The regular meeting was held starting at 6:00 p.m.
The high school student council president updated the board on student council activities:
Homecoming
- Juniors won the spirit week and float title
- Levy Bradley and Lila Hamisfar were crowned king and queen
- 194 students attended the Homecoming dance (high attendance)
Halloween
- Costume contest on October 30
- Halloween Boo-grams will be sold by freshman
- School-wide pumpkin matching game
Hallway Bulletin Board
- Planning ways to encourage additional social interactions
Blood Drive
- Student council is interested in hosting a blood drive in the spring
Snowfest
- Hallway judging on January 25
- Spirit week January 25-29
- Assembly and Snowfest ceremony during basketball games January 29
- Snowfest dance January 30
Superintendent Bergstrom presented “Superintendent Spotlight” certificates to students throughout the district who have shown outstanding effort this school year:
- Samantha Penn
- Alexa Bushinski
- Emersyn Teller
- Adelyn Faulkner
The district’s building principals were presented with certificates in honor of National Principals Month.
The September 2026 meeting minutes and treasurer’s report were approved with no changes.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Andrew Alexander informed the board that Hanover-Horton Youth Football had a great year, with 487 kids participating, K-6. They were able to purchase an enclosed trailer for equipment storage. He thanked the district for the use of the fields.
The board approved the annual Summer Tax Resolution, which allows our school district to collect our portion of tax revenues collected in the summer by the townships in our school district.
Mark Hubbard, Building and Grounds Director, informed the board of the progress being made toward the 2026 bond projects. He met with the construction company, roofing company, and mechanical engineers concerning the district’s need for roofing upgrades. To be able to get a warranty for the roof, 4” of insulation will need to be added to meet the energy code, which will mean that everything on the roof will need to be raised. Hopefully this work will be going out to bid in January.
We are still looking at windows, boilers, and locker refurbishing. An assessment of the boiler room has been done before putting that project out for quotes.
The board discussed the possibility of the construction of a Verizon cell tower on school district property. The board would like the lease agreement examined by Thrun Law prior to making a decision about the tower installation. Having a community meeting was discussed. Verizon also needs to communicate with Hanover Township.
Mrs. Cierra Warner, Food Service Director, presented a comparison of bids received for new food service equipment. Based on her recommendation, the board approved the bid from Stafford-Smith for the elementary service line equipment, and the bid from Tri-Mark USA for the high school service line equipment.
The board approved the following Music Booster officers for the 2026-27 school year:
- Stacylyn Buckingham, President
- Jamie Bodell, Vice President
- Jenny Crews, Secretary
- Whitney LeBaron, Treasurer
The board approved the extension of Mrs. Laura Twichell’s planned retirement to 11/24/2026.
Superintendent Bergstrom reported to the board members on the following:
- The boys cross country team continued its winning streak, 146-0, by beating 38 teams at the Portage Invitational. The girls have been putting up some impressive times as well.
- The varsity football team plays for the Cascades Conference championship on Saturday in Manchester.
- The volleyball team continues to compete strong. H-H will host district competition on November 2nd.
- Count Day took place on Wednesday, October 2nd. Our unaudited count is 979, compared to last year’s count of 974. Thanks to efforts by Mr. Cottrell and Mrs. Iseler, all 17 virtual students were engaged and should be included in our student count.
- The HHEF mini grant committee met last week and awarded almost $2000 to six applicants. It may be opened up for a second round of applications later in the year. Thank you to Liz Scott, Kim Perlos, and Jamie Dittenber for serving on the committee.
- Good luck to our marching band at the MSBOA festival on Saturday at Northwest.
- Monday, October 19th is a professional development day. Teachers will be going to Parkside, and special education parapros are going to Jackson High for training.
- The new tables for the Learning Lab are in. We have received an additional donation from Production Saw for a tool wall.
- NEOLA policy updates will be sent to board members this week to allow ample time for review before next month’s board meeting.
- We received the sad news of the passing of former employee Norma Curtis.
- Watch for information on 31aa Mental Health & Safety grant funds, as well as the audit report.
- Board members will all be using Hanover-Horton emails for any board business.
- The facilities committee will be meeting on Monday, October 26th.
The board members commented on the following:
- Congratulations to our building principals. The board appreciates all they do.
- The board is excited for all the upcoming improvements in the district.
- The middle school is again partnering with the New Hope Church for the after-school cooking club.
- The board is glad that there will be a suicide-prevention assembly coming up for our students.
- It may be beneficial to let teachers know that there may be another round of mini-grants available later in the school year so that more teachers would apply.
- Board members are reminded to be aware of the board norms sent to them by Mr. Blackledge.
The regular meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
