CHAMOIS —  At their Nov. 11 meeting, Chamois R-1 school board members set district-paid non-residential tuition rate at $17,900 and the parent-paid rate at $8,000 for the 2024-25 school year. That means the district will charge other schools a higher rate than parents who choose to send their children to Chamois.

The board also approved Policy #2240, which outlines rules and regulations for non-residential student tuition.

Board members have discussed non-residential tuition for the past several months and how the amount fluctuates drastically from one district to another, even within Osage County.

“With what we’ve approved, it doesn’t put the entire burden on the taxpayers,” Superintendent Lyle Best explained, adding that some districts have low non-residential tuitions in the hope of attracting more students; however, they feel that if they don’t have to hire additional teachers, it is not a big expense, and helps grow the school district.

“They have a valid point,” Best said, adding that when tuition is set low to attract students, the school district would have to take whatever student and whatever problems they might have with it. Best’s example was that a non-residential student with special needs could be expensive for the district.

He believes that the approved non-residential tuition falls into the range of other districts in the area.

In other business, the board approved the 2023-24 financial audit by Gerding, Korte & Chitwood CPAs for the second year in a row without any significant problems.

Best noted no concerns with the budget. The only deficiency was that the district needed more segregation of duties for financial matters.

The audit read: “During our audit, we reviewed district policy and procedures and determined that adequate segregation of duties did not exist. There are a small number of employees performing several accounting duties. The district does not have the financial resources to hire enough personnel to segregate all the duties.”

Gerding, Korte & Chitwood listed the best ways for the school district to keep financial matters segregated with a minimum number of staff members, and Best noted that the school district was already taking those steps.

“There is just not a lot we can do,” Best explained.

He reviewed several points of the financial audit with the board members. The audit listed the total revenues collected for the district ending on June 30, 2024, totaling $3,255,866, including local ($1,343,297), county ($134,737), state ($1,344,107), federal ($433,100), and other ($625).

Total expenditures for the audit were $2,787,733, broken down as follows: regular instruction ($906,883), special instruction ($198,603), vocational instruction ($91,835), student activities ($143,339), tuition paid to other districts ($1,096), student support services ($99,269), instructional support services ($104,792), board of education services ($18,106), executive administration ($244,054), building level administration ($159,994), business/central services ($13,258), operation of plant ($469,111), pupil transportation ($132,352), food services ($139,067), adult education and community services ($56,954), principal retirement ($8,435), and interest and fees ($585).

Best also reviewed fund balances and the audit showed that the school district was in a good financial position. The general fund had an ending balance of $2,090,202, and the capital projects fund had an ending balance of $657,176, for a total fund balance of $2,747,378.

Chamois R-1 is still paying on two different loans. The school district had taken out a loan in 2017-18 for $32,352 for a boiler repair with the United States Department of Energy. The district will need to continue making payments totaling $1,787 per year until November 2027. The loan has a 2% interest rate.

The school also has a $47,575 loan from the United States Department of Economic Development-Division of Energy for lighting updates. That loan has a 2.5% interest rate plus a 1% loan origination fee. It will be repaid according to the current schedule in 2028.

Best noted that the audit must be submitted to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education by the end of the year.

• School board members approved filing dates for the election on April 8, 2025. Board members Scott Northway and Amanda Carter have both fulfilled their terms. Interested parties can file for the two seats from Dec. 10-31 at the superintendent’s office. Best noted that his office will be closed Dec. 24-26 for the Christmas holiday. Anyone interested in filing after Dec. 26 should call the office first since the staff has irregular hours during that time.

• The school board approved policies and regulations presented at the last meeting. Best explained that even though the policies and regulations were mandatory for the school district to adopt, he removed several that did not affect or impact Chamois R-1.

— Policy and Regulation #1210 discuss the school year and school day. The legislature has set up both four- and five-day school weeks but gives incentives for school districts that remain at a five-day week with a total of 169 days.

— Policy #2220 discussed compulsory attendance ages. The change allows superintendents to excuse absentee days for students whose disabilities limit their attendance.

— Regulation #2310 allows that a student subpoenaed to participate in criminal proceedings will not be found in violation of the district’s attendance policy.

— Policy #2785 is about student suicide awareness and increases the information contained on student identification cards related to suicide prevention resources.

— Policy #4505 allows school districts to utilize differentiated salary schedules to facilitate recruitment and retention of teachers in hard-to-staff schools and subject areas.

— Policy #4506 increases the minimum teacher salary for the 2024-25, 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years.

— Policy #4515 allows payment to teachers working on career ladder tasks that do not require a teaching certificate. The policy also waives the requirement for certain members of the armed forces.

— Regulation #4515 expands activities that are eligible for compensation on the career ladder. The regulation will allow teachers to receive payment for activities that do not require a teacher certificate.

— Policy #4560 allows retired teachers to receive up to 50% of the actual salary for the position filled.

— Regulation #6190 requires the virtual provider to provide the district with progress reports for the students who are attending less than full-time virtual education.

— Policy #6191 requires parents to enroll with the virtual provider if they wish to enroll in full-time virtual programs. The legislature also requires districts to collaborate with the host school to implement the enrollment policy, including financial terms for local district expense reimbursement.

— Regulation #6191 requires that the virtual provider for students who are attending a full-time virtual education must provide parents and guardians with regular student progress reports.

• School board members approved outstanding expenses totaling $69,360.93.

• Chamois R-1 had the following account balances: general ($2,007,532), special ($148,569), and capital projects ($614,333).

• The district has a total of $1,383,958 invested with the Missouri Capital Asset Advantage Treasury (MOCAAT), with $1,077,866 in liquid assets and $306,092 in fixed assets. The district has additional investments with Heritage Bank totaling $1,168,086 with $380,614 in liquid assets and $787,472 in fixed assets.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Best reported that the school kitchen dishwasher and walk-in freezer needed small repairs. The school’s Suburban and van will need new tires before winter.

• Best said he is pleased with how the free lunch and breakfast program is working out. There has been an increase in the number of meals that are served, and meal reimbursements have been up as well.

“We stressed early in the year that we needed more students to be going through the line and collecting breakfast and lunch, and I really appreciate everyone’s effort to make that happen,” Best said.

Principal Jeremey McKague noted that several board members were worried that the push for more kids to access free meals would lead to more waste but said that has not been the case.

Best noted that the school district has participated in its first Show-Me Central Conference Professional Development Day hosted by St. Elizabeth.

“It went really well,” Best said. “Most of the comments were positive, and for the first year, I thought it went really well.”

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

McKague reported the high school has hosted two lunch-and-learns with East Central and State Tech. Last Friday, juniors planned to take the Accuplacer test at State Tech.

“It takes just a couple of hours out of the day, and it can be some of the kids’ first visit to a college campus,” McKague explained.

• An elementary Bike Safety Course will be held on Nov. 21.

• Chamois R-1 has scheduled flu shots for staff members and picture retakes.

• McKague said the high school media class has been having fun setting up social media sites for the district. These sites will not replace the district’s official Facebook page but will give the students a chance to share pictures and videos.

“It’s a really good chance for students and staff to interact,” said McKague, noting that coaches are adding an X (formerly Twitter) page for the district so they can quickly share scores and things that are happening at events in a timely manner.

• McKague read a report written by Counselor Megan Birmingham on behalf of the student council. Students were busy in October with activities for Red Ribbon Week and a Halloween Fun day. Student Council members also planned the Veterans Day Program with breakfast for area veterans and a guest speaker.