A proposed 2022-23 calendar that has the school year starting and ending a little later than this year was presented at Monday’s meeting of the Hillsboro Board of Education, which held a budget hearing, calendar hearing, organizational meeting and regular meeting.
The calendar, which the public and local non-public school districts will have about a month to review before anything final is decided, calls for students to start school on Wednesday, Aug. 17 and end the school year on Thursday, May 23.
There will be school breaks from Sept. 5-9 for the Highland County Fair, on Oct. 28 after the usual Beggar’s Night, Nov. 24-25 for Thanksgiving, Dec. 19 through Jan. 2 for Christmas, March 17-20 for spring break, and April 7-10 for Easter. The usual holidays are also in the calendar.
District administrator Diane Michael said the proposed school year will run about a week later in May than it has been and will start a few days later.
During the organizational meeting, Bill Myers and Beverly Rhoads were re-elected as board president and vice president, respectively.
The board decided to continue to meet at 7 p.m. on the third Monday of each month at the board office at the former school site off West Main Street. All board committees remained the same.
The board certified that the number of students enrolled in the district was 2,246 as of Dec. 31, 2021, including two sophomores, 29 juniors and 26 seniors at Laurel Oaks. A year ago at the same time the district had 2,088 students enrolled.
The board approved fiscal year estimated expenditures, running from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023, of $31.51 million.
It was also agreed by the board to approve two recommendations for school improvements. Treasurer Ben Teeters said the recommendations were to spend $5.3 million of COVID-19 relief funds to replace the HVAC systems; install new, energy-saving lighting in the district buildings; and to repair some leaky roofs.
“It’s to improve the air quality of the schools. We decided that was the best way to spend the money,” Teeters said.
The second recommendation was needed, Teeters said, so the district would not have to pay prevailing wages for the new lighting to be installed. He said that would save the district thousands of dollars.
Prodigy Building Solutions was selected by the school administration to make all the improvements, including the lighting.
The board also recently approved using some of the same funds to give each district employees a one-time $2,000 bonus for their efforts in combating the coronavirus pandemic.
The board approved the HHS 2022-23 Course Handbook. Superintendent Tim Davis, speaking by phone from home where he was quarantined due to the pandemic, said the only big change was a clarification of full-time student status. He said full-time students next year must have a class scheduled for each period, except for one period that can be used for a study hall, although there may be exceptions for students in certain programs.
Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522.
