##VIDEO ID:mVkyvSemJAo## e e e e e e Pledge of Allegiance I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America to the rep stand one God indivisible with liberty and justice for all we will now have our land acknowledgement read by director nolles on behalf of this board and the Cherry Creek School distri District I would like to acknowledge that this meeting is being held on the ancestral and unseated lands of the Cheyenne Arapaho UT and oy Shaka people who stewarded it for Generations the oy Shak shaki includes seven bands so I would also like to recognize that over 40 additional tribal Nations likely use this area for trade ceremonies and social gatherings thank excuse me thank you I'd like to call for a motion to to approve the agenda for the November 11th 2024 regular Board of Education meeting so moved is there a second second roll call please directors Allen I Bates I bean I Garland I nolles I motion carries I'd like to call for a motion to approve the minutes as listed on the November 11th 2024 agenda so moved is there a second second roll call please directors Allan I Bates I Egan I Garland I nolles I we will now have comments from our directors director nolles good evening thank you to Liberty for hosting and to all who make our traveling boardroom possible tonight I want to thank our community for passing our Mill and bond thank you for your continued support of the Cherry Creek School District and in the important projects outlined in these in these initiatives a lot of hard work was put into this campaign and I want to thank everyone who played any part in it getting these initiatives past was a marathon I'm tired but I am also so so excited for the the future of Cherry Creek I can't wait for us to start breaking ground including the Cherry Creek Innovation campus 2.0 which benefits all students in the district please know I don't take your support for granted and look forward to our continued promises made being our Promises Kept as the board leaz on to the district accountability committee I want to let the community know that the November 6th meeting was rescheduled to November 20th at 6:30 p.m. at the instructional Support Facility the committee is always looking for new members or for people to join a subcommittee please go to the Cherry Creek District accountability Committee website for more information those conclude my comments for tonight thank you thank you director nolles director Allen good evening and thank you to principal dty and the entire Liberty Middle School Community for hosting tonight's event and to our mobile security and and setup teams to allow us to have these meetings in the schools that we serve and the schools that we go to every day and the schools that really are at the heart of our community first uh tonight we have several important items to recognize all of which reflect our school district's values and our community's shared commitment to public education and inclusivity first on tonight's consent agenda we will vote to approve the proclamation for American Education week which is celebrated on November 18th to 22nd public education is the backbone of our democracy giving our young people not only the skills they need for success but also instilling values of Freedom Civility and equality every day our dedicated dedicated employees work hard to create supportive inspiring learning environment ments for our students this week will be a time to honor their work and celebrate our school's role in bringing adults and children Educators and volunteers Business Leaders and elected officials together for a common purpose additionally we will vote to approve a proclamation for National American Indian and Native and Alaska native Heritage Month recognized each November our district sits on land historically cared for by the chenne arapo and many other indigenous Nations during this month we honor the rich culture Heritage History and continuing contributions of Native American and Indigenous peoples learning from and about different viewpoints and experiences help us grow understand our world more deeply and build stronger more inclusive communities and finally I too want to extend our deepest thanks to our Cherry Creek School District Community for your overwhelming support in approving the 4A and 4B initiatives La in last week's election your vote to invest in our schools allow us allows us to maintain improve and modernize our facilities and F continue to um fulfill our promise of dedication to Excellence thank you for helping us create a district that not only values high quality education but also recog izes and celebrates the diverse backgrounds and contributions of everyone who calls this community home thank you thank you director Allan director Bates thank you and good evening thank you for joining us this evening I always appreciate seeing new faces in the audience thank you to principal Kevin dhy and Liberty Middle School for hosting us and as always thank you to those that all work so diligently so that we may have these meetings in various communi ities as well as online I appreciate you thank you to our constituents for ensuring the future Excellence of CCSD by voting yes on 4 a and 4B this board and many others work tirelessly to get the word out and explain how the state uses the taxes they collect the 4 a and 4bs funds will stay directly in CCSD whereas your property tax increases from the state only go to offset what they already owe us per pupil our per pupil rate from the state Remains the Same the rest stays in their general fund without 4 a and 4B we would not be able to improve our buildings increase offerings at ccic rebuild and remodel improve our security Etc this all fails this all falls on the school district so thank you thank you again for voting yes the future of CCSD depends on the support of our community we continue to help our students and fam access Mental Health Services inside in and in the community for the first time all students grades 3 through 12 have had the opportunity to participate in our social emotional screener helping to identify ways we can improve their sense of belonging resiliency and helping them to achieve we C celebrate our school psychologist this week in Cherry Creek and across the country they are highly skilled caring individuals who get to know and see them for who they are thank you for all you do for our kids we know that your work is making a difference many of our School nurses spent this past weekend in spite of the snow learning together at the annual Colorado Association of School nurses meeting in Loveland congratulations to director of Health Services Jenifer albrook who presented on leadership strategies and to assistant director Nicole Maher who is President elect of the state organization we appreciate you and your commitment to our students and communities and with that I complete my comments thank you director Bates director Egan good evening thanks to principal Kevin dhy and Liberty Middle school for hosting us and to our setup and Technology teams and preparing for these meetings tonight you'll hear a presentation from our Safety and Security team thank you to Ian Lopez and his team for everything they do to keep our students and staff safe it's veterans week in the Cherry Creek School District and I'm looking forward to visiting our schools in honor of our military and Veterans and their service to our country in the Cherry Creek School District we proudly recognize and celebrate National IND ous people's month to honor the rich cultural heritage diverse traditions and significant contributions of Native American Alaska native IND indigenous peoples to our community and Nation our observation of this important month reflects the commitment to fostering understanding respect and appreciation for the first inhabitants of this land tonight's resolution 24117 approval of proclamation National American Indian and alas native heritage month is this board's official recognition of these important contributions thanks to the voters of the Cherry Creek School District for your support of 4A and 4B we are so grateful for your confidence and we're prepared to get to work immediately bringing these many wonderful projects to life and continuing to develop Excellence for our students staff and Community we are grateful for the opportunity to expand CCI Pathways to include veter medicine daughter of a large animal veterinary pathologist here welding heating and air conditioning film and motion design Aerospace technician Advanced Electronics baking and pastries EMTs and expanded autom auto mechanics and Manufacturing thanks again so much for your support Traverse Academy is celebrating its first year since opening to students many thanks to the Educators and staff who envisioned and developed this transform transformative mental health support program The District's own Dr Tony pool was honored with the Kelly Tanner Innovation MVP award this award showcases ideas and initiatives that explore and Implement inventive approaches to navigating complex changing external concepts for teaching supporting and operating educational facilities congratulations Dr P your Chang changing the lives of our students and thanks to the hard work of our budget team the district received another clean Financial audit I was pleased to convene this meeting and I'd like to thank Morgan Mauricio Sandy Woods Jen whitling Scott Smith and Chris rgar for their efforts in making sure our finances are in great shape the Cherry Creek Schools Foundation recently awarded 192 grants to 55 school programs totaling $194,000 to fund projects as part of their educator initiative grants program this year projects included creating spaces of belonging providing materials for the Visual and Performing Arts and launching literacy projects the foundation has been awarding classroom grants since its exception in 1993 to support Educators in bringing opportunities to students that otherwise not be possible stay tuned to see how these grants will be making a difference and mark your calendars for Colorado gies day on Tuesday December 10th the largest day of philanthropy State on that day donations may be matched letting your generosity go even further parents caretakers students staff and community members convene for the October District voices of color meeting at Cherokee Trail High School five CT student leaders shared their experiences and successes and challenges throughout their CCSD Journey during a Q&A session with superintendent Smith it was interesting for me hearing their well-informed questions firsthand please join us for the next meeting Wednesday November 23rd from 6: to 7:30 p.m. at Eagle crust High School the district is hosting a November donation drive for the Cherry Creek High School feeder area we are collecting food and toiletries as well as monetary and Amazon wish list items drop off locations are available at Cherry Creek High School or any security kiosk and congratulations to the 10 inductees to the Cherry Creek High School Hall of Fame for the Arts sciences and Humanities Happy Thanksgiving may your day be filled with family and friends and the joy of the season this concludes my comments thank you director Egan I echo my colleagues comments regarding stting our 4A and 4B Campaign together we are building a brighter future not just for our students but for our entire Community we are excited about the positive impact and your support will have on on generations to come thank you thank you to all of our veterans for your service and your sacrifice last week I had the opport opportunity opportunity excuse me to discuss the importance of voting with local high schoolers from across the metro area following our discussion and Q&A we all worked together to do a community service project by creating stem kits to be distributed to area elementary youth tomorrow evening Smokey Hill High School will host this open house for incoming freshmen finally I want to give a special thanks to my twins they show me an immense amount of Grace and often come along to all of my community events including the 4 a and 4B event events a couple of weeks ago I had a hole in my schedule and we were able to sneak away to the Denver Art Museum to see the exhibit Maurice sendx beloved Where the Wild Things Are I waffled on whether or not to whether or not to take them because they are Middle School teens who tend to offer an eye roll at everyone and everything but where the wild But Where the Wild Things Are was one of their favorite books as as children when my son was a toddler he would often tell me mommy I'm going to start a rumpus well the exhibit was wonderful and allowed us to step into the pages of the Timeless experience of Max and the wild things as our district focuses on literacy brings to life a childhood favorite and if you have a bit of time stop by the Denver Art Museum with your with your young people and start a rumpus with them as well that concludes my comments thank you now we will have communications on behalf of our superintendent from our Chief Information Officer Jason kig I want to start by recognizing all of our brave men and women who served our country on this Veterans Day this week week schools across our district will host events to celebrate and honor the veterans in our community you can find the events listed on our website on a personal note I'd like to thank my Father Richard kic for his service as a young man he served in Vietnam with a Army 101st Airborne thanks Dad superintendent Smith asked me to express his deep gratitude to the whole Community for passing a Mill and bond last week that will enable us to continue to grow our excellence and deliver on our promises to students thanks to the support of our community we'll be able to double the size of our current CCC to accommodate 70% more students retain high quality teachers add additional Safety and Security measures at each School rebuild some of our aging and deteriorating campuses and ensure healthy Innovative classrooms for all of our students it's a significant milestone for the Cherry Creek School District superintendent also wants to thank the board of education for Having the courage to put these two measures on the ballot and for their hard work over the last several months thank you we're committed to promises made Promises Kept so we'll keep the community informed and engaged as we move forward with these projects thank you again we couldn't have do this without the support of our local community this will have a lasting impact on students at our schools today and well into the future thank you thank you Mr Koenig now we will have a special report um on Safety and Security all right good evening board uh thank you very much for having me tonight and the rest of my team who's here my name is Ian Lopez I'm the director of Safety and Security for the Cherry Creek School District and before I get going on my presentation I too would like to all the veterans so if there is a veteran uh and I know a couple of them are employed here can you please stand up so we can give you a round of [Applause] applause thank you very much and uh again before I get going um the previous director of Safety and Security Randy council's here tonight and some of the things I'm going to talk about tonight he certainly helped lay the foundation so Randy thank you and good to see you old friend okay in the district Security Department we have a pretty singular focus and that is to try to oversee the district security resources and capabilities to try to Foster confidence in parents students and staff and to create the safe educational environment that we can but we understand that in today's age there's fear and anxiety and stress around some of the topics that present themselves to school safety and it's really all about us trying to find a balance between being safe and remaining an educational institution my challenge here in Cherry Creek when I got here was that I came from a small Police Department where I could affect change very quickly but in Cherry Creek we have 67 schools 80 facilities spread out over 108 square miles we have 9,000 employees 55,000 students four law enforcement jurisdictions and two fire departments that service this District so in all that's a lot of collaboration that we need to um to project and to maintain so before I get into some of our updates on our security projects I want to just go over a couple of um Concepts that we Embrace here in the security department first and foremost we have this idea that it's constant never-ending Improvement we are never done when it comes to Safety and Security the next component of that is support uh with my team and the teams in the high schools and middle schools uh we really believe in supporting the district in any way possible and so you'll see our team out doing a variety of different um jobs and that can be everything from helping you know support a board meeting to handling bus accidents uh when police departments can't go there in the Safety and Security uh concept everything is about operational efficiency when we talk about emergencies and being prepared we want to move quickly and efficiently into secure posture so that we can keep our staff and students safe we really want to try to embrace the idea of building structure and having consistency in everything we do because the more we have structure and the better we get at the basics then we can be more fluid when it comes to responding to things we really embrace the idea of falling back to our highest level of training we know with everything in school everything in sports everything in drama and music if you don't don't practice what you do you won't be very good when it comes to Performance time and that same concept is uh prevalent in Safety and Security we also want to make sure when we train our students and our staff that we don't create scars we don't we shouldn't make drills um something that is scary and we shouldn't traumatize our kids so we do our very best to try to move around those subjects and make sure that everything we do in the security lens is about training people and everything we do provide we try to explain the why it's very important that everyone understand the reasons why we do things and why that is valuable to them because ultimately when it comes to Safety and Security we're trying to train students and staff to respond accordingly just like our Elite military units because without training and without knowledge then we rely on reaction and reaction is the absence of training it's the absence of knowledge and this is when emotion overrides our our common sense when we talk about Safety and Security particularly when it comes to Emergency Response where we are and what we know generally drives what we do and we try to reinforce that through everything that we practice we want administrators and classroom managers and students to understand that decision making needs to be simple they don't have to be right when it comes to Safety and Security they just cannot afford to be wrong and that is something we really Embrace with our administrators we we also want people to understand that decision making is best when you collaborate and when you use the time that you have to make a better decision when you rush through things and you make decisions in a vacuum you generally don't have the same uh best outcome so as we move through I just want to keep in mind that all of these Concepts and the five core values are behind everything we do in the Safety and Security world so here are a couple of the major District level projects that we've been uh undertaking for the last several years and I'll give you an update on on some of these so first and foremost staff this is always the best asset we have this year on the district security armed security team we've added uh two new members one security coordinator for the Overland feeder Rob chavas and Clint bombstar who now serves in the Grand View feeder area we've also promoted one of our own Trevor van Le to assistant director and so now we have a team of uh 10 people that can and respond throughout the district for a variety of different things in our high schools and middle schools we've added 33 new security Specialists to help Safeguard those buildings and maybe with the bond we can improve uh that Staffing to push out into other areas we've made a concerted effort to try to work towards uh boosting our Emergency Operations plans within every school and the concept that we use is a 3x5 five actions five minutes and five responsibilities so the five actions that we discussed over and over again throughout the district is the standard response protocol and again I say that to reemphasize the word standard the word response and the word protocol there's five main actions that we use across the district at every grade level and our hope is to build consistency throughout these and that gives each School something to Target when they build out their emergency plans we emphasize the fact that schools will have help in managing large scale events or even minor events but they always need to plan on what their initial response is to get them through that first few critical minutes we always say that's about 5 minutes or so and then within all of the decision making and all of their overall um uh responsibilities they have to understand that alert and warning people is the first step response is the second management recovery and communication all are part of an emergency response to any incident that we can have in a school and that's really what we drive our Emergency Operations plans to focus on as I mentioned just a minute ago the framework of everything we do with our Safety and Security plans in the district is the standard response protocol and there are several pieces of uh other technologies that we tied into that to help tie this all together one of the things we've added and and built out in the last year and I'm proud to say that this was a five-year project that we finally finished up here in August is now every school in the district has a Volcom emergency um uh PA system you can see on the graphic here that there are eight boxes for eight predetermined pre-written emergency messages and these are standardized the district we've also added uh over 5,200 message boards which not only allow us to provide a verbal alert or an audible alert into uh the schools when we have emergencies but it also allows for scrolling message boards and that gives us a dual um component to provide that alert and warning over the last 5 years we've also had the red bag technology and we continue to build out on that um our partner Chuck mot from red bag has helped us develop and refine this on a consistent basis um and even though this is designed initially as a lockdown tool we're now starting to build that out into evacuation um shelter and reunification over the last few years um really since Coline we've seen an evolution in how lockdown events have happened and here in ch Creek we're taking that to a new level as well and one of the things I want to talk about briefly here is how we conduct drills when it comes to lockdown drills we understand that there's a lot of anxiety around those and we do our best to practice these in a trauma informed Manner and give parents the heads up that they're coming so that they have an opportunity to talk through the uh talk through things with their kids and even give parents an opt out if they choose not to have their kids partake in these we've done nearly 600 lockdown drills in the district using our red bag technology and the one thing that we've really done uh well is given ourselves the opportunity to communicate into the classroom during a lockdown and really support the students and teachers emotionally and psychologically we've been able to use that technology to transition from Lockdown to hold and why important is because this starts the healing process and when we transition we will use our red bag technology to communicate to all the teachers followed up by a PA announcement followed up by our message board and this is what it sounds like attention all staff and students we are now moving into a hold please remain in your room until you are checked and released by police district security or School [Music] administration attention all staff and students we are now moving into a hold please remain in your room until you were checked and released by police district security or School [Music] administration now that might just seem like an announcement but here's why that's important because using red bag and using the standard response protocols we're able to do this differently what if we didn't have communication into the classrooms and we were in lockdown and law enforcement responds in thinking that there's a threat inside the building the slide that you see on the left is what would likely happen when they come around to the clear classrooms and then on the inside of the door we've been teaching teachers for years to do what they need to do if they feel like they need to safeguard their classrooms but with redbag technology we can do it differently because now we can give them information and that will again dictate that principle of where they are and what they know at that time will dictate what they do so even this year we added a code word uh process to our uh lockdown drills and what this does is provide reassurance to the teachers inside the classroom that the people knocking on their door are good guys and not just somebody randomly coming to their door so in this case if we were to look at that slide and tell the police officers to provide the teacher inside the room a code word of banana split then that teacher would know that that's the good guys at the door that does a lot for the recovery process as I mentioned a few minutes ago we do we've done nearly 600 lockdown drills using our redback technology and auditing every single process of our emergency procedure we invite police and fire departments we take the entire school and we try to do as much education as we can in a 30-minute time period in this slide here you see Sergeant Bunch from uh the Aurora Police Department talking to a group of students at Grand View High School during a lockdown explaining to them what it would be like if there was a police L evacuation and this was tremendous to see because the engagement of the students with the officers provided a lot of insight that they otherwise wouldn't have so drills in my mind should be exactly what we intend them to be and that is a learning process we've had our fair share of lockdown events here in Cherry Creek thankfully none of them have been for anything uh like an active shooter we even experienced a false activation tonight before our meeting at one of our elementary schools so we've been up to 20 false lockdowns and that may seem like a lot and it is but the benefit of being able to communicate inside the classroom is we can tell them that they're safe and we can tell them that there's no reason to worry so 100% of those 20 false lockdown activations we've had have not been for an active shooter and that's something we're trying to change the uh the concept about in many people's minds the word lockdown is automatically equated to an active shooter and that doesn't always have to be the case so when it comes to lockdowns and the response that we provide there was historically been a gap here and in that Gap law enforcement is filled out with Dynamic room clears and further trauma the students and staff inside those classrooms which ultimately leads to more stress for parents waiting to hear the word on their kids but by communicating inside the classrooms we can provide support updates reassurance information and direction to the staff and students inside and on the law enforcement side we can provide different safety measures tactics coordination we can help them manage their resources differently and make different decisions all which ultimately help us recover from these incidents quicker in in addition to our lockdown drills we've started a new project in com combination with it and maintenance and that is to go through and redo our maps and all of our room numbering throughout the district and why that is important is because it allows for Better Way finding and better identification of key technological equipment that is now located throughout our buildings and not just in classrooms this June we added a computer AED dispatch system to our Dispatch Center that is going to allow us to document and track events that happen throughout the district in a much more robust manner than we've ever been done uh ever been able to do before this will also allow us to connect to our first responder um agencies in the event of of certain emergencies as we build this system out and that is all about that speed and efficiency that I talked about before one of the things we've done over the last year and a half and we'll continue to do with the bond is to improve our internal Radio Systems uh we rely heavily on radios at each of our school sites at um our in our transportation department and in our security department so radios are a huge part of our safety uh ecosystem here and it's important that we maintain that so some of the things we've done with our partners from Triple C has gone in and add tremendous amount of radio upgrades new antennas new cabling um new programming um new radio maintenance and the like another thing that you've seen new this year thanks to uh Trevor van Le our new direct assistant director of Safety and Security is the special event team um at some of our football uh stadiums you've seen people in yellow vest we've tried to make that more of a presence so that we can have more supervision of students and also just more of visibility around the stadiums because we draw large crowds in a lot of games and we want to just make sure everybody has that uh understanding that the the security is does have eyes on it and that we are there as a resource should anything happen we've also made a concerted effort this year to provide training and professional development to all um different work groups throughout our district this includes Deans assistant principles and principes Par Educators uh Transportation staff members of our Adco team nurses uh office managers building security staff and many many more uh we understand in the safety world that safety cannot just be about what we do but it's everyone's responsibility so we more uh the more we preach the gospel of safety so to speak uh the better off we're all going to be again we've done a lot this year one of our uh focuses was on playground safety at the elementary level so one of the things you should see at all of the elementary schools this year are Paras that are out there uh again in yellow vest for visibility and quick reference so that we know who belongs and who doesn't we've also partaken in training uh here is a slide being taught by some of um the Army's most elite special operations Soldier Delta they came out here and hosted some classes with our law enforcement teams in particular on how to respond to uh highrisk risk events at schools we hosted the training as well as partook in the training our team has also tried to go out and expand our knowledge by uh uh by attending several national conferences we attended a conference in Atlanta uh some local conferences here in breaden and Keystone over the summer and again to just strengthen what uh we can learn about campus safety across the board and then we also helped provide training to others um this is uh me at a training conference where uh our team went up and presented to the um Colorado State Association of school resource officers on the topic of lockdown drills and how we can do them better and again we talked a little bit about the bond and milley funding um a special thanks to the voters who approved that because with that we have some uh projects in the line for camera and um uh camera replacement systems of our entire system so that we can do more um Advanced uh Tech we can do more advanced things with our camera system as as opposed to just having the forensic after the fact um searching for uh it searching for things that happen with our camera system that will also uh bring into aspect of the access control system we will do some things with security film around window security continue to upgrade our radio and again look at some additional Staffing of personnel so through the last six years uh since I've been in this role we've learned quite a few lessons and some of those things are pretty briefly going to be Illustrated here and the first thing is is to commit commit to a program commit to a process and stick to it we also are very big on building relationships I'm often asked you know what is the next thing in security you're going to buy or you're going to do or you're going to proceduralized and I tell everybody all the time if I had didn't have another Penny to spend it would be all about forging relationships and Partnerships both internally and externally we need to make sure we practice train and ex and exercise because that is the key to being prepared just like any good football team or football coach would tell you if you don't practice you won't expect to perform very well uh in the game we need to standardize and simplify make things super simple because when stress hits you can't process complex things and we need to provide consistency from grade level to grade level feeder to feeder and school to school that's the key to our success in the school districts we have a lot of information that we need to share and leverage particularly when it comes to management of emergency situations so that we don't take an already stressful situation and make them worse by being more chaotic we've learned also that communication is critical right information in a vacuum is the best place where Panic can develop and with technology we've learned to test and audit that regularly we've learned to debrief everything because your lessons uh your best Lessons Learned are often in some of your biggest failures and ultimately our end goal is to do what's best for kids and put the smile and keep the smile on their faces so with that I'll turn it over to the board and answer any questions that you may have thank you for that presentation um questions from director nolles thank you so much um I deeply appreciate your staff I think that you all are excellent at creating relationships and Partnerships and I uh just want to thank the gray shirts for all that you do um and I want to congratulate Trevor on assistant director of Safety and Security congratulations um couple questions from me so the five main actions something that I seem like I run into is people will be informed about something a hold or whatever it might be and they immediately go to lockdown how well has that gone as far as educating the community on what each of those are that they're not all locked down I think it's gone well but I will tell you that I think our job is not done so um you know our we are in a constant state of NeverEnding Improvement as I mentioned before and we're always on the mission to try to outreach to new groups and find different ways to engage parents um I'll tell you the hardest groups to probably get to in terms of like face-to-face dialogue and question and answer our parent groups and teachers because a lot of times the timing to get to them is is just it requires being after hours and whatnot so um we will do continued um Outreach to our to our schools to try to find out how we can get into those Niche groups a little little bit more um but really I think it it is about just continuing to push that information out there and make it consistent and once you get the hang of it and you understand what it is then it's not quite so confusing or scary maybe and really that's actually my only question I just want to make a comment to the community that if you've not gone to a red bag demonstration I highly um suggest that you do I I was probably like five or six years ago at a seak meeting you all were doing a red bag demonstration and I was coming in a little still a little salty from a a lockdown that had happened at Overland um many years back that uh there was not a lot of communication and it was pretty traumatic and I was um so relieved um to see what had the changes that had happened and the communication that was occurring to people in these situations um it was super informative so I just recommend that folks look for a time to go and and be a part of a red bag demonstration you get out your cell phone you scan um the barcode just like someone would do if they're in a room during a lockdown and you're just walk through the whole steps so um really appreciate all the work that you've done with red bags thank you you're welcome thank you director nolles director Allen thank you so much and I Echo um director n's comments congratulations te Trevor and thank you to all of the gray shirts um and also um I I think the the security guards in our schools is a reflection of what their what their training is and um the sense of belonging there is within the security teams and when I go into schools and see the security guards really connecting with our kids and um building relationships Maybe in ways that kids never had an opportunity to have before with other teachers I recognize that and I appreciate it so thank you for that um my first question was can you speak a little bit more about the special events teams and how that came about because I I I have been at a couple of events recently where I've seen the the dedicated um uh security team and it looked different so I'd love to hear a little bit more about that yeah the special events team I think really was born because of two things one is we there was a need um you know special events had a lot of activity a lot of crowd size um a lot of energy I mean anybody who's gone to a you know Cherry Creek School District football game knows there's a lot of energy in those games and so um sometimes parents kids you know not aren't on their best behavior so we wanted to have a presence there we've seen some examples across the country and even here in Colorado of some events that have gone bad and we really just said you know we don't want that to happen here uh we you know things can still happen but we we want to make sure we have a presence there and from um you know from all the feedback we've gotten so far it's been a pretty over you know it's it's been pretty over uh what's the word I'm looking for you know it's been very popular with the principles it's been extremely um popular with the parents and whatnot because they say hey I I feel like people have eyes on the kids when they're there and somebody's watching out and that's all we're trying to do and so again I give um Larry Bull and Trevor van leid a lot of credit because they helped put this together and fund it and uh again it's just making sure that that we have a presence out there and we can respond to anything that should have happen I think it was a great idea for what I can tell it was it's working great so thank you um in terms of dispelling rumors and getting some more information out to concerned parents um have and I'm just was just thinking about this so forgive me we've never chatted about it before uh have you given any thought about maybe having like a parent education night where they actually get to experience a lock down or hold or anything like that or so some of some of the things I think we'd like to push is maybe trying to get in front of parents when they're already at school so maybe on some back to school nights um especially early in the school year when we have you know back to school nights and everybody's in the building kind of learning about the building flow and teachers and whatnot why not try to get an opportunity there to talk about safety as well um I know there's some other ideas about uh trying to do some fulls scale exercises and things things like that but those are large and generally very difficult to pull off and very infrequent so we need to figure out a way to get in front of parents so whether that's attending accountability meetings uh at the local level School level or at the district level um we're open to all of that because really you know teaching and training is a big part of our mission I agree thank you about the the um enormity of of preparing a whole school or uh campus for one of those drills would be challenging but but even just listening to just listening to what the what it sounds like and what it looks like on bcom and or or or having that sheet available of the five actions um I I think would be great and a great opportunity to educate and dispel some rumors so thank you keep keep up the incredible work that your whole team is doing I appreciate you thank you thank you director director Allan director Bates thank you for your presentation and against again congratulations to Trevor and and thank you for all the work that the rest of your I hate calling you all gray shirts but I know that's what you're that's what you're calling anyway um for all the gray shirts um so one other question on the event staff are they only the gray shirts or are there other staff members no so the the special event staff is it was a new position we created because uh we wanted to offer that to whoever we could find that really had an interest in that so you don't have have to be an employee of the district already uh you don't have to have already worked an 8 hour day if you don't want to be many of the staff on that team are our security staff from the high schools and middle schools it gives them an opportunity to make a little bit extra money and it also allows them to um you know get some developed leadership too so as we expand the team or we grow the team um you know it's it's really not just about the the 10 guys in the gray shirts it's really about the entire ecosystem and I know we get a lot of the credit but uh the people at the high school and middle school levels they really do a lot of the day-to-day work and they do a lot of that most you know that really really important work in connecting with the kids so yeah it's it's anybody who who volunteered and applied for that position thank you I appreciate that um so I and you talk about relationships with students and this um school security and and and all of you but um I have to say from a parent standpoint as well I have kids who are 30 years down to 20 21 years or 22 years and I will say that they still um talk about some of the security guards that they had in their schools and the relationships they built and and we'll talk to them when they come back home so I appreciate that that it really does make a difference the relationships that are made in those schools so from that stpoint just that's just a comment and um so one other question on the um opting out of drills I I know you don't I'm sure you don't have a number but I'm just how many really opt out and and what are I mean I I know there's some traumatic reasons but what are the reasons that people are are by by and large we don't have a large population of parents that pull their kids out um I would tell you because it's such a small number and I don't hear a lot of the specific reasons why all the time I would say it's probably you know a personal decision some of that could be the way they've experienced them or maybe even the way they perceive that drills are are run and we do our very best to kind of take a lot of the Fear Factor out of that drills really should be about developing response building confidence it shouldn't be about trickery or surprise or trying to you know test your response in a in a you know in a realistic way if you're going to do that there's a whole another exercise component to training that you can develop but that's really not what the the day-to-day drills are all about okay um and and again like director nolles had mentioned the red bag going through that drill it was fascinating to see how different teachers handled their students in their classes and how they pulled them together and and it was a comforting thing rather than being a traumatic event for our students so I appreciate that I appreciate the teachers and how they they pull those bags out and explain how um those whatever is in the bag is used and so I I appreciate that and it and again if you do have an opportunity sometime go and see one because it is it's it's eye opening for sure so thank you I appreciate what your team does always and thank you thank you thank you director Bates director Egan hi Mr Lopez thank you for being here again you're welcome uh we have heard this presentation before but it's always great to hear it again I especially think that that third slide in I think is so informative where you put the numbers in there about 67 80 buildings I just think that just sums it up so well about the scope of how big and diverse this District really is and and what it means to provide Safety and Security for this District so I I think that was a great site to have in there um I also I've talked to you about this before but we have come come a long way since Coline unfortunately we have to have these conversations and I wish it wasn't that way but since my kids started at Belleview and then campus and Creek we've even evolved since then and I really appreciate the reduction in anxiety and the way you approach these drills now uh rather than terrifying parents and students I think that it's been been a very good change and a really nice approach and I would just say that I was so impressed by our SRO and police officers and your team for you know we've all been in our schools a lot the last few months and just the relationships they have with staff and with students it's and families it's an important relationship the last thing I would say is I have had a lot of other school districts in the state come up to me and say that you've been so gracious showing them the tech the red bag technology so thank you and then they've decided to take that on as well so maybe you're getting a commission but thank you for for doing that as well I appreciate this presentation and thanks for being here you're welcome thank you director Egan um I don't have any questions because again as we've seen this multiple times but um I would be this opportunity to say that I think this is a Bittersweet part of our budget um I would love for all of these funds to be in our classrooms but um this is where we are that the adults are not brave enough to have a conversation about gun violence and how it impacts our schools our children our communities and families and so thank you for all that you do um it is my true hope and prayer that every student leaves better every single day and that they return home better than how they came in the morning but I just think it's pretty sad that um we cannot have a conversation um even with Colin B and all the other things about gun violence and how it impacts our schools and why um because this has not always been the case but we have allowed this to be our new normal and I think it's unfortunate but again thank you for your work um you know you're my favorite person I love to hate but but again and I say that in just because I think you all do a phenomenal job you're very professional and I appreciate the way our district has approached it in making sure that you all are part of the community and build relationship with the kids and are working to towards a model and and keep improving so that um as my colleagues have mentioned that we're not scaring kids and scaring parents but again I wish the adults would be a little more Brave so um that includes my comments um anything else you'd like to share just like to thank you guys again for the opportunity and hopefully we will you know do all this training and preparation and never have to use it that's my hope and one day I can just retire and be a fly fisherman yes so thank you and and I want to help you get there thank you it is at this time in our meeting that we make time for members of the audience who have complet completed the online public comment form prior to 12:00 noon today to address the Board of Education Board of Education in order for everyone to be heard please limit your comments to a maximum of two minutes a buzzer will sound at the end of of the two minutes and the microphone and audio will be automatically muted each speaker may only speak once during during public comment speaking time may not be shared between speakers this is your opportunity to make comments to the board of education and accordance with board policy it is not a question and answer session please confine your comments to matters that are gerain to the business of the district further please recognize the students attend most of our meetings any speaker whose statements or behavior are unrelated to the business of the district appear threatening or unsafe or are inappropriate for K through 12 students may be interrupted or warned and their opportunity to comment for comment be inter be for their opportunity for comment terminated audience members who speak are asked to do so in a respectful Manner and the audience is encouraged to listen respectfully any speaker or audience member who disrupts the good order of the board meeting including the speaking time of others may be asked to leave we are very interested in your feedback and we'll listen carefully on behalf of the board I want to thank you in advance for your comments and for taking time to come to tonight's meeting Mr koich could you please read our first group of speakers I'll read five names at a time please line up behind the podium and remember to state your name in the beginning Poli Von ven over Beth Bowen Liv Mitchell Barry Albert Amy Hull go ahead yeah they turn it on greetings to the school board of Cher Creek School District and thank you for your continued support for all of our students and staff members and also to Dr pool our assistant superintendent of special populations hello my name is Feliz vuber and I'm the proud and privileged IC teacher at Fox Hollow Elementary School I have also been a resident of the Fox Hollow Community for 22 years I'm here to express my enthusiastic support and appreciation for our special education par professionals at Fox Hollow Elementary School these dedicated professionals play a vital role in our school Community by providing critical support to the students with unique needs enabling them to achieve success both academically and socially each and every one of our par professionals are the reason that I look forward to coming to work every day they make my job easier special education par professionals are essential Partners in delivering individualized instruction maintaining a safe learning environment and fostering positive interaction among students they support our teachers by implementing instructional plans and adaptations tailored to each student's strengths and challenges par professionals are often on the front lines working closely with students to provide the personalized attention that makes learning possible their responsibilities go beyond academics they provide emotional and behavioral support helping students develop self-regulation and social skills that are fundamental to their growth par professionals serve as Role Models demonstrating patience empathy and resilience and contributing to a culture of inclusion and respect within our schools given the critical role they play it is essential that par professionals are recognized for their contributions and supported in their professional development access to ongoing training Fair compensation and a voice in their educational Community are necessary to ensure that these professionals can continue their invaluable work in closing I wholeheartedly advocate for the continued support and recognition of our special education par professional thank you your time is up I'm Beth Bowen I am a special ed par professional at Black Forest Hills last month I came and I told you that I found my passion in this job and I'd like to tell you why a student learns A New Concept at their level because a para presents Concepts at any level prek through 12th grade a student calms and attends to their learning because a par understands that their behaviors are their means of communicating that they're struggling and help them deal with their problems a student demonstrates Independence because a perah breaks down a process so that each small but momentous step is mastered a student makes a new friend because of perah coached her in the finer points of school engagement and respond and respecting people in every corner of the School classrooms cafeteria playground and hallways a student reads to their little book buddy for the first time because a Pera patiently listened and they gained the confidence to put themselves out there an entire class realizes that every person brings value to their classroom because a parah supports a non-verbal student to talk through smiles and laughter none of this happens in a day or a week and sometimes not even in this entire School lifetime of a student but AA knows that the time frame isn't important the end goal is no matter how long it takes to inspire every student to think to learn to achieve and to care is the mission of every CCSD employee we Paris take this Mission very seriously and very personally we impact students D lives directly every day and experience the joys and breakthroughs and are fortunate to know that we are making a difference every staff member also should be inspired I ask you to work with us the par Educators Association of Cherry Creek to inspire all of the peras to be our best so that we can can give our best thank you hi my name is Liv I've been a parah at liberty for three years and I'm a member of the pack what I love about this group of Paras is our strength and dedication I love what I do in working with these folks has brought me hope for the district's future I've seen very high levels of turnover during my short time at Liberty I believe the foundation of this issue is rooted in the insignificant pay that we receive um I can't tell you how many times this year salaried staff members have told me how hard our job is and how we could never do they could never do what we do yet we make wages comparable to a fast food employee here at Liberty we're so understaffed that they've tried to remedy this lack of Paras with substitutes which creates a very chaotic environment for the kids that require stability and certainty which is a big percentage of ilc and s's demographic um a strong relationship is crucial for our students and it's critical to their growth that we're able to hire and maintain quality Paras every perah in my school either works multiple jobs or live we can't afford the cost of living so we make these sacrifices for the students that we love so much we are forced to struggle over breaks and take on more work over the Summers to accommodate no pay the pay isn't just low it's detrimental to our mental health and our financial Independence we work with an incredibly vulnerable population many of which are medically fragile we build strong relationships with these kids and our students become disregulated when their preferred adult is out for one day these are the students who are impacted because good Paras are leaving and we can't get more people hired increasing our pay will allow for Better Staffing in our schools more consistency for our students and better living standards for our Paras we appreciate your time and your work providing a pathway for unions to contribute to CCSD thank you hello good evening my name is Barry Alpert I've been a PA at Fox Hollow Elementary School for 5 years and I'm a member of the pack we all love the chance to help shape young minds and are so excited to bring our professionalism to the table with you to make Cherry Creek the best place it can be for our students and staff I and many other Paras have years of experience in this job we have seen it all know how to serve students with any and every need you can imagine if we don't know we are the first to learn sometimes in Cherry Creek however our experiences and abilities are ignored and not listened to so thank you for listening to us and making this election possible some of my students spend more time with me than any other adult in the building my input is crucial in IEPs parent conferences and other important decision decisions in the students education by not elevating the paros it is a true disservice to the students so again thank you we all work in this profession because we care about giving students the best learning environment and we are so excited to work with the district to provide the best service possible to our students and staff we appreciate your time and your work providing a pathway for unions to contribute to the Cherry Creek School District thank you hi my name is Amy I've been a par educator at Independence Elementary School for over 10 years and I am a pack member our commitment to the students is unwavering as is yours and we are excited for the opportunity to bring our voices to the table and make Cherry Creek the best place it can be for our staff and our students the benefits packet in CCSD is a major draw for many par educators you and the ccea have worked together to offer something solid that many employers do not however this benefits package can be difficult to afford without a corresponding salary many paers in the district spend their entire paycheck on health insurance premiums and then they still need to bring in additional wages to cover the difference this is obviously a hard to continent situation but making benefits more affordable would lift a weight off of many people's shoulders and allow them to breing bre and serve our students more effectively we all work in the profession because we care about giving students an excellent learning environment where everyone can Thrive we look forward to collaborating with the district and appreciate your time and effort providing a pathway for unions to contribute to a brighter future for CCSD together we can give the greatest service possible to our communities thank you Joe George Rouge Nicole Wing M Medan schner Reed Porter Kate Anderson right yeah come on up good evening my name is Joe I've been a par educator at Cherokee Trail High School for about two months now so I'm pretty fresh and I am a member of the pic we all love the chance to help shape young minds and and we are so excited to bring our expertise to the table with you to make Cherry Creek the best place it can be for our students and our staff so a little bit I began working at cths this semester and I have absolutely loved every second of it I am a cths graduate and I'm so glad to be back helping my students my prior experience as a peer partner for the unified pre PE program ensure that I was able to connect with my students and my staffers it was absolutely amazing and because of that I have become a steady member of of the team unfortunately as smoothly as my transition from student to par educator went many people in this field don't have the background that I did and the turnover rate being so high they don't get to reach their full potential with a dedicated speaking of training with a dedicated regimen of training we will keep the pairs we so desperately need we so desperately need and we will serve our students better than ever truly thank all of you we all work in this profession because screw this we all work in this professions because we care about giving students the best possible learning environment that we can and we are so excited to work with the district to provide the best service possible to our students and our staff we appreciate your time and your work providing a pathway for unions to help build CCSD better than ever thank you hello my name is Nikki Wing um I'm the mother of Hazel who is a second grader with a rare genetic disability who is at Fox Hollow Elementary in their ilc um hazel 7 however on an intellectual level and physical ability level she operates around a three or four-year-old um as the parent of a child with an ID and limited speech abilities um I can tell you one of the scariest things to do is send your child off to school or they're no longer in the safeguards of your family because of this I'm here today to emphasize the crucial role that par professionals play in the lives of students they're not just classroom AIDS they're skilled professionals who Provide support for students with unique needs for children with disabilities they are lifelines they help them access curriculum build essential life skills develop independence without this personalized assistance many of these students would struggle to engage in the classroom diminishing confidence participation and educational outcomes career professionals are the backbone of the ilc along with the responsibilities they as caretaker educator emotional support person parent point of contact nurse friend and key person looking out for the safety of our children it's crucial to the success growth and safety of our children with special needs that the par professionals be elevated and that their voices are heard quantity is not always better than quality especially when it comes to our children the presence of Care Professionals benefits not only students with disabilities but also their classmates and teachers they play a vital role in fostering respect diversity showing all students that everyone has a place and a voice as you consider resources necessary for success of our students please remember the impact par professionals have investing in them is investing in our students future and strengthens our schools and also a more inclusive community thank you [Applause] I am the CEO of the epitome of black excellence and partnership our team has been in touch with several members of your leadership and administration I stand here today on behalf of the greenbook initiative an effort that began nearly a century ago with a simple but vital mission to protect uplift and guide black Americans through Landscapes that could be hostile even dangerous after extensive review and months of empathic listening to a massive amount of students fames staff and community of your District our findings show that you have reached a juncture we term Exodus this status indicates that there are foundational issues impeding the E educational experiences of the black community under your leadership the current landscape of Cherry Creek speaks of overp policing black students of mental health needs going unmet of Community Voices unheard this is a landscape that despite well-maintained physical buildings remains inhospitable for many who walk its Halls Exodus status also reflects a systemic Gap one that exists when black families look to your schools and see minimal representation among teachers and leaders when they try to engage but feel dismissed and unheard hear me when I say this is not about graduation rates it's about psycholog iCal safety Cherry Creek Board of Education we are calling you to accountability before coming here tonight a comprehensive findings and recommendations report was sent to each of you and is now available for public view on our website that report exposes the hard truths of disparities that that I referenced and I would be remiss if I didn't call direct attention to how black students have been harmed with your discipline practices and expulsion rates this is not an attack it's an invitation and the path forward will take courage what happens to the black community in Cherry Creek happens to the black community of thank you your time is [Applause] up hi my name is Reed Porter I'm the father of a second grader named AEL I as down CM at Fox Hollow I wanted to voice my thanks and support towards this board and working with Paris as they look towards unionization anything this District can do to support and encourage retention and hiring of highquality PA professionals is Paramount in my view without trustworthy and knowledgeable pair is able would have significant struggles in social behaviors friendships communication and even medical needs medical needs are crucial while schools are aware and sensitive to allergies so many things do not fall in these patterns AEL has dysphasia so he can't drink normal water or else he'll start to drown we have faced multiple instances with substitutes in which he's come home with regular water in his cups and that is a danger to him or uh all of our concern it's easy to overlook this and I really don't blame substitutes for it when it's something so unfamiliar to them but with a trusted perah we know that he's going to be taken care of and that he's going to see his medical needs attended to many individuals in ilc programs are delayed in their communication abilities and facing significant hurdles my wife and I are familiar with my son's speech patterns but even with our familiarity sometimes we have to ask him to repeat himself multiple times and that can cause frustration with an unfamiliar perah that's going to just have a domino effect he's going to get more frustrated and he's going to be slower to calm down which is going to come to educational loss as well as social embarrassment and finally we've been blessed with a loving and dedicated par for the past 3 years what Abel is loved in his community it's in no small part to his par and Miss Barry she not only brings infectious enthusiasm for able but shares it with the entire classroom kids are incredibly tuned in and singing adult adult engaged with his classmates sorry your time is up [Applause] hello I'm Kate Anderson I'm a Colorado Native and have lived in Aurora for most of my life I spent all my school years in the Cherry Creek School District and now I have three children at Fox Hollow Elementary and my husband is a fifth grade teacher in the district all three of our children have been diagnosed with autism and other disabilities if it weren't for The NeverEnding support loving encouragement and gentle persistence from the par PA Professionals in the ilc program my children wouldn't be where they are today my kids parents work tirelessly every single day and have been incredibly essential in my kid's success my oldest son Nicholas is 9 years old and in fourth grade he's non-verbal and uses a speech device to communicate because of his Paras Nicholas can write his full name and all of his letters and numbers in order knows how to navigate his speech device can do math and many other things he's thriving in school because of the Paras at Fox Hollow my second son Daniel is in third grade and eight years old he spends all of his time in the classroom however he needs one toone support for certain subjects along with autism also has ADHD and anxiety and struggles in certain subjects it's vital for Daniel to have support in the classroom to help him stay focused and on task without that support Daniel wouldn't be succeeding like he is in Reading Writing and math my daughter Grace just recently started going into the classroom more she's in first grade and 6 years old she's doing amazing in school which wouldn't be possible without her ilc Paris helping her get to that point par professionals are the heart of special education and the ilc program Nicholas Daniel and Grace wouldn't be where they are today in school if it weren't for the support from their Paras I'm very grateful for everything the Paras at Fox Hollow have done for my kids thank you [Applause] Christina Sanji hog and Casey Ellis good evening everybody my name is Christina and I've been a par for Horizon communities middle school for two years in ilc and turning two years in Summit Elementary School this coming school year and I am a member of the pack we all love the chance to help shape young minds sorry young minds and are so excited to bring our enthusiasm to the table with you to make Cherry Creek the best place it can be for our student and staff working in a special education department is so rewarding and important it can also be difficult and dangerous last year I had two injury on a day when we had a low stopping due to open position and due to the change of new principal and management things got out of hand and I suffered a serious injury on both of my shoulder while helping two students this year a bookshelf fell on both of my legs while helping a student I had to go to doctors Miss time of work and still experience pain and difficulty in my shoulders and legs I paid 1,000 T $1,000 in each injury for the division ime of independent medical exam and had to go get a lawyer to fight for my Continuous Care this kinds of stories are unfortunate common among Paras while completely safety is never possible improvements are by increasing Staffing having better training and more consistent policies when some is injured on the job I hope you can consider our membership in this back and support us thank you and have a good [Applause] evening good evening board members administrators and Community stakeholders my name is Casey Ellis I am president of the Cherry Creek Education Association and a parent in the district on behalf of the Cherry Creek Education Association I want to extend my heartfelt felt thanks to each of you for putting forth the mil Bond initiative this decision reflects a strong commitment to the safety success and well-being of our students Educators and communities as a whole investing in safe modern facilities sends a powerful message that we value each student's opportunity to learn in an environment that Fosters growth and security prioritizing resources for hiring and retaining quality educator is essential as it allows us to provide the consistency passion and expertise that our students deserve this initiative isn't just about buildings or budgets it's about empowering our schools to be the best they can be for future Generations thank you for your leadership and dedication to making our schools safe and vibrant places for both students and staff ccea is proud to work together with you to make this Vision a reality for our community that was really quick thank [Applause] you president G that's all for tonight thank you thank you Mr kig I'd like to have I'd like to call for a motion to approve the consent agenda resolutions 24.11 through 24112 so moved is there a second roll call please director's Allen I Bates I Egan I Garland I nolles I motion carries I would like to announce our next regular meeting on Monday December 9th 2024 at 700 p.m. at ThunderRidge Middle School located at 5250 South Picadilly Street inor I'd like to call for a motion to adjourn the November 11th 2024 meeting so moved is there a second second roll call please directors Allen I Bates I Degan i g land I NOS I motion carries our meeting is adjourned e