VIENNA — Title I teacher Amber Schell came to the Sept. 25 Maries R-1 School Board meeting to discuss the district’s state-required dyslexia plan.

Schell started by thanking the board for approving the i-Ready reading assessment program for the district. She said it had been a “huge benefit” to the teachers. The program’s assessments meet the standards of the Missouri K-3 Foundational Reading Assessment and dyslexia risk-factor screeners. Schell said it is better than screeners the district has used in the past because it aligns better with national standards.

To help put the dyslexia screeners into perspective, Schell compared the process of teaching reading to someone with undiagnosed dyslexia to teaching someone to drive a manual car when the instructor only has experience driving an automatic car. Instructors can help students with dyslexia or dyslexia risk factors learn to read, but they first need to understand the student’s situation. Schell said the teachers want to identify students who need extra help with reading early in their schooling.

All students take the i-Ready diagnostic test. The results give teachers a score that helps identify students who might struggle with dyslexia risk factors. After 191 students took the diagnostic test earlier this year, the program identified 46 as possibly having issues with reading. Teachers had one-on-one screeners with the 46 students the program identified. After one-on-one screenings, the staff determined that 33 students showed dyslexia risk factors.

The national average for dyslexia varies between 15 and 20 percent. Maries R-1’s rate of students with dyslexia risk factors was 17.3 percent.

Students who have dyslexia risk factors receive extra help. It can include targeted instruction with small groups to fill in any learning gaps their screeners may have identified. Extra help may also include Title I and reading intervention instruction in a one-on-one setting.

“It’s a process,” Schell said. “It’s not that they’re not as smart or not as bright. They just take a little longer to figure it out, and that’s okay.”

The board approved the dyslexia plan. It also approved the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) consolidated plan. Superintendent Teresa Messersmith said the plan outlines the district’s Title I services and events such as family nights for Title I students. The main change from the previous year is the addition of the i-Ready program to the plan.

Also at the meeting, the board approved the district’s transportation plan and bus routes for the year.

Messersmith said she had changed the plan to reflect some changes in policy approved by the board. The mileage for bus drivers increased from 85 cents per mile to $1 per mile. Another change was that if the weather cancels school on the day of a game, the superintendents of the schools involved in the game would decide whether to hold the game. The change reflects how the district has been handling sports and inclement weather.

Board President Kacie James asked if the bus routes had any major changes.

Messersmith said any changes were minor. One of the routes got shorter. She had asked the bus drivers to share their starting and ending times. In the morning, three routes begin at 6:20, one route begins at 6:25 and two routes begin at 6:30. In the afternoon, one route ends at 4:30, one route ends at 4:35, one route ends at 4:40, two routes end at 4:45 and one route ends at 4:50.

The transportation plan includes a goal for the district to limit its bus routes to 60 minutes. The routes average about 90 minutes. Messersmith asked if the board wanted to change the policy to reflect the reality of current routes.

Board member Matt Novak asked if the bus routes had ever been 60 minutes.

Messersmith said in the past some of the routes had met that goal.

Board member Mike Kleffner said the district is short a bus, so the other routes have had to add time.

“I think (90 minutes) is reality, but I feel like our goal still would be 60 minutes,” board member Denise Wilkinson said.

The district’s transportation costs for the year total $278,984.28, which is $3,019.61 more than last year.

The board also approved the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP), which details the district’s plans to attain high student achievement. Messersmith said she considered input from parents, students and community members and facility committee meetings to help put together the plan.

Messersmith said the CSIP included plans for ACT preparation workshops and a night to help students and parents review how to fill out the FAFSA for student aid in college. It also includes things the board has wanted to see improve, such as test scores and facility projects.

Later in the meeting, the board voted to end the COVID-19 leave resolution it adopted when Gov. Mike Parson declared a state of emergency in March 2020. The resolution allowed teachers to take up to 10 days off, without using sick leave, following a COVID-19 diagnosis.

Messersmith said she had talked with other superintendents in the Gasconade Valley Conference and those schools had also decided to end their resolutions for COVID-19 leave. Their new policies require teachers and students to be symptom-free for 24 hours before returning to school. Maries R-1’s policy follows the same rule.

Board members approved hiring Carrie Kleffner as the head cheerleading coach and Kara Cohlmia as the assistant cheerleading coach. They also approved Emile Hummel as an addition to the substitute list.