The Fairfax R-3 Board of Education met on Thursday, October 19, 2017. Board President Josh Oswald called the meeting to order at 6:47 p.m. Other board members present were Chris Smith, Sam O’Riley and Mike Lewis. Absent were Jon Graves, Marshal Oswald and Doug Miller. Other school representatives present included: Fairfax Superintendent Jeremy Burright, Fairfax Principal Dustin Barnes, Secretary Karen Burke, teachers and CTA members Deb Wyatt and Patty Bredensteiner, and Counselor Marisa Hedlund.
Dr. Burright developed a student survey: General Climate Indicator – “Is our school a nice place to learn?”; Student Emotional Health – “Do they have friends, have hope, and resources to be successful?”; and School Improvement – “What do they think we do well and what do they think needs improvement?” Marisa Hedlund implemented the survey and reported back to the board.
Josh Oswald presented the agenda, which was approved by the board. The board reviewed the minutes from the September 15 regular and executive meetings, as well as the financial report and the monthly reconciliation report indicating a liquid balance of $421,601.29 as of September 30, 2017. Dr. Burright reviewed the fund balance with the board, indicating a total balance of all institutions at $719,915.40 as of October 19, 2017. The October monthly bills in the amount of $83,985.26 were reviewed and approved for payment.
Dustin Barnes gave his K-12 Principal’s Report. Attendance for high school is at 95.02% and attendance for elementary is at 96.42% The end of first quarter was October 13, 2017. Parent Teacher Conferences were held on Thursday, October 19, from 2:00-7:00 p.m. or by appointment in the elementary. There will not be school on Friday, October 20. PD Day took place on Wednesday, October 11. High school teachers met for At-Risk discussion. Elementary teachers started their first 4 hours of their 16 hours of Project Lead the Way Training. The Health Fair took place on Wednesday, October 11. Thanks to Mrs. Grossman for getting this event scheduled and ran!! The freshman class attended the Careers on Wheels event in Rock Port Friday, October 13. The sophomore class attended the My Success Event on October 18. The freshmen through seniors will be participating in the Atchison County Docu-Drama at Rock Port on Wednesday, October 25 and distracted driving is the overall theme.
DESE State Board of Education met in September. A couple of the main points included:
A. MSIP 6 was presented and will be looked at. There will be a public comment period and then final adoption. Mr. Barnes is currently looking at the proposed document. Some good work. Some of the indicators will stay the same, but there are some other, new proposed indicators. The 5 main areas include Academic Achievement, Climate and Culture, Effective Practices, Leadership and Governance, and Success Ready Graduates.
B. Graduation Handbook – This outlines the graduation requirements the state sets forward. We can have more guidelines and credits required at Fairfax, but not less. Main changes deal with some clarification to Dual Credit and Dual Enrollment courses as well as requirements for CPR instruction and a civics assessment in high school government. In addition, Personal Finance State Standards were updated and approved.
Jr. high football and volleyball are finished for the year. Both teams had great success!
Jr. high basketball practices have started, with 19 girls total and 20 boys total.
Volleyball Districts started October 16. EA girls got the first seed and a bye until October 18.
Football playoffs start Friday, October 20.
The East Atchison Co-op Board is working on getting a board meeting set up at this time to get approval for the co-op for next year.
The consent agenda was approved by the board.
Dr. Burright gave his Superintendent’s Report. PAT – Our Parents as Teachers liaison, Kathy Leach, is currently servicing 10 children in our district. Physical Plant Update – We are still trying to get bids for work on our roof and guttering. We’ve had only one call that expressed interest. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please tell them to call us. Contracted work pays prevailing wage and contractors must have background checks for employees that work on school sites.
The board voted to adopt board policies 2785, 2850, 2921 and 4550 and regulations 2785, 2921 and 3165. The board also voted to renew the wellness policy as written. The board reviewed and approved the audit as presented, prepared by Arthur White and Associates, L.L.C. The board decided to table the approval of the district goals until a future meeting in order to get internal and external input.
The board received two bids for the copier business. The board voted to accept the Capital Business Systems bid for the copier service.
The next regular board meeting will be Thursday, November 16, 2017, at 6:30 p.m. in the library.
The meeting moved into executive session as allowed by the Revised Statutes of Missouri 610.021.3 and 610.021.6. The regular board meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.