WARDSVILLE -- The Blair Oaks School Board adopted filing dates for board candidates and heard updates on the Parents as Teachers program, the Falcon Lane expansion, and its insurance providers and costs.
Shauna Kerperin presented some information in her role as Parents as Teachers Coordinator and Early Childhood Community Leader for 21 mid-Missouri counties.
Kerperin said Parents as Teachers is a support system for families. It has four components: personal visits in which parents learn about their child's development and needs, group connections with other families, health and developmental screenings, and resource connections.
Parents as Teachers at Blair Oaks served 105 families last year, including 26 percent of students entering kindergarten. This year, it is serving 98 families. It sponsors 10 group connection events each year.
Last year, it completed 843 home visits, and its target is 895 this year, which is the maximum for its staff.
In other business, Elementary School Principal Tara Bishop said schools have been struggling to find substitute teachers.
"But it's also sick season, which means teachers are sick and their kids are sick," Bishop acknowledged.
She said the existing substitutes have been very helpful in working with the schools.
Superintendent Ben Meldrum said he'd been in a meeting with other superintendents and they had been experiencing the same difficulties finding substitutes. He said the district had put out some requests for more substitute teachers on social media.
Meldrum added during his report the district is upgrading the radio system on its buses and cameras across the district using a $65,000 school safety grant. It is also adding ballistic film to windows and doors.
Meldrum said the district also received a grant to enhance election security and will put the money toward access control upgrades on the parts of the middle school used for elections.
Meldrum also informed the board the cost of its property and liability insurance, provided the Missouri United School Insurance Council (MUSIC) would be increasing by about 20 percent next year. However, he said it was still cheaper than the district purchasing insurance on its own. Board member Glenn Reynolds asked whether there were any cheaper alternatives, and Meldrum said he would look into it.
Meldrum also noted an increase in health insurance rates last year and recommended the district move on from its current provider and search for coverage elsewhere. Meldrum said the district could partner with a local broker to search for a new insurance option. The board agreed to have Meldrum start the exploration process.
Due to grant deadlines, the board must decide by its December board meeting whether it will participate in the Falcon Lane expansion project. The board had held off on a commitment to see if other communities that would also benefit might also commit to the project. The board wanted to reach out to the village of Wardsville to get the most up-to-date information on the project.
The board approved a Memorandum of Understanding with Nichols Career Center for 16 students to attend, including two students who attend private school but live within district boundaries.
The board set filing dates for board candidates. The dates are from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on Dec. 5-8, Dec. 11-15, and Dec. 18-20, and from noon-5 p.m. Dec. 26. The board members whose terms are up this year are Tim Luebbering and Logan Gratz.