I’m thankful to have the opportunity to work with the best staff in the state. You are making a huge impact on our students each day. When you reflect on the week, month, or year, think about the number of students you’ve come in contact with and the difference you've made in their lives. Thank you for the countless things you do to help students be successful. Fort Forward is an advisory committee composed of students, parents, community members, teachers, staff and administrators. The mission is to facilitate communication, advise the administration and ensure a successful and innovative school system that maximizes each student’s potential. This year the primary focus has been reviewing the current Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) to provide input and feedback on the makeup of our 2022-2026 CSIP plan for the District. The group has also heard and provided feedback on our District COVID safety plans, new courses to be offered, transportation and staff challenges facing the District, and construction updates. More information on how you can become involved will be coming in the spring. In order to provide additional support for students, the District formed a partnership with Comprehensive Mental Health a few years ago. Recently, CMH has merged with Burrell. This merger means that more students who need mental health support will be able to receive services. We are grateful for this opportunity and partnership. More details will be provided as they become available. The legislative session began in Jefferson City on January 5 and will continue through May 13. Thus far, there have been over 2,000 bills filed and approximately 600 of them could impact education in at least some fashion. We are monitoring several bills including ones pertaining to funding, vouchers, charter school expansion and more. In his State of the State Address, Governor Parsons commented that he is including $21.8 million in his budget proposal in order to increase the minimum teacher salary to $38,000 in the state. The Governor is proposing the state will fund 70% of the figure and the remaining 30% would come from the school districts. Since Fort Osage already has a minimum teacher salary of $39,000, I’m gathering more information on how this additional funding might impact us. More information will be provided on this as it is gathered. For those of you interested, a $20.00 gift card to McDonald's, courtesy of the Fort Osage Education Foundation, will be given away to one lucky winner. To enter, send an email to [email protected] with "Hamburger" in the subject line. Entries will be accepted until 8:00 a.m. on Monday, January 31. Giveaway prizes are not purchased with District funds. Only Fort Osage employees are eligible to enter the drawing. |
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