Mt. Vernon school board hires five teachers

The Mt. Vernon school board approved its health insurance plan for staff for the coming school year and made several personnel moves. 

Board members approved continuing health insurance coverage through the Show-Me Benefit Consortium. Superintendent Christina West said the district would see an increase in premiums of 6.8 percent for individuals and 8 percent for families. The district would see an overall increase of nearly 4 percent in premiums and continue to provide fully paid insurance options. The Mercy PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) and Cox HAS (Health Savings Account) plans would be fully paid. Employees choosing the Cox PPO option would see an $11 monthly fee. There was also an option for employees to choose both the Cox and Mercy plans for an additional cost. 

Cost to the district would be $577 per employee, $6,924 annually. Presently the district provides fully paid insurance for 202 employees. 

The board also approved the annual renewal of the food service contract with Opaa. West noted this will be the final year in the present four-year contract, opening the service for bidding next year. Board President Danny Bowman observed only two firms offered bids the last time, the second coming from the Kansas City area, leaving the district with few choices. 

The board also approved several board policy updates. Additional updates will be addressed later. 

Board members also approved a stipend for teachers to help students prepare for the annual standardized testing by the state. 

Personnel action

The board approved several internal transitions for the coming year. 

- Amanda Boettler, who has served as an early childhood special education teacher, will move to the high school to teach English, speech, and debate. 

Sixth grade teacher Mike Koenig will move from teaching social studies to science. 

- Jeff Piepenbrink will move from teaching social studies at the middle school to overseeing the weights program. 

- Rachel Zerby will move to the high school media center with the coming school year. 

- Anna Vandever will move from elementary special education to teach sixth grade math next year. 

Four new teachers were hired for the coming year

- Lacy Wiehe, a former paraprofessional for the district, will return after teaching in Greenfield for four years and teach sixth grade social studies. 

- Taylor Ezell will teach kindergarten. A Mt. Vernon graduate, she has been teaching in Pierce City. 

- Maddie Roberts will join the elementary staff in the special education department. 

- Ethan Johnston will return to the district as a part-time assistant on the high school baseball program. 

- Michael Hare has been recommended to take the permanent custodial position at the high school. Hare served as a long-time substitute in that role. 

Reports

Offering an update on the district’s Continuous School Improvement Plan, Liz Elsey, director of academic services, reported meeting on March 9 with more than 60 people who formed five work groups to develop strategic goals, action steps and identify attributes. She described developing the Portrait of a Mountaineer, which she plans to present to the board in May. The next step will include designing graphics. 

West addressed the board about Senate Bill 3, placed on the April 7 ballot. She noted that if passed, property taxes on primary residences would not rise due to property values. The potential impact could be a loss of $362,462 in the coming school year, adding up to $1.8 million to the district over five years. The district was preparing a united message with other property tax-funded entities to go before voters. 

West noted that attendance in February in all grades has held above the target of 90 percent. The average daily attendance is nearly identical to a year ago. 

Board members received applause from the audience for School Board Appreciation Month. 

High school student Carson Atwood qualified for competition at the national Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) event in Salt Lake City, Utah, in late April. 

The next board meeting was slated for April 16 at 7 p.m.