The Tarkio R-I Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the central office of the Tarkio R-I School District. The board members present were Brooke Vette, Amy Hurst, Raymond Gebhards, Sam Hannah, Jamie Barnett, Josh Wright, and Corey Martin. President Josh Wright called the meeting to order and all in attendance stood to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

The consent agenda was approved by a vote of 7-0, which included the following items:

• The minutes from the August 20, 2025, regular meeting, closed session meeting, and the special meeting on September 8, 2025

• Transfer of funds to pay certified teachers

• The National FFA Convention trip from October 28 to November 1, 2025

• The annual approval of Policy 4610 – Teacher Evaluation Instrument and Policy 1110 – Religious Assurance

The board also approved items to be deemed as surplus from the old greenhouse under Policy 3390. The greenhouse structure, an exhaust fan, and two fan louvers will be advertised for sealed bid with the proceeds going to the district’s capital projects fund. Finally, new policy and regulation updates needed to comply with the new SB 68 law that went into effect on August 28, 2025. These policies and regulations were provided to the school district by Missouri Consultants for Education.

The district’s financial reports were presented for the month and the board approved the bills for the month. A three-year utility report was provided. Tarkio R-I Superintendent Mr. Bob Heddinger did highlight several bills that were unique for this time of year. These included the bus and hotels for the FFA Convention, lease interest payment for the 2018 lease for the TAC renovation project, window project at the crow’s nest, computer purchase from the Rock Port R-II School District, and some maintenance items for the school vans. Mr. Heddinger did point out that he was not able to get an updated MOCAAT investment report for this meeting. He did state that he will get an update later this week and share that once he receives the report.

There were no public comments during the public time of the meeting. The TAC report for the month of September was presented. The first CTA report for the 2025-26 school year was presented. Both reports demonstrate that everything is in full swing and moving forward at a rapid pace.

Administration Report

Tarkio Elementary Principal Mr. Dustin Barnes submitted an elementary report. Overall, enrollment for the building is 147 students. The elementary book fair is taking place the week of September 15. Star testing wrapped up in the elementary this past week and the kindergarten teachers are finishing their KOF beginning of the year screenings. The teachers will be attending the 275 Conference PD Day at Northwest Missouri State University on Monday, September 22, 2025. Dr. Todd Whittaker is the speaker for the day. The career ladder committee has met with the teachers interested in career ladder this year. A fire drill took place on August 28 and a lockout- lockdown drill took place on September 5. There are a number of PD activities taking place this month. Angela Dorsey was here on August 16 to work with all K-12 math teachers. Teachers analyzed assessment data and looked for areas of strength and weakness. The elementary began its Indian Pride theme with Pride Words – grit, self control, growth, mindset and resourcefulness. The elementary is also beginning its Character Strong curriculum with a two-week kindness kick-off. IPI and staff classroom observations have begun as well. The school is working on getting some computers replaced that are unable to be updated to Windows 11 prior to the end of October.

Tarkio High School Principal Mr. Terry Petersen submitted a junior high and high school report. Enrollment numbers are as follows – high school 91 and junior high 85. The gradewatch program is being implemented in grades 6-12 this year with students who are missing assignments being required to attend after school sessions from 3:15 to 4:00 p.m. STAR testing took place in the building September 3-5. The staff will be using the results to monitor instruction. The next STAR assessment window is December 2-5. Mid-term reports went home on September 16. The 275 Conference PD Day will take place on September 22. On September 16, the core math teachers worked on item analysis. IPI classroom and NEE walk-through observations have started taking place. There have been six cell phone violations thus far. Junior high and high school athletics are in full swing. FFA members are participating in their yearly fruit sales. The FFA participated in the Graves-Chapple Field Day on September 9. FCCLA has a September 21 park clean-up night. NHS had its first meeting and is getting dates to assist with Meals on Wheels. On September 24, the freshmen will attend “Careers on Wheels” in Rock Port. Grades 9-12 will attend a mental health and motivational speaker at West Nodaway. Counselor Mrs. Ellie Graves is starting her HOPS program on organization skills with the 6th and 7th grades. East Atchison Fall Homecoming will be celebrated the week of the 29th.

Tarkio R-I Superintendent Mr. Bob Heddinger gave his report. Registration is open for the MSBA Fall Conference scheduled for October 23-25 in Kansas City. The fencing project around the football/track stadium is completed. The seeding of the areas impacted by all the summer projects has been completed. The storage container project is being reevaluated with a goal of completely removing the containers and replacing them with a shed/garage type building. This building will be designed to accommodate storage needs for all activities and look better than the containers. Mr. Heddinger also shared the proposed timeline for the greenhouse project, which should begin near the end of September and be completed around the end of October. The Missouri General Assembly had a second special session September 3-12, 2025. During this session, the Congressional Districts for Missouri were redrawn. Also during this session, a bill was proposed to eliminate personal property taxes across the entire state. Mr. Heddinger shared that if this were to be passed, it would be a 16% reduction in the district’s assessed valuation (AV) resulting in a loss of around $650,000 in local revenue. This will most certainly come up again during the regular session of the general assembly which begins on January 7, 2026. Be on the lookout for more information related to public school funding as we move forward. Core data submissions for August have been submitted. The October MOSIS and Core Data submissions will be submitted without delay in the coming weeks. A comparison of the revenues received by the district from the state or federal government to help satisfy many of the mandates placed on the school district vs. the actual expenditures was discussed. The special programs included the Title I programs, REAP/E-rate, special education, and PAT. The bottom line is that the total revenues Tarkio R-I receives to support these programs totals $269,995 vs. the cost of the programs at $1,092,895. This means that the difference of $822,900 is made up with local monies. These programs are vital and necessary to best serve our students, but are grossly underfunded by the state and federal government. Mr. Heddinger shared some of the topics discussed during a recent Rural Advocate meeting. These included Textcaster, community meetings, school funding, and school picture cost. Mr. Heddinger will be sending out the information to the board members to complete their mandatory one-hour refresher training prior to the October meeting.

Mr. Heddinger shared the agenda items for the October meeting with the board. The list of items include: approve the school audit (if completed), bids for school liability insurance (as needed), approve bus route information, snow removal plan (bid as needed), and program evaluations – food service program.

The Tarkio R-I Board of Education will hold the next two meetings on October 15 and November 19, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the Tarkio High School superintendent’s office.

Old Business

Mr. Barnes shared information related to the potential softball co-op with Rock Port, Fairfax, and Tarkio. The three districts would not be allowed to combine for a three school co-op in softball, according to MSHSAA rules. The questions now become is this something that the district wishes to pursue with only two schools or does it just stop this conversation entirely? The board asked the administration to put out a survey to see if there is any interest in fall softball with the Tarkio High School girls and report back to the board.

Mr. Barnes brought back the TAC membership topic from last month’s meeting to see if the board wanted to take any action on making changes to the current membership practices. The board did not feel there was a need to make any changes.

Mr. Barnes gave an update on the CSIP. The topic was Focus Area 1 – Collaborative Climate and Culture.

Mr. Heddinger shared the final 2025-26 budget for board approval. The board voted 7-0 to approve the budget as presented. Highlights of the budget by Mr. Heddinger include: revenues = $9,919,559 ($1,124,852 geothermal rebate); expenditures = $8,159,015; and budget balance = $1,760,544. General observations and comments by Mr. Heddinger concerning this budget included: raised the base salary from $40,000 to $42,000; raised the insurance cap from $600 to $650; added one and a half full-time paraprofessionals and one full-time certified teachers; and purchased new curriculum resources, classroom furniture, and technology. The district remains in a strong financial position with the Fund 1 and Fund 4 balances totaling $8,471,301.

New Business

Mr. Barnes presented the co-op agreement as an action item. The board approved the updated co-op agreement for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years by a 7-0 vote.

There was no closed session held and the meeting was adjourned at 9:04 p.m.