ENews: March 17, 2023
March 23: Spring Conferences
March 27-31: Spring Break
April 5: K-5 Art Show
April 6: Kindergarten Readiness Event hosted by Parents As Teachers
April 19: Board of Education Meeting
April 26: Kindergarten Orientation
You can view the district calendar in ParentSquare or subscribe to the calendar here.
You can subscribe to the District and Athletics & Activities events and calendar here.
Each year, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) generates an Annual Performance Report (APR) for all districts across the state. This year’s Annual Performance Report (APR) will be the first under Missouri School Improvement Plan (MSIP) 6, which outlines expectations for school practices and student outcomes with the goal of each student graduating ready for college, career, and life success. The indicators evaluated on the MSIP 6 APR are divided into performance and continuous improvement metrics.
The Hallsville School District was awarded an 83.5% score on the Annual Performance Report (APR) for the 2021-2022 school year. The District attributes its success to purposeful and systematic continuous improvement endeavors embedded across the district that are directly linked to student achievement and preparing all students for success. Assistant Superintendent Julie Esquivel affirmed, “A score of 83.5% is a good starting point under MSIP 6 and shows the hard work our students, teachers, principals, and instructional staff do daily to yield such results. Our school leaders, faculty, and Board of Education look forward to having consistent and comparable annual state data to support continuous improvement and refine our practices.”
Moving forward, English Language Arts and subgroup achievement will be the district's primary focus. Our administration, teacher-leaders, and faculty teams have initiated action plans for curricular and instructional changes in addressing vertical alignment, subgroup achievement gaps, and the continued impact of the pandemic on student learning. Elementary, special education, and Title I teachers; and interventionists have committed to receiving training in Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS), part of DESE’s Missouri Read, Lead, Exceed Initiative. This intensive two-year professional development training will assist teachers with learning the science behind how children learn to read and how to apply this knowledge to make curricular adjustments within their classroom. These focuses will allow the district to address changes to curricular and instructional needs to better reach all learners.
In addition, the Hallsville School District is committed to focusing on continuous improvement through the district’s Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP), as required under MSIP 6. Hallsville’s CSIP reflects the district’s priorities in student learning, student-focused climate, excellent staff, and quality governance and is critical for establishing district goals, developing action plans, and monitoring progress to enhance the education of our students. Our district uses this framework to ensure that every student is successful with a rigorous and relevant curriculum.
The Hallsville School District is committed to providing a comprehensive instructional program for every student in order to support our vision of improving lives through learning to fulfill our mission that all students will reach their potential.
Construction work packages were let for bid at the end of January. SM Wilson evaluated bids and made recommendations to the Board of Education at a special meeting on March 2. At that meeting, the Board approved the selection of bids as recommended by SM Wilson, and voted to move forward with the following: (1) the base bid package, which includes the addition of a middle school wing and the relocation of the athletic track to the stadium complex; and (2) installation of an artificial playing surface at the football field. The GMP amendment was presented for Board approval and approved at the meeting.
The district secured Builder’s Risk insurance for the construction projects this week. Builder’s Risk is provided by MUSIC on projects up to $50,000,000 at no additional cost to its members. The district attorney is coordinating with the water district, the city, Klingner, and SM Wilson on the transfer of a small portion of the water tower parcel to the district, along with a construction easement to allow for the installation of a portion of the athletic track, retaining wall, and fencing near the tower.
Registration for summer school is now open! Summer school is offered Tuesday through Friday for students entering 1st-12th grade June 13, 2023, through June 30, 2023, from 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Kindergarten Jumpstart is a half-day program for students entering kindergarten in the fall of 2023. The program runs from June 20 - June 30. There is a morning AM class from 8:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. and an afternoon PM class from 12:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
The CTA hosted a School Board Candidate Forum on Wednesday, March 8, at 6:30 p.m. in the Hallsville Primary School commons. Board candidates who have filed for the Tuesday, April 4 election were in attendance to answer questions and meet the community. Five candidates are running for three open seats.
Halllsville's CTA gathered questions from the staff and community of the Hallsville School District and sent them to the four candidates running for a seat on the Hallsville School Board. These questions have been answered and can be viewed online or by selecting the documents below. Hallsville's CTA understands the importance of providing information from the board candidates to members of the community so everyone can make their own informed decision. If you have any follow-up questions, please feel free to contact Kayla Eads, CTA President, at keads@hallsville.org.
School Board Candidate Responses (in order of filing):
Yearbooks are now on sale! Elementary books (PreK-8th grade) are $15, and High School yearbooks are $40. Online order form links are below. All orders must be placed by Friday, March 24.
Order an elementary book (grades PreK-8): Code 23929
Order a high school book (grades 9-12): Code 23923
Please take a few minutes to complete registration and enrollment for the 2023-2024 school year. Enrollment numbers help determine the number of classroom teachers needed for each section and class offerings. All registration must be completed by Tuesday, March 21.
For families that need access to a computer, on-campus registration is available. Please call our Registrar’s Office at 573-696-5512 ext. 1440 or email registration@hallsville.org to schedule an appointment.
Below are highlights of items discussed during the open session on Wednesday, March 15, Board of Education meeting. The full agenda is available on the district website. The April Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 19. When available, the agenda can be viewed here. You can also view the full highlights of previous meetings here.
RECOGNITIONS
In 2014, the primary library began a partnership with a group of dogs and their owners from Teacher’s Pet dog training. All of the dogs are certified therapy dogs and have received many hours of classes and testing to be certified. Mr. Downs recognized the dogs and their owners for coming to read to students.
Billy Roberts and Forrest Cunningham were recognized for their dedication to keeping Hallsville school buses safe. During the Missouri State Highway Patrol annual bus inspection, the district received a score of 95%.
Mr. Blakemore recognized the following student groups:
HHS Wrestling: Eight wrestlers qualified for the MSHSAA State Tournament held on February 22-23 at Mizzou Arena. The team finished in 10th place overall. Gavynn Carpenter won the state championship at 144 pounds, ending his career with 3rd-2nd-2nd-1st place finishes at the State Tournament. Parker Crane finished as the state runner-up at 138 pounds. Candace Calvert was the first female wrestler from Hallsville to qualify for the State Tournament.
HHS Cheerleading: The varsity cheerleaders participated in the Missouri State Cheerleading Game Day Championships in Springfield in February. They competed in three different categories against eleven other teams, which included a cheer, a fight song routine, and a band dance routine. They finished the competition with first place results in each category and were recognized as the overall State Champion in our classification!
HHS Quiz Bowl: The Quiz Bowl team completed the conference portion of our season with the Tri-County Conference Tournament. Hallsville won the championship game 450-100 to win our 13th Conference Championship in a row. During that time we have gone 138-1 in conference play. The Tri-County Quiz Bowl coaches released their All-Conference selections. Luke Ketchum made 1st team All-Conference and Ethan Vordtriede was 2nd team All-Conference.
In honor of National Reading Month, Mrs. Morris recognized intermediate school building reading specialists: Sherri Briedwell, Jolyn Westhoff, Mindy Demsich, Nicki Klasing, and Denise Rock. Each of these ladies has a passion for reading and strives every day to ensure students have access to the tools they need to succeed.
Mr. Downs recognized the Board of Education for the role they play within the school community and the support they provide to the students of Hallsville and the district. School Board recognition is held during March, and each year it is a time to honor the dedicated service of local board of education members. Students in the Intro to Ag Mechanics class made each board member a decorative metal arrow with their last using the plasma cutting machine.
PROGRAM EVALUATIONS
With each program evaluation, strengths, concerns, and future recommendations are reviewed. The board approved the following program evaluations.
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES
The Board approved a Memorandum of Understanding with Compass Health and The University of Missouri Bridge Program. Compass Health provides school-based direct behavioral and physical health services to students, and this MOU allows for the placement of additional Compass Health personnel. This is a grant-funded program that operates at no direct cost to the district. The MU Bridge Program provides school-based direct behavioral health services to Hallsville students in need of support. The MOU will allow the continuation of those services for an additional school year. The Bridge Program is funded by the Boone County Children's Services Fund and operates at no direct cost to the district.
PRELIMINARY FY24 BUDGET
Mr. Downs and Mr. Hoffman are planning on presenting preliminary numbers for the 2023-2024 school year during the April Board meeting. Preliminary revenue estimates indicate a moderate increase due to growing enrollment, new construction, reassessment, and sales tax collections. Paired with an FY23 budget surplus that exceeded our projections, the district is in a favorable budget position. Major requests for next year include various additional positions and increased wages for both certified and classified staff. We have received a 10.4% increase on our medical insurance premiums for next year, yielding an expected additional expenditure of roughly $126,000. The governor has proposed the continuation of the $38,000 baseline teacher salary grant, along with Career Ladder. While the district will likely not know if these are funded until May, we are working up the expected costs for these programs, along with additional funding toward wages.
PBIS
The district is continuing its work on a long-term strategic plan for our district-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) implementation. PBIS is an evidence-based, tiered framework for supporting students’ behavioral, academic, social, emotional, and mental health. The district continues to work with Dr. Kelsey Morris, Co-Director for MU’s Center for School-wide PBS to guide our planning process. Following the PBIS Implementation Blueprint, the district completed a District Systems Fidelity Inventory (DSFI). The District Wide PBIS Leadership team, comprised of district administrators, building principals, counselors, and interventionists, met in February to review the DSFI data and determined the areas of highest priority: Stakeholder Engagement, Training, and Evaluation. This team will continue to meet throughout the spring to set goals and create action plans for each of these priority areas before the end of the school year.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Literacy has been an ongoing topic of discussion for several years. Teachers and administrators have worked hard to implement new curriculum resources, analyze state and local data, create time for interventions, and continue to problem-solve when students don’t make expected progress. After much discussion and consideration, primary and elementary buildings have committed to training the full K-5 teaching staff in LETRS, Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling. This is a two-year program that is part of DESE’s Missouri Read, Learn, Exceed Initiative.
SCHOOL SAFETY
Governor Parson signed the Fiscal Year 2023 early supplemental budget bill, which includes $20 million to provide school safety grants to Missouri local education agencies. The grant program aims to support physical security upgrades and associated technology in school facilities (e.g., door locks, monitoring systems), bleeding control kits, and automatic external defibrillators.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is finalizing the grant details and will share allowable uses and further guidance with schools in the near future. The Governor’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget recommendations include an additional $50 million to further support school safety efforts.
Twisters Hockey: Learn to Play Clinics
Twisters Hockey is hosting Learn to Play Clinics in March! Students ages 5 to 18 of all skill levels are encouraged to attend! For more information, please follow Twisters Hockey on Facebook!
Hallsville Little League registration is still open for students entering kindergarten through 8th grade.
City of Hallsville Easter Egg Hunt
Join the City of Hallsville for their annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 8 at Tribble Park! The hunt begins at 9:00 a.m., and they will have staggered start times for all ages. You can also stop by and have your picture taken with the Easter Bunny!
