WESTPHALIA  —  At last Wednesday night’s meeting, Fatima school board members approved a resolution to borrow the first $8 million needed for construction of the high school addition. LK Hart representative Brad Wegman confirmed the district plans to borrow about $8 million in 2024, and Fatima will borrow the remaining funds of approximately $3 million in 2025.

“The benefit of doing it that way, to match up how much you need when you need it, is anytime we issued $10 million or less in a calendar year, it’s bank-qualified, so the banks who purchase the bonds get to deduct 80 percent of their carrying costs on the proceeds they use for the purchase,” Wegman said. “So (that) helps drive lower interest rates.”

The loan is scheduled to close on March 5, 2024, with repayment starting on April 15, 2027, and continuing until April 15, 2040. “We went through a rating process for this lease financing, and the district maintained its very strong A+ rating on the lease, and AA- is your credit rating, which is actually higher than most of the districts that we work with, and that’s due in part to your very strong finances, your reserves of 41%,” said Wegman. “We actually had to go through a rating conference call with S&P Global. (Superintendent) Chuck (Woody) participated on that call and did a great job highlighting the financial strength of the district to get that rating. The money will be invested until it’s needed to pay for construction, and the investors are paying a premium, so the district will actually receive $8,157,965 after the costs of issuance are deducted. More detailed information is available from the district.”

In related news, construction continues on the new admin building. The mezzanine deck is in place, and Woody is pleased with the amount of storage it will provide. Roof work is ongoing, and the brick has been delivered. Woody noted that construction should be completed on schedule, though the district may wait to move until after school ends to avoid disruption to students and staff.

School will be closed on Friday, March 15, so construction crews can reroute water, gas, and electric lines from the old administration building. The work requires the school’s power to be turned off, and it could not wait until spring break without bringing the entire project to a halt. March 15 was determined to have the least projected impact and to give parents and students as much notice as possible. Woody also noted that they will have to notify parochial schools that buses will not be running that day.

The current admin building will be torn down as soon as the asbestos is removed, which should begin this week. Woody attends biweekly construction meetings, and it was agreed that he would update the board with an email after the meetings that are not close to a board meeting and at the board meetings after the others.

Woody noted that a large light-up sign like the “buzzard” on the Blair Oaks gym would cost about $25,000, which he thought was unnecessary. He recommended a sign with a light shining on it instead, which he thought would cost half or less. Several board members suggested a laser-cut sign with either lighting or backlighting, and it was decided that students should make the new sign with the district’s plasma cutter. The board also decided to replace some of the proposed blue metal on the gym addition with brick because it would be a cost-saving, and they agreed it would look better.

• The board approved hiring Janice Boessen (Sub Cook and Aide) and Chris Trube (Sub Cook) and accepted resignations from Elementary Principal Melissa Wright, High School Counselor Kary Brunnert, High School Band Teacher Casey McDonald-Schneider, and Rhonda Allen (Cook).

• Board members approved the 2024-25 school and preschool calendars. Next year’s calendar will have 168 school days, down from 169 this year. That is due in part to the state statute that specifies that school can start no more than ten days before Labor Day and also to the fact that Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year.

• The board approved bills for $635,358.46.

In other business, the salary committee proposed increasing the base salary to $38,000 annually and increasing the education steps (which were not increased last year) to $625. The state currently has a grant program to raise teacher base salaries to $38,000; however, that is funded annually. It was noted that under the current salary schedule, a teacher without a Master’s Degree will never make $50,000 per year, even if they work for the district for 30 years; it takes more than 20 years for a teacher with a Master’s Degree to make $50,000 per year.

Also, under the current schedule, it takes a minimum of 10 years after a teacher receives their Master’s Degree for the increase in their salary to offset the cost of obtaining the degree. Currently, 25 of the district’s 65 teachers have not completed their Master’s Degree. Dual-credit courses, which require a teacher to possess a Master’s Degree, are currently being taught by retired teachers. Several fields, including library, counseling, reading specialist, Title I, administration, and STRIVE, now require additional credit hours specific to those fields.

The salary committee believes that increasing education steps would provide more financial incentives for teachers to receive the education necessary for the district.

Fatima has a five-day school week, so teachers work more days per year than in some surrounding districts. Per the National Education Association (NEA), Missouri ranked 47th among 51 (the District of Columbia is listed separately) in average teacher pay in 2021-22, followed only by Florida, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Mississippi.

REPORTS

Curriculum Coordinator Janah Massman noted that the Title I family involvement night will be held on March 5 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. for public and parochial school families in the Fatima Elementary multipurpose room. She described it as a fun-filled night for the whole family, with hands-on reading activities. The Parents as Teachers March event will be the Golden Egg story time and craft on March 12 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Fatima HS library.

• ACT preparations have begun. So far, about 12 seniors have signed up to take the ACT with the juniors. Seniors should let Massman know no later than Friday, March 1, if they wish to take the test, which will take place on April 9 at the Lions Club, if necessary, due to construction.

• Evaluate testing is ongoing, but scores should be available next month.

Special Education Director Kelly Wheelan told the board that SpEd enrollment is 136. Teachers have been working on the Youth Fly reading program. Wheelan is partnering again with Vocational Rehabilitation on the summer work program. She will be establishing times for parents to come in next month.

• The department completed a file review for staff and administration, a Medicaid billing webinar, and a Learning Ally meeting for audiobooks and Pre-K Excite Reading. Families should continue to watch for Medicaid revalidation letters and surveys for parents of IEP students.

Elementary Principal Melissa Wright noted the annual Reading for Education fundraiser wraps up at the end of February.

• The elementary school will celebrate the power of reading March 4-8, which coincides with Dr. Seuss’s birthday, and there will be several dress-up days that week.

• Knowledge Bowl will be held on Wednesday, March 13, at Lincoln University.

• Kindergarten screening is slated for March 18-19. So far, 22 kids have signed up.

• Elementary enrollment was 250, with a 96.2% attendance rate.

High School Principal Matt Verslues noted a change to commencement this year. “With graduation this year, a reminder that we’ll still recognize the top 10 percent, but this is the first year of summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude,” he said. “That starts this year, so that’ll be a slight adjustment to graduation.”

• Verslues also noted that spring sports are beginning this week, FFA week was being observed, and the school play is coming up.

• Enrollment was 458, with an attendance rate of 95.26%, down slightly from 95.36% last semester, which Verslues attributed to a lot of kids being sick recently.