On a night when the Hillsboro City Schools Summer Meals Program received an award for its outstanding service from the Childrens Hunger Alliance, food service director Jessica Walker announced that the program plans to add a second vehicle and nine new stops on its routes this summer.
The new vehicle will be a refashioned bus call the Juice Box.
“We think we have a really good lineup and the Juice Box is going to get us to people we didn’t get to before,” Walker said at Monday’s Hillsboro Board of Education meeting.
Walker said the school district will not be able to continue all nine new stops in the summer of 2022, but getting to so many locations this year “will give us a screen shot of maybe where we need to be longer.”
She said that this year the Juice Box and Tomahawk Food Truck will only be able to stop about 15 minutes at each location.
The goal this summer, Walker said, it to serve about 1,400 meals each day.
The school board approved new lunch prices for the 2021-22 school year at Monday’s meeting. But superintendent Tim Davis said the prices will make little difference since a program the school has been approved for will allow it to offer free meals to all students next year.
The board also approved a long list of donations for the Tomahawk Summer Kick-off that will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday, May 28 at the former school location off West Main Street. Walker said that because of the donations, both kids and adults will be able to receive a free meal at the kick-off event.
The donations approved Monday included: Bear Mechanical $250, Ford Excavation $100, Hillsboro Family Vision $100, Hedges Supply $100, Higgins Construction $150, Hillsboro First United Methodist Church $500, Hillsboro H & R Block $200, Hillsboro Women’s Club $50, Jani Chem $100, Judge Rocky Coss $200, Lesia Langston McKenna $500, Lisa Lederer $100, Merchants National Bank $100, Ohio Asphaltic Limestone $100, Railroad Tools and Solutions $500, Rick Williams Auction Co. $50, Southern Hills Community Bank $150, Town and Country $200 and Wilkin-Wilkin Insurance $100.
“Again, we are grateful for the community we have and their willingness to help,” board president Bill Myers said.
The board also approved a donation of $350 from Hunter Family Chiropractic for the high school girls bowling team and the anonymous donation of a drum for the music department.
During his superintendent’s report, Davis said graduation will be held at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the high school gym. He said all recommended COVID-19 guidelines will be followed and that each senior will be allowed four tickets.
The superintendent said there was some talk of graduation being moved to after the state’s COVID-19 guidelines are lifted on June 2, but that the students did not want to do that.
Davis said that Everetts Way, the new road that leads from the high school to S.R. 247, will be completed with final asphalt being laid and striping put down after the end of the school year. He said the road is already being used by bus drivers in the mornings to alleviate traffic congestion on the campus.
Davis also noted that summer feeding program, the new Juice Box, and new feeding stops were all Walker’s dream.
“I can’t say enough about what she and her staff have done. It’s awesome for the community,” Davis said.
During his report, treasurer Ben Teeters gave the district’s biannual five-year forecast, saying things are holding steady for now but by 2027 the forecast shows the school district could be operating $500,000 in the red.
Teeters also said that a lot of Hillsboro teachers are retiring, and that because of ongoing reductions in student enrollment, Davis is considering not replacing some of the retiring teachers. Teeters also said he projects lower student enrollment at Hillsboro to continue.
In other news, the board approved a contract with the city of Hillsboro for two school resource officers for next school year like it has the past couple years.
“Chief (Eric) Daniels and the mayor (Justin Harsha) are on board with having one in each building so were are going to continue that for the safety of our students,” Davis said.
The board approved a long list of supplemental contracts for next year including: Sarah Albert, DC trip coordinator; Nathan Boatman, boys varsity golf; Miles Burton, boys varsity basketball and male open gym coordinator; Amy Captain, high assistant football cheerleading; Nicole Dickey, varsity volleyball; Chad Fields, girls varsity basketball and female open gym coordinator; Nicholas Fite, equipment manager; Jacob Fouch, freshman boys basketball; Sawyer Hooper Knutsson, reserve girls basketball; Nathan Horne, high school football assistant; Carey Juillerat, middle school girls basketball; Phil Loudin, varsity boys basketball assistant; Taylor Middleton, high school football cheerleading; Amanda Miller, girls varsity soccer; Catherine Moberly, site supervisor; Kara Moon, reserve volleyball; Thomas Oldham, middle school football; John O’Rourke, varsity football, weight room supervisor winter/spring; Ben Pence, high school assistant football; Kelly Perkins, middle school volleyball; Mel Pitzer, site supervisor; Ashley Purtee, girls reserve soccer; Nathan Rutledge, middle school girls basketball; Adam Schelling, boys varsity soccer; Dan Snapp, boys varsity soccer assistant; Clyde Snow, reserve football, reserve boys basketball; Casey Sullen, middle school football; Casey Taggert, middle school volleyball; Larue Turner, girls tennis; Jed Turpin, middle school football; Maverick Ward, boys reserve soccer; Kelsey West, high school volleyball volunteer.
Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522.
