Board Meeting Recap for May 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, May 20, 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.

Superintendent Update

Superintendent Larry Hook made a very special announcement that Andy Jados, Turpin High School principal, was selected by the Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators as the 2026 High School Principal of the Year for Zone 2! This region covers Hamilton, Clermont, Butler, Warren, Clinton, Brown, Highland and Adams counties.

Mr. Hook also recognized Summit 5th grade teacher Leslie Harback for being honored with the Celebrate Excellence Award, granted by the Hamilton County Educational Foundation each year. Leslie was honored at a recent ceremony and was recognized among the best educators across Hamilton County.

Additionally, Superintendent Hook celebrated the recent news that FHSD has once again been named a Best Community for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation. This is a national award presented to school districts that demonstrate excellence in music education and a commitment to the arts.

Superintendent Hook also reminded parents and guardians to take the family engagement survey that has been shared via email with the school community, and he provided an update on America 250 celebrations that have been taking place across the school district and will continue over the summer and into the fall.

Lastly, Superintendent Hook announced the graduating classes of Anderson and Turpin high schools and congratulated the 602 graduates on this major accomplishment. The Board of Education approved the granting of diplomas to the Class of 2026.

Anderson High School Pool Update

The Board received an update on the history and current status of the Anderson High School pool facility and discussed potential scenarios to address the space that has been closed since March 2019. FHSD Director of Business Operations John Eckert presented information including a timeline of events since the pool has been closed, current cost estimates and how they were calculated, comparisons to aquatic facilities at other school districts in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference and other suburban, multi-high school districts across Ohio, and updates on student-athlete participation and how the current facility at Turpin is shared district-wide.

The current cost estimates to renovate, replace or fill in the current pool, along with an estimate to build a new stand-along aquatic facility, are based on multiple site visits and a large amount of historical data and assessments. Other factors include recent inflationary pressures on construction costs and comparison to actual project costs that have taken place in the region.

The Board of Education has placed a focus on learning more about the Anderson pool and listening to community members about the facility. The pool was discussed at the February Board of Education Regular Meeting and the board president and vice president toured the facility with community members in March. The Board indicated these current discussions would continue over the coming meetings.

You can click the following link to view the full discussion period, which begins at 55:34 during the meeting livestream.

Board Spotlight

This new addition to Board of Education Regular Meetings at Mercer Elementary School is a celebration of some of the wonderful things taking place across Forest Hills School District. Each Board Member is proud to highlight a few different schools or groups that have accomplished something special in recent weeks.

You can click the following link to view the full Board Spotlight celebration, which begins at 44:52 during the meeting livestream.

Some of the spotlights included the wonderful Guys and Dolls production at Anderson High School, connections week at Nagel that gives students hands-on experiences to help them think about future careers, college opportunities or ways to engage with the community, a shoutout to the sixth grade olympics that were held in May, a fabulous end-of-year art show at Sherwood Elementary School and much more!

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

• 10.1 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

• 11.1 Pool Update
  
  • This item was not part of the consent agenda because it did not include any vote or action from the Board of Education. Please see the section earlier in this article for information about this presentation.

Teaching and Learning

• 12.1 School Fees for 2026-2027 School Year
  
  • This item approves the school fees schedule for the 2026-2027 school year. You can view the PK-8 fees here, and you can view the 9-12 fees here.
• 12.2 Resolution to Contract Cincinnati Center for Autism
  
  • This resolution approves a contract for student services with the Cincinnati Center for Autism at a cost of $104,436.20. You can view the resolution here.
• 12.3 Contract Cincinnati Occupational Therapy Institute, Inc.
  
  • This item approves a contract with Cincinnati Occupational Therapy Institute, Inc. for occupational therapy services, per student individualized educational plans (IEPs), at Anderson High School and Mercer Elementary School at a total cost of $177,480. You can view the contract here.
• 12.4 Hamilton County Educational Service Center Service Summer Preschool Evaluations June 2026
  
  • This item approves short-term services provided by the Hamilton County Educational Service Center to conduct preschool evaluations by speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists and physical therapists. The cost is $9,032 and you can view the agreement here.
• 12.5 Resolution to Contract with Applied Behavioral Services West Chester 2026-2027
  
  • This resolution approves a contract with Applied Behavioral Services West Chester, per student IEP, for the 2026-2027 school year at a cost of $119,500.04. You can view the resolution here.
• 12.6 Healthcare Process Consulting, Inc. Service Agreement 2026 (3 years)
  
  • This item approves an agreement between Forest Hills and Healthcare Processing Consulting, Inc. to manage and process the district’s Medicaid reimbursement for eligible students beginning July 1, 2026, and ending on June 30, 2029 at an annual cost of $26,000. You can view the agreement here.
  • The Forest Hills School District participates in the Ohio Medicaid Schools Program. As a participant in the program, the District will be reimbursed for the treatment of Medicaid-eligible students. Billable services include occupational therapy, speech therapy, school psychological services and nursing services. The District will contract with Healthcare Process Consulting, Inc. for assistance with billing, training, and compliance.

Technology

• 13.1 E-Rate
  
  • Forest Hills School District is eligible for E-Rate funding to offset 40% of the cost of infrastructure improvements. The bid presented is to authorize the purchase of equipment and services. You can view quotes for equipment and services by clicking here to access them in the meeting agenda.

Treasurer Update

• 14.1 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
  
  • The Treasurer recommends the Board adopt 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.
• 14.2 Treasurer’s Report
  
  • Treasurer Alana Cropper presented the April report which provided information on the following items:
    
    • Donations
    • General Fund Summary (Revenue and Expenditures)
    • Permanent Improvement Fund
    • Investment Income Snapshot
    • Past Month Reconciliation
    • Certification of Funds
    • Permanent Appropriations
  • You can find the April Cash Position Report here.

This completes the meeting’s consent agenda.

Committee Reports

Board Members provided updates on the committee meeting listed below.

• Policy Committee - First Reading
  
  • Committee Chairperson Jeff Nye brought NEOLA policy updates from Volume 44, No. 2 to the Board for consideration. This is the first reading of the proposed policy changes, and they will be presented for a second and final reading at the June Board of Education meeting. You can find attachments for each of the individual policy changes in the meeting agenda by clicking here.

Board Discussion

The Board of Education discussed a number of different topics during this portion of the May 20, 2026 meeting. You can click the following link to view the full discussion period, which begins at 1:21:29 during the meeting livestream.

The Board approved Vice President Jason Simmons to serve as Board’s representative to the Hamilton County Tax Incentive Review Council.

Board Member Nye provided an update on a recent meeting of the Forest Hills Council, an organization made up of representatives from the nine school PTOs and other support organizations, where they discussed concerns about a proposed plan to eliminate property taxes in Ohio and shared questions about how the district and PTOs can work together to clarify how certain projects are funded in the schools.

Board President Strickler shared an update on recent meetings with Anderson Township Trustees and the Anderson Park Board of Commissioners to discuss the park-owned property adjacent to Beech Acres Park. President Strickler explained the Park District is in the early stages of initiating a feasibility study and a request has been made to the Township and FHSD to potentially share some of the costs to conduct the study. This was a brief informational update and no decision was made regarding that request.

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 - May 5, 2026