Board approves 2025–26 Missouri Career Ladder plan; district opts for 80% local share scenario

The Camdenton R-III School District on April 14 approved the district’s draft for the 2025–26 Missouri Career Development and Teaching Excellence Plan (the career ladder). The district recommended maintaining a local funding structure at roughly 80% of the state-maximum award levels for the three stages of the program.

Administrators explained the program tiers and the district’s chosen participation funding: stage 1 (50 hours), stage 2 (75 hours) and stage 3 (100 hours) with locally proposed awards set at 80% of the state maximums. The board approved the draft while asking staff to amend one piece of language: the draft exempted members of the armed forces and their spouses from a Missouri-experience minimum; legal staff advised clarifying that out-of-state teaching experience must match the level of experience the rule requires in Missouri to avoid unintended stage placement.

District staff said the program requires accurate MOSIS coding and teacher ID validation because the state reviews the submitted participant list and flags ineligible entries. The district will issue participation intent forms to staff in May and expects reimbursements to arrive in June or early July. Administrators reiterated that some activities are ineligible for career-ladder hours (for example, administrative coursework or paid stipends) and that district guidance specifies that half of counted hours must be student contact or tutoring time.

Board members discussed whether first- and second-year teachers should be eligible under the grant; staff said the state’s grant rules do not permit those early-career teachers to be reimbursed through the grant. The board approved the plan pending the wording clarification on experience equivalence for military families.