The Neelyville School Board’s regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday addressed several items, including auditor selection, propane bids and meal prices for the 2023-2024 school year. A discussion of sixth-grade participation in junior high sports was transferred from the regular meeting agenda to a closed-session discussion.
Superintendent Heather Black made the recommendation to continue to work with accountant Dwayne Clark, who she explained has served as the school’s auditor for numerous years and has proven to be a valuable partner. The question was raised about the duration of Clark’s tenure as an auditor and it was suggested next year they explore other options.
Jim Hover made the motion to retain Clark as the auditor, a decision that was seconded by board member Jill McGruder. Hover also proposed revisiting the possibility of seeking bids for a new auditor at an earlier time, specifically during the January meeting. McGruder made the motion to readdress the matter in January, which was unanimously approved.
The board also unanimously voted to maintain student accident insurance with the same company as in prior years, K&K Insurance. Additional unanimous votes approved the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan.
Regarding the propane bids, the board accepted bids from MFA Oil and Reed Oil. MFA Oil offered a bid of $1.899 per gallon, while Reed Oil from Doniphan presented a lower bid of $1.599 per gallon. The board unanimously voted to accept the lower bid.
A motion was made by Dean Fisher and seconded by Wayne Willcut to enter a closed session for discussing sixth-grade participation in junior high sports. No additional conversation was had by the board and no rule under the Missouri open meetings law was cited to explain this decision. Neelyville school officials were asked Friday morning to provide additional information regarding why the matter was moved to closed session.
Black explained that during the closed session, “It was noted that it didn’t have any personnel concerns and needed to be in open session, so it was put in open session and it was tabled again.”
To comply with the National School Lunch Program and account for the absence of COVID funding, the board unanimously voted to raise lunch and breakfast prices by 10 cents, as explained by Black. She mentioned that the school had not experienced price increases in recent years due to COVID funding, which is no longer available.
Black informed the board about a grant opportunity from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
“DESE has come out with a grant and it can be for just one classroom,” she explained. “We had a meeting with our early childhood teachers, and Ms. Rudd and I would like to ask the board’s approval to look further into this grant to see if we qualify for just that third classroom. If we were approved we could get funding for that third early childhood classroom and then the other two would remain early childhood special education. If we don’t get approved, we still have it in our budget to move forward with the third classroom, it would just be a benefit to the district.”
The board unanimously voted to pursue this grant.
The August meeting date has been set for 6:45 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17. The earlier start time is specifically to accommodate the tax levy hearing.