Mexico Public Schools teachers could get a $700 increase in base pay in next year’s budget, patrons heard at the Board of Education meeting Feb. 18.

Superintendent Troy Lentz said that the $700 increase would be brought to the board for approval at next month’s meeting.

The $700 boost in pay would come in addition to a proposed $550 step increase, according to the budget information Lentz revealed to the board at the meeting. If approved, the new base salary would be $42,700, Lentz said later in an email, adding that Missouri state law sets a minimum salary requirement of $40,000.

The state’s average pay is $55,623, Lentz said in the email. The average starting teacher salary in the state is $43,255, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, based on 2023-24 data.

Employee health insurance shows a projected 6.7% renewal increase next year, in Fiscal Year 26. Lentz said his initial projections showed the renewal percentage to be higher, 10% or more.

“So that’s a little bit of good news,” he said.

Bond update

Lentz told the board that the next critical board action will be for the middle school renovations - which are part of the bond issue approved by voters last spring - and that the bids are due on March 11 and then a bid will be presented to the board. The softball field turf installation begins April 21 and the work needs to be finished before June, Lentz said.

On other bond matter, Lentz said there was some good news to share.

“Luckily, we haven’t encountered any supply chain issues as far as securing HVAC equipment; that’s been kind of a problem in school construction since Covid,” Lentz said, adding that the district will be able to move forward with HVAC equipment work this summer as scheduled. HVAC work was funded district wide as part of the bond package.

New conference?

Lentz discussed the formation of a new athletic conference, with Lentz and representatives from Kirksville, Marshall, Moberly, Mexico, Hallsville, Centralia and Macon present at a meeting at Moberly High School. Superintendents will meet again on Feb. 25 to discuss a new conference, and additional districts may join in the second meeting. Mexico made formal requests to two existing conferences to be considered for memberships, but nothing materialized, as Mexico got voted down.

He said the “magic number” is eight for the optimal number of schools in a conference.

“I think it’s best if you can get to like 10 or 12 and maybe do some north-south or big-small splits,” Lentz said, noting that the ideal situation is to try to be in a position to grow.

The new conference would not launch next school year, as Mexico is locked into its current conference through the 2025-2026 school year, and that the goal would be to launch the year after.

Climate and culture survey

The board received results from the annual, state-required, climate and culture survey given to district parents, students and staff. Marci Orr, director of communications for the school district, said five groups were surveyed: parents, all certificated staff, all support staff, grades 6-12 students and grades 4-5 students. These groups were asked about various issues, such as students being surveyed about the school environment and whether they feel heard. Teachers, in another example, were surveyed about staff morale and the work environment.

Orr said one of the notable findings was that more than 90% of people said they enjoyed working here.

“So, that’s something we can use for recruitment and retention efforts, as we reach out to try to get people to Mexico and keep them here,” she said, noting that another positive finding was that people felt safe at school here.

District information stated the surveys are a part of the district’s strategic planning process.

“The district will use the results to see how we are performing well, what areas arise of concern, and how to continuously improve to meet the goals of our district’s strategic plan,” the information stated.

Among other developments, the board approved:
– A memorandum of understanding with Arthur Center Community Health to provide behavioral health consultation and access to mental health support for families and students of the district.
– A bid award for district Chromebooks to SHI for Dell 3120 models and to CDW-G for Dell 3110 models. The 3120 models’ bid was from SHI in Somerset, N.J., for $300,200 and the 3110 models’ bid was from CDW-G of Chicago for $266,000.