Future of Stet R-XV School uncertain
, News reporter
10-09-2009
The letter to business partners and school patrons started: “Not Without a CARDINAL Fight!” as it addressed the “rumors regarding the supposed closing of the Stet R-SV School District.”
However, Stet Superintendent and Principal Thomas Challender didn’t sugar coat the situation either.
“The Stet R-XV School District is indeed suffering in these severe economic times. Revenue is remarkably not available in the amounts desperately needed to keep Stet open as a kindergarten through grade 12 school district next year,” Challender wrote in the letter.
A town hall meeting to discuss the school’s predicament is set for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Stet school gym.
Challender told The Daily News several factors are squeezing the district’s finances. Four years ago, enrollment was 110 students. That decreased to 100 students the next year, 94 the next and last year they were down to 87 students. There are 80 students this year, but the number will plunge to 69 students next year, Challender said.
Proposition C monies to each district is based on enrollment. Stet received $874 per student each school year. Now, with economic cuts, the amount is down to $800, or even $793 per student, according to Challender.
“The student ratio dropped and so did the cost per student,” Challender explained. “Two years ago, we got $99,000 from Prop. C. Last year, it dropped to $79,000 and this year is $64,000. We lost $35,000 there. With our budget of $1.2 million and about $850,000 to pay out in salaries, insurance and other expenses, that leaves us with $100,000 to buy texts and all else – and it’s killing us. We’re drawing into our reserves.”
Of course the drop in interest rates also affects the bottom line. The minimum salary for new teachers in Missouri is now at $25,000 per year, there are step increases for teachers, and the Missouri Retirement for teachers was increased one point.
“Missouri has the greatest retirement program,” said Challender, “but it added $5,000 more to us in bills.”
Stet is already operating as tightly as it can, he said. There is one kindergarten teacher. The other three elementary teachers carry the first through sixth grade teaching duties, as they teach two grade levels each. At the high school level, there is one teacher for each of the core subjects – math, science, social studies and language arts – but they also teach one other subject.
“That means the high school teachers are preparing for seven classes, because they teach grades seven through 12,” Challender said.
The school also has a part-time art teacher they share with Hardin-Central, a full-time vocational agriculture teacher, and a part-time music teacher that also handles the computer training. Retired principal Steve Street teaches driver’s education in the fall. All told, the Stet School is operated by 16 staff members for 80 students.
The school offers seniors the opportunity to attend vo-tech, and this is taken advantage of by 13 of the 15 seniors
Some of them opt out of taking the ACT test, which is an issue for the school too.
“It is an issue. Lots of kids want to go back to the farm. It’s hard to change that mindset. If a kid doesn’t want to take (the ACT), it goes on down to where it hurts (the school),” said Challender. ACT scores per number of juniors and seniors are lower if the number being tested is lower.
Average Yearly Progress (AYP) standards set by Department of Elementary and Secondary Education showed the high school “okay” and the elementary school not meeting the standards in communication arts.
Should it become necessary that Stet become a K-6 or K-8 grade school, that presents its own problems.
“We’re not going to go there. We’re holding – that we’ll stay,” said Challender. “If it happens, then we’d have to pay tuition and provide transportation.”
Cowgill has had to result to that very scenario and is sending its seventh through 12th graders to two other schools. Tuition can cost between $3,000 and nearly $8,000 per student, as it is not regulated. Challender said Cowgill is “in worse shape than we are.” Norborne, with 190 students, is not in jeopardy.
But, Challender is determined and confident that there is hope.
“The year after next is getting to be real grim. We’re cutting back now. Stet has no businesses or industry. We need to get more kids out here and get solvent. We need to keep our kids active and provide them with a quality education. The board understands the situation. We want our people to understand and to see too. We have a severe decision to make - maybe go up on the tax levy significantly, and that takes voter approval,” said Challender.
“This is a very special school district,” he went on. “This is my second year here. I was at a private school for eight years and then into the public school system near St. Louis. We’ve had only one fight between two fifth graders. No one has had to be sent home because too much skin was showing, and I haven’t heard two four-letter words here. We have good kids.”
He also had high praises for the people of the Stet community.
“They always want to do the ‘hard right,’ and never let the ‘easy wrong’ have its way,” he said.
Knowing a letter would “not begin to answer all of the concerns, or adequately explain this district’s impending needs,” Challender is holding a Town Hall Meeting this Saturday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Stet School gymnasium. Challender showed further determination throughout the letter, and wrote:
“We are not going to sit idly and wait for a ‘way of life,’ and a marvelous, educational institution to cease to exist, without a ‘Cardinal fight.’”
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