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R-2 Nominated for Outstanding Board of Education Award The Chillicothe R-2 School Board has been nominated as one of 33 school boards in Missouri for the Outstanding Board of Education Award sponsored by the Missouri School Boards Association. The announcement was made by R-2 Superintendent Linda Gray Smith during the district’s July meeting Tuesday evening at district headquarters. The meeting was Smith’s first regularly scheduled monthly meeting since coming on board as superintendent July 1. There are 524 schools in the state. “Being in the top 33 is not any small honor,” she said. “This is based on MSBA attendance for the last three years, having all school board members certified, and showing strong progress in the school district.” In other business Tuesday evening, the school board accepted all district goals dealing with facility, finance and technology that were developed during the board workshop on June 24. The facility goals had both short-term and long-term visions. Those goals included a new facility to house early education and relocating to the north campus. Another short-term goal, was the possibility of either rebuilding, refurbishing or moving the current Jerry Litton Memorial Stadium. Future goals of the board also included a new vo ag building and the tearing down of the old high school and the possible movement of elementary schools into one complex at the north campus facility. The overall goal is to have safe and accessible facilities appropriate to house educational programs, Smith said. Financial goals discussed would have competitive salaries for staff members who are certified, making the northern half of the state as the benchmark, having competitive wages for the non-certified staff, and making the wages in the community as the benchmark. Another goal the board set was to be fiscally responsible while maintaining an 18 percent fund balance and recognizing that the balance fluctuates depending on one-time expenses. The overall goal is to be financially responsible and have highly qualified teachers as part of No Child Left Behind, the superintendent said. The final set of goals that the board approved at Tuesday night’s meeting involved technology. The goals would be to monitor the quality and quantity of food served in the cafeterias, develop a food service plan and increase summer programming for enrichment classes and credit sources. The main goal set out to achieve is to make the student support services better. “It (The district goals) will provide direction for the district and the school district personnel,” Smith said. “It will start working toward improving what the board has identified.” Also a discussion at Tuesday night’s board meeting was the student drug testing policy regarding the way the tests are analyzed. The discussion involved identifying how many students at the middle school and high school levels are tested and the parameter for which drugs the students are tested for. With the possibility of changes to the policy and the way the test are taken, prescription drugs may be added to the list to be tested, according to Wade Schroeder assistant superintendent. This is the second year for the drug testing policy to be in place in the Chillicothe School District. “We want a more exact test,” Schroeder said. An annual drug test policy parent informational meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 14 to discuss the procedures. Also Tuesday, the board set the date for the annual tax rate hearing. The hearing will be at 6:30 on Aug. 19, just prior to the regular board meeting at district headquarters. |
