News – Wednesday, June 24th, 2026

The Salem R-80 Board of Education met for its regular board meeting Thursday afternoon. Superintendent Nathan Wills presented the 2026-27 Salem R-80 District Budget to board members. Due to reduced state revenues, the State Adequacy Target (SAT) was set at $6,700 rather than $7,145. The district has been transferring 7% of its Weighted Average Daily Attendance (WADA) to Fund 4 for facilities and capital improvements; that being said, to offset losses, the district will transfer only 5% moving forward to keep more funds in salaries and general revenue. The state mandates that teacher salaries be set at $40,000, with grant funding allotted from the state to subsidize the difference between the base salary and the mandate; however, grant funding is expected to go away. With that in mind, Wills proposed the standard base salary be increased every year by $1,000 to ensure when grant funding is pulled the district is financially prepared. The coming fiscal year the standard base salary was set at $36,750. Health insurance increased 9%, which is approximately $68 increased per person. The projected fund balances to end the fiscal year were presented, with $5.1 million in the General Fund or Fund 1; Fund 2 has to be set at $0 by state statute and is utilized for teacher salaries, transferred later from the General Fund; $440,000 in the Debt Service or Fund 3; and then Capital Projects, or Fund 4, will contain $1.5 million. Under anticipated revenues, local revenue is expected to drop by roughly $110,000, primarily because it’s a non-reassessment year. Using a five-year historical average for similar years, Wills projects a negative 0.3% assessed value. Based on the calculation tool utilized by the Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE), tuition is projected to increase approximately $5 per student resulting in $9,780 per student. The total expected tuition revenue is $2.5 million. Anticipated expenditures were provided with the highest cost to be staff salaries and benefits at about 73%. Capital projects are estimated at $700,000, to include parking lots, bathroom renovations, and painting the high school gym, among others. The estimated unrestricted fund balance is 31.84%, which indicates the district is in a good financial position and not in any current financial distress. Moving forward to salary increases, Wills shared that he is working hard to eliminate salary compression out of the salary table. The district has made consistent, gradual progress toward raising pay for both certified and non-certified staff, with an almost 25% increase for non-certified pay in a few years, from $12 to $15 an hour. In only four years, the teacher base salary increased from $32,000 to $36,750. Wills further disclosed some data: next year, Salem R-80 will have the highest average teacher salary in the county; the student to teacher ratio is the highest in the county at 14 students per teacher; and the administrators oversee more students than any other district in the county, all of which indicates the district is not overstaffed. Wills encouraged district staff to push for families to fill out eligibility forms for free and reduced lunch to ensure an accurate dataset for the population served by the district. This dataset affects funding as well as grant opportunities for the district. The cohort survival rate, which indicates student body population increase or decline and therefore staff consolidation, was reported at a decline of approximately 25 students within the next six to seven years. Several CIP projects were discussed, including a gym painting project, parking lot work, new fencing, and potential upgrades to the baseball and football facilities. The board approved the proposed 2026-27 budget, all applicable fund transfers, participation in the state salary grant programs, and amended the 2024-25 budget to reflect actual expenditures and revenues. Reports from school administration were provided, with many administrators praising their custodial and maintenance staff for a job well done in preparing facilities for the upcoming school year. A first read of MSBA policy updates were provided. Two out of state trips were approved, including a trip for FFA and another for the 2026-27 National Choir Trip, following discussion by the board. The board also discussed head lice procedures and policies, ultimately asking administration to discuss with nurses the best practices moving forward. The annual District Reassessment Plan was approved, alongside the request for proposals to replace the Suburban. A change to the 2026-27 calendar was approved, with staff off and paid for on Martin Luther King Day. An annual MOU with Compass Health was approved, allowing the entity to provide services to students with no cost to the district. Finally, the board amended a previous action taken regarding the ECSE process coordinator position salary to meet position requirements. Under staff changes, a transfer was made of Amanda Walker; several hires were made, including Mark Panagoss, Beau Lyle, Regeana Schafer, Shelly Karr, Faith Milligan, Adrian Gant, Kaylee Utley, Lisa Blackwell, and Miranada McCurdy; and one resignation was made of Elyse White. The board moved into closed session for the discussion of personnel, in which several hires were approved including Junior Rictor, Nick Gover, Angela Browne, Janice Griffith, Stephanie Grace, and Tessa Gorman. Resignations were approved from Heidi Ross and Jackie Fanson. The resignation of Matt Parker was denied, to activate the contract buyout provision. The next meeting of the Salem R-80 Board of Directors will be Thursday, July 17th, at 5:30 in the evening and is open to the public.