The regular meeting was held starting at 6:00 p.m.
Board of Education officers for 2023 were elected as follows:
President – Chris Blackledge
Vice President – Kristin Flick
Secretary – Liz Scott
Treasurer – Leon Densmore
Committee members were appointed as follows:
HHEF Committee Member – Liz Scott
Facilities Committee Member – Tim Evans
January is School Board Recognition Month. Superintendent Denney expressed his appreciation to the board members for the time and dedication they put in as members of the board. A certificate was given to the board members.
Awards were presented to fall athletes.
Sophie Schuette, Student Council President, informed the board of the upcoming plans for Snowfest activities. The theme for Snowfest will be “countries,” and decisions are being made regarding hall decorating, etc.
New board members, Liz Scott and Tonya Sears, were administered the Oath of Office.
The December 2022 meeting minutes and December agenda and treasurer’s report were approved with no changes.
During the Public Comment portion of the meeting, a volleyball parent expressed her thanks to the varsity volleyball coach for doing a good job during the volleyball season. She is excited for the volleyball program and is looking forward to the future, hoping to get back to a successful program.
Another volleyball parent commented that the volleyball program was given new life and the girls’ confidence grew throughout the season. The team won the district title. He also felt there was no administrative support of the volleyball team/program. He also commented that the maintenance of the fields/school grounds has been neglected.
Mr. Michael Gresens of Thrun Law Firm, explained to the board the reasons for a proposed operational millage for an upcoming election. Due to Headlee rollbacks, our district has not received full funding from the state. For the 2022 tax collection, Hanover-Horton was limited to a levy of only 17.2144 mills (instead of a full 18 mills), which resulted in a loss of around $60,000 in funding, with an additional loss of $60,000 expected in 2023. Mr. Gresens presented the board with five options for an operational millage election. The board agreed to an option which would obtain approval of 20 mills, which would essentially be a renewal of the current operating millage, plus a 2-mill buffer to protect against future Headlee rollbacks. The operational millage is on non-homestead property. Regardless of how high the approved millage rate is, the district is unable to levy more than 18 mills. The proposal will be on the May, 2023 ballot, which, if passed, would allow the district to collect taxes for the summer 2023 tax collection and prevent any additional loss to the district.
The board tabled the Superintendent Evaluation Process until the February meeting so that more time and thought could be put into keeping or revising the current board goals.
Superintendent Denney reported to the board members on the following:
- Another thank you to the members of the board for all they do at the meetings and behind the scenes.
The board members commented on the following:
- Welcome to new board members, Liz Scott and Tonya Sears.
- Thank you for the public comments; the board does listen to them. Board members are always available to anyone who has concerns.
- Tracy Stierle did a terrific presentation on the ROX program to the Jackson County School Board Assoc. meeting, which was hosted by our district in January.
- Board members are looking forward to MASB school board member trainings held at the ISD on January 21st.
- Apologies for some athletic awards that were missed being given out last month.
- The district may want to consider signage for locating the middle school gym for those who are not familiar with the buildings.
The board voted to go into closed session at 7:06 p.m. to discuss a complaint against an employee.
The regular meeting was reconvened at 8:43 p.m. and adjourned at 8:44 p.m.
