Board Meeting Recap for March 2025
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, March 19, 2025 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.
Special Recognitions
Anderson and Turpin High Schools both recognized students who were recently named finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. This is a significant accomplishment for these students and Forest Hills School District congratulates them on this prestigious recognition. Leighton Iredale was named a finalist from Anderson High School. Thanh-Tu D. Buchholz, Charlie H. Co and Russell D. Haussman were named finalists from Turpin High School.
The Forest Hills Foundation for Education announced that registration is now open for the annual FH5K! The community celebration and fundraiser will be held on Saturday, May 10, 2025, and individuals can register to participate by visiting the race website here.
The Foundation also reported receiving 21 PTO Community Grant applications this year, the most that have ever been submitted. FHFE will be awarding $25,000 in grants for this program after spring break. Additionally, in an effort to get feedback from and better engage with FHSD alumni, the Foundation is distributing a survey to better inform those efforts. If you are not sure whether FHFE has up-to-date contact information, you can register as an alumni by visiting the Foundation website here.
Superintendent Update
Superintendent Larry Hook celebrated two teachers who were recently selected to receive prestigious community honors. FHSD Preschool Intervention Specialist Jody Brandon is the 2025 Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce Educator of the Year! Jody has served students in FHSD for more than two decades and played an integral role in the district’s ability to earn the highest possible rating from the State of Ohio’s Step Up to Quality award. The Chamber will celebrate Jody at its annual awards ceremony on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
Turpin High School Health Teacher Debbie Nimmo was chosen as the district’s Celebrate Excellence honoree for the Hamilton County Education Foundation’s annual recognition program. Debbie has worked in the school district for many years, previously as a health and Spanish teacher at Anderson High School. At Turpin, Debbie helped revamp the health curriculum and has provided invaluable leadership to the Check and Connect program and Sources of Strength, helping better support the overall wellness of students.
The superintendent also thanked the school Parent Teacher Organizations and the Forest Hills Council for organizing a wonderful Staff Appreciation Week. The week was filled with wonderful moments of gratitude toward employees at all buildings and across all departments.
Superintendent Hook discussed recent legislative updates and potential changes to state funding for public schools in Ohio. He has been meeting with different state legislators to advocate on behalf of FHSD and work with them to try to find solutions to existing challenges with the proposed funding levels.
Board Action
The Board of Education often reviews and votes on a variety of actions that impact different departments throughout the school district. The following action items presented by department representatives were 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.
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 and related attachments here.
Business Operations
- 9.1 Resolution Authorizing Purchase of School Buses
- This resolution authorizes the school district to purchase five school buses at a cost of $641,385. You can view the resolution here.
- 9.2 Resolution Expressing Intent to Contract (Turpin Chiller)
- This resolution grants permission for the school district to award a contract to the lowest responsible bidder upon compliance with all conditions precedent related to the Turpin Chiller Replacement Project. The estimated cost is $520,000. You can view the resolution here.
- 9.3 Resolution Expressing Intent to Contract (Nagel Boiler)
- This resolution grants the district permission to award a contract to the lowest responsible bidder upon compliance with all conditions precedent related to the Nagel Boiler Replacement Project. The estimated cost is $70,000. You can view the resolution here.
- 9.4 Resolution Expressing Intent to Contract (Radio Communication System)
- This resolution approves a contract to support the existing hand-held radios used by all buildings while adding new equipment to provide district-wide communication capability. The estimated cost is $250,000. You can view the resolution here.
- 9.5 District Insurance
- This item approves the renewal of the certain insurance policies for the school district at an estimated cost of $594,758.21. The policies will be in effect for the period of April 1, 2025, through April 1, 2026. You can view the annual premium summary document here.
Teaching and Learning
- 10.1 Overnight Field Trip Requests
- This item approves requests for overnight field trips, which you can read here.
Committee Reports
- 11.1 Policy Committee Report: NEOLA Volume 43, Number 2 and Special Update
- The FHSD Board of Education Policy Committee provided an update of its most recent meeting. Committee Chair Sara Jonas delivered a first reading of the included policy changes. The Board of Education will vote on these policy updates at its next Regular Meeting on April 16, 2025. You can view a list of the policies here.
Treasurer Update
- 11.1 Treasurer's Report
- Treasurer Alana Cropper’s February report provided information on the following items:
- Donations
- Five-Year Forecast
- General Fund Revenue
- General Fund Expenditures
- General Operating Cash Balance
- Permanent Improvement Fund
- Investment Income Snapshot
- Past Month Reconciliation
- Permanent Appropriations
- Amendments to Permanent Appropriations
- You can find the February cash position report here.
- Treasurer Alana Cropper’s February report provided information on the following items:
This completes the consent agenda.
Board Discussion
Board members discussed the current status of the process to fill the existing vacancy on the Board of Education. Board President Bibb explained that the Board received 29 applications for the vacant seat and has scheduled interviews with five remaining candidates for consideration. Those interviews are being conducted Wednesday, March 19 and Saturday, March 22, 2025.
The Board also discussed the process to review and select a professional firm to assist in the search for the upcoming Treasurer opening. The Board has had one formal presentation from K-12 Business Consulting, Inc., and some members indicated an interest in hearing presentations from additional firms for comparison.
An update was provided on the ongoing discussions related to the evaluation process for the superintendent and treasurer. The Board has held public work sessions to review and update the forms and procedures guiding that process, and a draft version of the plan will soon be shared with Superintendent Hook and Treasurer Cropper for feedback.
Additional comments were made regarding the FHSD Culture Blueprint, the FHSD Preschool’s efforts to support all students and earning a Gold rating from the Step Up to Quality Preschool evaluation system, various building updates and celebrations and more.
The Board also briefly discussed the two items listed below. No action was taken on either item during the meeting, but the Board agreed to continue the discussion at the special meeting scheduled for Saturday, March 22, 2025.
- 13.2 Resolution in Support of the Fair School Funding Plan
- You can read the full resolution here.
- 13.3 Testimony for Senate Education Committee
- You can read the full written testimony here.
You can click the following link to view the full discussion period, which begins at 1:10:50 during the meeting livestream.
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.”
- Special Meeting/Work Session - February 20, 2025
- Regular Meeting - February 20, 2025
