The Fairfax R-III School Board met on 5/18/23 for regular and executive meetings. Next Board Meeting: 6/15/23

 

 

The Fairfax R-III School Board met on 4/17/23 for reorganization, regular, and executive meetings. 

 

 

 

The next regular board meeting will be April 17, 2023. This date was chosen in order to place the meeting date in compliance with requirements governing the ratification of the April 4 election results. 

 

Just a note: 

 

Something to keep in mind is that in the last six years, our assembled board has consistently rendered decisions which have advocated for our facilities, our families, our students, and our staff. Their collected governance has allowed us to do the following:

•  Increase our base salary rate for teachers from $29,250 to $35,700 ($38,000 actually)
• Increased pay rates for hourly staff
• Approved a calendar that grants vacation days aligned with teacher input
• Approved modifications to leave that allowed for more freedom to take care of personal and family needs
• Approve the hiring recommendations of administration
• Enable over $1.5 million in repairs and upgrades to our buildings
• Avoid a four day school week-based on teacher input
• Refrain from excessive and extended closures during Covid
• Continued participation in our sports COOP
• Continued contributions to our reserves

While not all of the discussion during a board meeting indicates everyone always agrees, the end results of the collected decision making of the board has remained consistently pro-district and pro-teacher. Last night, the collected board continued to display this behavior. 

 

Your board has the responsibility of making essential and difficult decisions for the district. I have had many conversations with board members over the years regarding the emotional impact of choices the board has had to make on individual board members. They do not take their responsibilities lightly and I continue to believe they consistently make collective decisions they feel are best for the district and, specifically or by default, its people. 

 

Finances:

• All bills were approved for payment.
• The current budget shows that our fund balance is $2,245,147. This is $224,010 above our fund balance this time last year. 
• The board requested that Dr. Burright present budget forecasts as the district draws closer to the end of the fiscal year. These would be presented in the financial report and presented during regular session meetings in April and May.

Superintendent's Report

• Facility:
• In a grant, Governor Parsons has set aside $20 million dollars for school safety infrastructure. We will be exploring this grant, its possible uses, and submitting an application to participate prior to the submission deadline. This money could be used to help upgrade our bell and intercom system as well as add an entry system to our high school entry.
• Mr. Vernon has been steadily working through the facility to-do list since he has come on staff. He is currently working in the Ag. Shop, upgrading the bathroom and sink areas. Additionally, he has recently painted the fire extinguisher covers in the elementary making them easier to find. 
• Stucco has asked to update the Fairfax F on our south lawn. 
• Hillyards has been scheduled to do a site review which will allow us to continue the refining of our process for keep the facility clean. The Hillyards review will measure square footage, count the number of items that need cleaned, and make recommendations for FTE's. This information will be added to our facility plan.
• Food service/PEBT: 
• The district completed our PEBT benefits submission on Monday 3/13/23. This submission allows families on free and reduced lunch status to receive additional benefits from federal money for time students were absent from school during covid. It also allows for additional benefits for the summer of 21-22.
• Personnel:
• Dr. Burright and Mr. Kemerling will begin work to identify ways to improve climate and staff morale. Dr. Burright asked the board for feedback on what topics they would like to see in the collected data and the board has agreed to submit ideas to Dr. Burright by 3/22/23.
• We will be finishing our work in soliciting bids from health insurance companies in the next week. After bids are compiled and a comparison system is determined, Dr. Burright will meet with staff to solicit their input on which plan they would like to use. After this meeting, the board will need to meet again to give final approval of the selected plan. Dr. Burright explained the benefits and impact of a more-affordable health care plan for the staff and to the district budget. While a cheaper premium rate will most likely cause more employees to join our district healthcare, this will drive up the overall cost for the district. However, more affordable care is goal connected to the retention of staff and it is a good problem to have. 
• Board Self-Evaluation
• In compliance with MSIP6, the board took its first steps in the development and implementation of a self-evaluation tool. Dr. Burright presented two separate examples of documents from MARE and MSBA. The board was asked to review these documents independently and provide Dr. Burright feedback by 3/22/23. Dr. Burright stated that areas where the board falls short in its self-evaluation can be used to become focus areas for professional development. Mr. Graves asked that the two tools be somehow combined and built so that the board could measure its growth over time. 

• Ashley Grossman presented information on the activities related to FCCLA. Mrs. Grossman has had a positive impact on the students in her club, classes, and on the school in general. If you see her please thank her. 

• Mr. Barnes presented his regular principal's report which is attached. 

• Mr. Barnes presented the annual APR report, discussed how the scoring works and how the district scored. In this first year of the scoring cycle for MSIP6 Fairfax R-III scored a 92.3%. This score placed us near the top of the "Accredited" scoring range. There were no districts that scored "Accredited with Distinction" this year and all districts gained full points for CSIP submissions. Mr. Barnes instructional leadership has been essential in the district's ability to continue to maintain high levels of accreditation. Please thank him for his work. The MSIP6 (APR) report to the board is also attached. Attached you will also find the APR district report from the DESE website which is available to the community. 

• Payment of $4842.80 to Al’s Heating, Cooling & Refrigeration, Inc. for a new milk cooler.
• Payment of $4070.22 to Falls City Mercantile for food supplies.
• 2023-2024 calendar with updated teacher work days. See attached.
• The purchase of a John Deere zero turn mower for $6800 from Hiawatha Implement Co. in Mound City.  
• The 2023-2024 Teacher Salary Schedule as presented. This schedule includes a 30 year column for bachelor's degrees, 2% raise to the base, and similar steps from the 22-23 salary schedule. The board discussed the possible impact of insurance costs, legislation pertaining to teacher minimum salary, the possible return of the baseline salary grant, and career ladder.
• Hillyards was approved to do our gym floor refinishing in the summer of 2023.
• Payment to first student for votec transportation. The board agreed to move this item to the consent agenda in future months.

• Covid Plan: No feedback from the board
• AMI Days: The board approved the use of AMI days for 2023-2024 school year as determined by administrative discretion. Survey information results were shared regarding family and staff opinions on AMI, access to internet in family homes, and family home bandwidth capacity. While a small margin of family responses (5 respondents) stated that they did not prefer AMI days, a large majority of staff indicated that they did want to implement AMI days (23 of 26 respondents). Dr. Burright explained that AMI days were important, not because we expect them to be on par with regular classroom learning, but because frequency of exposure to academic tasks is important in continuing the consistent learning of students.
• Hiring Processes: After a question from the board regarding the documentation kept during hiring, administration sought training and consulted with legal counsel. The district will always seek to implement appropriate professional and legal practice. No information regarding documentation of interviews was gained through the training, but legal counsel was able to offer the following recommendations:
• Board policy and regulations are currently sufficient to cover hiring practices.
• Keep all documentation relating to the interviewing of candidates for at least one year. Keep it longer for a hiring event that is contested.

• The board made no motion for the potential property purchase.
• Senior Wills and Prophecies were approved.
• The board accepted the resignation of Betsy Larson.
• The board approved all certified/teaching staff for rehire. There was one abstention due to relatedness.
• The board discussed and rendered a decision on administrative pay rates.

 

 

Audience participation: Mrs. Lexi Heck addressed the board in favor of the use of AMI days. 

 

 

Finances:

• Current Year-to-Date (YTD) revenue: $2,114,218
• Current YTD Expenses: $1,321,071
• Fund Balance: $2,260,011

• We have received new gym floor covers and will need to lay them out to "relax" the creases before they are formally used.
• It will be time to mow soon and we will be looking to purchase equipment.

 

Transportation: 

• Bus 19 is still in the shop waiting on a part. going on 64 days. 

 

Federal Programs:

• There will be a Title night on 3/7/23 with activities and food TBA. 

 

New Business: Items and action in New business are listed.

• Senior Trip Itinerary: Approved
• AMI day usage: Gather data from stakeholders regarding the use of AMI days for our March regular meeting.
• Literacy Plan: Approved
• Concurrent Enrollment with TKO Tech: Approved
• Open Enrollment Resolution: No action.
• Payment to First Student: Approved
• Payment to NW Mechanical: Approved
• Superintendent Search Update: We currently have three applicants for the superintendent position. 
• Community Use Fee Waiver for the Optimist Basketball Tournament: Approved
• Hiring Practices Discussion: Mr. Barnes presented interview scoring guides and Dr. Burright will be following up with the board in March regarding board policy requirements.
• Payment to Falls City Mercantile: Approved
• 2023-2024 School Calendar: Approved
• Senior Wills: moved to March regular meeting. 

• Covid Safety Plan: No action

• Substitute List Update: Approved
• Principal Contract was renewed and given a one-year extension.
• Superintendent Candidate Discussion: Specific information about superintendent applicants was shared with the board by Mr. Graves. 
• Property Acquisition: Dr. Burright was given the directive to gather information on the cost of removing structures from 410 N 3rd prior to the district issuing a closed bid on the property. 

Special Work Session: Superintendent Search 1/26/23 @ 7:30 pm

 

Financial:

• All bills were approved for payment. Additionally, payments to Al's Heating, Cooling and Refrigeration; Mason Straub; First Student; Cornerstone Roofing; Tarkio Avalanche; Wave Technologies (SpedTrack); and Falls City Mercantile were approved. 
• Fund Balance: $1,316,381

• Mound City School District for Speech Services.
• Falls City Mercantile for food supplies in our school breakfast and lunch program. 
• Farmtown Printing for CTA T-shirts.
• Seitz Fundraising for FFA fundraiser items.

All bills were approved for payment. 

 

Our draft CSIP was reviewed with the board during the work session. A copy can be found on the district website. 

 

Finances:

YTD Expenses: $626,446

YTD Revenues: $442,629

22-23 Reserve: $1,283,047

21-22 Reserve: $1,232,007

 

Salary Grant Bonus Check: This payment for teachers and non-administration certified staff, was approved for payment with the December paycheck. 

 

Policy Changes: P3170 Purchases and Solicitation of Staff

• This policy was changed to allow staff to aid in the solicitation of families for approved fund-raisers and school related activities. Please be sure that any fliers sent home that involve sales or fundraisers have been approved by Mr. Barnes or Dr. Burright. Administration will be tracking which items have been approved. 

 

The Fairfax R-III School Board met last night and provided action on the following items:

 

The Regular Board Meeting began at 6:35 pm.

 

All regular bills were approved for payment.

 

• 11/17/22 5:30 CSIP work session and regular meeting immediately after. 
• 12/15/22 5:30 Budget work session and regular meeting immediately after.
• All meetings not specified as "Executive" are open to public attendance. 

• Still no applicant for Maintenance.
• Gutters around the main gym and music room are getting work this month. Work will begin 9/23.
• Playground safety and deferred work was discussed.
• Teacher Ice Machine-Grant

Food Service

• Expenses: 21-22 $5895.90 / 22-23 $3682.34

Transportation

• Break pads were replaced on our Ford van during some general maintenance.
• Another set of keys and an additional key fob were made for the Chevy van.

Title:

• Doing BOY testing for reading. 

First Day of School: 8/24/22

 

All bills were approved for payment.

 

Financial:

• Fund Balance = $1,481,477

• We are thankful to volunteers who have been helping with our exterior property.
• All floors are finished.
• Gutters on the gym are scheduled for work in September.
• We are in the process of another storm claim for roofing on the band, library, and vocational building. 

• Bus riders will be called 8/22/22 to inform them of pickup and dropoff times. 

• Our Title program is sponsoring hotdogs, chips, and drinks for our back to school night.

• All teachers should check in with the SPED teacher for their grade level to ensure they have reviewed IEP goals and accommodations.

• Tax Rate: Our tax levy was set at $4.7848.  At full collection rate, with increased assessed valuation, local tax revenue may be as much as $1,245,766.00. We budget a 95% collection rate as revenue in the budget which is $1,183,478.
• Budget amendments were adopted to reflect the increase in local tax dollars.
• The modified salary schedule was approved. This schedule reflects the impact of the Baseline Salary Grant.
• Bus routes were adopted.
• Payments to Froeschel Floors, for work in the elementary, were approved.
• The bid from Porters Guttering was approved for work on the gutters around the gym.
• A bid from Imagine Learning for Odesseyware was approved. 

• A student issue was discussed
• The sub list was approved. 

 

• Brad Dush, Methodist Minister, introduced himself to the board.

• June year-to-date expenditures: $2,659,420
• June year-to-date revenues: $2,676,717
• Fund Balance: $1,449,567

• Exterior lights: six exterior lights have been replaced by LED packs
• Light poles: have been removed, clearing the drop off lane from obstruction
• Floors: Elementary refinishing in non-asbestos classrooms is complete and HS is on schedule. New floors are set to be installed starting the last week of July with a completion date of August 5th. Gym floor will be refinished the last week of July. 
• Bushes: by vocational building have been cut back.
• Weeds: on playground and parking areas have been sprayed multiple times with Round-up and now Esplenade. 
• Downspouts: Many downspouts have been repaired but we still have guttering to repair on the main gym and by the entrance to the band room.
• Water in the gym: I have been in contact with Rob Liles regarding the next steps for our locker room leak. The ground has been regraded multiple times, the downspouts and guttering are working correctly, and there is still water coming in. Mr. Liles recommends excavation to examine the foundation.
• Manhole cover: This was broken by snow removal and has been repaired in the last month.

Community participation: All members of the community are welcome to attend and address the board during the meeting. This is done during the time allocated to receiving visitors, petitions, communications and citizen's comments. Anyone wishing to address the board should contact Mrs. Karen Burke prior to the meeting. (660)686-2421