Board Meeting Recap for February 2026
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, February 18, 2026 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 the district’s YouTube page here.
Special Recognitions
A group of students from Maddux Elementary School delivered a wonderful presentation on writing letters of kindness, a student council initiative to share “kindness clips” and impressive student projects that were presented at the school’s recent Science and Innovation Showcase. Several students spoke about their individual experiences in front of the Board and the audience, sharing what made these initiatives special to them. Students who made “kindness clips,” which are clothespins decorated with beautiful images and kind messages, were able to clip the Board and FHSD administrative team with these handmade items!
The Forest Hills Foundation for Education highlighted the 2026 FH5K, which will take place on Saturday, May 9. The theme for this year’s event is “Small Steps. Big Impact.” Alexa Inman, a student ambassador for this year’s FH5K, talked about her role in encouraging students and community members to participate in this great event supporting students across all nine FHSD schools.
The Foundation also highlighted a number of student-led grant projects to encourage community members to support the Give With Heart fundraising campaign. This campaign, which you can support by clicking here, will help FHFE with the current goal of green-lighting $25,000-30,000 toward the current round of student-led grant submissions.
You can learn more about the Foundation’s initiatives and find ways to support their efforts by visiting the FHFE website at https://fhfe.org/.
Executive Session and Board Action
The Board of Education adjourned to executive session early in the meeting to discuss personnel matters. After the conclusion of the executive session, Superintendent Hook announced his intent to resign from his position at the end of the current school year. Mr. Hook has spent 36 years serving students and communities through a variety of positions in public education. He thanked the staff, students and community for their support and recognized the goals that have been realized over the past four years to provide a wonderful education to students in Anderson Township and the Village of Newtown.
The Board of Education thanked Superintendent Hook for his service to our community and to the other communities he has served as a superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, teacher and coach. You can learn more about the decision and read full statements provided by Superintendent Hook and the Board of Education in this article on the district website.
The Board voted to accept Superintendent Hook’s resignation at the February 18, 2026 meeting.
Superintendent Update
Superintendent Larry Hook shared information about a special greeting from the Milan Cortina Olympics that students at Wilson Elementary School received. Former Wilson Wildcat and Nagel Nighthawk Quinn Dehlinger sent a personalized video to Wilson students, encouraging them to pursue their dreams. Unfortunately, Quinn suffered an injury training at the Olympics and was not able to compete. FHSD is so proud of how far Quinn has made it and how well he represented the United States on a global stage. The district wishes him a speedy recovery.
Mr. Hook also provided an update on two key areas of the FHSD Strategic Plan:
- Strategy Five: Deliver relevant, proactive and timely information through varied communication channels.
- Messaging analytics and key initiatives led by the FHSD Communications Department were discussed in detail.
- Strategy One: Cultivate and sustain vibrant learning communities for students and staff, dedicated to fostering connections, ownership and continuous growth.
- Superintendent Hook shared an update on the winter iReady diagnostic test results for students in the areas of reading and mathematics. He also provided information on building-specific plans to address certain areas of improvement.
The Board of Education and Superintendent Hook engaged in a conversation regarding the current status of the Anderson High School swimming pool. You can watch the full discussion regarding the AHS swimming pool beginning at 1:27:48 in the meeting livestream. One topic that was discussed was the difficulty of making significant repairs and conducting major construction projects on the lower level of the building underneath a gymnasium. That would require special stabilization efforts outside the normal repair costs in order to ensure the building doesn’t sustain damage during the work. Additionally, Superintendent Hook touched briefly on the updated cost estimates that were presented to the Board of Education at the November 6, 2025 Technology and Facilities Committee Meeting. One major point of conversation was the ongoing collaborative meetings between the school district, Anderson Township and Anderson Park District regarding the development of the Beech Acres Park. Two items the school district has identified as areas of need that could be addressed in a final plan are expanded space for preschool/early childhood education and a swimming pool. The Board and Superintendent discussed that it is still far too early in the process to know what potential changes might be considered at that site, but they acknowledged the importance of investigating that option before investing a large amount of money into the AHS pool facility.
Finally, the Board of Education approved FHSD’s continued membership in the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) for the 2026-2027 school year. You can read that resolution here.
Board Action
The Board of Education often reviews and votes on a variety of actions that impact different departments throughout the school district. 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
- 11.1 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
- 12.1 Resolution to Award Cooperative Purchasing Contract (Ayer Roof)
- This resolution authorizes a cooperative purchasing contract to RoofConnect for roofing improvements at Ayer Elementary at an anticipated cost of $550,630. You can read the resolution here.
- 12.2 Resolution Authorizing Solicitation of Cooperative Contract (Van Purchase)
- This resolution authorizes Southwestern Ohio EPC to advertise and receive bids for the purchase of two (2) passenger vans for the Transportation Department. You can read the resolution here.
Teaching and Learning
- 13.1 Candidates for Graduation
- This item approves the granting of diplomas to Lawrence Brightwell and Jayden Shearer who have completed all requirements for a diploma from Anderson High School.
- 13.2 Overnight Field Trip Requests
- This item approves planned and possible overnight field trip requests which you can find here.
- 13.3 Resolution to Contract with Child Focus, Inc. Service Agreement - Wasserman Day Treatment Contract
- This resolution approves agreement between FHSD and Child Focus to provide mental health services, including prevention, consultation, assessment, therapy and professional development to and FHSD student and family who are involved in the WDT-C Program. The estimated cost is $25,000 for the remainder of the school year. You can read the resolution here.
- 13.4 Contract HCESC
- This item approves a contract between FHSD and HCESC to provide two days per week (0.4 full-time equivalent) of Behavior Coaching and consultation provided by a Behavior Specialist or BCBA. Coaching and consultation includes classroom observations, teaching conferencing/coaching, professional development, classroom coaching, direct student support and student team meeting participation. The estimated cost is $26,000 for the remainder of the school year. You can read the service agreement here.
Treasurer Update
- 14.1 Treasurer’s Report
- Treasurer Alana Cropper presented the January report which 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
- Amendment to Permanent Appropriations
- Amendment to Basic Life Rates
- Approval of Certification of Funds
- You can find the January Cash Position Report here.
- Treasurer Alana Cropper presented the January report which provided information on the following items:
- 14.2 February Financial Forecast
- Click here to view the district’s Financial Forecast Report February 2026.
- Due to the most recent state biennial budget bill, the way school districts in Ohio report financial projections is changing beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. While the projection was previously called the Five-Year Forecast and was released in November and May, new state requirements mean the initial report will be released in August and the update will come out in February.
- The district will share additional information in a separate web article and on official social media pages in the near future. You can also watch Treasurer Alana Cropper deliver the report in the meeting livestream, beginning at the 2:13:15 mark.
This completes the meeting’s consent agenda.
- 14.3 District Benchmarks
- This item was presented as information only, and is not an item that was voted on as part of the Board’s consent agenda. The information included the District Profile Report (Cupp Report), valuation and millage history, residential tax rates, cost per pupil and other comparisons with Hamilton County school districts.
- You can watch the full discussion portion related to benchmarks in the meeting livestream, beginning at the 2:39:43 mark.
Board Discussion
The Board of Education discussed a number of different topics during this portion of the February 18, 2026 meeting. You can click the following link to view the full discussion period, which begins at 2:59:21 during the meeting livestream.
The Board had a lighthearted discussion about a student request to offer cheesesticks more often during lunch. They each celebrated a wide variety of student accomplishments including the recent Anderson and Turpin theatrical plays, an upcoming Summit volleyball recreation program, the Nagel dance team placing in the state competition, recent success for the combined Anderson and Turpin mock trial team, students participating in the spelling bee and school science and innovation fairs.
Additionally, the Board shared information with the community about new efforts to make conversations about district finances more concise and easier for members of the public to engage with and understand. Moving forward, there will be adjustments to the monthly Treasurer’s Report to make improvements in this area.
Board Vice President Simmons raised awareness of Ohio House Bill 326, which the Ohio House of Representatives has passed. The bill will now need to be considered by the Ohio Senate. HB 326 would allow public and chartered nonpublic schools to include the Classic Learning Test as a qualifying assessment. Currently, Ohio law requires school districts to administer a single state-selected assessment, most commonly the ACT or SAT, to 11th grade students, though families may opt out. Board Vice President Simmons raised concerns about this proposed legislation and with the Classic Learning Test.
Lastly, the Board discussed the Anderson Athletic Boosters car raffle fundraiser. The Board was considering certain aspects of the fundraiser, specifically the use of official school logos in partnership with an outside commercial entity. Members also discussed the need for a close examination of district policy and indicated the topic may come up at the next regular meeting on March 3, 2026.
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.”
- Budget and Organizational Meeting - January 10, 2026
- Regular Meeting - January 22, 2026
