SG R-II Connection

Good afternoon, SG R-II Families,

As we wrap up the first few weeks of school and look forward to the long weekend, I’ve been reminded again of how much joy and energy fills our schools when students return. From preschool to high school, classrooms are alive with learning, friendships, and the excitement of a new year.

This year feels especially meaningful with the opening of our new Early Childhood Center. Walking through those hallways and seeing little backpacks hanging on hooks was a powerful reminder that even at the very youngest ages, we have the chance to help children grow and thrive. The experiences that begin in that building will ripple throughout our entire district as those students continue their journey here. With this new space, we’re also able to welcome even more families into our school community.

Thank you for partnering with us to make the start of this school year so strong. We’re excited for all that’s ahead and look forward to celebrating many more moments of growth and joy together.

Dr. Paul Taylor

Superintendent

Early Childhood:

• Students and staff are enjoying their first few weeks of school in the brand new Early Childhood Center!
• The Ste. Genevieve County R-II School District held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly constructed Early Childhood Center on Tuesday, July 22. The center houses tuition-based preschool, Early Childhood Special Education, the Parents as Teachers program, and free developmental screenings. The facility includes 10 classrooms for preschool and special education, as well as dedicated spaces for occupational, physical, and speech therapy. Additional features include a kitchen, multipurpose room, sensory room, nurse’s office, and an ADA-compliant, fully accessible playground!
• Following the ribbon-cutting, the building was open to the community for guided tours or self-paced walk-throughs. Families explored the new learning spaces, while children enjoyed coloring and hands-on activities in the classrooms and multipurpose room. Before heading home, students received goodie bags, cookies, and a coloring page featuring the new Little Dragon logo—adding a fun and memorable touch to the day.

ECC TRAFFIC:

• To address any potential runoff associated with the Center on the district-owned property, crews installed a detention basin that will accommodate the current center (and possible future expansion).
• Ahead of these projects, there was considerable discussion about traffic flow and potential concerns, especially near the drop-off and pick-up times for Ste. Genevieve Elementary. From day one, however, we’ve been pleasantly surprised by how smoothly things have gone. As families and bus routes start to get into a routine a few weeks in, and the district will address any issues as they arise.
• The Early Childhood Center’s parking lot was configured in order to alleviate as much traffic from the road as possible during drop-off and pick-up times, as well as to keep the personal vehicles in an area away from the Early Childhood Special Education bus loading and unloading area. In addition, many families utilize the aftercare service and do not pick up their child around the same time as school lets out.
• While work on Ninth Street is still underway, the city and paving crews have done an excellent job on the sections already completed, and the finished roads look fantastic.
• Two stop signs have been installed at the junction of Maple and Virginia, as well as a “No Left Turn” sign when exiting the Early Childhood Center.
• To better understand traffic patterns, we captured drone footage of student drop-off and pick-up at the Early Childhood Center during the first week of school. Even during the busiest times, lines remained within the parking lot and did not spill out onto the street.

Ste. Genevieve Elementary:

• The first weeks of school at Ste. Genevieve Elementary has brought excitement as students and staff settle into the new gymnasium and accessible entrance!
• The design of Ste. Genevieve Elementary’s new gym and on-grade, ADA-accessible entrance with offices can be seen here.
• Kenzie Wolk will be designing and installing a mural in this space! More info to come.

SGE TRAFFIC:

• At Ste. Genevieve Elementary, traffic flow during drop-off and pick-up has not interfered with Early Childhood Center traffic. The Dragons’ Den aftercare program, which launched on the first day of school with 85 students, has also helped reduce congestion by keeping the afternoon line shorter than usual during the first few weeks. Overall, the process has been successful in moving cars through efficiently, with times improving each day.
• Before the school year began, Dr. Taylor met with both of our school resource officers, Chief of Police Daniel Halek, and Officer Ryan Pollock to discuss traffic flow, stop signs, and safety. Chief Halek offered to have his morning officers assist with monitoring and supporting traffic, and another meeting with the department is planned in the coming weeks.
• Partnering with the Ste. Genevieve Police Department has been a tremendous benefit. Along the SGE drop-off and pick-up line, most driveways have remained accessible, and drivers are making steady progress. While it remains a work in progress, ongoing collaboration with the police department and SROs will help identify additional strategies to improve traffic flow.

SG Campus Front Lot Parking:

• The front lot parking projects—launched in conjunction with the Ste. Genevieve Elementary construction—are now complete and fully reconfigured.
• Most recently, the front lot was repaved and restriped. The project added a new retaining wall, extended parking along the far right by the SGMS lot, and redesigned the high school lot. What was once diagonal parking with a narrow drive lane has been replaced by straight 20-foot spaces and a 25-foot drive lane for easier traffic flow.
• These updates now ensure that the lots remain partially filled during the school day, making parking more convenient for everyone.

Wrestling:

• The floor plan includes a practice wrestling area, office and storage space, locker rooms and restrooms, and a golf simulation room. The building will be situated behind the PAC.
• Currently, approximately $140,000 in savings has been identified through the Value Engineering process.
• Currently, this project is estimated to cost about $3.2 million. While this figure is slightly higher than originally anticipated, moving the building’s location has drastically increased the amount of sitework needed.
• Crews will hit the ground running soon— two more value engineering items are being determined before dirtwork begins. Sitework will take about three weeks, and then crews will begin work on the retaining wall after that.
• The district still plans to renovate the current wrestling room and weight room to provide additional space and updated equipment to better support our student-athletes.

The Board of Education held its annual tax rate hearing and subsequently approved the 2025-2026 tax rate. Superintendent Dr. Paul Taylor presented the tax rate information, including an overview of the district’s planning and projections for the 2025-2026 year, including contingency planning for uncertain tax revenue and possible legal expenditures. After the presentation, board members and patrons were given the opportunity to participate in a question and answer session to seek clarification and additional information on the tax rate. (No patrons attended the hearing.) See the KEY TAKEAWAYS below, and read more in the Board Briefs.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The total tax rate would remain $3.4055 (no increase from the 2024-2025 total tax rate).
• Currently, $36.7 million of the district’s portion of tax revenue from the prior four years is being held in escrow, due to ongoing tax protests from Amrize (formerly LafargeHolcim), MLC (formerly Mississippi Lime), and Lhoist. These funds will be held in escrow and continue to grow with each subsequent year as taxes are protested, until the protests are resolved.
• For the past four years, the district has received only 64% of the total taxes, due to significant ongoing tax protests by local mining companies (typically, school districts receive about 95%). The district anticipates receiving about $20.7 million out of the total $32.4 million in taxes for the 2025-2026 year. The vast majority of the difference is being held in escrow during the tax protests.
• If the tax protests were to be settled, the district is committed to lowering the tax rate to provide relief to community members. Missouri State Statute sets an operating levy floor of $2.75 for school districts. (The district could also pay off some of its debt using the monies currently in escrow, and then subsequently lower the debt service levy, as well.)

• Check out our traffic info hub here for important reminders about traffic / drop-off / pick-up on the SG Campus and at the Early Childhood Center!

• Webpage: Check out our new Transportation Department webpage! It's full of important updates, helpful resources and informational FAQs for families.

• Bus Safety Flyer: Check out our new school bus safety flyer, with info about student conduct, communications in an emergency, and more!

If you have any questions for our Bus Depot, please call 573-883-4500 ext. 2991. If you don't reach us, please leave a voicemail message, or email mbrown@sgdragons.org.

If families completed the 2025-2026 Free & Reduced Lunch application before the end of the school year, there is a 30-day grace period at the start of this school year to complete the 2025-2026 application. All families are encouraged to complete an online application instead of a paper application if they are able. The online application is available under Forms, 25-26 Free/Reduced Lunch Application. For assistance or questions, please call 573-883-4500 ext. 2008.

Check out the Board Briefs and the Board Minutes from the Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, Board of Education’s Annual Tax Rate Hearing & Regular Meeting. The Board Briefs are an unofficial document that includes more context and details than our official Board Minutes. All Board documents, such as the Board Minutes, the presentation and these Board Briefs, are located on the “Board of Education” page of our district's website.

Summer of 2026 MSHSAA Dead Period for Activities:

• The Board of Education approved the MSHSAA Dead Period of Activities for the Summer of 2026 to be held Aug. 1 - 9, 2026. This date range meets the MSHSAA requirements to start on a Saturday and run for nine consecutive days.

Substitute Certification: To reach the substitute certification requirements, a candidate must either 1) enroll in a 20-hour online course, or 2) have 60 credit hours. Check out more information about the pathways to obtaining a substitute certification below!