LINN  — Linn R-2 board member Brett Phillips told colleagues and Superintendent Bob James he would like to see how the district addresses student mental health needs in either the Continuous School Improvement Plan (CSIP) or the Professional Development Plan. “We haven’t talked about that yet,” he said of the Missouri School Improvement Plan 6 (MSIP) approved at the last meeting. “It’s not in there at all. And that’s probably the biggest challenge. It’s a growing concern, obviously. And we don’t address it in our CSIP. We’ll have to go outside for that, which I totally understand.”

“I’ll make sure to add something, but we’ll need to bring some folks in,” James replied. “What some of you probably know more than anybody is we don’t really get trained very well through our certification processes to meet the extreme mental health needs we have with our kids.”

Phillips acknowledged the challenge, adding he would like to see an emphasis on making sure teachers are equipped with the tools needed to address the changing climate. “I think that’s important for us to focus on going forward,” he added.

James said he would adapt the district’s document to reflect that emphasis and share it with the board, which approved the updated plan contingent upon this change.

In related business, James presented an updated Professional Development handbook, which had served as Linn R-2’s plan for the last several years. “The adaptation in the handbook is mostly to swing our alignment towards including the principals and approval process,” said James. “Prior to this, they were responsible for the quality of professional development and the outcome, but they were not in the decision-making process at all. So, we changed the professional development handbook to mirror that or include them in the process. The handbook was just the process to get approval and wasn’t a professional development plan.”

James added that some of the school’s testing assessments weren’t necessarily created specifically with the Learn Missouri Learning Standards in mind. “They were created based on a topic,” he explained. “Well, if you were just to say the topic is the three branches of government, that is a topic that you could make a unit on; you could make an assessment. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the standard for the three branches of government in our high school government class is included in the topic. It might say something like, ‘The student understands relationships amongst the three branches of government and can evaluate this.’ So, we have tests that are aligned with topics versus tests aligned with Missouri Learning Standards. When we say we’re going to audit it, we’re going to look at number one. If it says, ‘What year was Abraham Lincoln president?’ we’re going to audit what learning standards ask us about our presidents in some way; then we’re going to read it. And if the Missouri Learning Standards says that students understand the impact of individual presidents on America as a whole, then to me, we do have a question about a president, but it is not an appropriate depth of knowledge. We’re not asking students if they know the president’s birth date. What we want to do is align that assessment to say, ‘What was the impact of Abraham Lincoln as the 16th president of the United States?’ and that will be how we audit and adapt it so that it’s actually aligned with that standard.”

Phillips asked who audits these questions.

James noted that principals will oversee teachers in that regard, and audits will occur on Professional Development days.

“We’re hoping that once we go through a few of these tests with the teachers and the process,” said James. “Whenever they create tests, they’re going to start thinking about that in the beginning and figure out what questions match as they go. So, it’s pretty much training our teachers.”

Board members also approved soliciting Requests for Proposal and Request for Qualifications for the lead service-line testing requirement.

James explained the district has a couple of choices. “We can send Mr. (Cliff) Wilson out to be trained to do our lead testing, or we can contract that. We’ll need to go ahead and run an RFP so that we’re ready to choose a contractor and execute that in the spring. By running our RFP now, we’re just anticipating that drop for Jan. 1. If we send Mr. Wilson for training or choose somebody who submits a proposal, we’ll be ready.

An RFP doesn’t mean we’re committed to choosing (a firm). We’ll know our options and can execute them right away.”

By way of background, James noted that SB 1075 and the Department of Health and Senior Services require the district to test for lead across water access points by Jan. 1, 2024, and submit a plan.

• SB 190 has created a lot of questions about the impact on Osage County subdistricts, such as Linn R-2.

“It essentially provides a tax shelter for Social Security recipients,” said James, noting that of particular importance is the county has to adopt that. “If we were to adopt that, it would freeze the assessed value of their residence at whatever that value was at the age of 65. That’s the value they would pay their taxes on in perpetuity.”

If an individual paid $10 in taxes to Linn R-2 when they were 65, and the school has a 5% increase, it would have been $10.50. “They will be taxed at $10, and the 50-cent increase won’t apply to them.”

A preliminary look at Osage County demographics shows that 12.9% of the population is 65 and older. “That’s not to say that we don’t have additional people on Social Security because you get it for a variety of reasons, but I used that as an example. We could potentially lose 5% of that 35% increase in AV; we could lose a little bit of money there.”

James noted there was some discussion about tax-sheltering different groups and school districts, including funding, which brought up a long-standing conversation about the State Adequacy Target (SAT).

In Missouri, for several years, the SAT was $6,375 per student. “As a mitigating measure, we’re changing the State Adequacy Target over the next two years, beginning next year,” said James, noting the SAT will go from $6,375 to $6,760. In fiscal year 2025, the figure will increase to $7,145 per student. “Our net effect is positive, so we are unlikely to have a little bit more money as a result of that. We’ll have some options in what we do in the future. In the meantime, though, only six counties in Missouri have adopted Senate Bill 190, and I have no idea if we will or not. If we do, that will be the effect, but either way, the LSAT is going up and stair-stepping the next two years, which is good for us and Missouri.”

• James told the board that the old water tower on campus adjacent to Rt. CC currently acts as a management site for the flow of water throughout portions of the district but is not currently being used to store water.

“The water tower has been an identifying campus fixture for as long as I can remember, and I believe it represents a branding opportunity for the district,” he added. “I would like to explore opportunities to use it as signage and to accentuate it as a long-standing hallmark of the district and our campuses.”

James added that since it can be seen easily from the Hwy. 50, its size and shape are conducive to branding, and it is already being used as a navigational landmark. He would like to explore how to use it to a greater degree and its associated costs. Early indications are the water district is at least open to conversation(s).

Options might include painting it red, white, or both, lighting, or some combination of those features.

James will return with options at the next meeting.

• Bills were approved for payment. The school has a checking and investment balance of $3,319,196.76, including investments of $485,945.26 through Mid America Bank.

Remaining business will be presented next week.