I'm writing this on what I hope to be the last 90+ degree weather day of 2018---and it doesn't feel like fall, yet.
Our September school board meeting was Monday, Sept. 17. I'll touch on a few highlights of this month. The biggest news that was "under the radar" was finalizing our first purchase with the April 2018 bond approval. You see this this expense under the checks that were approved. We approved the payment of the Mulnix Building. We also approved funds to be used that would dig fiber cables for technology tie-ins from the rest of campus. This is exciting and following through on the promise of the 2018 bond initiative that was approved by voters. This space will be used for district maintenance and is a space where wrestling and potentially other programs can utilize. We saw initial enrollment data that shows that headcount metrics are flat, and the district saw better attendance in August. It is important to note that our senior year class is the smallest cohort of all of the grade levels and if our Kindergarten class next year meets our average of the last five years, we'll see district enrollment up approximately 30 students. The board had a presentation from Charity Bunger on the importance of early childhood education in addition to summarizing discussion from a small group of interested citizens who would like to see an early childhood program for those who aren't served by one of our providers in town due to cost. A change in the foundation formula that took effect this year would allow Hallsville to pull ADA funding for approximately students for a preschool program for those who would qualify as free-and-reduced lunch. Charity's specific request was to ask the Board to consider funding one of the two-classroom additions to be used for this program. When surveying how many kindergartners could benefit from a future program, there are approximately 35 children each year that would be eligible for the 19-seats that are available for state funding. In other words, there is a clear need and this program's intent is to ensure our most at-risk children are kindergarten ready. This idea is in the initial planning stages---but the group wanted to get in front of the board to let them know of the progress. In other news, it's become widely known that the district lost our full-time vo/ag teacher to a resignation earlier this week. Retaining vo/ag teachers is a growing issue in school districts. This article is from 2016, but you can see the shortage report from the National Association of Agricultural Educators lists Missouri. In short, the Teach Ag Campaign said there were anticipated to be 87 openings in Missouri districts after this year but only were only 46 students in vo/ag student teaching that could fill these positions. The board and admin team values and seeks (as it does for all positions) high capacity individuals, but this field is extra-susceptible to high turnover. The duties outside of the classroom for these teachers is often extensive and exhaustive--with expected duties including classroom duties, FFA sponsor, trap shooting, and often horticulture/plant focused as well. We all remain dedicated to the FFA, trap, and working with students, parents, and alumni to do what's best for the students. The admin team is working to create short, medium, and long-term assistance in this area. The last thing I'll mention is that the district has a new website for updates on the construction process. You may find that website here: http://www.hallsville.org/ims/construction/www.hallsville.org/ims/construction/ Also related to the bond: On Monday, the board approved the architectural contract for Klingner, who we had previously engaged with to do our pre-bond work. Klingner is beginning to create design documents immediately. Thank you for reading and reach out if you have any questions/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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