The Trenton R-9 Board of Education approved a final audit completed by Conrad and Higgins, LLC December 13th. Mark Higgins with the company reported there were no compliance issues, and everything looked good.
He noted the only finding was with internal control with the lack of segregation of duties, which he said is not unusual. the school district would almost have to have a team of accountants to not have that finding.
The board approved opening an account with the Missouri Capital Asset Advantage Treasury and transferring funds. Superintendent Daniel Gott reported Trenton R-9 currently keeps its funds with the Missouri Securities Investment Program. MOCAAT and MOSIP are similar, and they use the same investment options. He explained funds will not be at any additional risk than they are currently.
Gott said one difference is MOCAAT will provide investment advice for the district and will recommend moving some money to fixed-rate investments, like certificates of deposit or United States treasuries. However, the district does not have to do that. He noted the options are fully insured or backed by the full faith and credit of the U. S. government. There is no cost to open an account, and MOCAAT will make money if the district does.
The board approved a bid from Mid-States Services, LLC to be the district’s internet provider. The bid was for one gigabit per second for $800 per month. It involves a three-year contract.
It was the lowest bid submitted. Other bids were from Optimum Business and A T and T Dedicated Internet.
Gott reported the district got bids through E-Rate. Trenton R-9 is already doing business with Mid-States, and it is a local company. He said that since the district will get voice-over-internet protocol telephone service installed next month through Mid-States, the cost of the internet service would be less than if the district was not to get VoIP.
The board approved senior Dylan Smith as Trenton R-9’s recipient for the Missouri School Boards Association John T. Belcher Scholarship. Gott noted the application will go on to the Northwest Region level, and Smith could receive $1,000. If he is selected for the state, he will receive an additional $1,500.
The board approved offering summer school next year.
An amendment was approved for the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan. The amendment involved adding to Smart Goal 1.2 for Pillar 1: Academic Achievement: Effective Teaching, Learning, and Leadership. Smart Goal 1.2 involves each grade-level cohort increasing the percentage of students reading at or above grade level by two to three percent on local assessments on an annual basis.
In addition, the action steps involve utilizing data from local reading assessments tied to Missouri Learning Standards to conduct a needs assessment each spring regarding the correlation between reading deficiency and chronic absenteeism. It includes creating and deploying individual plans for students who score below basic on local assessment benchmarks and have less than 90% attendance in kindergarten through second grade. It also includes creating and deploying attendance strategies for grade-level cohorts for fourth grade with more than 15% of students not at grade level by the end of the third grade.
An addition to the data points or artifacts involves individual and cohort attendance rates under Needs Assessment and Review of Data Points.
Director of Academics Doctor Jill Watkins reported the CSIP amendment was needed because Senate Bill 681 addresses reading intervention, and all school districts must have a reading intervention goal. The goal can be aligned to local or state assessments. She noted the CSIP team already chose to align the goal to local assessments. The amendment was not getting rid of anything in the CSIP; it was just adding to it.
Trenton R-9 Superintendent Daniel Gott gave an update on safety at the Trenton Board of Education meeting on December 13th.
He reported Dan Cole from SafeDefend checked every SafeDefend box in the district, and Cole updated anything that needed to be.
Secondary locks will be installed over Christmas Break.
Gott received a message from Chance Winstrom from the Missouri Educators Trust consortium that indicated MET is performing well. There is a current loss ratio of 17% less than this time last year, and it continues to trend downward. The message said that is a result of the actions over the last year to reduce the cost of health insurance without reducing networks, plan benefits, or the number of providers.
Gott reported the district finished the off-site portion of the National School Lunch Program Food Review. Trenton High School is up for review. It will be the first review since 2017, and it will include an inspection of the kitchen.
Gott reported BTC Bank donated $1,706.25 to Trenton R-9 from the bank’s card swipe program. A check was presented last week.
Trenton High School Principal Chris Hodge presented the Guidance Program Evaluation. The program includes professional school counselors at Rissler Elementary School, Trenton Middle School, and Trenton High School.
He reported one change was the addition of the RootEd Grant.
When looking at the internal improvement review, Hodge said six elements were at 96% or higher on implementation. Any score between 90 and 100% is considered a fully-implemented comprehensive school counseling program. The elements are program foundation, systems support, school counseling curriculum, individual planning, responsive services, and complete internal improvement review.
Trenton Middle School students Jordan Gannon and Gabe Harris were recognized at December 13th’s meeting. Gott reported their art teacher chose their art to be hung in the art gallery in the district office building.
Gott gave a reminder that the Trenton R-9 Board of Education terms of Brandon Gibler, Andy Burress, and Jason Hostetler will expire at the April 11th meeting. All three of the positions are for three-year terms.
Candidate filing will go until December 27th. Candidates can file at the district office through December 16th from 8 to 4 o’clock or December 19th through 22nd from 8 o’clock to noon. The office will be closed on December 23rd and 26th in observance of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The office will be open on the last day of filing, December 27th, from 8 to 5 o’clock. The election is on April 4th.
The board entered into a closed session for personnel matters.
