VIENNA — Maries R-1 Superintendent Teresa Messersmith outlined the district’s summer plans for facility updates during the May 28 Board of Education meeting.

The March 14 storms that affected the area caused damage to one of the district’s side buildings, the high school roof and the fence around the propane tanks. The district is awaiting an insurance claim for the damage after completing the repairs.

Renovations continue on both sets of elementary school restrooms. Other summer projects include adding air conditioning to the gyms, resurfacing the high school parking lot, redoing the lighting and ceilings in the pre-K through second-grade hallway and replacing the elementary school fire alarms.

Messersmith said the targeted completion date for all projects is Aug. 15 with the possibility of extending that by a month if necessary. Some of the updates, such as the restroom in the pre-K through second-grade wing, are nearing completion. Both the superintendent and Vienna Elementary School Principal Shanda Snodgrass complimented the work so far, particularly the flooring in the restroom.

The new air conditioning units had arrived that week and students watched as cranes lifted one on the roof.

The district received $132,160.26 from the state Classroom Trust Fund. Revenue from Proposition C totaled $57,675.86. State transportation money totaled $19,842. Another $13,467.38 came from state Food and Nutrition funds.

Delinquent taxes brought the district $18,475 for the month to bring the yearly total to $87,632.

The Missouri Quality Pre-K Grant program disbursed its final payment to Maries R-1. The district used the $95,316 grant to buy new pre-K playground equipment, pay staff salaries and purchase supplies. Messersmith applied for the grant’s next round of funding and will know the results in July.

Another state grant from the Rural Education Achievement Program helped the district buy 30 new desktop computers for teachers because the previous operations system had become outdated. The new computers will be ready by the start of the next school year.

Electricity cost the district $4,018.80 for the month. The school did not buy propane in April, and the meter was at 29 percent.

Messersmith reminded the board of the state-mandated salary increases beginning with the 2025-26 school year. The new minimum base salary will be $40,000, an increase from $34,000 in the 2024-25 school year. Teachers with a master’s degree and 10 years of experience will have a $46,000 base salary.

The state budget includes a line item to continue funding a grant to help schools reach the $40,000 base. Maries R-1 received $29,000 from the baseline salary grant this past year. Messersmith said the grant will continue trending downward until it is eventually gone and the district will cover the entirety of the salaries.

The next few years will see more increases to the minimum base salaries Missouri public schools must pay their teachers. The base for teachers with a master’s degree and 10 years of experience will increase to $47,000 in the 2026-27 school year and $48,000 in the 2027-28 school year.

Specific increases to teacher salaries end with the 2028-29 school year, but the state will continue to set a standard for salary adjustments in the form of cost-of-living raises based on the consumer price index. If the process were in effect this year, it would create a 2.9 percent raise. The maximum rate for the cost-of-living raises is 3 percent.

Messersmith said she planned to propose smaller salary steps in the coming years as the state standards for raises became more relevant to the district. Her discussions with other superintendents indicated that would be common for many other schools in the area going forward.

Another cost increase Messersmith mentioned was the tuition that Maries R-1 pays to St. Elizabeth School District for students who live in the Vienna district but attend the other district. The students may attend districts outside the districts where they reside for reasons such as transportation hardship.

Maries R-1 pays $5,500 per student who attends the other district for the 169-day school year. Four students attended St. Elizabeth all year and another attended for 25 days, which resulted in a prorated payment. The total cost of tuition was $22,813.61. The state granted another student a hardship transfer for next year, so the tuition payment will likely increase.

Elementary school enrollment for the month was 184 students with an average attendance rate of 87.69 percent. The middle school had 89 students enrolled with a 93.40 percent attendance rate. The high school had 128 students enrolled with a 94.52 percent attendance rate. The entire district had 401 students enrolled with an average attendance of 92 percent.

Summer school had 170 students enrolled at the time of the meeting, which was a slight increase from last year and accounted for about 42 percent of the school year’s enrollment. It started on May 22 and will conclude after 22 days in session on June 23.

Teachers make $185 per day and paraprofessionals make $125 per day during the summer session, which totals $4,070 and $2,750 by the end of the program. The district is running four bus routes this summer.