Local News – Wednesday, June 21st, 2023

The Salem R-80 Board of Education held their regular meeting Tuesday night at the district administrative offices. After discussing a student issue in closed session, the board heard from Superintendent Dr. Lynne Reed as she said the Tin Gym and Locker Room Project is all but finished as some athletes are already working out at the facility. Dr. Nathan Wills will present some data at the next meeting for the board that will compare the Salem R-80 District with other schools in the area and SCA Conference schools. Dr. Herman Blau from the William Lynch Elementary School said that Mary Beth Patrick, a teacher at the elementary school, was named the Rotary Teacher of the Year. In new business, the board approved the bid by Gary Kolthoff on the surplus buses which was $1,000 each for bus #7 and #10, and $850 for the non-running bus. The board then approved the bid from the Bank of Salem for a five-year agreement as the school districts financial depository. The board declared old desks and tables as well as other items at the Salem Upper Elementary as surplus property before approving the policy SRCSP which allows the school to continue to receive ESSER funds until September of 2024. The board approved the WADA transfer from the General Operations Fund 1 to the Capital Projects Fund 4 in the amount of $506,579, and they approved participating in the State Baseline Salary Grant of giving teachers a $38,000 minimum salary. The minimum salary per the salary schedule for Salem R-80 is $32,000 and the state will pay the difference between that figure and the $38,000 salary as well as an additional 16% to cover benefits. The board approved amending the 2022-23 budget to reflect the actual expenses and revenues as of June 30th of this year. The anticipated ending balances for the four funds for June 30th, 2023, are $2,708,143 in the Operations Fund 1, no money in Fund 2 which is the Special and Teachers Fund, $271,694 in Fund 3 which is the Debt Service Fund, and $2,276,190 in the Capital Projects Fund which is Fund 4. The school is expected to have an unrestricted fund balance of 33.99%. The board then discussed the proposed 2023-2024 budget which shows anticipated total revenues in all funds of $18,989,212 and $16,169,291 in the total expenses. In the proposed budget, progress was made on salaries which include a 22.7% increase among the lowest salaries on the support staff, a raise in the base salary for teachers from $31,600 to $32,000, the district will pay an additional $2,000 to teachers making over $38,000 which is up from the $1,000 amount last year, the district added the Career Ladder allowing teachers to make an additional $1,500 to $5,000, and they also updated the extra duty contract schedule. Dr. Reed said these assumptions were also made in preparing the budget. A 5% increase was made to support staff base hourly rates, plus staff will receive their horizontal and vertical steps, and the board provided insurance will be $619.98 per employee per month, which is up from the last year when the board paid $514.60 per employee per month. She said the budget was made using an enrollment figure of 1,341 students, 120 certified staff, 74 classified staff, an operating levy of $2.75, a debt service levy of 45 cents and an assessed valuation in the district of $78,528,420. The biggest expense of the budget will be the cost of instruction which is expected to come in at $8,813,124 while the largest revenue source for the school will be the State of Missouri providing an estimated $6,245,987. The expected budgeted amounts of the four funds as of June 30, 2024, are $4,431,755 in the Operations Fund known as Fund 1, no money in Fund 2 which is the Special and Teachers Fund, $252,638 in Fund 3 which is the Debt Service Fund, and $3,546,101 in the Capital Projects Fund which is Fund 4. The school is expected to have an unrestricted fund balance of 31.44% at the end of the next fiscal year. The board approved the budget for the 2023-24 school year. The board approved the contract with Build-Tec LLC for the construction of the new Construction Trades Building after cost reducing negotiations lowered the bid price to $879,347 which is under just under the budgeted amount. This bid is just for the ground work and for the building shell. The board then accepted the resignations of Rockey Wade, Tania Wood, Sarah Russell and Jennie Brakensiek before going into closed session.

The Meramec Local Emergency Planning District, working in conjunction with Rolla Fire and Rescue, received a $74,083 grant to purchase oil absorbent pads and booms for all the fire departments in the district which includes Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps and Washington counties. Rolla Fire and Rescue Chief Jeff Breen and former chief Ron Smith worked to pull together the grant application materials, and once funded, purchased and distributed the supplies. Fire departments in Dent County receiving booms and pads were the Dent County Fire Protection District, Jadwin Volunteer Fire Department, Lenox Rural Fire Department, Quad County Fire Protection District and Montauk Rural Fire Department. Booms and pads are deployed to absorb oil during hazardous material spills. They keep chemicals from reaching waterways and environmentally sensitive areas. This opportunity was made possible through the State Emergency Management Agency and Missouri Emergency Response Commission and was only open to local emergency planning districts and committees across the state.