R-8 Board approves strategic plan, backs community education

The basics from tonight's just-completed Joplin R-8 Board of Education meeting:

Board backs community education

- The board backed the continuation of community education programs and suggested getting the word out about them. No one suggested it but perhaps it could be done with the some of the approximately $75,000 the school district paid the Storm Stanley firm over the past year for Franklin Tech advertising. If that contracted expense continues, perhaps some of that can be used to promote community education.

Board member Jennifer Martucci noted, "There is support around this table for the program." She and other board members also noted that it is a service to the community.

Efforts will be made to promote the programs, find out which ones are making money and which ones are losing money and seeing what can be done to preserve community education.

Strategic Plan approved

The board unanimously approved the second reading of the Strategic Plan for the district. "This has been accomplished at warp speed," board member Sallie Beard said, but that was not meant as a criticism. "It's solid," she added. "The speed has not compromised the work."

Board members noted that the plan was not Interim Superintendent Norm Ridder's, nor was it the board's. The document was created following input from staff, students, and community members.

Financing

As the district waits (and waits and waits) for FEMA to pay for so-called "errors and omissions," steps were taken to extend the short term loan or "certificates of participation" that were used to get through the financial crisis of the summer of 2014. The board approved the extension, which will delay paying Bank of America what it owes until FEMA money comes in and even that probably will not be enough, setting up another decision next year on how to pay off the bank.

Board candidates attending

Six of the eight candidates in next Tuesday's board election attended the meeting. In addition to Martucci, those attending were Mary Gaarder, Melissa Rodgers, Carlos Hailey, Chris Sloan, and Lori Musser.

Not attending were Joe Brown and Sharrock Dermott.

Dermott said in a recent a few weeks ago that he did not intend to attend any board meetings until after he was elected.