CHAMOIS — At their meeting last Wednesday, Chamois R-1 school board members announced that they had received a $10,000 grant from Osage County Special Services (OCSS) to use for the surface of the district’s new playground.

Superintendent Lyle Best said the school district was very grateful to OCSS for the grant and to Executive Director Megan Reichart for the opportunity to add a playground surface that is more accessible to all children. The School Board Members approved a bid from All Inclusive Rec, LLC for a CY FIBAR surface with felt for an estimated cost between $6,859 and $7,133. All Inclusive Rec noted the price could fluctuate depending on the schedule for installing the playground, and the company offered a 4% variance to account for fluctuations in fuel and trucking.

In other business, Best reviewed the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) Annual Performance Review (APR), a summary report of how schools are performing.

“I kinda always thought people aren’t surprised by what is in the (APR),” Best said. “It just summarizes what you already know, think, and are working on. Not that it isn’t a valuable report to look at, especially in terms of planning, but it just supports what you already know and think.”

Overall, Best was pleased with the school’s performance on the APR, noting the district had scored 79.8% on the 2022 APR, and at the close of the 2022-23 school year, the district had an APR of 79.5%. Chamois R-1 earned 133.7 of 168 possible points.

“It is pretty similar to last year,” Best said. “It’s a good reflection of what we do well and what we need to improve on.”

Most school districts across the state fell into the 70% to 90% range and were similar in standing in both years. Best explained that DESE is happy with the results of the APR and the continuous planning components that the school districts have worked on.

“They believe districts have done a good job of that,” Best said, explaining the best use of the APR scores is to look for ways to improve the school and not in comparison to other districts.

DESE has identified absenteeism as an issue for all school districts across the state. Best admitted that would also align with what the Chamois R-1 School district sees.

“We would fall right into that as something we would like to improve on,” Best said. “But it is not just us. It was across the state. Attendance has not been as high as before COVID.”

Best would like to improve the district’s attendance, but he noted that some things are out of the school’s control.

“We have (staff) that go and pick up students,” Best said. “It’s hard to do much more than that.”

Chamois R-1 did well in reporting per state and federal regulations and administration and board member training.

“State and federal regulations have really increased a lot,” Best said. “When I started, it was a page. Now, four to five pages need to be checked off. There is a big difference that I have seen over the course of several years with the things schools have been charged with doing.”

Best believed the district received all points for the Continuous School Improvement Plan (CSIP), a reflection of the staff’s hard work.

“This does take work,” Best said. “Staff have to work on it. It adds stress, and we have been doing a very good job of doing those things, and those folks deserve credit for doing that because it’s not easy. There are a lot of people who put in a lot of work and time to get the evaluations done.”

Best noted that Social Studies testing was one of the APR’s positives, while Science, Mathematics, and English Language Arts showed signs of average growth.

“Even average growth is something to build on,” Best said, adding he was encouraged by the growth in English Language Arts in grades 3-6. “Even though this was average growth, I still think it is good to look at. It’s just one year, but it’s still good.”

Best noted the improvements staff have undertaken will need time to make a big difference.

“These are things to be proud of and highlight, and I don’t want to gloss over them,” Best said, noting that administration assessments, data reporting, and other things Chamois R-1 does don’t get a lot of credit because they’re not interesting. “We have a lot of people do that work and get the paperwork done and turned in on time. We should be proud of those folks that do that as well.”

• School board members agreed to offer the old playground equipment for sale to the city of Chamois before opening up the bid process for everyone else. Best said he would contact the city and see if aldermen are interested in purchasing the old playground equipment.

• A meeting among superintendents in the newly formed Show-Me Central Conference was postponed due to inclement weather, so Best had no updates. However, he reported that Athletic Director Robbie Bates had been meeting with the other districts in the Show-Me Central Conference to work on new sports schedules.

• Board members approved expenses totaling $39,516.32.

• Chamois R-1 had the following ending account balances: general ($1,725,938), special ($210,960), and capital projects ($542,445).

• The district had the following current assets: cash in the bank ($770,313.64), petty cash ($300), savings ($948,876.79), and certificates of deposit ($757,131.23).

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

A recent annual inspection of the boilers has identified that the boilers need several lockable disconnects and additional flow switches. Best has contacted Harold G. Butzer, Inc., to help install the additional items identified.

• Work on the gates between the gym and elementary building is still in progress, with most work done off-site.

• Luebbert’s Flooring is scheduled to sand down the gym floor in late June and will honor the estimate from last year. Best believed the cost to be approximately $24,000.

• Three individuals filed for two board seats opening, so there will be an election in April.

• Best hopes to have health insurance renewal information at the February meeting.

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Principal Jeremy McKague reported that Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) members have completed their competitive tests, and the top five students will be moving on to the district competition.

• Friday’s Homecoming basketball game was postponed until Friday, Jan. 25. The Homecoming dance was held on Saturday, Jan. 13, with a lock-in for students in grades 8-12 following the dance; McKague noted that the Homecoming game and dance are independent of each other.

• A suicide prevention and anti-drugs and alcohol presentation was provided to students in grades 6-12.