Budget reasons were claimed by Diamond R-4 Superintendent Mark Mayo when Middle School Principal Denise Mounts was fired last spring.
Apparently, those budget problems must have been resolved. According to the preliminary school district report card filed Oct. 26 with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the district spent $48,200 for the middle school administrator's salary last year...and is spending $48,200 for the middle school administrator's salary this year.
That was just one of many interesting items included in the annual report.
Among others:
-Even though the school district is considering putting in drug testing, there apparently is no problem with drugs at the school, according to the report. Only one incident involving drugs was reported this year, no incidents involving alcohol, none involving tobacco, no acts of violence and no weapons on campus. No students have been given in-school suspension, of course, since that program was a victim of budget cuts, and two have received out-of-school suspensions, according to the report.
-School officials made sure the district's teachers had regular certificates when Missouri School Improvement Program inspectors were in Diamond three years ago. That 100 percent figure has dwindled to 97.2 teachers with regular certificates, according to the report. The percentage of "highly qualified" teachers in the classroom has dropped from 97.2 to 95.5.
-Surprisingly, school officials have not trumpeted the fact that 100 percent of students passed the social studies MAP tests last year, according to the report submitted by school officials. Or maybe not so surprisingly since students did not take the social studies MAP tests last year.
-A number of experienced teachers have either left the district voluntarily or been forced out. The average teacher in 2002 had been in the district 13 years. That number dropped to 10.4 years this year, the report said.
-The average teacher's salary in Diamond has dropped from $28,594 to $26,641, while the average administrator's salary increased from $50,810 to $54,496. Much of that, of course, is in the approximately $70,000 paid to Superintendent Mark Mayo.
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As hard as it is for me to believe, Nicole Lehman of Lamar will be a senior at Southwest Missouri State University this year. If you didn't get to see it, she was featured Sunday in an article in the Springfield News-Leader.
Nicole, who was an all-state selection during her years playing for Coach Richard Marti's Lamar Tigers, is counted on to be a leader for this year's Lady Bears squad.
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The Joplin Globe is looking for a new reporter, according to an industry website.
"This is a job that requires enthusiasm, professionalism and the ability to provide readers with compelling daily coverage of the news that most affects their lives," according to the ad. "If you have those qualities and the desire to work as a news reporter for an award-winning Southwest Missouri newspaper...' well, you get the picture. It says for applicants to get in touch with Carol Stark.
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