Enrollment at the Hillsboro City Schools continues to grow, but is still well below where it was seven years, according to a report at Monday’s board of education meeting.

The school district had a total of 2,271 students as of Dec. 31, 2023, including 27 juniors and 19 seniors at Laurel Oaks, the board certified at the meeting. That is more total students than the past three years, but less than the four years before that.

The district’s student enrollment a year ago was 2,268. At the end of 2021 it was 2,246 and at the end of 2020 it was 2,088. In 2019 it was 2,316, in 2018 it was 2,334, in 2017 it was 2,362 and it 2016 it was 2,419.

At an organizational meeting held just prior to Monday’s regular meeting, Bill Myers was voted to serve another one-year term as board president and Beverly Rhoads was voted by the board members to serve another term as vice president.

During the regular meeting, the board approved a few changes to the 2024-25 High School Registration Handbook, including that after this year the district will honor just one valedictorian and one salutatorian. Davis said that in the past the district has had multiple valedictorians with 4.3 or higher grade point averages. But after this year the school will have one valedictorian, one salutatorian and anyone else with a grade point average higher than 4.3 will be honored as a graduate with high distinction.

The board voted to continue to meet regularly at 7 p.m. on the third Monday of each month at the board office. But it changed the time for the Feb. 19 meeting to 9 a.m., with a finance committee the same day in the treasurer’s office at 8 a.m.

A tentative 2024-25 school calendar was presented at the meeting with few changes from this year, according to Davis. The first day of school for students will be Aug. 14, 2024 and the last day for students will be May 21, 2025. The biggest change, Davis said, is that since Jan. 1 falls on a Wednesday, students will have the rest of that week off, as well the prior week for Christmas break.

The board approved a tax budget for the fiscal year running July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 of $33.15 million.

The following personnel were approved for contracts and positions pending satisfactory background checks: Brandi Johnson as the head cook retroactive to Jan. 1, 2024, Mary Sonner as a paraprofessional and Caleb Link as a volunteer.

A new exchange student was accepted by the board for the second semester of the 2023-24 school year. Davis said that due to know fault of his own, Lertvaroon Srichantamit from Thialand was displaced from the family he was previously staying with outside the Hillsboro School District and will now be staying with a family in the district. Davis said Srichantamit is an exemplary student.

The board accepted an anonymous donation of $450 to go toward cafeteria charges.

During board member reports, Jerry Walker said, “It’s constantly coming up in my mind that the superintendent and staff makes us look good, and I appreciate that.”

Board member Larry Lyons said he had some concerns with changes to the handbook. He said Davis and high school principal Joe Turner looked into his concerns and made changes, and he appreciated that.

Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522.