No-Tax-Increase Bond Issue On April 5th Ballot

Voters in the Southern Boone School District will cast ballots in the April 5th, 2022 election and decide on a $3 million no-tax-increase bond issue, which would be used to make major repairs and improvements to the district’s outdoor stadium.

The no-tax-increase bond issue would help fund:

• New track
• New turf field
• Fix water drainage issues around the field/track
• Purchase a new scoreboard
• Purchase a new sound system
• Fix water drainage issues around the baseball/softball field
• Fix roof issues at the high school
• Address additional facility needs in the district

Thanks to the support of the community with passage of previous bond issues over the years, the school district has been able to address the needs created by rapid enrollment growth at the primary and elementary schools. Construction continues on the new addition and remodeling project at the middle school. That project was made possible by voters approving a $7.7 million no-tax-increase bond issue in the April 2021 election. The district is now wanting to start the process of addressing the issues and improvements on the high school campus.

Plans For Future No-Tax-Increase Bond Issues

April 2024: Phase II High School Renovations

• Potential $7-8 million no-tax-increase bond issue to build a new wing on the high school for the vocational, agriculture and FFA programs, parking lot improvements and redesign the high school office to address safety and security concerns.

April 2026: Phase III High School Renovations

• Potential $7-8 million no-tax-increase to build a new performing arts center and additional classrooms, roof repairs, along with other updates and improvements to the high school.

April 2028: Early Childhood Center

• Potential no-tax-increase bond issue to build an early childhood center behind the primary school. This new building would house Kindergarten, Preschool, Early Childhood Special Education and Parents As Teachers. The district would then transition to full day early childhood programs that are tied to the K-12 academic calendar.

Previous Passed Bond Issues

• April 2021: $7.7 million no-tax-increase bond issue for the middle school expansion and renovation project.

• April 2019: 40 cent tax increase ($6 million bond issue) for the two story expansion (17 new classrooms) at the primary school and teacher pay.

• April 2018: $4.75 million no-tax-increase bond issue for the new gymnasium and 3 classrooms at the elementary school, new central office that opened up 7 classrooms at the middle school and a high school softball/baseball complex.

• April 2016: 15 cent tax increase ($7.5 million bond issue) for construction of 8 new classrooms and gymnasium at the primary school, 4 new classrooms at the elementary school and new weight room at the high school.

School Board of Education Meeting Highlights

Below are highlights of items discussed during the open session of the March 14th, 2022 Southern Boone School Board of Education Meeting. The full agenda with document links is available on the district’s website. You can view the meeting's full highlights here.

VISITOR COMMENTS AND COMMUNICATION

• Megan Cunningham discussed paraprofessional contract considerations for the district’s budget for the 2022-2023 school year.

• High school art teacher Teresa Shaffer shared that one of her students, Julia Richardson placed 3rd at the Columbia Art Show.

CONSENT AGENDA

In addition to the regular approval of minutes and payment of bills, this month’s consent agenda items also included:

• Approved employee benefits for the 2022-2023 school year. The district’s health insurance rate increased by 4.9%. The PPO rate increased to $612.62 per employee per month. The district will continue to pay 100% of the cost of the highest premium (the PPO) for each full time employee and give employees the option to take a lower cost HSA with the difference being deposited into their HSA account.  The district will also continue to pay for employees’ $25,000.00 life insurance policy.

• Approved food service agreement with Opaa! Food Management, Inc for the 2022-2023 school year.

• Approved hiring Audra Sanders for speech language pathologist, Chris Bolton for elementary special education teacher, Brad Allen for bus driver, Abby Mirly for primary special education teacher and Kerry Andersen for district bookkeeper.

• Approved an in-district transfer for Cassandra Beaty as a 5th grade teacher at the middle school.

• Accepted resignations from Bree Lindsey as primary art teacher, Justin Belew as vocational agriculture teacher and Kelsey Caine as middle school language arts teacher.

FACE PRESENTATION

• Sarah Owens and Sandy from the Boone County Schools Mental Health Coalition provided an overview of the Boone County FACE program. They discussed a new federal grant that will be used to support mental health in rural schools, and how the Boone County initiative has become a national model for other programs. It was also discussed that FACE and BCMHC merged and FACE is not available on the school-side. You can watch their presentation starting at the 15:30 mark of the YouTube Video.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

• Safire Orbals and MaKayla Miller provided an update on the Early Childhood Special Education Program.

• Justine Rogers shared an update on the Gifted Program.

• Presentations on Special Education in each of the buildings were given:

  • Life Skills: Katie Rouse

  • Primary Building: Stephanie Sullentrup

  • Elementary Building: Sydney Summers, Caylee Adamson, Michelle Ford, Kayla Huebner

  • Middle School: Jan Ray and Alyssa Richmond

  • High School: Adrian Cummings and Melissa Backus

• You can watch all of the presentations beginning at the 36:24 mark of the YouTube Video.

SUPERINTENDENT REPORT

• The board discussed the proposed budget for the 2022-2023 school year and the 3 year historical trend.

• Dr. Roth shared a breakdown of the teacher hiring/retention benefits with the board.

• There was discussion about hosting a special joint meeting with government officials from the local, county, regional and state level.

• MSTA Update: Mr. Felmlee has been in contact with local MSTA leadership to discuss solutions to address the results from the recent local MSTA/CTA survey. Mr. Felmlee will continue to meet with MSTA leadership to talk about solutions to the results from the survey.

The minutes for the March 14th, 2022 Southern Boone School Board of Education meeting is available here.

You can watch a recording of the school board meeting on the Southern Boone School District’s YouTube Channel.

Board of Education meeting agendas are available on the school district website. The next regular session meeting is Monday, April 11th, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. in the Central Office Boardroom

Any questions or comments can be emailed to communications@ashland.k12.mo.us.