Shelby County R-IV Bracing for State Funding Cuts
By Mark Requet
The Shelby County R-IV School Board met in regular session on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, in the middle school library.
The meeting was called to order and the current agenda and minutes from the previous meeting were approved.
The current board was resolved, and board members Jeanette Poore, Stewart Hatcher, Kim Buckman, and Lindsey Perotti were sworn in. Perotti was elected President and Aaron Kendrick was elected Vice President. Outgoing board members Darin Eleazarraraz and Kendal Wood were presented a plaque and several gifts for serving on the board.
A motion was seconded and approved to approve the consent agenda items.
A motion was seconded and approved to approve the current month’s bills.
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Billy Daleske spoke about the MSIP 6 CSIP score. He said they had turned in information to DESI in the fall, in response to questions regarding the fidelity of implementation and how they are handling their CSIP. Daleske said he met with Jill Janes, and she was very complimentary of the board, the district, the administration and the teachers with the input they provided with the CSIP. She had suggestions for improvement. There is an annual CSIP meeting on April 28 at 4:30 p.m., which will be open to staff, patrons of the district, and board members.
For the financial report, the district has received just over 85 percent of its current estimated revenues. They have expended approximately over 71 percent of its estimated expenditures.
Daleske spoke about the expense reduction plan moving forward. With the projected State Adequacy Target for next year going down, it will create a possible deficit of $225,000 for next year, with the states proposal to reduce transportation funding that will increase it more.
“Our plan to address this is to absorb positions through attrition, while still meeting student needs and continuing to look to reduce spending in other areas in order to erase this,” stated Daleske. “The number of students signing up for summer school has been insufficient to cover the cost of the program for some time, and we currently do not have enough signed up to warrant offering it this coming summer, outside of offering credit recovery in the high school.”
He said it takes approximately 100 kids to attend summer school in order for the school to break even and for it to make sense to offer it. Daleske added with the cost of fuel going up, along with food prices, it’s a reasonable thing to do.
“It’s not uncommon across the state. I talked to a neighboring school who has offered summer school for a long time, and they are not offering it this summer,” said Daleske. “Everyone is in a position where you have to tighten where you can and save where you can because we don’t know what the future holds.”
Daleske added that attendance at Monday Academy that is currently being offered has also been on a decline. They only had eight students at the last session. While these programs offer benefits to the students who take advantage of them, the low numbers of participants, coupled with state budget shortfall projections, the district is forced to take a closer look at these offerings.
“If the community is saying ‘the state is cutting your funding, what are you all doing?’” said board member Scott Gough. “We’re down seven and half positions next year and that’s a big deal!”
Gough continued, “We’re not having summer school and we’re not going to run the shuttle buses next year.”
“We’re cutting a lot of nice things, but it doesn’t affect a large number of kids,” said board member Poore.
Daleske said they need to try and focus the resources on things that they have to do. He said when they run the buses for the shuttle routes and Monday Academy, the miles aren’t reimbursable, so it’s costing the district money.
“It makes what the state’s doing real in Shelby County,” added Gough. “That’s what they’re doing, so this is how we have to react. It’s up to us as a board to get the message out to the people.”
Hatcher added that it just can’t be something they’re cutting, but something they’re doing because of the state funding.
“The main context of it is that if they’re paying us at $7,145 (per student), we run really close to a balanced budget,” said Daleske. “They cut it to $6,740; there’s a deficit of $225,000 immediately if we take no action.”
Gough added with the action the board is taking, it should be getting the district back to a balanced budget.
“It’s not a fun process when you have to go in and tell a teacher ‘You’re not coming back next year’ when they want to come back,” said Gough, who said he experienced that 15 years ago. “Cutting when they’re leaving is a heck of a lot easier and that’s what we’re doing here.”
Daleske said this process is intended to help them avoid this situation in the future.
He also added the plan to reduce staff has been part of the overall plan moving forward with the enrollment numbers declining, but the retirements and resignations have allowed them to do it sooner.
Principal’s Report
Elementary Principal Katie Stueve said they had a very successful dodgeball night last month, which was a PTO fundraiser. She thanked the PTO because they have spent over $2,500 on classroom supplies for teachers this year. Funds earned will go back to the students for field trips and classroom supplies throughout the year.
Kindergarten Screening was held on March 16th-18th. They had 38 kindergarten students on the roster for next school year.
“Next week, we will be having preschool screening and will be able get some solid numbers on where we are,” said Stueve. “When we moved into the elementary building, we were three sections per grade. After next year, we will be down to two sections per grade.”
She said DARE graduation was recently held, and they had four kids win the DARE essays and they read their essays in front of their classmates.
Middle School Principal Curt Bowen said the 2026 Missouri State Archery Tournament was held March 18-21 at the Branson Convention Center and drew more than 4,300 student archers in grades 4-12 from more than 300 schools across the state.
“Our students represented our school very well and performed at a high level. It is a huge event and a great experience for our kids,” said Bowen.
He said track season is going strong. They host two middle school track meets this year, with one already completed. It went very well, especially considering the number of teams and entries we hosted.
Bowen said hunter’s education and boat safety has wrapped up and they had several kids certified in those areas.
Bowen said MAP testing will start in a few weeks. The teachers continue preparing students for the MAP test and helping them push through what is typically a challenging quarter. They are also monitoring student grades closely. Teachers are identifying students who are at risk and providing additional support and interventions to help them stay on track. Bowen said the goal is to finish the year strong academically.
High School Principal Tim Maddex said mid quarter grades are coming out April 17. The eight-day grade check will determine prom eligibility. Any student with an F at mid-quarter, that doesn’t get their grade up by the eight-day grade check will be ineligible for prom. Students can use Monday Academy on April 20 to get their grades up as well. Prom is May 2. The PRIDE Parent Group will have an After Prom Party in the MS Gym.
Graduation is on May 17 and Maddex will be sending information out to the parents through the text caster at the school to remind them of events coming up and the dates and times, and what their kids would need to be doing for the event.
“As we look at Math curriculum for next school year, we are going to offer Algebra A, which is kind of a slow Algebra 1,” said Maddex. “The second year, the kid would go into Algebra 1 instead of Algebra B. This will prepare them for a faster based course as they progress through high school.”
Informal Geometry course will have “Math for Trades” applications built into the class, focusing on the geometric ideas needed for trade careers.
“We think this will add more hands-on experiences to the course and provide our students with trade careers aspirations more, real life applications,” added Maddex.
Maddex said they are going to have students take the EOC tests during their class time in the classroom this year instead of having it in the gym, hoping it will be less distractive to the students.
Maddex highlighted the SPED team who take kids that need help with modifications and accommodations on those tests and spend hours making sure the kids get what they need to get done to get the best score possible.
New Business
A motion was seconded and approved to approve the District Career Ladder Participation for 2026-2027.
A motion was seconded and approved to accept the Depository Bid for 2026-2031 from Community State Bank.
Closed Session
A motion was seconded and approved to accept the Resignation Letter for Carl Parman, Physical Education Teacher, Football Assistant Coach and High School/JV Boys Basketball Coach.
A motion was seconded and approved to accept the Resignation Letter for Kristina Parman, Ag Teacher, FFA Advisor and Softball Coach.
A motion was seconded and approved to accept the Resignation Letter for Oliva Coon, Elementary Music Teacher, 5th Grade Program/Musical Sponsor, Elementary Honor Choir Sponsor and Middle School Basketball Cheer Coach.
A motion was seconded and approved to accept the Resignation Letter for Caitlyn Poore, Middle School English Teacher, High School Track Coach and High School Girls Golf Coach.
A motion was seconded and approved to hire Izzy Freymuth as the Vo-Ag Teacher and FFA Sponsor for the 2026-2027 School Year.
A motion was seconded and approved to hire Alyssa Jackson, Special Education Teacher for the 2026-2027 School Year.
A motion was seconded and approved to hire Shelby Buckman, Paraprofessional for the 2026-2027 School Year.
A motion was seconded and approved to approve the Shelby County R-IV Non Certified Staff Recommendations for 2026-2027 as presented by Dr. Daleske.
A motion was seconded and approved to approve the Shelby County R-IV Extra Duty Assignments as presented by Dr. Daleske.
