School Board Recap: Superintendent Remains Absent as District Moves Forward with New School Plans

The Excelsior Springs School District, October Board of Education meeting moved forward without District Superintendent Dr. Travis Hux. Hux has been “on personal leave” for more than 6 weeks and there is no public indication as to why he’s absent, or when he will return (if ever). Hux was present for the Sept. 12, 2022, BOE Meeting and no mention was made of a planned leave of any type. On Sept. 15, 2022, an email was sent out to Excelsior Springs School District employees stating, “The Board of Education wanted to make you aware that Dr. Travis Hux is on personal leave for family reasons. Current Deputy Superintendent, Dr. Jaret Tomlinson, will serve as Acting Superintendent for the school district during his absence. If you have any pending matters that require attention, please contact Dr. Tomlinson.” At the October meeting, no word was spoken of Hux’s absence, and business was conducted as usual with Tomlinson taking the seat typically occupied by Hux. A representative from the school board said that Hux is still continuing to receive his salary while on leave.

Some rather big decisions are being made at the district level even without Hux. At the Oct. 10, 2022 meeting the Board interviewed two construction firms and selected Newkirk Novak as the “Construction Manager at Risk” to begin the planning and development phase of the new downtown elementary school. Newkirk Novak is the same construction partner utilized for the Cornerstone Elementary project.

According to the minutes of the meeting:

Joe Kinder with Stifel (investment banking) presented a financial update on the district and a financing plan for the next phase of construction which would be to reallocate 70 cents from the debt service levy to the operating levy and which keeps the overall levy the same. This allows for a no-tax rate increase for the public and the ability to build a new Lewis Elementary. The question that would go before the voters would be for approval to reallocate this 70 cents / increase the operating ceiling while decreasing the debt service levy.

After submitting the tax rate data to Ray and Clay County, the State Auditor updated the Fund 1 Levy to be 3.9089 which was $0.0004 higher than previously submitted. So in ratifying the final tax rate we are amending Fund 1 Operating Levy to $3.9089 and the Fund 3 Debt Service Levy down $0.0004 to $1.3173 so that the overall tax rate is unchanged from last year at $5.2262.

In a follow-up to the school board from last month’s meeting, Mr. Rubey reported that the district was “notified by the state that we were awarded $546,070.75 for our HB 3002 Construction Grant. This is a 50/50 grant that will need to be spent quickly. These funds can be used for the renovation, construction, or improvement of the school. The second grant that the district is applying for is the Missouri Area Career Center Opportunity (MACCO) Grant. This is a 75/25 matching grant and we do not have to obligate the funds until December 30th, 2024. This grant would be for $533,333.00 and the district would be reimbursed $400,000.00 from the state.

With these two funds, there is an opportunity for program expansion at the Career Center. These funds could be used for the renovation of current structures and the addition of 2 classrooms for additional programming.” The possible program additions include physical therapy/sports medicine and law enforcement. The Board approved the acceptance of the funds from HB 3002 Construction Grant and to use those funds to renovate existing structures and build two additional classrooms.

See the full meeting in the video above and follow along with the meeting summary listed below.

Minutes from the Oct. 10, 2022 Excelsior Springs School Board Meeting