CHAMOIS — Chamois R-1 school board members listened to the details of the lease purchase option to finance a new Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system at their meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

“This is the Plan B option after running the bond issue,” L. J. Hart & Company Senior Vice President Neil A. Branham explained. “Your assessed valuation calculation for the last five years has grown at 4.9% on average. That’s great growth.”

Branham reviewed options for the district to borrow between $1.65 million and $2 million. Repayments could be structured from 15 to 20 years, and the bonds could be repaid after five years.

According to Branham, if the district’s bond was $1.65 million, to match the original amount that the district sought, the principal payments would run from April 15, 2028, to April 15, 2041, at $165,000 per year.

Branham encouraged the district to post a draft hearing notice before the next meeting.

“Because you don’t have a vote of the people, you have to have a public hearing,” Branham explained, adding that the public hearing could be held before the next regular meeting if it was advertised in the local newspaper twice.

School Board President Steve Cramer asked Branham and Superintendent Lyle Best about the next steps for the project.

“We need to determine the amount of money we want to finance,” Best said.

“I would like to know how much it is going to cost us,” Cramer answered.

“I would like to know how much we would like to do and get the amount that we need,” Best said. “They will want to know if we are looking at $1.5 million or $1.75 million. From their standpoint, they will want to know how much to set up the bids for. They are basing those numbers on similar bids, and it would help them. It’s more difficult to get bids if you haven’t secured the money.”

“I get that from their side,” Cramer said. “But from our side, I think it is better to have an estimate of what it is going to cost us, so we know how much to ask for. In my opinion, if the project is going to cost $1.7 million, then we should ask for $1.7 million. If it is only going to cost $1.2 million, I don’t want to ask for $1.7 million. I get where it is beneficial to them, but I’m not sure it is beneficial to us.”

Best explained that the district is only receiving an estimate on the project, not a bid.

Branham noted that the district could set up a range instead of a set amount if they were more comfortable with that.

School board members agreed that they would like to get the process started in October.

“You have good reserves and a dedicated levy, which is something that they look at,” Branham said. “You are a smaller district, so the local economy is not as strong as others, but you do have employers around. With your reserves, you should be fine.

“I don’t mean to push, but they are looking at interest rates only going higher,’ Branham continued. “We want to get the ball rolling. If we wait until early next year, we might be looking at higher rates.”

Board member Kris Wuelling asked if the district could roll back the levy in another year if things were going well, or if they must retain the same amount for the duration of the bond.

“The levy has to be set every year,” Best said. “If we can pay the bond off early, we could do a voluntary rollback.”

“Or, you can keep it and have plenty of money to shorten the finances,” Branham said.

“We could also use the money in the operating funds and leave the levy the same,” Best said.

In other business, board members approved the purchase of two new scoreboards from Nevco for $13,735, including installation within four to five weeks. The district received three additional quotes for similar sizes from Dactronics ($16,698), Watch Fire ($9,683), and Varsity ($9,939 to $16,639). All options included similar-sized boards to what the gym uses now, installations, and five-year warranties.

“The scoreboard on one end has been malfunctioning,” Best explained. “It’s 28 years old. Honestly, it is time to replace them.”

Wuelling asked what the cost would be to go to using a TV screen versus scoreboards.

“They start at $100,000,” said Principal Jeremy McKague. “It’s a big step up.”

The district hopes to have the new scoreboards in place before the basketball season begins.

• McKague presented the results of the most recent Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) and End of Course (EOC) testing.

“I caution that when you look at this, remember that we are always testing different classes,” McKague said.

He also warned that with smaller groups of kids testing, one bad score can make a big difference in the overall results. High school proficiency decreased in both English Language and math from 2025 but showed an increase in Science and Social Studies. Elementary proficiencies were slightly lower in English and Science and higher in Math.

For high school basic and up, there were increases in English and Science and decreases in Math and Social Studies. For elementary basic, there were increases in English and Science and a slight decrease in Math.

“Obviously, when we look at this, we want everyone to score advanced, but anyone below basic needs to move up to basic,” McKague said.

McKague said that overall, it is hard to tell what is happening, but English made a big move up, as did Science.

McKague said that following the third-grade class scores through elementary, there is definite growth. “Pretty much without fail, that is showing the same group of kids, and without fail, the scores are going up,” McKague said. “The majority of kids are holding close or improving. You can see consistent improvement in all areas.

“We have a lot more kids two points under than two points over,” McKague continued. “Hopefully, these kids keep improving next year.”

McKague noted that the test results are shared with teachers so they can see which areas they are covering well, and where they may need improvement.

Best noted that while the numbers have fluctuated, they do show some growth.

“We can see the improvement in elementary, but it is hard to see in high school,” Best said.

• Board members approved first-semester fundraising requests, with Cramer questioning why the district denied the side-by-side ride for a junior class fundraiser.

“I’m fine with it being denied for liability reasons, but my question is, we’ve done these in the past; what changed?” Cramer asked.

Best and McKague implied that there may be a liability issue and that alcohol being part of the event was why it was not approved.

Cramer said that moving forward, the group could have the fundraiser, not advertise it as a school event, and just donate the money to the junior class.

“I would say go that route,” Best said.

Cramer noted that trivia night was approved as a fundraiser and included alcohol that is consumed by parents and participants.

“I am struggling with what the difference is,” Cramer said.

Ultimately, the fundraising events were approved as presented.

• The board approved the annual conflict-of-interest policy for members.

• Board members approved the newest budget amendment for the 2026-27 fiscal year.

— Revenues increased by $59,663, with the following changes: local (increased from $1,415,808 to $1,480,949), county (remained the same at $110,000), state (decreased from $1,435,775 to $1,426,255), and federal (increased from $225,458 to $229,500).

— Expenditures went from $3,448,306 to $3,458,923 as follows: elementary (from $501,974 to $502,597), Title 1 (from $70,691 to $82,568), student activities athletics (from $147,753 to $150,753), health services (from $12,294 to $12,794), media services (from $64,204 to $70,204), board services (from $30,900 to $32,900), executive administration (from $212,728 to $214,228), and PAT (from $10,317 to $10,517).

— Line-item expenses that decreased are as follows: high school (from $441,005 to $432,888), operations plant (from $650,649 to $644,649), and food services (from $181,765 to $180,799).

— The following line-item expenses remained unchanged: special education ($187,797), vocational ($170,888), tuition to other districts ($2,000), guidance ($70,206), speech/language therapy ($24,500), OT/PT ($23,000), CT ($4,000), PD($13,159), PDC ($11,321), SPED administration ($20,235), building level administration ($189,625), contracted transportation ($121,000), district transportation ($61,165), other transportation ($5,000), security services ($3,250), info services tech ($85,595), early childhood development ($80,469), other community ($6,447), parent involvement ($3,446), principal/interest/lease ($40,497), and homeless set-aside ($400).

• Board members reviewed policy updates that will need to be approved at the next board meeting.

“You have a summary and list of policy changes and updates as a result of legislation that passed last spring,” Best explained.

— House Bill #2061 deals with Antisemitic discrimination and harassment.

— House Bill #1696 regards Residential Camp Background Checks. Best noted that the state’s definition of camps is any group staying overnight for two or more days.

“It doesn’t matter if we call it a camp or not,” Best explained.

He noted that it would apply to FFA and FBLA conventions and senior trips.

“If it is a current employee, it should already be taken care of,” Best explained. “But if it is a volunteer, they will need to make sure that we have all of the proper checks done.”

— House Bill #2292 - Animal Abuse and Neglect Reporting, along with Policy #1300 - Prohibiting Harassment, Discrimination and Retaliation, Policy #1435 - Residential Camp Background Checks, Policy #2100 - Non-Discrimination and Student Rights, Policy #4110 - Equal Opportunity Employment, Policy #4630 - Performance Evaluations and Staff conduct, Policy #4860 - Staff Welfare Personnel Records, and Policy #4875 - Staff Welfare Animal Abuse and Reporting will be considered at the next meeting.

All policies and bills are mandatory, or their adoption is highly encouraged.

• Board members approved outstanding bills totaling $56,690.72.

• The district had the following ending account balances: general (-$61,958.33), teacher fund ($173,285.48), capital projects ($2,759.42), and activity (-$9,506.97).

• The next board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Best noted that Gov. Kehoe’s A through F reporting system for school districts is an additional rating system.

“I guess it’s supposed to better communicate how the schools are doing,” Best said. “It is set for approval this month and will be using 2024-25 data.”

Best had several concerns, including that MAP and EOC testing will need to be moved up to allow the state enough time to calculate the results and grade districts. If the district scores above 89%, they will be given an A, but if 65% or more of the districts receive an A, the state will increase the criteria.

“I don’t understand the reasoning, but by the end of the month, more information will be made public,” Best said.

The School Funding Task Force continues to meet and is supposed to present recommendations to the governor by Dec. 1.

“It is difficult to project what this might look like,” Best said. “There is no way to know how it will affect the district.”

Best noted that the goal still seems to be to phase out hold harmless districts and that all schools be given funding based on the formula.

• Best noted that the boiler for the elementary will be repaired and hopefully it will make it through the winter.

The water-softener was replaced in the high school, and several windows in school vehicles broken by cutting grass through the summer were replaced.

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

McKague announced that attendance was 98% and there was only one discipline issue to report so far this semester.

• McKague reported that several lunch-and-learns were coming up,

• Jostens was scheduled to take orders on Sept. 16 for cap and gown and class rings.

• Students were hoping for a successful blood drive.