WEBVTT

METADATA
Video-Count: 1
Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=A7KH3rTXBf0

Part: 1

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:17.119
frame the work as we move forward. And then the five school adjustment options that are listed will be the options that we are considering as we are working forward or working towards uh the August date when we bring this back to the board. And just to make it clear and I

2
00:00:17.119 --> 00:00:33.840
believe the board made this clear, allowing schools to stay small is no longer an option. And that's what we'll keep in mind as we're moving forward. And with that, I will turn it over to Randy Barber. Thank you. Good evening, board members. I'm uh very excited uh to

3
00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:48.160
come back and give you an update in regards to our engagement uh efforts. Uh as you know, we've been very very busy over the last 6 months uh connecting with our community. And as we've discussed before, we are dedicated to ensuring stakeholders are informed, heard, and meaningfully involved as we

4
00:00:48.160 --> 00:01:05.360
began shaping the path forward. Uh this slide uh shows uh uh illustrates the many ways that we've connected with different community stakeholders so far. Uh this phase has been about uh listening first and creating space for thoughtful structured input that will help guide

5
00:01:05.360 --> 00:01:21.040
the development of options for the board to consider. Knowing that our educators are the closest to the situation and the student experience, we began first by visiting their schools across the district. Superintendent Anderson, Deputy Superintendent Da Cruz, and board members met with elementary school

6
00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:38.159
principles, educators to and educators to understand the uh and and to understand and see the declining enrollment uh the ways that it's impacting uh the experiences of our students and staff and hear the concerns that they have and the hopes that they have for the future. Uh we've also engaged the district advisory committees

7
00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:54.799
and we've made uh several presentations to our municipalities in alignment with the the goals that uh uh Mr. Bryce had mentioned earlier. Uh in April uh we held six community engagement sessions throughout our district. Uh they were regionalized in the areas that are uh to be impacted.

8
00:01:54.799 --> 00:02:11.360
They were all well intended uh and folks were highly engaged, very passionate in their conversations. Um I I believe that a quote from the Daily Camera really captured the spirit of the effort. Parents said uh quote, "We know that there will be that these will be tough pills to swallow. Uh it's important that we're here. They're asking for the

9
00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:27.840
community to think like a community." And I really truly believe that that's what happened in these events. Uh they came together, they considered their priorities, the the things that they they wanted us to remember and to think about through this process. And then as groups, they really considered the trade-offs and and the difficulties in

10
00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:44.480
making these decisions uh that we were facing as a community. One of the things that uh we recognized as we were going through this process is that despite our best efforts to make sure that these sessions were accessible, including Spanish communications prior, uh making sure that our events had uh materials in

11
00:02:44.480 --> 00:02:59.519
Spanish and interpretation, then we convey that out to the community. We didn't really get that many Spanish speakers uh during these six events. So, valuing their voices, we connected with the principles uh and and our community leaders in this area and uh we held a

12
00:02:59.519 --> 00:03:14.159
couple additional sessions. uh one with our uh Kappell uh group and then also one at Coline Elementary in May uh right before the end of school. Uh we wanted to really make sure that we valued their voices and understood what their needs were and uh through that process. They

13
00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:31.200
they really were um very strongly uh uh thoughtful in regards to the fact that they wanted it to be all in Spanish. They wanted to make sure that it felt like it was uh at home. So in a school in an elementary school uh they're comfortable with that kind of thing. Um and um we felt uh that that that session

14
00:03:31.200 --> 00:03:47.760
was very well attended as well. Uh communications as we've discussed before has been an important part of this engagement process as well. Uh it's important that we've been reaching out uh in a variety of of ways. Uh but uh we also wanted to make sure that they're informed about the process and and the

15
00:03:47.760 --> 00:04:04.400
uh the declining enrollment situation as well. So we've uh been sharing information through a number of our ch our avenues. uh most importantly our declining uh impacts newsletter. As you know, we launched that back in February and it's been a monthly drum beat really helping to ensure that we're carrying information that folks know uh that they

16
00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:19.600
can count on that information to come. Uh we've had letters from our superintendent uh and uh and our board president uh and really try to uh make sure that we're keeping up with the process. Uh in fact, our next edition should be coming out next week and we'll have an update in regards to this board

17
00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:34.479
meeting and the pro and the the the data that we'll be presenting tonight. Uh, as you also know, we presented a number of live stream events. I think it's important that we're not trying to hit uh folks with just one way of communicating and obviously written format uh doesn't necessarily meet

18
00:04:34.479 --> 00:04:50.720
everybody's needs. And so by having uh these live streams, it was really a great opportunity for us to to change the format to have it in a conversational for uh form. Uh something that you really, you know, even to this day, it's still good information that I I would encourage people to to watch and and listen to. Uh if you're walking the

19
00:04:50.720 --> 00:05:06.479
dog or making dinner, it's not a bad thing to just, you know, have that on your phone and be listening to it. Uh and I've included the the links. Uh it's on BB22, so we're going to be playing that throughout the summer on our TV station. Uh we've also got it on YouTube, and it's available through our resilient schools uh website as well. Uh

20
00:05:06.479 --> 00:05:20.960
and and thank you for those that joined us in in having those conversations. Uh it was it was a I I think one of the important things too is to mention is that we really uh it was another feedback loop for us. we were hearing from folks in regards to their questions, their concerns. Uh it really

21
00:05:20.960 --> 00:05:37.919
did open up another window for that uh throughout this entire process. So again, a six-month engagement process. Uh we had a variety of ways that we were engaging with folks as we've discussed that started with those teacher roundt uh feedback sessions. Uh principles uh we had uh that let's talk show had a

22
00:05:37.919 --> 00:05:53.440
questionnaire that we were gathering feedback through uh the engagement sessions as we discussed both in English and Spanish. And then finally, we finished up with a survey uh that we sent out to both our employees and to our parents uh to gather feedback. Uh we gathered a lot of uh feedback, a lot of

23
00:05:53.440 --> 00:06:08.720
thoughts through this process. And so I'm I'm very proud now to hand it off to Dr. Jessica Alzen Azine uh our executive director of accountability and evaluation who had the pleasure of taking all that data and preparing it for tonight's presentation. Before you hand it off, Randy, if board members, if

24
00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:25.600
I may, um, first of all, our communications team, our senior staff for the past five months has made this our number one top priority. And I know that you all uh attended many of of the opportunities,

25
00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:40.319
whether it was the let's talks or the community engagement sessions or our community engagement session that we did at Combine Elementary School. Um, a couple thoughts uh from from where I sit. Number one, it's the deepest community engagement we've done since

26
00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:58.080
our strategic plan that we had more opportunities to hear from more voices uh than we've had in seven plus years. I thought that was it's appropriate. That's the type of engagement I think all school districts across the country should be doing when you talk about something as significant as school

27
00:06:58.080 --> 00:07:13.680
reconfiguration, consolidation, and closure. Um, and so that's the first thing. The second thing is before you start to look at the data um not only did we just let people tell us what they were thinking we informed them of the problem and we talked about what the

28
00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:30.800
potential solutions were. So the quality of the data that you'll see today, uh, this is data from an informed community and I think that just asking people their opinions without the context and without going through here's our challenge, here's why we're doing this,

29
00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:46.400
these are the things that we could do. Um, I think that that's um, it's empty feedback. You ask people, they will tell you what they think, right? But having an informed opinion on a problem that we all share as a community is what you're getting ready to see. And so I'm

30
00:07:46.400 --> 00:08:01.280
incredibly proud of the work that we've done here. Um I'm really thankful to our senior team and for our principles and everyone who pitched in to make sure that our community was informed and we heard them. Um and the data that you'll see, I think Dr. Azine will do a really

31
00:08:01.280 --> 00:08:16.479
good job of telling a data story that really triangulates the different sources of information that we were able to pull together to give you a really clear picture in terms of kind of what we heard as we went out over these past five months. So with that I'll turn it over to Dr. Aussie.

32
00:08:16.479 --> 00:08:32.479
>> Actually before that board members any questions or comments on this first section before we get into the data? I know we've seen these slides a lot but we're good. I want to echo our community really is informed and our team did a great job of ensuring that's the case. I

33
00:08:32.479 --> 00:08:48.480
continue to hear talking point like people speaking back the information that they heard when they're asking questions or wondering like how is what's the process? How's it how is it continue to move along? So that is commendable. Not often do you hear your community really understanding the

34
00:08:48.480 --> 00:09:03.839
issue? Whether or not they're going to like the outcome, different story, but they do they really understand the problem. So kudos to the team for really clearly defining that and taking all the time. I think it will pay off in dividends and schools districts around us are currently talking about their

35
00:09:03.839 --> 00:09:20.240
additional school closures and they are definitely taking a different process than we did and so thanks to the team for for the path we took. I think it will pay off. And the other thing I just wanted to point out um we talk about our projections. The state demographers's office released updates to the state the

36
00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:36.560
state um demographics and through 2030 they are predict predicting a continued decline of 0 to 17 like we this problem for the up yeah until 2030 there's continued declines predicted in the number of stu student age people living

37
00:09:36.560 --> 00:09:53.120
in this state and so this um this is very timely and it's not going away anytime soon. Yeah, Alex >> also ditto. Uh, but I want to get into the data, but I also want to say from the conversations I've had in the community, what the the depth of their

38
00:09:53.120 --> 00:10:10.720
thinking really shows and it's it's not that there's an answer that comes back. There is a consideration of the issues that you hear the community wrestling with. It's just well we always have a super impressive community and very engaged folks but the fact that they're we're we have this shared problem and a

39
00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:28.399
shared deeper understanding of it is really testament to all your work and your leadership and I think that puts us in a much better position to have substantive conversations focused on kids rather than other stuff. >> Thank you board members Dr. Anderson. Uh

40
00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:45.680
as Dr. Anderson said, it's it's uh my pleasure to be here to tell you a coherent data story across all of these different sources of data that we have uh engaged in or gathered over the last few months. Um before I jump into that story, I want to make sure we're all on the same page of where is this data

41
00:10:45.680 --> 00:11:01.920
coming from. So uh as we just heard, we had our teacher roundtables, we had our community engagement sessions, and then we had the resilient schools community survey. So from all three of these uh buckets or sources of data, we have both qualitative and quantitative data coming

42
00:11:01.920 --> 00:11:17.839
from hundreds if not thousands of respondents. Just to give a little bit more detail in the numbers across each one of these sources and the response rates that you can see here at the round table sessions, teachers had the opportunity to provide their feedback about their

43
00:11:17.839 --> 00:11:33.600
hopes and their fears, what's working, what challenges they're experiencing uh in a qualitative way and then also ranking the shifts that they um hear are options from the district actions. At the community engagement sessions, we have two sources of data. There are the

44
00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:49.120
packets that participants completed during the sessions as well as a follow-up survey that happened afterward and was offered via QR code. And then finally, we had the resilient school survey that was offered again to uh the full census of our staff and our current

45
00:11:49.120 --> 00:12:07.200
parent and guardian uh population. Uh in addition to that, we had an outside contractor offer the exact same survey to a random sample of community members not currently connected to the district. So you can see here the different response rates, the numbers, the counts. Um we have over 6,000 collections of

46
00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:22.959
data. Uh when we look at that at the actual item level, this ended up being about 76,000 bytes of data. Um so quite a lot, a mountain of things to go through if you can imagine. Uh so we won't go into the details of the methodology of how we moved through all

47
00:12:22.959 --> 00:12:38.639
this but just as um a high level uh we did use AI to help us move through that qualitative data at a fast turnaround pace for you all. Uh but for every one of those qualitative data sources we also had a team of humans do um an audit on at least a subsample of that data

48
00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:56.000
just to check for accuracy and look for nuance make sure we felt good about the summaries that I'm about to share with you all. So to start off with our data story, I'm going to outline it from our quantitative data and we're going to start with the resilient schools community survey. So just as a reminder,

49
00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:11.760
that survey had three sections essentially. It started off or the majority of the survey was uh with this this exercise that's referred to as maxiff. Um each respondent would see a random sample of four priorities to think about within declining enrollment.

50
00:13:11.760 --> 00:13:27.519
And they were asked to choose what was most and least important to them out of that list of four. and that activity was repeated nine times for each respondent. And we heard from the community that sometimes this felt frustrating and that this felt really difficult. And we wanted to just name and recognize that

51
00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:44.399
that we we knew that going in. Uh we chose the items that were on that list because we heard that those were things that were important to our stakeholders. And um we wanted to have an activity that would help us understand what was the most important to the community. out of these 12 things that uh our community

52
00:13:44.399 --> 00:14:02.000
told us were important, did anything rise to the top as the most important, what we should be using as our north star to kind of guide the decisions and the conversations moving forward. And we did get that from this part of the survey. So what we see here are six of the 12 priorities that were uh

53
00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:17.360
identified as most or least important by our respondents. And these are the six that had the highest probability of being chosen as most important with small class sizes being uh far and above having the highest probability above everything

54
00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:34.880
else. So small class sizes, equitable funding, neighborhood proximity, advanced academics, full-time art, music, and PE at every school, and full-time math and literacy specialists at every school. These were the six that had the highest probability of being chosen as most important. After that

55
00:14:34.880 --> 00:14:50.560
activity, respondents were then given the full list of all 12 priorities, and they had the opportunity to pick up to three that they named as most important for themselves. What we see here are the top three that were chosen the most frequently by

56
00:14:50.560 --> 00:15:07.279
respondents. So, small class sizes again being the first uh most prominently chosen, full-time art, music, and PE staff at every school, and then full-time math and literacy specialists. Everything else was chosen uh 30% or less across the respondents.

57
00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:24.160
So in this activity, people were shown priorities and they chose what was most important to them. In a similar but a little bit different activity at the community engagement sessions, uh what happened, one of the activities that happened here is that people sat together in tables, table groups. They

58
00:15:24.160 --> 00:15:40.480
shared with each other, they learned together about the challenges that people experience in underenrolled schools. And that activity uh was a chance for people to talk about these different challenges that occur in underenrolled schools. And they worked collaboratively to identify the

59
00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:55.519
challenges that they thought most needed to be addressed moving forward. So kind of the same idea but from the other other side of of the challenges that we're facing here. So here the what we see here are the five cards that were chosen most frequently. These five were

60
00:15:55.519 --> 00:16:10.399
chosen by more than half of the tables across the community engagement sessions. Everything else was chosen less than half of the time. So here we see limited smallroup support, multi-grade classrooms, limited access to specials, part-time counselors, and

61
00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:25.759
part-time instructional support. Now, you remember I I mentioned we have these three buckets of data. These two uh are our quantitative data. And we're going to kind of squint a little bit and pretend that this qualitative data is quantitative data so I can tell a coherent story here. Uh at our round

62
00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:43.040
tables, there were 30 of them. At almost every round table, 90% of them, this idea of small class sizes came up in the conversation. And also at over half of the roundts, the challenges of part-time staff came up in the conversation. So from our outline of our data story here,

63
00:16:43.040 --> 00:16:58.079
we can already start to see some patterns. first and foremost is that issues related to small class size are a top priority to our stakeholders and across these different stakeholder groups and across these different ways that we solicited feedback from uh our

64
00:16:58.079 --> 00:17:14.640
community. Um and we see that through class-siz numbers as well as the ideas of small group support and multi-grade classrooms. A second theme that came up pretty prominently here is this idea of comprehensive and full-time staff. survey respondents identified wanting

65
00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:30.880
full-time specials, full-time specialists, uh, and advanced academics at every campus being of high priority. We see limited access to specials and part-time staff as a challenge that the community engagement session data says this is important. We need this to be

66
00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:47.919
addressed. And then finally, staff mentioning um staff part-time staff challenges being a problem across the uh roundt discussions. One more. Oh, and then lastly, uh, equitable funding and neighborhood proximity also came up here. Um, across

67
00:17:47.919 --> 00:18:04.160
this quantitative data, one more piece of quantitative data, uh, at the community engagement sessions and at the roundts, people were asked to, uh, rank or provide feedback on the different shifts that the district might make in response to declining enrollment. In both the community

68
00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:20.960
engagement sessions and the roundts, consolidating schools was the most favorable choice. uh at the community engagement sessions this was 64% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that consolidating schools is a move in the right direction to solve the challenges

69
00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:35.840
of underenrolled schools. And then at the teacher roundtables, over half of the teachers who provided a ranking uh identified consolidating schools as their number one choice for what decisions might be made going forward, followed next by closing schools and

70
00:18:35.840 --> 00:18:52.480
lastly by grade reconfiguration. >> Dr. Aine, can you go back to slide 22? I would just like to make a point for the board and for the public. Um Dr. Krazine talked about this importance of the max diff and and the frustration that I

71
00:18:52.480 --> 00:19:10.080
think some folks felt. Uh that activity replicates what we're going to be trying to do, right? Where it is a trade-off amongst things that you may think are all important, but you have to decide to to what extent is something the most and

72
00:19:10.080 --> 00:19:26.559
least important of things you might consider all having a level of importance, right? And so uh and then we gave them an opportunity to say okay if you can make a top three list make a top three list. So then they gave were given that opportunity. And then the other piece of data on the right is where you

73
00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:42.880
had to think through this with a group of your neighbors and peers and friends or strangers who have kids in the district that may be um like your kids or not like your kids or they might live in your community or not in your community. Um and so and then ultimately

74
00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:58.960
these conversations with teachers were so deep. So I just would you know the variety of ways in which we asked similar questions I think that it was just a really great design. So I just wanted to highlight that before we move on that we asked people in you know similar questions in a variety of way it

75
00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:15.039
wasn't just one survey with endless amounts of of uh opportunities to click what you wanted. Right? when we sent out the surveys, they they were um everybody got one survey and we had a way to track that through um to knowing and understanding that folks didn't get more

76
00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:32.559
than one opportunity. So, there was some real quality control and design intentionality in how we how we went about collecting the data. I just wanted to to thank Dr. Azine and make that point. Um, one last point that I want to make

77
00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:48.400
here before moving forward because we'll come back is that at the community engagement sessions, we have consolidating schools as number one with the 64% of uh agree strongly agree. The second choice um after that one was the reconfiguration of K8 schools with a 43%

78
00:20:48.400 --> 00:21:04.799
of respondents saying uh agree or strongly agree. And we'll come back to that when we get to the qualitative data because there's some nuance with that. Okay. Okay, so now we're going to shift to our quantitative data kind of tells us what our community uh named as most

79
00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:19.600
important. And we're going to use our qualitative data to tell us more about why. And we're fleshing out our story a little bit here. So, we're going to talk through these same themes that we just saw, class size and instructional complexity, comprehensive full-time staff, talking about that both in the

80
00:21:19.600 --> 00:21:36.480
context of special education as well as whole child support and staffing stability. And then equitable funding and walkability in neighborhood schools. And you'll see number five here, varied school models. We didn't talk about that in the quantitative data because it didn't come up in the quantitative data. Uh but it came up as a strong enough

81
00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:52.799
theme through the qualitative that we felt it was important to name it. Um and in our story outline as well. As we kind of pivot to the qualitative data, I'll do my best to give you some sort of quantification of how uh prevalent a theme was or how much something came up

82
00:21:52.799 --> 00:22:09.600
through that data. um as well as uh wanting to make sure that you're hearing some quotes from across the data sources knowing that all of these themes were presented from across the spectrum of stakeholders. So none of these themes are here because only families brought it up or because only staff brought it

83
00:22:09.600 --> 00:22:23.919
up. All of these themes are up here because across the data we saw this being important to people in our community. >> Dr. Araldine, can you remind us this qualitative data is coming primarily from the roundts and the community engagement sessions. Correct. Because

84
00:22:23.919 --> 00:22:41.120
the survey didn't ask questions that would require open-ended feedback, right? That was more of a forced ranking. >> The third part of the survey that I forgot to mention earlier was that there was one open-ended survey item and so a lot of the data is going to come from that too. >> So all the qualitative data is from

85
00:22:41.120 --> 00:22:58.799
three those three big buckets of information. Great. Thank you. >> Uhhuh. >> Okay. So, first this idea of class size. As we've already seen, this is a top priority um across the stakeholder groups. This was the single most prevalent theme in the open-ended responses on the survey. It appeared in

86
00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:14.240
hundreds of responses across staff and families. It was present in nearly every roundt conversation. Uh an example from the staff survey is quote large class sizes are by far our biggest concern. However, something that came up that's really important to think alongside of

87
00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:29.280
this is it's not just numbers. There's a call to redefine the idea of capacity that class size isn't just the number of desks in the room, but it's also thinking about the complexity of the people in that room. So staff across the round tables argued that post-pandemic

88
00:23:29.280 --> 00:23:46.080
behaviors, neurodeiversity, social emotional support, and language needs u make a class of 25 feel like a class of 40. So a quote from a creekide teacher at the round table, class size and classroom capacity are not the same thing. 30 independent kids is very different than 30 kids with multiple

89
00:23:46.080 --> 00:24:03.200
IEPs, behavior plans, and needs for support. >> Debine, can I ask a question um about class size? Having attended the roundts and the community engagement sessions, class size was never def small. Class size I don't recall ever being defined.

90
00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:20.080
And I wonder if we can speak to um how how staff and how the board and how the community might want to think about what what that small class sizes or a smaller class size means um or might potentially mean moving forward given the

91
00:24:20.080 --> 00:24:37.279
redefinition of capacity and also because it was never defined at the outset. So people might have very different ideas of what that means for them. I would say uh my interpretation um having been to most of the roundts and all of the sessions uh yes we didn't say

92
00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:53.520
small class size is x number of students I do feel like though that there is pretty broad consensus that the thresholds that we have now are too high and so to the extent that that that would be the starting place and trying to reduce those thresholds is how I

93
00:24:53.520 --> 00:25:10.480
would interpret um what it is that folks have said and and I don't know that there's a national um standard or benchmark on what a small class size for a public school district is. Um and so I think that that the way that I'm interpreting this after hearing this is

94
00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:27.600
that uh it is smaller than where we are today and it's a a combination of number of kids plus their needs is the thing to really be thinking about. Uh and to the to the quote from the teacher at Creekide and as a reminder board, we've

95
00:25:27.600 --> 00:25:42.880
we we've done some work in this area before where we've allotted extra resources post pandemic to bring down class sizes based on number and need. And so I think that really resonated at that point in time. And I think the

96
00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:59.120
teacher um teachers were referencing that as we were going through our roundts. And so uh but not a not not a hard number. We didn't say small class sizes equals X, but I do think that people are responding to the thresholds that we have right now. >> Yeah. And like how it feels to be in

97
00:25:59.120 --> 00:26:14.400
classrooms with different complexities of needs. Uh I just wanted to emphas elevate that because as with declining enrollment, we've seen really wonky shifts in class sizes. Some class sizes are pushing upper thresholds. Some class sizes happen to actually be small. So

98
00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:31.279
class like we'll get hopefully we will eventually get to somewhere that feels smaller than our thresholds define that we have defined but it might shake out differently depending on the school and the grade and the like the present experience after we come work through closures and

99
00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:47.120
consolidations. So, um, thank you for elevating that. And I know a long time ago when the district accountability committee used to bring this up as a top priority, we were able to easily like Bill had this magic number. He'd say, well, to decrease a class by one person, it was x amount of dollars back in the

100
00:26:47.120 --> 00:27:02.080
day. And I know that those numbers change depending on all kinds of things. Uh, but it um, inevitably as we continue to work through this, that will come into play at some point as well. Alex and then did I see Alex?

101
00:27:02.080 --> 00:27:19.600
>> Yeah, I wanted to follow up on that too because uh in particular I heard this in the classroom or in the school roundts was an understanding of the volatility in the class size being hard for the schools that go up and down. And then to our concern about equitable funding, the

102
00:27:19.600 --> 00:27:35.120
idea that the small school that only has one classroom of 30 of 29 kids gets two more and suddenly they have two 16s feels like we've just invested another full salary into the school that didn't have it. Whereas a school that was always at 29 and had three rounds of 29

103
00:27:35.120 --> 00:27:50.000
uh got four more kids and didn't get another dime. So the two kids in an underenrolled school are hugely impactful financially and get more investment. two kids in a very impacted school with lots of poverty but high and three classrooms don't lead to any more

104
00:27:50.000 --> 00:28:06.799
resources. And so that was an equity implication uh that both sides uh the people that didn't get the 16s were frustrated and the people that were dealing with the volatility of lastminute hires were like hey these people are in for a year we can't guarantee them a job the next year when it goes back down and it's all bad and

105
00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:21.600
they haven't had a chance to be incorporated into the culture. So I think class size is one of those things like yeah unaffordable to actually in bulk bring it down and the changes will lead to more consistency and more rationality and more equity but not a

106
00:28:21.600 --> 00:28:38.640
rapid big reduction in our class sizes without us finding another half billion dollars or something. >> Deian, >> I would uh back up Alex's um observation on that. A lot of the tables that I listened to, they were very concerned

107
00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:54.720
about there was one class of third graders that had 13 kids and another one that had 28. And so they were it was about relative smallalness like shouldn't we have the equal number um to each other. So I don't think that it was

108
00:28:54.720 --> 00:29:11.760
really saying they wanted extra small classes. Of course they probably do, but um it was about the equity issue for sure. And and just to to to wrap this up so Dr. Ozine can continue the more school sites that you have, the more volatile

109
00:29:11.760 --> 00:29:27.600
class sizes are going to be, right? You know, the more rounds you have in a school, the easier it is to balance those those numbers out in ways where you don't have two 13s or one, you know, two 15s or 130. Uh you can spread that

110
00:29:27.600 --> 00:29:50.720
out over over uh multiple classes. Okay. Uh next we have the idea of comprehensive full-time staff and uh first talking about this in the uh context of special education. So, um, cuts to sped programming, unmanageable case loads, and similar comments were

111
00:29:50.720 --> 00:30:06.159
explicitly mentioned in over 200 of the open-ended survey items. Um, which was about 5% of the sample. And then in about 10% of the community engagement packets, this idea came up as well. Uh, this idea being that um, sustainable case loads are are a priority, that

112
00:30:06.159 --> 00:30:21.600
staff needs to be moved from stretched thin to fully supported. So, a quote from the survey staff. So many more students are coming to BBSD with IEPs. Our sped programs are sometimes stretched thin and have high case loads. We need additional resources so that all

113
00:30:21.600 --> 00:30:38.559
case managers have the staff and resources to meet the needs of the students and their schools. And then similarly from a parent or guardian survey, teachers are overburdened with demands to manage neurodeiverse students and every student suffers due to lack of sufficient support.

114
00:30:38.559 --> 00:30:55.360
In addition, we had a lot of comments about um comprehensive full-time staff when thinking about uh whole child support and staffing stability. So, this was again hundreds of mentions in the open-ended comments regarding full-time counselors,

115
00:30:55.360 --> 00:31:11.679
specials, teachers, gifted and talented support and special education staff. Uh this was the most frequent request at the teacher roundtables was the elimination of shared or fractional or 0.5 FTE roles in favor of full-time dedicated professionals in every

116
00:31:11.679 --> 00:31:27.200
building including counselors, specialists, teachers, interventionists, and librarians. Uh so it's this idea that teachers need a consistent daily support team to meet increasing student needs and that uh relying on shared or part-time roles compromises the

117
00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:42.960
continuity of the student experience. A quote from a staff survey. So many students need intensive literacy and math interventions that teachers simply cannot provide on their own effectively with fidelity. And then a comment from the flat irons roundt. Part-time

118
00:31:42.960 --> 00:31:59.360
support, counseling, resource, gifted and talented specials, etc. does not work. Working as a classroom teacher without a team is not sustainable. Next is this idea of equitable funding. Uh so we didn't see equitable funding come up in the top three must haves when

119
00:31:59.360 --> 00:32:15.679
we looked at the full survey population. Uh but that did rise to the top of um top three list for both staff as well as the community. Uh this was also came up in dozens of uh open-ended responses was this idea of equity based equitybased

120
00:32:15.679 --> 00:32:30.880
funding. So a call for differentiated funding uh to ensure that resources follow student needs. So, a quote from the Ryan Roundt, when funding is diverted to maintain small schools rather than being allocated based on student need, it limits our ability to

121
00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:46.320
provide the level of support our students require to be successful. From a staff survey, I strongly believe we need differentiated funding, additional interventionists, paras, sped, behavior support, mental health advocates, and smaller class sizes to support the

122
00:32:46.320 --> 00:33:02.880
school populations with highest needs. uh finances came up in a couple of other ways. So, there were dozens of people who uh made comments about there being cuts from the top, calling for central admin reductions before any cuts happened at the school level. A quote from this uh family survey, I believe

123
00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:18.799
that BBSD is topheavy and needs to make cuts centrally. And then finally, there were also dozens of comments uh talking about asset preservation, just really noting that buildings are long-term assets and stakeholders warned against selling property. This was concern about what would happen to buildings that BVSD

124
00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:35.279
lost control over. Uh concern about as demographics shift moving forward in time and the difficulty of uh uh regaining real estate in this area. Next, walkability and neighborhood schools. Uh this was named in over a

125
00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:50.880
hundred uh almost 200 of the community engagement packets. It was also hundreds of open-ended survey responses where people uh were just naming the cultural loss in the shift from biking and walking to school to drive to school instead. This is seen as a loss to

126
00:33:50.880 --> 00:34:07.120
community identity. Um and there's also uh a lot of comment about the civic commitment that walkable access is defended as a core value for pedestrian safety and environmental health. So this is a quote from the post community engagement survey. Many of our

127
00:34:07.120 --> 00:34:22.639
elementary and K8 schools are central to the fabric of our communities. Children and parents walk or bike to school. Families bond with neighbors and teachers and staff are an important part of the neighborhood. This is a rare and valuable dynamic.

128
00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:38.079
And then lastly, this theme of uh varied school models that again we didn't see in the quantitative data, but it came up in the qualitative data. Um about 80 of the community engagement packets named it. Um, hundreds of open-ended survey responses again uh naming different

129
00:34:38.079 --> 00:34:53.679
models, different programs, STEM and STEAM, arts integration, monastery, IB, dyslexia, special ed programming, twice exceptional, advanced and gifted programming and dual language schools uh were all named as important and needed and valued. So this idea of educational

130
00:34:53.679 --> 00:35:10.320
diversity uh are essential to meeting unique learning styles and student interests and uh that that these offerings provide a competitive advantage that our focus programs serve as a pull factor for family recruitment and retention. So a quote from a staff survey because children learn

131
00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:26.960
differently it's important to keep a plethora of models making it easier to select a school that can best accommodate your child's learning style and needs. And then a quote from the fam a family survey. Traditional neighborhood schools are wonderful, but families also need the option of additional focus schools to represent

132
00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:42.880
values and curriculum they find important. I believe we need both schools. It's not an eitheror choice. So that uh kind of fills out these key themes in general and we want to kind of end with some nuances for different

133
00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:59.599
pockets of uh people or different uh groups of stakeholders. So, first I want to talk about some nuance by region. In uh the Broomfield region, we had dozens of respondents uh talking about or advocating for redrawing attendance boundary lines. So, a quote from a

134
00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:16.640
community engagement packet, is there an option to redraw some of the lines of which areas feed which schools in order to even out enrollment before closures or consolidations have to take place? For example, there are neighborhoods that are closer to Cole but feed into Aspen Creek.

135
00:36:16.640 --> 00:36:32.240
And then another nuance earlier, um you'll recall I said that the uh reconfiguration of K8 schools was the number two favorable shift at the community engagement packets. Uh but we did we see in the qualitative data a pretty even split um in the Lewisville

136
00:36:32.240 --> 00:36:48.560
Superior area of uh some people being in favor of um preserving that model and others being in favor of the reconfiguration. So a quote from each side, a staff survey saying, "I love the K8 model. that gives middle students the chance to rise as leaders and role

137
00:36:48.560 --> 00:37:04.480
models while still affording them the link to childhood. And then a quote from a community engagement packet. It's good to separate these ages because they are developmentally so different. Young students not exposed to older students behavior, violence, etc. And special teachers and support staff being able to

138
00:37:04.480 --> 00:37:21.280
be specialized for specific grades. We also saw some nuances by role. So families really emphasize some issues around logistics. Um particularly the uh K235 reconfiguration at elementary schools. Dozens of parents wrote in

139
00:37:21.280 --> 00:37:36.720
about uh concerns regarding multiple drop offs, staggered start times, and an unsustainable mental load. Uh and there were also hundreds of mentions regarding gifted and talented programming. This was a point of tension. Here's a quote from a family survey. Our family places

140
00:37:36.720 --> 00:37:52.240
a high value on a rigorous and engaging mathematics curriculum. Continued reductions in the rigor of the math curriculum as well as any decreases in resources or support for talented and gifted programs would be significant concerns for our family.

141
00:37:52.240 --> 00:38:08.000
And then for staff, uh something that came up for this group was collaboration. There's a high value placed on collaborative teams and planning time. This was a top fear at most of the roundts was the fracturing of established teaching teams um and concerns about being spread across the

142
00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:24.240
district. Here's a quote from the Whittier round table. The Whittier staff is my extended family. Honestly, if I were separated from my colleagues, I'm not sure I would continue teaching. And then lastly, as we heard earlier, we had our uh Spanish only session. We

143
00:38:24.240 --> 00:38:40.800
wanted to elevate some themes that came out particularly for this group. I want to start off by emphasizing that this group also named some of the same things that we have already heard. concerns around the K235 reconfigurations um wanting small class sizes, support for full-time comprehensive staff, but

144
00:38:40.800 --> 00:38:56.880
some things that came up uniquely for this group. First and foremost is this prioritization of bilingual access above all else is a core value. Uh and related to this uh transportation or increased travel uh being seen as a

145
00:38:56.880 --> 00:39:13.119
barrier to access and not just a logistical hurdle. So, uh, participants worry that relocating a focus program or closing a bilingual school farther away from Hispanic communities, um, would cause families to need to look for new places to live, find new jobs to be able to continue to support this core value

146
00:39:13.119 --> 00:39:29.200
of bilingual access. Uh, and then finally, uh, the concept of student disruption. So, this theme came up of school closures are feared as disruptive events that could diminish student attitudes about school. So a quote from uh this session, my fear is that my

147
00:39:29.200 --> 00:39:45.920
child will have to change schools and won't know anyone there and then he'll find it difficult to adjust and will lose hope and desire to go to school. So some last additional thoughts to kind of end our data story here. I wanted to name that we had uh dozens of

148
00:39:45.920 --> 00:40:01.920
qualitative concerns for our educators wanting to make sure that there is support for their working conditions, concern of burnout and the support that happens for our educators going through this process. Uh a quote from the community engagement post survey. I think that it's so incredibly important

149
00:40:01.920 --> 00:40:17.599
that we support our teachers during these changes. How they are supported directly affects our children. They need peers and admin to lean on. Next, uh there's a strong call for transparency. Uh our community is asking for a proposal that reflects the input

150
00:40:17.599 --> 00:40:34.240
from all of this engagement as well as clear and specific data to garner community buyin for what comes next. And then finally, just to end this data story, the story that I've told um includes competing values and so we need to be mindful of the fact that

151
00:40:34.240 --> 00:40:51.680
trade-offs will be necessary moving forward. Thank you. Thank you for that thorough summary of the data that you guys gathered. Board members, I know there's lots of questions and

152
00:40:51.680 --> 00:41:08.560
comments that we I'm sure we will all have and Lolania was first to raise her hand. So, we will start with Elenia. >> Thank you, staff. Uh, great presentation. Gives us lots to chew on. Um, you know,

153
00:41:08.560 --> 00:41:25.359
I note there at the end something that's super important to our community is transparency. And I feel like we're really doing a great job of talking about the problem. Um, letting everybody talk about what they think the best solutions are. And what comes up for me

154
00:41:25.359 --> 00:41:41.839
is, um, and two people have already mentioned it, but I think it's worth continuing to say that there are going to be tradeoffs here. So while we can say we care about the I bet that's me. Is

155
00:41:41.839 --> 00:42:06.640
that you Randy or me? It's me. Pardon me. Sorry. Um, I think that we want the community to know that we would love to solve all of the

156
00:42:06.640 --> 00:42:23.680
problems, but we're not going to be able to solve all of the problems. And those trade-offs are going to be necessary. When I look at something like neighborhood proximity and then I take something like um advanced academics, those two things are not going to meet

157
00:42:23.680 --> 00:42:38.079
together at all points. So that challenge um of maintaining transparency while understanding that trade-offs are necessary is really important for our public to be

158
00:42:38.079 --> 00:42:55.440
aware of. Um and then just for staff, I think that the solution that I hope comes forward is a five-year solution, a seven-year solution. Um, I would not want any

159
00:42:55.440 --> 00:43:11.599
of our students to have to go through this twice in their BBSD tenure. One time is enough. It's hard on students. Um, it's hard on our families. It's hard on logistics. Uh, it it's hard on neighborhoods, neighborhood

160
00:43:11.599 --> 00:43:28.160
cohesiveness. So I think if we can avoid revisiting this in 3 or 4 years just starting again um I think that that's in the service of everybody here including staff and the incredible amount of time it's taking

161
00:43:28.160 --> 00:43:52.240
for you to find the best answers that we can have. Um I'll leave it there for now. See if anybody else has something that Anna, >> first I want to go back to um the

162
00:43:52.240 --> 00:44:08.560
the intentionality that went into collecting all of this data. Um, I truly feel spoiled with community input in a way that I don't think many other um, elected officials get to have going to

163
00:44:08.560 --> 00:44:24.880
meet and build relationships with teachers and principles and community members. It was just an amazing opportunity and experience to be able to dive right into community and really listen to their thoughts and and their their frustrations, their feelings about everything that's coming down the

164
00:44:24.880 --> 00:44:41.680
pipeline. And I do just want to also elevate um the amazing work that the the team has done to really be intentional again in um including and having a space of belonging for Spanish-sp speakaking

165
00:44:41.680 --> 00:44:59.440
communities and immigrant communities um at every single um community gathering seeing the interpretation the materials that were there for community members and it just really highlights the first guiding principle of of this um this

166
00:44:59.440 --> 00:45:16.160
work that we've we've um encountered upon is removing institutional barriers and really providing equity and access um at the heart of of this endeavor. And so I am giving huge kudos to you all for really being intentional and and really

167
00:45:16.160 --> 00:45:32.319
taking um taking the ownership of really meeting community where they're at. Uh, I know that at the very end we didn't have um we well we had um a lot of input from Spanish-sp speakaking parents that they didn't really feel heard and to see

168
00:45:32.319 --> 00:45:49.119
the team quickly adapt and set a new uh a meeting that wasn't planned and then um put full force into advertising and getting parents recruited and then still having such an engageful an an engaged

169
00:45:49.119 --> 00:46:06.720
conversation with the parents there. Um, I think it really just speaks volumes to how much, um, this school district and this board really wants to listen to every person in in our community to make sure that we're making the right decision. Um, and I do want to echo what

170
00:46:06.720 --> 00:46:22.319
Lenia said. Um, and it also came up in the nuances of Spanish-sp speakaking communities where um, a lot of the the if if a school closes or someone's environment is disrupted um, especially

171
00:46:22.319 --> 00:46:39.520
for these communities, it feels very um, it has a huge gravity around them. And I think that as we're going through and even what uh, Nicole had mentioned earlier, this problem isn't going away. And I think that if we're going to be making some really big maybe

172
00:46:39.520 --> 00:46:55.040
uncomfortable decisions that we make them for the long haul. That this isn't something that we're planning for just um the next few years. That it is something that is going to be sustainable for a much longer uh longer term because we know that the problem is

173
00:46:55.040 --> 00:47:11.520
isn't going to get better anytime soon. And so really making sure that we are thinking as long term as possible of what is going to be best for our students, for our community members, for our teachers. Um I think that that's going to be the best course of action.

174
00:47:11.520 --> 00:47:27.680
Um and yeah, so kudos to to the team. Um this is really great data and really well um well focused and very well aligned with those guiding principles. Um, and I'm just I know that there's going to be uncomfortable decisions. Um,

175
00:47:27.680 --> 00:47:45.480
but I think that we have gone above and beyond to really make sure we have that community input so that we're not just making a decision out of nowhere, but that it's informed and guided by what I but by what our community wants. So, thank you,

176
00:47:49.520 --> 00:48:10.079
Alex. Like everybody else, I'm I feel privileged and honored to be part of your process. And as a decision maker, I feel like I'm in a much better position to know what the feelings are on something so complex among so many people. I I really I've looked into this

177
00:48:10.079 --> 00:48:25.839
around the country at different strategies and people have and I see nothing like this even from the people that have had super engaged stuff. So kudos to you and kudos to our community for really um stepping up to it as well. Um and it's it's great to hear it's

178
00:48:25.839 --> 00:48:40.480
great as a leader I think to start to feel the triangulation of things and for the the big numbers to reinforce from the from the data what it is we kind of get the feelings of as elected leaders where you know you have 100 conversations and you start to hear the

179
00:48:40.480 --> 00:48:56.480
same things again and again. So it's great to reinforce that to know that all of us are benefiting from those thousand conversations. So I'm really excited about that. Um I have one re one thing I think as I look through the data

180
00:48:56.480 --> 00:49:12.079
uh I notice I feel like the things that we're talking about are largely framed from an adult perspective of like what will we do to reorganize buildings and adults and every one of those changes and values is actually a very kid-focused thing and sometimes in the

181
00:49:12.079 --> 00:49:27.200
way we talk about it I think we lose the kid focusness. So when we talk about teacher collaboration, I'm like, "Big deal, teacher collaboration." It's like, "No, no, no. When teachers collaborate, Johnny gets to talk to somebody in the reading class who knows what they did last week. If they don't collaborate,

182
00:49:27.200 --> 00:49:42.400
that they don't know." So all these things we could have, you could have done that whole presentation and not really mentioned adults at all. Um, and talked about the same things because this is all very kid focused in terms of the changes that we will make. And I do think we should maybe figure out ways to

183
00:49:42.400 --> 00:49:58.800
talk about that that way because this still comes off as, you know, when it comes if I have to weigh what a teacher thinks compared to what a kid needs, I'm elected to act on behalf of the kids and I will do that. But that's not what it's not a one or one, but it sounds like we're talking about a lot of adult

184
00:49:58.800 --> 00:50:16.000
things here. Um, another one, Lennena spoke to this, but there's the extent to which we can act on these things is from how bold we are. we do less action, we can address less things. So if people want to do the right things on the trade-offs, we have to do the hard

185
00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:31.839
things on structure. And so the more structurally uh necessary things we do, the more good things we can do. And if we pull our punches on making the hard calls, we are going to get less of the good part. And so if you want to if you

186
00:50:31.839 --> 00:50:46.720
want to do more about class size, you want to do more about differentiated instruction and teacher collaboration, then we need to do more on consolidation or restructuring. So like that's the other obvious like it's one or the other. Like we we can't just close one

187
00:50:46.720 --> 00:51:03.440
school but then fix eight. So if we're going to close five schools, then maybe we can fix 10 schools in in one of these regards. And that's it's a it's a really direct trade-off that the community needs to know. Same thing is that this work is really this is the first phase of the work that we do like we don't

188
00:51:03.440 --> 00:51:19.839
want to do multiple phases of closures and consolidations. There will be a next phase of implementation where there's a lot of work to do and we want to be able to switch pretty quickly to adults talking about how to do this well not should we have done it or can we go back and not do it. So I think our messages to the community need to be really

189
00:51:19.839 --> 00:51:36.160
clear. We're going to do intense stuff once and then we're going to work really hard to implement it well. And the more intense we make it, the more this will last longer and the more we'll focus on what kids need and how to do it. And then the last part I think um I'm glad

190
00:51:36.160 --> 00:51:52.720
to really see the data come through on the varied school models because I that's one of the things I hear a lot from parents and it's not just the parents of a charter or a focus school. When parents pick their neighborhood school, yes, they want to walk there, but they also know that their neighborhood school does something really well that was working for their

191
00:51:52.720 --> 00:52:08.720
kid. They could have been one of the people driving their kids with biking and their kids across town, but they're not. So, all our schools are special in unique ways that have attracted the parents to be there or go there. And so I think as we think about what we do and how we we our changes need to

192
00:52:08.720 --> 00:52:25.760
accommodate the things people love about their schools and that stands for the neighborhood schools as well as the focus and innovation and and track schools. So I want to make sure that we are excited about implementing things and then finally like I think we can get the kids excited about that. I I looking

193
00:52:25.760 --> 00:52:42.079
through some of the work in place like San Antonio and their primary advocates. I mean they organized the students to pressure the school board and say how dare you not close more schools. Why don't you love us enough to change this and make our schools better? Um so like you can turn this around and stay really

194
00:52:42.079 --> 00:52:57.359
kid focused and get even more positivity out of it. So, but I'm I feel so empowered by what you've shared and by the work that all the staff have done to do this and I think it's uh speaks speaks volumes to our leadership and uh

195
00:52:57.359 --> 00:53:13.040
your team >> Jorge. >> Thank you. I I would like to start by thanking you all the way everybody else has done because it's uh it's a testament to the work that's put in here. That's we've had so much outreach and I I can say that everybody I've

196
00:53:13.040 --> 00:53:28.319
talked to whether it's the community engagement sessions, the bilingual sessions, the Spanish sessions, the teachers, um everybody I talked to came away more informed um heard and listened to. Um and we're part of the conversation. I think that's that's really important. And I appreciate you

197
00:53:28.319 --> 00:53:45.599
going back to 2021 2022. Um, some people are just now, you know, it's kind of hitting them in the face, right? But it's been a long time coming. We've been having these conversations and we've been really, you've all been really thoughtful about what this process looked like. Um, and have adopted tried different models prior to this, right?

198
00:53:45.599 --> 00:54:02.319
Um, and to the point from some of I'm hearing from some of the other board members here, um, now is a time to be forward thinking and to look at meaningful change, right? Because small measures aren't suitable anymore. um you know seeing the data results here um it

199
00:54:02.319 --> 00:54:19.280
was really clear that there's some that these themes that arose are all underlined by equity our ability to serve or not serve our students as has been the case given the small number of schools and our inability to provide resources everywhere and I think that's the driving force for what we're doing and

200
00:54:19.280 --> 00:54:35.200
so you know I'm in favor of of being forward thinking and addressing this stuff now and and having a a long-term plan right for the next seven 10 years so we're not going through this again um and and so that we can have greater impact and change um you know

201
00:54:35.200 --> 00:54:52.079
I'm not from Colorado originally um we have open enrollment in Colorado I'm still trying to wrap my head around that all the time right and that's something that didn't really come up here but that's that underlies all this as well right currently half of our school or our schools about 50% of them are all through open enrollment right so it's a neighborhood school but it's also an

202
00:54:52.079 --> 00:55:08.160
open enrollment school and that adds complexity here so so I appreciate thinking about the different models and thinking about, you know, how we can improve access throughout the district as opposed to any individual school and to really think about transportation um and barriers to to individuals to access

203
00:55:08.160 --> 00:55:23.440
the schools that they want to choose from and try to expand that as much as possible as part of this process. Um so I think this is an opportunity for us to better serve, you know, not just within the schools but across our district, right, in terms of who has access to our to the great programming that we have here. So so thank you for um uh all this

204
00:55:23.440 --> 00:55:40.000
data. I think we've got some clear direction from our community and our teachers um and our and our families. Um and this is just the start. I I don't want to forget that, right? We've got to the next years can be very challenging. Next couple years, right, as we support our families through this process and change

205
00:55:40.000 --> 00:56:02.000
um and I I think, you know, we've kind of had the transparency. I know that's going to continue. So, I really appreciate the work. And so, not so much a question, but a thank you, >> Deian. I personally have enjoyed every minute of this process as an observer and

206
00:56:02.000 --> 00:56:17.280
getting to meet parents and uh see them engaging in the process and I bet they feel the same way too that they they feel heard and seen. Um I do worry a little bit about one of the data points

207
00:56:17.280 --> 00:56:32.079
because one necessarily negates the other and that is we would like consolidation and we wouldn't like school closures. You can't really do one and not have the

208
00:56:32.079 --> 00:56:49.839
other. And so it was kind of a false choice for people. It almost should have been should we consolidate schools and close a few or should we close a lot of schools? I don't know. It should need to be different because you can't really

209
00:56:49.839 --> 00:57:05.680
you can't really do the job without disappointing some people as we've all talked about. So, um, there are going to be disappointments and I also have a lot of confidence in the fact that we're going to be able to figure out some way

210
00:57:05.680 --> 00:57:22.119
different ways to support the communities that are being asked to make some changes and maybe to improve the schools that we have. Um, so maybe this is an opportunity for us to make uh BBSD even better.

211
00:57:24.079 --> 00:57:39.599
Did I see your finger go up, Rob? Or >> I'll let you go. >> Okay. >> Great. Um, thanks for the presentation. Like my colleagues here, I am in favor of significant maneuvers

212
00:57:39.599 --> 00:57:54.480
to protect us in the long run. I mean, again, state demographer down 30,000 students and then between now and 2030. It's not going to get better. And so the more we can do today, the better the educational experiences we can provide for our students

213
00:57:54.480 --> 00:58:09.760
more quickly. Uh I don't want to have to do this. Elena said 5 years, Jorge said 7 to 10. I am like 10. We need to we need to look out further. Uh this has been an exceedingly

214
00:58:09.760 --> 00:58:25.359
heavy lift for our staff. It's created a lot of anxiety for our community in the last couple years just waiting and wondering. It's going to be a lot of work to make the shift. Disruption is always hard and the more we can minimize the frequency of disruption whether it's

215
00:58:25.359 --> 00:58:42.079
through not facing in like Alex said or thinking longer term I think um while hard in the outset will be appreciated by our staff and our community in the long run. And so I I agree um bigger

216
00:58:42.079 --> 00:58:58.960
changes that will be provide lasting outcomes is really where I am thinking about this. And I'm thinking a little bit about the tension that exists between the the priorities that were elevated. And to my board members points, we we're not going to be able to accomplish everything, but we're going to do our

217
00:58:58.960 --> 00:59:15.839
best to take this into consideration. I think like a couple things that really stood out to me around walkability. If we close schools, which we have already decided we cannot keep schools closed, some people might have a longer

218
00:59:15.839 --> 00:59:32.000
commute to school. Like we walkability is I understand it's important. So when I think of that, I'm like, well, let's make sure we keep we the schools that are in pockets where we know we have a lot of students, those are the ones we prioritize, but somebody is going to have a longer walk. Similar

219
00:59:32.000 --> 00:59:48.480
like taking a school offline. I understand that there's a um there is some property value there. Yes. And I also know it's really hard for the community to conceive of not having a school as a neighbor because a school is a great neighbor on the weekends and in the summer and the holidays and not knowing what's going to happen to that

220
00:59:48.480 --> 01:00:04.559
property I think is can be pretty anxietyprovoking. Um I also found it interesting the comment from Broomfield about redrawing attendance boundaries rather than considering a school closure. Aspen Creek is 50% open enrollment and 30% of

221
01:00:04.559 --> 01:00:20.640
those kids are coming from out of district. So even in Broomfield, we don't have enough students to redraw those lines. And that's a reality I think that our staff is going to Yes, we know. We don't want We hear you. We don't want schools to necessarily close.

222
01:00:20.640 --> 01:00:36.079
And to accomplish the other things like smaller class sizes, to have full-time staff in all of our schools, to have differentiated supports, that's going to be part of it. And similarly I would say for the community I hear you in the

223
01:00:36.079 --> 01:00:52.079
priority the priority is consolidation to keep those groups of students together but it may not be that we're able to completely consolidate without some reconfiguration of attendance boundaries or some people might like it

224
01:00:52.079 --> 01:01:08.480
depends on our facilities and so to the extent practical I'd say to staff consolidate when you can and if we have to make boundary line adjustments because there's we can't obtain perfect consolidation because of the seats in a school.

225
01:01:08.480 --> 01:01:23.839
Really relying on the hard work that the board did in policy JC and thinking through like what are the priorities there? It's having like contiguous boundaries and it's having compactness of boundaries and it's thinking about balancing students and so like all of those things are going to come into play

226
01:01:23.839 --> 01:01:39.280
inevitably and I really want to u remind the community and staff that it probably isn't going to be incredibly clean but relying on all the work we've done since 2021 to really think through transportation realities, facility realities, attendance boundaries

227
01:01:39.280 --> 01:01:55.280
and policy JC again is kind of where I was thinking with my tenurs is we have to look at attendance boundaries every 5 years based on board policy JC. Like it'd be lovely to be in a cadence where you look at attendance boundaries 5 years later, like you're in a cadence where it's not every 5 years you're

228
01:01:55.280 --> 01:02:13.240
having to look to close the school in the conjunction with redrawing those attendance boundaries. Those attendance boundary changes could potentially help even out. Um so that's just something I want to elevate there. And then um there was one other thing.

229
01:02:13.680 --> 01:02:30.079
At the end of the day, this is like a really big fiscal decision, right? Because all the things that we want in all of our schools cost dollars and that will just have to be part of the conversation um into next year. And to Alex's point, the bigger maneuvers we have, the more dollars we have to free

230
01:02:30.079 --> 01:02:45.359
up to do all of the stuff that we've really heard loud and clear that our community, our students, our staff, our families really do want. So, it'll be hard. And I feel like we are in a really great position based on the extensive community feedback that we received, based on all the listening

231
01:02:45.359 --> 01:03:02.799
we've done and the years we've had thinking about this to set us up for success and help us create a plan before. We're in a dire fiscal situation. So kudos to everybody involved in these processes. And I am excited to see to see where

232
01:03:02.799 --> 01:03:22.640
we're headed and what we can do to create the outcomes and opportunities our kiddos really do deserve. Rob, uh, I don't know. I we don't have a lot of parents here this evening and without

233
01:03:22.640 --> 01:03:39.599
a doubt come fall we'll have a lot of parents here. Um, and I'll remember maybe to say this again at that time, but anybody who's watching uh this later maybe will hear this any parents. Um,

234
01:03:39.599 --> 01:03:58.319
one of the things I encourage of our community is for the parents to hold this work and not have the kids hold it. Um, I got a great compliment from one of my colleagues about that I was very afraid

235
01:03:58.319 --> 01:04:14.960
for my own child, but my own child never knew during that moment and that that's like a a parenting win. So, we're going to have a lot of parents that don't feel comfortable. And this is big change. And I hear a lot of support

236
01:04:14.960 --> 01:04:32.319
from my colleagues about making big change. And I really hope our parents can hold that and not scare the kids because wherever your kid ends up in BBSD, we are going to love them. We are going to do a good job of teaching them. We are

237
01:04:32.319 --> 01:04:49.039
going to hold them safely. So, I just I really want to say that because I just recently had an experience where I had to not have my fear be the driving factor for my own child. So, I'll remember to say it again in

238
01:04:49.039 --> 01:05:06.000
fall when I've got a room full of parents, but any parents watching this, take note. >> Rob, and then Alex. I just want to thank the board for your thoughtful discussion around this topic.

239
01:05:06.000 --> 01:05:24.000
Uh, a couple things to point out. Uh, 76,000 bytes of information. We do not have evidence that our community is fighting for the status quo. We don't have that evidence. We didn't hear do nothing, everything's fine. Um,

240
01:05:24.000 --> 01:05:40.079
the other point I want to highlight is that for the closures, consolidations, reconfigurations that we do, those dollars that we recoup, we're going to be reinvesting in the student experience based on what our community has told us they want,

241
01:05:40.079 --> 01:05:57.119
right? And I and I don't look at the the because there's tension amongst some of the feedback, right? Uh, it's more guard rails, not a roadmap. Tensions will exist for sure. You can't have fully staffed schools and not close school like close or consolidate schools or cons close and consolidate. Can't do

242
01:05:57.119 --> 01:06:13.039
that. Um and this isn't the only pieces of data that we'll look at board members as you know that we have enrollment projections based on your feedback. We'll be looking at enrollment projections from 5 years out from now. So you may have a school that's

243
01:06:13.039 --> 01:06:29.039
going to drop 50 students between now and 5 years from now. We're going to be dealing and trying to solve for five years from now. um we have OE patterns and so folks may say one thing about a school but if we look and less than half the kids in that community actually the

244
01:06:29.039 --> 01:06:43.680
parents send their kids to their neighborhood school that's a data point that we have to pay attention to. Um we also have building capacities, right? We we are not in um looking to overload schools.

245
01:06:43.680 --> 01:06:59.920
Uh we have to be considerate of our building capacities as well. So there's other data points that we'll bring into this as we think about the recommendation we'll be bringing back to you all in August. Um I would provide just a compliment to the board that in

246
01:06:59.920 --> 01:07:15.680
October you had a very good sense of where this community was which is we can't do nothing and uh that was validated by the process that we went through. I just want you to to to to you are in tune to your community and so that is really good news. And then the

247
01:07:15.680 --> 01:07:32.079
last thing, and I'm really proud of this, we didn't cheat this. We're not cheating this challenge of its complexity, right? We're not giving people two options or three options and these are the only ways you can solve this or um you know, unfortunately, I think, and

248
01:07:32.079 --> 01:07:48.559
this is just my opinion, but sometimes superintendent, school boards get to this place where well, we're not going to make people happy, so just do it fast. Do it quick. Don't talk to people. People aren't going to be happy regardless of what you do. Uh, so you make the decision, you move on, you hope people forgive you. I don't think that's

249
01:07:48.559 --> 01:08:04.720
the right way to do it. I think the way we're doing it's the right way to do it where you listen to people, you give them space, uh, you hear what they want for their kids, you hear what they'd prefer um, as you think about moving forward and you don't overpromise that we're just going to make everybody happy

250
01:08:04.720 --> 01:08:20.640
with all of these decisions. We won't. There will be people who are are going to be impacted in ways they're going to be emotional and they're going to not be happy with. But if we can stand in in August and present to you an option that provides a better opportunity for our

251
01:08:20.640 --> 01:08:35.600
students across our district by making some tough choices, then I think we will have um done a process uh done this process well and uh we will be a better school district after it. So uh again, thanks for the conversation and I guess there's maybe a couple more comments,

252
01:08:35.600 --> 01:08:52.799
but >> I regret speaking after you, Rob, because you said that so well. Um I have a big picture thing and then a technical thing. Um one is uh I was really excited about the feedback for how holistic it

253
01:08:52.799 --> 01:09:09.679
was about our students. And when you read through that from a student perspective I'm like oh people care about the specials. specials turn into teachers, but really the specials turn into kids smiling because they had art and, you know, energetic kids, you know, sweating a little bit and and PE on

254
01:09:09.679 --> 01:09:26.319
singing and feeling resonance for their community. Like the things people are valuing are they're not reading, writing, arithmetic all the time and they make kids happy and give them an outlet and that's one of the things I think we should never lose sight of. And at the same time, we have parents who are, you know, really frustrated at the

255
01:09:26.319 --> 01:09:41.359
lack of access to acceleration. So we think about things forward. We think about new focuses or what to do and we have opportunities to figure out how to add more accelerated opportunities for kids in this mix. So like we have really holistic ways to think about all our kids. Another observation I have in all

256
01:09:41.359 --> 01:09:56.719
these conversations is everybody knows a lot about our schools. Like parents will come to you and say you need to know this about my school. And I'm always like do you think there's anybody on Arapaho who doesn't know that about your school? Like everybody knows these schools really well. They know the things they're wrestling with. the way

257
01:09:56.719 --> 01:10:12.000
the district has evolved to be much more like engaged with its schools and improvement means that all the adult all the people you know here know what the schools are like. So all that's going to go into the decision making too. And then finally um I've had the end same

258
01:10:12.000 --> 01:10:27.760
criticism of our consolidation versus close and you know distribute people and I have the technical thing is I'm starting to wrestle with doing two of these things three of these things at the same time and suddenly the consolidation makes more sense to me

259
01:10:27.760 --> 01:10:43.600
versus the merging. So like let's say we have three or four schools and three neighborhood schools with catchment zones. We actually make one of the schools become the new home of a focus school because we said we're going to move a focus school. Focus school goes there. It doesn't have a catchment zone.

260
01:10:43.600 --> 01:11:00.480
So now we have three catchment zones of kids but only two catchment zones of two neighborhood schools and a focus school. So suddenly we have merged those schools and we haven't closed one but we've changed one of a neighborhood school into a focus school. Um, so like that's

261
01:11:00.480 --> 01:11:15.120
the kind of thing where you combine two or three things together and suddenly your options start expanding even more. So like it's not just one thing. We're going to do X here and we could do Y here. We're going to do stuff for a neighborhood that involves all those

262
01:11:15.120 --> 01:11:37.840
things. So it'll be even more complex. Board members, any other questions or comments >> or you gonna Oh, yes. We'll >> just cover this just to wrap up the work session. One, thank you so much for the thoughtful uh conversation tonight. As

263
01:11:37.840 --> 01:11:55.040
we look at the overall timeline, we are now transitioning from that community engagement process to the what I'll call decision-making process. So, in 10 weeks from now, we will be bringing you a plan in late August. uh in alignment with what we've heard tonight from the board,

264
01:11:55.040 --> 01:12:10.719
from our community engagement sessions, from the work that uh long- range advisory committee has done prior to this. So, we will be bringing that to you and then that will give the community an option to uh speak a public

265
01:12:10.719 --> 01:12:28.000
comment and then another opportunity during study in September with final decision uh thereafter in October. So, just want to line that up. that is in alignment with our open enrollment uh time frame as we have spoken about previously. Um but with that that wraps

266
01:12:28.000 --> 01:12:49.360
up tonight's presentation. >> You got your work cut out for you team between now and August. I think I can speak on behalf of the board that we are eagerly awaiting that presentation for the community as well. As I alluded to earlier, there are some schools that have been really struggling with under

267
01:12:49.360 --> 01:13:05.760
enrollment for a long time and are eager to see some change to improve the the experiences in those schools. One final thought I had, you know, we we for years now we've held three rounds up as a model. I know we've also prioritized

268
01:13:05.760 --> 01:13:22.640
smaller class sizes. So, some magical three- round model with slightly smaller class sizes and all the people to round out that educational experience in our neighborhood schools at the very least is sort of where my brain is. And I um

269
01:13:22.640 --> 01:13:41.280
I'm looking forward to to seeing how this all shakes out. So, thank you board members. We are going to reconfigure the boardroom back to its normal arrangement now that this work study session is done. So we will take a small

270
01:13:41.280 --> 01:21:06.320
5 to 10 minute break. everyone. The next item on our agenda today is the superintendence report. Dr. Anderson, good evening. >> Good evening. Thank you, board president Raj Paul board members. Uh some quick remarks this evening. Uh congrats again to the class of 2026. We now have

271
01:21:06.320 --> 01:21:22.080
officially wrapped up graduation season. We had a total of 13 commencement ceremonies over just under three weeks. Last Thursday was our last ceremony, Boulder Prep Charter School. And just want to um say congrats to the entire

272
01:21:22.080 --> 01:21:38.560
BBSD class of 2026. Board members, this is the third year of our grad plus leadership academy and it is now underway. We had more than 100 applications for the program and ultimately 36 rising juniors and seniors

273
01:21:38.560 --> 01:21:54.719
were selected over the summer. They get work-based learning experiences including uh resume writing, how to interview. They intern at a variety of work sites across our community, including here at at um at the Ed Center here in the district. Additionally, this year they visited the Boulder County

274
01:21:54.719 --> 01:22:10.800
Sheriff's Office for getting to learn all about the different jobs available in law enforcement. This year we've partnered with Impact on Education who among other things offers students an honorarium for participating. So thank you to our partners at Impact on Education. And then finally, very

275
01:22:10.800 --> 01:22:27.520
exciting news. In August, 10 Centurus High School students and their coaches will be headed to Hamburg, Germany to work with European scientists after being selected by in the prestigious Beamline for Schools competition organized by CERN, the European

276
01:22:27.520 --> 01:22:44.239
Laboratory for Particle Physics. Beamline for Schools competition started in 2014 to coincide with CERN's 60th anniversary and aims to give high school students a hands-on opportunity to experience what it's like to be a scientist. High school students from all around the world compete by submitting

277
01:22:44.239 --> 01:22:59.440
experience experiments. Those selected are invited on a full paid trip to conduct their experiments alongside the international scientists at CERN or at one of their partner institutions. This year, members of the Centaurus Physic Club physics club that call

278
01:22:59.440 --> 01:23:17.120
themselves team Centauri Stars and you kind of like that were among five winning teams from around the world chosen based on the scientific merit of their proposals. They're the only team from the United States. The other teams are from the United Kingdom, Turkey, India, and Bangladesh. What an incredible

279
01:23:17.120 --> 01:23:34.080
opportunity and accomplishment. Congrats to team Centauri Stars. Uh their project using silicone photo multipliers to detect Sharrennikoff radiation inside a glass

280
01:23:34.080 --> 01:23:49.920
bar. They've actually been consulting with elite scientists in this cutting edge physics research and now they get to work with European scientists at the D Desi Research Center in Hamburg, Germany. Incredible. And that's all I have for my

281
01:23:49.920 --> 01:24:06.639
remarks this evening. >> Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Board members, any questions or comments? It's very exciting for those students. I wish them the best of luck. Seeing as there are no questions or comments, we will move on to board communication. Board members, do any of you have

282
01:24:06.639 --> 01:24:28.480
anything you would like to update us on? Alex, >> um, uh, yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting with Jen Douglas, the executive director of Peak to Peak, and this today I met with a couple of board members from Peak to Peak. Um, I would recommend

283
01:24:28.480 --> 01:24:42.880
to my board, fellow colleagues on the board, that those are good lunches to take sometimes. And it's great, especially like board to board, to just be able to talk and have it not be about a negotiation, have it not be about some high takes authorizer decision, but just

284
01:24:42.880 --> 01:24:59.600
talking about what people are um working on, what they care about, the challenges, things they're celebrating um and getting to just know one another as colleagues sharing similar roles at different scales in different places. So, uh happy to invite other people. I

285
01:24:59.600 --> 01:25:15.600
plan to meet with other charter board members when I can and happy to have another board member join any of those. If you're interested, let me know. And uh word out to the charter schools, too. Happy to to hear from you. Um we hear from lots of people about all the schools all the time and it's it can be

286
01:25:15.600 --> 01:25:31.199
complex and we have a different relationship with the charters. So, it's nice to build. I mean, I love that our district celebrates the great accomplishments of our charters and their wonderful students and the things they're doing that we are there for their graduations and, you know, everything else. Uh, they're

287
01:25:31.199 --> 01:25:47.679
institutions that are big part of our community and I think it's uh really helps build understanding about what they're dealing with so that we can be constructive partners and that we can share real feedback when we have it in a lower stakes environment than will happen when it comes up for renewal or

288
01:25:47.679 --> 01:26:04.480
something. So it builds a reservoir of understanding that can be useful to us. Um also uh um had the pleasure of sitting down with some Fairview students um this week and it's great to hear from the students about what they're doing um

289
01:26:04.480 --> 01:26:20.320
and their experiences and uh it reaffirmed my commitment to making sure that we deal with our students holistically as people with complex lives and multiple pressures and things going on and concerns and that we, you know, try to make sure our schools are

290
01:26:20.320 --> 01:26:35.600
remaining responsive. to the the the stressors, the aspirations, and the things our kids have. Uh so again, I'm not a parent of active kids in school anymore. So when I have a chance to sit down with students and have them really tell me what they

291
01:26:35.600 --> 01:26:52.239
think, it is just it's a pleasure. So anyway, I just um uh am grateful for the opportunity for either whether it's a charter board member or a Fairview junior to take the time to tell me what they're thinking. And um uh it's people say like, "Oh, you're on the board. That

292
01:26:52.239 --> 01:27:15.040
must be a thankless job." It's like, "No, not at all." People I get gratitude and people share wonderful things with me and sad things with me and I am so glad to hear it. So, keep it coming. Thanks, Alex. We will now move on to our the next item on our agenda this

293
01:27:15.040 --> 01:27:30.080
evening, which is information. We have one information item this evening which is a cell phone policy update. I will turn it over to Robin Fernandez for introductions. >> Thank you, President Rajpal. Good evening, President Rajpal, members of the board and Dr. Anderson. I'm before

294
01:27:30.080 --> 01:27:45.440
you this evening with an update on how our cell phone policy, what we call away for the day, is going in our high schools. As a reminder, the board revised the policy in the fall of 2024 and was implemented in our high schools

295
01:27:45.440 --> 01:28:02.400
in the in January of 2025. Joining me this evening is Principal Greg Don from Monarch High School and Principal John McClesy from New Vista High School and they will share how that's going in their schools. You will hear about the current state of implementation in these

296
01:28:02.400 --> 01:28:19.520
two in these two schools. You will hear how they are monitoring and tracking compliance. You'll hear celebrations and challenges with the implementation and you will hear about how principles across our high schools in our district are planning for future work in the fall

297
01:28:19.520 --> 01:28:35.760
and beyond. But first, we are going to start with hearing from our students. Our wonderful Randy Barber visited with stu high school students across the district and checked in with them during the last week of school. So just a couple of weeks ago about their

298
01:28:35.760 --> 01:28:57.280
perceptions of the implementation of the cell phone policy and as you will see in a moment they did not hold back. We're not allowed to have our phones in the classrooms or in the cafeteria hallways. Um so it's basically a

299
01:28:57.280 --> 01:29:13.600
complete ban. When school starts at 8:35, we have to put away our cell phones and we can't have them out until school ends at 3:55. >> Basically, if they see your phone at all, it's getting taken. Like any phones at all is getting taken and you get it back at the end of the day. And if you like have too many offenses, your

300
01:29:13.600 --> 01:29:29.920
parents have to come pick it up. >> I have my phone in my pocket right now. It's It's not a problem as long as you're not using it when you're supposed to be doing school work. I think that was one the main problem. >> I think it's definitely increased like my focus in classes. Students shouldn't be on their phones during school. >> It was really hard to focus because my

301
01:29:29.920 --> 01:29:44.880
phone is like a constant distractor because I get so many texts and like notifications. >> Students really shouldn't be able to like play games cuz it'll distract them. >> Kids just don't want to log in on school work. They want to be on their phones.

302
01:29:44.880 --> 01:30:01.679
And I personally have ADHD. So having the rule that I can't touch it does help me. when we were allowed to have our phones out, like maybe I would get my assignment done in class and I would have like maybe 20, 15 minutes left in class and I would spend that time on my phone. Now I kind of spend it like getting other work done for other

303
01:30:01.679 --> 01:30:18.000
classes or maybe talking to people in my class. For the cell phone ban, I would just remember like going to recess and everybody would be on their phone. People would just be like in the hallways just like on their phone walking to the next class. I feel like it just makes you used to being like being able to uh socialize on a phone and not really in person and it really

304
01:30:18.000 --> 01:30:35.120
takes away that um feeling of really talking to someone eye to eye. Now it's like you know there's like actually some interaction which is pretty cool to see after the band like we actually went outside and do stuff now. >> I think it's like totally added like conversations with my friends not having

305
01:30:35.120 --> 01:30:51.199
our phone. I mean like today we played hacking sack but I think if we were allowed to have our phones we probably would just be sitting inside. >> Miss Carol has done a great job but just making the transition of no phones easier cuz kind of before we didn't have any of this stuff. It was just tables and I think now you just kind of find

306
01:30:51.199 --> 01:31:07.120
other ways to connect with people like playing games or going outside >> to an extent. I think it is good for students cuz I like being off my phone. I like being forced to be off my phone cuz I think it helps me but taken away from me. Most students know that being on your phone is not helpful for your

307
01:31:07.120 --> 01:31:23.840
learning. So, I feel like there's no need for everyone to be getting their phone snatched left and right. >> And I've got my phone taken away before just on off period. >> I hate it. I mean, >> we don't really like it because we feel like it's a little extreme. >> It's just like I don't know, they're really strict about it sometimes.

308
01:31:23.840 --> 01:31:40.159
>> It's too much cuz like it's it's excessive cuz we are like in in charge of our own grades. I think if I could change something, I would change the atmosphere around it. We can't have it out like in the school when we're just checking the time or anything like that to create more of a supportive

309
01:31:40.159 --> 01:31:55.679
environment instead of a punishment oriented environment. >> We just feel like it's enforced a little too much. >> I feel like the school should be worrying about bigger issues that we have. >> In classes, it makes a lot of sense why you wouldn't be able to have your phone. You're supposed to be listening. You're

310
01:31:55.679 --> 01:32:10.880
supposed to be present. Supposed to be focused. But when you're during lunch, like I don't have to be focused on anything. >> When it like comes to like cafeteria or more social spaces, I feel like it's maybe a little too strict for like lunch and passing period. I feel like it's unnecessary.

311
01:32:10.880 --> 01:32:26.639
>> That's where I take my 30 minutes to go and do what I want to do. I at work I'm able to go on my phone. Not while I'm working though. in in the way it currently is, it's made it so that the people who would be using their phones in class anyway, you know, they just kind of >> like they still kind

312
01:32:26.639 --> 01:32:43.520
>> still use it and the people who wouldn't be using it, then they're affected in that way. >> I definitely think it depends on the teacher or the staff member that you encounter. >> Like some teachers are super strict and they're like, "No phones at all." >> It just kind of depends. >> Other teachers will be like, "Hey, like you can have them out sometimes."

313
01:32:43.520 --> 01:32:58.880
definitely think it's not fully consistent throughout the school. >> A big thing for me was when they started talking about how they're going to make us put in lockers at the beginning of the day, right? >> And I feel like that's just too far because in case of emergency or family emergency. >> What if there was an emergency and I needed my phone?

314
01:32:58.880 --> 01:33:14.159
>> I just think it's a little bit over the top, especially considering like Colorado and like the school shootings in Colorado. >> If you need to contact your parents or something, if it's an emergency, you should be able to do that like whenever, wherever. I don't really know what students could change cuz everyone still

315
01:33:14.159 --> 01:33:33.840
is addicted to their phones. >> Just leniency. >> I don't think anybody's really ever going to listen to it. Like our phones are our freedom. >> I think it's awesome that you're doing this to hear students perspectives. I think that's really awesome. >> And there you have it. A wealth of

316
01:33:33.840 --> 01:33:51.280
perspectives from our students across our high schools. And now I'm going to turn it over to principal Greg Don and principal John McCleskkey so that they can share from a leadership perspective how it's going in their schools. I'm going to start with current state.

317
01:33:51.280 --> 01:34:06.719
>> Yeah. Uh we wanted to start with the video because I think the kids are really uh good advocates for the world they live in and how they're experiencing things. uh I think you know the overall statements that it is uh been largely positive and again the kids

318
01:34:06.719 --> 01:34:21.120
will say that they recognize what happens in their classrooms and some differences that it's made. Um I know uh John will speak specifically especially in a small school environment. um the connections that you make and uh some of

319
01:34:21.120 --> 01:34:37.840
the behaviors like uh recognize that all of a sudden hacks is back and actually kids skip class more to play hackysack than they do to get on their phones and so they are connecting not electronically. Um and so some of those like cultural positives we were looking

320
01:34:37.840 --> 01:34:54.719
for are definitely happening. Yeah, I you know, thanks for the opportunity to talk with you all about this because I actually do think systemically it's been really significant for the schools to just begin the conversation with young people about the impact of phones and I just

321
01:34:54.719 --> 01:35:10.639
I've talked with some of you individually, but the idea that we we really I mean we're a relationship based school, so we really started with the idea that you didn't break any rules. As adults, our society handed you this phone, so you've done nothing wrong. We just changed our minds on whether it's

322
01:35:10.639 --> 01:35:26.560
good for you or not. And now we actually think it's not and we've shifted. And so we want you in on the conversation about what this feels like to now not have your phone. And schools have made changes like this. And I think by by starting with that premise of you're not

323
01:35:26.560 --> 01:35:41.760
getting busted, you didn't do anything wrong, nobody's in trouble, but we have changed our mind about what these phones are doing to your system and your brain and and so get in with us on this. And I think that piece has really I think the kids have said great like you know I

324
01:35:41.760 --> 01:35:56.560
mean some kids have really said I want to I mean you heard some students really say like I really do need somebody to help me with the boundary on this thing. And so that's generally speaking I think been a huge win. Um if I had to ask my faculty right now would we go back

325
01:35:56.560 --> 01:36:12.400
nobody would say let's go back. I I'm convinced of that. So moving forward we have to keep reinforcing but nobody wants to go back. Don't say that. >> Moving on to celebrations. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, I I might just start with we had a panel of students when we

326
01:36:12.400 --> 01:36:28.639
were doing open enrollment um this last round just talking about the school environment and I was very surprised unprompted how several students really talked about. One of the things that we are now doing as a matter of course is insisting that during those social

327
01:36:28.639 --> 01:36:44.080
times, lunch times, hallway times, young people actually are being have to get together and talk with other people they might not have talked to. And that they they mentioned that as a highlight of the school experience that we're not on our phones, we're not isolating. We're actually getting to talk to each other.

328
01:36:44.080 --> 01:36:59.520
And so I I that unsolicited. But I thought that was a great highlight from an open enrollment standpoint to say this is why you could should consider our school is that we're talking to each other and and connecting with people who we normally might not hang out with. I also just would say administratively,

329
01:36:59.520 --> 01:37:15.440
you know, um these devices have quadrupled my workload over the years and I have felt a reduction in that in terms of online behavior. Those kinds of things have really reduced since we've done this. Um particularly during the school day evenings, we can't control

330
01:37:15.440 --> 01:37:32.320
that. So, we're still getting some stuff, but during the school day, we we do see less. So, >> um I would just say the kids said this, too. Just the classroom environments have changed. I think the they'll point out when teachers might have differences of of how they enforce the policy, but

331
01:37:32.320 --> 01:37:49.440
whether you see the the shoe racks where they put the phones up or they're in their backpacks, there's far less of them being hidden under desks and just sort of this sort of complicitness that they would be around. So I think the classroom environment for me would be the celebration is is feeling that

332
01:37:49.440 --> 01:38:06.880
relief that for that period of time that universally most people understand that they're going to be away. Um, I think the challenges just remain that uh they're on their person. And so when you got an open campus and kids are coming and going and they do have

333
01:38:06.880 --> 01:38:22.719
passing periods, uh, you know, admittedly, if you walk into Monarch and I'm not there and there's not three security guards and you're just a passer by, uh, you'll see some phones. And I think the the part of it is is the kids are not oppositionally defiant. They're

334
01:38:22.719 --> 01:38:39.040
not mean or mad at you, but they're going to take a chance. If nobody's seeing them, they're going to get their phone out and they're going to use it. And if you tell them to put it away, they'll politely put it away. So, I just think it's that challenge of what our campuses are when you've got, you know, a couple thousand students and it's a

335
01:38:39.040 --> 01:38:55.920
couple of you versus them. It's just not a pure system. And so, it's hard to really say that it's completely taken care of. And to John's point, you just you always feel like you're playing catch-up, right? you're trying to to catch the next one and make sure it's not happening. Um, and so that doesn't always feel good.

336
01:38:55.920 --> 01:39:11.280
>> Well, you know, depending on your perspective, pluses and minuses, how one adult approaches a student who has a phone versus how another adult approaches. So, we're having to manage the big people also in this in terms of like, you know, you know, what's the

337
01:39:11.280 --> 01:39:27.520
right sized response in any given situation. And so that's you know it's another place for us to look for collective e efficacy amongst our faculty and you know it's good if we can view it. I think it's been tricky because some teachers are like I don't

338
01:39:27.520 --> 01:39:45.119
that's not my thing. I I don't want to take phones from kids and other people are like please I'll be your guy in the hallway because they annoy me. And so you know when you have those contrasting adults you've got to kind of get them on the same page. So several weeks ago, we met with all of

339
01:39:45.119 --> 01:40:00.320
our high school principles, and they expressed to us what they are thinking about in terms of the next iteration and the deepening of understanding among students and the deepening of this work across our high schools in our district. And so you'll see on this slide what

340
01:40:00.320 --> 01:40:17.199
they all shared with us. First, they are going to continue to incorporate conversations in class, sometimes in health classes, other structures, sometimes in advisory. Uh share more with students about why continue to develop the understanding of why it is

341
01:40:17.199 --> 01:40:32.960
that away for the day was developed, why the board policy was revised in the first place, talking about the effects of of cell phone usage, principally social media. um and uh structure these conversations with students so that as both of our

342
01:40:32.960 --> 01:40:48.800
principles have shared, they're collaboratively thinking of how is it that they need to be supported, how is it that they can make choices that work for them and how is it that everybody within the school can work together. So in conclusion, our high schools are working very hard and

343
01:40:48.800 --> 01:41:05.040
have been for three semesters now to implement the revised policy. They continue to deepen the word. There are challenges, but there are also a lot of celebrations. And with that, we are happy to answer any questions that you may have.

344
01:41:05.040 --> 01:41:22.560
>> Thank you for that update. Board members, do you have any questions or comments on a cell phone policy update? Dr. Anderson, I see, is a first taker. >> Uh, thank you, board president Rajpaul. I want to start by thanking John and Greg and uh as a former high school principal

345
01:41:22.560 --> 01:41:38.400
and managing large numbers of kids and trying to get them to do the right thing and managing and navigating the adults who some people see things very black and white other thing other people see things very gray and other people just don't see things and uh I think that

346
01:41:38.400 --> 01:41:55.840
that is always always really a challenge I'll point out that I read in the paper today that DPS has taken our And um I congratulate any school district that takes on this this uh this really really important challenge and and I'm proud that our board and our

347
01:41:55.840 --> 01:42:11.760
school district was one of the leaders in the state if not the country in adopting this bell-to bell cell phone um away for a day uh policy. Uh I will say that board members we have work to do. I I think that uh I really love the idea

348
01:42:11.760 --> 01:42:27.199
of talking about the why with students and and continuing to set the expectation. I think that in in in schools that are lean administratively by design, it's going to take a concerted effort of all people in the

349
01:42:27.199 --> 01:42:44.960
schools to really set the culture to get wide enforcement. And you know, I think one of the biggest worries we had going into this is is this going to lead to more disproportionate discipline? Is this going to need lead to more exclusionary discipline? You know,

350
01:42:44.960 --> 01:43:00.719
I would see this all the time as a principle. A simple thing is please put your phone away turns into an insubordination. I'm calling the office, kids are escalated, and you get these really, really ugly results over a simple direction. And so I mean I think

351
01:43:00.719 --> 01:43:15.600
that is a piece that we're navigating as well. I've not seen an uptake uptick in the disproportionate discipline. I think the last data we looked at said you is that we're continuing to decline. And so there's some some I think some competing tensions there as well to get to closer

352
01:43:15.600 --> 01:43:31.679
to 100% compliance but also not um not doing that in a way that creates more conflict and damages the relationships that we're really trying so hard to build with our kids. So, um, just wanted to thank everybody, give a little more context and and excited to hear your

353
01:43:31.679 --> 01:43:50.320
questions. Deian, >> I don't know if you all are have been able to pay attention to uh things outside of school in the last few weeks, but there's been some interesting uh debates among the governor's candidates,

354
01:43:50.320 --> 01:44:08.480
and 100% of them have said that they want to ban all cell phones in all schools, including needing to lock them away. So, I wondered if any of you have heard those those um ideas. They are now um

355
01:44:08.480 --> 01:44:29.119
and how you would handle it if you needed to do more control. So, with the conclusion of the school year, we are standing back here saying, "No, those are the things that we catch up on in the summer." But you're you're right in terms of what John shared with

356
01:44:29.119 --> 01:44:44.639
us in particular and what we heard from some of the students uh whose perspectives are shared in the video. That is that's another level of implementation and another level of understanding why. And so that would be

357
01:44:44.639 --> 01:45:01.760
a different conversation and one that they would really need to approach carefully and differently with with students. And we saw in the video that much of what students shared is all right well it's on my person and we heard concern around

358
01:45:01.760 --> 01:45:16.239
uh emergencies uh family contact needs things like that. And so some of our students also shared that they have their their phones in their pockets. They don't take them out. It's all okay. And so needing to

359
01:45:16.239 --> 01:45:32.320
put them away would be a very different conversation and a different approach that we would need to take with students. I was going to part of this conversation I think is amplified because of um a house bill that passed in 2025 requiring

360
01:45:32.320 --> 01:45:48.320
all schools in the state of Colorado to have a policy in place by July 1st of this year. So I think it's on the forefront of districts that didn't take an earlier step and then the governor's um that's expensive and so I would love if as we think about our legislative

361
01:45:48.320 --> 01:46:02.639
platforms we know when there's mandates that we also get the funding to implement said mandate from the government. So hopefully those governors are having that conversation as well of how they'll help us afford those pouches that get broken and lost and all the

362
01:46:02.639 --> 01:46:19.600
things um should they really want us to do that. Um, but interesting. And just to piggyback, I actually really appreciate the emphasis on the why and in helping students come along, even though it takes longer, that will have

363
01:46:19.600 --> 01:46:35.360
more lasting impacts. When students have voice and choice to some degree, they understand the why. they can make informed decisions for themselves because it's the right choice because there are benefits to them rather than just to follow some to not be penalized

364
01:46:35.360 --> 01:46:50.239
or punished or have to have your parent show up at school to get your phone back. So, I just really do appreciate the emphasis there. And hacky sex are sold out all across the country and and you know, kudos to if the cell phones

365
01:46:50.239 --> 01:47:07.679
ban is having a an impact on that, great. But it is fun to see those kids playing hackysack. Sometimes I hear in crowded hallways during passing periods, but at least they're not on their phones. >> Alex, I saw your hand up and then Elena. >> Yeah. Um, thank you very much and thank

366
01:47:07.679 --> 01:47:23.679
you and you and all your teams for the hard work that it takes to do this. I was one of many people on the board who are all in on this and I remain all in on this. Uh, I alluded to my conversation with Fairview students. The initial part was to ask them about cell phone implementation. And so as opposed

367
01:47:23.679 --> 01:47:39.440
to the 76,000 data points that um the data team shared with us on declining enrollment, I have five. But their uh reports are of 10 or 15% of the Fairview teachers who think it's a great thing. About 50% real enforcement in the classroom. So like every other teacher

368
01:47:39.440 --> 01:47:54.719
doesn't really care. They have class they report being able to have their phones out in class. It's okay. They won't be told might be told to put away might not. probably in half their classes they're not as long as no one's around there's only one or two security officials in the whole building who are

369
01:47:54.719 --> 01:48:10.320
asking them to put them away. So the story I have from my small end is a much less implementation than you've described in your schools and uh it's great to see the voice from the video and I'm super pleased by all of that. But for me I'm like okay if Fairview

370
01:48:10.320 --> 01:48:26.960
takes a third year to do this I'm ready to buy in pouches. I'm ready to buy lockers and um take uh take a stronger position, not a weaker position. And I know we need to get to why with the students, but apparently we need to get to why with the adults, too, in some of our schools. I'd be curious your takes,

371
01:48:26.960 --> 01:48:47.520
all three of you, on how do we get to the why with the adults. >> Um actually, in some ways, I do think the kids are leading this in this. I don't know if you guys paid attention to the graduations where kids were graduates were booing about AI discussions and our kids are super savvy

372
01:48:47.520 --> 01:49:05.520
and so again what I see happening is kids are getting their phones out because they have a job requirement and they're in the hallway and like I got to get a hold of my boss. Again, I I agree with you of what you're seeing in classrooms, but I guess I am seeing and it does take time is the opposition to

373
01:49:05.520 --> 01:49:22.400
it to me is a lot of logistical things that they see their phone use for. They totally get and understand they shouldn't be doing social media. They shouldn't be using it to cheat. Like all the wise are there. Um and I agree with

374
01:49:22.400 --> 01:49:38.960
you because it's on them. it's inevitable that they're going to access those different things. And so I've always, you know, we never did a ban, right? It wasn't a ban. It was an ask to to reconstruct some things and figure out where it is. And a ban would require

375
01:49:38.960 --> 01:49:55.040
the level of things that some other governors would talk about. And I just I can't conceive of that again conceptually with off periods and everything else and how do you manage that? And to me, trying to get them to

376
01:49:55.040 --> 01:50:11.679
uh work within the systems that are best for them, it's going to take time. I guess that's the ultimate thing is it's not an easy one class fix. It takes like generation of kids to kind of move through a school in my mind to have them see that. Uh because when I talk to like middle school principles, obviously they

377
01:50:11.679 --> 01:50:26.480
have lockers and places they can put them. So kids are experiencing it up to their freshman year and then it's just it's taken us longer to get it a freshman through senior system where they see that value in the same way.

378
01:50:26.480 --> 01:50:42.880
I mean I would echo that the approach with the students is similar to the approach for the teachers and you know I'm I spent a good third of my career without a cell phone as a teacher and and yet I would say half of my staff doesn't remember not having a cell phone

379
01:50:42.880 --> 01:50:59.920
themselves as adults. So what I think what we're having to return and come back to with the teachers is also kind of that balance between you know obey versus comply versus buy in right and so we just you know my plan in August is to

380
01:50:59.920 --> 01:51:15.440
reenter the conversation with the faculty around hey here's what we're doing who's you know who's got concerns let's talk about it you know you know we've been keeping some data on who's turning in most of the phones versus other how come you're never turning in a phone. That's interesting that you never

381
01:51:15.440 --> 01:51:31.440
see a phone and that teacher sees 10 a day and so you know what's you know and so we're just going to have an open discussion about that so that we're all kind of really buying in at an equal level. So I think that's the biggest part is just relationships relationships relationships even with the teachers and how are we going to do this in a way

382
01:51:31.440 --> 01:51:48.360
that supports each other. you know, we have similar things. You know, well, you've all been through dress codes, right? So, here we are similar. People are going to have different reactions to this. So, it's on us to get people kind of level set on where we're going. So,

383
01:51:48.719 --> 01:52:06.320
>> Elenia, >> so I just hear you talking about the leadership and relationships it takes to get the adults on board and the kids on board. Um, and I will echo what Alex has said, but my end size is much larger

384
01:52:06.320 --> 01:52:21.679
than Alex's because I have a kid at Fairview. And I hear the same thing that Alex's N size of four said that at at Fair View, we're we haven't got the kids on board and we don't have the adults on

385
01:52:21.679 --> 01:52:38.080
board. And so I give you guys kudos that you are bringing those folks along. Um, and I think John, what you said is so important. We gave you these devices and now we're changing our mind because, you

386
01:52:38.080 --> 01:52:53.360
know, we're we're starting to feel that way about all of the technology. We gave this to you kiddos and now we're up in arms. So, um, I appreciate you working not just with the kids, but with the adults. I think it's it's really tough

387
01:52:53.360 --> 01:53:12.320
work. Jorge and then Rob. >> Thank you for the taking the time to present this and I I really appreciate the kids' perspective on this. I think it's so important. Um and I for one was hesitant with this policy to move forward because of concerns about implementation and what that would look

388
01:53:12.320 --> 01:53:28.480
like and having it be very top down and concerns about how it would be implemented disproportionately across the number of kids. So, so I for one really appreciate the conversation with the students, recognizing that it's a process and it's about changing culture and attitudes and so providing opportunities for engagement with each

389
01:53:28.480 --> 01:53:44.880
other, providing other activities, providing resources and I think you can see that across the schools where that's happening that makes it a much easier process and and having them be a part of the conversation. You know, I would hate to see us go towards a purely uh punitive ban and and really embracing

390
01:53:44.880 --> 01:54:01.760
that. I I think that it's a cultural shift that we've got to make. Um it's one we're battling outside the schools as well as within the schools. And it's not fair um to come crashing down without understanding the perception. And I think the students seem to recognize the benefits of this. And to

391
01:54:01.760 --> 01:54:21.040
the degree that we can kind of support them in terms of having healthier alternatives, building relationships, and really building community, then I'm all for that. So So thank you for that work. You know, I I will say that there are other things that you can do. Um

392
01:54:21.040 --> 01:54:37.360
uh you know, as you set expectations for teachers as a principal, like those are the expectations, right? When you set policies as a board, right? I don't get to say I don't like that board policy. I like this. I follow the board policies up. That's my job, right? Uh and so to

393
01:54:37.360 --> 01:54:53.280
the extent that there are schools where we we we begin to collect data and information where there's just a level of apathy around doing something that's important, I think that there's ways you can collect data. I mean, we're in classrooms all the time. You can collect classroom data. Um you can look at who's

394
01:54:53.280 --> 01:55:09.360
turning in the phones, who isn't turning in the phones, what's happening, having those conversations. Um I think that students are able to go to um administrators if they feel like that there's you know a lack of enforcement and I think that's that's that can

395
01:55:09.360 --> 01:55:25.199
happen. Um and so I do think you can move it's not there's nothing you can do. I do think you can move the needle bringing folks together. I think the the approach the first approach is the why. And then if that doesn't work, if I'm

396
01:55:25.199 --> 01:55:42.880
the principal, I'm gonna say, "Well, why aren't you enforcing what we've talked about and what is it?" And then those can be professional development opportunities for teachers. Those can be um clarifications for expectations from teachers. Uh I and I think that's all

397
01:55:42.880 --> 01:55:59.920
part of being a leader. So, as we continue to move forward, um, as as we hear concerning data from whatever sources it comes from, I think that the board can expect that we'll continue to lean in on something that's important. We're going to continue to try to do things in in the ways that we've

398
01:55:59.920 --> 01:56:17.199
described, which is talk about the why and and and really bring people on board, adults and kids. Uh, and then if we don't see ju, you know, just just just like any other rule or policy we'd have, if we had an outbreak of fights at schools, if we had an outbreak of of of

399
01:56:17.199 --> 01:56:33.119
some other offense that we would pro we would intervene. Um, and we've done that. Uh, then then that's what you can expect. And, uh, you know, you want to you want to make sure that you empower folks to be their very best and and this is this is the right thing for kids. Uh, but I don't want the board to go away

400
01:56:33.119 --> 01:56:49.360
from this conversation thinking that if we have a faculty or school or or a set of schools that um isn't doing what we've expected them to do that there's there's nothing we can do. There is. As a parent of two kiddos at Fair View,

401
01:56:49.360 --> 01:57:04.880
since I feel like, you know, we're talking about Fair View, I just want to say they did have a community culture day where the students brainstormed ideas to help improve cell phone utilization and the student

402
01:57:04.880 --> 01:57:20.880
council has also come up with ideas to increase engagement. Fairview at the end of that year, my kids had the opportunity to be on both of those different um things. So, I'm well aware of that. And I think part of Fair View um they didn't they weren't early

403
01:57:20.880 --> 01:57:36.239
purchasers of some of the fun things at Broomfield and Centaurus and Monarch. They didn't quickly buy game tables and ways for alternatives. They didn't invest in those right away. They were a little bit slower in the investing in the alternatives and they at the end of last year started having a lot of

404
01:57:36.239 --> 01:57:52.480
conversations with the students about what alternatives would be successful. So, I also want to make sure the community doesn't think that Fairview, while they're maybe struggling, similar with Boulder High, our biggest schools are harder to manage. Those schools are very complex. There's not grown-ups

405
01:57:52.480 --> 01:58:07.119
everywhere. There's a lot of places to be without supervision. But I in their own ways and on their slightly delayed timelines like our big comprehensive high schools are trying to engage and move the needle also even if they

406
01:58:07.119 --> 01:58:24.880
haven't been as quick to change as some of our other school comprehensive and non-comprehensive high schools have been. DM, >> I'm uh curious about uh the wonderful world of cell phone usage that can now

407
01:58:24.880 --> 01:58:40.480
help people with disabilities um and if students are able to use their phones for those kind of activities. So, I'm using my cell phone right now because it's uh running sound to my ears and I would be not very happy if I had

408
01:58:40.480 --> 01:58:55.760
to put my cell phone away. So, are are people making accommodations for kids who are using um sugar meters that run on their phone or what? There's all kinds of different things that u being able to dictate things to the phone and

409
01:58:55.760 --> 01:59:12.560
have the phone write it for them. >> Uh short answer is absolutely. I know there was some fear too that there'd see an in an increase in 504s written specifically for I can have my phone, I can have my headphones in. Um, I'd have to check with someone like Shannon New

410
01:59:12.560 --> 01:59:28.159
to see if that actually played out. I think again the difficulty is teacher in the classroom knows, hey, this kid has an accommodation, but then again, they're in a hallway and a different adult sees them and doesn't know it's for their blood sugar monitoring and then they get trapped and then that if

411
01:59:28.159 --> 01:59:44.080
it's a hard teacher who follows the rules, right? And so you do get some caught situations even though it's, you know, totally on the up and up. You know, at first we talked about are there safe zones in schools that you could like go to to use your phone and that

412
01:59:44.080 --> 02:00:00.400
quickly sort of dissipated because there is no safe space where you're like this is okay to use it here because you try and draw that line right of where it is and it isn't. And um I just think too about like in certain curriculums for kids to listen to music as they're

413
02:00:00.400 --> 02:00:17.520
creating art makes a lot of sense. And so when kids say in this class I'm allowed to use my phone, it could absolutely be true because they're individually doing clay work and they've got their music and they're jamming out to it. I understand why they're confused sometimes because we see the value in it

414
02:00:17.520 --> 02:00:37.119
in a certain space, but it doesn't apply to all spaces. Alex, I >> I really appreciate uh the hard work and the sincere effort and the the need to do the maximum engagement that gets the buy in because that'll lead to the

415
02:00:37.119 --> 02:00:54.880
change. As a board member who's totally in favor of the change and wants to get as close to full implementation as we can, who received input from parents that ran 98-2 in favor of a full ban. um uh and uh whose kid went to a school

416
02:00:54.880 --> 02:01:11.679
where I know it's really hard to change the culture of our comprehensive biggest high schools. I just want to say I want the update on this next year to have some data on it. I would love to have some things that we figure out to measure that some numbers by school could be reported to me um as a board

417
02:01:11.679 --> 02:01:28.560
member so I could evaluate that and know about it. I want to continue to hear great stories about the engagement and the celebration and the stuff we're doing. But if we can't get adults in buildings and some buildings to care. I want to support the principles and leaders and the superintendent in having

418
02:01:28.560 --> 02:01:44.000
this not be an optional policy. Like I think of this in the spirit of vaping and and tobacco and we don't have safe places for the vaping. We don't uh encourage some teachers to allow vaping in their class and others not. So, I think it's something that we could

419
02:01:44.000 --> 02:02:00.719
prioritize, measure, make a culture, invest in, and I'll continue to support all those things. So, I'd love I'd love to hear in the next report the data on this. I'd love to know what our administrative folks are doing to support the principles during the

420
02:02:00.719 --> 02:02:17.760
principal um transitions. I'd like to know how the teacher evaluations handle all sorts of declining to follow district polic. What are the other district policies that our staff don't implement? love to know how many like we do we're reviewing all our policies every five or seven years um depending

421
02:02:17.760 --> 02:02:34.480
on the scale and it's uh frankly the majority of our substantive work and in that discussion I never get data on well this policy isn't really implemented this policy is implemented 70% of the time or this policy is meted 80% of the time but only at 40% of our schools so

422
02:02:34.480 --> 02:02:50.480
if if we have policies that don't need to be measured that are hard to do that will take a long time that we don't have enough resources for and that's why we're not doing it. I want to know that about all our other policies, too, because this uh this is really hard for me because I ran on this. I think it's important to do. I'll keep pushing for

423
02:02:50.480 --> 02:03:07.040
as long as I'm in office. And um and I feel like I'll get 50 to1 support from parents saying, "Alex, you go. You go tell them to do that." So, I'm going to keep going and telling them to do that. And I hope next year you come back with us with some numbers and that you are empowering uh the leaders to make more

424
02:03:07.040 --> 02:03:27.280
change than we're getting. Board members, any other questions or comments? Thank you again for the update. We will now move on to action items consent grouping. 8.1 personnel items. 8.2 approval of minutes May 26, 2026. 8.3

425
02:03:27.280 --> 02:03:42.639
approval of superintendent's annual evaluation. 8.4 Proposed 27 28 28 29 academic calendars. 8.5 resolution 26-22 ratification of the negotiated agreement with Boulder Valley Classified Employees Association. 8.6 resolution 26-23 ratification of the

426
02:03:42.639 --> 02:03:59.280
negotiated agreement with Boulder Valley Par Educator Association 8.7 resolution 26-24 ratification of the negotiated agreement with Boulder Valley Education Association 8.8 98 resolutions 26-9 20 21 and 25 adoption of the 2026 27

427
02:03:59.280 --> 02:04:15.119
budget and 8.9 grant federal programs titles 1 through nine. Are there any items board members would like to pull from consent grouping? Seeing as there are none, is there a motion to approve? Moved by Anna,

428
02:04:15.119 --> 02:04:34.320
seconded by Jorge. board members discussion on any of these items. I just want to say um we have more resignations and appointments on this agenda and I just want to thank Dr. Da Cruz for her time in this district. the

429
02:04:34.320 --> 02:04:51.040
amount of change that has been accomplished while you have been here. I I mean, I'm not quite sure without your ability to get work done and be everywhere all at once that we would have done as much as we did. So, I just want to say thank you for your time here. We are sad to see you

430
02:04:51.040 --> 02:05:08.080
go, but really excited for all that you have next. and that knowing that you are going to help other schools achieve our level of success is great for the state of Colorado. So, thank you for your time here and best of luck.

431
02:05:08.080 --> 02:05:22.560
Also want to say congratulations to those of you in the in the gallery who are getting new jobs and new job titles. Um we're excited to continue to work with you in a more um one-on-one board to senior staff level. So, welcome to

432
02:05:22.560 --> 02:05:40.000
the team. Also on this uh consent item, consent agenda is a superintendent evaluation. And typically I take the time to at least just read the closing paragraph on the evaluation so our community and our staff get a percent of what the board is

433
02:05:40.000 --> 02:05:57.520
feeling about his service. It reads, "The board commends the progress Dr. Anderson has made towards this year's benchmarks and is grateful for his leadership. Dr. Dr. Anderson is an an incredibly skilled leader and public education advocate. He's dedicated to improving educational

434
02:05:57.520 --> 02:06:12.719
experiences, opportunities, and outcomes for students and staff. Dr. Anderson's willingness and ability to navigate several significant issues simultaneous simultaneously this year has shown remarkable fortitude and an undaunted commitment to doing what is best for the

435
02:06:12.719 --> 02:06:28.159
Boulder Valley School District. And while it doesn't say it, I will say and it's been incredibly hard and will continue to be very challenging. So, um, not everybody can do what is right over what's easy. And, um, we appreciate your

436
02:06:28.159 --> 02:06:45.679
ability to to guide this ship this year and in the years to come. With that, Laura, can you please call a role? >> Booker, >> yes. >> Chavez, >> yes. >> Medler,

437
02:06:45.679 --> 02:07:08.159
>> yes. >> Quinnland Aa, >> yes. >> Raj Paul, >> yes. Tuading. >> Yes. Motion passes. We are now moving on to action items. First of which is the cancellation of the June 23rd, 2026 regular board

438
02:07:08.159 --> 02:07:24.880
meeting. We can do this because we did pass the budget. Well done team and staff. Is there a um a motion on or approve? >> I move that we cancel the June 23rd meeting. >> Is there a second? >> Seconded by Dion. Any discussion on

439
02:07:24.880 --> 02:07:40.719
whether or not we should convene for one more day in June? >> Seeing as there are none, Laura, can you please call a vote on the motion? >> Lucer, >> yes. >> Chavez, >> yes. >> Medler, >> yes. >> Quinn Linua, >> yes. >> Raj Paul, >> yes.

440
02:07:40.719 --> 02:07:58.400
>> Tamuadi, >> yes. Motion passes. Next action item this evening, our final action item is a peakto peak charter school waiverss. Do we have a motion? Moved by Jorge, seconded by Alex. Board members, any discussion?

441
02:07:58.400 --> 02:08:12.480
Seeing as there are none, Laura, can you please call the vote on the motion? >> Booker, >> yes. >> Chavez, >> yes. >> Medler, >> yes. >> Quinn Linua, >> yes. >> Rajpaul, >> yes. Totting.

442
02:08:12.480 --> 02:08:29.520
>> Yes. Motion passes. >> Quick quick action items. Board members. Next item on the agenda as always is future agenda item requests. Board members, we are meeting our next meeting is board prioritization. So just know that any items mentioned today will then

443
02:08:29.520 --> 02:08:46.800
go on next semester's prioritization of which we will amazingly not discuss until December. So, it'll be a bit, but we can capture those ideas here this evening. Alex, >> uh, in light of the last presentation, I

444
02:08:46.800 --> 02:09:04.560
would like to put on the agenda item how we track the implementation of our cell phone policy. >> Can I piggyback and say all of our updates have really been on high schools and I would love if we're doing some any data like to see how our

445
02:09:04.560 --> 02:09:24.400
middle schools are doing as well. Any other items, board members? Seeing as there are none, we will move on to the final item on today's agenda, which is executive session. As noted in our agenda, the board has evenings on

446
02:09:24.400 --> 02:09:40.960
this evening's agenda. The board has items to discuss in executive session. Is there a motion? Jorge? I, Jorge Chavez, make a motion pursuant to CRS 24-6-424F to convene into executive session to address personnel matters regarding the

447
02:09:40.960 --> 02:09:58.560
superintendent's evaluation and contract and pursuant to CRS 24-6-424B for a conference with an attorney for the purposes of receiving legal advice on specific legal questions regarding the superintendent's evaluation and contract and the school district's pending litigation related to personnel, special education, civil rights, and

448
02:09:58.560 --> 02:10:14.639
class action regarding META and related to charter school contract. negotiations for Summit Horizons, Boulder Prep, and Peakto Peak. >> Is there a second? Seconded by Anna. Laura, can you please call a vote? >> Booker, >> yes. >> Chavez, >> yes.

449
02:10:14.639 --> 02:10:29.199
>> Medler, >> yes. >> Quinn Linua, >> yes. >> Raj Paul, >> yes. >> Tamadi, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> That concludes the public portion of tonight's meeting. To anybody watching and to those in the audience, I wish you

450
02:10:29.199 --> 02:10:36.679
a very wonderful summer break. And board members, we will convene in Glacier Room.