Superintendent Tim Davis said the Hillsboro City Schools have received several awards and recognitions recently during the monthly board of education meeting held Monday.
He said the school district had a spot inspection of its buses by the Ohio State Highway Patrol recently, and that the Ohio Department of Education awarded the high school with a Purple Star designation.
Davis said the OSHP recently spot inspected 15 buses and that they all passed.
“There were a few minor errors, but those were fixed even before they got done with the inspection,” Davis said.
He credited bus supervisor Ron Ward and his staff for “ensuring the best safety we can for our students.”
The superintendent said the closest high school to receive the ODE Purple Star designation was Cincinnati Kings.
The Purple Star designation for military-friendly schools recognizes schools that show a major commitment to serving students and families connected to the nation’s armed forces. The Purple Star Advisory Board, formed by the Ohio departments of Education, Higher Education, Veterans Services and Adjutant General, helps decide eligibility, the ODE said in recent news release.
A Purple Star school will receive the designation for two years. After two years, the school must reapply. The Purple Star emblem was selected to symbolize support for military families.
Laurel Oaks Career Campus in Wilmington was also one of two career centers in Ohio named a Purple Star school. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Paolo DeMaria announced recently that 57 schools across the state received the Purple Star designation.
“There are 34,000 children in Ohio with one or more parents serving in the military. This includes the children of active duty, reserve and Ohio National Guard members. Some of these children will attend six to nine different schools throughout their K-12 educational experiences. In addition to changing schools often, a student can be affected by a parent’s deployment. Schools can help students and families face these issues by connecting them with the resources they need,” the ODE news release said.
Davis said the district’s Early Childhood Center recently an “All ‘A’ Award,” and that third grade statewide test scores were recently released showing that 38 percent of Hillsboro students in that grade were found to be proficient. He said the 38 percent was about the same as a year ago, and that the statewide average is 40 percent. The goal by the end of the school year is to have 80 percent of the third grade students proficient, Davis said.
In other news, the board approved a contract between the Hillsboro City Schools and the Vinson Consulting Group for a Checkpoint EMIS Platform System that will monitor information between the special education department and Emergency Management Information System (EMIS) information.
The system will monitor Hillsboro reports on funding for special education and will let the district know if it has made any errors, Davis said.
“Basically, it’s to ensure we get the most funds for our students and will correct any errors we might have,” Davis said.
Treasurer Ben Teeters said the system will cost the school district about $1,000 per month. But board president Bill Myers said that if the system finds an error, just one could almost pay for the system for the entire year.
The board retired into executive session at the conclusion of the meeting for the purpose of appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion or compensation of a public employee, but said no action would be taken after the session.
Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522.
