Worth County Names Carl Parman as New Principal

The Worth County School Board, at their meeting Monday, March 16th, named Carl Parman as its new High School Principal effective July 1st, 2026. He replaces Josh Smith, who will become the Superintendent at North Harrison. He previously served as a PE teacher, Head Boys Basketball Coach, and Assistant Football Coach at South Shelby. He was formerly a weights teacher at Hiawatha Senior High, a summer intern at Tnemec, received a master’s degree at Northwest, and studied Health and PE at Hannibal-LaGrange and Peru State. He is a graduate of Pattonsburg.

Mr. Parman is married to Kristina (Bliley) Parman, who is a graduate of Jefferson and is a sister of Tiffany Bliley, who taught and coached at Worth County for several years. Ms. Parman teaches Ag at Macon Area Career and Technical Education Center.

The board also hired Marissa Escobar as an Elementary teacher for the 2026-27 school year.

The school evaluated the District Programs as “Above Average.” Strengths listed included the fact that the school has purchased elementary reading series, purchased new government textbooks, and the fact that the school aligns curriculum regularly to Missouri Priority Learning Standards. Concerns listed including the fact that new staff needs time to become familiar with new curriculum. Recommendations include continuing to update curriculum on a scheduled basis, providing time and resources to allow teachers to align it to state standards, and review textbook surveys from staff.

The board approved the salary schedule, with a base salary of $40,000 and a minimum salary of $47,000 for teachers with a Master’s Degree and 10 years of experience. The board also set non-certified pay scales and extra duty pay for the 26-27 school year and approved $550 monthly contributions towards the district health plan.

Elementary Principal Amber Hawk reported that registration and screenings for Pre-K and Kindergarten will be April 16th and 17th this year.

There are 14 students on the wait list for Preschool in the 2026-27 school year. The school estimates there will be 21 Kindergarten students next year.

The Worth County PTO delivered Sonic drinks to the elementary and high school on Parent/Teacher Conference day.

Members of the Grant City Lions Club came to the school to do eye screening for PK and first grade students.

Nicki Tracy put together Title I Family Night for the school. Families enjoyed spaghetti and alfredo with garlic toast and tea or lemonade. After supper, families went around to different classrooms and enjoyed playing games together as families or with other families.

The school received a donation of socks and shoes in various sizes.

Psalm 100 Ministries donated books to the Worth County Parents as Teachers program. They donated everything on the PAT’s wishlist.

Students dressed up for Dr. Seuss Week and the school featured readers that week.

The Family & Consumer Science class came to teach each elementary class about nutrition.

High School Principal Josh Smith reported on what students were studying. Biology I students are studying how natural selection works. Physical Science students are studying the properties of matter. Elementary PE students are working on activities with parachutes.

The freshmen won the February Attendance Challenge with an attendance rate of 95.44%. They were followed by the seventh grade and the juniors.

Students volunteered at the Second Harvest Mobile Food Pantry on March 2nd. Caleb New, Jarrett Gilland, Hadley Rush, and Emmett Frisch qualified for the State Math Contest.

Activities Director Cree Beverlin reported that a new leg curl/leg extension was purchased for the weight room.

There are 12 boys and 6 girls out for varsity track. There are 14 boys and 25 girls out for junior high track. There are four playing baseball with Northeast Nodaway, and nine out for boys golf.

Seven softball Tigers made the Academic All-State Team for 2025. They were Kennedy Murphy, Audrey Runde, Megan Tracy, Riley Ridge, Kambree Briner, Addison Gray, and Kristen Tracy. The Tigers also made the squad as a team with a combined GPA of 3.65.