The Marshall Owls are one step closer to a new conference, after the district’s board of education approved acceptance Tuesday, Mar. 10 of a response letter from the Midland Empire Conference expressing interest in Marshall and three other North Central Missouri schools joining the league.

The board received the update from Supt. Caleb Petet on efforts to find a new home for the Owls, with the North Central Missouri Conference dissolving at the end of the school year. Petet tells KMMO News that discussions with current members of the Midland Empire developed over the past six weeks, and if all goes to plan, will culminate with a formal membership offer next month.
.

Petet noted that Moberly also approved the proposal at their board meeting Tuesday, as did Kirksville at their meeting last week. Mexico’s school board will meet next week to consider the idea, which could potentially see them traveling nearly four hours to conference games in Maryville. Petet says the MEC is planning a two-division setup that would limit cross-division play to weekends or at neutral sites.

Also Tuesday night, the Marshall School Board approved the addition of an additional full-day pre-kindergarten class at the Tom Butterfield Early Childhood Center, as well as an increase in the weekly tuition rate from $30 to $70 for staff, and from $60 to $110 for non-staff. The board also authorized the sale of the bus barn and two lots along South Odell that the district acquired as part of an exchange with the Marshall Saline Development Corporation for the Northwest School.