WESTPHALIA — Fatima R-3 school board members approved the calendar for the 2026-27 school year at their March 18 meeting. The first day of school for the next school year will be Tuesday, Aug. 25, and the last day of school will be Friday, May 21.

“I met with the teachers, and we narrowed it down to a few wishes,” Superintendent John Kitchens said. “This is a 169-day calendar with snow days built in.”

Kitchens said that everyone agreed that they wanted to have a full week off for Thanksgiving, and they were able to work that into the 2026-27 school year. Christmas break will start on Dec. 21, and students will return to school on Jan. 5.

Board members also approved graduation for May 16 at 4 p.m.

Board President Suzanne Massman said that she had been asked by a family if graduation could be moved to a Friday instead of the traditional graduation day of Sunday.

Athletic Director Matt Baker noted that that date could conflict with baseball districts, and soccer and track sectionals.

“That has always been the conflict,” VP Matt Robertson said. “I’ve always hated it on Mother’s Day, so this year that will actually work out to not be on the same weekend.”

In other business, the school board approved the following new hires: Matt Baker (Athletic Director), Justin Forsyth (high school physical education), Krystal Pepper (high school English), Allison Olsen (kindergarten), and Chase Croney (custodian).

There will also be changes made in the elementary school staff, with Sandra Lehmen moving from teaching fifth grade to serving as elementary librarian, Amanda Rademan moving from teaching fifth grade to the gifted education program, Gina Stegeman moving from teaching sixth grade to fifth grade, and Rachel Ryan will teach sixth grade. In the 2026-27 school year, there will only be two sixth-grade teachers: Rachel Ryan and Amanda Fisher.

The board also accepted two employee resignations —custodians Josiah Boeckmann and Laverne Kampeter will both work their last day on March 31.

Kitchens noted that with these most recent hires, the school district is fully staffed for the new school year.

• Board members had approved the cost of $704 for a benefit for employee health insurance, with $59 going into the employee’s plan to use for medical benefits. This should pay for the highest health insurance plan available to the staff.

Last year, health insurance rates were slightly lower, and the district contributions to the employee medical plan were $109.

• The board approved the “Learn Life Savers” program, which is an educational program with a 30-minute video about organ donations intended to educate students about organ donation so that they can make an informed decision.

“It is essentially a program that talks to students about being organ donors before they go to get their license,” Kitchens said.

Students are allowed to opt out of the program, and the program is offered at no cost to the school district.

• Board members approved switching to an Amazon credit card that offers 5% cash back on all purchases. The district currently has a credit card through Legends Bank, which offers no cash back options.

• Kitchens found a way to save money, and the board approved his purchasing janitorial products from Smith Paper Products of Eldon. Currently, the district purchases most of its products from Hillyard products.

Kitchens found that Smith Paper Products offered significant savings after checking prices with several different companies, including Uline, Centex, Aramark Refreshments, School Fix, and Veritiv.

“They are based in central Missouri and are not a big conglomerate company,” Kitchens said of the Eldon company. “Over the course of a year, we spend a big chunk of money on janitorial products, and this is a way to save money.”

Kitchens said that the district will still purchase some of the supplies from Hillyard, but is not under contract with the company.

“Of course, absolutely,” Massman said. “We need to be financial stewards for the district.”

• Students of the quarter were Millie Backes (third grade), Chole Falter (fourth grade), Kynlee Rehagen (junior high), and Kaedyn Rehagen (high school).

• The board approved outstanding bills for the month totaling $381,920.49.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Kitchens is concerned with recent bills moving through the Missouri State Legislature, and how they will affect the school district if enacted.

“This year the state legislature has been intense,” Kitchens said. “Open enrollment is going ahead full steam. It has been on the docket for the past seven legislative sessions. This year, it is in the governor’s budget.”

Kitchens believes some form of open enrollment will pass this legislative session.

Kitchens explained that the way the bill is currently written, school districts would have the option of whether they wanted to accept additional students, but would be forced to let students leave. The current bill caps the number of students who can leave a public school district at 3%.

“If we would lose 3% of our students, that would be 20 kids; we would lose about $170,000,” Kitchens said. “If we would gain students, we could gain some of that back.”

The district is responsible for transporting students to a designated stop at the district line.

“The thing is, I think we all know is that schools in rural Missouri are the center of the community, and this bill will end some schools, and change the face of some communities,” Kitchens said.

He noted that in the future, the school board members will have to decide whether they will participate and accept students.

“I think we would have more people who would want to come here versus leave here,” Kitchens said. “We might lose a couple kids who want to play football to the folks next door.”

VP Robertson asked if there were stipulations for accepting students.

Kitchens noted that a lot of things have still not been worked out.

“I think we hold off for as long as we can,” Robertson said.

“Six years into open enrollment, if you try to pass a bond issue, the old-timers may have a problem since the kids are from all over,” Kitchen agreed. “The best thing for everyone — districts and communities — is if this doesn’t pass.”

Kitchens is also concerned about Gov. Mike Kehoe’s proposed A-F rating system for school districts.

“This is a marketing plan for open enrollment,” Kitchens said. “It is set up to make schools look bad, so that open enrollment thrives. None of this is meant to make the learning experience or teaching experience better for students.”

• The Literacy Bill is also an upcoming concern for the school district.

“This is talking about mandatory retention for students not reaching reading expectations, and it even adds another year of school,” Kitchens said. “For the kids that do not pass the literacy test, their days will be reading non-stop on a very specific schedule.

“Nobody wants to have reading issues,” Kitchens continued. “There are 50 years of research that show us how to teach, and this legislation overrides the school’s ability to progress. It’s frustrating.”

Kitchens added that numerous bills seek to reduce property taxes and others that make it harder to increase a school district’s levy.

“There are numerous variations, and none of them will work out for us,” Kitchens said.

He also noted that there is a budget shortfall in the state, and the potential passage of no state income taxes will mean less money from the state for the school district.

“We’ve got to stay on top of this,” Kitchens said, adding he is taking all these things into consideration as he works on next year’s budget.

• Kitchens read to the first-grade students as part of the “Reading Across America” program

“I like to make reading fun,” Kitchens said.

HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

High School Principal Somer Hinshaw reported that as of the meeting, 33 students had completed job-shadowing or participated in a career exposure event.

“We are hoping to get a lot more participation,” Hinshaw said.

Hinshaw added that job-shadowing and participation in career exposure events would no longer count against students’ A+ Program ratings if it is organized by the school and the forms are returned with signatures.

“This is great news because the students don’t want to do it if it counts against them,” Hinshaw said.

• She reported that the choir traveling for competitions has done well, and members are getting rave reviews for their behavior.

At least 12 high school choir members were slated to participate in the district music festival on March 21.

• The principal is planning to start some new traditions for the senior class this year. Hinshaw reported that she is excited about upcoming events and hopes they will be memorable moments for the students.

• Hinshaw reported an attendance rate of 94.75%.

• The district has the following number of students enrolled next year: freshman (83), sophomore (79). Junior (73) and senior (82).

ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Elementary Principal Renee Ellingsworth-Albert noted that in honor of School Board Appreciation Month, several students in first and second grade wrote thank-you letters and drew pictures for the school board members.

Albert presented each school board member with a stack of letters and read several of the letters out loud.

• Summer school will run from June 21-26, and registration information has been sent out to parents.

• Albert also reported that attendance was down to 95%, which she attributed to the flu.

SPECIAL EDUCATION/CURRICULUM REPORT

Special Education Director Janah Massman noted that the district currently has 76 Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for grades K-12, with 19 for speech and language.

“In comparison to other districts, that’s pretty average,” Massman noted. “Maybe even a little lower than average.”

• Pre-ACT testing was a success and allowed sophomores the chance to understand what the test would be like before their junior year.

“I really feel like it helped our kids meet their A+ requirement,” Massman said. “We had a lot of positive comments from the parents.”

A number of testing dates will be coming up near the end of the school year.

• Massman reported that she will be making several curriculum shifts for the 2026-27 school year. Health will be taught in the physical education classes, and a semester reading class will be combined with an English class.

• Parents As Teachers had a very successful night with the “Building with Dad” project.

“It was well-attended this year,” Massman reported.

ATHLETIC DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Athletic Director Matt Baker reported that winter sports have wrapped up for the year. Both the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams made it to the district finals, and the boys’ wrestling team won districts. Eight boys and one Lady Comet earned a berth at the state championships, with two finishing in the top four.

• Spring sports are underway, and officials have been scheduled for all of the games.

There are currently 23 boys on the baseball team, 16 girls in soccer, 35 athletes participating in track and field, and 17 boys on the golf team.

• Baker noted that he is working with Verslues Construction on a few outstanding issues in the new gym.

• The volleyball booster club is purchasing new balls and carts for the volleyball team. The baseball field will have work done on the pitching mound.

• Baker has been working with Kitchens on splitting up the accounts for each sport so it will be easier to track expenses.

“We want to keep everyone accountable,” said Baker, who is concerned about transportation for April sports. “April is going to be really hard. We only have one coach and me as in-house drivers, and there are multiple [instances] when there should be five buses going out on the same day. We just don’t have that many drivers.”

• Baker said he is finalizing coach evaluations.

• The next meeting is scheduled for April 15 at 6 p.m.