The Tarkio High School grounds are receiving some needed renovations, including several sidewalk projects being completed by Hoffman Concrete.

 

The Tarkio R-I Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting Wednesday, June 18, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the central office of the Tarkio R-I School District. Board president Josh Wright called the meeting to order. Other board members present were Brooke Vette, Amy Hurst, Raymond Gebhards, Sam Hannah, Jamie Barnett, and Corey Martin.

The consent agenda was approved which included the following items:

• The minutes from the May 21 regular meeting and closed session

• Transfer of funds to pay certified teachers

• Board meeting schedule for 2025-2026

• Final transportation report for 2024-2025

• Declaring several items as surplus per policy 3390

• An FV4 Grant for the Ag Department 2025-2026

• The 2025-2026 Assessment Plan for the District

• Naming the Superintendent for all state and federal reporting

• A revised 2025-2026 Support Staff Pay Schedule to make Group 1 compliant to the new state minimum wage laws under SB 68

• The 2025-2026 AMI Plan

• Setting the tax rate hearing for August 20, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. prior to the regular scheduled board meeting for August

The district financial reports were presented for the month. This included: the May receipts totaling $372,443; June transmittal to be deposited on June 20, 2025, totaling $219,557; the bank reconciliation showing that the school has $566,082 on hand with Farmers State Bank;  a three-year utility report; and a breakdown of the district’s MOCAAT investment account showing a total of $213,213 of earned interest from July 1, 2024, through May 31, 2025. The Board approved the bills for the month.

There were no public comments during the public time of the meeting. The TAC and CTA reports for the month of June were presented.

Administration Reports

Tarkio Elementary Principal/Tarkio R-I Assistant Superintendent Mr. Dustin Barnes reported on the following elementary, facility and technology updates:

• Summer school was completed on Friday, June 6. There were 25-36 students attending depending on the day.  Mr. Barnes thanked the summer school teachers for their hard work and efforts.

• The CSIP yearly review was scheduled to take place June 23. Area supervisor Nancy Greeley will attend and help with the strategic planning for next year.

• Registration for the elementary has been set for August 6. There will be an online registration component this year, but several documents will still need to be picked up in person.

• Back-to-School Night will take place on Monday, August 18.

• MAP data for individual students should be available mid-July.

• The custodians are hard at work getting the buildings back into shape.

• Chromebook rotation was created this year and those devices have been purchased.

• New teacher meetings will take place for the elementary on August 11 and a virtual training for all staff who have not taught Character Strong on August 12. Teacher workdays start August 14. All six of the new teachers came in and worked with the outgoing teachers within their curricular areas.

• The TAC gym and walking track will be closed down the week of June 30 for dead week and for gym floor resurfacing.

• The tech room is scheduled to be moved the week of June 30 as well.

Tarkio High School Principal Mr. Terry Petersen submitted a junior high and high school report which included the following information:

• Summer activities are in full swing. All sports teams are busy with or preparing for camps and shootouts in preparation for the 2025-2026 seasons.

• Grade cards were sent home along with preliminary class schedules for the fall.

• New teachers have been assigned mentors.

• STAR Math and ELA Testing will have three benchmark periods this fall.

• Several changes are being submitted to the junior high/high school handbook. Highlights include a bell to bell cell phone ban, changes to the school’s athletic eligibility policy to match MSHSAA standards, finals policy changes, gradewatch and after school missing assignment policy changes, and a new Indian Expectations behavior matrix.

• The student behavioral team met with the DCI consultants on June 16 to finalize the junior high/high school expectation matrix and to work on lessons to teach the students expectations.

• Registration will take place August 7. New student registration will take place August 8. Back-to-School Night will take place August 18 and school will be back in session starting August 20.

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

• MSBA summary – A brief legislative summary was provided with a focus on the FY 26 Budget which has full funding for the Formula, Transportation, Career Ladder, and the Minimum Teacher Salary Grant. Receipts have been down this year and caution is advised in preparing budgets given that Governor Kehoe could pull funding if needed. Some general comments were given concerning the impact of SB 68 on schools, particular comments were made related to the new No Cell Phone provisions in the law that will go into effect on August 28, 2025, once Governor Kehoe signs the bill.

• Geothermal and MO Health Net update – Mr. Heddinger has been in contact with Congressman Sam Graves’ Kansas City staff in trying to get answers on the status of the geothermal rebate the district filed with the IRS in November of 2024 and trying to get a copy of IRS Form 147C to file with MO Health Net. Mr. Heddinger expressed his thanks for all the help from Congressman Graves’ office staff in making some headway on these matters.

• Building and grounds update – The repairs to the Tarkio R-I Kids’ Korner Preschool building from the winter flooding have been completed. He thanked local vendors for the great work – Athen Flooring, McCoy Cabinets, and Meeks & Son Plumbing. M&L Tree Service has completed the tree removal and uplifting around the campus. MK3 Construction has completed the demolition of the north crow’s nest at the football field. Thrasher Foundation Repairs completed the sidewalk and stair repairs at the TAC. Hoffman Concrete is on-site working on several sidewalk projects. Preparations for moving the IT room are underway. Connie, Marie, and Aleesha are fast at work getting the rooms ready for August. Bill and Casey are working through their list of annual maintenance and repairs. Veregy will be on-site on July 1 to meet with the administration to walk through the elementary to begin exploring options for a future renovation project.

• DESE update – Governor’s Task Force on School Funding will be holding their second meeting on June 23 in Jefferson City.

• Legislative update – A special session was called by Governor Kehoe to get legislation passed to try and keep the Kansas City Chiefs NFL Team and Kansas City Royals MLB Team in Missouri. During this session, SB3 was passed that will help support the building of new stadiums for the Chiefs and Royals by issuing bonds financed by the state. The most important item that came out of SB3 was the real property tax language that will impact (cap) assessment on an individual’s personal residence. This part of the bill will impact any public entity that receives funding through property taxes. All designated counties (which includes Atchison County) will have to give voters the opportunity in November 2025 or April 2026 to vote on this at the local level. This is one that Mr. Heddinger will continue to monitor and try to determine the financial impact this bill could have on the district should the voters of Atchison County vote to approve this in either November 2025 or April 2026.

• MOSIS and Core Data submissions – These submissions will be completed in the next couple of weeks. Mr. Heddinger thanked everyone for their hard work in getting these submissions completed accurately and on time.

• Agenda items for the August board meetings – Mr. Heddinger shared the agenda items for the August meeting with the board. These include: the tax rate hearing; revise and approve the final budget for 2025-2026; summer maintenance update/tour; set tuition cost; MARE/MSBA Conference dates; district financial statement; transportation plan for 2025-2026; and Board Program Evaluation of CSIP Review and Update.

The Tarkio R-I Board of Education will hold the next two meetings on August 20 and September 17, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the Superintendent’s office at Tarkio High School. The August 20 meeting will also be the tax rate hearing. There will be no meeting in July.

Old Business

CSIP Report for June – There was nothing to report for the month of June. The CSIP committee will meet on June 23 to work on the annual review and update.

Handbook Review – Mr. Barnes and Mr. Petersen presented the board with a summary review of all changes and updates to the 2025-2026 handbooks covering certified staff, support staff, paraprofessionals, elementary students, junior high and high school students, and athletics. The board approved the changes and updates to all 2025-2026 handbooks.

Co-op Board Meeting – Mr. Barnes provided the board with the minutes and an update from the June 16 co-op board meeting.

Mr. Heddinger presented an amended final budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year to reflect the final actual numbers vs. the original budget numbers. In summary, the final actual revenues for the 2024-2025 fiscal year came in at $8,721,899 vs. the original budgeted number of $8,400,372. This resulted in an increase of $321,527 on the revenue side. The final actual expenditures for the 2024-2025 fiscal year came in at 7,845,072 vs. the original budgeted number of $7,785,094. The resulted in increase of $59,978 in total expenditures. The overall budget for 2024-2025 resulted in an actual balance forward of $876,827 vs. $615,278 as was projected. When looking at the unrestricted reserve balances going forward, the district is still in a strong position with $3,778,575 in Fund #1 (General/Incidental) and $2,722,626 in Fund #4 (Capital Projects). These numbers represent a 55.59% reserve balance which is very strong for any school district. Mr. Heddinger did point out there could be a few outstanding bills in the closing days of June and any final adjustments to the budget will be made and the board will be updated. The board approved the motion to “amended 2024-2025 budget to reflect actual expenditures and revenues as of June 30, 2025.”

New Business

Mr. Heddinger presented the board with a 10-year history of meal prices for the district. The goal was to show the slow and steady growth in meal prices over the past decade. Mr. Heddinger recommended that meal prices remain the same for the 2025-2026 school year as they were for the 2024-2025 school year. The board voted to approve to keep the meal prices the same for the 2025-2026 school year.

Mr. Heddinger presented the board with the preliminary budget for the 2025-2026 school year. The revenue projections and estimates for 2025-2026, based on a 1% assessed valuation increase, come in at $8,580,801. The expenditure projections and estimates for 2025-2026, which include increases to all salaries, insurance, and additional staffing, come in at $8,314,017. This leaves the district with a balance of $266,784 for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. When this 2025-2026 balance is applied to the balance carried forward of $266,784 in Fund #1 the total balances in Fund #1 are projected to be $4,045,359 at the conclusion of the 2025-2026 budget year. Mr. Heddinger also shared a separate breakdown of the Fund #4 revenues, expenditures, and balances for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Overall, the Fund #4 beginning balance is estimated to be $2,722,626 with revenues to be $872,400. The expenditures for fiscal year 2025-2026 in Fund #4 total $818958 (most of this expenditure is the two lease payments on the TAC and high school renovations). This will leave the projected total fund balances in Fund #4 at $2,781,068 at the conclusion of the 2025-2026 budget year. The board voted to approve the preliminary 2025-2026 budget as presented.

The board voted to enter into executive session at 9:15 p.m. During the executive session, the board discussed personnel issues. The board voted to exit the executive session at 10:05 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 10:06 p.m.