FHSD Board Meeting Recap for May 2024

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, May 22, 2024 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

The Board of Education approved the Anderson and Turpin High Schools candidates for graduation for the Class of 2024. There are 557 total graduates this year and each school is holding its commencement ceremony at Xavier University’s Cintas Center on Saturday, May 25. Forest Hills School District extends congratulations and warm wishes to all students in the Class of 2024!

The Forest Hills Foundation for Education thanked the community for its support at the recent FH5K. The event was held on Saturday, May 13, 2024 and included 2,300 race participants, including more than 1,000 student participants and 325 staff participants, as well as 46 sponsorships from community organizations. The total amount raised through the FH5K was $135,000 for initiatives supporting students and staff in FHSD.

Superintendent Update

Superintendent Larry Hook began his portion of the meeting by recognizing the district’s Experience Program. Teacher Amanda Brickler and instructional aide Jake Martin work in the program to provide necessary support and educational services to all students in grades 9-12 who experience difficulty with a traditional high school setting due to social or academic concerns, attendance issues or medical reasons, among others.

This school year, 29 students in the Experience Program have met the necessary graduation requirements.

Mr. Hook also took time to reflect on various highlights from this school year. He congratulated the Class of 2024, who are currently in the midst of end-of-the-year activities like graduation rehearsals, senior award ceremonies, elementary school visits and more. Additionally, Mr. Hook recognized the recently released U.S. News and World Report Best High Schools rankings, which placed Anderson and Turpin in the top 5% of all high schools in Ohio.

The district also mentioned the eighth grade field trip to Washington D.C., from which students and staff will be returning soon. Mr. Hook spoke of this special opportunity and unforgettable experience for students where they are getting a firsthand learning experience by visiting museums, historical monuments and more.

Treasurer Update

Treasurer Alana Cropper provided an update to the Five-Year Forecast Financial Report, something she does each May. This updated forecast takes into account new information and data that has become available since the report was last published in November.

To learn more about the Five-Year Forecast, please visit the district’s dedicated webpage here. To read a brief recap of Treasurer Cropper’s May update to the forecast, and find links to read the full report and watch her presentation to the Board, please click here for a detailed news article.

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

• 9.1 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 find related attachments here.

Business Operations

• 10.1 Agreement with ASM GLOBAL/Northern Kentucky University
  
  • This motion approves an agreement with ASM GLOBAL/Northern Kentucky University to secure the Truist Arena as a venue for the 2025 graduation ceremonies for Anderson and Turpin High Schools at a cost of $13,000.00.
  • You can view the agreement here.

Teaching and Learning/Curriculum

• 11.1 School Fees for 2024-2025 School Year
  
  • This action approves school fees for the upcoming school year. You can view those fees from grades PreK-12 here.
• 11.2 Health Course of Study
  
  • This item approves the updated Health Course of Study which has been available for review in the Teaching and Learning Department since the April 2024 Board of Education meeting.
  • You can read the approved Health Course of Study here.
• 11.3 New Adoption for Mathematics (High School)
  
  • This item presents a new material for high school mathematics to the Board of Education. The item, named below, will be available for review in the Teaching and Learning Department until the June 2024 Board of Education regular meeting, at which time formal board approval will be requested.
  • STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY WITH APPLICATIONS, FOURTH EDITION
    
    • Grade Level:  9-12
    • Publisher:  Bedford, Freeman & Worth
    • Copyright:  2021
    • Course:  CP Statistics and Probability
• 11.4 Overnight Field Trip Requests
  
  • This item approves multiple overnight field trip requests for students.
  • You can view the proposed trips here.

Teaching and Learning/Student Services

• 12.1 Hamilton County Educational Service Center Service Agreement 2024-2025
  
  • This item approves the indicated special instructional services to the district public-sector programs, which are to be performed by the Hamilton County Educational Service Center during the 2024-2025 school year. The anticipated cost for these services is $1,770,482.50.
  • You can view the contract here.

Treasurer Update

• 13.1 Resolution Accepting the Amounts and Rates as Determined by the Budget Commission of Hamilton County and Authorizing the Necessary Tax Levies and Certifying them to the County Auditor
  
  • This item adopts the Resolution Accepting the Amounts and Rates as Determined by the Budget Commission of Hamilton County and Authorizing the Necessary Tax Levies and Certifying them to the County Auditor as presented.
  • You can view the resolution here.
• 13.2 Five-Year Financial Forecast/Assumptions (FY24-FY28)
  
  • This item approves the Five-Year Financial Forecast as presented by Treasurer Alana Cropper. You can find more information about the report earlier in this article.
  • You can read the Five-Year Forecast Financial Report here and find the presentation slides here.
• 13.3 Treasurer's Report
  
  • Treasurer Alana Cropper’s May 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
  • You can find the April Cash Position Report here.

Committee Reports

Board Members provided updates on the committee meeting listed below.

• Policy Committee
  
  • Committee Chairperson Sara Jonas provided an update on the March 27 meeting. This meeting was held to discuss NEOLA policy updates from Volume 42,  No 2, which you can find here. These items were brought before the Board for formal approval, after first being presented publicly at the April Board of Education meeting.
  • The Board voted to approve these policies by a vote of 4-0.

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 - February 21, 2024 (Revised to Correct Date)
• Regular Meeting - April 17, 2024