The Van-Far School Board members could feel the Indian pride as students and their families joined them, along with teachers and staff, in the library Thursday night before the meeting.
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The Van-Far School Board members could feel the Indian pride as students and their families joined them, along with teachers and staff, in the library Thursday night before the meeting.
Principal Amy Newland recognized a large group of students for their many achievements, from athletic awards to academic honors.
The meeting commenced after awards with the approval of consent items that included the authorization to pay bills, approval of the local compliance plan for special education, and a resignation from Ben Burnett.
Celebration of students’ achievements continued during the superintendent's report when Dr. Natalie Gibson announced that scores on the district’s annual performance report were the highest they had been in four years across all levels.
“We did better than we have been,” Gibson said, addressing the board. “You can see that overall percentage and, I think that’s something to be proud of.”
In her report, Gibson explained that the district has missed simple data points due to problems in reporting, some of which she said arose when transferring to Infinite Campus. While the district spent the month of July making sure that everything was reported correctly, college and career readiness on advanced courses is an area that still isn’t pulling correctly.
“Something probably still isn’t coded quite right in that, but we’ll see if we can troubleshoot that,” she said.
Gibson will attend a training related to the Missouri Job Board on Dec. 2 with Paul Katnik of DESE to ensure job openings are reaching as many candidates as possible, and another on Dec. 4 to prepare for the district’s Missouri School Improvement Plan cycle that will open on Aug. 1, 2026.
Three seats on the board of education will be available during the April 2026 Municipal election and filing will take place Dec. 9-12 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Dec. 16-19 from from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m and on Dec. 30 from 3-5 p.m.
During staff reports, Elementary School Principal Brian Hummel invited board members to attend upcoming events at the elementary school including its Christmas program for fourth, fifth and sixth graders on Dec. 11 and movie days at Mexico Cinema III Dec. 17 and 18. He added that the preschoolers will visit the Vandalia nursing home on Dec. 19 to sing for the residents.
Jennifer Huff, district special education director, updated the board about her time at the Federal Programs Conference and reported continued testing of elementary students after receiving many referrals for special education.
District Maintenance Director Ryan Morris, among other remarks, thanked the staff members who assisted with cleaning the elementary school.
During the executive session, the board nominated Lindsay Jones for the MSBA John T. Belcher
Scholarship.
