The Trenton R-9 Board of Education approved an audit bid and a grant request at its meeting Tuesday evening.
Conrad and Higgins, LLC was the only audit bid submitted for the school district. The audit fee for 2019 will not exceed $8,950. Conrad and Higgins also submitted bids for the 2020 and 2021 audits with the audit fee for 2020 not exceeding $9,250 and the audit fee for 2021 not exceeding $9,550.
The board approved a non-matching BTC Bank grant request written by counselor Leslie Woodard for $829.90 to purchase additional Kore Wobble Stools for elementary classrooms.
After April 2nd’s election results were certified, Susan Leeper administered the oath of office to re-elected board members Dorothy Taul and Marcie Cutsinger. The board was also reorganized and reelected Doug Franklin as president, Brandon Gibler as vice president, Cliff Roeder as treasurer, and Susan Leeper as board secretary. Franklin was selected as the Missouri School Boards Association delegate.
Superintendent Dan Wiebers expressed appreciation to the patrons of the Trenton R-9 School District for their support of the district’s building project and approval of the bond issue in the election.
Brent Blevins from George K. Baum will attend the May or June board meeting to recommend approval of a resolution to allow the district to “go to market” and begin selling bonds for the building project. Wiebers noted the bonds will have a 20-year maturation. The district anticipates receiving revenue from the sale of bonds in July or August.
Wiebers will meet with Ellison-Auxier Friday, April 12th to discuss the project, including the selection of a general contractor, completion of building plans, and schedules for completion of the project.
Wiebers invited board members to the Missouri School Boards Association Spring Regional Meeting at the Brookfield High School on the evening of April 25th at 6 o’clock. Members interested in attending were to notify Board Secretary Leeper.
Wiebers reported the start of Trenton R-9 Summer School has been pushed back one day to May 29th. There will be no school on May 28th to allow custodial staff to move furniture and teaching staff to prepare materials and lessons for the next day. Wiebers said summer school will last one day shorter than usual with the final day to be June 28th.
Tenth grade English teacher Jackie Price will be the Summer School principal and reported 315 students had already enrolled for this year’s summer school. That includes students from a few other school districts. Price said enrollment forms have been sent to Princeton, Grundy R-5, and Laredo. Students wanting to enroll in Trenton’s Summer School should contact Price or the middle school or high school offices. There is also a link to the enrollment form on the Trenton R-9 website.
Wiebers reported Elevator Safety Services inspected the elevators and lifts at S. M. Rissler Elementary School March 26th. They passed the yearly inspection.
Trenton Middle School and High School Assistant Principal Kasey Bailey gave the At-Risk Report. He reported 63 students have been enrolled in the THS Academic Lab at some point this school year. Thirty-six of those students successfully recovered credit, two are taking advanced courses not offered by on-campus instructors, and one is an English Language Learner using Rosetta Stone to improve his English proficiency. The remaining 25 students are from TMS who use Academic Lab time for academic remediation and help with core class work.
Bailey said 12 high school and one middle school student have attended the Success Center this year. That number is down from the 17 students attending last school year. He noted two of the students are enrolled in Missouri Operations. Three students from the Success Center will meet the requirements to graduate through credit recovery this school year. Bailey said the Success Center program is currently run for half days and he hopes it will go back to a full day program next school year.
Bailey reported the Trenton special education students received accolades from a teacher from another school district who attended the same conference with them.
Rissler Principal Tiffany Otto invited the board to the school’s Spring program at the Ketcham Community Center Friday evening at 6:30. Board President Franklin said he looks forward to what will happen with the district’s drama department. He thinks participants in the performances at Rissler recently did well.
The board moved into a closed session.
