At the Kearney School District Board of Education business meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 21, the Board celebrated the great work happening in our buildings and continued to make steady progress on the “nuts and bolts” items that keep our school system moving forward. 

The meeting began with a School Spotlight on Kearney Elementary (KE), including a look at student clubs and leadership opportunities that help kids find their place and stretch their interests. One highlight was KE’s Spanish Club, which includes an impressive 45 students in grades 1–5 and is designed to build connections across grade levels while strengthening real-world skills and cultural awareness. KE Principal Mitch Masker and his team also shared a quick snapshot of the year so far. The spotlight wrapped with a well-deserved thank-you to the following long-serving staff members who have recently announced that they will be retiring at the end of the school year: Amy Beaver (30 years in KSD), Dave Tyner (21 years) and Stacy Elam (24 years).

The Board received a student achievement update focused on the Annual Performance Report (APR) and mid-year assessment data. APR is the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) evaluation framework for accreditation, and the good news is KSD continues to perform at a very high level, ranking in the top 3% statewide for the 2025 APR score and top 4% statewide on the composite score. The presentation also noted KSD’s overall APR points increased to 95.2%, with key gains in performance indicators tied to science achievement, English Language Arts/math/science growth, and college/career readiness measures. On the Spring 2025 Missouri Assessment Program results, KSD ranked in the top 25% among peer districts in four of four tested content areas, and top 25% (or higher) in 12 of 19 MAP tested areas. These results are paired with a clear focus on the work ahead: using data to plan, investing in staff time and collaboration, and staying focused on doing the right work for students. 

Under other Information Items, the Board received an update on bond-funded deferred maintenance work made possible after the district pivoted away from a fifth elementary school. The update noted several completed projects and provided status on work still in progress, such as final trim/drain work on the middle school roof, a wall/soffit project delayed by backordered panels until late May/June, and completion steps on the field house foundation work (including sidewalk replacement as early as next week). The update also reiterated that a roof replacement project affecting about one-third of the high school roof and the field house roof is planned for summer 2026, with additional deferred maintenance phases expected to come forward for Board approval in February and March.

KSD Chief Financial Officer Doug Schwinn also shared a new, more user-friendly Revenue & Expense Report that’s designed to make district finances easier to follow at a glance. Instead of wading through pages of line items, this snapshot shows how each fund is tracking compared to the annual budget, both on the revenue side and the expense side, along with a quick comparison to this same point last year. The goal is simple: make our financial reporting more accessible for everyone and, just as importantly, make it easier to forecast where the budget is likely to land as the year progresses.

Visit the KSD YouTube channel to view a livestream of this meeting.