School board reorganized at latest meeting

The Perry County School District No. 32 Board of Education had a busy night at its latest meeting on April 12.
The board started the meeting by approving the April 4 general municipal election, which saw Jamie Robinson and Nancy Voelker be reelected and Glendon Sattler replace Melissa Hahn on the board. After that the board was reorganized as Nancy Voelker was reelected president and Dominic Blythe was elected as vice president, replacing Robinson.
Shay Hicks was reelected Secretary of the Board and Julie Wibbenmeyer was named Delegate Secretary, while Lacey O’Keefe was named Board Treasurer.
Robinson was named the Missouri School Boards’ Association Delegate, while Voelker was named the alternate.
With all the reorganization and swearing in of members finished, the board approved several issues including Wagner Portrait Group as the district’s photography company for the 2023-2024 school year. The company will help the district with its name badges and several other services throughout next year. District Communication Director Kate Martin said that the district has had trouble the last few years with photography companies so the district is only entering into a one-year deal, instead of the standard three-year contract.
“The hope is that if all goes well, then we can go with a three-year deal,” Martin said.
The board did approve the 2023 School Violence Prevention Program grant from technology director Dan Querry, which will provide the school with different items to provide a safer environment for students.
Querry also presented the board with answers to their questions about the facility management Software, FMX. The issue was tabled last month.
The software includes a mapping feature for the campus which Querry said would be very helpful. FMX provides an interactive map of the building and the assets and provide a way to get work done faster.
He said that it creates an inventory of everything on campus including cameras that are that the Perryville Police currently use in the event of an emergency.

Several board members were weary of the fact that software and other technology programs will see a recurring fee each year that escalates in the future. Voelker wanted to hold off on purchasing the program until the students were taken care of.
“With the recent emphasis on our test scores and APR, I think that it is best to get those types of things where they need to be and then when we do that, we can look back into the software.”
The software was not approved by the board.
Transportation Director Sarah Orf discussed using coaches as drivers for games.
“The idea is not to take trips away from our drivers,” Orf said. “We have drivers who love to do trips. My thought process is if we get to that point again where we have a shortage of drivers or if we have several trips on the same day, then if that coach has their license then they can still have their trip and not have it postponed or pushed back.”
Orf said that the district is fully staffed when it comes to bus drivers with the possibility of one substitute coming on in the near future.
Perryville Athletic Director Justin Dreyer said the district has rented vans, or even cancelled games in the past because there wasn’t a driver.
To kick off the meeting several district administrators were recognized for outstanding work. Primary Center Principal, Emily Koenig was named as Southeast Region’s 2023 Distinguished Principal, MAESP.
Primary Assistant Principal, Lacey Amschler was named as the Southeast Region’s Outstanding Assistant Principal, MAESP.
Primary School Counselor, Laura Buchheit was named Elementary School Counselor of the Year by the SEMO School Counselor Association.