The past two days of rain has paid havoc on a lot of local roadways and bridges. It’s also playing a part in adjusting the school’s calendar for the Farmington R-7 School district.

The Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday evening at district offices and — at that meeting — the board approved a revised calendar for the current school year. Up until that meeting, the district had missed a total of 11 days.

“And it looks like we may have to revise it yet again,” said Associate Superintendent Jerry Watson.

Early Wednesday morning, Watson made a phone call to the county dispatchers, enquiring about road conditions due to the flooding.

“They had already listed about 12 to 13 road closings — one right after another,” he said. Watson decided if these roads are deemed unpassable by the county, then the best course of action to take would be to cancel school rather than risk bus driving along these areas.

“We have at least 10 bus routes that pass over low-water bridges or low-water areas,” said Watson.

Another factor in Watson’s decision was when he heard that a portion of Highway 221 had been closed due to water on the roadway.

“There are just too many areas that we couldn’t get to today,” he said.

He said there will need to be yet another revision to the calendar, which at last night’s meeting set the last day at May 27.

In other action at the meeting, the board approved the refunding of the district’s Series 2003A and Series 2003B bonds. The total savings after this refinancing will be approximately $500,034 towards the future interest on the bonds.

L.J. Hart of L.J. Hart and Company presented the proposal to the board. He explained the reasoning for the refunding was the “recent decline in short term interest rates in the municipal bond market”.

Don Eaton, director of the district’s business services, told the board that Hart “does a very good job” of watching the market situations for the district and that this proposal would be a “win/win” situation.

The board gave its approval to a resolution in favor of the April 8 bond issue for constuction of the Area Vocational Technical School on the campus of Mineral Area College. MAC President Dr. Steve Kurtz expressed his thanks to the board and said the Farmington district was the first to show its support for the bond issue.

The board heard reports on the one-year graduate follow-up studies. The report, given by Junior/Senior Counselor Melissa Yount, showed that 63 percent of last year’s graduating class was attending a two- or four-year college. Associate Superintendent Jeff Williams also pointed out the additional 30 percent who stated they were either in a vocational-technical school, military or employed following graduation.

A report was also given on the dual credit program, with 153 juniors or seniors participating. The board also heard about the 2007-08 Health Grant, which the district will apply for again next year.

In other business, the board apporved two change orders for the Truman Kindergarten and Middle school construction projects and heard a report from Watson on the progress of the other construction projects that are a part of the No-tax Increase Bond Issue. In new business, the board placed the 2008-09 school year calendar on a thirty-day review. The calendar shows the first date of the 08-09 school year to be August 14.

Accolades were given to two students who scored perfect on the mathematics portion of the MAP test last year. Lincoln Intermediate Principal Shirley Bieser introduced sixth-graders Jack Davis and Caitlyn Cassimatis and presented them with a special trophy for this accomplishment. Instructor Nancy Zertan said she admired the two students for their “drive, independance and adaptabilty” in her PAGES gifted program classroom. Their parents — Ben and Julie Davis, and Ted and Stacy Cassimatis — were also recognized.

The Heartland Hero Award was presented by Jefferson Principal Sheryl Robinson to parent volunteer Nora LaVella. Robinson credited LaVella for the four years of service as a grade-level chairperson for the school’s Parent/Teacher Group.

The Featured Teacher Award was given to Maureen Massie-Bales in honor of her 31 years of teaching. She has spent the past seven years with the PAGES program. She expressed her gratefullness in the opportunity to teach children and families.

Athletic Director Pat Burns also told the board of the nine high school teams receiving recognition for their academic achievement. The varsit squads of volleyball, cheerleading, girls cross country and girl’s tennis received distinguised achievement and the varsity girl’s golf, Knightline dance team, freshmen volleyball, and junior varsity volleyball and football squads received outstanding achievement recognition from the Missouri State High School Athletics Association.

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