OWENSVILLE — The Gasconade County R-2 School District is investigating a way to streamline access to locally awarded scholarship funds as an estimated $3,000 out of $32,000 has been requested in payouts since the fall semester began.

During the Sept. 23 Gasconade County Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy brought the issue before the board.

“We’ve had only $3,000 requested to be paid out this fall from students who received scholarships in 2023,” Hardy told the board.

Owensville High School (OHS) Principal Kris Altemeyer said he met with the Alumni Foundation about the students who were awarded funds but haven’t collected them.

Board President Glenn Ely said he spoke with Bob Niebruegge on the foundation’s board about the issue as well.

“If they contact us, we will put them in touch with who they need to contact at the (Community Foundation of the Ozarks),” Hardy said.

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Staci Johnson said there are multiple reasons for the lack of requested payouts.

“We have noticed a trend in the last several years, as have our scholarship donors, that students are not requesting scholarship monies that they earned after they graduated,” Johnson said. “The process is cumbersome to do because we have scholarships that come from a variety of different places; not all are coming from one foundation that manages them. It‘s complicated for students and parents.”

Acquiring access to funds sometimes requires students to keep track of the papers presented to them during the awards night which contains information about the scholarships and requirements to access them.

“It depends on how the scholarship has been set up,” Johnson said. “Some have to turn in their first-semester transcript. Others have to turn in a receipt for books they purchased for class. Hopefully, in the winter we will see an increase in the amount requested. We are still not getting close to 100 percent.”

The vast majority of students who are awarded scholarships in the spring attend classes the following fall. The district sends a survey out 180 days after graduation to see where they are and what they are doing — if plans they made in high school are coming to fruition.

“We had 130 students in the class of 2023,” Johnson said. “Out of that group about 50 to 60 students got some type of local scholarship they have to request access to — about 30 percent of the class.”

The district paid out about $3,000 worth of scholarships to three students this fall. The remainder of the unrequested $32,000 goes to two students.

“The $32,000 total is only regarding five students who were awarded our memorial scholarships,” Johnson said. “Out of those five only three students have claimed or requested reimbursement from the spring semester. This isn’t regarding the 2024 graduating class, but the 2023 awardees. Students are being awarded scholarships and not making requests, so funds are just sitting there not being awarded.”

The five memorial scholarships include Custom Printing, Baker, Wright, Katie Heseman Memorial, Michelle Barrick Memorial, and the Drake Holzschuh Memorial.

“The biggest overarching issues is multiple donors, multiple ways to access funds, multiple students attempting to access those funds and different timeline requirements to access funds — some want to see grades, proof of enrollment, book purchase receipts. It’s no one’s fault,” Johnson said. “Families have come together and made these scholarships and developed a process of how they want it to work and it’s a very different reality.”

There has been a decrease in the number of students applying for local scholarships in the last few years.

“We are working to create a more streamlined process for our donors and scholarship recipients,” Johnson said. “We are going to come together, we are going to have a meeting and try to improve the process for everybody. That meeting is at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 30 in the Owensville High School commons.”

Until then, any scholarship recipients who need assistance requesting access to awarded funds may contact the Administration Building and speak with Nancy Landwehr.

“We are very, very thankful for all the community support that our students receive,” Johnson said.