 Congratulations on completing another eventful school year! I appreciate everyone's hard work and dedication for making this year a success. Regardless of your position, you play an important role in the great things happening across the District. Thank you for everything you do! Have a wonderful summer!
 The District is hosting a Conscious Discipline Academy June 19th-23rd. Fort Osage will have 50 participants who will receive training as well as work on goal setting and planning for the 2023-2024 school year. We are excited about the opportunity to have representatives from each school trained together in an onsite professional development opportunity. Building principals will be in contact with staff to attend this professional development opportunity. The staff will then take the new learning back to colleagues throughout next school year.
 Team Fort Osage met for the fifth time this year on May 17. Topics of discussion included the budget, Career Ladder, school safety, address change, and legislation (information provided below on each).
Budget I will be proposing the FY 24 budget to the Board of Education at the June 13 meeting. The budget includes enhancements to salaries, health insurance, Career Ladder, and other expenditures of the District. Per my May 10 email to staff, the salary proposals I’m recommending are possible because of full state funding, the levy transfer, and the positive reassessment data. Certificated contracts and Classified letters of assurance, with the new salary and placement information, will be sent following board approval in June. If you have any questions you may contact the human resources department at 816-650-7004 or email Debbie Peterson at dpeterson@fortosage.net. Career Ladder As you know, after board approval at the June meeting, Fort Osage will participate in Career Ladder for the next school year (2023-2024). A survey, sent out in April, gathered feedback from all certificated staff regarding the implementation of the Career Ladder program this school year. Based on the feedback we received, several revisions to the plan were created to allow staff ease in the completion of Career Ladder while also maintaining the positive impact on students. Some of the changes include combining the three categories into two: teacher preparation (up to 60% total hours), and student connections (no less than 40% total hours). Home/school activities are now in the student connections category. In addition, DESE has decided that participants can begin collecting Career Ladder hours in June. School Safety Fort Osage has hired five school protection specialists who are trained SROs for next year. We currently have two SROs in the district, one from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office and the other through a grant from Buckner Police Department. The five school protection specialists will be hired from a company called Strategos. Next year, the seven individuals will be placed throughout the district ensuring a significant presence from highly trained protection professionals. Strategos has engaged over 500 protection professionals all over the U.S. and other parts of the globe. Since 2002, Stategos has trained, consulted and protected over 250,000 corporate, government, school, law enforcement and military professionals in over 15 countries. Address Change During the summer of 2023, the District will be making a change to our district office mailing addresses. With the opening of the new District Office/Transportation/ Maintenance/Technology Building, comes additional space and more centralized staff to help with the delivery of packages. During the summer, we will be changing our central mailing address to 25102 E. US 24 Highway, Independence, MO 64058. While many of the necessary changes will take place at the District level, staff will need to change their delivery locations for any orders placed starting June 1, 2023. Legislation The end of the legislative session was Friday, May 12. Several bills impacting public education were closely monitored throughout the session. Holistically it was a good session for public education. HB 253 (open enrollment) never came to a vote thus did not pass. Separately, SB 75 (retirement system) passed allowing for a 2.55% multiplier after 32 years of service as well as expanding critical shortage to 4 years.  A $25.00 gift card to AMC Theaters will be given away to one lucky winner utilizing the RNG. For those of you interested, please send an email to jsnodgrass@fortosage.net with ‘Summer Fun’ in the subject line. Entries will be accepted until 8:00 am on Tuesday, May 30. The card will be mailed to the winner's home address.
Giveaway prizes are not purchased with District funds. Only Fort Osage employees are eligible to enter the drawing.  The end of the school year is rapidly approaching. I’ve always believed that a successful beginning and end of a school year is important. Thank you for your continued hard work and dedication to our school district. Let’s have a great end to the year and finish strong!
 On Thursday evening Fort Osage hosted the annual Steak Fry and staff recognition ceremony. It was a special occasion where we paused to recognize and congratulate the hard working and dedicated staff of our District. We recognized the 2023 retirees, the Step Above classified employees of the year, the Building Teachers of the Year, and named the District Step Above Employee of the Year and District Teacher of the Year. Additionally, we recognized staff members who had 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years of service.
Congratulations to the Step Above Support Staff Employee of the Year, Liliani Moe, and the CEA Teacher of the Year, Stefanie Kassel! Click on the link here to view those staff members who were celebrated.  Team Fort Osage met for the fourth time this year on April 21. Topics of discussion included the budget, classified and teacher salary and benefit studies, Career Ladder, superintendent advisory committees, student behavior supports, wellness program, legislation, Farview agreement, and Team Fort Osage (information provided below on each). Budget I continue to prepare for the fiscal year 2024 budget that begins July 1, 2023. The Governor’s budget proposal includes full funding of transportation as well as the funding of Career Ladder. The $0.06 levy transfer and increased assessed valuation (based on the recent County reassessment) will play an important part in our local revenues. My goal is to provide appropriate staffing and make enhancements to the salary schedules while maintaining a balanced budget. As I plan for the future, I’m mindful of the state tax cut that will go into effect in fiscal year 2025 which will reduce state revenues by an estimated $1 billion. More information will be provided regarding my recommended salary increases prior to the June meeting. Teacher and Classified Salary and Benefits Study We have been reviewing the salary and benefits study to determine the best ways to enhance the salary schedules in order to make the biggest impact with the available funds. Career Ladder Career Ladder continues to have a positive impact on our school district. Thank you to those who provided feedback to determine what has gone well and what we can improve for next year. With state and board approval we will continue Career Ladder next year. More information will be provided to staff in the coming weeks. Superintendent Advisory Committees The superintendent advisory committee meetings have continued to provide an opportunity for me to have excellent dialog with staff from across the district. In the coming days I will be sending an email asking for interest on filling the vacant positions for next year’s committees. Student Behavior Supports The conversations on how we can provide additional behavior supports has continued. Beyond the programming at Lewis and Clark next year, additional training on conscious discipline is being planned. Wellness Program Fort Osage continues to support our staff in their social, emotional and physical well-being. I encourage you to participate in our Wellness Program led by Jenny Flax, District Wellness Coordinator. Each school has a Wellbeing Champion that can provide you with important information on how to be engaged. Legislation There are several bills that are being tracked that would impact Fort Osage. Open Enrollment (HB 253) continues to be a hot topic in Jefferson City and will likely come to a vote in the senate soon. I’ve continued to oppose the bill along with the Board of Education who passed a resolution in opposition of the bill. For the purpose of the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA), SB 411 creates a new category of student called Flex students. They are students who are not enrolled in the local school district but want access to programs offered there. In short, any student who lives in a school district attendance area would have access to the sports and activities without any enrollment requirement. This creates concern to MSHSAA member schools due to the enforcement of various academic and citizenship requirements of the students. SB 75 which increases the retirement multiplier to 2.55% for those who complete 32 years of service in the PSRS/PEERS system continues to receive attention. It also changes the PSRS/PEERs work after retirement rules to allow a retiree to earn up to 133% of the annual earnings limit of a Social Security recipient. Additionally, the bill has a provision that extends the time period a retiree may work under critical shortage from two years to four years. Farview Agreement A few years ago when the Woodland Early Childhood Center was constructed, the District wanted to utilize the previous early childhood center building for the benefit of the community. The District signed an agreement with the Mid-Continent Public Library and Community Services League to utilize the building for a library and food pantry. The result of this partnership has been outstanding. On average 100 families access the food pantry each week and over 15,000 people utilized the library the past year. At the April board meeting the Board of Education approved a three year extension to continue the partnership with the two organizations. Team Fort Osage Four years ago, Team Fort Osage was created in order to receive staff feedback regarding important topics impacting the district. Like last year, ⅓ of the current members will rotate off the committee. New Team Fort Osage members have been selected to replace the vacant spots. The members of Team Fort Osage for the 2023-2024 school year are listed below. Members were selected based on a range of years of experience, a variety of grade levels or subjects taught, and different positions held. The years of experience listed is based on the 2023-2024 school year. Certificated Staff
Classified Staff
 A $25.00 gift card to Frye's Greenhouse located at 2900 N Buckner Tarsney Road in Buckner will be given away to one lucky winner utilizing the RNG. For those of you interested, please send an email to jsnodgrass@fortosage.net with ‘Plants’ in the subject line. Entries will be accepted until 8:00 am on Monday, May 1. The card will be mailed to the winner's home address.
Giveaway prizes are not purchased with District funds. Only Fort Osage employees are eligible to enter the drawing.  Thank you for making a positive impact at Fort Osage! Please enjoy time away from school during spring break recharging your battery. While you’re away, know you are greatly appreciated. I look forward to seeing everyone return on April 3.
 At Fort Osage School District we have dedicated employees who are truly making a difference in the lives of students. I value our staff and I know our school district and students would not be successful without you.
It’s important that Fort Osage recruit and retain staff. There are many factors that determine the recruitment and retention of employees including salaries and benefits. It’s crucial to remain competitive among area school districts. Over the past few months, our Human Resources team conducted a thorough salary study in order to determine areas where our scales may be in need of enhancements. Three specific areas were analyzed this year: classified salaries, certificated salaries, and health care benefits. We hired EMS (Educational Management Solutions) to complete our classified salary study and consult on our certificated study. Fourteen area districts were used in our study for all three studies. Private sector data (Centerpoint, Hospital, Food Service Industry, Trucking Companies, etc.) were also included in the classified salary study. We began the study by finding the “Market Value” for different salary placements (both on our certificated and classified scales). We then calculate Fort Osage’s relationship to the market value and if we are within 5% of the market value, that is considered on market. We also identified areas we were below or above market. This study provided guidance on necessary next steps. We are working to prepare recommendations for an enhanced classified and certificated salary schedule for the June Board meeting. Once those recommendations are finalized, more information will be shared. The information explained above is being emailed to staff with a video providing more detail. |
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