Accredited with distinction

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Daily Mail

The Nevada R-5 School District has achieved the designation of Accredited with Distinction in Performance for the eighth consecutive year. To qualify for the honor the district must meet all required performance areas on the Missouri Assessment Program test and must earn 13 points on the Annual Performance Report.

Superintendent Craig Noah credits the work of the staff, parents and students with this accomplishment.

"This recognition is a direct reflection of the hard work and dedication of our outstanding staff and the incredible support we receive from our parents and community," Noah said. "This is truly an honor for our district and community as this level of achievement is rarely received for most public school districts, let alone for eight consecutive years. Our staff, parents and students should be very proud of this accomplishment; and it is certainly an honor to work with such a gifted and talented group of people."

Noah updated the board on the state funding formula, which is being phased in over several years. Formerly, school districts could leverage state funding on a two-to-one basis, for every dollar of local funding the state would contribute $2. Now the funding is based on spending per pupil. The state's target is currently $6,117 but will be re-evaluated every two years.

"Currently 30 percent of public school funding is based on the new formula and the remaining 70 percent is based off of the 2005-'06 base year. Next year, the new formula will make up 44 percent and the remaining 56 percent will be from the old formula. That will continue to change until the new formula is fully funded."

Larry Forkner, who was absent from the board meeting because of another activity, was assigned to the Missouri School Board Association's John T. Belcher Scholarship Committee. The committee will nominate a Nevada High School student by Dec. 7 for eligibility.

"It's traditional for the vice president of the board to be on the committee," Noah said. "It wasn't because Larry was gone tonight."

The board looked at several bids for a new technology van and decided on a Chevrolet cargo van from Guthrie Motors. Several van weren't considered because they were passenger van and the technology staff was looking for a van that would best fit their needs, and a cargo van was the best fit. The 2000 van they decided on had 92,361 miles and cost $8,000. Noah said the van was only used to transport equipment around the district and in previous years the staff put less than a 1,000 miles on their vehicle.

The board reviewed the high school math department technology presentation on the use of graphing calculators and several other programs; the Nevada Regional Technical Center, the Adult/Community Education Program, and the Library/Media Services Program.