August 2024 School Board Meeting

The Mount Vernon R-V Board of Education held its Annual Tax Hearing and Regular Board Meeting on Thursday, August 22.  Below are some items of interest:

The Board is required to hold an annual Tax Rate Hearing to set a rate that will produce substantially the same revenues as required in the annual budget. 

Prior to setting the rate for FY25, a $350,000 prepayment on our Series 2021 Bonds was approved.

• A balance had accrued in the District’s Fund 3 account which allowed for the prepayment toward the District’s debt.
• This prepayment had the added benefit of saving the District $21,000 of interest expense.

Upon approval of the prepayment, the Board set the FY25 levy at $3.67 per $100 of assessed valuation for the fifth consecutive year after passage of Proposition MVS in June 2020.

• The 2020 increase was the first increase since 1999.  
• The District’s operational levy remains at $2.75 after a reduction of $0.0046.
• $2.75 is the lowest operational levy allowed in Missouri since Amendment 2 was passed in 1999.
• The Debt Service levy was approved at $0.92 after a reduction of $0.0143.  
• The Board has the authority to set the debt service levy at $0.9343 but instituted a rollback of $0.0143 to match the levy approved by voters.

After adjourning the Tax Rate Hearing, the Board opened the Regular Meeting for August.

The Board was honored to recognize outstanding recognitions for two employees which occurred over the summer:

• Chance Cornell was recognized as the Southwest Region Jobs for America’s Graduates Newcomer of the Year for his efforts in getting the JAG program off the ground at MVHS.
• April McBaine was honored as the Southwest Region Outstanding District Director by the Missouri Choral Directors Association for her work with our Vocal Music Programs at MVHS and MVMS.

A report was given on the District’s Summer School Average Daily Attendance.

• Summer School ADA is added to the Regular Term ADA for inclusion in the State Formula WADA count.
• Summer School ADA is divided by 1,044 hours, the minimum hourly attendance for a regular school year.
• See the attached presentation for a comparison of 2024 and 2023

The Mount Vernon School District will have the capacity to hold a no-tax increase bond issue election in the Spring of 2025.

• One potential project for the District is a Performing Arts Center on the campus of MVHS.
• A report was given outlining the facility needs of our fine arts programs as well potential uses for other District events.
• As our MVHS fine arts programs continue to grow, they have found the current, shared space to be very challenging.  Some of the challenges include:
• Limited Storage
• Practice Time After-School
• Daily Use for Class Time
• Using different equipment and setup
• Space for the number of students in each program.
• The report also included information about the history of the MVHS Campus.
• The initial bond issue to build the new MVHS was on the ballot in the Spring of 1994.
• The initial plan was a $3,475,000 No Tax Increase Bond Issue that was overwhelmingly approved by voters. (936 yes- 67.19% / 457 no- 32.81%)
• Combined with Lease Purchases and Fund Transfers, the Board planned to commit $5,160,100 to the project.
• The plan primarily centered around a new High School 
• Including an Auditorium and All-Weather Track
• The plan also included Preschool Classroom additions at the Elementary School.
• In November of 1994, bids to complete the project were submitted.
• To complete all planned aspects, the cost was $7,855,350 ($2,695,350 over the anticipated cost).
• In December of 1994, the Board voted to seek an Operating Levy increase of $0.51 to raise the additional funding needed to complete the entire project.
• In February 1995, the first attempt was defeated (687 no- 51.08% / 658 yes- 48.92%)
• The Board decided to put the issue back on the ballot in April of 1995.
• In April of 1995, the requested tax increase was defeated for a second time (967 no- 53.31% / 847 yes- 46.69%)
• After the second defeat, the difficult task of removing projects to meet financial limitations began.
• Three facets were removed from the original plans:
• The All-Weather Track
• Pre-K Classrooms at MVES
• Auditorium
• Fortunately, two of the three features eliminated from the original plan have since been constructed through subsequent bond issues:
• The All-Weather Track was included in an April 2013 Bond Issue to construct the new Mountaineer Stadium on the MVHS campus.
• This bond issue was approved (1,229 yes- 63.94% / 693 no- 36.06%)
• Our new Early Learning Center built on the MVES campus was made possible with the successful June 2020 Bond Issue (1,196 yes- 65.61% / 627 no- 34.39%).
• Should the Board determine that a no-tax increase bond issue could finance a Performing Arts Center, the District could deliver the final piece of the original MVHS campus which was removed 30 years ago.
• Much deliberation and planning remains before this decision can be made, but the process of thinking through the viability and benefits of this prospective, long-term goal is underway.

Several coaches and athletes were present to report on the upcoming seasons for our Fall Programs.

• We are looking forward to another exciting fall as we see the hard work of Girls Golf, Girls Tennis, our Cheer Squad, the Coquettes, Volleyball, and Football on full display!

The Board approved the addition of Middle School Cross Country as a sport to begin competition this fall.

In 2023-24, the District was a proud recipient of the Grow Your Own Grant from DESE.

• The Grow Your Own Grant is a competitive program designed to increase recruitment of quality teachers in local school districts across the state.
• Mount Vernon was one of only 125 Districts in the state to receive these funds in FY24.
• The grant was used in Mount Vernon to seek out adults in our community who could potentially help enlist candidates for teaching positions which are proving more difficult than ever to fill.
• Applicants for grant funding were required to meet one of three criteria:
• A resident of the Mount Vernon School District
• Or, an Alumnus seeking to return to the District
• Or, a District employee for 3 years
• In return, applicants were asked to commit to 3 years of employment in Mount Vernon Schools.
• Grant funding provided up to $1,500 for six qualifying candidates to reimburse for costs related to:
• Tuition/fees for college coursework
• Fees related to alternative certification pathways such as ABCTE Program Fees and/or MOCA Assessment Fees
• Other related incidental expenses
• This grant achieved much good for the District this year and we are hopeful applicants for the program again in the 24-25 school year.

As part of twelve recommended Board Policy revisions, Dr. Prevo provided a report on Board Policy IKF - Graduation Requirements.

Students graduating from MVHS must meet the following credit requirements:

Within those credit requirements are a few other specific conditions students must meet:

• .5 credit of American Government
• 1 credit of American History
• Pass English II, Algebra I, and Biology I

Over the years, several other stipulations have been added to the course requirements:

• MVHS students must complete 4 required end-of-course exams
• English II
• Biology I
• Algebra I
• Government
• Must pass United States and Missouri Constitution Exams
• Must pass an additional Civics Test
• Must receive a minimum of 30 min of CPR training in their Health Class

Although the revisions included in Board Policy IKF could have been included in the blanket approval with other changes, it provided a good opportunity to highlight the requirements students must achieve in order to receive a diploma.

Due to a conflict caused by the new date of the MSBA Fall Conference, the date of the October Board Meeting was changed to Thursday, October 24.

In Closed Executive Session:

The Board was informed of the resignation of Alyssa Canady from her position as Middle School Cheerleading Coach.

The Board approved the following personnel recommendations:

Brianna Bray for the vacant High School Nurse Position.

• Mrs. Bray is an LPN with experience at local hospice and nursing home providers.
• This is to replace Lindsay Cornell who accepted a teaching position in Verona.

Tiffany Lopez for a vacant Paraprofessional position at the Middle School.

• Mrs. Lopez was a Paraprofessional in Aurora last year and, prior to that, was a substitute in Mount Vernon.
• This is to replace Christina Penland who was hired as a classroom teacher in July.

Espn Welch for a vacant Paraprofessional position at the Elementary School.

• Ms. Welch is currently a virtual student at Missouri Southern.
• She was also approved to serve as an Assistant Coach for the Cheer Squad.

Angel Wright for a vacant Paraprofessional position at the Elementary School.

• Mrs. Wright brings experience from CoxHealth and is currently employed by Clark Mental Health Center.

Jordan Downey for the Middle School Cheer Coach Position.

• Ms. Downey is a 2021 MVHS Graduate most recently employed with Nixa Schools.

The next scheduled meeting of the Mount Vernon R-V Board of Education is scheduled for Thursday, September 19 at 7 PM in the District Administration Office Board Room.