Superintendent Craig Walker administers the oath of office to Harold Lawrence and Rich Dewhirst.

The Rock Port R-II School Board met on April 11, 2018, for their organizational meeting. Mr. Walker presided over the meeting. Board members Rich Dewhirst and Harold Lawrence were given their oath of office by Mr. Walker. Jeremy Davis was then elected to president of the board and Clay Vogler was elected as vice-president. Meeting adjourned and Jeremy opened the regular meeting of the school board. The minutes, financials, transfer of funds and bills were all approved.
Mrs. Rachel Jenkins’ seventh grade science students gave a presentation on pollination to the board. Brecken Kelly, Micah Makings, Riley Walker, and Phillip Herron presented a PowerPoint show to the members of the board on research they had been doing in regards to planting different varieties of plants around the outside of the dome. In doing their research, they came up with four different varieties of plants to beautify the dome. These plants would also double as an outdoor classroom for current and future students to study how pollination works. This project would be done at no additional cost to the district. The board approved the removal of the bushes to make room for the new planted beds.
Mr. Waigand gave his overview of the activities in the elementary, starting with the kick-off MAP testing. The students raised a little over $2,000 for Jump Rope for Heart. Mr. Waigand’s full report will be online.
Mr. Sickels highlighted the third quarter honor roll with 105 of the 156 students on the honor roll list. Testing was set to begin for the high school and junior high. He talked about all of the contest teams that were advancing for the FFA, FCCLA and FBLA teams. (See the full report online.)
Mr. Walker talked about the work Devon Sons has been doing with the students and staff to prepare for an active shooter training. The bus inspection went well, passing with 100% and no extra work or repairs needed. Mr. Walker met with Heartland Seating to talk about making the stadium bleachers more ADA compliant. They are looking at putting two cut-outs per section. Preliminary costs are around $20,000.
Board member Ken Miller updated everyone as to what was going on in the TAB’s meeting.
In new business the board certified the graduating class for 2018. The board approved the new math curriculum for both the elementary and junior high.
Summer school was discussed at length. The total cost to the district would be a little over $36,000 to $38,000 and total reimbursement to the school is around $10,500, leaving $26,000 to $28,000 to be picked up by the district. Following discussion, the board agreed to cutting back from 19 days to 14 days for the elementary and keeping the high school at 15 for full credit, costing the district a total cost of $20,000 plus. Amendments to the budget were approved. The ACES Social Worker contracts were discussed and approved. The board voted to amend the 2018-19 calendar. The board then took action on raising the school breakfast and lunch by five cents per meal. Missouri School Board Association membership was renewed. The board voted to approve all non-certified staff. The board then took action on hiring Jacob Erdman as the high school math teacher. Extra duty contracts were approved. A motion was made to move into executive session for personnel and student matters. The board returned to regular session and voted to hire Donnie Parsons as the 2018-19 high school principal. The meeting was then adjourned.