The Fairfax R-3 School Board met January 23, 2025. Miles Smith, president, called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Also in attendance were: Brett Johnson, Crystal Woodring (6:40 p.m.), Treyvor Umbarger, Courtney Grossman, and Shelby Hurst, board members; Nick Kemerling, superintendent; Karen Burke, secretary; and CTA representatives Dixie Stoner, Jen Blakeman, Lexi Heck, and Lauren Clark. Board member Chance Clement was absent.

The agenda was approved as presented.

Consent Agenda

Board members reviewed the minutes of the December 19, 2024, regular and executive sessions.

The fund balance December 31, 2024, was $1,672,430.06.

The monthly bills in the amount of $46,744.06 were reviewed for payment.

Superintendent’s Report

Mr. Kemerling reviewed the following maintenance items:

• The D.A. tank on the boiler that was repaired by welding a patch onto the side last year has failed in another spot causing water to leak into the floor of the boiler room. Over semester break Jeff Jobes and I travelled to Tarkio to look at their boiler equipment that is no longer in use. Tarkio administration and maintenance had offered us any of their boiler equipment free of charge and they have two D.A. tanks on their campus. Their tank in the elementary building is not large enough for our needs, and the tank that would work will not fit into our boiler room. Our options to fix the issue would be to cut a hole in the roof of the boiler room and use the free Tarkio tank, or to have Waldinger fabricate a tank. After contacting the company that made the original tank and finding out there would be an 18 week wait time for a replacement, it was decided that the Waldinger option would be the best option.

• The kiln in the art room is now operational and the dishwasher in the kitchen was repaired over the semester break.

• One of the two milk coolers is not working. This cooler was purchased in 1996. Mr. Kemerling will have Jeff look at the cooler when he is here next week.

• John Brown added gravel to the bus parking lot on the east side of the concrete in front of the gym entrance to help with mud being tracked into the gym during the Fairfax Tournament.

• The custodians/maintenance have been busy cleaning out the two storage rooms off of the old gym and moving items out of the library extra rooms. One of the library rooms has been turned into a sensory room and the other is in the process of becoming a space for copy paper, financial documents, and an additional space for preschool when needed.

• Midwest Data Center submitted a bid for repair/replacement of the new gym sound system. The bid came in between $10,000 and $11,000 and this was given to the alumni association. Mr. Kemerling has been told the association is short of the bid total in funds, but would make some calls and get back with him. If the association decided to donate the funds for the sound system project the donation will need to be approved by the board.

East Atchison Wolves Report

Both high school basketball teams have been competitive throughout the season and participated in the Fairfax Tournament.

• It was a successful tournament week and Mr. Kemerling will have a revenue/expense report at the February meeting.

• Junior high wrestling started last week and Fairfax will have one boy and 2-3 girls on the team

• The annual Optimist 4th grade tournament will be February 1. Mr. Kemerling completed the game schedule and submitted it to the Optimist Club. The board previously waived facility rental fees for the event.

Principal’s Report

General information was shared on the start of the second semester, grade cards, three week progress reports, and County Band Day.

NWRPDC met with teachers on December 11 to work on Self-Efficacy Lessons.

Fairfax R-3 has only had one snow day and AMI has not been used.

The same class schedule will be used next year. This schedule allows for the following: job-embedded PD/collaboration (an evaluation requirement); prevents conflicts with required credits; allows for extended blocks of ELA in the elementary; allows for structured, consistent intervention for at-risk students; school-day tutoring in Algebra I and reading; consistent times for elementary Science and Social Studies; and allows elementary students access to afternoon specials on a daily basis.

Secondary teachers have started work on a Graduate Portrait. Currently they are looking at articles on 21st century learning and picking out common themes in different sources. They will work on narrowing down those themes and describing what a student should be able to do by the time they graduate. Once a draft is complete, it will be shared with stakeholders for feedback before being presented to the board as part of the school’s CSIP. This exercise will allow us to clearly communicate academic expectations for students, staff, families, and the community. It will be part of the school’s vision that defines the end-goal of our work with students.

Elementary teachers have most recently received JEPD on DESE Testlets. These online MAP practice tests can be taken multiple times, can be reviewed by classroom teachers, and are directly tied to MAP content. The goal with testlets is to use them as a diagnostic tool to predict student performance on the MAP and then prep students for success.

The consent agenda was approved.

New Business

The following payments were approved: Falls City Mercantile, $1,326.20 for food items; and First Student, $1,733.52 for December Vo-Tech transportation.

Craig R-3 School’s formal request to join the EA Co-op for the 2025-26 school year was included. This would be for junior high football, high school football, and baseball only per MSHSAA request. Questions posed to Craig were also included. There was discussion with the consensus that the right questions are being asked and the school board members feel it is ok to take it to the co-op board for further discussion.

Board members voted unanimously to have Crystal Woodring serve on the co-op board in place of Chance Clement who will be going off the board in April.

Changes that could occur may include: the teacher work day moved to Friday in August and the moving of spring break to coincide with Easter holiday.

Treyvor Umbarger made a motion to approve the candidates listed on the ballot: Ky White, Crystal Woodring, and Stephanie Stevens. Shelby Hurst seconded the motion. The vote was approve 4-0 with two abstaining.

The school’s operating levy was originally passed in 2018. The school originally received $.75 for every $100 assessed, but due to an increase in utility assessment they are actually only receiving $.65 per $100 assessed. The school’s financial advisors at L.J. Hart have suggested making this a permanent levy and that is in the ballot presented. Board members voted unanimously to approve the levy ballot as presented making the school’s temporary operating levy permanent.

There was discussion on a school resource officer (SRO). Mr. Kemerling met with Sheriff Andy Riley last week who wanted him to inform the board of their plan to see a full time SRO for the Atchison County schools. If no grant funds can be solicited, they could be asking $10,000 from each school to fund the officer.

There was discussion on the boiler repairs. The actual bid was around $9,800. Board members voted unanimously to approve the boiler work that should total less than $10,000.

Board members also voted unanimously to accept a donation from the class of 1983 in memory of Charlotte Cleveland.

Credits on the school’s statement from Kohls were reviewed. The school gets two shipments/year from Kohls. Those credits are for damaged items that were returned. Board members voted to pay $8,567.12 to Kohls Wholesale for food items.