The Tarkio Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, December 17, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. in the central office of the Tarkio R-I School District. The meeting was called to order by President Josh Wright. The agenda was approved as presented. Board members present were Josh Wright, Brooke Vette, Amy Hurst, Jaime Barnett, Sam Hannah, and Corey Martin.

The consent agenda was approved. It included the following items: The minutes from the regular and closed session meetings November 12, 2025, transfer of funds to pay certified teachers, policy updates from MCE Services, a new two-year baseball agreement with the city, and the addition of Mark Staten as a substitute teacher for the 2025-26 school year. Program Professional Development was presented to the board.

The district financial reports were presented and the board approved the bills for the month. A three-year utility report was provided. The MOCAAT accounts have a combined $361,910.82 in interest earnings through December 17, 2025, on the reserve balances the district has invested with MOCAAT since July 1, 2024.

Communications

The TAC Report for the month of December was presented, Mrs. Blu Dow submitted the CTA Report for December, and Mrs. Stevens submitted a food service report that showed the number of breakfasts and lunches served in November.

Administration Reports

Mr. Barnes submitted an elementary report. Overall enrollment for the building is 151 total students and the overall elementary attendance percentage for the first semester sits at 95.7%. School will be back in session on Tuesday, January 6. During the PD day on January 5 they will have a “work in our room” day along with some staff meetings and PBIS committee meetings. The second quarter PBS assembly was held on Thursday, December 18, and the A.R. and Character Strong assembly will be held on Friday, January 9. Northstar advocacy center came the school on December 3 to present to the students about saying no, safe adults and unsafe situations. Mid-year star benchmarking took place between December 1 and December 11. Mrs. Hull, Mrs. Dow, Mrs. Rolf and the classroom teachers were thanked for getting this assessment completed. They are currently looking at the data. The preschool program took place on Monday, December 15. K-2 students had their winter program on Friday, December 12. Tarkio elementary students are travelling to the Tarkio Nutrition Center on Thursday, December 18, to carol to the community. Holiday parties will be held the morning of Friday, December 19, with sing around the Christmas tree taking place at 9:30 that morning. Mid-year DIBELS data was shared with the board and there were gains across the grade spans. Technology issues continue to be addressed.

Mr. Petersen submitted a junior high and high school report. Enrollment numbers are 77 in the middle school and 92 in the high school. Star testing results for December were shared with the board. The district’s DCI team conducted classroom walk-throughs December 9 and then met with the district leadership team to share results and discuss next steps in the process. Junior high basketball season has been completed and the high school wrestling and basketball seasons are underway. Northstar came and presented to grades 6-12 on December 3 regarding in appropriate relationships and abuse. The high school reward pizza lunch and bowling trip to Rock Port was December 11 and 51 students enjoyed the day. On December 13 the Christmas dance took place at the Community Building. The junior high rewards pizza and lunch and bowling was December 16. The 6-12th grade winter music program was December 17. Semester tests for students who have less than a 97% attendance rate are scheduled for Thursday, December 18. School dismisses at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, December 19. The NHS/FCCLA food drive delivered 1,926 food items to the food pantry just prior to Thanksgiving. FCCLA assisted with the Rotary Club’s Christmas dinner and NHS helped the Salvation Army with ringing the bells. Upward Bound visited with a number of high school students December 2 about possibly applying for the program.

Mr. Heddinger gave the following report.

• MSBA Video Summary – The message for December was on AI and Board President Leadership Training.

• Board Elections – Board filing has opened and will close on December 30, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. Three seats are open for the April 7, 2026, election. Mr. Gebhards, Mrs. Hurst, and Mr. Wright all have terms that are expiring.

• Building and Grounds Update – The greenhouse project is moving right along. The goal is to be completed when we return from Christmas break. The electrical issue that impacted the FAC’s room has been resolved. Fall clean-up by TLC Lawn Care was completed on December 17. A meeting with The Waldinger Group is scheduled for December 18 to discuss HVAC options. RFQ for a new storage shed will be posted after this meeting. New doors for the high school project will be delayed until after January 1, 2026.

• Legislative Update – Prefiling on December 1 saw over 1,000 bills filed and as of today over 1,400 bills have been filed. Many of these bills have direct impact on education. Tax reform is the top priority, and the conversation is focused on removing personal property tax and state income tax to be replaced by a state sales tax (rumor has it at 19%). The state treasurer has asked for an additional $50 million to be allocated from the general fund to go to the Missouri Scholars Voucher Program, bringing the total to $100 million of your public tax dollars going to private schools.

• School Calendar – This will be the first reading for the proposed 2026-27 calendar. This item will be covered under New Business.

• School Funding Taskforce – The four groups are wrapping up their meetings for the time being. As it stands currently, the Funding Targets and Students Counts Groups have been able to work through the process and have several areas of change that would have a minimum impact on the Tarkio School District. The Performance Incentive Group would have no direct impact on any school district because its budget falls outside the formula. The Local Effort Group is the one that everyone is keeping an eye on and could have the greatest impact on Tarkio. Based on current discussions coming from the group, the Tarkio School District stands to lose $1.8 million in state funding. This is a very alarming number and should raise some eyebrows. This is just the beginning of this process and there is a long way to go before this is over.

• School Farm – The Co-op has agreed to let the school farm the ground again for 2026.

• Agenda Items for the January Board Meeting – Mr. Heddinger shared the agenda items for the January meeting with the board. The list of items includes review of the superintendent’s contract, review of the principal’s contract, update on board filings, board candidate workshop, mid-year budget review for current year, second reading of the 2026-27 school calendar, board policy updates, BOE program evaluation – Early Childhood and PAT.

• The next two meetings will be January 21, 2026, and February 18, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. in the superintendent’s office.

Old Business

• CSIP Review – Focus Area #4 – (information item) – Mr. Barnes gave a summary report on the area of Functional and Safe Facilities and Environment.

• Audit Report for 2024-25 – (Tabled Item) – Mr. Heddinger. The audit report was not finalized in time for this meeting. Mr. Heddinger has been in contact with the auditors, and they will have it completed in the next couple of days. A special board meeting will be required to approve the audit.  The issue has been exacerbated by a District phone issue that we were unaware of until recently.

• Elementary Renovation Project – (Action Item) – Mr. Heddinger presented his recommendation for what will be called Phase One of the Elementary Renovation Project. This project will involve working with Veregy as well as taking on some aspects of the project on our own. The scope of Phase One will include new windows, new interior doors with night lock security locks, additional electrical in classrooms, trim around windows, removal of old boiler and asbestos abatement, masonry work, POD renovation. The estimated cost of the Phase One Project is $1,600,000. Board members voted 6-0 to go forward with the Phase One Project at the estimated cost of $1,600,000.

New Business

• Coaches Education Budget – The board discussed setting a financial allocation for each sport’s coaches to have to spend on attending clinics and other coaching improvement resources. The board voted 6-0 to establish a cap of $500 for a coaches education per sports program to be administered by the head coach.

• 2026-2027 School Calendar – First reading of the 2026-2027 school calendar.

The board entered closed session at 9:05 p.m. to discuss personnel matters. The board exited closed session at 9:09 p.m.

The meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.