STE. GENEVIEVE — This information includes highlights from the Ste. Genevieve County R-II Board of Education’s Sept. 24, 2024, Regular Meeting. This is an unofficial record. The official Board Minutes are posted on the district website and are located on BoardDocs, linked here. The video of the meeting can be found on the district’s Youtube Channel, SGDragonsTV.
MSBA MONTHLY REPORT
The MSBA September Board Report takes a look at: the importance of inviting legislators to visit districts with the new school year underway; changes in the legislature; the MSBA Annual Conference; and the “My Favorite Book Drive.”
The MSBA Board Report is a monthly five to seven-minute video program featuring the latest news from MSBA about public education in Missouri. The program is designed to be shown during local school board meetings.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Board members and administrators listen to concerns and respond when appropriate by mail or telephone at a later date. The Board does not respond within the meeting to those who come to offer public comment. In order to speak during public participation, a Public Comment Form must be filled out and submitted to the Board President prior to the beginning of the meeting. See Policy BDDH-1: Public Participation at Board Meetings for guidelines and procedures.
Two employees— Christia Wolk-Turner and Carrie Staffen— participated in the Public Comment, and spoke on the topic of the May 10, 2025 graduation date not being moved back one week to be held on May 17, 2025. See “High School Graduation Date Change” under New Business in the Aug. 27, 2024 Regular Meeting Board Briefs for more information.
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT
Enrollment Count.
Superintendent Dr. Paul Taylor presented the 2024-2025 Enrollment Count. For combined preschool and Early Childhood Special Education, there was a decrease of eight students; there was an increase of 19 students K – 5th, an increase of 10 students 6th – 8th, and an increase of 29 students 9th – 12th from the first day of school last year. Overall this year, K-12 enrollment was 58 more students for the first day of school than last year.
Technology Report.
Technology Director Nancy Toombs presented the annual Technology Report, where she gave an overview of the district’s technology goals, tools, resources and professional development.
Principal Reports.
Each building principal reported on a variety of teacher and student accomplishments.
Safety Reports.
Safety drills from each building were reviewed.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Instructional Program Presentation — Middle School Business.
Business teacher Mr. Bryson Barnes from Ste. Genevieve Middle School presented an overview of all of the learning activities offered to students throughout the business courses. For the Keyboarding Applications course, this includes two overarching focuses: 1) learning the fundamentals of typing skill and technique; and 2) learning how to use the G Suite applications, including Google Drive, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides. For the Business Communication course, this includes supporting students in exploring career interests and developing specific competencies for oral and written communication in today’s technological workplace. This also helps prepare students for middle school and high school courses, where students are expected to utilize their school email, Google Classrooms, and Drives in order to complete assignments and projects.
Emergency Operations Plan.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Lance McClard presented, and the Board approved, the updates to the Ste. Genevieve County R-II School District Emergency Operations Plan for the 2024-2025 school year.
- The safety of our students and staff is of the utmost importance to the District; therefore, this Emergency Operations Plan will not be made available for public viewing.
- District and building level emergency procedures for fire, tornado, earthquake and acts of violence have been updated to align with the most current information available.
- All plans maintain a consistent format and are updated with current faculty and staff information, as well as current facility layouts.
- Personnel roles and responsibilities have been updated, and the Transportation Department has been incorporated as it is now part of the district’s operations.
- All plans are consistently reviewed and updated in accordance with updated guidance.
- Implementation procedures have also been reviewed.
- Effective plans with suitable techniques to address a variety of emergency situations are an ongoing process. Emergency procedures are subject to change as more efficient and effective techniques are developed.
- The District implemented a new app last year, CrisisGo, to assist with safety and security measures and response. The transition is in-depth, and faculty and staff continually train with this app. Most recently, staff are training on how to utilize a Reunification module within the app.
- School Resource Officers Christy Clark and Nicola Cusanelli organized a meeting this fall with local emergency responders and personnel to discuss the plan, visit our campuses, and provide some insight into any adjustments that might need to be made.
Bus Routes.
Dr. Taylor presented, and the Board approved, the bus routes for the 2024-2025 school year. Maps of the 27 bus routes were available prior to the meeting for the Board of Education members to review. The Director of Transportation Ken Jones has launched the process of transitioning our bus routes to more descriptive routes to note exact stops, turns and mileage. This undertaking will be a year-long process, but will ensure that our routes are exact and clear for our current and future drivers. In an effort to protect student privacy and safety, route information will not be shared for public viewing.
Prop SG Update. Dr. Paul Taylor presented an update on Prop SG.
Ste. Genevieve Middle School:
- The new addition is awaiting final approval of the elevator.
- District staff and Brockmiller Construction are working on the transition area to the nurse’s office on the bottom level. Crews have been mudding and taping and painting the new elevator alcove into the nurse’s office, and the area is substantially complete.
Early Childhood:
- Construction is progressing well with drywall, mudding, and taping underway, along with electrical rough-in and installation of ductwork and piping in the walls.
- The exterior brickwork is also advancing, while site utilities, drains, and concrete patches are being completed.
- Additionally, curbs and gutter work are ongoing on the Maple Street extension.
- Inside, the fridge, cooler, and hoods have been set in place.
Ste. Genevieve Elementary:
- Crews are currently working on foundations and slabs, finishing the last of the footings.
- The east wall is complete, and work on the west wall will begin soon, while the south wall has reached scaffold height.
- The steps in front have been poured, and the platform construction has started. Floor drain installation started this week, and the team aims to pour the floor within the next two weeks, after which framing can commence.
- The architects are finishing up plans for the gymnasium floor.
Athletic / Wrestling Facility:
- Discussions are underway regarding location options for the athletic facility, which depend on the results of geotechnical borings. There is a possibility that the wrestling and turf facilities could be housed in two separate buildings.
- Various design elements are being explored, and input from coaches has been shared with the architects, who are incorporating their suggestions.
- The project is still a work in progress, but the hope is to finalize the location within the next few months, allowing for the design of the wrestling area and its transition into the larger athletic facility.
NEW BUSINESS
Assessment Plan and Updated Assessment Schedule.
Dr. McClard presented, and the Board approved, the Assessment Plan and Updated Testing Schedule for the 2024-2025 year. Per Section 167.645 RSMo, “each school district and charter school shall assess all students enrolled in kindergarten through grade three at the beginning and end of each school year for their level of reading or reading readiness on state-approved reading assessments.”
- McClard shared that for the most part, the plan and schedule have stayed the same. One upcoming change will be finding a new vendor for Grades K – 3 fluency, as the district’s current vendor for these assessments, NWEA, is no longer a DESE-approved vendor. This school year will be a waiver period as our staff delve into other options for the following school year. He pointed out that this is specifically NWEA Fluency, not NWEA MAP Growth, which is utilized as a benchmark three times a year throughout the district.
- McClard also shared that the district is gearing up to officially launch our Data Dashboard in connection with the Success-Ready Students Network (SRNS), of which the district is a member. This dashboard includes data that is federally mandated, as well as narratives built around our data that reflect our students, our schools, our progress and our community. This dashboard will soon be live on the district’s website under the SRSN webpage.
Calendar Adjustment.
The Board approved an adjustment to the District Calendar to include an additional half-day (4.5 hours) of weather make-up to remain in compliance with State Statute and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE’s) 36-hour inclement weather makeup requirement.
- Taylor explained that the back-and-forth terminology utilized by our state legislature regarding school districts counting days versus hours for attendance has led to a discrepancy in many districts’ make-up days in their district calendars. New this year, DESE updated a submission screen that auto calculates inclement weather hours, and many districts found they were now noncompliant.
- Districts are required to have at least 1,044 hours of student attendance in their calendars, with 36 of those hours being counted as make-up days for situations such as inclement weather. Our school day is 6.5 hours long, and we planned for five make-up days, which totals 32.5 make-up hours built into our current calendar. The Board of Education approved our recommendation to meet the requirement of 36 hours by adding a 4.5-hour half day on May 29.
- For students and staff to actually have to attend this half day, the district would have to have at least two traditional snow days, then five AMI (Alternative Methods of Instruction) days, another three traditional snow days and then one more inclement weather day.
UPCOMING MEETINGS
The Board of Education will hold its next Regularly Scheduled Meeting on Oct. 15, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. in the R.W. Thomas Library.