It’s hard to believe that MAP testing is upon us and summer school is just around the corner. I’m grateful for the many accomplishments occurring across the district each day. Thank you for your dedicated efforts to the success of each student. Have a wonderful end to the school year. Budget I continue to prepare for the fiscal year 2025 budget that begins July 1, 2024. The state legislators have until the May 10th deadline to approve the Governor’s budget proposal which includes full funding of transportation as well as the funding of Career Ladder. The DESE provision that has allowed districts to utilize their 2020 enrollment for state funding has ended which will have a negative impact on state revenue. I must be mindful of the state tax cut that went into effect on January 1st which will reduce state revenues by an estimated $1 billion. I’m also closely monitoring the Missouri Attorney General’s lawsuit against Jackson County which is requesting the 2023 assessments go back to the 2021 values. The case is scheduled to be heard before a Clay County jury this summer. To end on a positive note, the levy transfer of 2021 continues to have a positive impact on our revenues for the upcoming year. Taking all things into consideration, which includes the board approved salary enhancements from March, I’m working to create a balanced budget for the board’s approval in June. Health Insurance Fort Osage’s health insurance plan year runs from January 1 through December 31. The year to date insurance claims that began January 1, 2024 is 95%. In other words, for every $1.00 Fort Osage paid into the insurance fund, the provider, Cigna, was paid $0.95. This amounts to a savings for the district. Separately, we were recently notified that many staff members received a letter outlining negotiations between Cigna and Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). These are typical negotiation practices that occur every few years with insurance corporations and healthcare providers. Our contact at Cigna is confident there will be an agreement reached soon. There are no changes to plan coverage at this time. We will continue to keep staff informed of any updates. Career Ladder Career Ladder continues to have a positive impact on our school district. There are additional student clubs, tutoring opportunities, and more support for beginning teachers than ever before. A survey was conducted this Spring to receive feedback to determine what has gone well and what we can improve with Career Ladder. Based on feedback we will move our deadlines up to start clubs and tutoring earlier next fall. Career Ladder Celebrations Include:
Staff Survey The information below was discussed regarding the staff survey that was conducted. Celebrations and Feedback Include:
Wellness Plan The information below was discussed regarding the wellness survey. Celebrations and Feedback Include:
Legislative Update The legislative session began in Jefferson City on January 4th and will end on May 10th. There are over 500 education bills that have been filed. Below are a few bills to which I’m paying special attention. SB 727: The bill passed on April 18 and will be sent to the Governor for his signature. The bill has 21 provisions that will cost the State up to an estimated $1 Billion after full implementation. Even though the bill has some provisions that will be beneficial, the concern is if the state will have enough revenue to fund it in the future. Beyond that, there are some provisions that are concerning. It will take some time to review the entire 167 page bill to know how it will fully impact Fort Osage. A few of the provisions include:
HB 1989: Open Enrollment - Passed the House and now has moved to the Senate. SB 799: Personal Property Tax - It would depreciate someone’s personal property at a faster rate which would reduce revenue. 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 next few weeks I will be sending an email asking for interest on filling the vacant positions for next year’s committees. Team Fort Osage Several years ago, Team Fort Osage was created in order to receive staff feedback regarding important topics impacting the district. Like in years past, ⅓ of the current members will rotate off the committee. New Team Fort Osage members will be selected to replace the vacant spots. The members of Team Fort Osage for the 2024-2025 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 2024-2025 school year. Certificated STaff
Classified Staff
For those of you interested, a potted plant from the Fort Osage FFA will be given away to one lucky winner. To enter, send an email to [email protected] with "Plant” in the subject line. Entries will be accepted until 8:00 a.m. on April 22nd. Giveaway prizes are not purchased with District funds. Only Fort Osage employees are eligible to enter the drawing. It’s hard to believe that spring sports have begun and spring break is on the horizon. Thank you for continuing to make Fort Osage a special place! You are making a positive difference each and every day! Keep up the good work! Receiving staff feedback continues to be a priority for me. Several years ago Team Fort Osage was created in order to receive feedback regarding important topics impacting the district. Two years ago I began receiving additional input from staff with the creation of the Superintendent Advisory Committee. This has proven to be valuable not only to share information but more importantly listen to areas of improvement provided by each committee. Next year I will continue both Team Fort Osage and the Superintendent Advisory Committees. More information will be provided on each committee later this spring. The salary proposals that I emailed about last week will be voted on by the Board at the March 12 meeting. Certificated contracts will be sent after spring break. Classified letters of assurance, with the new salary and placement information, will be sent in May. Separately, I will be proposing the FY 25 budget in it's entirety to the Board of Education at the June meeting. Beyond salaries the budget includes health insurance, Career Ladder, and other expenditures of the District. If you have any questions you may contact the human resources department at 816-650-7004 or email Debbie Peterson at [email protected]. The legislative session began in Jefferson City on January 4th and will end on May 10th. There are over 300 education bills that have been filed. Below are a few bills to which I’m paying special attention. HB 1989: Open Enrollment - Passed the House and now has moved to the Senate. HB 1911: Voucher Tax Credits - It would likely reduce revenue for public schools. SB 784: 5 Day School Week - Provides financial incentives to school districts who operate school five days a week. It passed out of the Senate Select Committee. SB 1392: Voucher Tax Credits - It would expand voucher programs and charter school expansion in St. Charles and St. Louis Counties as well as the City of Columbia. This bill could be expanded on the Senate floor to include Jackson and Clay Counties. HJR 21: County Assessor - Currently, Jackson County is exempt from the Missouri Constitutional provision requiring county assessors to be elected. Upon voter approval, this resolution would repeal that exemption and the county assessor would be an elected position. SB 799: Personal Property Tax - It would depreciate someone’s personal property at a faster rate which would reduce revenue. HB 2430: Personal Property Tax - Lowers the percentage assessors place on personal property from 33 ⅓% to 31%. This would cut personal property revenue by 7.4%. HB 1486: Early Childhood Expansion - It would allow districts to receive the same funding for 3 and 4 year olds as students K-12. For those of you interested, a $25.00 gift card to A Little BBQ Joint, located on 24 highway in Independence, will be given away to one lucky winner. To enter, send an email to [email protected] with "BBQ” in the subject line. Entries will be accepted until 8:00 a.m. on March 11. Giveaway prizes are not purchased with District funds. Only Fort Osage employees are eligible to enter the drawing. I’m grateful for each staff member making contributions toward student success. Thank you for the countless things you do to make our District successful. You help make Fort Osage a special place to educate students. You are truly making a difference each day! Team Fort Osage met for the third time this year on February 6th. Topics of discussion included the budget, health insurance, Career Ladder, salary studies, teacher and classified salary schedules, 2024-2025 classified work calendars, the parent teacher conference trade day, inclement weather days, Fort Connect, and legislation (information provided below on each). Budget I continue to prepare for the fiscal year 2025 budget that begins July 1, 2024. The Governor’s budget proposal includes full funding of transportation as well as the funding of Career Ladder. In recent years DESE has allowed districts to use their 2020 enrollment for state funding which has had a positive impact on revenue. That provision has ended which will decrease our revenue for the upcoming year. I must also be mindful of the state tax cut that went into effect on January 1st which will reduce state revenues by an estimated $1 billion. To end on a positive note, the levy transfer of 2021 continues to have a positive impact on our revenues for the upcoming year. Taking all things into consideration, I’m working to create a balanced budget while also making enhancements to the salary schedules. Health Insurance Fort Osage’s health insurance plan year runs from January 1 through December 31. The insurance claims that ended December 31, 2023 had an annual claims loss of 96%. In other words, for every $1.00 Fort Osage paid into the insurance fund, the provider, Cigna, was paid $0.96. This amounted to a $300,000 savings for the district. Below is the participation for each health insurance plan which began January 1, 2024 Plan 1 ($4,000 HD Local Plus) 126 people (21%) Plan 2 ($4,000 HD) 363 people (60%) Plan 3 ($3,200 HD) 50 people (8%) Plan 4 ($2,000 PPO) 67 people (11%) 606 people Career Ladder Career Ladder continues to have a positive impact on our school district. There are additional student clubs, tutoring opportunities, and more support for beginning teachers than ever before. A survey will be conducted this Spring to receive feedback to determine what has gone well and what we can improve with Career Ladder. Career Ladder Liaisons will meet to share input as well. Salary Studies It’s important that Fort Osage remains competitive with salaries for all staff. In order to achieve that goal, the district has performed various salary studies. Below is a brief history of Fort Osage’s salary studies. 2016-2017- Teacher Salary Study 2017-2018- Classified Salary Study 2022-2023- Teacher and Classified Staff Salary Studies 2023-2024- Extra Duty, Substitute Pay Rates and Administrator Salary Studies – All of these studies are close to completion My goal is to present my salary proposals to the board at the March meeting. Before the meeting we will send the proposed teacher and classified schedules to all staff as well as host a few meetings to review the changes to the extra duty schedule. As part of the substitute pay rate study, we also looked at how districts compensate for unfilled substitute teacher positions which will also be part of the March Board proposal. My goal for the administrator salaries will be to get all employees to “on market”, per the study, as we’ve done with other employees in years past. Teacher and Classified Salary Schedules As most of you may recall, probationary teachers receive a contract from the district prior to May 15 with the current year’s salary. It has been our practice to then recommend any enhancement to the schedule at the June board meeting. This year however, we plan to bring the enhanced teacher salary schedule to the Board for approval in March. The contracts that will be issued to probationary teachers following the March Board meeting will reflect the enhanced 2024-2025 teacher salary schedule. Parent Teacher Conference Trade Day The current student calendar for this year lists secondary parent teacher conferences the week of February 12th - February 15th. Elementary parent teacher conferences are the week of March 11th - March 15th. For certified teaching staff that work the additional 8 evening hours during the designated parent teacher conference week, the trade day for that time will be on March 29th. This was the best solution for the various calendar hurdles this year. For building secretaries, please consult with your administrator on managing your working hours during conference week. Inclement Weather Days DESE requires every school district to attend 1,044 hours in a school year. Fort Osage’s calendar starts with 1,104 hours (60 hours above DESE’s minimum requirement). The first five inclement weather days are AMI and are counted as hours in attendance. After the AMI days have been utilized the hours missed begin to be subtracted from our original calendar. Based on DESE's formula, we will meet the requirement of 1,044 hours because once a certain threshold of inclement weather hours are missed, hours over that threshold are forgiven. *Note DESE defines inclement weather as ice, snow, extreme cold, excessive heat, flooding, or a tornado.* 2024-2025 Classified Work Calendars The work calendars for next year will go to the board for approval on February 13. These calendars are created from the recently Board approved student calendar. The number of scheduled days for all staff remains consistent with this year’s working calendar. Based on input from the calendar survey and Classified Directors, two changes will be made to the calendars for approval. The first change increased the number of holidays for 11 and 12 month employees (from ten to eleven) and the second change adjusted the AMI make-up plan for 144 and 177 day employees in order to provide compensation for the five potential AMI days. Calendars will be distributed to buildings after Board approval and will contain additional information. Please reach out to your supervisor with any additional questions. Fort Connect Nearly 300 people attended the ribbon cutting ceremony at Fort Connect on January 16 at the new Eastgate Commerce Center along Little Blue Parkway. It was a historic day for Fort Osage as students began using the 13,500 square foot space to engage in client based projects. I couldn’t be more excited about the partnership created between Fort Osage and North Point, the owners of the building. North Point invested $1.5 million to construct the space for our students and staff to utilize. Further, the district signed a 20 year lease which costs $10 per year. The most exciting thing about this entire project is the student engagement that is occurring each day in the new program. Legislation The legislative session began in Jefferson City on January 4th and will end on May 10th. There are over 300 education bills that have been filed. Below are a few bills that I’m paying special attention to. HB 1989- Open Enrollment- Recently passed the House and now has moved to the Senate SB 727- Voucher Tax Credits- It would likely reduce revenue for public schools SB 799- Personal Property- It would depreciate someone’s personal property at a faster rate (by 99.9% over 12 Years) which would reduce revenue. HB 1486- Early Childhood Expansion- It would allow districts to receive the same funding for 3 and 4 year olds as students K-12. |
Archives
May 2022
Categories |