R-1 board approves new contracts for administrators, 23-24 calendar

By Colin Willard, Staff Writer
Posted 3/8/23

VIENNA — The Maries County R-1 Board of Education on Feb. 23 approved the rehiring of district administrators.

Superintendent Teresa Messersmith recommended rehiring both Elementary …

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R-1 board approves new contracts for administrators, 23-24 calendar

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VIENNA — The Maries County R-1 Board of Education on Feb. 23 approved the rehiring of district administrators.

Superintendent Teresa Messersmith recommended rehiring both Elementary Principal Shanda Snodgrass and Special Education Director Joe Edwards to two-year contracts, which the board approved in addition to renewing Messersmith’s contract.

High School Principal Ian Murray previously announced at the January meeting that he would resign at the end of the school year to pursue an opportunity in another district.

The board also approved Cheryl Barnhart as an addition to the district’s substitute list. She has previous experience as a substitute teacher in the district.

Board members also accepted two resignations at the meeting. Messersmith read a resignation letter from middle school social studies teacher Maggie Wieberg. In the letter, Wieberg said she would be starting a career in education administration in a nearby district.

Then, Messersmith read a resignation letter from middle school and junior varsity boys basketball coach Kenneth Miller. His schedule for a new job will not allow him time to continue working for the district as a coach.

In other business at the meeting, the board approved the 2023-24 school calendar. Messersmith said she had sent two drafts to the teachers for a vote. The calendar that the board approved received about 70 percent of the teachers’ votes.

Messersmith said the big difference between this year’s calendar and next year’s calendar is that the winter break will be a couple of days shorter. She also added a day onto the end of the year to allow for a week-long spring break.

“Several teachers had come to me and said that they would like to have a week of spring break, so that’s something that I tried to look into this year and give them the option to vote on that,” she said.

Aug. 21 will be the first day of school. Winter break will be from Dec. 21 to Jan. 2, 2024. Spring break will be from March 25 to March 29, 2024. May 17, 2024, will be the last day of school.

During Edwards’ administrative report, he said that the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) approved all the district’s corrective action plans for tiered monitoring and compliance review. The district must update the plans every three years.

“Big shout out to Jennifer Massman and Misty Willougby because they did an awesome job attending the training with me and learning some of the new changes through DESE,” Edwards said. “The district is now 100 percent compliant with all DESE and IDA regulations regarding special education.”

Edwards said he had submitted the Early Childhood Education final expenditure report to DESE for approval.

There are 43 students in the district receiving special education services and 24 students who receive disability accommodations through Missouri 504 plans.

Later in the meeting, Messersmith told the board that next year the district’s insurance would decrease by a few cents.

“That was awesome,” she said. “That never happens.”

Messersmith recommended that the district pay all of the preferred provider organization plans, which works out to about $575 per employee.

Board member Kacie James asked if the plan had changed. Messersmith said the plan had slightly improved.

The board also approved updated policies from the Missouri School Board Association. Messersmith said the updates concerned changes to online learning.

“There was nothing very controversial at all,” Messersmith said. “It was just the basic procedures of how we do virtual learning. We have to do some changes within our handbooks, making sure we hand those options out for MOCAP at open house, making sure that information is on the main page of our website (and) certain dates we have to have things done by.”

The board supported a bid proposal that Messersmith brought to the meeting. It asks for bids to assist with grass mowing during April and May.