CHAMOIS — Chamois R-1 School Board members voted to join the Show-Me Central Conference at their meeting last Wednesday night.  The Show-Me Central Conference will also tentatively include Miller County R-III (Tuscumbia), Miller County R-IV (St. Elizabeth), Cooper County R-IV (Bunceton), Jamestown, Calvary Lutheran, Prairie Home, and possibly Maries County R-1 (Vienna).

Not all these school districts have approved joining the conference. However, Superintendent Lyle Best believes every school will have joined by the end of October.

Best explained what activities and athletics the conference will sponsor is still a work in progress. Activities for the new conference include academic bowls, geography bees, choir, band, science fairs, math contests, spelling bees, art shows, and possibly archery.

Archery is one of the activities that all the schools do in one way or another. For some, it is a school activity; for others, it is a club activity with support from the school district. 

“We would like to have an archery meet for the conference,” Best explained. “It is something that everyone is already doing, but it does not exist at a conference level.”

Board member Nick Schollmeyer said the archery club at Chamois would love to host a conference tournament.

The proposed list of athletics for the new conference includes high school cross country, softball and baseball, and junior high and high school basketball, and track.

Board President Steve Cramer asked if junior high cross country would be a conference sport. Best noted that was still up in the air and would depend on whether Vienna joins the conference.

“If a school has golf, volleyball, or wrestling, they can still do those things, but there are no conference meets or recognition for that sport because not enough schools are doing that,” Best explained. “If a school is doing something, they can continue to do it.”

Cramer asked if there were any funds being lost by joining the new conference.

“We’re not going to lose money, but that will be a decision of what to do because the (existing) conference does have a checking account,” Best said. 

He went on to explain the district would be participating in the Show-Me Conference the rest of this year and that, at some point, the schools will have to decide on how to distribute the funds that are remaining.

“I don’t think anyone who helped dissolve the conference should get any money back,” Cramer said.

Best noted, the Show Me Central Conference has yet to decide on annual dues.

• School board members voted to have Newt’s Welding Service and Metal Repair build a gate and fence between the elementary building and the gym. The two expanded metal gates will cost the school district $3,000. The school board approved adding another security gate between the music room and the gym. This metal gate was not a part of the original estimate, and the board gave Best the authority to approve the cost. Both areas were pointed out as security concerns for the school.

Schollmeyer asked if these areas would ever need to be used for emergency exits in case of a fire or other emergency. Best noted there were several other exits available to students but suggested the school install one-way locks on the gates so that they could be used for emergency exits for students inside the school building.

Cramer thought the additional gate would be no more than $1,000.

• Board members approved purchasing a software program from Missouri Consultants for Education (MCE) for a one-time fee of $1,500 and an annual fee of $400.  The program will allow the school district to keep policies more up-to-date on the district’s website and more readily available to the public.

“The most difficult part is going through all our policies and putting the date they were adopted on them,” Best explained. “That is a lengthy process.”

Once everything is entered, Best said, the process to keep things updated is much easier. He liked the format from the MCE site much better than other sites he looked at, and the program is cost-effective.

• Board members approved purchasing a software program from Web School Tolls for $750 per year with an additional $300 one-time setup fee that will make board meetings paperless.

Best explained that board members may not see all the work that goes into planning a meeting.

“I think this goes a long way to help limit the time we spend preparing for a meeting that isn’t necessary and still get all of the information out to board members and the public,” Best explained. “It will help reduce paper waste and improve the sharing of items.”

He demonstrated the program and its features to the board members using a demo the company set up. 

“This is just a better way to do it,” Best said. “I think this would be very helpful in terms of meeting preparation and record-keeping.”

The program also allows someone to record the meeting minutes during the meeting and post them immediately after adjournment.

Cramer said he thought it was a good idea but wondered how it would affect the meeting.

Best explained that the school would provide a laptop or tablet for school board members, who could print off any of the material they wanted.

Best believed the policy could be put into place right away.

•  School board members approved several mandatory policy updates.

— Policy 2200 Admission and Withdrawal requires the district to obtain criminal background checks for students who are 18 or older before they are granted admission into a classroom with minor students. This policy does not affect students already enrolled in the school district and who turn 18 while enrolled.

— Policy 2400 Student Educational Records requires school districts to maintain special education plans in the student’s educational records.

— Policy 2525 Graduation Requirements changes the name of a course required for graduation.

— Policy 2760 Students in Foster Care focuses on reducing delays in determining the best interest of foster care students within an assigned district.

— Policy and Regulation #4120 Employment Procedures requires designated district representatives to respond to requests for references for screened volunteers in addition to paid employees. The policy/regulation also allows districts to employ up to five retired teachers for up to four years to help with the teacher shortage.

— Policy 4866 Pregnancy, Childbirth Anti-discrimination protects the rights of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions. This new policy prohibits discrimination and requires reasonable accommodations.

— Policy 4867 Lactation Accommodations allows non-exempt employees to have paid time off for overtime and minimum wage purposes while utilizing the lactation room.

— Policy 6121 Holocaust Education requires school districts to teach about the Holocaust during a week designated by the school district.

— Policy 6251 Blind Students Independence, Training and Education will modify the existing policy so that parents of visually-impaired students are provided with information and strategies for their children not progressing satisfactorily.

• The district has placed an ad and reached out to several companies for bids on new playground equipment. The school district is looking at a budget between $65,000 and $75,000. Bids are due back on Oct. 20, and Best noted he has had several phone calls and a site visit by one contracting company. The surfacing for the playground is not to be included in the estimate as Best believes there are several grant opportunities for the surfacing under and around the playground the school district should investigate.

• School board members approved outstanding bills for $58,904.70.

• Chamois R-1 had the following ending account balances: general ($1,568,850), special ($149,184), and capital projects ($544,578).

• The district’s Missouri Capital Asset Advantage Treasury (MOCAAT) account balance was $721,465.56, with an average monthly interest rate of 5.260%.

• The school district has an additional account with Heritage Community Bank with a balance of $714,282.93.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Best reported that the activity bus had minor damage from hitting a parking lot post last week. The bus is scheduled to have repairs done at Kemna Collision Repair soon, and the accident was reported to the insurance company.

• The elementary school boiler has been repaired, and annual maintenance has been done on both boilers. They have been turned on and are ready to go for winter.

• Water testing for lead has been completed, and there are two spots where the lead reading is high. They are at the sink in the teachers’ lounge and the sink in the old Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) room. These spots will be tested again to help determine the next steps.

“Of everything tested on campus, these are the only spots that tested for high levels of lead,” Best said. “It’s not having a big impact (on students or staff), but we are going to find a solution.”

• The financial audit was completed.

PRINCIPAL REPORT

Principal Jeremy McKague reported that Business Teacher Carol Clark and Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) officers attended a fall leadership conference recently. A story appears in this week’s edition of the UD.

• FBLA will be holding fundraisers soon.

• The Special Olympics will be held at South Callaway on Oct. 19.

• Missouri University of Science & Technology representatives visited the juniors and seniors at the high school last week.

• Nine students attended the Education Rising regional conference last week.

• The school is forming an ACT club.

• Red Ribbon Week will be observed October 23-27.

• Students in grades K-4 will learn about bike safety on Oct. 24.

• On Oct. 31, students will celebrate Halloween with a Fun Day, and local firefighters will present fire safety education for pre-kindergarten students.

• Attendance for grades 7-12 was 96.3%, and elementary attendance was 94.4% for a district average of 95.5%. Enrollment is slightly up from last year, with 142 students.

• Chamois Band/Music K-12 teacher Beth Sieg presented a report on her program to the school board members.

“In elementary classes, we continue to learn how music is made and how music affects us,” Sieg explained.

Elementary students are using books, magazines, and an online program.

“They have lots of resources available for teaching the things we need to know,” Sieg said.

Elementary students perform at the Veterans Day, Christmas, and Spring programs.

“For the most part, the elementary students sing,” Sieg explained. “The third and fourth-graders will play recorders at the Spring concert, and fifth and sixth-graders will play instruments.”

Students in grades 7-12 are in the marching band and have just finished their season.

Sieg reported that Madeline Gerloff was the drum major for the third year, and she will be missed since she is a senior and has done an excellent job.

“But there is always talk about who will be next year’s drum major,” Sieg said.

The band participated in three parades, and Sieg noted that she does not think that the scores always reflect how well the students are doing.

The band received new uniforms this year, and Sieg noted they looked sharp and clean.

Students will participate in the Veterans Day, Christmas, and Spring programs as part of the concert season.

“We’ll also play for Santa when he comes to town, graduation, and the home basketball games,” Sieg said.

She added she is proud of all her music students, especially those who put in the extra effort and tried out for the district conference band.

Sieg explained that when she has students with a scheduling conflict, she offers them a different hour to take band and works with other teachers to get those students time to practice with the rest of the band when possible.

• Joyce Wright teaches elementary, junior high, and high school art. Her elementary students have their classes combined, and her art classes rotate with the other specials. The art curriculum is rotated every year.

Wright incorporates Development Assessment Capable Learners (DACL) into her classrooms. She has elementary students rate their learning on a scale of one to three.

“I have instruction lists so that they kinda know step by step what they need to do and where they are at,” Wright explained.

Wright puts post-it notes on her students’ artwork with comments and suggestions for improvement. She also requires students to title their artwork and, as they go up in grade levels, to add sentences describing their artwork and process.

“I try to get the students to use art vocabulary or to talk about what they have learned,” Wright explained.

She uses DACL in her junior high and high school students as well. Wright requires that students write down daily goals at the beginning of a project and rate how well they did on a scale of one to four. She also asks them to list what they can do differently to improve the project.

Students use step-by-step instructions.

“I try to push them to be independent and figure out the steps on their own,” Wright said. “I give constant feedback to the students.”

Wright feels she can give more one-on-one instruction because she has fewer students in junior high and high school classes. She creates a digital art portfolio for junior high and high school students, including pictures and descriptions of their work.

“They can share this with their parents and family members at home, “Wright said. “It’s a wonderful way of recording their work.”

Wright has been asked by the District Continuous Improvement (DCI) Coaching Team to share her teaching techniques with other Missouri teachers, especially on her use of DACL in the art classroom.

Wright presented a workshop at the 2023 DCI summit in June.

The committee has also asked Wright to allow other art teachers to observe her in the classroom.

“Apparently, Mrs. Wright is doing something right,” Wright joked.

Wright has 56 elementary students in her art classes, 23 in junior high and 15 in high school.

Wright participates in several art exhibits, including the Osage County Library Students’ Art Exhibit, the Osage County Library Teen Art Show, artwork displays at music concerts, the Missouri Education Association Youth Art Month Capitol Exhibit, and the Show-Me Conference Art Show.

Wright is very proud to have all of the students’ artwork matted, with labels and descriptions, and on display.

• Chamois Teachers Association (CTA) President Beth Sieg reported that the CTA currently had 14 members. The group provided a meal prepared by Roomerz Restaurant to all staff members during a teachers’ meeting.

CTA has nine teachers signed up for the secret pal activity this year.