHFE and find information about how to donate at their website fhfe.org.

Superintendent Update

Forest Hills School District Superintendent Larry Hook thanked WLWT and WCPO for inviting the district to participate in recent back-to-school coverage on their respective television stations. You can watch an interview Mr. Hook did with WLWT here, find their report on back-to-school excitement here and watch WCPO's coverage of back-to-school preparations and district finances here.

Mr. Hook also announced the FHSD Culture Blueprint to the Board of Education and community. This document was developed by a group of approximately three dozen FHSD employees, representing all buildings and departments, in the spring of 2023. It outlines key values, behaviors and outcomes the district is prioritizing in an effort to solidify a culture of excellence. Mr. Hook provided details on the process and a brief overview of his emphasis on leadership and culture. He also spoke about existing and future efforts to spread this message among staff members, students and the community.

Please visit our Culture Blueprint webpage for more details about this exciting and important approach being implemented across the district.

Board Action

The Board of Education often reviews and votes on a variety of actions that impact different departments throughout the school district. Typically, the action items presented by department representatives are voted on together as part of the “consent agenda.” For specific information about any of the following items, you can find the meeting agenda and attachments here.

The following items in the consent agenda were approved by the Board of Education.

Business Operations

• 7.1 M.E. Lyons YMCA Contract for Before & After School Program 2023-2024 and 2024-2025
  • This item approves a contract related to before and after school programs for students in grades K-6. The services are provided by M.E. Lyons YMCA at no cost to the district. You can view the contract here.
• 7.2 Payment in Lieu of Transportation (Revised)
  • This resolution approves the revised Payment in Lieu of Transportation, which is an agreement by FHSD to offer payment to families with students at specific non-public schools in lieu of providing transportation for those students, as allowed under Ohio Revised Code Section 3327.01. You can view the resolution here.
• 7.3 Transportation / Bus Stops 2023-2024 School Year
  • This item approves the bus stops for the 2023-2024 school year as well as the authority to designate or relocate subsequent school bus stops be delegated by the Board to the Superintendent or designee as presented. You can view the bus stop list and route report here.
• 7.4 Residency Waiver
  • This item approves a residency waiver for a senior at Anderson High School for the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year. Per Board Policy 5111, if a student is a senior in high school and his or her parents move out of the school district after the commencement of classes, the student may continue to attend in the district for the remainder of the school year, subject to the approval of the Board of Education.
• 7.5 MOU with Hamilton County Sheriff Office
  • This item approves a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office for the services of School Resource Officers. This agreement is necessary to allow the district to hire an additional School Resource Officer, bringing the district total of full-time SROs to two. You can read the MOU here.
• 7.6 School Resource Officer and Anderson Township Agreement
  • This item approves a Cooperative Agreement and Resolution with the Board of Township Trustees of Anderson Township, Hamilton County, Ohio for the services of a second School Resource Officer. You can view those documents here.

Human Resources

• 8.1 Human Resources Report
  • The report covers a variety of topics including retirements, resignations and appointments of different staff members. You can view the report here.

Teaching and Learning/Curriculum

• 9.1 Outdoor Education Program (Camp Kern)
  • This item approves the continuation of the district’s outdoor education program in 2023-2024, which will be held at Camp Kern in May. You can view specific dates and find more information here.
• 9.2 Child Focus, Inc. Service Agreement
  • This item approves an extension of services provided by Child Focus, Inc. to students in FHSD. Child Focus provides mental health services to youth and families while working with agencies and schools. The agreed cost is $32,878.72 per month (4.0 FTE), less generated Medicaid revenue. You can find the related documents here.

Teaching and Learning/Student Services

• 10.1 Hamilton County Educational Service Center Contract for Services - IHM 2023-2024
  • This item approves contracted Services for a non-public school (IHM) at a cost of $411,796.80 (note: these are allocated federal/auxiliary funds). You can view the agreement here.
• 10.2 Resolution to Contract with Applied Behavioral Services - Fairfax 2023-2024
  • This agreement supports the year-round (12 months) placement (per IEP) of a special education student. The cost is $62,055 per year. You can read the agreement here.
• 10.3 Resolution to Contract with Applied Behavioral Services Mason 2023-2024
  • This agreement supports the year-round (12 months) placement (per IEP) of a special education student. The cost is $127,197 per year. You can read the agreement here.
• 10.4 SJO Kids, Inc. dba NewPath Child and Family Services Agreement (2023-2024)
  • This item approves an agreement with the named organization to provide mental health and educational services through their residential interventions program. The cost is $72,393.30 (the cost of two educational aides). You can read the agreement here.
• 10.5 Xello Technologies LTD Contract 2023-2024
  • This item approves a renewal contract with Xello Technologies LTD to engage students to discover relevant college, university, trade and career options based on their personality, skills, and knowledge. The cost is $16,226.15 for services from August 1, 2023 to July 31, 2024. You can learn more about the program and read the agreement here.

Technology

• 11.1 Forward Edge IT Professional Services Agreement
  • This item approves the support contract with Forward Edge for technology support services for the period of July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024 at a cost of $37,971. You can read the agreement here.

Treasurer Update

• 12.1 Treasurer's Report
  • Treasurer Alana Cropper’s reports for the months of June and July (click the name of the month to view the report) provided information on the following items:
    • Donations
    • Statement of Board Accounts
    • General Fund Receipts
    • General Fund Expenditures by Function
    • General Fund Expenditures by Object
    • Monthly Bank Statement
    • Appointment of Cashiers (July)
    • Transfer of Funds (July)

Committee Reports

Board Members provided updates on the committee meetings listed below.

• Finance Committee
  • Board Member Leslie Rasmussen updated the full Board about the Finance Committee Meeting, which was held on July 26, 2023. The meeting provided a general update on district finances, with specific information on the Cupp Report from ODE and FHSD’s five-year forecast. Additional information can be found in the approved minutes that are linked below.
• Policy Committee
  • Board President Linda Hausfeld presented the NEOLA policy updates from Volume 41 No 2 for a second reading. The Board voted to approve these policy updates, which you can find here.

Approved Minutes

The Board of Education approved minutes for the following meetings, which you can view by clicking the link associated with each meeting. After clicking the appropriate link, you will need to then click “View Minutes” under Agenda Item Details, next to the category titled “Minutes.”

• Regular Meeting - June 28, 2023
• Regular Meeting - July 10, 2023
• Finance Committee Meeting - July 26, 2023