Linn R-2 board members at their May 18 meeting approved by a 6-1 vote to enter into a five-year contract with Fresh Ideas as the district’s food service management company beginning with the 2021-22 school year. The district can renew the contract each year and food service options must be bid every five years.
Fresh Ideas will provide breakfast and lunch at a cost of $274,078 for the year but with commodity credit for unused materials, the school would receive a rebate of $21,585 for an adjusted expenditure of $252,493.
Also offering a proposal was OPPA, which offered a cost of $282,822 with adjusted expenditures totaling $261,237.
Superintendent Dena Smith said she checked references for both companies and submitted a rating for each to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Fresh Ideas edged OPPA in the scoring by a thin margin but Smith said she received “glowing” references for Fresh Ideas while OPPA was not as good in terms of personnel management.
Current food-service employees will have the option to work for Fresh Ideas at their existing salary. Two employees will remain with Linn R-2 for now due to retirement vestments and insurance coverage.
Prices will be determined each year by a formula provided by DESE. Smith said she cannot guarantee prices won’t rise but there will not be an immediate increase in costs for meals.
Revenues from food service are estimated to be $364,512.
Linn students will receive free meals this summer through the Department of Health and Senior Services.
In other business, board members decided to make masks optional for all students during summer school. It was noted that several schools in the area have adjusted their policy in the same manner.
* Smith requested guidance on Policy 1420, which governs facilities use. The current policy allows use of school facilities by organizations, and there are individuals who want to use them. Other questions include insurance coverage and the use of school-owned equipment.
“Have we had a problem with vandalism and neglect?” board member Mark Baker asked.
Board member Tye DeCramer noted there was an issue with too many keys in use. He said someone coaching baseball messed up the gym floor but school officials couldn’t determine who did it.
“No one would own up to who did it and we had to pay to fix the floor,” said DeCramer. “We haven’t had any trouble since then, have we?”
Smith said she was unaware of any further damage.
Board member Dr. Shawn Strong said he would like to allow for discretion on a case-by-case basis.
“If an individual has a key fob and has access to the gym any time day or night, can you set a time to restrict access?” board member Naomi Klouzek asked.
The idea would be the school would know who accessed the facilities so tracking damage is an easier process.
“I think the problem is we had students who could come and shoot baskets at two or three in the morning,” said DeCramer. “I don’t want people cruising up here at all hours.”
Klouzek added that without supervision, there have been free-for-all situations.
“Who’s to stop that? We’ll have 50 kids in here at once,” she said.
While there are no cameras in the gym, the entrance is covered.
Board secretary Hannah Swann said access can be regulated and if there is a problem, privileges can be revoked.
Smith said liability insurance is necessary for groups because the school’s insurance policy will not cover accidents unless the school is negligent.
Dr. Strong said if the school can bend over backward for the community in terms of facilities use, it should.
Board members decided that individuals can use the facilities with a proper application, though the weight room should be restricted to individuals.
DeCramer suggested including a specific purpose for the visit to allow tracking of equipment.
Smith will amend the policy and present it for review next month.
* Board members unanimously agreed to enter into an on-call Owner's Representative Agreement with Navigate Building Solutions of St. Louis.
Smith noted that Navigate is currently working with South Callaway and New Bloomfield. “Both districts have nothing but great things to say about Navigate,” she said. “They indicate that Navigate has not only saved them money but also helped them with their projects from start to finish. They highly recommend working with Navigate.”
* Smith presented a proposal to pay teachers for before or after-school tutoring next year. Teachers would have to develop a plan for how they will use their hours for specific coursework.
If approved, teachers can tutor up to 35 hours at $30 per hour and Smith estimated it would cost the district at most $40,000.
Board members will review the proposal and make a decision next month.
* Linn R-2 has received a total of $237,583.12 in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds, including $25,000 for additional summer school personnel, $3,042.25 for an additional bus, and $1,206 in summer school supplies, and $92,181.68 for Chromebooks, all through Osage County.
Elementary & Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) funds totaled $96,150.20, of which $19,718.48 was used by St. George.
The school also received a CARES Act access grant in the amount of $8,000 for technology upgrades.
A CARES Act transportation grant totaling $12,002.99 was used for temperature screening devices, car seats, and handicapped and summer school transportation, while $2,140.85 was used by St. George.
* Salary increases were tabled until next month. Smith recommended a $400 increase to the base, which would be an overall increase of about $35,000 to the budget next year.
* Bills were approved for payment in the amount of $561,199.67. The school has a checking and investment balance of $4,215,240, including investments of $468,954.75 through Mid America Bank.
* The board accepted the resignation of Special Education Coordinator Emma Williams, who announced her retirement.
* The next regular meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. June 29.
REPORTS
In her report, Smith provided an update on the goals she has for the district.
Goal 1:* Prepare students for college and career readiness.
* A State Technical College of Missouri signing day was held on May 11.
* Graduation was scheduled for May 16, and eighth-grade recognition was slated for May 20.
* Summer school has been set for May 25 through June 25.
* Students completed End Of Course (EOC) and Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) testing in April and May.
Goal 2:* Promote, facilitate, and enhance parent, student, and community involvement in district educational programs.
* Guests were allowed to attend graduation exercises and eighth-grade promotion with no restrictions.
* Parents were invited to attend elementary field day as spectators.
* Freshman orientation was held on May 7 and seventh-grade orientation was held on May 5.
* Award ceremonies were held during the final week of school.
Goal 3:* Recruit, attract, develop and retain highly qualified staff.
* Service awards were presented at the end-of-year lunch honoring employees who have been with the district for five, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years, along with retirees.
* Smith recommended the addition of $400 to the base for certified salaries.
* The principals are planning some paid Professional Development (PD) opportunities for the month of June.
Goal 4: District facilities will adequately meet the needs of our students, district programs, and community.
* Staff members are formulating a summer maintenance list so that work can get started as soon as school is out.
* The major project being considered for this summer is the replacement of the high school roof. The goal is to have it completed by the time school starts.
* The HVAC unit in the high school believed to need replacement has been repaired for now. Replacement of that unit and others in the HS/MS is planned in the near future.
In his report, High School Principal Michael Fible said Mr. Shepherd and Mrs. Niederhelm ran a great FFA Banquet on April 25 recognizing the accomplishments from the previous year.
* Ellie Monnette was selected as the Area XIV FFA Sentinel for 2021-22.
* Mrs. Sherman had a band concert for sixth and seventh-grade students at the city park on April 25.
* Mrs. Glenn and Mr. Fick did a great job organizing and decorating along with the prom committee on April 30. Prom was held on May 1.
* Abby Klebba was named prom queen and Brad Arlen was named prom king.
* Fible said the last week for the 2020-21 seniors went well, with students helping at elementary field day on May 12, and senior award and recognition held that evening.
* On May 13, senior breakfast, graduation practice, and senior hall walk were followed by Baccalaureate at St. George, and graduation was held on May 16.
End of the year events included academic award night on May 19, and eighth-grade graduation on May 20.
* Enrollment in grades 7-12 was reported at 311 students.
Elementary Principal Tracy Kingsley told the board that two students were participating in Launch virtual learning.
* MAP testing is complete and students in grades 3-6 celebrated their hard work with a trip to the City Park for lunch, playing, and shaved ice provided by Sweet Bees Shaved Ice (Christina Laughlin) and Legends Bank. Kingsley expressed her appreciation to each of them for supporting this celebration.
— Reading: The school set to do 12 PD days and seven virtual PD hours with Dr. Jill Dunlap-Brown over the course of the year next year. “Our focus will be on understanding and implementing practices based on the science of reading,” said Kingsley. “There was a unanimous vote in our building to move this direction after research and PD this year.”
* Staff will focus reading blocks and intervention work on the five components of reading.
* Linn R-2 has purchased Heggerty for phonemic awareness work with students in pre-k through third grade.
* Teachers have watched and will be purchasing Saxon Spelling and Phonics for K-2 grades. “This is a comprehensive core phonics program to be implemented during whole group instruction,” said Kingsley.
* Scheduling has been arranged so that Title I reading specialist Beth Plume will be present to support/team teach as Saxon is implemented and then fade into a small group or intervention role as needed.
* Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) is the school-wide Dyslexia screener and will be used to benchmark all students in grades K-6. This is also used to monitor students’ progress in between benchmarks. The end-of-year benchmarking is complete and will be a good baseline for teachers moving forward.
* Data Meetings will begin next year as teachers are trained to analyze the DIBELS data and respond to students’ needs.
— Math: Time in June is being planned for curriculum work in math.
Teachers will realign priority standards using DESE’s priority standards and adjust the curriculum accordingly. “We will then add resources, lesson activities, and common assessments,” Kingsley said.
* Teachers in first, second, and fifth grade plan to utilize Go Math more heavily while the other grade levels have found resources that will guide their work through the lens of their priority standards.
* Data in math regarding Evaluate showed tremendous growth this year and Kingsley said staff will continue to utilize that system to guide instruction and curriculum development as well as MAP data when it is received next fall.
— End-of year-activities: Field Day was successful as students participated in many activities as students moved through different stations. Kingsley thanked Briar Hancock, Joyce Everett, and Robyn Baker for organizing the event.
“The students had a wonderful time,” Kingsley added.
* Park Days were scheduled for last week. “We will have a little fun at Lions Park as teachers use the free time to finish awards and wrap up year-end tasks,” said Kingsley.
* Each grade level scheduled a short awards ceremony on the last day of school, including citizenship and classroom awards.
* Kingsley thanked Charlene Peters for coordinating sack lunches for year-end outings.
* She encouraged parents to join the PTO, especially since COVID has limited volunteering this year. “We hope to have at least 20 new parents attend and participate as we transition into next year,” said Kingsley, offering thanks to the PTO for donating shorter basketball goals for younger students, which maintenance staff will put into place this summer.
* Enrollment in grades K-6 was reported at 304 students.