Mexico 59 Board of Education Update

The board honored retirees in attendance with a reading and a Golden Apple. The presentation is available in the livestream above as the first board item.

Congratulations to Josiah Atterberry and Sheila Teague!

• Josiah Atterberry is a science teacher at Mexico Middle School. This is his second year with the district.
• Sheila Teague is the transportation department administrative assistant at Central Office. She has been with the district a total of eight years, recently returning to this position.

All items were approved as submitted. See them in detail on the agenda.

• April 16 Meeting Minutes
• Bills
• Treasurer's Report
• Final Transportation Routes for 2023-24
• Contract with Sarah Schafer
• Agreement for Services with Lisa Traynor
• Contract for Services with Darlene Shopher
• Compass Therapy Solutions Contract
• Speech Lab Contract
• Guardian Application
• Imagine Learning Price Quote
• DataVizion Master Service Agreement
• GoGuardian Pear Deck Learning Order Form
• MSBA Dues
• rootEd Alliance
• Letter of Agency and SpyGlass Snapshot Audit Agreement

The Mexico Education Center offered this month's Building Share. You can view the recording here. Mr. Mark Holeman and Mr. Drew Widaman gave an overview of the program which offers three routes for students to obtain a diploma: Online, In Seat, Hi-Set. Some highlights include:

• MEC graduated 64 students this school year.
• 90% attendance is required for in-seat students.
• Jobs for Americas Graduates (JAG) enhances the program thorugh career development, employment, personal/life/workplace skills.
• 90% of MEC students are employed.
• MEC partners with several local businesses to employ students, including True, Fluid Power, Restaurants, Spartan, Goodwill, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Abacus, Gold Crest, and more.

Mrs. Christina McCaw, Mrs. Kelsey Louder Kirchhoff, and Ms. Kate Daino presented on the Link Crew program. All the individuals in attendance participated in a Link Crew activity! View the recording here.

• Link Crew is a high school transition program that welcomes freshmen and makes them feel comfortable throughout the first year of their high school experience. Built on the belief that students can help students succeed, Boomerang Project's proven high school transition program trains mentors from your junior and senior classes to be Link Crew Leaders. As positive role models, Link Crew Leaders are mentors and student leaders who guide the freshmen to discover what it takes to be successful during the transition to high school and help facilitate freshman success.
• More and more studies show that if students have a positive experience their first year in high school, their chance for success increases dramatically. Link Crew provides the structure for freshmen to receive support and guidance from juniors and seniors who have been through the challenges that high school poses, and understand that the transition to a larger school can sometimes be overwhelming.

Bulldog staff are encouraged to read their Individual Building Reports as well:

• MELC
• EF
• HAW
• MMS
• MHS
• MEC
• HCC

Adoption of the Intent Resolution. Based upon discussions with FSG and L.J. Hart & Company, the District is planning to issue the general obligation bonds approved at the April election later in the summer. However, there is planning work occurring now related to the bond issue projects that requires payment. The District can approve an Intent Resolution that will allow us to pay these invoices out of reserves and subsequently reimburse ourselves with the bond proceeds once we have those funds. Not only does it allow for planning work to happen now, but it will not affect the District reserves since those expenditures will be reimbursed to the District.

• From Dr. Lentz: I recommend the approval of the resolution to the board. In order to keep the projects on schedule, FSG will have to begin the design process. Projects such as the high school entrance, middle school addition, and middle school kitchen renovation will require surveys and engineering work. The foundation correction work at Hart will also require exploratory work this summer. In order to place orders for the large HVAC units being replaced, project managers will need to confirm specs. The district will likely receive several invoices this summer. The September board meeting will likely be the first board meeting after proceeds from the issuance of the bond are available. My recommendation would be to approve a resolution which allows up to $230,000 of expenses to be reimbursed to fund four from the proceeds of the bond, when those funds are available.

Approval of the Access Sign Language LLC Service Agreement. Sign language services will be utilized for families in the district.

Approval of the Septagon Contract. The Board of Education approved Septagon's bid for the fencing and gates at the Davis H. Hart Career Center. This contract allows for the work to begin.

Approval of the Banking Services Bid (CSIP 3 & CSIP 6). Approved Central Bank starting July 1, 2024 as our banking institution. Mr. Tony Robertson, Central Bank of Audrain County, was in attendance.

PERSONNEL

• The board approved the monthly personnel report,.
• The board was offered the informational only personnel report.
• Probationary Contracts, Professional Contracts, Contract Addendums were approved for individuals, which can be viewed in the agenda.
• The principal contract for Kyle Louder and assistant principal contract for Brett Davis were approved.

Appoint alternate board secretary. Kris Fecht was approved as the district's alternate board secretary so she can begin training for the position of board secretary and administrative assistant to the superintendent.