September 19, 2024

Each building principal or director introduced their new staff to the board.

Calvin Ellis is the Festus High School September Student of the Month. He is the son of Maggie & Steve Ellis. When told of being selected as the Student of the Month, Calvin says he was excited and felt appreciated. His favorite class is Calculus. He is on the baseball and football teams, he is the Student Body President and a member of the National Honor Society. He is also heavily involved in Choir. After high school Calvin plans to attend a four year university to study engineering.

This month, the District was asked to submit a video spotlighting a program success. It's called "Spotlight on Success" and is a part of every State Board of Education meeting. A shorter version of the video below will be played at a future State Board of Education Meeting.

The board passed the consent agenda unanimously

• August regular session minutes
• Bills payable for the month
• August Financials
• September Ledger Subtotals
• Hall of Fame proclamation
• First reading of the BOE 2024C Policy Updates: EBBC, GB, GBE, GCBDA, GDBDA, IGBA, IGBE, ILA, JFCL, JG, DID-AP1, IGB-AP1, JFCL-AP1
• Baseball overnight trip to Kentucky
• Surplus items

• All principals have submitted their building improvement plans. The principals did a great job with the plans. All of them focus on goals and specific action steps to achieve those goals.
• Next month's board meeting has been moved to October 24 because of the annual MSBA conference.
• We have begun a "Students of the Week" at the high school as a way to celebrate more of our students. Every Monday we announce an Athlete of Week, Artist of the Week and Tiger of the Week.
• The 2023 State Champion Cross Country team will receive their championship rings before the football game tonight (Sept. 20) at 6:15pm.
• The 1st professional development day will be Oct. 7.
• Dr. Funston has begun a new teacher training/mentorship program. Among the things new teachers will be doing, is observing experienced Festus teachers in their classrooms.
• Parent teacher conferences will be held from Oct. 21-24 (2 days in each building during this time)
• TAB dates are Oct. 15 at the high school and elementary school, Oct. 16 at the middle school and intermediate school.
• Enrollment is up slightly this year. We have more than 3500 students, an increase of 38 from last year.
• We currently have 96.2% of families who have provided proof of residency in the district.

Food Service Program Evaluation

Facilities Report and Recommendations

Most of the work is complete in the middle school renovations. There are still minor things that need to be finished, but the kitchen and cafeteria are being used. The weight room be filled with weights by the end of the month and Mr. Cagle has moved into is new Project Lead The Way classroom.

Click here to view pictures of the new renovated spaces and the expansion construction.

The expansion part of the middle school project is moving along. They have been fortunate with weather, especially recently. About 80% of the masonry work is complete.

They did hit rock during excavation, but it is still within the allowances that were in the contract.

The project is still on schedule.

Expect change orders from the summer renovation work at the next board meeting.

Mr. Steve Copeland, our new Director of Maintenance began work on Sept. 3. He is doing a fabulous job and is a welcome addition.

We will be going to bid soon for the repair work at the Early Childhood Center from the August water main break/flood. A recommendation for contractor is expected at the October meeting.

Tax Rate for 2025

Assessed valuation increased by $4.6 million

Hancock Amendment limits districts from revenue increases of more than 5%

Because our assessed valuation increase was less than 5%, we can increase our tax rate by $.02.

Expected new revenue of $473,00 next year, but $200,000 is from new construction.

Tax rate breakdown for 2025: $3.0184 in Fund 1, $0.0 in Fund 2, $0.0 in Fund 3, $1.100 in Fund 4, total tax rate of 4.1184.