ElDo School Board reorganizes

Prior to the June 11 R-II School Board meeting, the old board certified the results of the June 2 election. Then the old board disbanded.

Darrell Eason said, “I’m done.” He had been on the board 21 years and two months.

Supt. Mark Koca acted as interim chair while the board reorganized.

Board Secretary Tonia Molz administered the oath of office to Craig Carpenter and RJ Kinnet. The other newly re-elected board member, Mark Burley, could not be present.

On a motion by Bennie Brower, second by Chad Whitesell, the board elected Josh Floyd president.

On a motion by Nathan Murry, second by Brower, the board elected Chad Whitesell vice president.

The board went into open session and gave out plaques: Terry Shepard – 3 years as a board member; Darrell Eason – 21 years on the board; Teachers and administrators: Mark Koca – 21 years at ElDo, the last nine as superintendent, plus 11 years at other schools for a total of 32 years; Linda Perrodin – 13, Jeanne Mark – 11, Phillip Martin (not present) – 16 1⁄2, Becky Cooper – 25, Sharon Newman – 25 and Tracy Lanser (Elementary Principal) – 34.

Supt. Koca told how the school got the grant to build the Early Childhood Center. “Somebody put a bug in my ear that nobody was applying so we only had three weeks to put together a proposal. The grant was almost a million dollars to build a building. Which is unheard  of. You don’t ever get grants to build a building.” He recognized the teachers that helped make it happen – PAT, Daycare and Title Pre-school. They received the MSBA Early Childhood Center Program of the Year award.

Supt. Koca said that he had created one of his masterpieces for Middle School and High School so when Elementary Principal Tracy Lanser said, “Where’s mine?” he got to work. At the board meeting, he presented Elementary with a large wood U.S. map he had made.

Supt. Koca presented the preliminary budget for FY 21. It won’t be finalized until the end of the month. The capital expenditures for FY 21 were listed.

The CTA salary and welfare committee made a presentation with rankings and comparisons of salaries to surrounding schools.

The board approved the 20-21 salary schedule.

The board approved  Tania Molz as Board Secretary for FY 21.

The board approved Karen Beason as Board treasurer for FY 21.

The board approved a roof repair  proposal from Weatherproofing Technologies or $40,000.

The board reviewed plans for reopening school in August.  Incoming Superintendent Heat Oates gave a brief overview of his plan. He will give a full press release around the first of July when he takes over.

In closed session, the board approved Brittany Summers for 5th grade Special Ed. The board approved extra duty contracts.