The Neosho R-5 School Board approved some pay increases for substitute teachers during regular session Monday at Neosho Middle School.

“We increased our pay on the daily rate for subs $10 a day for teachers and for para professionals, long term subs, we actually went up $20 per day,” said Charles Brazeale, assistant superintendent of finance. “So that will put our normal daily rate for a substitute at $80, which is just on the high side of average for Southwest Missouri school districts.

Para professionals in our special education classrooms, when they are absent, we want to make sure that they are paid adequately. We don’t feel like we can pay them any more than our regular employees, so they are only paid at $70 per day, so that they don’t exceed the pay of the regular person in that job.”

The board also approved an increase to lunch and breakfast prices for the 2008-2009 school year.

“With the increasing cost in petroleum affecting all of our trucking, an increase in cost in corn affects a lot of our food products, so we are seeing projections of 15 percent or more increase in food costs over the next year,” Brazeale said.

According to Brazeale, full-paid student and adult meal prices will go up 10 cents a meal. Lunch prices for students will increase by 25 cents, while adult lunch prices will go up 30 cents. Milk prices will raise a nickel, but the kindergarten snack fee will remain the same.

 “And so we feel like we are still going to be competitive with area schools as far as with prices.”

In other business, Neosho R-5 Superintendent Dr. Richard Page also told about the capital outlay funds.

“Capital outlay transfers basically allow the school districts a resolution to set aside funds for school improvement facilities or other things that are going to cause us to use more than what we currently have in an operating year,” Page said. “So in other words, just using some of the fund balances in Fund 4 for some capital improvements. What we will do is when the auditors are through with this physical year of last year’s physical year audit, we will adjust that capital outlay amount, because we don’t know how much is going to be in there right now. Whatever we put in there last year and that we were able to save in there, we will use some of that and save back for these future projects that we are going to have.”

Page said there is nothing planned in the future at the current time.

“We don’t know what they will be or what they will cost, but we just need a resolution to say that we are going to do that for future growth, future facilities,” Page said. “That is how we got the bus barn. We set aside money for three or four years, or three years back in 2006 and finally we were able to this summer, saving about $300,000 each year. And we really did not know that until our audit got through that first year, and say, ‘OK, we are going to put back $300,000 each year. With the economic situation right now, we will take it one year at a time.”

Page told the board about a couple of items he would like to see the district have.

“One of them is putting some roofs or awnings over our buses at the new bus barn,” said Page. “Definitely we need some asphalt at the parking lots at the high school, as well as the road there —  even the bus lot at Carver. We also have a contingency on some property that we will need to set some funds aside to be able to pay for that property, as it comes available for us. That is kind of what we are looking for.”

Page also mentioned the bond issue, telling the board about ballot language, which needs to go to the county clerk in the next few weeks for the November election.

“The ballot language is being able to set aside, or being able to sell, up to $16 million in bonds to create some revenue for facility construction,” noted Page. “We are wanting to be able to build a new fifth and sixth grade center. Right now, the middle school is 5-7 grades. This would take the fifth and sixth grades out of this building, build a new building and move them into it. It allows this building to be a seventh and eight grade building. So by building a new fifth and sixth grade building, it takes the eighth grade out of the high school, where they are now. We are one of the largest schools in the state that still has the eighth grade in the high school. We need to get them out. Eighth grade doesn’t need to be with the seniors. It would take 300 or so students out of this building would help us here and at the high school.

“We are also wanting to do some small renovations at the high school, approximately $2-2.5 million worth of projects there. To help the oldest part of our building, the 1955 gym, we are wanting to renovate the offices, the coaches’ offices, the locker rooms, the dressing rooms, and really make that a little nicer. Our weight room and wrestling room are the same room. We need to add or renovate that north end so that we can make a separate weight room, wrestling room, and also for our band and choir, who are outgrowing their facilities. We need to do some improvements in our music department as well.”