Friends, What a summer it has been. It's come. It's gone. Can you believe it? I can't. Life has happened in so many ways. I hope your summer ended well and that you are ready for fall....because it's nearly here!
I missed the July official board meeting due taking a seminary class in Kansas City. However, you can find the agenda and documents here. You can find Kari Yeagy's notes from the meeting here--she always does a great job! August's meeting was last Monday. What were the highlights?
Starting with the tax rate. In a nutshell, there's a lot of paperwork in the board packet online. and the main message is this: we set the tax rate to be flat from last year. In a reassessment year, the tax rate cannot be higher than inflation of 1.9%. That is what the tax rate was set to reflect. I'm super excited that the board approved an agreement with the Launch program based out of the Springfield Public Schools. I reported on this program last year in my MSBA Annual Meeting takeaways. You can check out the program's website here. This will be significant for our students so they can take a variety of coursework that we may not be able to offer. Most importantly, since it's being run by Springfield Public Schools, it is being taught, graded, and guided by Missouri teachers and Missouri learning standards. I would rather students take virtual classes with Missouri teachers by a Missouri public school district rather than for-profit programs that are being solicited to parents and students with little quality control. Other virtual programs like K12--being billed as the Missouri Virtual Academy--are for-profit programs which have partnered with the Grandview School district to be their sponsor. Quite frankly. I'm skeptical of a small, rural district partnering with a for-profit educational firm to be their host. I would much prefer to support Missouri public school teachers just like ours. Those of you around the school campuses have seen the major changes around the Primary building. SM Wilson provided an update that can be found here. We approved the first payment for construction. You'll continue to see dirt work and footings being worked on soon! We're still on track. It's exciting! We spent some time discussing the district report item by Activities Director Brad Blakemore. He noted the challenges they are facing with regards to seasonally moving of supplies. This causes wear and tear on the equipment, causes additional time burdens by volunteers and staff. The plan is for Mr. Blakemore to explore options and come back to the board in the coming month or two. Those are the few things I would highlight. We have lots of moving parts as a district. It's an exciting time to be a Hallsville Indian. It has hit me this summer that with adopting Sebastian, I'll have a graduate in the year of 2037. That seems so far away...but I'm convinced the work we are doing at the Primary building and the direction of our district will continue the great quality and opportunities for students today...and for him. Thanks for reading! Please let me know if you have any 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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