Board views potential high school renderings, November updates during Monday meeting
By Jazmine Knight
The St. Joseph School District discussed a wide array of topics during a series of meetings Monday night.
To kick off its Special meeting, the Board of Education recognized Kelly Robb as the 2024 Missouri Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ Outstanding Mathematics Elementary Educator and Shantell Cross as the 2024 Outstanding Instructional Coach. Both are educators at Carden Park Elementary.
Additionally, the Board recognized Lindsay Holland as the Northwest Region Missouri Association of School Librarians – Librarian of the Year.
From there, both the Superintendent, Gabe Edgar and Assistant Superintendent of Academics, Ashly McGinnis gave reports concerning attendance and other district updates.
As of Dec. 12, the district sat at 84.73% for attendance according to McGinnis. That is a slight dip compared to previous attendance results where the district averaged between 85-86%. Edgar also anticipates another attendance dip in January as well.
With recent improvements in graduation rates, the district is increasing their goal. The previous target was set at 80%. However with last year graduation rate reaching 89%, the St. Joseph School District will set a new goal of 92%.
For the Long Range Plan, the board decided between four firms for a construction manager. Officials chose a company referred to as Nabholz. Their previous experience building a new high school and ability to prioritize working with local companies garnered the support of board members, LaTonya Williams and Mike Moore.
Furthermore, DLR Group presented the board with renderings of the potential new high school. While the St. Joseph School District is still looking at potential sites, DLR Group suggests the new school to sit on a minimum of eighty acres.
The rendering featured a 242 thousand square foot, two story building which will have approximately 800-900 parking spots and two story open commons area upon entry, which can be used for dining and other functions. North of the commons will be an administration wing and performing arts center while south of the commons area will feature four areas designated to different learning pathways. Each pathway will be connected with various learning and collaborative spaces allowing for students of different pathways to work together.
For the Parents as Teachers program, the district will now be implementing a tiered pay system catering to individual needs of each participant.
The district also approved a $10 pay increase for nurses who choose to work during the summer school session. After survey results showed that only two out of twenty six nurses were willing to work during summer school, officials identified that 65% of nurses need to see a higher pay. The pay increase will raise the summer school salary from $30 an hour to $40 an hour for nurses and $20 an hour to $30 an hour for LPN’s.
SJSD also examined the current turf installation project. The district chose to utilize a 8 lane track at Central High School and a 6 lane track at Lafayette and Benton High Schools. This ensures the district stays within budget while ensuring at least one high school can host district track meets and other events.
After the special board meeting, the Board entered a closed meeting to discuss the contract for the new superintendent.
