The Fairfax R-3 School Board held a regular meeting July 17, 2025, in the Fairfax R-3 library. Crystal Woodring, vice-president, called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. Also in attendance were: Brett Johnson, Stephanie Stevens, Treyvor Umbarger, Courtney Grossman, and Shelby Hurst (at 7:02 p.m.), board members; Dr. Jason McDowell, superintendent; Mrs. Barbara Terry, principal; and Karen Burke, secretary. Miles Smith was absent.
Visitors
Aimée Seymour and Dixie Stoner were present to present their idea of some landscaping around the school. They want to make a welcoming area with low maintenance.
Piper Morris presented to the board all requirements needed and met to be classified as a senior this upcoming year 2025-2026. She has requested board approval.
Agenda
The agenda was approved as presented.
Consent Agenda
Board members reviewed the following minutes: June 26, 2025, regular and executive.
The financial report was also reviewed. It included the check registry and balance sheet, and the fiscal year total dollars spent to each vendor for the 2024-25 school year.
The monthly bills were presented for payment.
The consent agenda was approved.
Superintendent’s Report
It’s been a great July at Fairfax R-3. The cleaning and repairs have been going non-stop. With all of the rain we’ve had the mowing has been non-stop also. Students have been in the gym first thing in the morning which is fantastic. Mrs. Terry has some great ideas for open house/back to school night. We will be using that time as a meet and greet as well. It’s going to be a fantastic school year!
• The main freezer in the kitchen is down. It looks to be the compressor. Jeff Jobes is coming to look at it Friday morning. With it being July the food loss was minimal and not enough to do an insurance claim on the food.
• The floors are coming along nicely. The custodians have been working hard at getting them finished soon.
• Part of the brick ceiling above the boiler crumbled in earlier this week. It looks like this has happened before and was patched with metal sheeting. Jeff Jobes is going to look at this also.
• There is a possibility that the school will need to install a gas shut-off valve outside the building where the gas lines come into the boiler. Dr. McDowell needs to get some more information before they move in that direction.
• A resident saw some kids on the buses a while back. Whoever was on the buses left some switches turned on which drained the batteries. One bus had pretty new batteries and should be fine. The other had older batteries which may need to be replaced.
• Dr. McDowell was told that Hillyards was going to reach out about treating the gym floor. At this point it may be a project to schedule over Christmas break if possible.
• Dr. McDowell was able to speak to the Kiwanis Club this week. He was impressed with how much they have done for the school and community over the years.
New Business
The consensus of the board was to allow school funds up to $500 for landscaping purposes.
Board members voted to approve the following payments:
• Midwest Data Center, $13,586.36 for their services.
• HUDL, $12,679.23 for athletic streaming, software, and hardware for indoor and outdoor sports. This is an EA Co-op expense.
• Rieman Music, $1,980.01 for a new drum and stand.
• WBN, $1,600 for June mowing and trimming.
• Clayton Paper, $1,882.68 for the end-of-year co-op order for supplies.
There was discussion on the school’s cell phone policy. This policy bans the use or possession of cell phones during the school day, bell to bell. Phones may be kept in lockers. All schools are going to be moving to a zero cell phone policy this school year. Fairfax R-3 School may end up getting a reworded policy from its provider. If or when that happens it will be brought back before the board. Board members voted unanimously to approve the updated policy P2656 to reflect the recent statewide order from the governor.
The school handbook has been condensed into one Preschool-12 handbook. It will need a few cosmetic fixes and staff name corrections as positions are approved. Board members voted to approve the student handbook for the 2025-26 school year.
The 2025-26 substitute list was approved as presented.
Board members voted to continue using Anderson Erickson as the school’s milk provider for the 2025-26 school year. The cost per container has gone up less than one cent. The school was able to keep milk prices at the same level and still cover the cost.
Board members voted to approve updated meal prices. A 10¢ increase in lunch and breakfast prices will help the school stay in line with rising costs.
The next regular board meeting will be Thursday, August 21, at 6:30 p.m.
