Dr. Brandon Gregory, North County superintendent, explains the MSBA policy and procedures updates. Dan Schunks

Sometimes it pays to be in the right place at the right time, as Megan Todd found out at the North County School Board meeting held on August 21. Todd approached the board seeking an increase in the rate of pay for substitute teachers in the North County district. The existing sub pay was $90 a day for a substitute with a degree and $85 a day for those without a degree.

She said, “I’m here to speak on behalf of many substitutes who serve your school with dedication, often on short notice, and with no benefits. Many of us do this job out of love for your students, but that should not come at a cost, out of basic fairness.” Continuing, she said, “I’m requesting you, as board members, to review current substitute compensation, to consider a tiered or minimum hourly equivalent pay model, to provide transparency on how rates are determined.”

After her presentation, North County superintendent, Dr. Brandon Gregory, told the board that this very issue was addressed in the consent agenda, which was yet to be taken up, and that his recommendation was to raise the rate to $110 a day for those with a degree, and $105 for those without. This would keep North County in line with substitute pay in other area districts. The proposal was approved with the rest of the consent agenda.

In action items, the board approved the MSBA Policy and Procedure updates. Dr. Gregory explained that these updates are adjustments to comply with new state laws. He told the board, “Academic achievement and success for all kids is my number one focus and priority. At the end of the day, we’re doing what we do as a school district to see our students succeed and get out there and become better citizens. You look at curriculum instruction, professional development, providing the teachers the training they need, make sure we’ve got the proper curriculum in there, make sure we keep the textbooks, and we keep the kids updated.” He added, “I don’t want you guys to look at me as a micromanager, but I also want people to understand that this stuff is important to me.” The updates are an annual occurrence, bringing school policies in line with new laws passed by the General Assembly. The updates were approved.

Dr. Jessica Mattingly gave her inaugural report to the board as Assistant Superintendent over elementary and transportation. She reported that open houses at North County Primary, Parkside, and Intermediate were well attended, with over 80% of student families attending. The Primary school has an organization called Primary Raider Connection, Which is a parent-teacher organization where they have a merch store. They can raise money for field trips and other activities.” She added that the first day went well at all the campuses.

Assistant Superintendent Jason Toney reported that attendance for the middle school open house was approximately 72%, while at the high school, 424 students and their families attended. After the high school open house, “It was a large group at the high school. It was fantastic to see. We were able to finish that up with a great rally as we always do.” He informed the board that Miss Jennifer Stokes was awarded a $500 grant on behalf of the Mineral Area Council of the Arts, the Future Artists Fund, to use for classroom supplies. He added, the Reading Success Plan (RSP) is being instituted in the 7th grade.

In communicating UniTec status, he said that the annex building is nearly complete. “We’re waiting on one part for the welding HVAC. As soon as they get that, we should be good to go. One of the conversations we’ve had with Dr. Gregory and Mr. Marler, who is the new UniTec director, is making sure that we are engaging with the community, and the community has done so much for our school district and for UniTec, so we’re trying to figure out ways to give back to the community. UniTec is working with the city of Bonne Terre on a project for Heritage Hall. We’re looking for opportunities where we can give back to our community as well.”

Dr. Gregory told the board that the new state-wide ban on cell phones was, at North County, proceeding well. Students were talking to each other at lunch instead of fixating on their phones.

Attendance had not stabilized yet, with new students still enrolling. “It’s going to take a few days to settle in,” Gregory said. “We’re still ordering textbooks for primary and intermediate. Just based on what I’ve heard of primary, it looks like our enrollment numbers see a bit of a baby bump. I think we’ll see an increase.”

Concluding, he said, “I just want to thank the custodial maintenance department for getting everything together over the summer. Thanks to the staff, the parents, the guardians, everybody who’s made this week good so far. It’s just not possible without everything they’ve done, and I appreciate it and what they did for us.”

Dan Schunks is a staff writer for the Daily Journal and Farmington Press. He can be reached at [email protected].



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