BROSELEY — In an effort to stay competitive and attract new educators, the Twin Rivers School Board is considering raising the starting minimum pay.
The board met Thursday night and during the meeting, Superintendent Rob Brown reviewed numerous items for the board. One of those items involved teacher pay.
“I know this is something that has been talked about before, and we would all like to pay our teachers more,” Brown explained. “But we have to look carefully at what options are available for funding the increase in pay.”
Brown went on to explain the current funding formula requires a certain percentage of teacher pay to come from school revenue, and there is the possibility that use of a grant could cover the difference on a pay increase. However, Brown further explained, once the grant expires there is no guarantee it will be renewed.
“If we decided to go that route, we would be looking at paying the difference on the increase,” Brown explained. “If the revenue isn’t growing and the enrollment isn’t growing, then how do we sustain that cost?”
Currently, Missouri ranks last in the country for starting teacher pay, according to the Missouri National Educational Association.
In other board news, Brown went on to address previous questions regarding the expansion of the preschool program. Brown informed the board that each year there is an average of 53 children who want to come to preschool, with an average of 28 children who do become enrolled in the preschool program. Brown explained there are different funding options available, but the initial cost to begin an expansion would be approximately $200,000.
During his legislative report, Brown shared there is a proposed senate bill in Jefferson City, SB 799, that could be problematic for public school systems.
“If it passes, then essentially vehicles, boats and motorcycles would be put on an accelerated 12 year depreciation schedule,” Brown explained. “That would cause the school districts to lose money, because of the drop in property taxes.”
The board also approved the new school calendar for the 2024-25 school year. The approved calendar happened to also be the calendar the majority of faculty had said they liked better.
Brown said the base cost for a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant-funded building would be $300 per square foot.
The board briefly discussed the possibility of some kind of recognition for the Twin Rivers Lady Royals Softball Team, as they were recently rated as having the highest GPA of any athletic team in the state. The collective GPA for the team is 3.94.
The board also approved paying $3,500 for repair of the school’s Bobcat, which is reportedly used quite frequently for multiple tasks on the school grounds.
The board adjourned regular session to go into closed session to discuss undisclosed matters. There was no available follow-up information at press time.
The board set the date for the next meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 14.