October 24, 2024

During the closed portion of it's meeting on October 24, the Festus R-VI Board of Education voted to hire Charles Partney to be the new Transportation Director for the Festus R-VI School District. Partney comes to Festus from the private sector. He has been the fleet director for a company where he managed more than 100 vehicles. He also has previous experience as a driver with the Dunklin R-V School District. Partney and his wife, Janece, have four kids and two grandkids

• NHS Inductions
• Special Olympics Bowling
• Play Unified Soccer
• Homecoming
• Intermediate Minions
• Emerson Excellence In Teaching Award - Tiffany Therrell
• ECC Community Helpers
• Marching Band at Mizzou
• Conference Champions
• Middle School Luau

The board passed the consent agenda unanimously

• September regular session minutes
• Bills payable for the month
• September Financials
• October Ledger Subtotals
• First reading of the BOE 2024C Policy Updates: EBBC, GB, GBE, GCBDA, GDBDA, IGBA, IGBE, ILA, JFCL, JG, DID-AP1, IGB-AP1, JFCL-AP1
• Budget Amendments
• District Assessment Plan

ArchImages provided a report on the Middle School classroom expansion

The project is still on track. The timeline has not be affected by the weather. They should begin the room by late December.

• Parent/teacher conferences are now wrapped up
• Veterans Day assemblies will be held in the Intermediate on Nov. 8 and the High School on November 11. There will also be a Veterans Parade organized by the Middle School on November 11 that follows the homecoming parade route.
• The school website contract expires at the end of the school year. We are beginning the process to evaluate whether we stay with our current vendor or make a change.
• Fall sports post season is underway. Tennis lost in the District semifinals, softball lost in the district final, volleyball plays in the district semifinal vs St. Pius on Saturday, soccer and cross country districts begin next weekend, and football will begin on November 8.
• Enrollment as of Oct. 21 was 3506 that is up 50 from last year
• Filings for the board of education begin on Dec. 10 and run until Dec. 31 at 5pm. Election day is April 8, 2025

1st Quarter Financial Update

Mr. Earnhart provided an update on where we stand after the first quarter. He is happy with where things stand with the budget right now.

PD Day Survey

148 staff members participated in the survey. Many good ideas given. Next PD Day is Nov. 5. We are looking for ideas to better satisfy the way staff completes mandatory training in order to be compliant.

Facilities Report and Recommendations

• An additional camera has been added to Tiger Stadium
• The hours that Tiger Stadium will be open have been adjusted because of vandalism. New hours are M-F 6am - 10:30pm. On Weekends it will be open and only accessible through the turnstile gate.
• We are in the process of replacing the light pole banners
• We will be installing new lighting on the back of the elementary school
• Jokerst paving will fix the pavement behind the high school at no cost

Classroom Expansion Phase 2

Unanimously approved to enter into a contract with ArchImages to design a building addition to the Intermediate School and design renovations to the existing lower level.

Elementary School Walk-In Freezer

Unanimously approved the low bid from Air-Tech for a new walk-in freezer at the elementary school for $37,981.45

Early Childhood Center Restoration Project

Unanimously accepted the low bid from Boyer Construction for $72,990.00 to complete the restoration at the Early Childhood Center for areas damaged by the water main break in August.