Franklin County R-II School

It is sure nice to see some sunshine this week! Let's hope the bitter cold, ice, and snow are behind us! We have missed a total of 36 hours which are built into our academic calendar.

Let's Go Chiefs! The Kansas City Chiefs are once again headed to the Super Bowl. Watch for spirit week information to come home!

Since the Monday before is National Tell a Fairy Tale Day, we thought Tuesday, February 27th would be a great opportunity to take a childhood favorite and share some not-so-traditional versions. These will not be the stories your grandma told you! Come out on Tuesday, February 27, 2024 from 6:00pm-7:30pm to listen to stories, eat snacks, and do activities that go along with our theme. Remember, every child who attends will get to take home a free book, courtesy of the Franklin County R2 PTO.

The School Messenger phone system will be activated if a decision is made to close school. We have set up the phone system to call and text to the cell number of every student and employee in the district. You should be contacted by phone with a recorded message in the event we have a school closing. Messages will also be sent out via ClassTag and be posted on Facebook. You may also watch or listen to the following TV stations:

TV Channels:

2, 4, and 5

The television stations have a computerized system and our school name appears almost immediately (depending on the alphabetical order scrolling across the bottom of the screen) once the information is entered. The first time for closing school each year is often problematic so you should check different channels for our school closing information. School closing information will also be posted on Facebook.

As a reminder, these are the requirements to participate in sports, cheer, archery, Science Olympiad, or other after school activities. If your child is on academic probation, you received an email from me at mid quarter. Grades will be monitored and reviewed at the end of the quarter to see if the student is eligible at that time.

Academic Requirements – In order to participate in sports, cheer or clubs, students must:

1. Maintain a C- average in basic subjects.

2. Have a passing grade in all classes.

3. Be present for the last four hours of the day of the game, or have pre-scheduled appointments approved by admin.

4. Not be under any suspension or expulsion.

These academic requirements pertain to basketball, cheer, Science Olympiad, and archery.

Failure to meet these requirements on the mid-quarter or quarterly report card will result in ineligibility of extracurricular activities for a period of four weeks upon issuance of the report. After four weeks, if requirements are met, the eligibility is reinstated. If not, ineligibility continues until the next report card.

Washington High School:

Curriculum/Orientation Night- Feb. 7th

Shadow Day TBD

Owensville High School:

Curriculum/Orientation Night- February 13th 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Shadow Day TBD

Hermann High School:

Curriculum/Orientation- March 7th 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Shadow Day- March 21st

New Haven High School:

Tour TBD

Our 7th and 8th graders are able to participate in track and field at New Haven. An informational parent/student meeting will be held on February 1st at 6:30 pm. We do have a basketball game on the 1st. New Haven has stated that the student need not be present, a parent may attend. There won't be any penalty etc. for not attending. Even if you can't attend the meeting, students can still participate. You can contact New Haven High School if you have more questions. A representative from New Haven will be here on Monday, Feb. 5th at 12:15 pm to talk to 7th and 8th graders during lunch.

We recently celebrated our APR with a school wide popcorn party! Our score was the highest in our region. Not only did we score well in our region 93.5%, there are only a handful of school districts that out performed our school. We are so proud of our students, teachers, and families for this accomplishment! We will continue to set the bar high and hold our students accountable. How can you help? Make sure you are checking planners and ensure assignments are completed. Students should also be reading at home and studying for exams. Attendance is another crucial data point that is looked at. Currently, our attendance percentage is 96.33%. This is fantastic! DESE requires 90% of our students to be here 90% of the time. If students aren't here, it is hard for them to learn.

I am not a particularly political person, but with my position I have to be aware of threats to public education and our district. I believe HB 1989 is one of those threats. This bill refers to Open Enrollment within public school districts. Now, that may sound appealing to some but there is definitely devil in the details of this bill. It is the first step to small school consolidation, charter schools and tax credit vouchers. Here are some concerns many area public schools have with open enrollment.

• The Missouri school funding system is not built to support open enrollment.
• Many small districts, such as ours, has limited (or no) industry. Parents travel to work other places. If a parent decided to move their child to a district closer to work, that would take away funding from our district which could result in fewer resources and fewer opportunities for the students that stay in district.
• We perform well academically and so do many small schools. Many small schools spend less per student to give a high quality education. It would seem that politicians would want to support the effort to spend less and get more. However, if this legislation were to pass it could end up closing a significant number of small schools. (like us)
• If our community lost R2, it loses more than just a school. Our school is basically our community's heartbeat. We would lose a major source of employment for our area as well.
• By attending a small school, more students get the opportunity to experience more things and often at a younger age. All of our students are accepted to athletic teams. There isn't a need to "try out" and hope you make it. Our athletics, choir, and band all begin in 5th grade. That isn't the case at other larger public schools. Many of our students participate in clubs and extracurricular activities that they might not have the opportunity to experience at a larger school.
• Districts can "opt out" of open enrollment is what legislators will say. Districts can decide not to accept students from other districts, but we can't do anything to keep our students from leaving. This is a common misconception among politicians. 3% of our enrollment can leave on a yearly basis.
• There are many other concerns in this bill. For instance, special education, teacher retirement impact, transportation...among other things.

These decisions are being made in Jefferson City by people that really have no idea how public education works. Many of whom haven't been inside a school since they graduated. I urge you to contact our area local representatives. I have attached contact information along with a highlighted copy of HB 1989. Please don't hesitate to reach out. Our board signed a resolution opposing open enrollment.

The superintendent is the liaison for foster care students. If you need assistance with enrollment, placement, transfer, and withdrawal of children in foster care, please contact:

Kathy Oetterer, Point of Contact

3128 Hwy Y

New Haven, MO 63068

573-237-2414

koetterer@fcr2.org

Our school Facebook page is loaded with information. If you do not use Facebook, you can still see our posts by visiting our school website at www.fcr2.org. Our FB feed scrolls at the bottom of the page.