VIENNA — Maries R-1 Superintendent Teresa Messersmith shared the district’s Career Ladder participation rate and more during the April 14 Board of Education meeting.

Twenty-six of the district’s 39 teachers participated in the district’s Career Ladder program, which incentivizes teachers to complete extra hours of work, which may include tutoring, mentoring, coaching or completing graduate courses. At least one-third of a teacher’s hours must consist of work with students. The state covers 60 percent of the program’s cost.

Career Ladder is a three-tiered system based on the number of hours a teacher completes. Teachers with at least two years of experience could log 50 hours. Teachers with at least three years of experience could log 75 hours. Teachers with at least five years of experience could log 100 hours.

Two teachers completed tier one, two teachers completed tier two and 24 teachers completed tier three. The district will pay $64,000 for the program this year. Teachers will receive their payments in June.

Insurance rates for both employee benefits and the district’s liability policy are set to increase. The district’s annual cost for Ozarks Schools Benefits Association will rise by about $32,000 while the Missouri United School Insurance Council plan will increase by about 8 percent for an additional cost of about $8,500.

The meeting was earlier to accommodate the board’s reorganization, so Messersmith did not share an update on funding from the state because the school had not yet received that money. The only payment update was that the district received $26,959.96 in revenue from delinquent taxes.

Elementary school enrollment was 186 students with 91.86 percent average attendance. The middle school had 89 students enrolled with 93.62 percent average attendance. High school enrollment was 128 students with 93.5 percent average attendance.

The district’s overall enrollment was 403 students with about 93 percent attendance.

Messersmith also shared upcoming dates as the district prepares for a busy end of the school year.

Teacher Appreciation Week from May 12 through May 16 will include special activities each day for faculty and staff.

The senior awards assembly will be at 9 a.m. on May 6.

This year’s graduation ceremony will be at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, May 9.

The eighth-grade promotion ceremony will be at 6 p.m. on May 19.

The last day of school will be May 20. Classes will dismiss at 11:30 a.m., and the school will not be serving lunch.

Summer school will run from May 22 through June 23. Three bus routes will retrieve students from designated pickup spots, and routes will not include gravel roads.

Vienna High School Principal Tim Metcalf also shared his report along with a report from Special Education Director Joe Edwards.

Spring parent-teacher conferences included meetings with 28 parents of middle school students. Teachers also sent a total of 27 positive postcards to parents to compliment students.

At the high school, 31 parents met with teachers for conferences, and teachers sent home 40 positive postcards.

Metcalf recognized students Dacia McCoy and Kaylee Bresnahan for qualifying for state solo and ensemble. He also acknowledged Wyatt Branson and Lily Terry for participating in state technical competitions.

Ava Kloeppel reached the state FFA talent show for the fourth year in a row. Kenna Roberds, Lauren Libbert, Ella Hollis and Reese Snodgrass made it to the state competition for career development.

Other recognition included the track teams for their recent performances. The high school boys’ team placed first at the Black and Gold Invitational, and the girls’ team finished second. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams placed first at the middle school meet with two school records broken. Paxton Jeremy, Jake Rowden, Parker James and Alec Wieberg beat the spring medley record by about four seconds. Jake Rowden also broke the triple jump record at 35 feet 1.25 inches.

VHS student Brooklyn Thompson took first place in Crafts at the conference art show. Emma Robertson took second in Sculpture. Rebecca Miller took second in Fibers. Tyler Rowden took second in Ink and Marker. Bailey Winkelman received an honorable mention in Color Pencil.

Middle schoolers awarded at the conference art show included Bella Hertzing’s second place in Fibers, Gage Davis’s third place in Fibers, David Martin’s third place in Watercolor, Myka Metcalf’s third place in Sculpture and Brooklyn Farrow’s third place in Other.

Prom took place on April 12 with Raymond Logan and Brooklyn Thompson selected as king and queen, Dylan Long and Reese Snodgrass named the prince and princess and Elias Miller and Dacia McCoy chosen as the sweetheart couple.

Fourteen middle school students had signed up for summer school. Metcalf said he plans to take students on two fishing trips during the session. At the high school, one student had signed up for credit recovery, nine students had enrolled in personal finance and 18 students had enrolled in driver’s education.

Students participated in a course exploration day to learn about what the district has to offer them and what their expectations will be in next year’s classes. Student surveys indicated that 45 percent found it very helpful, 52 percent found it somewhat helpful with the need for a few improvements and two students did not find it helpful.

On the special education side, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education approved the district’s special education budget for the year.

Paraprofessionals received lunch and gifts on April 2 for Paraprofessional Appreciation Day.

The final individualized educational plan (IEP) meetings for the school year occurred in April. The special education department ends the year having conducted 66 IEP eligibility meetings, 29 students referred for special services, 47 students receiving special services, 11 students served in speech intervention programs and 27 students served with 504 plans.