The Tarkio R-I Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at 8:00 a.m. Board members present were Garrett Wood, Brooke Vette, Amy Hurst, Raymond Gebhards, Sam Hannah, Jamie Barnett, and Josh Wright. Also present were Tarkio R-I Superintendent Bob Heddinger, Tarkio Elementary Principal Dustin Barnes, Tarkio Junior High/High School Principal Kevin Dodson, board secretary Lanette Hogue, staff members Michelle Navin and Dallas Prather, and citizens James Navin and Megan McAdams.
The consent agenda was approved which included the following items:
• The minutes from the January 17 regular meeting and closed session meetings and the special board meeting from February 2
• Transfer of funds to pay certified teachers
• Donations from the Rotary Club
• Evaluation of the graduate follow-up program
• Salary schedule for administrators
• Extra duty stipend for Mr. Brown, the East Atchison junior high wrestling coach
• The baseball contract for 2024 with the City of Tarkio
• The FCCLA Trip to Lake of the Ozarks for March 17-19
Under personnel, the board members approved the hiring of Mrs. Meier and Mrs. Alsup as paraprofessionals for the district. The board also accepted the resignations of Mrs. Erica Taylor as East Atchison cheer sponsor, Mrs. Jan Taylor as third grade teacher, Mrs. Susie Jones as paraprofessional, Mrs. Michelle Henry as junior high girls’ basketball coach, and Mr. Dodson as Tarkio Junior High/High School Principal.
The district financial reports were presented and the board approved the bills. A three-year utility report was provided that showed a decrease of nearly 50% in the utilities for the high school during January, a result of the energy efficient renovations completed this past year.
Mrs. Parshall provided a written TAC report. The CTA report was presented.
Administration Reports
Mr. Barnes reported on the following elementary, facility and technology updates:
• Staff and students celebrated the 100th day of school February 20.
• Missouri Counselor’s Week was held the week of February 5.
• Tarkio hosted the Atchison County Spelling Bee on February 23. Tarkio’s Easton Madron placed second and will be advancing to regionals and Drew Cowan is an alternate.
• Reading week and Dr. Seuss Day will be recognized the week of March 4. There will be an elementary book fair, drop everything and read and Literacy Night.
• NWRPDC has sent literacy support to teachers working on LETRS trainings.
• The elementary TRIBE group is looking into possibly donating money for each class to use during field trips, some stand-up desks for classrooms, providing signage for the schools, and purchasing outside benches for the playground.
• Sign up for LETS training for next year has begun and two elementary teachers have signed up so far.
• There will be a half day of school February 26 for teacher PD.
• DCI personnel will be here on Tuesday, February 27, for data team meetings in the elementary.
• Administration and Midwest Data Center met to discuss current contract structure and technology support. The district is working on creating a technology rotation schedule for new Chromebooks and devices.
• Work is starting on dragging the old Owls baseball field south of the football field in preparation for use during baseball practices.
Mr. Dodson went through his written report for junior high and high school. Highlights included:
• Total JH/HS enrollment is 161 students.
• There were three state qualifying East Atchison wrestlers, Brooklyn Wennihan, Alyson Wooten, and Sammie Litherbury.
• High school district basketball starts this week.
• East Atchison spring sports practices will begin on Monday.
• The THS Scholar Bowl Team is practicing in the mornings and begins competition February 29.
• Overall attendance percentage is 95.13%. February attendance 93.63%.
• Honor roll and perfect attendance assembly was held.
• FBLA members qualified to attend the state conference.
• National Honor Society hosted a community blood drive. NHS tapping ceremony was held.
• FCCLA is sending a couple of groups to the state conference.
• Atchison County Band Day was held in Fairfax.
• NWRPDC will be here to work with data teams.
• The third quarter ends on March 8.
• Small bands festival will take place on March 12.
Mr. Heddinger reported on the following items:
• Building and Grounds Update – Final walk-through with Veregy was completed on February 20. There are a couple of outstanding items that need to be finalized once the weather improves.
• Bids have been advertised for lawn care, mowing and snow removal for the district. These will be presented to the board during the March meeting.
• DESE update – There was nothing significant to report.
• Welfare and Benefits Committee – There will be a meeting with Mr. Heddinger on March 4.
• Legislative Update – HB 1447 Teacher Base Pay, HB 2674 Student Behavior Committee, and SB 799 Vehicle Assessment are all bills that would have an impact on education and need to be monitored.
• MOSIS and Core Data Submissions – The February submissions were completed on time and special thanks to everyone that made this happen.
• Safety Drills Update – Staff completed their initial training on the Crisis Go App on January 29. There is another drill planned for February 26.
Mr. Heddinger shared the agenda items for the March meeting with the board. These include final reading of the 2024-25 school calendar, teacher evaluations and contracts, salary committee, and program evaluation – career and tech education.
Mr. Barnes presented the board with an updated Facilities Use Agreement Policy and Regulation 1420. The board approved the policy/regulation with the addition of recommending charging a $20 per hour fee.
Mr. Barnes led a discussion providing a report on the School’s CSIP. This month, he focused on the collaborative climate and culture goals and strategies.
The board approved the teacher evaluation documents as presented by Mr. Barnes.
The board listened to the second reading of the school calendar for the 2024-25 school year. Highlights for this calendar include a school start date of August 21 and last day of May 15. The administration also discussed with the board the possibility of moving the daily dismissal time from 3:00 p.m. to 3:10 p.m. This would allow the school district to have seven total days’ worth of make-up hours for inclement weather. The board voted to amend the 2023-2024 calendar as proposed by the administration.
Superintendent and assistant superintendent contracts were approved for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school year. Mr. Heddinger was approved as superintendent for the next two years and Mr. Barnes was approved as assistant superintendent for the next two years.
The board discussed engaging into an agreement with RSM to advise the district on and submit the district’s inflation reduction act tax credit stemming from the geothermal project at Tarkio R-I. The board voted to sign the engagement letter and to allow RSM to begin phase one of the project.
Mr. Heddinger presented the board with a preliminary budget for the 2024-2025 school year. Mr. Heddinger will be meeting with the salary and welfare committee on March 4 to discuss their thoughts and desires for the 2024-2025 school year.
The board met in closed session to complete the evaluation of the principals and to discuss personnel issues.
The board voted to exit executive session at 10:38 a.m. The board voted to offer Mr. Barnes a contract to serve as elementary principal for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years. The vote was 7-0.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:43 a.m. The Board of Education will hold the next meeting on March 20, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. in the Tarkio R-I Superintendent’s Office at Tarkio High School.
