New home for HHS cupola

A Hillsboro High School monument will be installed at a new permanent home, following a split vote by the Hillsboro City Schools Board of Education. 

During a regular meeting held June 28, the board considered the placement of the cupola, which formerly was atop the old Hillsboro High School Building. The district had the cupola removed prior to the building's demolition in December. 

According to the board's agenda, the cost of creating a solid foundation base at the new high school and transporting the cupola will be an estimated $6,000, which come come from continuous improvement funds. 

"The superintendent recommends the board approve this expenditure and get the cupola set before something happens to it. The superintendent feels we are beyond the point of debating whether or not to do the work. It just needs to be done and move on," according to the board's agenda.

The board had hoped that funds would be available from the student council to go toward preserving the structure, but that decision won't come before the beginning of the school year. 

Board member Bill Myers said he wanted to discuss the matter further, saying that in his discussions with community members, "they don't know why we would take funds specified for education to put it toward a memorial ... I don't know if you're going to have a straw vote on it."

"No," said board president Laura Bagshaw.

"You've taken several of those," Myers said. 

Reiber said that the board approved the initial $12,000 to have the cupola removed from the building. "If you weren't going to do something with it, it should have never been taken off and just demolished with the structure."

Bagshaw said that while some present members of the board may not have voted for the initial removal of the cupola - Myers and board member Sam Barnhouse were not members at the time - the current board had an obligation to the board and to the community to honor the previous board's intent.

Board member Ken Shull said he believed that by voting to spend the money on removing and storing the cupola, the intent was to see it preserved in some way.

Bagshaw said the board owed it to the community to "go through with the decisions we've made" and that it will go a long way toward "creating a positive public image."

"I don't agree, from the standpoint that I deal with the public all the time," Myers said. "They don't understand why (the district) took it down."

Bagshaw said that there were many members of the community who had raised thousands of dollars to try to preserve the old building, which showed they cared about what would happen to the cupola. 

"You didn't save that either," Myers said in reference to the building. 

"The positive public image is not from the standpoint of creating a monument, it's showing the community that we follow through with our decisions," Bagshaw said.

"We need to do something with it," said Rick Earley, the incoming district superintendent. "We're paying to store it. Have I had people say something to me about it? No, I can't say that."

Reiber said that the district would accept donations if people wanted to contribute to the fund. By letting the cupola sit without properly preserving it, it is more likely to be damaged, he said.

"We just need to get this done," said board member Beverly Rhoads.

Shull made a motion to accept the superintendent's recommendation, which was seconded by Rhoads.

The motion passed 3-2 with Myers and Barnhouse voting against it, and Shull, Rhoads and Bagshaw voting for it.