The Fairfax R-3 School District Board of Education held a reorganizational meeting April 17, 2023.
The board read the election results. Those elected for three year terms were Brett Michael Johnson, Miles Gregg Smith, and Treyvor Umbarger.
Officers elected were: Jon Graves, board president; Miles Smith, vice-president; and Karen Burke, secretary/treasurer.
The board approved the Fairfax R-3 Conflict of Interest Ordinance. This document is approved and then filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission in order to reduce the paperwork requirement for board members regarding financial reporting to the state.
Jon Graves, president, called the regular meeting to order at 6:38 p.m. Also in attendance were: Brett Johnson, Chance Clement, Crystal Woodring, Miles Smith, Treyvor Umbarger, and Theresa Larson, board members; Jeremy Burright,superintendent; Dustin Barnes, principal; Karen Burke, secretary; and CTA members and guests.
Ginny Smith was present to talk about Revised Statutes of Missouri 610.021 subsections 6.
Beth Graves was present to present to the board ideas of how the school/community can come together to do some upgrades of the gymnasium.
The agenda was approved as presented.
Consent Agenda
Board members reviewed the minutes of March 16, 2023, regular and executive sessions and the March 31, 2023, special open and executive sessions.
In the financial report, it was noted that the current fund balance is $2,155,366, up $241,597 over last year.
The monthly bills in the amount of $116,262.04 were approved for payment
Superintendent’s Report
The school has one applicant for the principal position in spite of multiple conversations with possible candidates. The job has also been posted on several sites.
Dr. Burright spoke with Todd Fogg regarding scheduling the installation of the new swing set. It will most likely proceed once planting is done.
The water leak in the girls’ locker room has continued in spite of rerouting the downspouts. At this point it is likely that the leak is due to a problem with the foundation. Dr. Burright will work with the school’s partners to schedule additional work this summer.
The school is acquiring everything needed for summer mowing. Mr. Vernon worked on the football field today.
Dr. Burright will meet with maintenance and custodians once school is out to determine what the summer project list will be.
The school does not have donations for football field treatment this year. In the past the Fairfax Improvement Foundation has done this for the school.
Concrete work needs to be done around the school. Dr. Burright has delayed this process in lieu of installing swings, purchasing equipment for lawn care, and finally fixing the leak in the girls’ locker room.
All three buses failed inspection. Number 17 is repaired and back on site. Number 19 is being examined/repaired for problems that may be linked to warranty work performed earlier this year, and Number 6 has yet to be repaired. None of them were taken out of service. The school is working with Mound City Auto and the Highway Patrol for repairs and inspections.
A sub has been needed on bus routes and Mrs. Baker is currently doing morning and afternoon routes.
The NWRPDC and DESE have finished scoring all of the CSIP’s submitted in the first group of tiered monitoring. While all schools received all 30 points for the first year of CSIP assessment by default, the Fairfax R-3 district will also receive all 30 points for the 2023-24 school year. They scored an additional eight points for their response to standards which pushed the school over into “exemplary” status. The DESE area supervisor shared that there were no recommendations for revision and that Fairfax was recognized for the diversity of community input, the clear connection in its plan to collected data, and the clear connection to measurements associated with each action step. This work, along with the overall 92.3% score on Fairfax’s APR is a credit to the students, community, and staff who contributed to this process. It is something worthy of celebration.
Dr. Burright reported the school has received approval for its mental health grant. This grant will pay for mental health services over the summer, increased services in the 2023-24 school year, summer transportation to the facility during the 2023 summer, and coordination services provided by the Fairfax counselor outside of her regular contracted days/hours.
Principal’s Report
Mr. Barnes reported on several general items, including Elementary Ag Day, MAP-EOC testing, Project Lead the Way Modules, Elementary Field Day, the Academic Banquet, seniors’ last day, senior trip, and the spring music concert.
Preschool and kindergarten screenings were held for six kindergarten students.
Text/consumable purchase requests are being quoted out. Teachers have been asked to send requests to Mr. Barnes and they are discussing some residual purchases along with some replacement textbook purchases.
The master 2022-2023 junior high/high school schedules have been completed and Mrs. Hedlund has begun starting scheduling and four-year plans and ICAPS for kids.
Finals are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, May 15 and 16. The last day of school and awards assemblies will be held Wednesday, May 17.
Graduation will take place Sunday, May 21, at 1:00 p.m.
Work continues on the new SIS System. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Burke spent a day working in the new system and consulting with Teacherease on tasks needing to be completed.
The NHS students have one food drop left for the year. The eight current members will dine at A & G Restaurant as a reward and to celebrate them for being great role models for students.
Kindergarten had their All Star Club celebration today. Six of the nine kindergarteners completed these tasks all on their own. They celebrated with pizza and cheese sticks from Casey’s.
In his report on athletics and activities, Mr. Barnes noted that Dead Week will be July 1 – 9.
Consent Agenda Approval
Board members voted to approve the consent agenda.
Survey feedback on morale was shared with the board via Google drive. The information in the surveys will most likely lead to a lengthy discussion and it should involve the new superintendent.
Cowen O’Riley was named 2nd Team All-Conference Scholar Bowl.
Amelia Larson advanced to state music with her flute solo.
New Business
Payment of $4,534.62 to Falls City Mercantile for breakfast and lunch services was approved.
Fairfax R-3 has a commercial, walk-behind mower awaiting purchase for $1,539. Other mowers of the same type were $6,800 or $8,599. $1,900 would cover shipping, which may be free. Additionally, the school overpaid for the zero turn mower and has reissued a check for $4,700 instead of $6,800. This equipment will be purchased out of O&M Equipment. The school is also pricing a Tuff-Shed for storage and will probably place it in the bus lot where there is camera surveillance. The purchase of a walk-behind mower for up to $1,900 was approved.
With the state salary grant, the modified salary schedule and prospective 2023-24 budget is still in the black by $17,000. It is likely the state will pass legislation mandating the $38,000 minimum salary but that mandate comes with a 70/30 funding match from the state. The state is already funding the 70/30 match regardless of legislation for 2023-24. Board members voted to approve the participation of Fairfax R-3 School District in the Baseline Salary Grant and approve the updated salary schedule pending state funding.
Board members voted to approve the solicitation of milk bids for the 2023-24 food service program.
The amount available through the safety grant will be $50,000 but Fairfax R-3 has not received notification of whether or not they have received the grant. This work will allow the school to update its bell/intercom system, add entry service to high school and elementary doors, and replace the main entrance, exterior, elementary doors. These doors are broken and at times do not close and latch. Due to the age of the doors, parts are unavailable. The bid from Midwest Data Center for work related to the 2022-23 safety grant for $31,227, pending grant approval.
Board members voted to approve the payment of $5,527 to Northwest Mechanical for boiler repairs and general plumbing services in February and March. Potentially, the district might consider replacing the heating system, but contractors that have looked at the costs for heating and cooling have not been able to bid work that reduces the overall, annual cost.
Athletic Co-op
Board Meeting Summary
Jon Graves and Miles Smith updated the board on the co-op discussion from their meeting. It was the consensus of the co-op board that they allow sixth graders to participate in middle school sports. Board members voted unanimously to approve the opportunity for sixth graders to join in junior high sports.
Board Policy Modification
Currently, this policy requires Narcan to be kept in a locked, secured location. This prevents easy access to this emergency measure during any time but the school day. It also creates a barrier for staff who need to use the inhibitor. Narcan rapidly reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. Current discussion leans toward placing it near the AED unit and in a more accessible place in the elementary school. Board members voted to modify policy P2874 to allow Narcan to be stored in a more accessible, unlocked area.
Board members approved the payment of $3,500 to MARE for superintendent search services.
Payment to Mound City-2nd Semester SLP Services
Board members approved the payment of $6,210 to Mound City for second semester SLP services. These are the second semester speech services for which Fairfax has a contract with Mound City. This agreement allows Fairfax R-3 to avoid using telehealth and have a certified SLP onsite.
Board members approved the purchase of 14 replacement smart panels for classrooms from Haddock for $31,191. These are 75” replacement panels for the promethean boards in classrooms. Mr. Barnes has obtained a quote for $2,219 each which is a discount of $942 per item. If paid in 2022-23, this cost would come from reserves. If paid in 2023-24 the cost would come from the increased tech budget and reserve. This purchase could be phased in over two years, putting the annual cost within the allotment for the updated, annual, tech budget.
Old Business
Dr. Burright will solicit feedback on the COVID plan from community members in May in order to stay in compliance with our timetable.
The next regular board meeting is May 18, 2023, at 6:30 p.m.
