Board Meeting Recap for October 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, October 15, 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 the district’s YouTube page. Due to technical difficulties, the livestream is available in two parts: Part 1 and Part 2.
Special Recognitions
Nineteen students from Anderson and Turpin High Schools were recognized for achieving either commended or semifinalist status in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Anderson Principal Kyle Fender and Turpin Principal Andy Jados presented each of the students with certificates to recognize their impressive accomplishments. The Board of Education commended the following students:
National Merit Scholarship Program - Commended
- Anderson High School
- Kendall Bailey
- Shiloh Farrell
- Samuel Lapthorn
- Seth Mizukawa
- Adrianne Potter
- John Sellins
- Turpin High School
- Phoebe Baldsare
- Alec Carter
- Bodhi Hale
- Maxwell Heis
- Allison Martin
- Adhi Nayak
- Sam Nierling
- Ashton Rubrecht
- Norah Zellen
National Merit Scholarship Program - Semifinalists
- Anderson High School
- Charlie Cox
- Hifza Fatima
- Luke Patterson
- Turpin High School
- Matias Moscoso Boedo
The Forest Hills Foundation for Education has been able to award $140,000 in teacher grants this school year, marking the largest ever contribution of teacher grants. The Foundation is in the process of revealing the grants that have been selected for funding in the annual “prize patrol” visits. There are 39 grants impacting all nine schools and all FHSD students.
The Foundation’s “Rooted in Hope and Strength” fundraising campaign is underway with a goal to support important after-school programs. This campaign aims to support students in the middle—sixth through ninth grades—as they find their people and identify their strengths through targeted after-school programs, clubs, tutoring and mental health support. You can support this specific campaign by visiting the fundraising webpage here.
Additionally, FHFE will host its Denim & Diamonds Fundraiser Party on November 15, 2025 at Belterra Casino with entertainment by Naked Karate Girls. 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/.
Superintendent Update
Superintendent Larry Hook provided a detailed overview of a recently completed enrollment projection report. FutureThink, a Columbus-based national planning firm, calculated projected enrollment across all FHSD schools up to the 2034-2035 school year. You can learn more about the process and read the full report in this article on the FHSD website.
Some of the key takeaways discussed by Superintendent Hook include the value of conducting regular demographic surveys, that the district is expected to see a smaller enrollment decline than statewide figures over the same time period and that slight increases for Sherwood, Summit and the FHSD Preschool program need to be closely monitored for potential impacts on classroom space needs. You can watch the full presentation and listen to a productive discussion among Board Members beginning at 23:54 in the meeting livestream.
Human Resources Staffing Report
Executive Director of Human Resources Rob Fellows presented the October 2025 full-time equivalent (FTE) report to the Board of Education, which details the number of FTE positions broken down by employee group and job classification. The presentation also included a recap of 2025 hiring updates, employee retention data, recent increases in special education service needs and related staffing impacts, and an overview of elementary class sizes. You can view the slideshow presentation here and watch the video beginning at 59:20 in the meeting livestream.
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.
Human Resources
- 8.2 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.
The Human Resources Report was approved by the Board as a separate action item. The following items in the consent agenda were also approved by the Board of Education.
Business Operations
- 9.1 Resolution Declaring Impractical Transportation (Revised)
- This resolution lists certain non-public schools where transportation has been declared impractical. Families of students attending those schools will be offered payment in lieu of transportation, pursuant to state law. You can read the resolution here.
- 9.2 Resolution Authorizing Advertisement and Solicitation of Bids (Turpin Natatorium AHU)
- This resolution allows the district to advertise and solicit bids for an air handling unit at the Turpin High School Natatorium at an estimated cost of $529,000. You can read the resolution here.
Teaching and Learning
- 10.1 Overnight Field Trips
- This item approves planned and possible overnight field trip requests which you can find here.
Treasurer Update
- 11.1 403(b) and 457(b) Plan Distribution Resolution
- This item approves the 403(b) and 457(b) plan distribution resolution. You can view the resolution and related attachments here.
- 11.2 Workers' Compensation Settlement
- This resolution approves the Bureau of Workers' Compensation settlement agreement, the terms of which are required to be kept confidential.
- 11.3 Treasurer’s Report
- Treasurer Alana Cropper presented the September 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
- Approval of Certification of Funds
- You can find the September Cash Position Report here.
- Treasurer Alana Cropper presented the September report which provided information on the following items:
This completes the meeting’s consent agenda.
Committee Reports
Board Members provided updates on the committee meeting listed below.
- Human Resources Committee
- Committee Chairperson Wendy Strickler provided an update on the committee meeting held on October 7, 2025. The purpose of this meeting was to review the district's current staffing allocation in light of its October FTE reconciliation report.
- Policy Committee
- Committee Chairperson Sara Jonas provided an update on the committee meeting held on October 8, 2025, which included the NEOLA Volume 44, Number 1 updates. This is the first reading of the proposed policy changes, and they will be presented for a second and final reading at the November Board of Education meeting. You can find a list of policy updates and find attachments for individual policies here.
Board Discussion
Board members discussed the upcoming Parent Academy event that took place the following day, Thursday, October 16, 2025. They encouraged community members to attend and drew special attention to a session hosted by The Digital Balance Project that focused on appropriate social media usage and the importance of waiting until a safe age to engage in social media content.
Board Member Sara Jonas requested an update on any progress in establishing a ‘business advisory committee’, which led to a discussion among board members about what that might look like and potential purposes for the group. Some of the stated goals for the group would be to form more formal relationships with business-minded individuals in the community to tap into their expertise to collect feedback on district operations.
Ayer Assistant Principal Dave Haluga was recognized for agreeing to shave his head to celebrate their collection of $100,000 in the fall fundraiser with the Ayer PTO. Turpin digital art students were also celebrated for helping create a projection map display at the homecoming pep rally, something that was made possible by a grant from the Forest Hills Foundation for Education.
Board Member Jason Simmons took a moment to clarify circumstances related to a candidate for political office participating in the pre-game coin toss at the Turpin vs. Anderson football game. The school was not aware of or involved in selecting the individual, and board policy states that “school facilities or equipment may not be used as a means of producing or disseminating to the community any materials that advertises or promotes a political party, a political cause or the candidacy of an individual for public office.”
You can click the following link to view the full discussion period, which begins at 20:31 during Part 2 of 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 - September 16, 2025
- Regular Meeting - September 17, 2025
