ACT Scores On The Rise

Thayer R-2 ACT scores are on the rise. We are proud to announce that the Thayer R-2 School District is above the national average for the ACT test with a 21.6 average composite score. This compares with the national average of 21.1. Thayer also had two students who scored 31 or more on the ACT.  This places them at the 96th percentile, meaning they scored better than 96% of the students nationally who took this test. Being in the top 4% in the nation qualifies them for Bright Flight Scholarships along and acceptance to many prestigious universities.

The ACT is a national college admissions examination that consists of subject area tests in: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science. ACT results are accepted by all 4-year colleges and universities in the U.S. and are used to show college readiness and are used as acceptance criteria by many universities.

The ACT includes 215 multiple-choice questions and takes approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes to complete.

Parent Questionnaires

The Thayer school district is scheduled for a Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP) review on 03/23/2010. As part of this process, parents, students, and school employees are asked to voluntarily participate in the MSIP Advanced Questionnaire survey. We are interested in learning how the parents in our district feel about the educational programs and services provided to their children. The enclosed parent questionnaire will provide you an opportunity to help evaluate our school. It is very important that we receive your input. The results will be used to guide decisions regarding improvements.

Once the questionnaire has been completed, seal it in the envelope provided and return to the school. The questionnaire should be returned by October 30th.

Results to the survey will be made available after the review date above. To access these results, go to http://dese.mo.gov/schooldata/school_data.html. Select your district and click on “Load Profile”. Scroll to the section titled “Educational Process Data”. Select the links under MSIP Fourth Cycle Information.

Your individual responses to the parent survey are confidential and will be returned to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to be summarized.

Thank you for your help.

Flu Precautions

As you may know, flu can be spread from person to person.  Therefore, we are taking steps to reduce the spread of flu in Thayer R-II School District.  We want to keep the school open to students and functioning in a normal manner during this flu season.  But, we need your help to do this.

We will be working closely with the health department to monitor flu conditions and make decisions about the best steps to take concerning schools.  We will keep you updated with new information as it becomes available.

For now we are taking precautions to keep our school functioning as usual.  Here are a few things you can do to help.

·   Teach your children to wash their hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub.  You can set a good example by doing this yourself.  In order to kill viruses hand sanitizers must contain at least 60% alcohol.  Caution should be exercised to prevent young children from consuming hand sanitizers

·   Teach your children not to share personal items like drinks, food or unwashed utensils, and to cover their coughs and sneezes with tissues.   Covering up their coughs or sneezes using the elbow, arm or sleeve instead of the hand when a tissue is unavailable.

·   Know the signs and symptoms of the flu .  Symptoms of the flu include fever (100 degrees F or greater), cough, sore throat, a runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and feeling very tired.  Some people may also vomit or have diarrhea.

·  Keep sick children at home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have fever or do not have signs of fever, without using fever-reducing drugs.  Keeping children with a fever at home will reduce the number of people who may get infected. 

·  Do not send children to school if they are sick.  Any children who are determined to be sick while at school will be sent home. 

For more information visit www.flu.gov   or call 1-800-CDC-INFO.  We will notify you of any additional changes to our school's strategy to prevent the spread of flu.

Tax Levy News Article

The Thayer R-II School Board voted to set the District’s tax levy at the same rate as last year. The levy was set at $2.75 for operating and $ 0.92 for debt service per $100 of assessed valuation. Superintendent Rod Priest pointed out to the board that the district’s assessed valuation was down $880,293 from the prior year and keeping the levy at last year’s levels will decrease district revenues. The Board of Education is aware of the impact that the economy has on the taxpayers and took this into consideration when setting the levy.


Using the State Auditor’s Office calculations, the computation of the debt service tax rate came to $1.1854 using the lower assessed valuation. Board Vice President Bill Franz stated, “If at all possible, I would like to keep our debt service levy at the current rate and keep the tax burden in these difficult times as low as possible.” Taking a voluntary reduction of $0.2654 will keep the debt service at the current level and based on 100% collection rate the district will be short about $26,000 in revenues to cover the bond payments.

Superintendent Priest shared with the board that it is important that the Debt Service Fund have sufficient reserves to prevent any default on the bonds, but with the structure of the district’s payment schedule he felt that the school district was in a good position and that setting the levy at $0.92 would not place the district in financial stress.

“In 2006 we were able to take advantage of a state program that added $0.18 per $100 of assessed valuation to our debt service fund through state aid. This helped build a reserve required to prevent a default in the event of decreased assessed valuation or lower than expected collection rates,” added Superintendent Priest.

The Thayer Board of Education understands its responsibility to the taxpayers in the district and called their 2003 general obligation bonds in 2008 and reissued them at lower interest rates that will save the district over $356,000 over the life of the bonds. The board will continue to work to eliminate the district’s debt on the elementary building with the least amount of burden possible. The district appreciates the community and its support for our schools.

Roofing Project Nearing Completion

The high school roofing project is nearing completion.  Soon students will no longer have to dodge buckets in the hallways.  In tough financial times, deciding to do such an large project may draw skeptics.  But, our commitment to the students and the community extend beyond books.  The high school roof was nearly 10 years past its lifespan.  Hopefully we can keep dry for the next 20 years.