The Salem R-80 Board of Education met for its regular meeting Thursday, Nov. 20, in which board members received the 2024-25 audit report; in addition, Superintendent Nathan Wills shared that the district was awarded the $150,000 Volkswagen Trust award in order to purchase a more efficient school bus.
Also in attendance for the evening were board members Dru Howard, Sammi Parker, Andrew Wynn, Phillip Mercer, Marjorie Pyatt, and Chris Heavin. and Assistant Superintendent Dan Copeland.
Under student recognition, the board recognized students John Salyer, Rowan McGrail, Reece England, Emily Jones, Miley Jones, Savanna Sexton, and Shiann Sexton at Upper Elementary for consistently being at the top of the Beanstack leaderboard, a program which encourages enthusiasm in childhood literacy. Mrs. Jones spoke on the program, emphasizing that it promotes students reading for choice, with no testing involved. Students are able to log their reading time, earn badges, and show progress on a leaderboard, alongside their friends to encourage healthy competition.
Auditor Ken Schultz of Schultz, Wood, & Rapp, P.C. provided the board with its audit report, which the board approved unanimously. Schultz shared that the financial statements are “fairly stated.” In the year 2024, the district was in the black by $2,173,000. The year 2025, meanwhile, was in the red by $778,000, which Schultz explained, “was the timing difference between the capital projects fund, and when money was spent versus when money was incurred.”
“When you look at it from the beginning of 2024, you had a fund balance of $7,000,140. At the end of 2025, you’re still at $8,000,535,” further stated Schultz.
“You have three types of loans that equal, at the end of 2025, $2,971,000 worth of principal, of which, going into 2023-24, you were at $3.8 million, so we brought that down almost a million dollars in the last two years,” Schultz said.
Under new business, the board selected Maggie Hogan as the Belcher Scholarship nominee, per board member Pyatt’s recommendation. Hogan, shared Pyatt, had the best GPA, ACT score, and essay-writing skills of the nominees.
The board also approved:
• Tabling the MSBA policy updates, due to needed further discussion
• Bond pre-payment of $110,000 and $5,000 to Gilmore Bell
• Setting the board election filing dates to Dec. 9 – 30
Superintendent’s report
The district was awarded the $150,000 Volkswagen Trust award, which caught Wills by surprise. Communication over email with an individual out of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources informed that there was a grant that may be available to help with purchasing a new bus. After correspondence, Wills was informed Volkswagen provides funding if there is a certain age in the district’s fleet, which covers the approximate cost of a new, more efficient bus, so long as the district doesn’t sell the original bus but recycles and scraps the parts.
“We’ll start to look at that in the spring,” said Wills of upgrading the fleet.
In addition, the Licking VFW donated $1,000 to the robotics team and $1,000 to the FFA program, with Wills expressing that the district appreciates the generosity to the community
Board filings start Dec. 9 and ends Dec. 30 with three, three-year seats open and one, one-year seat to fulfill previous board member Patterson’s term. Salem R-80 Secretary to the Superintendent Shelia Adamick can inform interested filers on time availability for filing.
There will be a “So you want to be a board member?” informational meeting held 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2 for any interested board filers, with another meeting planned in the future following the election.
Also in Wills’ reports:
• Mistee Swank was recognized as the classified staff member of the month, while Jodi Heavin was the certified staff member of the month, as nominated and voted upon by staff.
• The Upper Elementary roof was going to be started over Thanksgiving break, but there was slowdown due to contract language. It has since been taken care off with plans to begin over Christmas.
• The concrete footing has been poured at the Baseball dugouts with more renovations planned in the future. Work has also begun on the track to prevent watershed issues.
• Wills invited the board to visit the school buildings on Dec. 11 and view classroom activities
Administration reports
William Lynch Elementary Principal Herman Blau
The lower elementary is moving right along, reported Blau, with compliments given to the Dent County Student Leadership Council.
Upper Elementary Principal Branden Piatt
Piatt shared that staff are trying to dig more into data for decision making, with a professional development day planned to fully dig into data. Staff are going to be updating essential learning outcomes for students as the students progress through grade levels, with math data to be pulled for third through fifth grade to find consistent curriculum gaps. Staff members plan to fill the gaps as the students move forward in order to create a stronger foundation. Piatt shared he plans to utilize Blau’s strength to help teachers understand what standards are needed going forward.
Middle School Principal Rachel Green
Similar to Piatt, Green shared during professional development day staff will be focused on diving into data and learning from Blau. In addition, Green complimented Blau on facilitating many discussions with principals of the rural schools on how to best prepare eighth graders for high school.
With two ambulances appearing at the middle school over the last month, staff are wanting to ensure students understand the importance of safety. Staff are also discussing how best to assign discipline and consequences for teachable moments.
Due to scheduling conflicts, there will be no dance in December at the end of the semester, but there are plans to have one in February.
High School Principal Jody Heavin
Staff are focusing on preparing students for life after high school, with plans to implement new things such as Career Day, where students will pick a career and learn a little bit more about it. Tiger Olympics is ongoing with teamwork a priority. Dates for freshman orientation are being discussed for March, as well as February pre-enrollment for rural schools. A parent night following March orientation is being discussed so students may come in with their parents to ask questions.
Heavin thanked the National Guard for continuing work on adding new vinyl to the front of the High School. The vinyl was donated and labor is free.
Heavin also notified board members there are attempts to get representatives to come and tour the schools during class time. Missouri House Representative of District 120, John Hewkin, will be coming in December during Spirit Week.
