Submitted by Bob Heddinger, Tarkio R-I Superintendent

The Tarkio R-I Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. in the central office of the Tarkio R-I School District. The meeting was called to order by President Sam Hannah. Board members present were Amy Hurst, Raymond Gebhards, Sam Hannah, Jamie Barnett, Josh Wright, and Corey Martin. Brooke Vette was absent.

The agenda was approved as presented. The consent agenda included the following items:

• The minutes from the October 16 regular and closed session meetings

• Transfer of funds to pay certified teachers

• The hiring of Mr. James Navin as an assistant baseball coach.

• Program evaluations for guidance and curriculum services were presented to the board.

• The dates and times the school will be open for board candidates to file for the board election to be held on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, was presented. The district gifted program handbook, which covers all relevant information related to this new program, was presented.

The district financial reports were presented for the month and the board approved the bills for the month. A three-year utility report was provided that showed continued decreases in the high school utility bills. The MOCAAT accounts have a combined $52,400.71 in interest earnings year to date on the reserve balances the district has invested with them since July 1.

The TAC report for the month of November was presented. As always, thanks to Mrs. Nikki Parshall and her staff for all the great things that take place at the TAC each month. Mrs. Blu Dow submitted the CTA report for November. It is obvious from this report that there are a lot of great things happening in our classrooms. Both reports demonstrate that everything is in full swing and moving forward at a rapid pace.

Administration Reports

Tarkio Elementary Principal Mr. Dustin Barnes submitted an elementary report. Overall enrollment for the building is 147 students. Attendance for the first quarter was at 97.04%. The elementary school sponsored a Book Blast a few weeks ago and the school raised $7,929.97. Each student in the elementary school received at least one book regardless of how much money they raised. Thanks to Mrs. Prather for organizing this. The Veterans Day assembly occurred November 11. It was a combined event this year district wide and the kindergarten class sang. Elementary school hosted a game night on Wednesday, November 13. Elementary music programs are upcoming. The third grade program is November 26. The kindergarten through second grade program is December 13 and December 20 is the Sing Around the Christmas Tree. Kindergarten STAR assessments were completed by November 15. DIBELS reading assessments were completed the week of November 11. Mid-year STAR math and ELA benchmarks will start the week of December 2. The Turkey Trot will take place the morning of November 26. The fourth and fifth grade students will attend Eagle Days on December 6. Elementary PBIS teams went to Tier 1 and Tier 2 trainings in October. The district has been busy with PD opportunities for our teachers. The elementary leadership team met with our DCI consultants on Wednesday, November 6, to go over data results and make plans for the rest of the year. Focus areas are behavior, literacy and academics. The second, third, fourth, and fifth grade math teachers met with our math consultant on November 12. Our entire elementary met with our DCI consultants on November 19 to work on a module on teacher efficacy.

Tarkio High School Principal Mr. Terry Petersen submitted a junior high and high school report. Enrollment numbers are: high school 90, and middle school 87. The board reviewed the beginning of the year and October STAR benchmark assessment results. Parent teacher conference attendance percentages were shared with the board. Counselors Mrs. Ellie Graves and Mrs. Marisa Hedlund met with parents during parent teacher conferences to discuss student ICAPS and how to navigate through the parent portal of our LUMEN System. EIS student climate and culture survey information has been received and is being looked at with the EIS problem solving team. The middle school team is meeting bi-weekly. The sixth grade class is being added to the school’s gradewatch program to help give them additional time for completion of assignments during study skills time. On November 6, the leadership team met with the DCI Group to discuss district data. On November 12, district math teachers met with the math consultant to discuss instructional strategies. On November 13, the high school teachers met with the DCI consultants to go over a module on teacher efficacy. Fall sports seasons have all come to completion. High school basketball and wrestling practices have started. The FFA trip to the national conference in Indianapolis went well. The school play “Newsies” will be performed Friday, November 22, Saturday, November 23, and Sunday, November 24. FCCLA and NHS are conducting a canned food drive. NHS has helped deliver Meals on Wheels twice in October. On November 6, 20 members of FBLA attended a presentation by entrepreneur Mark Nelson at Tarkio Tech’s Rotary Theatre. On November 7, the junior class attended an ACDC-sponsored youth professionalism workshop at the TAC. On November 12, six students in grades 6-10 attended a youth leadership program.

Tarkio R-I Superintendent Mr. Bob Heddinger gave the following report:

• MSBA Video Summary – There was nothing to share this month.

• Board Elections – Candidate filing will be December 10-31, 2024. The board seats held by Mrs. Brooke Vette and Mr. Jamie Barnett will be up this spring. The election will be held on April 8, 2025.

• Building and Grounds Update – The geothermal rebate paperwork was submitted to the IRS on November 14. The district should realize a rebate of $1,076,690. The timeline on when the district will see the rebate has yet to be determined. All district parking lots were recently chip and sealed along with some asphalt work at the football/track stadium concession stand. Veregy provided the district with a utility comparison report to show the projected and actual savings on the new geothermal HVAC system. The report showed that the projected savings were $26,928, while the actual savings were $38,578. The baseball project is on a temporary hold due to some equipment issues the vendor is experiencing. Mr. Heddinger will be meeting with Veregy and their representatives on November 25 to begin the conversation on what future building projects the district would like to explore.

• DESE Update – Core data and MOSIS submissions for October were completed on time. The annual assurance checklist that is required by DESE was completed ahead of time. APR and assessment data was to be released to the public by the time of this meeting. Instead, this information will not be released until next week. This postponement was sent down from DESE to correct some errors on their end.

• Legislative Update – The General Assembly next session begins on January 8, 2025, and will conclude on May 16, 2025. Legislators can begin to prefile legislation on December 1, 2024.

• School Calendar – Mr. Heddinger will begin meeting with the Calendar Committee on November 25. During this initial meeting, Mr. Heddinger will gather information from the committee members to help direct him in preparing the 2025-26 school calendar. The goal is to have a calendar ready to present for a first reading to the board at the December meeting.

• Federal Programs/Special Education Review – Once every three years a district must go through this review process for our title programs and special education services. This is a year-long process and requires extra effort on everyone connected to these programs. Thanks in advance to Tarkio R-I Special Education Director Mrs. Kari Taylor for her leadership in navigating the district through this process.

• School Farm – Mr. Heddinger reported that it appears that Ag Partners Cooperative is going to go through with donating the land to the school. At this point, their board of directors needs to officially approve this. The thought is that it will happen before the end of the calendar year.

• Transportation Contract – Mr. Heddinger and Mr. Barnes met with a representative from First Student and have negotiated the possible terms for a three-year extension with two additional years possible. The increases are reasonable in scope and a formal agreement will be presented to the board during the December meeting for their approval.

• Surplus Sale Items – Mr. Heddinger shared that the finish mower and weight equipment that had been declared surplus were awarded to two individuals. The total proceeds for the items equaled $1,262 which will be placed into Fund 4 (Capital Projects) per policy.

• MSBA Services – Mr. Heddinger shared that he has entered into two agreements with MSBA to assist the district in recouping funds through the Local Tax Effort Program (LTE) and the Medicaid Reimbursement Program (SDAC). These two programs have the potential to generate several thousand dollars for the district on an annual basis. The district is billed by MSBA 10% of the money that is recouped by MSBA on the district’s behalf.

• Agenda Items for the December Board Meeting – Mr. Heddinger shared the agenda items for the December meeting with the board. The list of items includes: Approve Trash Bids (as needed), Review Non-Tenured Evaluations, Present Superintendent’s Evaluation, Principal’s Evaluation, School Calendar First Reading, Approve the Completed Audit, and Program Evaluation – State and Federal Programs.

The Board of Education will hold the next two meetings on December 18, 2024, and January 15, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the Superintendent’s office at Tarkio High School.

CSIP Review (information item) – Mr. Barnes shared with the board a review/update on Focus Area #2 – Viable Curriculum aligned to Missouri Learning Standards.

Mr. Barnes shared with the board the formation of a committee and the plan to hold meetings during the month of December to finalize the facilities plan.

Mr. Heddinger shared the Homeless Policy and Regulation 2260 with the board as part of the district’s responsibility to remain compliant with federal guidelines. This policy was last approved/updated by the board on August 21, 2024. The Homeless Coordinator for the Tarkio R-I School District is Mrs. Marisa Hedlund.

Mr. Barnes shared with the board a copy of the district’s communication plan. This is another of the many documents required under the MSIP 6 guidelines. This plan will be approved by the board at a future meeting.

School Report Card/APR – Mr. Barnes shared what he could regarding the release of the annual APR report. Most of the information is still embargoed until next week. A complete report will be presented to the board during the December board meeting.

The 2023-24 audit report was tabled until the December meeting.

Mr. Heddinger shared with the board three policy and one regulation updates that he received from MCE on November 18. These will be brought back to the board during the December meeting for approval.

Co-op Program Evaluation – Mr. Barnes presented the board with a copy of an evaluation form for each member to complete. This form will be used as a tool to gather information that can be utilized to help guide the co-op board in making recommendations moving forward. This evaluation form will be presented to coaches, administrators, and student/athletes to bring all stakeholders to the table to help in the decision making process.

The board met in closed session to discuss personnel matters. A motion was made by Amy Hurst to enter into closed session and was seconded by Jamie Barnett. The motion carried. A motion made by Josh Wright and seconded by Corey Martin moved the meeting from closed session back to open session. The board exited closed session at 9:14 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.