By Superintendent Chris Healy
The August 2nd election is quickly approaching, and Worth County R-III will place Proposition Tigers on the ballot to improve the agriculture education building, connect the ag building to the main building for safety and maintenance reasons, and build a community center/gym. This was placed on the ballot after the long range planning committee and the seven member board of education determined the facility needs of the district. These improvements, along with other needed facility improvements, would be completed with the passing of the bond issue by a 4/7 majority vote. The funds from the bond issue must go towards capital project expenses, but a successful bond would make available over $400,000 of federal relief money to be spent on other operations of the school district.
Over the last 18 months, the district has made some significant educational investments. Some of the large educational investments include 1,400 tutoring hours to help with intervention strategies, over $3,000 in new mathematics curriculum and training, technology to go one on one devices for all students, professional development time to focus on improving critical thinking and aligning curriculum to the Missouri Learning Standards, and raising the minimum teacher salary to be competitive with area schools in retaining and attracting highly qualified teachers. The district will continue to invest in professional development, curriculum, technology, and best practices to strive to produce productive, caring, and problem solving adults.
The district has also made some needed facility improvements over the last few years. Some of these include removing the asbestos floor tile and resurfacing the floors, new carpeting in areas, structural respray on the track, purchase of two new school buses, roofing repairs, lighting improvements, safety upgrades at entry points, technology upgrades, and softball field storage and ongoing softball field improvements. These projects have been funded by local donations and help, newly acquired grants, federal relief money, as well as district funds. The district’s fund balance is in good standing right now, but these projects did decrease the fund balance for capital projects so additional bond money would provide a safety net to continue to maintain and improve the school that we all take pride in.
There has been talk throughout the committee about the priorities of the district. The bond issue will place a significant amount of money towards the community center and gymnasium, but that doesn’t mean it is solely a focus on sports. This new space would create a place for the community to use to stay healthy and another option to gather. Along with the obvious PE and practice benefits, it will get students home sooner so they are able to have time to complete their schoolwork and spend time with their family, alleviate scheduling conflicts, provide more options for other extra curricular groups for practice times and performances, and provide two gyms like most area school districts.
Most years, there is standardized testing data that is released by the state board of education. There has been data that the school has been approached with, which was data from the 2020-2021 school year. There are several sites with credible information on school performance, but the State Department of Education’s website is the most accurate information. There are some areas in this small amount of testing data that have been identified as areas to improve. Mathematics was one area that was lower in 20-21 than it was in 18-19 and previously. Math was a focus of the district’s professional development, planning, and budgeting throughout the 21-22 school year and will be next year as well. The data was not use by the State Board of Education for any evaluation or accreditation because of the various circumstances of the pandemic. The district did use the data to make informed decisions that are focused on improving education. Some of these tasks included looking at standards that were underachieving to find trends, as well as looking for gaps in curriculum. This evaluation of data led to spending over $30,000 on new math materials and training that better aligned to the standardized tests that the students take one time at the end of the year. This year’s investment in improved teacher salaries will also help us reduce teacher turnover. The district is continuously looking for ways to improve, but also celebrate the achievements that our students are making in many different areas in and out of the classroom. There are several resources on the State Department of Education’s website that will let you examine data. Please reach out to the school if you have any questions or would like more information.
The final piece that is on everybody’s mind right now is budgeting and the economy. Worth County R-III is in the best financial position it has been in over the last 20+ years of economic data from the State Department of Education. The current operating balance and capital projects balance is in a place where the district can afford to be more competitive at attracting and retaining high quality teachers, stay on the leading edge of technological and classroom advancements, while maintaining and improving the school facilities, an important piece of our county.
There is a newsletter around the community that outlines a $300,000 deficit budget. This is a budget that is estimating expenditures on the high side and revenues on the low side. The unknowns of the economy are already accounted for in the budget to the highest level possible. There is also additional state and federal funding that the district has not allocated as part of the 2022-2023 budget. The school would be able to withstand a $300,000 deficit budget with the current fund balances, but the end of year 22-23 financial figures should be much better than projected.
The bond issue is 25 cents per $100 assessed valuation that will provide funds that will stay in Worth County and benefit the students and community members of the school district. This proposed total levy of $4.0200 would put the district closer to the 13th ranked North Andrew’s levy of $4.0734, but would still remain the lowest of 14 out of 14 schools in total levy comparison. Initial conservative estimates were that the bond will take 20 years to pay off, but new estimates show that it would be paid off sooner, saving the district and taxpayers money. Please be an informed voter and calculate your additional tax that would go towards improving the Worth County R-III facilities. If you have any questions, please reach out to the school at (660) 564-3389 or chealy@wc.k12.mo.us. More information can also be found at www.wc.k12.mo.us/propositiontigers.
No comments:
Post a Comment