It was a somewhat uneventful Thursday evening for the Columbia School Board at its final regular meeting of the year, though the meeting did include ample discussion concerning strategic planning and a few other topics.

Regarding action items, the board approved the district’s 2023 tax levy – a 4.95 percent increase from last year – as well as this year’s list of early graduates and an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Columbia for instruction of an Emergency Medical Responder course.

One action that prompted considerable discussion was the second reading and approval of new board policies from Press Plus Issue 113, a collection of changes to the district’s policies based on state law which are typically approved several times each year.

The specific policy which the board spoke about concerned whether or not to allow district staff and faculty who live outside Columbia to enroll their children in the district at no cost. As Columbia Superintendent of Schools Chris Grode explained, the default policy position on the issue was to not allow this.

Several members of the board expressed their support for changing the district’s policy, with some – like Andrea Khoury – noting how the district has been struggling in terms of filling out staff and suggesting this could serve as a possible incentive.

“I feel like in the past we have lost teachers because they were able to go to the district where their children went to school, and it’s more convenient for them,” Khoury said. “We’ve lost some long-term teachers that have been able to go where their kids go to school, and so I really think that that would be an advantage for anybody applying here to be able to bring their kids and go to school here with them. It cuts down on childcare costs. It cuts down on a lot of things that are just logistics.”

Though he expressed his support as well, Columbia School Board President Greg Meyer tempered the discussion by suggesting the board consider any possible repercussions of the change.

Ultimately, the board approved the slate of policies while tabling the enrollment matter for a future meeting.

Early in the meeting, Grode offered his monthly report to the board, first commenting on a possible change to the school year’s calendar in order to accommodate individuals in the district hoping to travel slightly out of town in order to observe a total eclipse expected to occur April 8, 2024.

This matter was brought to the board’s attention in November by Columbia High School science teacher Laura Schmidt, who explained the board could move up an early dismissal day scheduled April 26 as another eclipse isn’t expected to take place in the area until 2154.

Grode explained that a survey was conducted, with about 10 percent of responding parents indicating they would have issues securing childcare and a majority of responding staff and faculty saying they would prefer not to add a day to the school year as would be necessary.

Given this information, Grode recommended against adjusting the calendar.

Also during his report, Grode made a suggestion concerning strategic planning in the district as the board has recently been able to contend with a number of other basic concerns in terms of construction, curriculum and district operations.

“All of those key foundational things that an organization like a school district needs to evolve, we’ve all done those things,” Grode said. “At this point, strategic planning would be our next place where we look at them and say… there’s typical areas, like we would to do student success, thriving workforce or workforce excellence… self-supportive school climates or future growth and aspirations, family community engagement, efficient and effective operations.”

To this end, Grode suggested hiring the services of ThoughtExchange to conduct a survey throughout the district and community. Grode noted he was particularly interested in the company as its survey tools allow participants to respond and rate the comments of other participants.

Discussion among the board lasted some time, with members asking questions about the data compilation process and how the district would actually hope to use any acquired data.

The board additionally questioned the price which stands at $24,000 per year, discounted down to $21,700 if the board were to start first thing in 2024.

It was decided that the board would hold off on the decision, potentially hiring another survey service or requesting another 10 percent discount at a later date.

At the end of her monthly report, Columbia Assistant Superintendent of School Alyssa Smith noted various ongoing developments in the district, from administrative training to a curriculum review for the district’s science courses.

Smith also emphasized the district’s need to fill several positions, including cook and paraprofessional roles, particularly stressing the need for substitutes.

“We also need subs desperately in every category,” Smith said. “Teacher subs, para subs, custodial, secretary, cook, you name it, we need subs. So anybody that has a flexible work schedule that thinks, ‘Well, I can only offer one day a week,’ we will take you one day a week. All you need to do is contact Kim (Johnson) at the district office, and she can get you set up.”

Closing the meeting prior to executive session was discussion on the future renovations set to be made at CHS.

Grode and school board member Adam Hemken spoke on the matter, noting several items that have received particular focus including the new auditorium and media center.

“The rest of it, we’ve had pretty detailed conversations looking at size and flow and restrooms and pretty much all the stuff we need to get moving to get everything except for the auditorium space to where they can start preparing to go out for bid,” Hemken said.