Chamois R-1 school board members recently discussed the results of Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) and End of Course (EOC) testing that were compiled for the school district and compared to the test scores across the state. Scores for the state and the school district were predictably dismal when compared to test scores from 2019. There were no test scores compiled for 2020.

State proficiency scores for English Language Arts (ELA) dropped from near 50% in 2019 to just above 40% in 2021. Math scores dipped from just over 40% in 2019 to about 35% in 2021. Science scores went from just above 40% in 2019 to a little over 35% in 2021. 

For Chamois R-1, the scores were the same for ELA for both 2019 and 2021 with students testing at 40% proficiency. Math scores for the district dropped from over 45% in 2019 to under 40% in 2021. Science scores for Chamois followed the same pattern, with the scores over 40% in 2019 falling to just above 30% proficiency in 2021. 

Superintendent Lyle Best broke down the numbers comparing junior and high school grades statewide, where Chamois students seemed to hold their own, with Chamois junior high and high school students testing above the state average in both ELA and Math and about even with state science proficiency scores. Elementary school scores were lower than statewide averages in all subjects.

“There was a general decline in proficiency from 2019,” Best said. “It’s not good to try to compare years but obviously, in 2020, there was a shortened school year. Last year, there were schools that (attended virtually) all year. There were students kinda in and out. There were lots of variable factors.

“I think most people would have probably predicted that elementary students were going to have more of a struggle with assessments because of missing in-person instruction,” Best continued. “They are probably going to feel the impact more than high school students do.”

“I get the part that they have all dropped down because of circumstances but compared to the state averages, we’re still way low,” President Steve Cramer said.

“I don’t know how to say it right but to look at ELA on elementary and 43 percent is the statewide proficiency,” board member Nick Schollmeyer said. “So, 43 percent of the kids are proficient in their grade level. Then we flip back to ours and we’re at 30 percent. That just doesn’t sit well. This is our grade card, everybody in this room and we’ve got to find a way to fix it.”

Schollmeyer went on to explain that with the smaller classes sizes in the district and the masking policy that has allowed for more in-person instruction over the last year, the scores should be more competitive with the statewide averages.

“In elementary school, you’ve got to have parents who want to do the homework and help them (the students) learn,” said VP Angela Hagenhoff.

“But that’s across the state,” Schollmeyer argued. “We are not the inner city.”

Hagenhoff explained that a lot of the bigger cities had parents that were forced to stay home during the pandemic where the same was not true for the rural areas of the state.

“The younger generation of parents do not put forth the effort to the kids’ schooling like our parents did,” Hagenhoff continued. “To me, it is partly to do with parents not caring. We can do our part. We can teach them all we want. If they have homework and (parents) don’t make them do it, and there is no one there to help them, that’s part of the problem too. I understand our scores are bad but is it all just our teachers’ fault? Do parents need to step up? I see little kids running around the streets all day by themselves. Where are their parents?”

“We can only control what we do here in these halls,” Schollmeyer said. “I would challenge the administrators to help us help you guys. Give us something. Do we need a merit system on the pay for teachers? Help us help you get these scores up.”

“I think the resources have been there,” Best said.  “We have to keep looking at what we do daily with our instructional practices to get better. I think people are tired of hearing me say that. I think the board is tired of hearing me say that because I say it every year, but it is truly how to get better. We still don’t have a collective efficacy where everybody is working together with these proven practices so we can really make a difference.”

Best believes that most of the school’s staff are devoted to making these changes and working harder but admits that in a small school, a few teachers not making those extra efforts can be harmful. 

Principal Jeremey McKague noted that as they broke down the numbers, they found more than six students whose test scores were on the brink of breaking the state average and that if the teachers could reach just these six students and help them do a little better it could make a difference in next year’s testing results.

“It’s like when we talk about reaching these six kids,” Best explained. “We’re not asking for the world with our numbers. Those kids are out there. I think it is an approachable way to look at it. We have to keep biting off some more, here and there.”

“When a young family, who says now I can work from home and live anywhere, do I want to live in Linn or Chamois?” Schollmeyer asked. “Do they go to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) website and look at these numbers? Probably. Not only is this affecting our kids but it is affecting our community.”

“I think it goes back to what Mr. Best shared with us about trying to find someone to do the after-school program,” Cramer said. “It seems like it’s hard to get some of our folks to want to go that extra mile to help the kids and I guess that’s probably just a symptom of the world we are in right now. That’s what we need to look at. How can we motivate our folks to want to do the after-school program? To want to tutor?”

“We’re really trying to remove the excuses for the teaching staff,” McKague said. “I like to compare it to sports. We might not have Final Four players but every one of our players can get better. It’s enough with the excuses. We’ve got what we’ve got. The facilities, the students, the resources. We can do better.”

“Our most important job as a board, as an administration is right here,” Schollmeyer said. “It’s not testing but when our kids walk out those doors they are well educated. That’s our job. It’s not buildings, and boilers and ball games.”

All the assessment data is available on the school’s website.

In other business, Jon Berendzen of Porter, Berendzen & Associates presented the board with rough plans for a 5,300 square foot addition to the school that has a rough estimate of $1.4 million. Berendzen’s plans include enclosing an area in front of the school that would tie all the buildings together.

The addition would include two extra classrooms, a large commons area, two new bathrooms that would be accessible to the gym, and new offices for the administration. The plan would eliminate all but one of the school’s modular classrooms. The preschool modular could be relocated so that it is closer to the main building for safety and convenience reasons.

Berendzen plans on finishing the preliminary plans for the additions, and the master plan, and tying that into the district’s facility report. He also plans on having more firm budget numbers for the addition and budget numbers for asphalting the parking lot.

School board members had questions on how construction could take place while school was in session since the project is too big to be completed over the summer.

“We’ve worked with a lot of schools on doing that,” Berendzen said. “There would have to be a safety plan. It would be a disruption for part of one of your school years. There is no way around that. But we can work around it and make it safe for the kids to pass through certain areas.”

* School board members approved the audit and financial statements for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021. Best reviewed the highlights of the summary report. The school district showed an ending balance of $1,511,736, which was a net increase of $52,003 from the beginning of the fiscal year.

Fund #1 had an ending balance of $1,330,566, Fund #2 had a zero balance, and Fund #4 finished with a balance of $181,169.

Across all funds, the school district collected revenues of $2,724,710. Chamois R-1 received an additional $148,250 in insurance money after last spring’s hailstorm and $70 in the sale of school property.

The school district had expenses of $2,821,027 during the fiscal year.

Mueller, Walla & Albertson’s only finding was the lack of separation of duties in handling finances. Board members and staff believe that this would be impossible to accomplish due to the small number of employees. Best noted that the suggestion is made to the school every year without any plan of how to accomplish it.

* Best was authorized to request proposals from financial service companies that would be interested in working with Chamois R-1 as the district begins to discuss funding issues and goals that may include bonding capacity, bonded debt, levy options, and facility lease-to-purchase options, as well as investment opportunities. The proposal will not cost the school district anything initially but Best noted that there would be a cost associated with the service if they choose a financial company.

* Election filings for open school board positions held by Kurt Kuschel and Glen Keilholz will end on Dec. 28. School offices will be closed from Dec. 22-27 but will be open until 5 p.m. on Dec. 28. No one has filed for the seats yet.

* Chamois is starting up a new after-school enrichment program that will be headed up by Junior High and High School Special Education Teacher Daniel Montgomery. The Buccaneer’s Club will focus on elementary school students and will start in January with more details soon.

* R-1 is also working on a student organization to help encourage students to make their careers in education. “Educator’s Rising” will be the name of the new high school organization and students will receive more information on this program in the second semester of this school year. The program may not be implemented until the 2022-23 school year. 

* The new HUDl stat-tracking system is up and working in the gym. McKague noted that there was a little difficulty in getting the camera set up but it is up and programmed to record anything that happens in the gym.

“It automatically kicks on 15 minutes before and streams for three hours,” McKague said, noting that numerous people are watching the games with the new system. McKague noted that 20 people watched the last game with 159 views. 

“Coach (Robbie) Bates likes it,” McKague said. “It loads our games automatically and usually within three to four hours he has stats back. He says it has stats like the NBA. Stats like you wouldn’t believe. I think the community is going to like it as the weather gets colder. I think it’s been all positive feedback.”

* Expenses for the month totaling $99,003.28 were approved.

* Chamois R-1 has the following account balances: general fund ($1,179,948), special fund ($221,033), and capital project fund ($169,803).

* Business Education teacher and Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) sponsor Carol Clark presented the board with an overview of the business education program for the Chamois School District.

Clark’s father graduated from Chamois High School and although she had a successful career working for Anheuser-Busch, she felt that she wanted to make a difference and earned her teaching certificate through the University of Missouri school system where she also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a Master’s Degree in Business.

“I decided it was time for a change and to make a bigger difference,” Clark said. “I ended up back here, which worked out great to kind of come home.”

Clark teaches a variety of business classes and requires that all the students complete presentations as part of the class. 

“It is something that they usually really hate but that’s something you have to do in business and it’s a really good confidence builder,” Clark said.

She also likes to tie the work that her students do in the classroom to what is going on in the world. Clark was thrilled this year to be able to take her students from personal finance to the bank on a field trip and even learn how to use an ATM. Clark and her students also have been following the Theranos fraud trial, the Warren Taylor case, and the Kellogg’s union strike.

Clark’s students participate in a stock market game in which they are given a fake $100,000 and they can invest and play the stock market. The game will be over on Friday and three of Clarks’ students are amongst the top 100 players in the state.

Clark would like to introduce an Accounting 1 and Accounting 2 class in the future. 

“What we offer now kinda fuels our students and creative classes but it would be great to have a little more of a technical skills class,” Clark explained.

Clark restarted the FBLA program and has grown the club to 14 students this year.

“I call us small but mighty,” Clark said with a laugh.

The club raised quite a bit of money selling donuts and old yearbooks at Chamois Day. They participated in the Six Flags leadership Conference where they not only got to enjoy the rides but also learned how Six Flags survived the pandemic. 

Recently they had a community food drive and collected 650 items, which was down from 700 collected the previous year. 

“With prices being what they are, I thought that was pretty good,” Clark explained, noting that all food items were donated to the Good Shepherd Food Pantry in Linn.

FBLA will be selling raffle tickets at the basketball games this winter and may even put together a trivia night.

Clark believes that they will have several competitors at the FBLA competition this year and believes several students will advance to the state level.

Clark is pleased with the media coverage that the club receives from the Unterrified Democrat.

Clark also heads up the yearbook with five students.

“Again, we are small but mighty,” She repeated.

Clark invites Unterrified Democrat Editor Neal Johnson to come in each year and talk to her students about how to take good photos and how to write interesting articles.

“It brings it out to them that it is a real-life job you can make a living at,” Clark said. “He is certainly a passionate presenter.”

Last year’s yearbook won third place in Interstate’s competition and received a $150 prize and a plaque.

Clark has also brought back the school newspaper the “Pirate Post,” which comes out every two weeks and is available from students or online.

“Mrs. Clark does an excellent job,” McKague told the board. “She goes out of her way to come up with ideas on her own.”

Clark thanked the school board for listening to her presentation. 

“We have great kids here,” Clark said passionately. “There are great kids in other schools too but I feel these kids are special.”

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

There was an additional fire inspection that was needed by the school district after the heat exchanger in the boiler was replaced. Best is in the process of getting that inspection scheduled. 

* Harold G. Butzer, Inc., will be on campus on Dec. 22 to replace the radiator in the high school classroom that has a leak. They will also look at the pump on the elementary school boiler that isn’t working properly.

* Best has spoken with another company about purchasing a shade for the preschool playground and is waiting for the estimate. He plans to continue to research solutions for the preschool playground shade but admits that the project may need to be put off while the school board decides if the preschool classroom and playground may be moved in the future.

* Tires on the car and van have been replaced before winter weather hits and an oil leak on the driver education car has been repaired.

* Reviews for special education, food service, and the federal programs continue and include plans, action specifics, and financial components. The reviews are ongoing throughout the school year.

* The new legislative session has not begun yet but several items related to education have already been filed, including school board recalls, moving school board elections to November, increased salaries for teachers, increased early-learning funding, and different plans for open enrollment.

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

The Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) send a complimentary statement to the Chamois School District after last game against South Callaway High School. The statement complimented the coaches and players for their positive attitudes and good sportsmanship as well as the respectful nature with which they dealt with each other and officials.

* On Dec. 2, the sophomore and junior classes took a practice ACT. Later in the spring, the school will offer the juniors the opportunity to take their ACT at the school free of charge.

* Students who took the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test had the chance on Dec. 9 to have their test score interpreted.

* On Dec. 14 a lunch-and-learn event was held for students. 

* Mrs. Birmingham brought back Christmas Tea for teachers on Dec. 20, and Dec. 21 was a fun day for students.