At the Jan. 24 Raymore-Peculiar Board of Education meeting, board members got a unique two-for-one opportunity &#x2013; to host both the incoming and outgoing superintendents at the same time.</p><p>Current Superintendent Jeff Kyle was on hand for the meeting. However, Kari Monsees, who will replace Kyle upon his retirement at the end of this school year, was also in attendance. He and his wife, Laura, were introduced at the meeting after a two-day visit to meet administrators and take a tour.</p><p>Following some brief words from Monsees, who takes over as superintendent on July 1, David Ulrich, director of student services, presented the Student Intervention Program Evaluation. According to Ulrich, the student intervention program is a district-wide framework for improving learning for all students that is divided into two broad categories: academic and behavioral. Academic interventions are described in terms of tiers. For behavior intervention, the district uses the Behavior Intervention Support Team model.</p><p>Although goals for the program are multi-faceted, Ulrich explained that the district will continue to strive for annual improvement in student achievement as measured by local, state and national assessments. For example, by spring, he said the goal is for more than 71 percent of students to achieve proficient or advanced as measured by Acuity Predictive Math Assessments (third through eighth grade) and he expects more than 70 percent of students to achieve proficient or advanced scores as measured by Acuity Predictive Communication Arts (third through eighth grade). In addition, he noted that the goal for 2013 graduates is to achieve an ACT composite score of 22.9 or higher. A second priority involves maximizing the amount of time students spend in the classroom. To achieve this goal, Ulrich said the number of hours for reactive visits in the focus rooms will decrease by 5 percent, and total number of hours accumulated by students out of the classroom for greater than one hour will drop by 5 percent as well.</p><p>Jennifer Johnson, nurse supervisor for the district, followed Ulrich with a program review of the Health Services Department. After going over last year&#x2019;s goals and results, Johnson introduced plans for the 2012-13 school year, which include:</p><p> 100 percent of nurses will be trained in the use of SIS and Missouri Immunization software in preparation for implementing these tools during the 2013-2014 school year.</p><p> All nurses will participate in professional development, including new learning regarding immunization guidelines and any current medical trends.</p><p> Individual health plans will be created for students with appropriate indicators. Health plans will be maintained and updated bi-annually.</p><p> Children will be treated and return to class in an efficient manner, thus lessening time in health rooms and maximizing time in class. </p><p>In other action items, the board unanimously voted to accept a bid in the amount of $18,851.40 from BR Carpet for carpet and cove base installation of six classrooms at Ray-Pec East Middle School. Noise levels transferring between floors and constant floor care of the existing VCT prompted this action.</p><p>Before closing the meeting, board members made brief comments, one of which came from Ruth Johnson, who had recently attended the Ray-Pec High School Symphonic Band performance on Jan. 24 at the Missouri Music Educators Conference at Tan-Tar-A Resort in the Lake of the Ozarks.</p><p>The district&#x2019;s symphonic band is the only high school band in the 75-year history of the conference to be selected to perform in consecutive years. Vocal and instrumental groups from across the state submit audition tapes to be selected to perform at the conference, which carries the prestige of a state-level event. The band was honored to be selected to perform at the 2012 conference. After a group performs at the MMEA conference, it usually must wait four years to apply again. However, this year -- because it is the organization&#x2019;s 75th anniversary -- MMEA opened up the application process. Recordings were submitted to an out-of-state panel for consideration and review, and the Ray-Pec band was again selected.</p><p>&#x201C;It was definitely one of those days that remind me exactly why I do what I do,&#x201D; she said. &#x201C;We truly have a lot of people in this district who love our kids, and it shows. They were absolutely amazing.&#x201D;