VIENNA — Maries R-1 Superintendent Teresa Messersmith told the school board that she foresees an increase in the district’s budget following a change in how the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) calculates its State Adequacy Target.

At the August board meeting, Messersmith said she had heard at a recent DESE conference that the state could raise the State Adequacy Target, which it calculates as the amount of money needed to adequately educate a student in Missouri. Maries R-1 receives the State Adequacy Target amount for every 1,044 student attendance hours. The 1,044-hour value works out to about one school year’s worth of attendance per student.

For several years, the State Adequacy Target amount has remained steady at $6,375. Messersmith said during the Sept. 25 meeting that DESE has decided to increase the value in each of the next two years. The value will increase to $6,760 next school year and $7,145 the following school year. If the district’s attendance rate remains the same, its budget would increase by about $184,000 next year and another $184,000 the following school year.

“That’s really good news,” Messersmith said.

Messersmith also updated the board at the Sept. 25 meeting about state money the district had received. The district received $139,148.60 in Formula Classroom Trust funds in September. The total was about $12,925 above the monthly average for the last four years. Proposition C revenue totaled $57,242.86 in September, which was about $15,230 above the average for the last four years. The district received $20,167 in Transportation funds. Messersmith said the Transportation funds are higher than average because the state gave the program full funding on its annual budget. The Food and Nutrition funds totaled $5,378.92, which was about the same as this time last year.

The district’s electricity bill for the previous month was much higher than usual. It was $10,040.41. Over the last four years, the average is about $7,669. The meters on campus suggested the increase was at the high school, but Messersmith said she had been unable to identify a specific cause. She plans to track it over the next month to see if the high readings continue.

One major purchase in the last month was two new tables for the cafeteria at a total of $5,116.20.

Later in the report, Messersmith said Mary Halbrook, a Maries R-1 graduate and a retired teacher, made a $2,000 donation to the school for unpaid meal funds. She made a similar donation during the last school year.

Messersmith said the district appreciated the donation. The food service director will work to identify the students who most need help paying their meal balances.

Oct. 10 is school picture day.

Oct. 13 marks the end of the first quarter of the 2023-2024 school year. Parent-teacher conferences will take place on Oct. 26 from 1:30 to 7 p.m. School will dismiss at 12:56 p.m. that day. School is out the following day, Oct. 27, for conferences.

Messersmith will attend conferences and workshops with the Missouri Association of School Administrators on Oct. 17 and Oct. 24.