Board Meeting Recap for September 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, September 17, 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 here.
Special Recognitions
The Ohio Academy of Science recently recognized Anderson High School with the Governor’s Thomas Edison Awards for Excellence in STEM Education during the 2024-2025 school year. Seventy-six Ohio schools and 1244 teachers received this award.
The Forest Hills Foundation for Education discussed its participation in several back-to-school events and announced the recipients of the 2025 Distinguished Alumni awards. This year FHFE will also recognize alumni with a Distinguished Service Award for each high school. You can find a list of award recipients here.
At the end of September, FHFE will kick off its “Rooted in Hope & Strength” fundraising campaign. Keep an eye out for additional information about this effort in the coming weeks. 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 discussed efforts across all nine schools to recognize Constitution Day, a day that commemorates the September 17, 1787 signing of the United States Constitution.
Mr. Hook also shared information about the newly released Ohio School Report Card ratings for Forest Hills School District. FHSD earned an overall rating of 4.5 stars, which indicates the district is exceeding state standards. Based on the rating metrics, FHSD is in the top 12% of all Ohio school districts. The district earned five stars in the areas of achievement, graduation and gap closing—a rating that indicates the district “significantly exceeds state standards.” In the areas of early literacy and progress, the district was recognized with four stars indicating a performance that “exceeds state standards.” New for the 2024-2025 Report Card, the state measured college, career, workforce and military readiness (CCWMR). FHSD met state standards with a three star rating in CCWMR.
Superintendent Hook shared efforts at the district level to improve the CCWMR rating component. In CCWMR, the state measured the 2024 graduating class and several new programs have since been introduced to provide additional opportunities for students to demonstrate “readiness” as defined by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. These efforts include additional College Credit Plus courses, access to new pre-apprenticeship programs, additional programming efforts related to the OhioMeansJobs readiness seal and more.
You can view FHSD’s Report Card by visiting the ODEW website here.
Additionally, Superintendent Hook provided updates on the separate U.S. News and World Report Best High Schools Rankings that were released in September. Anderson ranked in the top 4.8% of all high schools in Ohio and the top 6.3% of high schools across the country. Turpin ranked in the top 1.8% of Ohio high schools and the top 3% of high schools across the country. You can learn more about this accomplishment in this web article.
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
- 8.1 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.
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 Purchase of School Buses
- This resolution authorizes the district to purchase four school buses at an estimated cost of $509,072. You can view 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 Financial Forecast/Assumptions (FY26-FY30)
- Click here to view the district’s Financial Forecast Report October 2025.
- 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, the first iteration will be released earlier in the school year and will follow a modified format based on state requirements.
- 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 1:36:27 mark.
- 11.2 Treasurer’s Report
- Treasurer Alana Cropper presented the August 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
2026 Insurance Rates
Approval of Certification of Funds
- You can find the August Cash Position Report here.
- Treasurer Alana Cropper presented the August report which provided information on the following items:
This completes the meeting’s consent agenda.
Board Discussion
The Board briefly discussed information that was shared at the September 16, 2025 Special Meeting, which included a third-party report on projected student enrollment. Be sure to check back for additional information to be shared related to this meeting on the district website and social media channels.
Board Vice President Strickler informed the Board and community that the next meeting between the Anderson Park District, Anderson Township and FHSD regarding the collaborative effort to explore options for the Beech Acres site expansion will take place in mid-October. Part of the meeting will involve discussions about the data gathered during the community feedback process and via an online survey.
Board members also shared celebrations about connections, caring and belonging, including a new initiative to allow high school seniors to paint their parking spots, a therapy dog visit at Summit Elementary School and an elementary-focused student spirit night at a recent Turpin Spartans football game.
You can click the following link to view the full discussion period, which begins at 2:04:00 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.”
- Regular Meeting - August 20, 2025
