The Jackson R-2 School District has made moves in the past year to correct its financial situation after the failure of Proposition T last year, as well as Propositions I and N in 2023. The propositions aimed to raise teacher salaries, as well as keep class sizes small as the district continues to grow.
“After the proposition did not pass last year, we immediately started taking steps to make our financial situation a little bit better so we can weather the storm,” Superintendent Scott Smith said.
The district made around $2 million in budget cuts last year, including the closure of Millersville and Gordonville elementary schools at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. The two schools served an average of 39 kindergarten through second-grade students each.
Gordonville Elementary School was sold to Zion Methodist Church of Gordonville, which has turned the building into the Zion Early Childhood Center. Millersville Elementary School was purchased by Json Properties and is being renovated into apartments.
“Both buildings are still being utilized to help each community, which is really good to see,” Smith said. “The reason we wanted to go ahead and sell the buildings rather than letting them sit there was so they could be utilized by another entity while they were still in the best shape that they could be.”
Starting in fall 2024, students who previously attended Millersville Elementary are now at West Lane Elementary School and students who attended Gordonville Elementary are now at South Elementary School.
“The buildings were small enough that West Lane and South were able to absorb that group of students,” Associate Superintendent Janelle Pope said. “That’s where these students went for third grade anyway, so it made the most sense for them to attend those buildings.”
Besides a few retirees, all staff members at Gordonville and Millersville were moved to other schools in the district. Pope said the district was able to plan for the staff transition, leaving positions open when teachers retired or resigned at other schools.
“Over the last two years, we have had to reduce our certified staff members by around 26 positions, which has caused larger class sizes in the district,” Smith said. “At this time, we feel like our budget is much better. State funding has come in the way it should – we are still receiving less than anticipated, but due to our budgeting processes, we’ve been okay.”
Although the district was not able to give teachers the 10% wage increase over two years planned if Proposition T passed, the district was able to include a 3% cost of living raise for all staff members in the 2024-2025 budget.
“We have done our best to listen to our teachers and find out what they wanted to see,” Pope said. “We’ve been a little bit more creative to give teachers incentives to stay with us, and they have really appreciated that.”
The district combined sick days and personal days for employees, giving teachers more flexibility to use their paid time off.
Teachers will also receive $75 at the end of the year for every PTO day they don’t use. In addition, those unused PTO days will be rolled over to the next year.
Pope said the district has worked to make sure employees receive high-quality insurance that is also affordable for the district.
The district switched to a self-funded health insurance plan this year, partnering with Saint Francis Healthcare System to provide cheaper costs for employees.
The employee dress code was also changed this school year, allowing employees to wear jeans to work. Previously, jeans could only be worn on Fridays or for special events.
Smith said the need for more funding is still there, but the district is trying to be fiscally conservative in everything they do.
“While we make decisions, we’re trying to determine what has the least impact on our students, and how we can run the district as financially responsible as possible while providing a great education.”
Academics
The Jackson R-2 School District received an 86.3% Annual Performance Report (APR) from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The district’s score from the state has continued to increase over the past three years under the current scoring program.
“If you look at the last four years of our achievements as a district, we are continuing to see our academics improve,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of different variables for the reasoning of that, but I give a lot of credit to our staff at all levels focusing in on what is best for each child.”
Associate Superintendent Jessica Maxwell said data has been a big priority for teachers in the district – with the district providing benchmark assessments to see how students are performing academically throughout the school year.
“We are constantly talking about priority standards and instruction techniques, finding ways to shift what we’re doing in the classroom to help more students master the standards and concepts we’re teaching,” Maxwell said.
Pope added that the district has expanded its training on the science of reading, which has been implemented at the elementary level since 2021, to include teachers at the secondary buildings.
Teachers have also focused on curriculum work, with the district now publishing curriculum documents including the learning standards and units for each class on the district’s website.
“We have spent a lot of time with our staff to ensure we have a viable living curriculum in every subject area and every grade level,” Pope said. “It’s been an ongoing process, and it will continue to be, but it took years for us to get that for every single course.”
Finances
Assistant Superintendent Matt Lacy said the district’s finances are currently stable, because of the budget cuts and other measures made to increase revenue in the district.
“We’ve taken a very conservative approach, but are also looking at every angle – whether that is pursuing grants or visiting with the state on how to maximize our state revenue,” Lacy said.
The district estimated its average daily attendance with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to receive state funding earlier this school year and net additional funds. Lacy estimated that 34% of the district’s overall revenue comes from the State of Missouri.
The district also worked to explore investment opportunities – including purchasing treasury securities and refinancing the district’s 2017 general obligation bond. The treasury securities are estimated to raise $28,000 of additional revenue for the district, while the refinancing will save the district more than $225,000 over the course of the repayment period.
“We are trying to be good stewards of tax dollars,” Lacy said. “If we can get a better interest rate, then we’re going to take that angle and invest it wisely.”
The district is partnering with the Bank of Missouri on debit cards that help support the district. The bank donates a percentage of sales from the debit card to the district’s foundation, without costing the consumer anything.
Enrollment
The district is continuing to see increases in enrollment – especially at the secondary schools. Jackson High School currently has 1691 students not including early graduates, with the sophomore class having the highest class size of 460 students.
“Jackson is a place that people want to live,” Smith said. “They’re very proud of their community, they’re very proud of their schools and they want to send their students to Jackson R-2. We’re very proud of that, and we want to continue to offer the best education possible.”
The district held its annual Kindergarten enrollment night on March 6 for families with children who will turn five years old before Aug. 1. Families who were unable to attend the event can complete the enrollment process online on the district’s website.
In addition, the waiting list to enroll in the district’s early childhood program includes 826 children. Maxwell stated that some of those children are under three years old and aren’t eligible for the program yet.
“We know from these numbers and our focus groups that early childhood education is a huge need in our community, but we just don’t have the space for it at this time,” Chief Marketing and Communications Director Merideth Pobst said.
Capital projects
The district has focused on maintenance projects at its school buildings – installing a new roof at South Elementary, replacing the HVAC system at East Elementary and adding stairs at the district’s soccer field to make it more accessible.
Other projects included moving the recess location at the junior high, adding a fence around the Jackson High School courtyard and adding secure foyers at all district schools. Smith said much of this work was done by the district’s maintenance department.
“Our maintenance crew saves this district so much money,” Smith said. “They are very skilled laborers that have the knowledge and expertise to handle a lot of things in-house where other industries would have to outsource.”
Other safety addition this year include the purchase of new weapon detectors for school events and installing stop arm cameras on the school buses. “We are constantly looking at ways to improve the safety of our district,” Assistant Superintendent Keenan Kinder said.
The district plans on adding a new roof at the junior high school this summer, as well as partnering with the City of Jackson and the Missouri Department of Transportation to add new crosswalks and sidewalks near the middle school.
Communication
Smith said the district has worked the past few years to increase communication with the Jackson community. The district hosts Coffee and Conversation events monthly, usually the second Thursday of the month at the Jackson Civic Center, where community members can learn more about the district.
“They are open to the public and we would love to see people come,” Smith said.
Smith has also started writing several columns each month to be published in The Cash-Book Journal on various topics related to the school district.
