There are still many questions to be answered about the future of the Spickard R-2 School District, but patrons learned some good news during a meeting held Monday night at the Spickard Christian Church to discuss the closing of the school building and the beginning of the school year.
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There are still many questions to be answered about the future of the Spickard R-2 School District, but patrons learned some good news during a meeting held Monday night at the Spickard Christian Church to discuss the closing of the school building and the beginning of the school year.
During the meeting, which was attended by approximately 60 persons, it was announced that Dr. Gene Adkison of Springfield has verbally accepted the position of superintendent of schools, a position that had remained vacant since the resignation of Principal Sara Littrell (see sidebar).
Patrons were also told by Board President Brenda Tharp that classes in the district will not begin until Sept. 7 to allow Dr. Adkison, who will begin his duties Aug. 26, and the board to prepare for the start of school following the closing of the school after a basement support wall collapsed last month. Ms. Tharp said a structural engineer hired by the district’s insurance company will be on site Aug. 11 to inspect the building and there is a possibility that the gymnasium, cafeteria and two classrooms will be habitable.
Officials from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, who were at the meeting Monday night, urged the board to have an independent engineer and architect assess the condition of the building as well. Larry Price, area supervisor for DESE and Gary Dixon of DESE’s Jefferson City office, were present to answer questions about what the district should do now to prepare for the upcoming school year and what options are available for the future of the district.
With funding being a major consideration in all decisions, Price and Dixon encouraged the board to seek alternatives to renting or leasing mobile units to house students for the coming school year. Considering the cost of sewer hookups and other necessities, they said that the board would be better off to use churches and other buildings until it is known exactly what will happen with the building situation. Both Price and Dixon said state officials would be willing to allow classes to be at temporary sites for one year, knowing that it is only a temporary situation. If the problem continued into a second year, however, the district would likely be asked to discontinue the arrangement or risk losing its accreditation.
The state officials did suggest that patrons could expect test scores to fall during the year if students are put in temporary housing but, assuming the district stays intact, it would not likely become a trend that would affect the district’s Missouri School Improvement Accreditation.
The board last week voted to place a general obligation bond issue on a future ballot, likely in November, that would provide funds to construct a new school. An estimate from Trickel Construction of Trenton was $600,000 for a new school to house the district’s 60-plus students.
Price and Dixon told the board and patrons that the district’s bonding capacity is limited to 15 percent of total assets, which would be about $438,000. The issue would have to be placed on the ballot by Aug. 24 for a November vote and would then need a two-thirds favorable vote to pass. A February vote would also require two-thirds while an issue on the April ballot would need a four-sevenths vote. There is an “outside chance,” Dixon said, that a special election could be held to decide the matter.
If the board should decide not to construct a new school or if the issue does not pass, Price and Dixon said state officials are committed to seeing that patrons are happy with the decisions about where the students would attend school. The local board could vote to dissolve the district and be annexed into other districts. The decision of where to send students could be made through a ballot issue (which would require the receiving districts to take the students) or through board action or a petition initiative.
If the bond issue would fail and the district would continue to house students in churches and at other temporary sites, Price and Dixon said they could “almost guarantee” that the district would become unaccredited. At that point, the R-2 district would be required to pay tuition for students to attend schools in other districts and, after two years, the state would decide where students will attend classes.
Another question answered Monday night was the fate of teachers under contract for this year should the board decide mot to hold classes. Price and Dixon said that the district will not be held liable for the contracts if the district is dissolved. Teachers would be interviewed by receiving districts if there are openings, but the districts are not required to employ the teachers.
No one present at the meeting expressed any opposition to the idea of a bond issue. One question that Price and Dixon could not answer was whether or not the district could vote a bond issue in at a certain amount, but then opt not to issue the entire amount.
Board President Brenda Tharp said the board will hold another public meeting after they have had a chance to meet with structural engineers and the insurance company, which at this point has said they will not pay a settlement for the damage to the building.