The Fairfax R-3 School District Board of Education met in regular session May 18, 2023. Jon Graves, school board president, called the meeting to order at 6:39 p.m. Also in attendance were: Brett Johnosn, Chance Clement, Crystal Woodring, Miles Smith, and Theresa Larson, board members; Jeremy Burright, superintendent; Dustin Barnes, principal; and Karen Burke, secretary. Members of the CTA and guests were also present.

Dr. Burright presented Sam O’Riley with a plaque thanking her for her service on the school board.

The agenda was approved as presented.

Consent Agenda

Board members reviewed the minutes of the April 17, 2023, reorganization, regular, and executive sessions; and May 5, 2023, special executive session.

The financial report was also reviewed. The monthly bills in the amount of $105,353.20 were reviewed and approved for payment.

Superintendent’s Report

In his facilities report, Dr. Burright reported on the school mowing. He has worked with Student Council to rebuild the “F” in front of the school. Concrete bids are scheduled and classrooms are being prepped for summer. Fairfax R-3 did not receive the first round of approvals for the safety grant so the school will have to address the bell and intercom system without the grant.

Mark Moon has agreed to be an emergency bus driver for the school.

Current food service expenses are $102,699 which is under budget on food purchases by $2,095.

Principal’s Report

Mr. Barnes reported on several general information items, including Elementary Field Day, the music program, preschool graduation, graduation, and grade reports. MAP and EOC testing finished up well. Mr. Barnes is getting some EOC scores and will get MAP testing scores soon. Textbook and consumable requests are being finalized and will be ready for ordering in June/July for next year’s budget. Final end of the year reports and DESE CORE Data are being worked on.

School registration has been set for August 9. Registration paperwork will be online for parents to complete prior to registration.

Thirteen of the NewLine panels have been delivered. Mr. Barnes is working with Midwest Data Center on a plan for installation over the summer.

Mr. Barnes reported that 79.3% of the students met their yearly reading goals, compared to 68.75% in 2021-2022.

Summer trainings include CPI training. Members of the Crisis Intervention Team will have their yearly training at Craig. Individuals are required to go through a full day of initial training and then a yearly half day refresher.

LETRS training through NWRPDC deals with the science of reading and determining why students have reading and comprehension issues and how to work with those students. Some of the staff is taking the first year training starting this summer and next year and some of the staff will be participating in the second year of training. The cost is covered by a reading grant from the Department of Education.

Mr. Barnes reported on the year-end activities and sports.Joanna Burke came to the school May 9 and conducted physicals with students who needed them. Information was sent home with all athletes regarding if they need a new physical or if they just need new annual information.

Summer camps and competitions have been set and are ready to go! A master calendar is on the school website and individual sports dates have been sent home by coaches.

Fall sports practices for high school will start on August 7, and junior high practice will start August 14.

Board members voted to approve the consent agenda.

New Business

Gym upgrades being considered include lights, flooring, repainting, window tint, banners (update and move), sound system, and poster strips. Mrs. Beth Graves has been doing the heavy lifting on this process and can speak to the multiple projects and quotes the school has received. Beth gave a breakdown cost/quotes of the individual upgrades for the gymnasium. The total estimated cost is roughly $45,000. They have current donations of $13,500. Board members voted to table the gym upgrades for discussion at the next meeting in order to look at the next fiscal year budget.

Access to the school’s safe deposit box has not been updated for quite some time. People listed are the board secretary, bookkeeper, and superintendent. Board members approved Laurie Yocum, Karen Burke, and Nick Kemerling for access to the safe deposit box as of July 1, 2023.

Board members voted to approve the purchase of storage shed building material for $1,319.00. This shed would be placed in the bus lot and used to store mowing and transportation equipment.

Lunch price changes were discussed. Increasing the amount by $.10 per year allows the school to stay in compliance with FSLP regulations without raising the price of lunches to the actual federal reimbursement rate. Board members voted unanimously to increase all lunch prices by $.10. The price of adult lunches was raised to $3.40, elementary lunch to $2.65, high school lunch to $2.80, and breakfast to $1.70.

The payment to Falls City Mercantile in the amount of $4,916.55 for food service food supplies was approved. After this payment the school will be $2,095 less than last year’s expenditures for food.

Dr. Burright went over some of the stand-out items with the board: The Behavior Risk Assessment Team, Virtual Education, and the board election timeline. The following policies and regulations were adopted: Policies 2673, 3230, 4130, 4412, and regulation 0320, 6190.

The annual memorandum of understanding with Head Start was discussed. It describes what information will be shared and how the district and Head Start will cooperate for services. The MOU from Head Start for related services from Fairfax R-3 School District was approved.

The maintenance crew needs additional help for floors, mowing, and general maintenance. Workers have been hired for the summer in the past when the budget would allow it. Currently the school is under budget by more than $50,000 in the maintenance budget. An eight week summer position, at $13.00 per hour for up to 40 hours per week will cost $4,160. We need help. Board members voted unanimously to approve the addition of a summer maintenance position for a minimum of $13.00 per hour.

Board members approved the purchase of curricular materials for the 2023-24 school year for a combined cost of $24,536. These are new texts, licenses and consumable items needed for History, ELA, and Math instruction.

Two companies were contacted for an estimate to paint the walking bridge painted. One submitted a bid which was in excess of $118,685.

Payment of the bill for the walk-behind mower, weed eater, and power blower was held until all items were received. The payment of $2,896.63 to Maryville Outdoor Sales and Service was approved.

The school is finally able to provide health insurance at a premium that is covered by the current board contribution rate. MEUHP offers comparable coverage at a lower rate. Board members voted to approve MEUHP as the district’s health insurance provider. The district contribution rates were approved as presented.

The Tarkio Technology Institute Concurrent Enrollment Courses document with an enrollment guarantee for Wind Energy was approved.

Payment of $1,424.62 to CDW for Microsoft licensing was approved. This is an annual cost for Office and OS.

The next regular board meeting will be June 15, 2023, at 6:30 p.m.

The meeting adjourned at 8:16 p.m.