To begin the meeting, school nurse, Michelle Krier was recognized as the classified employee of the month for January. She was nominated by the middle school principal, Ben Ruby. In his nomination Ruby stated:
Over the past 18 months, few people have had to work as hard and adapt to their role as much as Michelle. During this time she’s gone above and beyond to ensure that the students at the middle school have been safe and cared for. This pandemic has presented many new challenges and Michelle has answered the call anytime something has changed or needed to be adapted. The middle school is lucky to have such a caring and hard-working nurse. We really love having her on our team.


The MSBA (Missouri School Board Association’s) video presentation included three main points, food shortages, school safety, and legislative updates. The food shortages that began last year are continuing this year because a lot of food manufacturers stopped producing their k-12 lunch programs. On top of supply chain issues, the cost of food available to school districts has risen by 15 percent or more in the past year. Additionally, school food service programs are facing staffing problems of their own with the workforce shortage as well.
Michelle Gay, the founder of a group called Safe and Sound Schools addressed the issue of school safety. Gay, who lost her daughter in the December 14 2012 Sandy Hook school tragedy said “it’s essential that schools adopt a comprehensive approach to school safety one that includes mental and behavioral health resources and programs.” She pointed out that school counselors, psychologists, and health and wellness programs are at the forefront of school safety issues. Fostering a culture of community that ensures whoever you are, whatever your experiences are, students feel safe and welcome in their school.
The Missouri School Board Association’s legislative goals for the 2022 session of the general assembly include legislation to ensure a safe education environment for all children, funding to ensure adequate resources for all districts to meet state and federal standards, and supporting the expansion of and access to high-capacity broadband internet services throughout Missouri. MSBA will be working in opposition to legislation that would move school board elections from April to November and require school board candidates to run as a member of a political party.
Dr. Hux provided an update on construction projects, noting modifications to the baseball facilities are moving forward despite some supply-chain issues. He also informed the board of improvements that were made to the Early Childhood Center and Elkhorn Elementary during the two-week winter break.
Concerns about enrollment are growing, with the main issue being the decline from Job Corps due to their campus being limited due to COVID-19 restrictions. Dr. Hux reported that the school district currently has about 36 students enrolled from Job Corps and expects to have 50 by the end of the school year. This is a far cry from the 300 to 350 or so that the district has had in past years. The drop in numbers affects the average daily attendance which is one of the metrics used to formulate state funding. Dr. Hux stated that he felt the district would be safe for the time being because the data will be adjusted this school year to accommodate for the discrepancies, but action will need to be taken soon to avoid losing funding.
The school district will also be looking to increase the number of free and reduced lunch applications to ensure state funding. This year, school breakfast and lunch are free for students no matter their eligibility. Hux wants to make sure it is communicated that not only do those applications help students get free or reduced-price lunch in years when lunch isn’t free but every approved application carries weight on the active daily attendance statistics which also drive funding from the state to Excelsior Springs. Hux gave the example of each application being valued at approximately $1,000 in state funding, “If the district has 300 less (approved applications) than last year that’s $300,000 less.” That isn’t just money for food, but it is state formula money that the district would normally get. (See related story here.)
Aaron Hart, from the external consulting company Insight Design, gave an update on the condition of school facilities. Most of the buildings received mid to high scores, except for Lewis Elementary. Lewis scored very low in areas of accessibility as well as much-needed updates to HVAC and other amenities. These shortcomings set the stage for future requests for bond approval from the citizens to build a new facility.
The 2023 school calendar was presented and approved. A committee with representatives from around the district and community was assembled to examine a school calendar for the upcoming year. The committee worked to ensure the number of hours both at the elementary and secondary levels met state requirements while maintaining week-long student holidays for fall and spring, as well as a two-week winter holiday break. The spring break was set up to coincide with the neighboring school districts that share resources with Excelsior Springs and who send students to our career center and Northland CAPS program.
It was noted that increasing the pay for substitute teachers to $200 per day has been very successful in increasing the number of subs on hand for the district. Before starting the program the district had 25 teaching subs and they now have approximately 75. A proposal was made to continue this program through the end of the 21-22 school year and was approved 6-0-1.
Dr. Melissa Miller gave an update on curriculum activities. She informed the board that all curriculum for high school classes will soon be online. She said that every course will be listed on the website allowing parents or community members to see major assignments and read the entire class if they choose. Curriculum updates were approved 7-0.
The finale of the meeting was the introduction of a five-year improvement plan, dubbed CSIP (Continuous School Improvement Plan). The CSIP was developed by a 30 person stakeholder group including students, staff, teachers, parents, and administrators. The plan will be reviewed annually and if changes are made the board will vote at the summer meeting to approve those changes. Dr. Hux thanked the stakeholders for their participation saying, “we couldn’t have done it without them, and it’s everyone from the students, to the mayor, and everybody else who’s involved in between.”
The CSIP is a very detailed plan (see the whole plan here) that covers four main areas of performance:
Priority Area 1: Curriculum and Assessment
SMART Goal 1.1: The District will provide and deliver a guaranteed, uniform, and viable curriculum by providing effective instruction and support.
SMART Goal 1.2: The District will monitor and analyze the success of instruction through the systematic use of assessments as measured by state and local test scores.
Measures: Academic Performance Data, District Annual Performance Report, Network for Educator Effectiveness Data, and Board Agendas
Priority Area 2: Effective Teaching and Learning
SMART Goal 2.1: The District will ensure that Pre-Kindergarten-12th grade students have access to high-quality learning experiences.
SMART Goal 2.2: The District will implement evidence-based instructional practices to ensure the success of each student.
SMART Goal 2.3: The District will provide a comprehensive multi-tiered system of support that addresses the academic, emotional, behavioral, social, and physical needs of each student.
SMART Goal 2.4: The District will ensure that professional learning activities support effective instructional practices throughout the school system.
Measures: Academic Performance Data, Student Information Data, Professional Development Agendas, Professional Learning Community Data, Technology Rotation Schedule, and District Calendar.
Priority Area 3: Collaborative Climate and Culture
SMART Goal 3.1: The District will provide a safe and caring environment that shows annual growth via survey data.
SMART Goal 3.2: The District will provide a comprehensive educational experience that meets the needs and expectations of all stakeholders.
SMART Goal 3.3: The District will create and maintain collaborative opportunities annually.
SMART Goal 3.4: The District will ensure that new employees will receive additional support and development opportunities.
Measures: Survey Data, Student Information Data, Membership, Building Calendars, and Teacher Orientation Data
Priority Area 4: Leadership
SMART Goal 4.1: The District will develop the annual budget for alignment of district resources with the Continuous School Improvement Plan and other established budget planning processes to ensure compliance with the Board of Education’s targeted 20% financial fund balance reserves.
SMART Goal 4.2: The District will maintain the needs for security and safety systems to protect facilities and ensure a safe and secure learning environment for students and staff with an audit proficiency reaching 100%on all safety measures.
SMART Goal 4.3: The District will attract and retain a talented, highly-qualified, and diverse workforce as evidenced through a 100% fill rate and a 98% retention rate.
SMART Goal 4.4: The District will Improve two-way, reliable, and representative communication with all stakeholders to achieve the level of “High-Established” as measured by the NSPRA (National School Public Relations Association) Rubrics of Practice and Suggested Measurable Comprehensive Communications.
Measures: Annual Secretary of the Board Report Fund Balances, Safety Audit Ratings, Human Resources Data, and National School Public Relations Association Rubric
One of the interesting (of many) aspects of the CSIP introduced was that the school district will be moving to a zero-based budget approach. This means that funding for each program will be reviewed annually to determine feasibility and funding. As Dr. Hux said, “instead of saying, hey you get what you got last year plus five percent, we go through (each program) and say do you actually need this again this year? We start out as though we have nothing and build from there versus just continuing programs that we may not need to continue.” Dr. Hux concluded that a zero-based approach forces the district to look at everything and spend the money more efficiently.
Note to readers: Due to the fact that no changes were made to the mask gating policy, it was not discussed at this meeting.
The ESSD School Board meets on the second Monday of each month at 6:30 PM at the Support Services Building in Room 8, 113 Line Street. Meetings are live-streamed courtesy of the Excelsior Citizen and our sponsors to our Facebook Page, Facebook Group, and YouTube channel.
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