Highlights from the May 20, 2020, BOE meeting


Here are some highlights from the May 20, 2020, Maryville R2 Board meeting:

The evening's Showcase honored individuals who served the District for 10+ years and who have resigned or retired: Cindy Roach, MMS office manager, 32 years; Becky Byland, MMS math teacher, 30 years; Sara Medsker, MMS physical education teacher, 29 years; and Amy Flohr, TS child care teacher, 12 years.

Operating statement - April 2020, balance of all funds as of 04/30/2020 was $10,890,892.79. Activity Accounts - April 2020, closing balance of $457,971.56 as of 04/30/2020. COVID-19 will definitely impact state and local funding next year. However, as Superintendent Dr. Becky Albrecht pointed out, our district has a healthy reserve, and we are in better shape than many districts because we gain a large portion of our funding from the local level (which will also be affected). While we will definitely need to revisit the budget, we are in good shape to “weather the storm.”

Open house for the 2019-20 building trades house located at 305 N. Country Club Rd. in Maryville, Missouri, will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 21. The house will be offered for sale by sealed bids addressed to Board of Education, Administration Building, 1501 South Munn Avenue, Maryville, MO, 64468. Sealed bids are due by 6 p.m. on June 1, 2020. Any bid received after that time/date shall not be considered. Anyone that submits an initial bid of $185,000 or higher may then participate in an auction that immediately follows the opening of bids. The auction will proceed up at a minimum of $500 intervals. The bid will be awarded at 12:15 p.m. on June 2, 2020, at a special meeting.

We will continue to work with the EFES staff to bring them onboard the Schoology platform (MMS and MHS are now fully implemented). Assistant Superintendent Steve Klotz noted in the technology report: “We completed the transition of our connectivity from a MOREnet Connection to a new 1 gig Missouri Network Alliance connection this spring. We were able to make that transition very smoothly and are now operating with as much broadband connectivity as we have ever had in the district.”

Dr. Albrecht reported that for the first time in a long time, the district is entering the summer months with a fully certified staff. Missed school days include 45 for COVID-19, five for inclement weather, two early outs and one late start. They are scheduling 2020-2021 professional development opportunities and working on a variety of plans for the upcoming school year. Projects have been underway, taking advantage of the closed buildings. Those include renovation of the multi, renovations of the high school locker rooms, new carpet, EFES playground work, new sidewalks at MMS and installation of three new AED machines around the district.

Craig Borey, special education director, noted that Northwest RPDC is sponsoring a couple of Special Education Boot Camps this summer. He plans to send a few new teachers to attend. It will cover learning how to start up a classroom, preparing schedules, driving the paperwork process from initial evaluation through placement including understanding disabilities, reports, developing IEP present levels/objectives, dealing with challenging parents and students, plus understanding accommodations and modifications.

Brian Lynn, coordinator of Student Services, noted that the district is currently exploring ways to identify students for Gifted Identification. Typically, MAP testing offers initial screening for potential candidates. However, those were cancelled this year due to COVID—19. He said they’ve already looked at some of the local assessments available within our district to aid in this process. A small committee will be working to come up with an effective plan to address gifted screening for next school year.

Grades for Fourth Quarter were discussed. EFES student grade reports will be sent electronically and marked accordingly due to COVID-19 (no grades will be recorded for Fourth Quarter). MHS will be deciding on a student-by-student basis what grade will be assigned. The plan is to transcript the letter grades a student earned in the Third Quarter only if those grades improve the student’s overall GPA. If it does not, the student will be given a pass/fail mark.

NTS Director Jeremy Ingraham reported that FFA member Sadie Schaffer has been selected to be a finalist for a state officer position. She will find out Friday if she will serve.

Activities Director Mat Beu shared that Chillicothe was named conference supremacy winner at the conclusion of the winter season. The Spoofhounds tied for second. He has met with summer strength coaches and developed plans for small groups and procedures that meet the guidelines for social distancing. They will conduct sessions outdoors that focus on body weight exercises that will aid in injury prevention and physical conditioning. Information about the session schedules and weight room guidelines will be shared soon.

I’d like to thank our teachers, administrators, staff, students, parents, volunteers and everyone else who put in a lot of time and effort to get us through the past two months. It involved a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and I’m very grateful to all of them for going above and beyond during such a weird and stressful time.

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