February 15, 2024

Members of the 7th & 8th grade boys and girls basketball teams were introduced to the board. All four teams won the Jefferson County conference tournament championship last month. Coaches Berezowski (7th grade girls), Martucci (8th grade girls), Partney (7th grade boys), and Kinder (8th grade boys) introduced those players who were able to make it to the meeting. Congratulations.

• Kennedy Hale - February Student of the Month
• Jimmy Wacker - National Merit Scholarship Finalist
• Coach Jeff Montgomery named Class 5 Coach of the Year by Missouri Baseball Coaches Association
• Middle School production of "The Addams Family: Young@Part"
• 8th grade choir got to sing at The Sheldon
• Intermediate School Kindness Counts month
• 100th day of school

The board unanimously passed the consent agenda. Items were:

• January meeting regular session minutes
• Bills payable for the month
• Financial Reports & Statement
• Ledger Subtotals
• Approved the District Calendar for 2024-25 school year
• Approved summer school dates of May 30-June 27, 2024
• Approved changes to the Hall of Fame bylaws regarding the Distinguished Service Award - change requires 2 letters of recommendation from anyone as opposed to one from colleague and one from former student/parent. Another change allows for up to 2 honorees/year for 5 years (one posthumous and 1 living)
• Approved fireworks display at graduation
• Approved the MOU with Compass Health

Superintendent's Report

• Reminded the board of the professional development day on Friday, February 16. Afternoon will be various PD sessions that staff can choose from
• Cultural Diversity Luncheon is February 24 in Imperial. State of the County is at Herky on Monday.
• Kindergarten registration appointments are open. Registration will be March 14-16
• The Middle School received a $30,000 Project Lead The Way grant from Ardagh. This will be used beginning next year.
• Bus inspections were recently. The district passed with a 90%. Items that failed were minor and were repaired immediately and the buses were reinspected before the inspectors left.
• Safety and Security update - Thursday was National SRO Appreciation Day. All safety film has been installed at all locations. Final Tier 2 safety training will be done Friday during the PD day.
• Enrollment as of February 5 was 3452 students

Maintenance and Custodial Annual Report was submitted

Technology E-Rate Purchases

E-Rate is a Federal Program based on the Free and Reduced lunch percentage. Festus R-VI is reimbursed at 60% of the cost of a project. Items approved were:

• Aruba Central Management 5 year license from PDS - Total cost $49,680
• Internal building fiber and 2 racks from PD - Total cost $19,959
• SFP's (lights the fiber up and makes it work) from ENT - Total cost $1110.56
• Early Childhood Internet 1G from Spectrum - $159/mo
• Access points at the ECC from PDS - Total cost $9220
• ECC rack from PDS - $1995.35

Facilities Report

• Last month the board approved a cooperative bidding process for the elementary HVAC project. Since then it was awarded to Shay Roofing and SMCI for $1,326,929
• Summer projects include: the elementary HVAC project referenced above affecting 18 classrooms, middle school rooftop HVAC unit replacement, normal rotation of renovations that include finishing the renovation of the 8 classrooms in the elementary stack-ups restroom renovations (2 at the middle school)
• MIDDLE SCHOOL EXPANSION PROJECT - received 2 bids. Brockmiller Construction was the low base bid at $7,574,900. Board approved providing Brockmiller a letter of intent and giving the Superintendent & ArchImages permission to enter into negotiations with Brockmiller for additional items and to complete the contract.

Board Member Resignation

The board accepted Marcus Shepherd's resignation from the board. The board will seek applications for appointment to the board for a term of 1 year. An election will be held in April 2025 to serve out the remaining 1 year left on the term

April Board Meeting

Because of state law requiring certification of an election within 10 business days of an election, the April board meeting will now be held on Tuesday, April 16.