Forest Hills Board approves consent items, gives superintendent conditional authority on contested 31‑aa school‑safety funds

The Forest Hills Board of Education approved its consent agenda and took steps to preserve options on contested state school‑safety funding at its Dec. 8 regular meeting.

Board members voted to approve routine consent items in a roll call where members present answered affirmatively. Later the board adopted a resolution ratifying the district’s prior action to opt into the so‑called “31‑aa” mental‑health and school‑safety funding stream and authorized the superintendent to rescind that opt‑in by Dec. 30 if pending litigation is not resolved in the district’s favor by an expected Dec. 19 court decision. ‘‘We’re opting in to the funds right now with the understanding that there’s continuing litigation,’’ the chair said during discussion, adding the board would reconvene if the court outcome required a different decision.

The meeting also included presentations and reviews of capital projects. Administration outlined a technology purchase of 74 BenQ interactive flat panels for two middle schools at an amount not to exceed $425,000. Construction packages to turf Central High School’s baseball and softball fields were presented as a package not to exceed $6,313,671, and a larger package at Northern High School — which includes turfing, relocating the softball field and adding parking — was presented as not to exceed $11,705,163. Separately, staff explained a scope omission in the aquatic center contract that requires a vendor change and an additional request of $902,717, bringing that project’s total to $48,230,133; administration said the revised total remains under the bond‑proposal expectation from 2022.

A finance briefing and several informational items closed the agenda. The superintendent reminded the board of the Aquatic Center groundbreaking scheduled for Dec. 17 at 3:00 p.m. and said staff will report back on results from a recently closed district survey.