CHAMOIS — Chamois R-1 received a score of 84.7% on the Annual Performance Report (APR), an increase from last year’s total score of 77.3%. Superintendent Lyle Best praised the district’s teachers for their hard work in increasing the APR at the school board’s November 12 meeting.

“We should be really happy with that increase of 7%,” Best said. “I am. We had a solid score last year and a better score this year, that’s what we wanted.”

The higher score was attributed to increases in the growth scores for both math and English Language Arts (ELA). There was also an increase in the growth of success-ready students and follow-up of graduated students.

“All of this should be reassuring that what we are planning and doing is all the right things,” Best said. “We are going to continue to do these things so we continue to see improvement.”

He added that he hoped school board members had a good feeling about where the district is heading after receiving such good scores on the APR.

“We feel good about what we’ve been trying to do, but sometimes there’s not a number to support that,” Best said. “This is an example of where we are showing growth, showing improvement, and knowing that as we are trying to do the right thing, there is a benefit to that.”

Best noted that the biggest improvements came from the elementary students, and he attributed that to the consistency of instruction and instructors in the elementary classrooms.

“We should celebrate these numbers,” Best said. “We’re doing the right thing, and if you do the right thing consistently over time, things are going to get better.”

Best and board members expressed appreciation for the teachers at the meeting and were excited about the APR results.

In other business, board members approved the audit for the fiscal year ending in June of 2025. The audit was prepared by Gerding, Korte & Chitwood, P.C., for the third year in a row.

“There was no issue with the audit,” Best reported. “There are no major concerns or complaints, and no problems in conducting the audit.”

The audit showed that the district has assets totaling $3,188,328. Ending fund balances were reported for the general fund at $2,396,199 and the capital projects fund at $792,129.

The district’s expenditures totaling $2,754,195 for the year were divided into the following line items: regular instruction ($991,757), special instruction ($156,693), vocational instruction ($95,020), student activities ($126,468), student support services ($105,772), instructional support services ($105,772), Board of Education services ($22,889), executive administration ($251,485), building level administration ($160,566), business/central services ($13,751), operation of plant ($403,261), pupil transportation ($122,710), food services ($146,002), adult education and community services ($73,637), principal retirement ($8,631), and interest and fees ($389).

Revenues for the 2024/25 fiscal year totaled $3,195,145 and were broken down as follows: local ($1,423,358), county ($124,442), state ($1,435,073), federal ($1,435,073), and other ($100).

The only critique the accounting firm had was that there was no proper segregation of duties of accounting personnel. This has been the only critique of the audit for the past several years. Gerding, Korte, & Chitwood CPA’s wrote, “It is recognized that the small number of accounting and clerical personnel preclude the application of internal accounting control procedures possible in a larger organization.”

The accounting firm realizes that the district cannot hire enough personnel to segregate accounting duties and should therefore segregate duties wherever possible.

• Board President Steve Cramer, VP Rebecca Mehmert, and member Kelby Busch are up for reelection in April 2026.

Filing will start on Dec. 9 and run through Dec. 30. Anyone interested in filing for a school board position can do so in person at the Superintendent’s office.

“It’s really important to get names on that ballot,” Best said. “We need everyone to encourage individuals to file so that there are names on the ballot and the process can go as smoothly as possible.”

• Best is hoping to have the district’s new Continuous School Improvement Plan (CSIP) finalized and ready to be approved by the December meeting.

“We’ve put together seven goals or focus areas for our new CSIP,” Best explained. “I feel good about our ability to focus on these things and implement them as we go.”

The seven goals are curriculum alignment, increasing math achievement by 3% annually, increasing ELA achievement by 3% per year, increasing participation in early childhood development programs, focusing on the Facility Safety Plan, focusing on career-ready students, and increasing participation in surveys from parents and teachers.

• Band and Music Teacher Beth Sieg treated the board members to a solo performance by Savanah Sieg, who played on the school’s new saxophone. The musician received a round of applause as she finished her solo performance.

“We have a really small band this year, with only five members,” Beth Sieg said. “We’ve been doing a lot of things and learning to play a lot of different instruments.”

The band played on Chamois Day and Veterans Day, and is getting ready for the Christmas program and “Dinner with Santa.”

“We are planning on playing the Christmas parade at Linn in December,” Sieg said. “We’re joining the Fatima and Linn bands to be a combined Osage County Band this year, which should be fun.”

She will also plan for events scheduled in the spring of 2026. Sieg said the elementary students are learning about music and getting ready for the Christmas program, which will include a play this year. Fourth and fifth-grade students will spend the rest of the year learning to play different band instruments.

Chamois R-1 hosted the Conference Band this year, and the event was well-received.

“My five sets of parents all chipped in to help, and it turned out very well,” Sieg said.

• The school board approved the sale of surplus items, which will be listed on govdeals.com. Everything posted is either a duplicate item or has been replaced with an updated tool, including a variety of power tools.

• Board members approved outstanding bills totaling $78,924.28

• Chamois R-1 had the following ending balances in its accounts: general ($2,294,020), special ($129,652), and capital projects ($803,058).

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Best reported that the district has until the end of December to upload all documentation needed for the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP) 6.

“That information will be evaluated over the second part of the school year,” Best explained.

• He noted that the Missouri School Funding Tax Force did not meet last month, so there is no new information. Best said that he will continue to monitor the results of the meetings.

• The superintendent reported that new compliance standards coming out soon will require school districts to have all information available for access for people with visual impairments. Best said that the information regarding compliance with this regulation is confusing.

“What I do know is that the intent is that if we have documents on our website or on social media, they need to be able to be accessed by people with special needs,” Best explained. “That makes sense, and I think we can support that idea.”

Best relayed that compliance is set to start in April 2027.

Best said that the school district may need to pay a third party to convert documents to a format that is easily accessible for the visually impaired. The cost for this service is between $.12 and $.32 per page.

“This isn’t optional,” Best said. “We need to think about where we are posting information, where it is located, and what information it includes.”

Best plans to focus on the most important documents.

• The school continues to work on district improvement. Best shared several of the forms and walked through the processes that the teachers and administrators are using.

“We are not just walking around; we are looking for specific things,” Best said. “There is a lot of reasoning and purpose behind the things that we do.”

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Principal Jeremy McKague reported that attendance is over 95% for the high school and junior high, and over 94% for the elementary. He also reported there had not been many discipline problems or referrals for the school district in the past month.

• Juniors took the Accuplacer test at State Tech as they do every year. Pirate Academy has been a great success with over 30 students in attendance.

• Nov. 25 will be picture retake day and group picture day.

• The district hosted a college day on Nov. 18 with 18 different schools attending.

• The next meeting will be held on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.