The Tarkio R-I Board of Education met October 20, 2021, at Tarkio High School. The meeting was called to order by President Garrett Wood at 7:00 p.m. Board members in attendance were Jamie Barnett, Heather Olson, Ann Schlueter, Chris Yates, and Josh Wright. Sam Hannah joined the meeting at 7:15 p.m. Others in attendance were: Tarkio R-I Superintedent Carrie Livengood, Tarkio Elementary Principal/Special Education Director Kari Taylor, Tarkio High School Principal Nick Kemerling, board secretary Lanette Hogue, Renee Hull, Deyton Thomson, Dallas Prather, Dara Whipple, Jennifer Peregrine, Amy Hurst and Markie Sundermann. Blu Dow joined the meeting at 7:20 p.m.

The consent agenda and district obligations were approved.

Dallas Prather addressed the board as a taxpayer on her concern and disappointment over the text messages that went out last Friday night before the football game in Fairfax regarding limited seating for the game. She felt the texts did not send the right message to the community.

A CTA report was shared with the board.

A TAC report by Nikki Parshall was given. District volleyball will be played at the TAC.

Renee Hull presented the board with the career ladder report.

Elementary Principal Kari Taylor gave a report on the school year. There are 178 students enrolled in elementary and 94% attendance. The first round of NWEA testing is complete in the elementary. Gina Ripley with the University of Missouri Extension Office is offering a six week nutrition program with K-3.

As Special Education Director, Kari Taylor reported they currently have 53 students receiving Special Education services. They have five new evaluations in progress, five transfer students evaluations in progress, two re-evaluations and will have at least three to five referrals after parent teacher conferences next week.

High School Principal Kemerling gave a report on the high school. He reported that there are currently 174 students enrolled in grades 6-12. The junior high volleyball and junior high football teams have finished their seasons. Girls’ golf finished their season last weekend and had a very successful year with four golfers making it to state and being district champs. Alex Barnett finished with a 13th place medal at State Golf and the team finished fifth overall. The band placed fourth at Clarinda Band Day. Mr. Walker is taking around 70 students to Kansas City next week to attend the Auschwitz exhibit.

Superintendent Livengood gave a financial report. The school ended September with a fund balance of $5.339 million which is $1.82 million more than last September. She shared a report from Opaa! They have found a new distributor so hopefully menus will go back to as normal as they can with food shortages and lack of drivers. Mrs. Livengood is working with Jeff Blackford on creating a survey for staff, students and parents using the new MSIP 6 indicators. This year’s spring assessments will be the baseline data for the three year collection for MSIP 6. The first APR will be received in the spring of 2024 with the new MSIP 6 guidelines.

Kari Taylor shared a Special Education program evaluation including strengths and concerns.

DESE and DHHS have come out with a new COVID-19 quarantine option for students who have been determined a close contact. This option sounds good up front, but would put a lot more work on the school nurse. This option would allow students to stay in school, but the school would have to test them every three days for the first seven days and the school would incur the cost of all of the testing. At this time, Tarkio R-I is not using this option.

Board members approved the co-op agreement with the change that any volleyball game that will be played on a day that the National Weather Service has forecasted to be 90 degrees or above will be played at Tarkio and that the EA Volleyball Tournament will be played at the two gyms in Tarkio.

Lesley Graves was hired as the website coordinator. The board voted to hire Jordan Heard and Stacie Wooten as substitutes, Kari Taylor as the Title 1, Homeless, ELL and Migrant Coordinator, and approved the resignation of Terry Wooten at the end of the 2021-22 school year.

Kari Taylor gave an update on the fourth grade class, including numbers, interventions being used, and staffing.

Board members approved the transfer from Fund 1 to Fund 4 $162,326 which is done annually, $326,828 from the M&M Surtax, and $182,962 from the In Lieu of Taxes on the 2020-2021 ASBR. This is a total transfer of $571,116. The goal is to build up the Fund 4 to either pay off the TAC early or use it for buiding projects/upgrades. The motion carried 7-0.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.