Billy O’Neil will maintain leadership of the Houston High School football program.
The school board approved employing O’Neil as head coach with a 5-2 vote at Thursday’s monthly meeting. They also added to O’Neil’s staff as Vincent McCrosky was hired as elementary focus room instructor and assistant football coach.
A 1982 HHS graduate, O’Neil inherited a team that had endured two winless seasons when he was hired prior to the 2012 season. The Tigers were 2-8 that year and had a 1-9 mark in 2013.
Board members Curtis Hubbs and Russell Gaither voted against rehiring O’Neil.
Also at the meeting, school board members:
-Unanimously selected Jo Holland as school board president. She replaces Tom Dunn, who did not re-file. Sharon Horbyk retained her position as vice president and Sam Kelley is the new secretary/treasurer.
-Sworn in Gaither, Holland and Kelley as board members. Gaither is a first-time addition to the board. Both Holland and Kelley re-filed.
-Added an additional day to the current academic calendar. School will be in session Monday, April 21 –– the day after Easter –– to replace a previous makeup day in March that was snowed out.
-Hired Lyman Brown (high school science) and Ashli Todaro (high school special education) for the 2014-’15 school year.
-Approved hiring Darrell Sillyman as a custodian and Kimberly Grogan as a substitute teacher.
-Offered an extra duty contract to Brent Hall for summer weights.
-Accepted resignations from Bill Coulter (elementary teacher), Maggie Jadwin (middle school cheerleading), Mandy Adey (middle school basketball cheerleading), Brenna Osburg (exceptional cooperative), Tim Davidson (middle school football) and Bobbi Sears (high school English and high school cheerleading coach).
-Heard special recognition for the fifth-grade 24 team, which led the Pledge of Allegiance. Also honored were the Houston High School choir and band departments. Choir students sang three songs.
-Approved the lease purchase of a bus that will be equipped with a lift to assist students with limited mobility.
-Agreed to purchase a 2003 Ford Excursion from Romines Motor Co. The vehicle, which holds eight passengers, will be used for school trips with small numbers of students and staff.
-Heard a report from Audrey Kell detailing the use of a computer program to assign student schedules throughout the district.
-Approved a bid specification sheet for lawn mowing services in the district.
PDF: Minutes from Thursday’s school board meeting