Dear Parents and Guardians,
Over the past several years the district has focused on several important goals including: upgrading
facilities, improving student performance, the implementation of Professional Learning Communities,
and the improvement of salary schedules.
The facilities plan was addressed with two bond issues, one in 2010 and the other in 2015. The 2015
bond construction is scheduled for completion in the next two years.
One of the key measures of student performance is the graduation rate which has improved significantly
to over 87% with the goal to reach 90%. Related to student performance is the implementation of PLC
on a district-wide basis. District staff have participated in training for the last three years. As part of the
implementation of PLC, we continue look for ways to provide a consistent collaboration time across the
district. We currently use early release on the first Friday of the month, common prep times, and the
second prep at the secondary level as times for collaboration. An additional option for collaboration that
is used by some school districts is an early release or late start once per week.
There are two ways to generate funds to improve salary schedules. We can either increase revenues or
decrease expenditures. Most of our revenue comes from property taxes based on local assessed values
of property in the district. This revenue has only increased slightly in recent years and is not expected to
increase greatly in the future. The main source of state revenue comes from the foundation formula.
Due to recent legislation and the legislature’s inability to provide full funding, this source of revenue is
not expected to increase significantly. As a result, we have to investigate our expenditures.
In reviewing our expenditures, we wanted to see where we are and how we compare to other districts.
We utilized a program that has access to all DESE data from all 523 school districts. We created a peer
group of schools based on an enrollment of between 3,000 and 5,000 students and a free and reduced
lunch count of between 35% and 75%. This resulted in a total of 25 schools. There were several notable
findings in the data.
1. We ranked #1 in the amount of operating revenue available per student (#1 CGPS = $10,973,
#2 Camdenton = $10,485, #22 Jackson = $8,151).
2. We also ranked #1 in the total number of teachers even though we were not the largest school
based on enrollment (#1 CGPS = 371, #2 Sedalia = 346, #11 Jackson = 308).
3. We ranked #1 in the lowest number of students per teacher (#1 CGPS = 10.9, #2 Camdenton =
12.6, #25 Jackson = 15.4).
4. We ranked #7 in district cost per student (regular teachers only – does not include SPED or
Career Education) (#1 Fort Osage = $3,922, #7 CGPS = $3,464, #24 Jackson = $2,828).
5. We ranked #24 in Average Teacher Salary. (#1 Fort Osage =$51,008, #21 Jackson = $40,346, #24
CGPS = $39,615, Peer Group Average = $43,852).
In summarizing the data, it appears that we receive more money per student than other school districts.
In addition, we have more teachers than other school districts, but our salaries are lower than most
school districts.
One of the reasons that we have more teachers is that we have an eight period day with two prep
periods at the secondary level. Having an eight period day with two preps rather than a seven period
day with one prep requires additional staff (see calculations below).
CHS
◦ 1029 students X 1 class period = 1029 student periods
◦ 1029 student periods / 20 students per section = 51.45 sections
◦ 51.45 sections / 6 sections per teacher = 8.58 teachers
CJHS
◦ 606 students X 1 class period = 606 student periods
◦ 606 student periods / 20 students per section = 30.3 sections
◦ 30.3 sections / 6 sections per teacher = 5.05 teachers
If we changed to a seven period day with one prep at the secondary level, it could reduce the number of
teachers by over 13. The average cost of a teachers is over $50,000 (salary, retirement, and benefits).
Thirteen teachers times $50,000 equals $650,000.
The following plan was presented at a recent board work session:
1. Add district-wide collaboration time on a weekly basis
a) Early release, or
b) Late start
2. Change from 2 preps to 1 prep at secondary level
a) 7 period day with one prep
3. Provide retirement incentive
a) Provide health insurance for a year?
4. Increase base salary
a) Eliminate old schedule
b) Make base more competitive with neighboring districts
By adding a weekly early release or late start, we can provide a consistent time each week for all
teachers to collaborate. Changing from two preps to one would allow us to reduce staff through
retirements and attrition. In order to encourage retirements, we would offer a retirement incentive,
possibly one year of health insurance coverage. As a result of the savings, we would increase the base
salary which would allow us to eliminate the old salary schedule and make our salaries more
competitive.
If you have questions or comments please let me know.
Dr. Jim Welker