Oak Grove R‑VI reviews curriculum rollout, staffing and safety priorities

Superintendent and district leaders reviewed the district'wide five‑year plan and implementation priorities, telling the Oak Grove R‑VI Board of Education on Oct. 29 that the roll‑out of new curriculum, teacher recruitment and retention, and safety and mental‑health services remain the district's top operational concerns.

Superintendent (name not specified) told the board that the district recently completed adoption of a new math curriculum that has required teachers to learn new digital tools and instructional pacing. "This has been a challenging year for our math teachers," the superintendent said, noting elementary classrooms are using different manipulatives and high school teachers are balancing digital and paper instruction. Leaders said implementing pacing guides and integrating new online platforms added workload for classroom teachers.

The district reported progress on intervention systems and benchmarks, including adopting progress benchmarks and expanding MTSS (multi‑tiered systems of support). Buildings are running data teams to analyze IReady and MAP diagnostics and to drive instruction; the district reported protected "win time" intervention periods in elementary grades and academic strategy classes at the middle school. The high school has an RTI block during the school day, and the counseling team has moved career planning tools onto the Missouri Connections platform.

On gifted and STEM programming the superintendent said the gifted program is "kinda at a stall" because of limited student funding and staff availability; the board discussed options including part‑time positions and surveying other districts for models. The district plans to continue Project Lead The Way (PLTW) training and to use existing K‑5 grants to support elementary STEM instruction while pursuing funding to expand high school biomedical and computer applications offerings.

Staff recruitment and retention emerged as a recurring concern. The district reconstituted its PEC committee to manage professional development spending and to approve staff PD requests in Frontline. The superintendent said retention rates have dipped from earlier years: with retirees excluded, retention for 2023–24 was reported at about 85.9 percent versus a stated goal of 90 percent. The district has formed a superintendent advisory committee to examine compensation, benefits and "career ladder" strategies.

District operations and finance remained constrained. Leaders said a November transfer from a failed April tax levy provided some relief but that the district will not meet some earlier targets tied to a planned operating levy increase. The superintendent flagged statewide conversations about property tax and foundation‑formula changes that could affect local school funding and warned the district will continue community education about the local/state funding mix.

Safety and climate were described broadly to include physical safety, threat assessment training and student mental health. The district said it added a second school resource officer through a multi‑year grant and used grant funding to add two social workers; the district is preparing to reapply for the grant. District staff reported updating the district emergency operations plan, conducting threat assessment training for administrators, counselors and social workers, and examining the internal emergency app used to communicate with staff. The superintendent said the district is evaluating campus cameras and intercom systems and will continue to refine the response plan.

Board members asked for continued updates on priority timelines and said they expect the five‑year plan to be revisited by February 2027 or earlier if priorities shift. No formal board action was taken during the district priorities update; several items are tied to future budget or grant decisions.