LINN — Linn R-2 board members on Thursday approved a measure to place a tax-levy increase on the April ballot.

Superintendent Bob James reiterated his concern that the state minimum $2.75 is not enough to handle the base salary increase long-term. A $.50 increase would accommodate a move to the legislatively-required base salary of $41,200 and move the hourly base.

Last month, James told the board he believes he can increase the certified teacher salary schedule to the legal minimum without the Teacher Base Salary Grant for the 2026-27 school year. However, there are implications to consider.

“We can lock down our budget to get certified teaching staff to $41,200, but that does not change the base for our hourly employees whatsoever,” said James. “We can survive that on current terms, if nothing changes, but I believe we are going to look at state cuts.”

A healthy fund balance between 30% and 40% is untenable with a minimum operating levy.

The mandated increase will cost R-2 approximately $300,000 next year after the $4,200 raise for every teacher. “That will strain our reserves,” said James. “That is a 4% burden to our fund balance every year. At a nearly 40% reserve, it will take three years under current funding to deplete our reserves to at or below our 30% threshold.”

Being at or near a 40% fund reserve means the district would have about three years under current circumstances before that drops Linn R-2 remotely close to its padded 30% fund balance. “We have three or four years to figure that out before we start eating away at reserves,” James noted. “We’ll have some assessed valuation — cross your fingers — increases along the way, but some other things we’ve got to consider. If the AV goes up, but we pass an umbrella for our senior citizens for taxes, that’s going to cut into our proceeds at the county level. We have to acknowledge that that just gets us to the minimum, and we’ve got a three to five-year clock on our budget and its health. We don’t have a choice but to get to $41,200, but remember, we’re required to increase by 3% per year after that, which will cost $100,000 more per year to pay our certified teachers.”

Hourly wages for secretaries, paraprofessionals, substitutes, etc., would not be covered. “We will have to remain where they are and continue to be driven by the $37,000 base salary until I can find a funding source to move them,” said James. “This move will place a serious strain on our general funds; we will not have much room to do anything else for 3-5 years.”

On Thursday, James noted that the state has indicated the funding formula will remain the same, but warned it still has to make it through the appropriations process.

“I think Gov. Kehoe had mentioned that there were some concerns in education,” said James. “While funding remained the same, school districts were considering that less money. And I think what school districts are referring to is the increased cost in operating, meaning $1 won’t be worth same as $1 next year. So, if we have the same amount of money we have in fact, lost ground.”

In related business, James suggested finding a way to employ a full-time school resource officer if the levy increase is approved.

Part of that is due to a significant increase in issues at the elementary level. James noted that student interactions, including threatening speech/conduct, oppositional defiant behavior, emotional disturbance, and violent outbursts, have risen 10-fold in two years.

“As we continue to tackle student achievement, the vast majority of our leadership efforts have been interrupted by behavioral issues with a growing number of parents literally dragging their students from their vehicles and wishing us luck as they drive away,” said James. “Often, we are asked to coax them out of vehicles by parents who have lost control and influence over their student(s). Not all of our growth has been positive.

“I have seen this play out more times than I can count this year and cannot ignore the need for help and support,” James continued. “As our teachers plead for help, as focused students attempt to be productive and cannot be, and administrators spend the vast majority of their time addressing and mitigating extreme behaviors, I am reaching out and researching resources and strategies to help; this will undoubtedly have a budget impact as we redirect budgets and resources to address these issues.”

James added that he hopes to gauge board members’ vision in conversation while expressing the need, predicting the financial impact, and preparing them for increasing discipline data as administrators provide legitimate consequences, including ISS, OSS, and extended suspensions.

“We are currently running out of resources, wearing staff thin, unable to address our core business of teaching and learning as we should, and sacrificing learning environments,” said James. “We will move forward balancing our responsibility and guided by law, policy and best practices.”

Hiring a school resource would almost certainly assist with the disciplinary issues challenging younger teachers. “I think that’s where we lose a lot of the young teachers,” said James. “They can’t get that part of it. Some of our most experienced teachers are helpful in that regard, but even our most experienced teachers are struggling with some of the issues that we’re having. I’ve never been requested so often by parents to spank children. They want me to provide corporal punishment. That’s not something we can do here. They want me to remove their children from the car. That’s not something we can legally do here. So, we are really struggling with that partnership, and we’ll talk about that a little bit later. But to get back to your point about our most experienced teachers, they’re doing well in general. You know, outside of about 15 more students, they’re doing very well. But we also have some of our lesser experienced teachers that are really struggling in the classroom.”

Linn R-2 is required by law, and policy is to go through a discipline continuum, which James said can be very frustrating, especially for teachers who aren’t having those same types of issues. “They want that process to move more quickly, and we’re just not able to do that without putting the district in a leveraged and risky position,” the superintendent said. “We are worried about all of our teachers, but we are looking to our very best teachers to let us know. When I look at them as our indicators, I want to make sure our very best teachers are satisfied with the support that they’re getting in the classroom. It is definitely exposing some growth opportunities with us for staff discipline.”

Board President Dr. Shawn Strong asked if a school resource officer tends to have a calming effect.

James told the board it’s possible, alluding to a recent incident with an elementary student. “Believe it or not, there’s not a lot that a school resource officer can do with a parent present; that’s what we’re really seeing. I think your school resource officer is definitely going to help us at the high school. I’ve seen that definitely at the middle school.”

The primary value comes from interactions with parents because they are accountable at a very different level. “We’ve had several incidents this year where we have had to partner with law enforcement to grip some of those adult behaviors, oftentimes relative to poor student behavior, because the parent doesn’t know what to do either,” said James.

SROs could also help students whose friends have behavioral issues.

Board member Jamie Bish asked whether an SRO would benefit students who are not on the radar in terms of behavioral issues, but are friends with those who do.

“My child has friends with a lot of these adult-type issues,” she said. “These are way bigger than what you as a child should be having to deal with, and so I know as a mom, I’ve been having her speak with a counselor to ensure that she is handling it appropriately as a friend. Would that resource officer be able to assist with those conversations, not just the difficult children?”

Bish feared the impact of her child internalizing the conflict she witnesses.

“I think de-escalation and building relationships is something that school resource officers are trained in, but I don’t think it’s the main focus,” said James. “I don’t know that that would be a specialty area that I would count on counseling that type of friendship with kind of therapy-type advice. Honestly, I think you’re doing the best thing that I love hearing as a parent: you’re having those conversations with them.”

Discussion regarding the levy and everything associated will continue as the district pursues the increase.

The ballot measure will ask voters to approve increasing the operating levy 50 cents per $100 assessed valuation for the express purpose of hiring an SRO, and increasing the teacher based salary to the legal state-mandated minimum.

• Also on the April ballot will be a five-way race for two three-year seats between Board President Dr. Shawn Strong, Matt McCoy, Mitch Branson, Alfred Brandt, and Jill Tschappler.

Additional business will be presented next week.