LINN — Linn R-2 board members approved several operational items for the 2026-27 school year during their June 18 meeting, including holding student meal prices at current rates, approving a contract with Discovery Schools and setting a date for the annual tax rate hearing.

Board members unanimously approved maintaining current breakfast and lunch prices after learning the district’s food service program ended the year approximately $54,000 under budget while continuing to improve both the quality and quantity of meals served to students. “As a result of this strong financial position, administration is not recommending an increase in student meal prices for the upcoming school year,” said Superintendent Bob James. “Maintaining current pricing allows the district to continue providing affordable meals to families while preserving the long-term financial health of the program.”

James praised Food Service Director Kelly Crouse and her staff for balancing quality with fiscal responsibility.

“I think she’s been delivering the best food service program that we’ve had in a while, still keeping our kids fat and happy with eating, and making sure that our kids have plenty to eat,” James said. “We were actually able to make this budget work a little bit more by trimming hers, because she’s doing such a great job, but that’s allowing us to stay in that healthy fiscal window that DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) and our food service at the federal level wants to see. We can keep our meal prices the same, and so I’m pretty proud of that.”

In other business, board members renewed the district’s agreement with Discovery Schools, an alternative educational placement available for students with significant behavioral needs.

James emphasized the placement remains a last resort because of its cost. “It’s really expensive, to be honest,” he said. “In the event that we absolutely have to have it, I want it to be available, but I want you to realize it cost us $60,000 this year. That’s a lot of money, so we’re going to do our best not to use it.”

He said the district exhausts numerous interventions before considering placement.

“It takes a lot for us,” James said. “The students that went there had 15, 20, 30 referrals for aggressive-type behaviors that really make learning impossible for the other students. I feel like our administrative staff and our teaching staff did an excellent job of trying everything first.

“We’re doing the Lord’s work in a lot of cases, trying to figure out how to work with students and their families,” he added. “This is kind of a red-button thing that we have. In all honesty, I’d like it to be there as a resource, but we’re going to do our best.”

• The board also approved the district’s annual Alternate Methods of Instruction (AMI) plan, which allows instruction to continue through online learning, instructional packets, textbooks and other educational resources when emergency situations prevent in-person classes.

• The regular August meeting was moved to Aug. 11 to accommodate the district’s annual tax rate hearing.

• James updated the board on the district’s construction project, reporting it remains on schedule and under budget as work continues toward completion before classes resume this fall. “If you’d like to walk through over there with me someday, just let me know,” he told board members.

He said interior work in the new addition is approximately 95 to 100 percent complete. “We have paint throughout the existing high school,” said James, adding that appliances were due the first week of July. “They’ve replaced the ceiling over there. We’ve got perhaps some graphics coming in.”

He said the general education classrooms are nearly complete. “Our general ed classrooms over there, with the exception of putting in some projectors and stuff, they’re about 99 to 100 percent done over there right now,” James noted.

Attention has now shifted outside the building. “They’re really working on the exterior landscaping and our front office as an admin, just a few things that are a little bit long coming in, but that is on time and under budget,” James said.

The district also plans to begin replacing the existing main parking lot while opening the new entrance to campus.

“Next week we’ll start pulling out the existing main parking lot, and we’ll open up the new entrance,” said James. “I don’t know if you’ve got a chance to walk the new entrance. It looks a lot better. I think we can work with what’s there now.”

Work will also continue this summer on the district’s cross-country course.

Board member Andy Warren asked whether the district planned to host an event allowing community members to see the completed improvements.

James said the annual August open house will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony and tours of the renovated facilities.

He said the district also plans to hold ribbon-cutting ceremonies at the first home baseball and softball games to showcase improvements made to those facilities.

“We want a ton of people to just walk around and gawk at it a little bit,” James said.

HANDBOOK CHANGES

• High School Principal Garrett Haslag reviewed revisions to the middle and high school handbooks, including changes to final examinations and the district’s process for recognizing valedictorian and salutatorian beginning with the Class of 2030.

Rather than recognizing all students who meet a GPA threshold, the district plans to return to naming a single valedictorian and a single salutatorian, while continuing to recognize students earning a 4.0 grade-point average.

“It’s a very needed change,” James said.

Haslag noted the district wanted to announce the change well in advance rather than altering expectations for current upperclassmen.

“I don’t think it’s fair to the kids to change the rules in the middle,” James said. “Our incoming sophomores and seniors, let’s leave them the way that they thought their time would go.”

Elementary Principal Cammie Otto reviewed annual revisions to the elementary student and staff handbooks.

One of the most significant changes replaces the terms “excused” and “unexcused” absences with “verified” and “unverified” absences. She told board members the hope is to cut down on confusion.

She also highlighted language reminding parents that students arriving after 7:45 a.m. must be checked into the office by a parent or guardian. “We’ve had quite a few problems with that over this past year,” Otto said. “Just again, want to make sure everybody realizes that as a procedure, just to make sure all students are safe.”

Additional revisions formally prohibit soda and energy drinks in the cafeteria and simplify standards-based grading by eliminating the highest performance level.

Otto said the change came after discussions with education consultants.

“One thing you talked to us about with the standards-based grading is thinking about taking away the four because sometimes that can be really confusing to parents,” she said. “(Students) are exceeding that standard, and there are some standards that you just simply can’t exceed. There’s only so many letters in the alphabet. We’re hoping that will help clear some confusion so people can better understand.”

• Athletic Director Dr. Billy Cobb reviewed revisions to the district’s athletic handbook, including new eligibility language for homeschooled and full-time virtual students.

“As long as the kid is within the district and they’re enrolled in an approved program, they’re allowed to participate,” Dr. Cobb explained, noting parents assume responsibilities normally handled through the school administration while students remain subject to Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) eligibility requirements.

PROGRAM UPDATES

Board members also received annual updates on the district’s Title I and A+ programs.

Although Title I teachers Melanie Brandt and Beth Plume were unable to attend, James reviewed the annual evaluation and discussed changes coming next year.

“Our parochial schools will be coming off of the bypass,” James said. “It’ll be a little bit of a change for them because there are a lot more stipulations and paperwork involved for us, but we’ve already met a couple of times.”

He also praised the progress students are making through the district’s reading intervention programs.

“Melanie has also been pursuing some additional reading programs she uses with her Title students,” James said. “She invited me in during summer school to see how much they’ve grown from the school year, and it’s really awesome to see how they’re taking off. Those students are really proud of themselves and how far they’ve grown.”

James also highlighted the district’s A+ program, noting an unusually high percentage of graduates chose four-year colleges this year.

“We just had a lot of kids,” James said. “Forty-seven percent of our seniors this year went to a four-year institution, and that’s higher than we’ve ever gotten to here.”

He said another 33% enrolled in two-year institutions.

“So 80 percent of our kids — four out of every five — are going to postsecondary training all the way up through a complete four-year degree,” said James, adding that the district consistently has between 80% and 97% of eligible students qualify for A+ benefits.

REPORTS

Otto highlighted successful end-of-year activities.

“We had a great field day and messy day to end the school year,” Otto said. “We had great attendance for the end-of-the-year award ceremonies. It was good to see everybody and the support our students have backing them.”

• Otto also invited families to the elementary’s annual pool party and said administrators are already preparing attendance incentives for next year.

“Ms. Gibbon and I are doing a lot of work this summer on new and exciting incentives for future attendance for our kids, and also some incentives for our staff,” she said.

• Academically, Otto said staff members have already begun analyzing end-of-year assessment data.

“We’re already working on the infrastructure to tackle student achievement,” she said. “It’s no surprise that reading is the area that we need to tackle.”

Plans include strengthening the district’s Response Intervention process, increasing classroom consistency, evaluating more cost-effective English language arts resources, and studying additional math curriculum options.

• Elementary enrollment finished the school year at 294 students, approximately 10 students higher than the previous year despite several late transfers and students moving to homeschool.

Dr. Billy Cobb provided an overview of the district’s athletic programs.

He said the baseball team finished 13-12-1, defeated four ranked opponents, won the Linn Tournament, and returns a strong sophomore class.

“Our numbers are high overall,” he said.

Dr. Cobb also reported increased participation in boys and girls track, highlighted Colton Leivian’s appearance at the state golf tournament, and noted especially strong middle school participation.

• Summer activities have also remained busy.

“Our summer numbers are great,” Dr. Cobb said. “The weight room has been really good. We’ve had a lot of camps going on between basketball, softball and everything else.”

He said approximately 30-32 students have regularly attended the 5:45 a.m. weightlifting sessions.

“Our kids are busy,” Dr. Cobb said. “Kids’ involvement across the board is a lot higher.”