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Student parking changes designed to ensure safety
NEW MADRID, Mo. - When students drove onto the New Madrid County Central High School parking lot for the opening day of school Monday, they knew right where to park their vehicles.
This year students are assigned parking spots and required to register their vehicles.
The parking lot rules and vehicle registration were presented to the New Madrid County R-1 Board of Education during their August meeting by Central High School Principal Justin Poley and Anthony Roberts, director of school safety and security.
The District has always had parking lot safety rules, as all school districts in Missouri do, according to Dr. Sam Duncan, superintendent. This year, however, officials are making an effort to ensure all students and their parents are well-informed about them.
“Driving on campus is a privilege,” he said. “The two key points (of the rules) are don’t speed and don’t have anything in a vehicle that you can’t have in the school building. Parking lot safety is just as important as any place on campus.”
In addition to making the parking areas safer for pedestrians, Duncan noted there will be the construction of the new multipurpose building/ FEMA shelter on campus. As part of the construction there will be large trucks moving off and on campus.
“By assigning parking spots, we can verify that we won’t have students parking where these trucks need to come through,” he said.
Also with the assignment of parking spots, the high school seniors will have the opportunity to paint their areas, Duncan pointed out.
Scott Vilas from Navigate updated Board members on the multipurpose/ FEMA building in addition to other construction around the district. Most projects are wrapping up.
In an effort to make school buildings more accessible to the handicapped, a bathroom at the high school was improved this summer. Also the district added handicapped parking spots at the New Madrid Elementary School and is adding automatic push buttons to open doors at the front entrance to Central High School and to the gym.
During the summer, a new basketball court was completed at Lilbourn Elementary and the playground reconfigured for the younger students.
While the painting and new ceiling tiles are complete at the Technical Skills Center, new exterior doors for some of the shops have not arrived. The improvements planned for the welding shop are slated for the fall and the contractor for the installation of air-conditioning units in the building should be announced this fall also.
“Once we get the HVAC units in the shops, then probably the construction will all be done. I think overall there are a lot of nice upgrades for the District,” Duncan said.
In a related matter, Director of District Operations Anthony Young shared a request from city of Howardville for the playground equipment no longer in use at the Lilbourn Elementary playground.
Young also reported on the status of transportation throughout the District.
One of Young’s objectives is to ensure all the buses are clean, inside and out.
“Some of the county roads have gravel and are dusty and this can be a chore for our drivers. We asked the Board if we could allow some of the cleaning duties be contracted out. The buses would be thoroughly cleaned by an outside party at least once a month,” Duncan said. “We love our drivers and want to make their lives easier.”
The Board approved a Fund 4 transfer for 2021-2022 in the amount of $583,485. Duncan explained in 2016, following the closure of Noranda Aluminum Co. and the loss of approximately one-sixth of the District’s operating revenue, that amount was borrowed from the Fund 4.
Describing the Fund 4 as a “rainy day” fund, the superintendent noted since
2016 the district has been able to have a balanced budget and have its Certificate of Deposit investments grow annually.
“The Board wanted to set that money aside while we had it. Put it back there for another day just in case we see something like that again,” Duncan said.
In other action by the Board:
• Beussink, Hey, Roe and Stroder, LLC will perform the audit for the 2021-2022 school year ending June 30.
• The annual tax rate hearing will be at 10 a.m. Aug. 30 at the Central office.
• Duncan sought the Board’s input on the District’ Comprehensive School Improvement Plan goal dealing with climate and culture.
“This has a lot has to do with communications. Internally, we are working on that by putting together a steering committee that will talk about what action steps are needed,” Duncan said. He pointed out the District also has a new app and the ability to easily communicate with parents and others on multiple social media platforms.
• The contract with Premium Mechanical and Automation Inc. was renewed, effective Sept.1 through Aug. 31, 2025. The company maintains the heating and air conditioning systems on the five campuses in the District.
• Under personnel matters, the Board employed Thomas Hunter as a school resource officer for New Madrid Elementary; Rachael Roberts, secretary at New Madrid Elementary; Lyndzi Hart and Lindy Klipfel, special education assistants; Shanta Lerma, special education aide; and Alana Basham, yearbook advisor for Central Middle School.
Resignations were accepted from Bryant Brewer, special education assistant; Ariel Long, special education assistant and Central Middle School yearbook advisor; Karlie Price, teacher assistant; and Julie Whitehead, bus driver.
• The Board reviewed current student handbooks. The handbooks were provided to parents at the school open houses this past week and are available on the District’s website.
• The Board approved Policy JGF “Discipline Reporting and Records” and re-adopted Policy BBFA “Board Member Conflict of Interest and Financial Disclosure,” as required by the state of Missouri.
• The CD investments were reviewed.