February 2024 School Board Meeting

The Mount Vernon R-V Board of Education held its Regular Meeting on Thursday, February 22. Below are some items of information:

The Board recognized our MV-MVP for the month of February, Sarah Johnson. With the help of a grant from the state of Missouri, the District was able to add a Care Coordinator Position last spring. Mrs. Johnson has filled that position since its inception and has proven to be a great support for both families and staff in the Mount Vernon School District. Below is the text of Sarah’s nomination:

Sarah is an exceptional individual, embodying empathy, resourcefulness, and dedication in her role. Her ability to provide support to students, parents, and staff across various needs speaks volumes about her commitment to fostering a safe and nurturing environment. Her efforts are making a significant positive impact, and her dedication to helping others is truly admirable. Sarah’s positive attitude and genuine care shine through in every aspect of her work. It’s remarkable how she maintains a sense of calm and compassion, whether she’s supporting a student through emotional challenges or advocating for them in an IEP meeting. Her ability to approach every situation with a smile and a positive outlook not only uplifts those around her but also creates a supportive and nurturing atmosphere.

Sarah’s unwavering determination and resilience are truly admirable qualities. It’s evident that she approaches every challenge with courage and perseverance, refusing to back down even when faced with difficult situations. Her willingness to confront challenges head-on not only helps her to find solutions but also inspires others to do the same.

Mt. Vernon is blessed to have Sarah on our team.

Congratulations to Mrs. Johnson and thank you for making it a great day to be a Mountaineer!

The Board also honored Lana Moore who was recently named a Top 100 Educator with VIPTeacher. Mrs. Moore works as an educator with VIPTeacher which provides online, English language immersion courses to students all over the world. Mrs. Moore has taught over 9,000 one-on-one classes during her time with the company!

Our Average Daily Attendance for the month of January was 1,338.96.

This is an increase of 1.09 from this time last year and marks our highest January ADA in the past 10 years.
Our attendance percentage also increased slightly at 93.47% (up from 92.64% last year).

Each year, DESE records the District’s January Membership as a benchmark to measure enrollment statistics across the state.

January membership represents the number of students enrolled on the last Wednesday of January and in attendance at least one of the ten days leading up to that date.

Our January Membership this year is 1,455.27.
This is an increase of 17.62 students from this time last year and is the third consecutive year with an increase.
This membership total represents our highest amount since 2011 (1,463.40).

	2023-24	2022-23	2021-22	2020-21
Pre-K	24.00	18.00	19.00	11.00
K-2	330.15	311.52	295.00	278.90
3-5	302.00	316.00	340.00	324.70
6-8	347.24	366.72	338.29	358.74
9-12	451.88	425.41	426.29	405.77
Total	1,455.27	1,437.65	1,418.58	1,379.11
	+17.62	+19.07	+39.47	-17.87

January is also the month where the District’s Free and Reduced Lunch population is measured and entered into core data.

The percentage of our students qualifying for Free and Reduced Lunch represents 39.42% of our January Membership.

The overall count decreased by 47.39 students.
The District continues to run well below the pre-pandemic Free and Reduced Lunch rate.
A lack of participation in the Free and Reduced Lunch Program is a frustration for the District as we are currently carrying a balance of $20,960 in lunch charges across all campuses.

Planning efforts continue in an attempt to increase participation in the program to ensure all students who need assistance are receiving assistance.

	Number	% of Membership	Change from Prev. Yr.
2016-17	728.33	51.76%	-39.59
2017-18	733.69	51.55%	+5.36
2018-19	662.76	47.24%	-70.93
2019-20	665.85	48.36%	+3.09
2020-21	559.58	40.58%	-106.27
2021-22	541.18	38.15%	-18.4
2022-23	611.64	42.54%	+70.46
2023-24	564.25	39.42%	-47.39

An update was provided on the progress of the replacement of synthetic turf at Mountaineer Stadium.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the construction of the stadium and the end of the useful lifespan of the original turf is rapidly approaching.
The District undertook efforts to partner with local businesses to provide advertising opportunities on the field in exchange for revenue to offset the District’s investment in new turf.
The Board learned that the revenue generated from these efforts has reached $344,000 over the next 10 years through partnerships with 12 area businesses.

The Get the Lead Out of School Drinking Water Act passed in 2022 set standards for lead concentrations in school drinking water.

This Act requires schools to conduct inventory, sampling, remediation, and monitoring at all potable drinking water outlets used or potentially be used for drinking, food preparation, and cooking or cleaning utensils.
Levels are expected to be at 5 parts per billion at each water source that could potentially be used for drinking water.
The District received results from the tests conducted during January with the following results:
- An overwhelming majority of the sources flagged were in locations not used for drinking water such as classroom and restroom faucets and signs have been posted to ensure students and staff are aware they are not to be used as sources of drinking water.
- The following sources which may have been used for drinking water or water used for cooking were temporarily taken out of use due to the testing results:
- Some of these locations will receive filtration devices within the next week and be retested to ensure compliance with regulations.
- The areas which are rarely used, such as classroom water fountains, will be permanently shut off pending a replacement of fixtures and/or the addition of filtration systems.

327 water sources were tested
81 water sources exceeded the regulatory requirements

Fortunately, the District was able to use CARES Act revenue during the pandemic to replace all hallway water fountains to provide filtered water for students and staff.

All these locations reported lead levels at below 1 part per billion.

The District was proud to partner with the Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation Program this past summer to participate in the Summer Work Experience Program.

The Summer Work Experience consists of a six week, work‐based learning experience funded through the state of Missouri’s Vocational Rehabilitation Program.

Vocational Rehabilitation helps students and youths in need of work experiences to prepare for their future.

Representatives from the program were on hand to provide information on the program.
They were joined by Lana Moore and students who participated in the Summer Work Experience in 2023.

The students were excited to share their experiences as well as how they used the money they earned from their hard work.

It was awesome to hear how this important program was beneficial to the students of MVHS!

The Board was also pleased to hear an update from the MVHS FFA Officer Team.

The students presented an update on this year’s activities and foreshadowed the upcoming contest season.
See the attached presentation for additional information.

The Board approved a full-time Activities Director position for MVHS.

In 2014, the Board approved the addition of an Assistant Principal at MVHS.

This included the assignment of the duties of Activities Director.
For the past ten years, the two positions have been combined.

The workload for both positions has increased to the point to justify this separation.
For a point of reference, 12 of 14 schools in the Big 8 Conference has a full-time Activities Director (now 13 with the addition of this position at Mount Vernon).
With the addition of the Activities Director Position, the stipend attached to the Assistant Activities Director position will not be used.
The job is currently posted on the District website.

The Board approved the Academic Calendar for the 2024-2025 school year.

The calendar consists of 166 student days and twelve Teacher Collaboration Days.
The calendar again includes 1,105 hour so no make-up days or AMI days are needed in the event of inclement weather.Built-In Snow Days
Below are some important dates for next year’s calendar:
- Thursday, October 24
- Tuesday, October 29
- Compensatory Day Off on Friday, November 1 (day after Halloween)

First Day of School Wednesday, August 21
Last Day of School May 22
Two Week Christmas Break (12/23-1/3)
Collaborative Big 8 Conference Professional Development Day on October 14
End of Year Luncheon on May 9
Parent-Teacher Conferences

Calendar Structure
- 21 weeks structured at Four-Days or fewer

Students and/or Teachers in Session all or part of 38 weeks.

The calendar for next year is attached to this post.

Summer School dates were approved beginning Tuesday, May 28 and ending Thursday, June 20.

Schedule Details

May 28 – June 20
7:30-2:45

The following reports and personnel decisions were included in the Closed Executive Session:

Steve Wendler has submitted a letter announcing his intent to retire October 31, 2024.

Mr. Wendler joined the District in 1996 and has served in the District Office for the past 28 years.

Nick Swillum has submitted a letter announcing his intent to retire at the end of this academic year.

Mr. Swillum joined the District in 1995 and has served the District in several teaching and coaching roles.
Mr. Swillum has served as the Mountaineer Head Baseball Coach during all 29 years of his tenure in Mount Vernon.

Lindsay Cornell has submitted a letter of resignation effective at the end of this academic year.

Mrs. Cornell joined the District in 2020 and spent the past four years as a Nurse at MVHS.
She is leaving to become a teacher in the Verona School District.

Jamie Wasson-Jones has submitted a resignation letter from her position as a Special Education Teacher at the Intermediate and Middle Schools.

Camron Brewer will be moving to the Special Education Teacher position that is split between the Intermediate and Middle Schools.

Kiley Alumbaugh will be assigned to a Title I Reading Position beginning in the 2024-25 school year.

The Board approved the following new hires for the 2024-25 school year:

Taleah Johnston for the vacant PAT Parent Educator Position.

Mrs. Johnston is replacing Lisa Barnes who announced her intent to retire in January.
Mrs. Johnston is currently the Parent Educator for the Avilla R-XIII School District and has also served as a substitute teacher in the Avilla and Mount Vernon School Districts.

Lynna Rathmann for a vacant Early Childhood Special Education Teaching Position at the Early Learning Center.

Mrs. Rathmann is replacing April Jones who is moving into a Process Coordinator Position next year.
Mrs. Rathmann has been working as a Paraprofessional in the ECSE Program since 2020 after spending thirty years working for the Head Start Program.

Haley Kleine for a First Grade Teaching Position at the Elementary School.

Mrs. Kleine is replacing Bree Wilson who will be moving to Second Grade.
The Second Grade position was originally vacated due to the retirement announcement of Brenda Turk.
Mrs. Kleine brings two years’ of experience teaching First Grade at Monett Elementary.

Sarah Mikesic for a Special Education Teaching Position at the Elementary School.

Mrs. Mikesic is replacing Kim Stidham who announced her retirement in January.
Mrs. Mikesic brings four years’ experience teaching Special Education in Kansas.

Sarah Childress for a Fourth Grade Teaching Position at the Intermediate School.

This position is replacing Kendra Emerson who is transferring to Seventh Grade Math at the Middle School.
Mrs. Childress brings three years’ experience teaching Second Grade in Monett.

Jenna Daily for a Fourth Grade Teaching Position at the Intermediate School.

This is to replace Grace Carter who resigned in January.
Mrs. Daily is in her seventh year of teaching with experience in Aurora, Hollister, Cassville, and Pierce City.

Marci Ullrich for a Fourth Grade Teaching Position at the Intermediate School.

This is to replace Kiley Alumbaugh who is moving to a Title I Position.
Mrs. Ullrich brings twenty-one years of experience teaching in Nixa Schools in Pre-K, 2nd, and 5th grades.

Lexie Sutherland for the High School Science Position.

Ms. Sutherland was brought on board for a part-time Science Position after Christmas Break.
This is to replace Tom McChesney who retired in 2022.

Zane Smith for a High School Math position.

Mr. Smith is currently student-teaching at Springfield Kickapoo and will be graduating from Missouri State University in May.
This is to replace Amber Campbell who left the District in 2023.

Lisa Gray for a Secretary Position in the High School Office.

This is to replace Dana Moomey who will be retiring in October 2024.
Mrs. Gray brings in three years’ experience as a school secretary in Greenfield and one year of substitute teaching in Mount Vernon.

Hannah Tiffin for the vacant High School Head Cheerleading Coaching Position.

Mrs. Tiffin is teaching English Language Arts at the High School and served as the Cheer Assistant Coach this season.

Alexis Cauthon for the Middle School Girls Track coaching position.

The next scheduled meeting of the Mount Vernon R-V Board of Education will be Thursday, March 14 at 7 PM in the District Administration Office Board Room.

February 2024 School Board Meeting

Attached Files