District working with city to upgrade tennis courts at North Park

By Jessica Breger Special to Monett Monthly

The 2025 summer meetings of the Monett School Board saw discussion on facility and staff updates prior to the upcoming school year. 

Reviewing facility updates, the board heard reports on building, safety and recreational upgrades made over the summer break. 

The elementary and high schools received an interior facelift with new flooring at both. The MES “B” hallway has been fully painted, and MHS west hallway floors have been completed, giving the building all new concrete flooring to replace the previous tile flooring.

Superintendent Mark Drake said the hallway update at the high school this summer is a continuation of work done last year, which saw the commons areas and classroom floors redone. 

The board also praised the summer custodial staff for their work in keeping all campus facilities in order with construction and summer school use. 

Safety upgrades have also been made prior to the start of the new school year. 

“We’ve also got the crosswalk,” Drake said. “The crosswalk got installed in middle last year finally, so that’s that’s a big safety feature for our kids to be able to cross Cleveland Avenue in the mornings to go to the middle score high school, we’re, we’re happy about that safety project.”

Drake noted the district also added fencing to the elementary school and SRTC areas so both are now enclosed. 

Drake said this prevents anybody without permission from walking up to the SRTC bays where students work, and it ensures the MES students cannot get back to the woods that serve as an outdoor classroom.

Other facility updates made include a new diesel tank to the bus barn to save fueling costs, recoating of facility roofs, sealing of cracks in the parking lots and the completion of asbestos from all buildings. 

The district has also been working to complete a new welcome center that will centralize enrollment and other services to aid student families. The facility is set to be complete in October of this year. Drake said for this upcoming semester, students will still need to be enrolled at their individual schools as in previous years.

Renovations to the North Park tennis courts also began over the summer to be ready for tennis season this year. This project is in partnership with the city and is set in two phases that will provide new tennis courts and lighting at the park. 

The four pre-existing courts have been torn out and replaced with six new tennis courts during the first phase of the project with an estimated completion date in mid-August.

According to the school board, the city of Monett will be two thirds of the funding for phase one, leaving approximately $315,000 for the school to pay. 

The second phase of the project will see lighting installed at the tennis courts. This phase will be fully paid for by the city with the aid of grant funds. 

The project is set to be completed before the 2025-26 season begins. 

“We’re going to have purple and green courts, so there will be a little bit of Monett colors, and that will be good for our tennis kids,” Drake said. “Our tennis program has grown, and they were having to stage practices at different times.”

As far as policy changes in the district, Drake did note one he felt students should be aware of. 

“The biggest policy update came out of Senate Bill 68,” he said. “They passed a no cell phone provision in that bill, so there will be no cell phones basically from the start of school to the end of school.”

Drake said previously, students were allowed to have phones out between classes, on breaks and even in classrooms with teacher discretion. 

He said while the transition may be hard for older students who are used to the leniency of previous years, incoming freshmen may have an easier time as the middle school already implemented a no cell phone policy.

Multiple staff changes occurred over the break as well. This includes the retirement of Dr. Melissa Huff as Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction.

Huff took a moment at the June meeting to thank the school board, staff and students for allowing her to work in the district.

Huff said she is confident that she is leaving her position in good hands with her successor Dr. Isaac Sooter.

“I’m just so excited for the future of Monett and gonna happen in our district,” she said. “There’s great things ahead for our students and I just thank you for letting me be a part.”

The August regular school board meeting is set for Aug. 21 in the Administrative Meeting Room located at the District Office.