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The Trenton R-9 Board of Education approved salary schedules and insurance plans on March 12th.
The base for certified staff will stay at $36,500. Certified staff members will move one vertical step for their teaching experience, but they will not move horizontally for their education.
The base rate for non-certified staff will stay at $14.25 per hour. Non-certified staff members will move down one step. The rate for a non-certified substitute will be $14 per hour or $105 per day. The rate for a certified substitute will be $14.67 per hour or $110 per day.
The district will continue to pay $602 per month per employee for health insurance. Staff members may purchase a plan option with the district paying up to $602. If an employee chooses a health savings account plan, the district will contribute up to $602 if the employee meets the HSA requirement.
Career Ladder will also continue.
Keeping the certified staff base at $36,500 and allowing a step is estimated to cost the district $111,508. A step on the current classified staff salary schedule is estimated to cost $68,060. The total estimated cost to the district is $179,568.
Career Ladder has an estimated cost of $135,893, but Superintendent Daniel Gott noted it is not a new cost.
The Salary and Welfare Committee recommended having the Career Ladder Program continue for certified staff through the 2024-2025 school year.
Committee Representative Anna Muselman said the committee’s certified staff salary schedule proposal looked the same as the current year as far as the salary scale. The proposal involved having certified staff move down steps and over columns to reflect years of service at Trenton R-9 and education.
The committee’s proposal for non-certified and support staff involved adding 25 cents to the base and steps down.
The Salary and Welfare Committee proposed a longevity plan for all employees. Muselman said the plan would reward staff who have been with the district a long time. It would have included employees receiving $250 for every five years of service with the district. It would have been $250 at year five, $500 at year 10, $750 at year 15, $1,000 at year 20, $1,500 at year 25, and $2,000 at year 30.
The Salary and Welfare Committee also proposed allowing all staff members having an option to wear jeans Monday through Friday. Muselman noted that staff members can currently wear jeans with a Bulldog or teacher shirt on Fridays. They can also wear jeans for dress-up days.
The committee’s recommendations were based on survey results from employees.
Gott plans for the board to revisit the salary schedules in June.
He noted $3,000 had been added to the base for certified staff in a two-year period. The district matches the employee retirement contribution of 14.5% for certified staff and 6.68% for non-certified staff. The district purchases $20,000 life insurance policies for all full-time employees.
Gott said nine-month employees receive eight sick days and four personal days per year. Sick days and unused personal days roll over to sick days. Once a nine-month employee reaches 50 sick days, the district doubles the number to 100 sick days. Employees receive a full day of pay on inclement weather days.
Gott reported projected new revenues for Trenton R-9 included $54,000 total in state money. A pandemic provision was ended. He said that if the provision had been extended, the district would have gained $460,000 in new money.
Based on last school year, the district is down 79 students from 2019-2020. Gott noted that the district had the best attendance during the 2019-2020 school year.
Estimated revenues for the district also included $140,000 under projected local taxes after a drop in the assessed valuation.
What the board approved March 12th was based on Gott’s recommendations. He said it was what he felt comfortable with recommending at that time.
He commented that his goal was not to completely freeze salaries and called it “heartbreaking” that the district was freezing horizontal movement and that the district was in the situation it was. He mentioned that the district is not necessarily maintaining all positions, but it will maintain all staff members.
Gott said expenditures would exceed revenues if the district did not do something different. He called it a “perfect storm” and stated the district could not really blame one thing for the situation.
Gott explained there were 13 employees who responded to the Salary and Welfare Committee’s survey and said they would move over on the salary schedule if allowed. However, when Gott sent an email, he only got five responses from employees saying they would move over. He said that made it hard to tell how much it would cost if the district had allowed horizontal movement on the salary schedule.
Gott reported he had conversations with administration about about how to save money, and he plans to have more.
He noted that the Salary and Welfare Committee’s proposal involving staff members wearing jeans would be considered in June when the board will consider approval of handbooks. He said administration will come up with a casual dress policy for the employee handbook.
Gott reported it was a goal of his to put a longevity plan into effect, but it was not put into place yet. He explained his original plan was for $1,000 for five years instead of the Salary and Welfare Committee’s $250.
He acknowledged that some employees would have missed the incentive pay by one year, but the district would have had to start somewhere.
Gott also wants to revisit the longevity plan later.
He commended the Salary and Welfare Committee on its work. He said he thought Muselman did a great job speaking for the people the committee represents.
The board approved offering the same health insurance plans for next school year as it currently does. Those are Missouri Educators Trust Plans 3, 8, 12, 15, and 16. Plans 3, 8, and 15 are preferred provider organization plans. Plans 12 and 16 are high-deductible health plans.
The cost for the plans per month per employee ranges from $445 to $765. The district covers $602 per month per employee.
Gott reported the district went from the MET rate plus four percent to just the MET rate for next school year. MET rates increased by 3.8%, but Trenton R-9’s rate went down by .02%. That means the rates for the plans are lower this year than last year. He noted this is the second year in a row for lower rates, but the rates did not go down as much this time as last time.
Trenton R-9 Director of Academics Doctor Johannah Baugher announced March 12th that Trenton High School Biology Teacher Charlie Bacon recently received the Missouri Learning Forward Board Outstanding Educator Award. Baugher’s announcement came at the Trenton R-9 Board of Education meeting.
It was previously reported Bacon would be recognized at an awards reception at the Show Me Professional Learning Conference March 10th. All nominees were to be recognized, and the winner was to be announced at the conference.
Trenton R-9 Superintendent Daniel Gott reported Bacon was the only kindergarten through 12th grade educator to receive the award. The other recipient was from the college level.
THS Principal Chris Hodge said Trenton R-9 was the smallest school district represented at the conference.
The Outstanding Educator Award recognizes an individual who exemplifies high-quality teaching, engages in high-quality professional learning, and has made significant contributions to his or her school and district throughout his or her professional career.
Baugher also gave a curriculum update. She said work continues in all buildings. Curriculum recently was finalized for Fitness, Health, Government, Fifth and Sixth Grade Social Studies, and some Family and Consumer Science courses. April 1st is the spring deadline.
Baugher reported March mentorship workshops will provide an opportunity for participants to showcase their professional learning and development during the current school year. Growth presentations are scheduled for Friday (March 15th) and March 22nd. The presentations will include goals, evidence of progress, and mentors sharing their perspectives.
Baugher said the district’s professional development plan is nearing completion for next school year. New committee members include Special Education representative Abbye Michael and Fifth through 12th Grade Specials representative Leslie Woodard. The Technology Committee will also choose a representative at its meeting later this month to serve on the Professional Development Committee.
Baugher reported Rissler Elementary School staff members were invited to a two-hour small group literacy instruction workshop May 20th. She noted two grade levels at a time would come in for the instruction. The professional learning opportunity is the final component to launching the preschool through fourth grade literacy framework for next school year.
Gott reported spring drills would be finished soon at the schools. A tornado drill is scheduled at Trenton Middle School and THS March 14th and at Rissler March 15th. A fire drill is planned for all the schools March 21st. A SafeDefend drill is planned for March 28th.
Gott reminded the board that the April 2nd election will include a $3.5 million no tax rate increase bond issue ballot measure to fund safety and facility improvements at the schools. The measure would keep the 90-cent debt service levy.
Gott said the passage of the bond issue would provide funding for roofing at TMS that has deteriorated, an HVAC system, building automation controls to help control HVACs, and a phone safety system that would allow for calls to be transferred from the district office to the schools. Passage of the bond issue would also fund new doors, locking systems, and bullet-resistant glass as well as renovations at C. F. Russell Stadium.
The April 2nd election will also fill positions on the Trenton R-9 Board of Education. Three candidates are running for two three-year positions. The candidates are incumbents Melissa King and Bill Miller as well as Rosie Gray. The elected candidates will be given the oath of office at the April 9th board meeting.
Gott recognized the seven members of the current board in observation of School Board Recognition Month.
On a split vote of four to three, the Trenton R-9 Board of Education March 12th approved a policy involving dual sports at Trenton High School. Board President Brandon Gibler voted in favor of the policy as well as board members Ronda Lickteig, Melissa King, and Bill Miller. Board Vice President Jeff Spencer voted against it as well as board members Andy Burress and Dorothy Taul.
Athletic Director John Cowling reported the district did not currently have a policy for students wanting to participate in two sports in the same season, but some cheerleaders currently also participate in a fall sport. He thought something about students competing in dual sports used to be in a handbook, but he could not find that information now.
Cowling said if a student chooses to do two sports, it will be difficult because schedules are busy. He explained that if a student wanted to do two sports, the student would have to talk to coaches and decide how to handle it. A student would choose a primary sport.
Superintendent Daniel Gott said he thought it would affect more students in the fall. He noted, since the district already has some students participating in two sports, it would be good to have something in place to determine how it could be done.
It was noted that band is considered a cocurricular activity instead of an extracurricular activity.
Burress and Spencer said they had been asked if Trenton R-9 was focusing more on sports than academics. King said it was her understanding that the matter had been brought up by a student.
The board approved extending a cooperative agreement with the Pleasant View R-6 and Laredo school districts for middle school sports. Cowling said Pleasant View requested adding football cheerleading and wrestling. He commented that he had not received any complaints about the current coop.
The board approved a wide area network leasing and service agreement with telecommunications provider WANRack. The agreement will go into effect August 1st and continue for five years with monthly lease payments of $2,720. Following expiration of the initial term, the agreement will automatically be extended for up to three additional five-year periods unless the district or WANRack gives the other written notice of its desire to not renew the agreement.
Services will be provided over a dedicated fiber optic wide area network from the district’s hub site at Trenton High School to each of four sites with two strands dedicated to the WAN in a hub and spoke topology. The four sites are Rissler Elementary School, the district office, the Success Center, and the bus barn.
Gott noted the district has used WANRack for 10 years. The agreement is E-Rate eligible, which he said makes it cost effective.
The board set the 2024-2025 tuition rate at $6,760 per year for students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade. Gott explained the tuition rate is based on the state adequacy target.
The board approved submitting grant applications. One was from Rissler Counselor Christy Grissom for a CHB Foundation grant for service dog training at Rissler. The application says the total cost for the training will be $3,500. The other application was from Preschool Teacher Colbie Kirk for a GEC Community Foundation grant to buy a Space-Saver Color-Changing Light Table for $574.
The board took action on personnel matters in a closed session.
Resignations approved for the end of the current school year were for Third Grade Teacher Corbin Coe, THS English Teacher Trey Shields, Speech Language Pathologist Assistant Whitney Morton, THS Student Council Sponsor Jackie Price, and THS Assistant Volleyball Coach Taya Ray.
Other resignations were approved for Rissler Paraprofessionals Kaylynn King and Krista Romesburg. Romesburg’s resignation was effective February 28th, and King’s was effective March 11th.
New hires for next school year were approved. They included Wade Proffitt as Rissler Principal and Salem Croy as Head Middle School Girls Basketball Coach. Proffitt is currently the Rissler Assistant Principal.
Current Rissler Principal Susan Gott’s resignation was approved last month. It will be effective at the end of the current school year.
All probationary/tenured teachers were rehired for next school year. All returning coaching/sponsor extra duty contracts were renewed for next school year.
Administrator salaries were approved as presented for 2024-2025. Like the certified and non-certified salary schedules, the administrators only received a step for years of service.
The salaries include $111,909 for Superintendent Daniel Gott, $76,650 for Director of Academics Doctor Johannah Baugher, $90,885 for THS Principal Chris Hodge, $83,220 for TMS Principal Michael Hostetter, $76,285 for Rissler Principal Wade Proffitt, $70,445 for Student Services Director Tara Hoffman, $73,730 for THS Assistant Principal John Cowling, and $73,000 for TMS Assistant Principal Dan Dunkin.
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