Republic Board of Ed. swears in new member, state champion archer Fahreev honored at meeting

The Republic Board of Education swore in one new member at their meeting on April 16. Rob Buchanon took up the position after running uncontested in the April 7 election. The board also made time to honor a student’s archery accomplishments.

The meeting began with the swearing in of elected members. Rob Buchanan ran uncontested, taking the seat that last belonged to longtime board member John Parker. Incumbent Denny Lawson was sworn in for his sixth term. Terry McConnell, also an incumbent, was sworn in for his second term, originally elected to office in 2023.

Student archer achievement

One of the first actions taken by the board was the recognition of one student who had gone above and beyond in the field of archery. Violetta Fahreev was recognized for shooting a 293 out of 300 and securing her spot at nationals in archery. She was recognized as the highest scoring female archer in the state, beating out more than 3,800 competitors from 304 schools. Her previous year, she barely missed the cut. This year she hopes for better luck with the support of the board of education.

Blankenship RepMo Hero

The board also took a moment to recognize the most recent employee tapped as RepMo Hero. This month the honor was bestowed on Sheryl Blankenship, the executive administrative assistant. She is set to retire this year after decades of service.

Middle school presentation

This month’s building highlight was delivered by students of Republic Middle School. The students took an approach mimicking the delivery of Mr. Rogers and detailed how things were going on “Academic Avenue,” “Culture Court," and “Leadership Lane.” Each “road” was named after an area that students have been working to improve in.

Superintendent report 

Superintendent Matt Pearce delivered his monthly report to the board as well, focusing once more on state legislation that could impact the district’s bottom line. According to Pearce, the state dollars contributed to the district were originally anticipated to be about $33 million. Pearce said this will no longer happen and that sum will instead be about $1.1 million dollars less as a result of multiple bills currently working through Missouri’s legislature. Some of which have already passed their first hurdles and are well on their way to becoming law.