Friends, I admit that I've slacked since the pandemic started. I wanted to get a blog up about what the school board has been up to the past few months.
First, Mr. Downs and the administrative team have begun compiling one-time projects that the district is in need of. Long story short is that federal pandemic funds have provided a significant influx of money to the district (both last year) and this upcoming budget year. Our target reserve amount of 25% has grown to being projected more than 50% at the end of next year. These one-time projects range from wireless infrastructure upgrades, going one-to-one with technology, capital improvement projects like we approved past few months (new dishwasher and upgrades to bathrooms). I would be remiss if I didn't mention how much our teachers have been rock stars this year. You all know I'm in the capitol regularly and I speak so highly of our teachers who everyone knows have had a crazy year. Thank you. Next week is teacher appreciation week---and it's important that we thank and support our teachers. We've seen this appreciation from our community, like Jessica Hoskins' leadership to organizing and fundraising for donuts and coffee. If you have students in the district, be sure to thank their current and former teachers next week (week of May 3). It's old news now, but it's sad that we're losing Mrs. Jackson as our primary school principal. I'm grateful for Mrs. Jackson's leadership and time with our district. I'm also excited about Mrs. Nichols and Mrs. Terry being our new leaders as principal and assistant principal! Join me in congratulating and looking forward to what's to come. As far as budget updates, with the expected budget surpluses, I wanted to make note of a couple of different things. First, the initial budget has scheduled a $1,250 raise to the base salary across the board. After educational and service movements, this equates to approximately a 4.23% increase for next year. This raise will be passed along also to our classified/hourly staff. Not only do our teachers deserve this but our peers are giving similar raises and do ensure we remain competitive, it's a must. Our admin team is also making strategic hires for student and academic supports. Specifically, we are likely to hire a kindergarten teacher, middle school interventionist, an online supervision paraprofessional, and even possibly a second agriculture teacher. We have not made any specific decisions, but it's also important for our district to begin to think about positioning and succession planning for the district leadership. A significant piece of this is for the board to consider filling the assistant superintendent position. I know and hear concerns about administrative bloat and it's something the board is cognizant of. However, to ensure the long-term success of our district which is growing, it's something that you'll likely hear more about in the coming months. As the school year begins to wind down, look for the Board to (my educated guess) begin conversations about the next no-tax-increase bond. While our operating fund balances are very good, we still have capital improvements that we can't let up on. Like our primary addition, we will seek input from the public and shape any proposal based on feedback to ensure (1) a successful vote but most importantly that we're focused on (2) student needs. As a board, we should always keep up with enrollment trends, especially in the strange times of COVID. After this year's kindergarten class being small, initial indicators are for a bounce-back and next year's class size to be closer to normal-times. Additionally, summer school enrollment looks to be up at this point as well. These are good indicators to ensure our district state funding (per student) remains consistent but also watching trends of growth. Lastly, we welcomed Torrie Vroman on the board for her first meeting last week. I celebrate and thank Tonya Schleeter for her service and partnership to further our district. Until next time, thank you for reading. Please reach out if you have questions or concerns! Craig
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AuthorHallsville resident. Foster Parent. School board member. Politico. Jesus Follower. Cardinals Fan #MizzouMade Archives
June 2020
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