The Maries R-1 School District may take a different approach to summer school this school year as at the school board’s November meeting, the board members heard details about using a company to provide scripted curriculum and supplies.

R-1 Superintendent Mark Parker said they used Catapult Learning’s Summer Journey at Dixon where he worked previously. Using the program increased attendance in summer school, doubling it, Parker said. Students, parents and teachers all liked the hands-on lessons and the attendance incentives. Students who had 100 percent attendance during the summer school received a $100 gift card and if they missed one day they received a $75 gift card, and missed two days a $50 gift card. Parker said it was very successful at Dixon with big attendance for summer school, which in turn means more money for the school district. Elementary Principal Shanda Snodgrass and Parker think a 22 day summer school would be best, which will leave a $22,000 ADA surplus after the summer school bills are paid. Another plus about the company’s summer school program is that Maries R-1 gets to keep the supplies that are part of the program.

The program model uses the morning sessions for the curriculum for four core academic courses, one hour each. The core courses are reading, language arts, math, science and/or social studies. In the afternoon, there are six hands-on exploratory Journey courses with embedded academics, one hour each, with three courses offered the first half of summer school and three different courses offered during the second half. 

There are over 100 courses available in the Summer Journey Catalog to choose from. The courses are aligned to Missouri Learning Standards in English, language arts and math. Each course kit contains all materials necessary for the lessons. The teacher manual provides specific, scripted instructions on how to conduct each of the 24 lessons and each teacher receives a teacher kit containing basic classroom supplies. Parker said because the courses are scripted, any teacher can teach any of the classes. 

The company will do the advertising, recruiting and enrolling for Maries R-1. The school will receive a Summer Journey informational DVD to show to students and encourage enrollment. Students also will receive an enrollment package that includes program information, dates and time and an enrollment form. Prizes might be offered to encourage enrollment. 

Parker said all of the schools that have used this company for their summer school have liked it and had better attendance. Board member Vicki Bade asked about attendance and ADA percentages for last year’s summer school. Parker said he will get that information for the board members. Board member Keith Hayes says he does not want to use this company just for the money. Parker said at Dixon the surplus money helped them reach a goal and they were able to raise teacher pay. He said Dixon has signed on to use Summer Journey for three years. He thinks the program would benefit Maries R-1 students. Principal Snodgrass said last year parents were calling and asking for this program. In the summer, students aren’t bound by district lines and can attend summer school anywhere. Last year some went elsewhere to be part of the Summer Journey programs. Parker said they will need to make a decision soon in order to look over the curriculum and choose what they want.

In other business at the November school board meeting, the board approved a change order for the elementary girls bathroom renovation project. It was required because of the need for an ADA compliant stall in the restroom. Parker said the change order entails losing two restroom stalls and using a third to make it ADA compliant. The work required will turn the stool in a different direction and relocate the sinks. Two other stalls remain. The cost of the change order is $4,800. Parker commented this is less than he anticipated because it had to be engineered. Bade said she would like to see a statement on this ADA requirement. Hayes asked about ADA compliance in the restrooms near the gym. Principal Snodgrass said that restroom is already in the building but with this restroom remodel in the elementary building, it had to become compliant or the school could be taken to court and fined. The board accepted the bid with the contingency that it meets the ADA requirements.

The board also approved the change in the payroll/accounting software. Parker said the current software program is not supported and they want to change to Software Unlimited. It is cheaper and payroll/accounting clerk Beth Hollis is comfortable with it. It has a lot of support and there are neighboring school districts that use it. Power School is for big schools, but Software Unlimited caters to medium sized schools. They want to make the change April 1, 2019 as there are other schools switching at the same time and they will try to learn the new software to get them through the end of the fiscal year. Once the switch is made, they will no longer use the old system. Board member Penny Schoene said it will be a busy time when they switch. Hollis said there really is no good time to do it.  Parker said there is a one-time conversion cost of $6,140, and the annual maintenance fee is $6,410. There will be a local training on the software. Hollis said the start up cost will be in this year’s budget but the annual maintenance fee will be paid in the following year’s budget.

In the financial report, in November Maries R-1 received $39,498.50 in Prop C revenue, $79,761.88 in Basic Formula money, $6,580 in Transportation revenue, $14,808.51 in Classroom Trust Fund revenue for a total of state aid of $140,648.89. 

November revenues were reported at $193,554.15 and expenditures at $435,194.25.