Gasconade County R-2 Board of Education on Monday night hosted a budget workshop at White Mule Winery.

Budget workshops are discussion only, no votes are made in open session. Superintendent Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy said the workshop was primarily to open budget discussions with new board members Kari Nolting and Keith Glaser.

“This is the same budget we discussed in March,” Hardy said. “We will talk about what our budget is and the three different salary schedules we can choose to adopt in June, and where they feel comfortable with the classified staff to make us more competitive.”

Hardy specifically mentioned Senate Bill 727 that, if passed, will raise the teacher base salary to $40,000 for new educators. The district’s base pay is $38,000 currently. The district currently spends 78 percent of its budget on salaries.

Needs listed on the district’s April 2 failed no-tax-increase bond issue were also discussed. Despite receiving a 55.5 percent majority vote, the bond failed because it required 57.1 percent of citizen support. However, the district still needs to figure out how to address facility and safety concerns.

“We talked about some capital improvement projects that we will be talking about moving forward,” Hardy said. “Things that were on the list that are concerning for safety that need to get done. They didn’t take any votes, but we need to put that out to get prices.”

Hardy mentioned specific facility items identified by community members in 2022 during the facility tours.

“There are safety concerns that need to be addressed,” she began. “Two of the buildings, Owensville Elementary School (OES) and Owensville High School (OHS), don’t have double entry doors. We need to figure out how to do that and in the best way possible.”

Hardy added that security camera features and building connections between OHS and the agriculture building will also need to be a addressed. Campus field maintenance and outdoor lighting were also among topics discussed.

“We are just looking at everything we have to have,” she began. “The OHS bleachers are 38 years old, the Owensville Middle School (OMS) gym bleachers, floors, Gerald Elementary School (GES) staff restrooms, gym equipment and facility upgrades. There are a whole bunch of things and we are trying to figure out a plan since the bond didn’t pass and how to incorporate some of the cost into the budget.”

The discussion-only meeting was meant to give board members time to think about how to handle the projects and what to prioritize. Further conversations about cost and funds to complete the projects will take place during monthly board meetings.

Staff retention, literacy program, and meeting times were also on the agenda.

“We talked teacher recruitment and retention,” Hardy said. “Different ideas how to retain and recruit teachers to the district during teacher shortages and make things better.”

Teacher recruitment and retainment and the literacy program needs were a continuation of the conversation that took place at the April board meeting.

The board also posted personnel on its closed session agenda. The following teachers were hired with a 7-0 vote:

Brandon Howard, district warehouse and groundskeeper and head girls wrestling coach; substitute bus drivers Frank Carbaugh and Jeff Smith; Jason Hinson, OHS Robotics sponsor; Laken Williams, OES fourth grade; Casey Brendel, OMS ELA teacher; Jonathan Thompson, OMS counselor; Peyton Adams, GES fifth-grade teacher; Mercedes Wizeman, GES fifth-grade teacher; Haylee Pruitt, GES fifth-grade teacher; Kayla Huebner, seventh grade girls basketball and assistant track coach.

Two resignations for OES were accepted during the meeting.

“Right now we have interviews open for two at OES that we just found out about and I am going to run the numbers again to see if those are positions that we need to post or if they meet maximum class size suggested by the district,” Hardy said. “I am thinking we will need to post them. (Kris Altemeyer, OHS principal) has three positions and one middle school PE position that we are going to be interviewing for. We are looking pretty good right now.”