Your World Today

The Salem Board of Education met Thursday night at the district administrative offices. In the Superintendent’s report, John McColloch recognized the members of the Board of Education in honor of School Board Recognition Week which will be February 9th through the 15th. He also reported there are three persons whose terms are expiring are Holly Erway, Drew Whitaker and Larry Maxwell as their terms will expire. Maxwell and Erway have refiled while Andrew Wynn has filed for the school board. Superintendent McColloch gave a budget update which showed the revenues as of December 31st were at $5,295,746.13 and that is down from last year $294,000, but McColloch said that the school had not yet received approximately $300,000 from Federal Programs. He also said the tuition income is down from the rural schools as there are less students enrolled from the other four schools. That is down about $100,000. McColloch said the expenses are up as of December 31st coming in at over six million dollars and that is due to the health insurance assessments of over $508,000. McColloch said the income numbers did not include the personal property and real estate tax check they are to receive from the county. McColloch also discussed with the board the 2020-2021 school calendar. He said with a new state law, the earliest the first day of school will be is August 24th and there is consideration by all the Dent County schools to lengthen the school day about 15 minutes. If that is approved by all the schools at a meeting to be held on Tuesday, the last day of school would be May 14th. If the schools want to keep the same length school day as they currently have, the last day of school will be May 25th. He said the rural schools were leaning toward the longer school day. Superintendent McColloch updated the board on current projects that include installing a shower and stacked washer/dryer area at William Lynch Elementary, and tripling the size of the shotput area at the track and football field area. He also went into great detail about an update on the Facility Plan that included the new Construction Trades building, and capital improvement plan for new rooftop air conditioning units and electrical upgrades at the high school. There was also a discussion about recommended facility improvement measures suggested by McKinstry to replace the lower elementary school and add a new indoor practice facility and weight room. The estimated costs of the projects and possible funding strategies were introduced by McColloch. He said he will bring a final facility plan proposal to the board at the February meeting. The principals all gave their building reports that show there are 271 students at William Lynch Elementary, 332 students at the Upper Elementary, 237 students at the Middle School and 553 at the Salem High School. The board accepted the resignation of John Brewer, William Lynch Elementary Art instructor and intervention, effective at the end of the 2019-2020 school year. In closed session, the board unanimously approved to extend Superintendent John McColloch’s contract through the 2022-2023 school year. The board also approved employing Patrick Prawitz as a high school math teacher and Mark Howard as a high school social studies teacher . The board also heard from a community member regarding a personnel issue. The meeting was then adjourned.

The Dent County Sheriff’s Office released reports for January 4th and 5th. On Saturday, January 4th, a deputy conducted a traffic stop on Dent County Road 2330. During the course of the traffic stop, a 20-year-old Salem man was arrested for the possession of marijuana of 10 grams or less. The man was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office where he was fingerprinted, issued a summons and released. That same day, deputies responded to the 19000 block of Route C for the report of a sudden death. Upon arrival, deputies discovered a 55-year-old male of Salem was deceased. An investigation was conducted by the Dent County Sheriff’s Office and the Dent County Coroner’s Office. This investigation is ongoing, pending toxicology reports. On Sunday, January 5th, a deputy conducted a traffic stop on South Orchard Street and Highway 32 West. During the course of the traffic stop, a 51-year-old Salem man was arrested for a DWI, being a prior offender, and failure to maintain the right half of roadway when the roadway was of sufficient width. The man was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office where he was fingerprinted, issued a summons and released. Please contact the Dent County Sheriff’s Office at 729-3241 if you have any information relative to any investigation.

Weather permitting, contractors working for the Missouri Department of Transportation will begin the replacement of the Highway 49 bridge over Dry Fork Creek in Crawford County today. The bridge, located west of Cherryville, will be reduced to one lane while work takes place, with temporary traffic signals to guide traffic through the work zone. The project is scheduled to be completed by July 1st. This bridge is included in Governor Mike Parson’s $351 million Focus on Bridges program. For more information about this project, please call 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (275-6636) or visit www.modot.org/central.

The Salem Police Department has released more reports for the month of January. On Monday morning, January 6th at about 9:50, an officer located a 50-year-old female of Salem in the 200 block of Highway 19 who had active arrest warrants from Pulaski County, Rolla and St. James. She was taken into custody on the warrants and incarcerated pending extradition. That same afternoon at about 5:10, an officer was dispatched to a domestic disturbance at a residence in the 1800 block of South Oak. That investigation revealed a 59-year-old male of Salem had assaulted a 30-year-old female of Salem causing serious injuries. Further investigation led to the arrest of the suspect who was incarcerated pending the application for warrants. The victim was transported to a hospital in St. Louis to treat injuries to the face including broken facial bones. On Thursday morning, January 9th, close to 8:30, an officer observed a woman drinking liquor from a bottle on the side of the road near the 500 block of Highway 19 North. Upon further investigation the officer placed the woman, a 36-year-old resident of Springfield, under arrest for having an open liquor container. The suspect was issued a summons to appear in court and released. Please contact the Salem Police Department at 729-4242 if you have any information regarding an ongoing investigation.

A one vehicle accident Tuesday night at 8:30 in Camden County resulted in injuries to teenager from Rolla. According to the highway patrol report, 18-year old Sage Nicholas was driving a 2007 Ford Focus southbound on Highway 5 just north of the Pier 31 Road and was inattentive to the roadway going from two lanes to four lanes. He swerved to avoid a road sign and the vehicle traveled off the right side of the roadway and struck a bluff. Nicholas, who was wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident, sustained minor injuries and was transported by ambulance to Lake Regional Hospital. The Ford was totaled and removed from the scene by Bledsoe’s Towing.

The Dent County Sheriff’s Office released reports on the events of Friday, January 3rd. A deputy conducted a traffic stop in the 400 block of West Highway 32. During the traffic stop, a 28-year-old Salem man was arrested for operating a vehicle upon a highway without a valid license, a 3rd offense. The man was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office where he was fingerprinted, issued a summons and released. A traffic stop was conducted by a deputy in the 800 block of Highway 32 East. During the course of the traffic stop, a 31-year-old Salem man was arrested for driving while having his licensed revoked or suspended, a 2nd or subsequent offense. The man was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office where he was fingerprinted, issued a summons and released. Also on January 3rd, deputies responded to the 11500 block of Route H for the report of a burglary which was in progress. Upon arrival, deputies discovered that a 28-year-old Lenox man was the reported victim of the burglary. During the course of the investigation, a 59-year-old Springfield man, Ernest Malone, was arrested and was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s office where he was incarcerated. Malone was charged with burglary in the 2nd degree, and resisting or interfering with an arrest for a felony in connection to the Burglary. The bond has been set at $10,000.00 cash or professional surety. Please contact the Dent County Sheriff’s Office at 729-3241 if you have any information on any of these events or investigations.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education will hold their regular monthly meeting tonight at 6:00 at the district administrative offices board room. After the consent agenda, the board will hear from Superintendent John McColloch about Board Recognition, Board of Education candidate filings, a budget update, 2020-2021 school calendar, plus provide project updates. After the principals give reports on their respective buildings resignations will be addressed prior to the board going into executive session to discuss personnel and real estate. The Salem R-80 Board of Education meeting tonight is open to the public.