Just go ahead. Okay. All right. Good evening, everyone. Uh, my name is Kayla Maldonado. I'm the internal communications manager for school district 49. Um, tonight we have some amazing nominees to cap off an amazing school year. We will recognize students and staff who are exceptional
examples of how D49 is the best place to learn, work, and lead. for our honores and who nominated them. When your names are called, please come to the podium for remarks and then you'll head to the photo backdrop in the back to get your plaque and a photo with the individual who nominated you. Before I introduce
our honores, I'd like to always give a shout out to our sponsors. We are grateful to Dion's Air Academy Credit Union and Texas Roadhouse for donating gift cards to our honores. Um, tonight our honores get I think it's a $40 gift card to Texas Roadhouse. So, it's pretty
exciting. Yeah. Okay, so our first honores um of the evening are Erica Harrow and Olivia Demmer. They were nominated by um the principal at Horizon Middle School, Liz Dzelle. Um Olivia, I believe, could not be here tonight, but we'll bring Erica and Liz up in a moment. These two
students have displayed outstanding leadership and dedication as student contributors to the Horizon Middle School social media through the class intercom pilot program. So, if I could have Erica and Liz come up here and a big round of applause. Awesome. Thank you. Olivia is at a
graduation tonight, so she could not make it, but I am excited. Come up here. I'm excited to celebrate um Olivia and both Eric. They've gone above and beyond as student leaders in our school. Um piloting this class intercom project, which started out in the fall, and they were received training from district 49 communication department. Joel came into
training um about what makes a good social media post, what's important, and how to kind of navigate the social media world. And they took it and ran. So, their initiative um they've applied feedback from me and they fully embraced the opportunity. They attend after school events. They push into classrooms
to create content and they do a lot of highquality posts with the hashtag student post. So, if you check out any of our social media, that is all they're doing. They also make amazing videos for me um that are relevant, more relevant than I can be. Their creativity, consistency, professionalism have not
only elevated our social media presence, but they've given me valuable time back in my day, which I very much appreciate so I can be a more impactful leader and more present um with the students. Their contributions will have a lasting impact at Horizon Middle School, and they will definitely leave behind a legacy that
will be hard to fill as they journey on to San Creek High School in the fall. Thank you. Uh, I just wanted to say thank you for this amazing opportunity to be recognized for what I do at Horizon Middle School. Is an amazing school and I'm so happy to have the opportunity
just to work with Miss Daozelle and just have fun. All right, thank you um Erica and Liz. Our next honore, um, another student, which I am always a huge fan of honoring our students, um, Lwing Aguilar Hernandez. He is a Vista Ridge High
School student and Sky Middle School CLLD peer pathway intern. He was nominated by Taran Frasier if you guys want to come up for a second. Um, he has been a steadfast advocate for multilingual learners and his commitment to ensuring these
students receive the best educational support is inspiring and impactful. So, one more round of applause and I'll let you go ahead and All right. Hello everybody. My name is Taran Frasier. I am the choice and success adviser at Sky View Middle School. I would like to begin to
spotlight the exceptional contributions of Ludwing during his time in the Sky View CLLD peer pathway internship. From the beginning, Ludwing has showcased a remarkable commitment to our multilingual learners. His proactive
approach has enabled him to build strong connections and advocate effectively for their needs, a quality that is both commendable and essential for this internship's objectives. Furthermore, during the choice and success program's draft day hiring event, Ludwing stepped
up once again to provide translation support for multilingual high school students. His willingness to assist ensured that this student had a positive experience throughout the event, demonstrating his commitment to making our programs accessible for all. I was particularly impressed by an initiative
Ludwing took when he learned about the tour of Vistar Rich High School for our Sky View eighth graders. Without any prompting, Ludwing reached out to Mary Holt and the Choice and Success Power Zone team offering his assistance in Spanish translation. This thoughtful gesture ensured that our multilingual
learners felt included in the tour and created a more engaging academic environment with where these students could actively participate and ask questions questions that would have otherwise gone unanswered. This kind of insight, leadership, and dedication to inclus inclusivity is what sets Ludwing
apart. Ludwing has also demonstrated his dedication to our work-based learning initiatives beyond his immediate responsibilities. He has learned about the dismantling of our choice and success program, expressing keen interest in using this topic for his
GTT ALP essay. He effectively articulated the significant benefits of this program, emphasizing its positive impact not only on his academic achievements but also on his career pathway and life experience. With aspirations of becoming a politician, I
firmly believe that Ludwing is on a promising path to achieving this goal and will continue to positively impact his community and this country. I have no doubt he will emerge as a leader in an arena he chooses. I'm incredibly proud
of Ludwing's accomplishments and I know that everyone who has had the pleasure of working alongside him shares his sentiment. Congratulations on your award and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for you. So proud of you. Hi everybody. I'm Lwing Angler Hernandez and I'd like to
thank Miss Frasier for giving me this opportunity to work at Sky View Middle School. Um I absolutely loved working with Miss Hull and Miss Beer and everyone at Sky Middle School. Um it's honestly been such a helpful opportunity to me to help all these students and help them with translation services and help them understand things that they
wouldn't normally understand. Um, it's been a delight to work at Sky Middle School and I'm so appreciative of this opportunity. Um, being a Vista Ridge student has taught me how to work better with the students and even work better with my own classmates. Um, it's been a delight to work with all these people
and I cannot be more grateful for this award and the people that brought me here, including my parents. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Ludwing. Our next honore of the evening is Karen Parks family school and community engagement
TOSA. She was nominated by Karen Bixler. She has demonstrated outstanding dedication and exceptional service in her role embodying the crucial link that empowers families to become more deeply involved in their children's education and the school community. So if we can welcome both Kierans
can watch out. Good evening board. Mr. Hilts. Um Karen has demonstrated outstanding dedication and exceptional service in her role as a district in title family school and community partnership TOSA as well as
she serves as the McKenna Vento liaison for district 49. Although the role as a family and community liaison demands adaptability in a wide range of skills, Karen has consistently excelled in her commitment to foster strong connections between our district, school, and family
partners. She embodies the crucial link that empowers families to become more deeply involved in their children's education and school community. Karen has tously a aided families in navigating the district forms and processes, skillfully directing them to
the vital district and community resources we offer and providing invaluable support in addressing their needs within schools in the district. Her commitment to empowering parent leadership has been particularly impactful in fostering student achievement and growth. Karen has a
heart of gold and a passion for serving our students, families, and our community. Karen's vision for connecting vital community resources and collaborative efforts across zones and district was instrumental in in initiating the growth of the engage 49
team and initiatives. Her efforts have directly contributed to building stronger foundations for our students, fostering positive relationships between the home, school, and community within District 49. Her supportive school outreach efforts
through engaging events and community partnerships and initiatives has significantly strengthened our community bonds. Karen's unwavering devi dedication, compassion, compassionate approach, and proactive engagement has made a significant positive difference in the lives of our students and
families. Her ability to build trust and foster collaborative relationships is truly commendable and reflects the highest standards of service within District 49. Her communication skills shine with her thoughtful and informative newsletters and her leadership on collaborative teams. Her
participation in state level forums and regional collaboratives has helped bring innovation and visibility to district 49's family school and community partnership efforts. Karen also serves as the district McKenna Vento liaison supporting students and families
experiencing homelessness. She has gone above and beyond in supporting vulnerable families, providing essential training to school staff, and maintaining open, resourceful communication throughout. She's built bridges between our schools and the community from developing key partnerships with our community uh
resources to supporting needed resources as well as food and clothing efforts in our community resource centers. She is a passionate advocate for our students and families and in need our families in need and will go to great lengths to provide the support and resources they
um are that is needed. School-based title one family engagement lea liaison have indicated Karen has provided stellar support in her efforts to provide resources, training, brainstorming ideas, leading problem solving sessions and providing overall
support to them and their respective title one schools. Additionally, many school leaders from both charter and district operated schools have indicated they appreciated the very detailed in-person and virtual trainings about the McKenna Veno Vento Act, heightening
awareness and identification efforts for district 49 staff members for our students and families experiencing homelessness. Surveys from families and community members related to the engage 49 events have indicated the appreciation for the sessions and indirectly the efforts the D49 team has
provided in putting together these events which Karen is serving as a key member of this team. Karen is most deserving of the fantastic 49 recognition for her exceptional contributions and steadfast commitment to strengthening the vital partnerships between homeschool and community to help
students thrive and achieve in district 49. So Karen Parks um wow thank you very much. Um, I would be remiss in saying that I would not be able to do what I'm doing right now if it was not for the ongoing support of
Karen Bixer and Lisa Fillow. And in all honesty, this year the board has come alongside us and supported us really well. Super super grateful for that. And um, I'm super grateful to be doing this job. I absolutely love it. And I was Lewing's fifth grade teacher, so I think
I had something to I don't know, but thank you. Thank you. Okay, thank you Karen. Last but certainly not least, we have Kim Marshall, math teacher at my old middle
school, Sky View Middle School. Woo. Um, she was nominated by Alicia Donald and Viola Lee. Viola unfortunately could not be here this evening. Um, Kim has served as a lead mentor in a challenging year and was responsible for taking the lead in creating an individualized plan for
one of her students. And I'll give it over to Kim. big round of applause. Thank you. Um good evening. And yes, we did uh nominate Kim Marshall. She is our seventh grade uh math teacher at Sky View. And so we were um through the
process of having uh new teachers, young teachers come in. So she exemplified those outer rings of teamwork. Um she worked together to be a montor for those teachers and during that time she brought them into our culture. She made sure that they felt supported and cared
for and kept up all of the um academic growth and challenges that come along with our students in the seventh grade, helping them reach all of the goals that they needed to academically and through growth. She consistently works within PLC's with those teachers and helps them understand how to look at their data and
how to um uh for each student individually bring them to the top of where they can be academically. So, she's she's very strong that way. Um the thing that stood out, so I actually oversee uh special education as well. And so she took the time this year. She invested in several students and she
created truly individualized programs for them. Um she helped the special education department create um data sheets for that. She looked at the uh goals that they had, individualized it, and then she created a whole work program around them. And she worked with
that case manager in order to have that student fulfill that. And in the long run, what ended up happening was those students were better supported and they um have a stronger program because of that and because of the work that she did and the collaboration that she did. So that inner ring of innovation and
care. She truly cares about all of her students. Today we had an assembly and uh I was working with one of our kiddos and I said, you know, we were taking a walk and I said, "Who is your favorite teacher?" Because he's an eighth grader. And he said, "Miss Marshall." And I would say that there is a whole significant crew behind her of kids that
would say the same thing. And he sees her and he just lights up. And that's really what we're all about at Sky View is building those connections with students so that they feel welcomed and included. Um and so just by the care that she gives to each one of them and she is very um she knows each one of her
kids and so she can actually have individualized conversations to help them along their way. and uh they recognize it. We recognize it and we're just so thankful to have her in the building for these things. And we wouldn't be where we're at academically, but also building relationships with students without her. So, we're so
thankful for her and uh it's my pleasure to recognize her today. Um, I just want to say thanks to Alicia and Viola for all their support with Viola has been there with me for some math things and Alicia with what some of my crazy ideas I come up with. I think
sometimes she's right there behind me. Um, because I will do what I have to do for my kids and she sees that and she supports me in that and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love being at Sky View for that reason. So, thank you.
Okay, thank you. What an amazing group to cap off the 2425 school year. Um, congratulations to all of our nominees. Before I wrap up, I would like to turn it over to board president Lori Thompson for final remarks. You are right. This was an exciting way
to close out Fantastic 49. Uh what was exciting for me of course it's always exciting to start off with students between Erica and Olivia leading and training on social media posts and that can certainly be a quagmire so it's a very valuable skill and Ludwick what you
have done first of all for middle schoolers to know a high school buddy is always a big deal but when you reach out to multi multilanguage learners and it gives them hope and it inspires them and so you were demonstrating leadership to
a younger generation and that is amazing. When they were going through Karen's resume, I thought, how does she do all that? I mean, that was just really amazing the number of people that she reaches out and touches and helps people in some of their most difficult time. And then Kim, when we're reading
about that, there was a student who continued to challenge have challenges and that you came up with an individualized reading plan for a student because that's how we do it is one student at a time. So, this was fantastic and I want to thank all of you
for what you do. Thank you. Okay, that wraps up Fantastic 49. The board of education meeting will begin promptly at 6:30. We're checking on signins, but thank you Say your name. Yes.
Okay. Okay, board. I need to get a quick consensus on something. Um, number one, a lot of people, um, there's two things that I need to get a board consensus on. Um, we had people sign up and there are a lot of people who are affiliated with
district 49 and I wanted to have those people speak first that are actually affiliated with the district. Um, and so if we take that one, do I have a board consensus to prioritize district residents and people affiliated with the district? Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yes.
Yes. Um, the second thing is, uh, because we had to have time to sort, there were people who showed up too late to check in. And if the board is okay with it, we could let the people who didn't get checked in on time speak at the second session.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you. So if you arrived late to check in and if you check in now, you can speak at the second public forum. So, if you have not if you signed up online but did not
get checked in before we had to shut down the the check-in, please go ahead and you can check in. I don't know how we'll do that, Lynette. You know, we will we'll have you speak at the second session at the end.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the May 8th, 2025 Board of Education regular meeting. The time is 6:31 p.m. and I am calling this meeting to order. Can I get a roll call? Javala here. Hyle here. Levia Wright
here. Schmidt here. Thompson here. Can we please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda? I move to approve the agenda. Second. Any discussion? Is this the whole agenda of
the consent agenda? It includes the consent agenda. I would like to I would like to move item 5.6 special services provider to the action agenda
please. Okay. So that's Did you say 5.5? 5.6 5.6 point of order. I believe we do that when you call for the consent agenda. So I don't believe that requires an amendment at this point. So, when you
ask if anyone has an issue with consent agenda, at that point, director um Schmidt may then say um that they would like 5.6 pulled off the consent agenda rather than amending the full agenda. I actually don't have opposition to
having the the amendment be made at this point, but Marie is correct that that would be the more standard approach. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda as amended? Start with the amendment, please,
which we don't have a second for. Would we would we be able to just do it the regular process way? Okay, let's that's easier. Can I get a motion? I move to approve the agenda. Second.
Can I get a vote, please? Tvala I. Hy. I. Levier Wright. I. Schmidt. I. Thompson. I. And that passes. Can I get a motion for the consent agenda? Madame President, I would like Yeah, we
have public comment first. Point of order. Does anyone have an item to be pulled? No, no, no. We're way ahead. We're on public comment first. Okay. Everything is changing around with this meeting. It'll be fine. Next, we are going to move on to public comment.
We welcome comments from stakeholders during district 49's open forum. Please stay seated until your name is called by the board of education chair. Uh then approach the podium to introduce yourself. Speak clearly into the microphone and keep your remarks
respectful and orderly. Personal complaints against individuals connected with the district except for the board members and the superintendent are prohibited. Each speaker is limited to two minutes. The board will not respond during the forum, but may assign
follow-up action for the superintendent. We also encourage you to use the stakeholder grievance process for resolving concerns, which may accumulate in a formal appeal to the board. Thank you for participating. The views expressed in the forum are those of the
commentators and do not represent official policy of District 49 or the Board of Education. Now, I do notice that we have an on deck section right here that is intended for the speakers. So, if your name hasn't been called, if you could move to another location so we
can keep those seats open. And as you probably heard before the meeting, the first set of speakers are going to be people directly connected with the district. She's currently sorting that for me. So, I'll start calling names in just a moment.
So, if these five people could approach the on deck section to the left. Jacqueline Adair, Julie Dylan, Lindsay Lee, Shannon Walker, and Crystal Clark. Jacqueline Adair will be the first
speaker. Hi, my name is Jacqueline Adair. Um, I am a mother of two children in the school district of 49 and I am here to put forth my opinion on how I feel about keeping our gender sports.
I'd like everybody to kind of keep in realization that sports started a long time ago and when we had our regular Olympics um they were exclusive to men and only to men and only until the 1900s in the
Paris Olympics women were allowed to to compete within five different sport categories. And in 1972, Congress implemented regulations explicitly permitting girl sports to exist separate from boy sports. Congress
understood that even when height, size, and weight are equal, males are as a group are stronger and generate more explosive force. So that if they compete against each other, not only do males have an unfair performance advantage, the phys the physical safety of females
is also definitely at risk. Special Olympics also started in 1968. Um, and I want you to think about why did we start Special Olympics? They started for a reason. We started them so that they could have a fair chance to
compete within their categories. What we need is our students to have our daughters, our sons, all of our children to have a fair chance at competing in their in their categories. They need a chance. They need a chance. So, we got
to keep them separate. Today, our medical advancements have taken us to a point where if someone needs to change who they are on the outside, they can, and that's okay. But it should not affect everyone else
trying to compete for their fair chance in their scholarship to get and move into the next thing. If you think about the NFL, a woman, a female will never have a chance to play football in the NFL. It's not a thing. It will never happen.
Thank you. Thank you, Julie Dylan. Good evening. So, we live in a time when we are constantly reminded to follow the science. This phase echoes across debates in healthcare, education, and policy. And rightfully so. Science is our guide. But somehow when it comes
to fairness in women's sports, the same science is ignored or dismissed. As a woman myself, I'm not frustrated to see this is happening in sports. I'm extremely demoralized and repulsed. Let's talk about the science we're told
to follow. Males on average have 10 to 20% more muscle mass than females. They have greater bone density. Their hearts are larger. Their lungs are have higher capacity. and their blood cell count is higher, meaning more oxygen is delivered
to muscles and they have a better endurance. These are not stereotypes. These are biological realities backed by decades of peer-reviewed research. These are un undeniable factors that impact
performance. Even after hormone therapy, studies show that biological males retain significant advantages in strength, speed, and explosiveness. This is why we have separate categories in sports to begin with. It's why we don't
make 120 lb athletes compete against 220 lb athletes in wrestling. It's the very reason women's sports are created to give a woman a level playing field. This is why we separate age divisions into youth compare competitions as well.
Categories exist. Physical difference matters. When a woman is forced to compete against a biological male in female divisions, it undermines everything they work so hard for. These girls, these women and girls
train for years because they believe in the dream and a faith and fair competition. But that fairness is removed. It's chipped away at their motivation, their confidence, and their faith in the system.
Thank you. Thank you. Lindsay Lee. Hi, my name is Dr. Lindseay Lee. I'm a D49 parent. I'm a member of the Horizon in San Creek Sachs. I'm also the vice president of Neighbors for Education. and I'm here to talk um well,
first of all, I'd like to say uh in honor of our incredible teachers in district 49, it is teacher appreciation week and I worry that that will get lost tonight. And um I for one am so incredibly grateful for all the wonderful teachers that my kids have had
at Springs Ranch, at Horizon, and at San Creek. And uh they don't get enough love. They don't get near enough love. And so this is my heart to yours tonight. Um, but really I would like to spend my time talking uh tonight about policy JBA. And I wrote and rewrote and
rewrote again a speech to read to you tonight. Uh, and decided instead that I wanted to uh just express to you what's been on my mind. Um, and outside of the hatefulness and the bigotry that is very clearly behind this policy that others
I'm sure will speak to tonight, I want to appeal to you as administrators who are responsible for passing good policy. And this policy is bad for a lot of reasons. First of all, it's self- undermining. Uh, it pretends as if trans boys who are born or assigned female at
birth don't exist. What's going to happen under this policy if you enforce it as it's written is you're going to have whole males as Peter uh expressed in the anecdote participating forced to participate in girls sports. Those trans boys might be on testosterone and guess
what that does to their bodies. Uh it does not make the uh sporting events safer. Um this policy is uninforcable. uh that makes it a bad policy and I am very worried for our administrators, our coaches, our teachers who are put in the
position of having to comply with a policy that doesn't tell them anything about how to comply with the policy. So what consequences are they going to face if they don't achieve that to your satisfaction? Um it's legally dubious and the attorney last month all but said
as much. uh your duty as a board member first and foremost is to maintain fiscal responsibility and to actively choose to put our district at legal risk is the definition of irresponsibility. Uh and then lastly, this policy just simply cannot achieve
its purpose. We can control what happens in district 49. We cannot control what happens in other districts uh and how they define and uh participation in sports. You guys can prevent sis girls from competing with trans girls on their
sporting teams. You cannot prevent them from pre playing against those uh same types of um of athletes. So, thank you. That's all I have. Thank you. Shannon is next up. And while Shannon's coming up, could I have Michelle Kemp?
Uh, is it Jen Davenport, Mark Youngston, Holly Withers, and Kevin? It looks like K Au H. Kevin, if you know who you are, if you could come
to the on deck seats, that would be great. And can you set the timer? Okay, Shannon, thank you for that pause. So, as she said, my name is Shannon Walker Sylvie. I'm a parent of two children here in D49 and I'm going to be
speaking on the half of behalf of myself and another parent here at D49. I'm going to start with her statement and end with mine. So, first this is from Holly Bombria. She is a D49 homeowner and mother of three D49 graduates and a
real max a Remax realtor. She writes, "Realtors are required to have an education on fair housing and protected classes as part of keeping their license. It means a true commitment to all protected classes. Under Colorado law, protected classes include sexual
orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Public schools are required to protect these people. Proposed policy GB, excuse me, JBA disregards these protected these protected classes. I know a man who is mistakenly classified
as female on his first certificate. He was biologically male and the error was corrected later. However, at birth, he was assigned female. He went on to have a 65-year marriage with a woman and father four biological daughters. I am the third. I call him daddy. If he had
been forced to live as a female, he could not have played football in high school and college. He would not have served in the US Army in World War II and freed people in concentration camps. In the last board meeting, a nurse a nurse spoke to you about interex people. I have friends with a child who
is born interexed. their child would be denied the right to play sports if this policy passes. This child is not truly male nor female. This person is choosing to identify as non-binary. It is not a fad. It is not a dysfunction. It is a truth and it is a protected class under
Colorado law. These people exist. I urge you to respect our Colorado's laws, all protected classes and every student. Vote no on policy JBA. And this is mine. Um, I was a pride club sponsor at both middle school and a
high school. And all these kids want is somewhere where they can be accepted as who they are and not who you think they should be. They want to be who they are. And if that's playing sports, then let them play sports. Please vote against
this policy. Thank you. Next up, we have Crystal Clark. And Crystal, make sure that you speak into the microphone. I'm a little short. That wasn't just directed at you. That's
going to be for everyone. That's good. I get it. All right. My name is Crystal Clark. I have four girls, two of which have already graduated from district 49 and two currently are enrolled in a school district right now. Board
leaders, we stand with truth and I'm here to stand in support of preserving girls sports. I am here to voice out that men should not be allowed in women's sports. And I stand in agreement to make truth normalized in district 49
that men, boys, males should not be allowed to participate in women's sports and athletics. For the safety of all women, females, and girls, the consequences that would take place if you allowed men to join women's
sports would rob girls of their safety. It would rob them of their privacy as females due to many trans kids seeking to undress in the same locker rooms as the opposite sex. It will rob women of their hard-earned awards and winnings by allowing dominant males to dominate
unfair winning. Board of District 49, we stand with you to normalize truth and keep men in men's sports and women in women's sports. The physical bodies of men and women are inherently different
as created by God. I take this last time to pray. Father, help the board stand in great courage and bravery, knowing that you are with them and for them as they take a stand to normalize truth. They are called to protect our kids and stand
for what is right. I break a spirit of coercion and declare your word that no weapon of the enemy which includes no intimidation, no coercion, no lies formed against them will prosper. Isaiah 54:17. It is in Jesus Christ of Nazareth
name I pray. Amen. Thank you. Next up we have Michelle Kemp. I don't like doing this, but let me get started here. My name is Michelle Kemp. I am a resident of the Falcon Zone. I have two
kids who attended D49. I am on the Falcon's own sack, the Skylac, and I am the chair of the D49 chapter, Neighbors for Education. I stand tonight to speak out against JBA. This policy insists that there are
only two sexes and bans transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams is not just outdated, it is harmful. It attempts to erase the existence of transgender youth youth, many of whom are already struggling to feel sane,
safe, and respected. This policy doesn't protect fairness. It promotes fear. It tells transgender students that no matter how hard they work or how much they want to belong, they will always be there will
always be a door closed to them simply because of who they are. We cannot pretend to support all students while writing rules that exclude some of them. We cannot have a cultural compass that values all people while isolating a few.
When the policy passes, it won't just draw a line in the sand against one group of marginalized students. It will send a chilling message to every family with a child who doesn't fit a certain standard that you are not welcome in D49.
What happens next? The next time Washington threatens funding over a a vulnerable group, will you once again cower and kiss the ring? How many more children are you willing to sacrifice because you are not willing to look outside of your own
beliefs? It is not too late to change your minds. Your values and beliefs won't change if you vote no on this policy. But this vote will define your legacy. So, please do the right thing. And finally, to all LGBTQ kids in the
community, please hear this. You are seen. You are valued. And you belong. Your identity is not up for debate. You are not a problem to be solved. You are a person to be recognized. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we have Jen Davenport.
a little bit taller. Good evening. My name is Jen Davenport. I have been a resident in D49 for over 10 years. I have three children who have attended the district, this district in past years. I'm deeply concerned about the policies that you are trying to implement that will harm some of the students in your district.
When I attended the last board meeting, I watched as multiple parents expressed their feelings against a blanket policy and asked for trans transgender students to be considered on a case-byase basis in sports. Student representatives did an amazing job asking for the same
considerations. The study brought up to support the policy was debunked. There were no peer-reviewed journal art journal articles provided, nor was there data provided from this district to support this policy. I found myself wondering if this is how all policies are made in the district. I noticed on
the wall that you have your strategic objectives for the school board. One of them is to sustain trust in the board of education. If you do not provide data and you do not listen to parents, residents, and most importantly students in the district, how does this establish trust? This policy comes across as targeting a small group of students in
the district who have an increased risk of depression and suicide. Why not spend more time focusing on policies that will reduce suicide and depression? I want to read to you what one of your students wanted me to share about the policies that you are trying to implement. I am really worried about how I will be able
to express myself in the future. Gender is not a black and white thing. It's fluid and it allows me to express my feelings as well as my personality. I am concerned that me, many other people and students like me will be forced to stop expressing ourselves. I have cried for many hours thinking about the
possibility of having to go back to the sadness of how it was before I started expressing my gender differently than most others. As a mom, this was hard to hear. Didn't Jesus say to love your neighbors as yourself? Do you think that students feel loved by these policies? If students don't feel supported, they
don't feel safe. If they do not feel safe, they are not able to learn. There's peer-reviewed research to back that up, too. I'm asking you to vote no on policy JBA. Thank you. Mark Youngston. And as Mark is coming up, if the following people could move
to the on deck section, Susan Bruner, Mike Bruner, Lisa Vasquez, Annette Yeba, and Audrey Maguire. Hello, my name is Mark Young's son. There's no T in it, but never mind. I graduated from the University of
Bristol in 1982, which is a university that's produced three Nobel Prize winning physicists as number one physicist. I'm an academic. I've taught for the last 20 years. I've taught here locally in Merit Academy and Monument Academy. I'm a teacher. I'm married with
three children. I have two daughters. Yes. And at 13, I was county champion over a 100 breaststroke. So, I've been in the swimming world. In fact, one of the guys I swam with went to the 1976 Olympics with the third fastest time in the world of a 200 butterfly. I've been
in the swimming world. The Democrats have their name hidden. The name should have nine letters, not eight. The letter that's missing is an N. And it sits at at number five.
demonrats. Why? Because we can see the manifestation of their boss, the devil, steal, kill, destroy. We can see that in abortion. We're suggesting that confused
males end up in the same changing room, swimming changing room as ladies who take half an hour to put their swimming costumes on because that's Olympic standard. Riley Gaines takes half an hour to put her swimming costume on. We can imagine
Leah Thomas, should be spelled L E R, not L I A, learing at her thinking all the wrong stuff. Let me tell you a true story about a lady giving birth to my son. Young man
walks in to see my wife deliver a child. What does she say? Get out. Absolutely. We need to protect these young ladies from the devil's manifesto
manifested in the Democrats. Sorry, the Democrats. Thank you very much. Thank you, Holly Withers. My name is Holly Withers. I am a parent of two D49 students. In regard to
JBA, I want to remind all members of the board that students and their families are watching and listening to these meetings. And I feel like the words we use do matter. and perhaps being mindful going forward when discussing these sensitive topics might elicit a little
more trust. This proposed policy seems less about protecting fairness and safety and more about promoting an ideological agenda perhaps influenced by the current political environment. As a constituent, I respectfully ask, how
will this policy hold up over time? What legal and financial risks might it expose the district to, especially in light of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause? At last month's meeting, Lori suggested that this policy is simply precautionary, like purchasing
homeowners insurance in event of a future fire. But with fewer than a dozen transgender athletes competing nationwide, framing this as an immediate fire in D49 feels disproportionate and very hyperbolic. It prompts the question, is this truly
about student safety, or is this about something else entirely? Does the district's liability insurance cover unnecessary ideological distractions? Ultimately, I hope the board will start prioritizing more policies and investments that directly enhance
students education, well-being, support, services, and opportunities rather than pursuing these initiatives that may divide or harm them. Our students deserve schools that lift them up, not policies that single them out. And I hope that this board will choose to be
remembered for leadership and not for extreme litigation. Thank you. Thank you. I do need to make a correction and I do apologize, Annette. Yeah, but you did speak last time so you're going to
go into the I didn't Okay. All right. That's fine. We're sorting through a lot of people, so please bear with us. Um, mistakes will be made. Okay, so I'm trying to think of here. Next up will be
Kevin. Hello, my name's Kevin. I can't believe we're here having to discuss this sort of issue when it's damn near uh common sense. Men do not belong in women's sports. I have no problem with
the LGBT community, LGBTQIA, whatever community. I have many friends of such and they all at the same time believe the same thing. Yeah. schools for reading, writing, arithmetic, not all this uh gender
identity and all this stuff. You can identify as who you want, but when it comes down to sports, being a male and female sports, no, that's a no-go. That's that ain't even right. And you all know as a woman, you are definitely
not in competition with a man, especially at the sports level and the professional level and in any sport. A fe a male is going to dominate the female sports every single time unless
he really sucks then he'll probably get beat by one or two of them. But that it still don't even make it right. I have no problem with the LGBTQ community. I I have many friends and I've said that many times. And uh
what you do with your sex is your pro is your your deal. But keep it out of women's sports where you don't belong. Okay? You can identify as who you want, but biologically that's the sport you play. All this crisscrossing into
sports, being in the uh uh uh women's dressing rooms, bathrooms, and stuff like that, that's a no-go. All right. I've got I've got kids that have come through the system, and I got grandkids coming up through the system right now. And I'll be damned if we're going to
keep uh running this sorry old game back and forth when we know it's common sense. All right. Boys don't belong in women's sports. All right.
Thank you. Thank you, Susan Bruner. My name is Susan Bruner and I have lived in uh district 49 for over 30 years now. Uh my husband and I have had four children uh in the schools and we now currently have a grandson at Evans
Elementary. I'm here to support the proposed policy to preserve fairness and fa safety in sports. Uh while I do strongly support equal opportunity for all classes of people uh whether race, religion or sexual pref preference, I
see it as simple common sense that one protected class not be discriminated against by another. Physiologically, persons who are born as a male XY have a hormonal advantage of
developing muscle that exceeds a female's muscle development. Physiologically, they are in a different class. to allow trans girls to compete against biological girls will change the world of women's sports and undo 50
years of progress giving women the right to compete in their own sports against women. This has already cost women scholarships and opportunities to progress in sports. It also increases
the chance of severe injury to women. I also strongly support and appreciate our D49 uh board working to protect the privacy and the safety of our girls in the locker room as well as away facilities such as hotels and dorms. I
applaud the effort of you on the board uh to maintain the well-being of our cha children. They you guys have a very arterous task of installing policy that meet the needs of the parents, the children and the teachers in this district. God bless you.
Thank you, Mike Bruner. Hello. My name is uh Mike Bruner and I've been in district 49 since 1979. 46 years. I've had four children attend schools and graduate,
and I currently have a grandson in grade school. I'm here to support District 49's policy for preserving fairness and safety in sports. I believe all of our children need our protection. This should not be a battle
of inclusion versus protection. Transgender youth have the right to participate in sports that identifies with their biological bodies. It's not like they can't participate. They can. They may self-identify as male or
female, but that does not change their physical strength, weaknesses, or competitiveness. As young boys and girls mature, they change physically. Boys are naturally bigger and stronger. Biological
sex is a determining factor of athletic performance. And what about protecting our kids? Why should boys and girls have to undress in front of each other? They shouldn't. Why should they be encouraged to shower together? They
shouldn't. We need to respect their privacy and their rights to feel safe just as we teach them in our homes. America is a nation of law. Title 9 is a federal law enacted in 1972 that prohibits sexbased discrimination. It
was put in place to protect women, not men who think they are women. The original text uses the term both sexes, not gender identity. Um, I have a quote by Caitlyn Jenner. trans women are taking valuable opportunities
from cisgender women and causing physical harm. I couldn't agree with her more. We need to apply this common sense message to D49. Thank you. Thank you, Lisa Vasquez. Good evening. My name is
Lisa. I want to let you know that I have experience of playing sports and a young man was allowed to play on our team way back when. I was in middle school and I stole the ball from him. I was playing
basketball. I was a very good basketball player. I stole the ball. He came up and and got me in the nose with his elbow breaking my nose. It is not easy to walk around with a broken nose and not have trauma. It took me years to get over the
fact when a guy would raise their hand, they weren't going to hurt me. Trauma is horrible. I became a counselor, worked with children that dealt with trauma. It is hard to get over. Not only is it trauma on the on the field or on the
basketball court, but it's also trauma in a in a locker room. I worked with children who were abused, sexually abused. I was abused myself. The locker room was a safe place for me. I knew that if I walked in that locker room, I
wouldn't be abused. But now, it's appalling to think of what could happen to these young ladies in these locker rooms. I'm a native Colorado and I'm disgusted with what's going on in our school systems. And to the one about the
um making sure you're saying things correctly, I want you to know it is demonic. The schoolboard, those the books in the schools, and you're worried about a word about deeds. Come on, people. Get it
together. I pray Matthew 18:6. Whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble or fall shall have should put a millstone around their neck and be cast into the sea because you will answer to Almighty
God. You will. You may not think so, but I guarantee you the word says every knee shall bow in Jesus name. Amen. Annette Yeba, and I do apologize.
I'll trust me, I'll correct you. Annette Yeba, D49 resident. Uh, first of all, I want to say that I'm actually surprised that the UK got it right. Who's speaking for our kids when
they're afraid to speak up? There's some kids that are afraid and uncomfortable to be around some of these trans athletes, but who's speaking up for them? Now, we have trans in the boys locker rooms that are videotaping them.
I'm kind of glad that it happened, though, because we already know that you guys don't care about the girls. Maybe having boys being videotaped will actually do something about it. Now we have the state capital trying to pass
bills to protect uh the trans and taking away our rights of freedom of speech. Trust me, that's not going to go over very well with me. Uh news flash, the Dems pretty much ruin everything that they touch and society is going to hell.
And history shows that this will not end well. But at least our military has gotten it right also. And we're going to be stronger now because we need strong soldiers with strong bodies and strong minds. We don't need people that can't
be deployed because they don't have their meds or they're recovering from some kind of mutilation surgery. News flash, life is not fair. And it's time that some people understand that. Thank you.
Thank you. Audrey Maguire. Good evening. I'm Audrey Magcguire, retired counselor from Harrison District 2 and co-director of public policy-de AW Colorado Springs, which is
American Association of University Women. Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts about the resolution. The documentation I emailed the board from the American Medical Association and the National Institute of Health
confirms the scientific validity of non-binary individuals, including transgender identities. It refutes the definition in this resolution, quote, that there are only two sexes, male and female, end quote.
As noted in the documentation, this definition is devoid of scientific and medical accuracy according to the scientific communities, not only in the United States, but worldwide. It serves to well a a resolution or
policy that does not access science is intellectually derelct. It serves to isolate the transgender student and deprive them of the opportunity to have access to an authentic relationship with a teacher andor a counselor. This purposeful
dismissal of students self-identity forces teachers and more so counselors to abregate their professional responsibility of acknowledging and nurturing the dignity of these students. This resolution assures that the transgender members of your school
community are not acknowledged and even worse are culturally erased. The dignity of all identified sexes, all students must be preserved, not only biological male and biological
female. I would like to address the part of the resolution, quote, ensures males are not competing as females in sporting events. I am assuming you are referring to transgender females. I
appeal to you now. My appeal is not science or medical. I am responding to the argument that the transgender student has unfair advantage in competitive sports. Thank you. Mal Gore Mal Gorsada Daidc height 7 feet 2
in. Your time is up, but thank you. Uh just one more thing. The the it denies transgendered students in your school community the very bedrock of our country's values and it is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thank you. Thank
you. Okay, we are on to the consent agenda. Does anyone have an item to be pulled from the consent agenda? Director Schmidt? Yes. I'd like to pull item 5.6, special services providers, to be moved to the action agenda.
second. But I don't think we need a second. No. Um, would I get a motion to approve the consent agenda? I move to approve the consent agenda as amended. Second.
Okay. Can I get a vote? Dvala. She's lost her mine for now. No, it has to be on. I hyle mine too. Mine's I
love right I Schmidt I Thompson I and that passes. And where is Kevin? I'm working now. Okay. We are on to the superintendent update. Is your microphone working?
It's back on. It's It's back on. It does appear to be working. Uh so, uh good evening, Peter Superintendent. And I have um several items that I will recognize and and as always you have content uh in our district performance dashboard. Um uh
like Dr. Lee, I want to thank our teachers who are finishing uh a really really tough year. This has been a year of disruption, um weather disruption, uh other kinds of disruption that that come with the particularly the political cycles. Um, but it's just been a tough
long year and we just went through our SEMAS season. Our teachers and support teams did an amazing job. Uh, we had just minor minor uh, issues with testing this year. And there's a lot of ways testing can go wrong. It can go wrong with technology. It can go wrong with
timing. It can go wrong with weather. And and it didn't go wrong. And I don't even have to knock on wood because we're done with CAMASS testing. And so I really uh applaud all of those educators and support professionals, but especially our teachers uh for pushing us through. I also applaud our seniors
because as you all know, we're in senior season, which means we have had breakfasts and brunches and awards ceremonies and 3.75 dinners and senior sunsets. And then we've got graduations starting next week. So this is an
amazing season. Um, I I'm particularly uh fond of and impressed by the seniors that have been on the student board of representatives. And um, Lauri, you and I can can confirm this was another level up for the student board of representatives. Uh, last year was the
best we'd ever had and they then they topped that. And the student board is saying we want next year's student board to be even better, which is exactly what we want as well. Um, I do want to uh acknowledge three individuals. Um, one
is, uh, simply that it was it was profound and and very honoring of the District 49 community and the Sand Creek community and the community of this of this um, neighborhood. Uh, the way folks
showed up to honor Lance Carol on Sunday at Sand Creek High School in the gym and I know many of us were there. Um, that was exactly the event that Lance would have wanted it to be. sad songs, a wide range of apparel, great
humor, deep deep heartfelt um grief over losing a father, a husband, a son, a brother, a friend. And so um it's a sad moment to have the opportunity. Uh but it also reminds us that in in loss, we learn to be grateful
for who's here. And so um thank you, Lance, and thank you for those that set that up. I also want to congratulate a member of our student board. I had the privilege of writing a letter of reference and and despite my Alaska writing skills, Marin Hoffen was still
selected as a student representative to the Colorado High School Activities Association. So, congratulations, Marin. And my daughter, your former teacher, sends her congratulations. So, Miss Hilts, Ms. Randall says, "Well done." and is proud of you. Uh, and then
I'd like to invite Dustin Horus. Board, you have asked me to delegate more. So, I'm going to delegate the final component of my superintendence report to Dustin Horus so that he can honor our final honore. All right. Thank you. Um, I don't know why Liz didn't come up
with me. Uh, so Liz Daozelle is, as you know, is is going to be the principal at Horizon next year. She thinks that's why she's here. But honest actually why she's here is a couple weeks ago we were notified and she was honored that she is um was selected to join the Justin's
Renaissance Hall of Fame. So yeah, so that is a a very selective award. It's the highest honor that Justin's gets and as you know just is a pretty big company. graduation, yearbooks,
rings. Um, and so the conference this summer will have three or four thousand people at it and uh she'll be recognized uh significantly there. They they only they only recognize or or put in one or two people a year to this. And so Liz was selected this year. So I just wanted
to take a minute to make sure everybody knew. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Okay, we are on to the student board update. Cara, did you forget your name tag? Yeah, it's at my house. I'm sorry. It's
in my backpack actually. But yes, I'm here. Hello. Okay. You want to give us your update or you want to start with Merid and go back to you? Yeah, I'll give a quick update of what's going on at our school. Um, so unfortunately, as Mr. Hilts uh mentioned
we did recently um have a a wonderful member of our administration and uh the person who helped us a lot with student board um pass away. So we are are still mourning the uh the loss of Mr. Carol. But um in an effort to keep uh his legacy moving, we're trying to keep um
all the initiatives moving, hence the SWAT hoodies tonight and student board as well. Yay for my SWAT people um in in the crowd. So, um, we just had an update meeting with all of the teachers, uh, at for the zone, I believe, where we
discussed the findings from our meetings that, um, the student board members from S Creek went to. And, uh, we've received some very positive feedback, especially from the elementary students that were very excited to talk to us. So, that's probably the most recent thing we've done, but yes, we are trying to keep
moving forward and hopefully I will be reelected for next year. If not, you'll have some amazing representation um from the other students at San Creek High School whom will uh serve this well. So, that's all I have. Thank you. And Marin Hoffman, you brought your name
tag. I did. I remembered. Ben, um as far as updates, I guess I can kind of go over student board a little bit. Um we just had our last meeting of the year. Um we uh we're losing a good amount of seniors, but we're going to gain some new kids, which is exciting. Um as far
as this year, we got to work a lot with the younger students, which I think is super important to carry on, like you said, legacies um that kids were leaving from before. So, um we're really getting to know our uh the younger students for sure. Um as far as my school personally,
um seniors, like Mr. Hill said, um, gearing up to graduate really soon. Um, we just finished testing. Um, additionally, we also are, um, wrapping up sports season. So, I know girls soccer is wrapping up. Um, track and
field, state championships are next week. Um, a lot of good stuff going on. Um, so that's pretty much it. Thank you, Director Schmidt. So, on a personal note, on May 8th,
1981, Bill and I were married in a little church in Kansas. It has been the honor of my life to have him as my husband and best friend for 44 years. Here's looking for many more. Um, this month I have spent a lot
of time looking at the vast website that is the Colorado Department of Education. One wonders if this beth will ever stop growing. There are many well-intentioned items on the CDE website, but you know what they say about roads being paved with good intentions. I wonder sometimes
if half of that website hasn't disappeared into irrelevance. Graduations are just around the corner. It is my favorite time of the academic year and I look forward to seeing our graduate graduates launch into the wider community. In advance,
I'd like to extend heartfield congratulations to each and every D49 2025 graduate. Well done. Director Hy, I just want to um wish all of the
teachers a happy um teacher appreciation week and to let you know that um later on in this agenda. We've got some real appreciation coming up for you in the discussion items. And I hope you you see that we are putting um real action behind it's not just hollow words. We
absolutely love everything that you do for our students here. Um been a crazy busy month. I'm just going to have to touch on some things really quickly. Falcon Education Foundation fundraiser was uh an amazing experience. Um I
personally walked away two baskets heavier, but I had a lighter wallet. Um I attended the long range facilities planning committee and we had an interesting conversation on contingency planning if a building were to come uh unavailable for whatever reason. kind of
informed by the in incident at Jenkins, but you know, there are a number of things that could happen, so it's good to be prepared. Um, attended the Skeac um the and uh we can look for a um upcoming policy on cell phone usage. It looks like things are going to be a
little bit different. Um there seems to be some appetite out there for uh increased restrictions, so look for that. Uh attended the career technical education uh engage 49 event. Um, I highly encourage any of you with especially younger students in the
district to start looking into our career technical offerings. We have some amazing options and it's a wonderful way for a student to connect with a career and decide if it's the right path for them or if they want to try something else. Uh, and finally, I wanted to call out the um
3.75 awards night at San Creek High School. These are wonderful events. I absolutely recommend that all the board members at least attend one of these once a year and it's a great um event because it recognizes that students only
achieve um with the help of others and so they go up there and they make a dedication to one chosen teacher and uh one thing that I found personally interesting was how many of the students who were high achievers credited the
teachers specific specifically for how they address their social and their emotional needs. And then that unlocked high achievement. So, as we have our survey out there um right now for our um our mission and um culture uh that's
going to be closing soon, just something to think about as you uh as you look at that document. Thank you. Thank you, Director Olivia Wright. Okay, so first thank you for the shout out to Falcon Education Foundation. and I serve as the board liaison to the Falcon Ed
Foundation. Our fundraiser was last month. We have the date for next year already. It will be Friday, April 10th. It will again be at the Antlers, but in the bigger ballroom because we beat the military for booking this time. Um, so we'll have more space for more fun. Please put that on your calendar because
of your support. We not only were able to co-sponsor those 3.75 events that uh Mr. child uh referred to for every high school that has requested them, charter and coordinated schools at a cost of about $5,000. Uh but we also awarded
$18,000 in many grants to 28 teachers and gave $29,500 to graduating seen to 10 graduating seniors this year because of your support. Um so please continue to support. Um, if you have a business interested in contributing um by either
a sponsorship or providing things for our gala and silent auction, please reach out and I'll connect you to the right people. Uh, the next thing I would like to bring up is the D49 transitions team will be holding a crumble fundraiser all day tomorrow at the Dublin location. For those of you that
don't know about the transitions program, D49 transitions serves our students 18 through 21 who've completed their senior credits who also still need help developing skills to enter the job market. These are students who were on IEPs and had special needs. It helps
them develop independent living skills. They do unpaid work experiences to develop those work skills. Uh it's an incredibly important program um that helps create um independence and joy and it's just amazing. However, because they
serve a few students from every school, they belong to no school at the same time. So, um they need funding just as all of our other programs do. But it's not like fund where we send a fundraiser notice out to the Falcon High parents and I have there's 1,200 parents being
reached. So, if you um are looking to buy some desserts to celebrate Mother's Day weekend or to provide to your schools on the last day of teacher appreciation or any of those things, please consider going to the Crumble on Dublin and letting them know you're there also to support the D49 transition
program to help these students gain that those independent skills and jobs. Thank you. Um and I think that's all. Oh, and please seniors remember at least at our coordinated schools, you have six more days. You can do
it. I'm a parent of one who I'm trying to get there for the last six. So, I'm feeling your pain. Director Dvola. All right. So, Director Schmidt and I had the honor and privilege of v visiting all of our middle and high schools. Uh, and so we
were able to see Sky View, Horizon, Falcon Middle, San Creek uh, High School, Vista High School, and Falcon High School. um all in one day because uh my schedule only allowed me to have that one day off. Um and so I saw a lot
of amazing things. Uh first of all, at Vista Ridge High School, I was really impressed with the the the rolling out of the new dance and theater program that's going on there. Um we got to learn a lot more about that. um at
Falcon or San Creek High School. Um what I really wanted to highlight was I we were able to walk into a JROTC uh classroom and the professor was teaching the Constitution and um was
showing a video about the fifth article uh and how to change the constitution through amendments and the convention of states. So, our students were learning about those things in the classroom. Uh, now I just want that to be able to be uh a course for all students to be a part
of. Um, I was able to also visit the Falcon Automotive, the new automotive wing. Uh, and that is a really exciting piece of what's coming with career and technical education out in the Falcon zone. Uh, and we I was able to visit the
Vista Ridge High School 3.75 awards. I did have to leave early, but uh it's always good to see how many students have uh earned that honor and achievement. And um Tuesday night, I think it was I was
at the Falcon 3.75 award ceremony and that was really impressive. Uh there were 16 students who were honored and I found that there was some common themes that were that were with those students. One of them is just hard work and a very
strong connection to their faith. Eight students actually mentioned their involvement in church youth groups, mission trips and gave credit to their faith in Jesus and and honor to God. I was very impressed with these particular kids. um they show a high level of
scholarship and a commitment and dedication to their faith and uh it's teacher appreciation week uh and I am loving every moment of it at my own personal school. I love being able to not not pack my lunches and eat food
that people give me for free. And I also stop at Waterburger every morning to get my free biscuit and uh chicken biscuit. It's been awesome. So, uh, thank you everyone who's who's teaching. Thank
you. Um, I did something a little bit different this time because, uh, our executive assistant is usually in her office or running around trying to solve problems. So, I actually invited her to come do a tour with uh, with Brian Smith out in the Falcon Zone because she gets
to meet a lot of different people, but she doesn't get to see the schools. Um, we had a great tour and we also saw the the location for the new automotive program and there was a fresh layer of cement there and Mr. Smith's eyes got
big as he saw my hand reaching for it, but he would not let me leave a handprint in all of that groovy wet cement. Then they also had horses that day as part of the agricultural program and we got to visit the engineering department and see some of the
challenges that they have for engineering. Next we were on to Falcon Middle and it had a very engaged and vibrant student population that day. We ended up at Bennett Ranch where we got to watch the neatest PE class with younger students and we had some of the
students who got to show us their portfolio. There's a different name for it, but I forgot what it is. And so, a young lady brought out her folder to show me how many words she's mastered, how many different letters she could identify. And they were all very proud of their individual folders. I went to
the 3.75 dinner with Jaime Lynn at Vista Ridge and also we did Falcon together and then I did Sand Creek with director Hy. And it is true that some of our highest performing students, it's amazing what they're involved with because they're involved with community
work, they're involved with their churches, they're involved with extracurricular activities, JOTC, um, athletics. It was just I listened to the schedules of some of them and it was just really mindblowing. And then to watch them honor their
teachers, to watch them honor their coaches, to watch them honor their parents. I mean, I I agree that every board member should try to go to a 3.75 celebration and just sit back and watch and see how teachers and coaches are
making a huge impact on these students lives. And I ended up last night with a 3.75 over at Spring Studio. And those kids were graduating. I don't remember the total number. Maybe Superintendent Hilts does, but when they did concurrent
college enrollment, they went, I think, everywhere from 18 college credits to 60. Yeah, two had 60 college credits. Um, and a couple of them had their associates degree before they got their high school diploma. So concurrent
college enrollment is a big hit across the district and it's really opening up avenues for our students and helping out their parents with college courses. Um and for any Catholics that are in our community, you now have the first ever
Americanborn Pope. Um I was texting a friend of mine. I guess he's a Cubs fan. They say he's very patient because he's a Cubs fan. Okay, now we are going on to the administrative update. I met with the representative for PACE and Jam Lynn
is also a member of PACE. This is available to any teacher in our district. It includes $2 million worth of insurance uh coverage. It is nonpartisan. You get legal assistance, discounts, access to legal counsel,
classroom grants, and professional development for $19.50 50 cents a month. And so this is available to our teachers both at our regular schools and in our charter schools. And I wanted to talk
about a project I got the opportunity to participate in. I brought one of these for each of my fellow board members. And if you haven't heard about it, it's called the Butterfly Project. And the goal is to have 1.4 million butterflies
across the United States. So, the students who participate in this get a butterfly and they paint their butterfly. And I listened to Miss Hepworth explain this how she worked with her students out at Falcon High School. They round off statistics for
the Holocaust. So, if there were 6 million and one Jews who died, they would call it six million. So, their premise is, what about the one? And every student had to choose someone who died in the
Holocaust, someone who survived, or a helper, someone who helped others. And those children all built a display board. Right now at the library at Falcon High School, they have a beautiful display of all those butterflies. And I wish everyone could
have had an opportunity to go through this project because I had the honor to tour Yadvashen when I went to Israel with my church. And when I left the Holocaust Museum in Israel, I couldn't speak for a few
hours. And I had a return of that same feeling as I walked through and I read each of the students displays. So if you get a chance, look into the butterfly project. What I've shared with my fellow board members is a poem written by a man
who was in a in a camp in 1942 called the butterfly. So if you get a chance, look into the butterfly project. And that's all I have for administrative updates at this time. Can I get a motion for action item 7.1?
I move to approve the Envision math curriculum from Savas as recommended by the Falcon Zone Administration. Second. Do we have any further discussion? Can I get a vote?
Hy I Levier Wright I Schmidt I Thompson I and that passes. Can I get a motion for action item 7.2? Did we have a I move to approve the job description
for licensed practical nurse? Second discussion. Can I get a vote? Hyle I. Livia Wright I. Schmidt I. Thompson I. And that passes. Can I get a motion for action item 7.3?
I move to approve the job description for school counselor on special assignment. Second. Sir, Director Schmidt, you have a comment. Thank you. Um, I'm realizing that this
position has no budget impact because we're replacing community six retired community care positions, but I thought we were not going to fill some of the retired positions in order to save money. Is the plan to replace all six
community care positions with new positions? Will the pay be the same? No, that is not the plan. Quick question. Isn't that one covered by Medicaid funding? I'm I wasn't sure. That is that is part of the mix. Yes.
Was what Medicaid funding? So, it covered is correcting me. So, let me take that correction. Um, we are, as I think I explained to the board one of the last times I spoke, we did not enact a hiring freeze, but we
did enact a hiring chill. So, we are we are being much more frosty about adding positions. But there are some positions that because we reduced building administrative positions, we need to
backfill some of the functions. Most of the positions that became empty, we did not backfill. But there's a couple of places and you see them, two of them on the agenda tonight, where we did backfill. So, who is currently doing this job or
is it just in limbo until next year? It's more distributed right now across multiple other administrators. Is that a huge hardship? It's hugely inefficient and it's decreasing the quality of that function.
Thank you. Is there any further discussion? Director Dola. So, you guys did a lot while I had to use the bathroom because I had Jeez. Okay. So, 7.3. That's what we're on. Yes. The school counselor. I I did have
a couple of things on this one. Hold on, let me get there. Okay, so I do have a concern um about the this particular position. Um it is my strong belief that it is not the school's responsibility to take care
of the mental health needs of our stu of the students. Um parents are responsible for seeking outside services um and gaining outside support in those areas. uh school is not the parent. Um and I I
do feel strongly that uh education has been moving uh schools have been moving in such a direction of becoming the parent to children. Um our one responsibility is the education of students. Uh we don't take care of every
single students every single need. We're not there to clothe them and feed them and um help them with their uh ideology and things like that. So, um we're stretched thin as it is with our our
budget, etc. And so I don't believe I can in good conscience cons continue to um have extra counselors and other pe outside supports who are taking places inside of school buildings that I
don't think the school should be a part of. Thank you. Um one thing I'd like to and I would like to uh ask Dr. London to speak to this if she would like to in just a moment. But when I was looking at some of the job description on this, um I
want to point out that this also works with foster students, foster kids. And so it's uh I understand the desire to always have parents front and center, but sometimes that that isn't the case. They will also serve as the point of
contact for the enriched suicide ris uh risk screener. child welfare education liaison and they work serve as the district 49 representative for the El Paso County Child Fatality Review Team.
Um my daughter works as a case manager for foster kids and shares a lot with me and uh so I would like Dr. Lemon to speak a little bit more on this one. Thank you. Um Dr. Dr. Nancy Lamont, deputy superintendent and executive
director for individualized education. And I'm lifting the microphone as requested. Um, so if you're asking me to address the SEAWL, the SEAWL is a Colorado requested or required position. When we have foster students who are moving between schools, between homes,
it is quite common that the foster student changes schools at the same time. Many times we try and maintain school um stability that is required under federal law. the Every Student Succeeds Act, but there are times when it's not possible for a student to
continue to attend school up in Aurora or in Gley or in PBLO because of the transportation and the amount of time that the student would be required to be transported. So, in those instances when there are what they call bid meetings, best interest determination meetings, a
school representative participates in order to answer questions that um the guardian families may have about the school, services that may be provided in the school. Um would the student be eligible for sports? Is there um a art program at the school the student enjoys
art? Is there a marching band? And so we act as that gobetween. I say we, I've done it for the past eight years. um this year it was um given to the coordinator of community care and so this is a role this is a responsibility that will again continue um with this
position director Levier Wright um so the bullet that refers um to mental health explicitly says works closely with school staff and parents to ensure mental health and social emotional supports are provided to students. So, I wanted to point out parents are
referenced there in the job description. Um but also not only do we have students in foster situations, but we also have students who return from a variety of situations um in our district, whether those are treatment facilities
um where they have received care that their parents um helped provide for them, where they may in fact need programs developed to ensure that that transition occurs efficiently, effectively, and that those students are successful. And having someone who has
expertise in those transitions and working with those families is also important. I think when it's an ad hoc piece where at different schools different people are trying to do that with all of the other hats that they wear, um those transitions aren't nearly
as effective or successful as if we have someone who is working with all of those different agencies on a regular basis and understands those complexities. um community care was the main um point of contact for families that needed some of those things. They were also the
point of care for um students who became homeless or uh and completely had no parent advocating for them anymore. And so having one person who who knows all of those systems, who can be the point of contact and the resource for those
students, for those families, and for our staff members who are helping students and families navigate those things is incredibly important. Um, and we we lost some of those pieces when we had to distribute it because of um removing those six positions. So I fully
support this position moving forward. Next we're going to go to director Schmidt and after that director Dvola. So is this position required by law? The some of the responsibilities in the task within the position are required by law
but the actual position is not correct. Okay. So you distribute it you're currently distributing among several people. So currently community care is um a lot of the um t not a lot many of the tasks that community care
individuals were doing with the dissolution of community care those tasks need to be picked up by someone and so this position is picking up many of those tasks. I'd like to clarify that's five individuals that that dissolution is
five individuals. And so there was a day this year when we had a we had a student death at Vista the same weekend we had a student death at Falcon High School. Um we were grateful that we had those five individuals because we divided into teams and took care of people. We we
don't we don't have the capacity to completely eliminate this function. this one person would work hard to be a force multiplier and equip either school counselors or school administrators or district folk so that we could try and provide the same level of service that
we have been providing. Um but but I would argue that this is absolutely not usurping parental authority or responsibility. There are things that need to happen in school settings for sometimes groups of students, sometimes the entire community. And it is it is
not possible or appropriate for us to depend on parents to provide those kinds of services. The specific grief counseling that went on at S Creek over the last couple of weeks is the kind of thing that this individual position would now equip our staff to do.
I also just want to as a bit of data or information um district 49 is now the second largest uh within the Pikes Peak region um educator of foster students. Um D11 still has the lead on that. District 49 has become the um second in
that as far as the area. Um you can ask Mr. Smith. There are a number of group homes that are opening in the Falcon zone and those group homes fill quickly. And so again, we have a number of students that are coming to the district that need some tender loving care as
they make that transition sometimes with only a plastic bag. Director Dola. Yeah, I understand the the compassion level for sure because we want to do out
of the kindness of our hearts and and our love for our students, we want to be able to take care of them as much as possible. The the issue I'm having is that it seems like the the taking care of students is riding solely on the
shoulders of education and that's not the proper place. I would agree that for that and and money we are we are required by law to do these things which require money that
we may or may not have because again it's unf unfounded mandates that are happening etc. And so education is no longer education. We're now
everything. And that is not okay. It's not okay for us to um think that the our teachers should be solving all of the problems of every student. That's not it's not feasible. It's not feasible on
our our teachers and our administrators and our staff and our counselors. Now they have to have five different hats instead of just being a counselor to help kids to uh have career choices. Now they're we are having to have counselors
for mental health and having counselors for this and this. It's not feasible for us to continue to just let the state tell us and mandate we're going to do this. We have to have some sort of resistance against what what they're
requiring public education to be. I um understand the concerns about overreach sometimes definitely. I mean that's why I like freedom over force. But I can tell you that
for we have a good scenario where people think of a traditional family structure and for nine years I was a parent in this district as a single parent and my former husband had moved out of state. I
was not receiving child support. There were different issues that came up. Never once did I feel the counseling staff staff within our schools usurped my position as a parent. And I think
there were times they provided me with a lot of extra support to include one of our school resource officers even though he doesn't remember it. Uh David Pratt. Um and that included my kids were at Springs Ranch Elementary, Remington Elementary. They were at Horizon Middle
School. they were at Sand Creek High School. And so, while I understand the concern, when I read this job description and also listened to what my daughter does with foster kids, I think that this is an incredibly
important appointment. And um I guess you just have to to uh and and I know you as a teacher, Jamlin, you've dealt with foster kids as well, and there is a whole different set of different needs that can come up. So, I'm not sure if
this is the position to necessarily take a stand against some of that overreach when you look at what this specific position is. I mean, when I read the job description, this is a job I could not handle. I could not handle some of
what's in this job description. So, that's all I wanted to add. Director Levier, right, you wanted to add something else. Uh yeah, just as kind of a point of clarity, my read of this isn't that this person is providing significant counseling
themselves, but connecting with the resources that can then provide those supports. Um so it's not um and I would agree that there's all kinds of things that should be different in our society for providing those supports, but we
have to deal with the reality. And the reality is these students are showing at our doorsteps. One of those group homes that she's referring to is just around the block basically from me and it's a teen boy group home and quite a few of them have gone um fishing during their
time in Falcon um with my husband and my son and you know we we can't we can wish the situation was different but the reality is it's not these children in order to be successful in a variety of situations
that are being linked who not all of whom are necessarily foster, but kids returning from drug treatment, alcohol treatment, mental health treatment. Um, having family tragedies where they may have lost a parent or a sibling. Helping families find resources is a part of
this position. Making those connections is a part of this position. Um, and the reality is that everyone within our system is more successful when that happens because if this person's taking care of those pieces, then our other
staff members aren't having to step in to do it. And what we're being told is we had five individuals who were doing this for years. Care community of care has been around for multiple years. um at least six I think because I think
I accessed them when my daughter was in 10th grade. Um and we're eliminating five positions, having one that is still going to provide some of that access and resource and training and support um so
that we don't put more burden on those who are in our buildings which is what will happen. The reality is what will happen is without this position, the school counselors who are providing job counseling and college counseling and vocational pieces and helping kids think through their class schedules will end
up taking on more of this because there isn't anyone else to step in the role. So, this position is maintaining an ability to support the people in the building and keeping this from ending up on their shoulders because whether or not we like that the problem exists, it
exists. Whether or not we like that there's some legal obligation, it exists and we need to meet it. Um, and if we're going to talk about improving those test scores, um, disagregated groups is one of the areas in which we need to improve
them. And without this position, those statistics don't change. The only other thing I wanted to point out is this is a liaison. It says works closely with school staff and parents. So it is also sounds like a bridge. Does our student board have
anything they would like to add to this one or any thoughts on this? I don't feel as though I'm particularly um informed to know everything. So um I'll keep my comments brief but I do think that um it is important to of
course have these resources available but it shouldn't be solely the schools just as regular healthcare is not solely the school's responsibility. Mental health care should not be either because I don't get my physical exam from the school nurse. I don't know if that's a thing elsewhere but um I think it's
important to have resources. I've personally used them um in recent weeks actually. Um, so it's important to still have them, but um, as long as it's not overstepping, I I trust that you all will make the correct decision. You are more informed than I. So, thank you,
Marin. Um, yeah, I agree with Kira. I think San Creek is obviously the most recent example of this situation where um, these resources were vital uh, for these students uh, throughout the school dealing with this in their own way. Um and also um reading like the first
sentence of the position summary, it says promote student success um and provide resources of preventative services. It doesn't I don't I don't read that as taking over parental roles. Um so I definitely think this position
is necessary. And as far as the um financial piece to this, um it does sound like Mr. Hilt said that this was taking over five positions. um as far as it's not not a financial burden for the district. Um so those are my thoughts
for sure. I believe you could equate this similarly to what our military family liaison does, but she strictly focus on our military families that are moving into the area that have questions that their children are changing schools again after two years or 18 months or um
the family is uh the father is no or mother is no longer deployed. Um there's lots of things going on. So this is similar to what our military family liaison does for our military families. Only this individual wouldn't be focused on military families. We have someone
doing that if that helps at all with kind of explaining um the support, the resources. Um Kelly doesn't meet with every family. She interacts with quite a few, but again provides those resources, gets them in touch with the right person in the school. um we can be very
complicated at times. Director Hy. And I just wanted to briefly link this back to some of my um opening comments um about the the 375 um awards night where so many of those high achieving students um called out their
teachers who specifically helped them unlock, you know, their their confidence or who gave them a safe space um and um you know, helped them through some some uh emotional problems that they were having. and then that unlocked their achievement. So, we're talking about
students who are in some pretty severe um social and emotional places and they are going to need support. If we don't give them that support, then they're never going to get to achievement. So, I do want to clarify this individual would not be providing any kind of therapy
services. It is finding those resources. It is um providing that information that again a parent's trying to navigate a a counselor or a principal or anyone might be n trying to navigate where do I find information about the food pantry where
do I find information about whatever it might happen to be so yeah and and my my comment they're indirectly contributing to those things though and those are very important supports. Okay. Can we get a vote? Dvala, no. Hy, I. Levier, right? I.
Schmidt, no. Thompson, I. And that one passes. We are on to item 7.4, course proposal for college success boot camp at PPCC. Can I get a motion for action item 7.4? Four. I move
to approve the course proposal for college success boot camp. Second. Any discussion? Okay. Can I get a vote? Davalo. I. Hyel. I. Levier Wright. I.
Schmidt. I. Thompson. I. And that one passes. Can I get a motion for action item 7.5? I move to approve proposed policy JBA preserving fairness and safety in
sports. Second, do you want to ask the student board first? Do you want to start off or come back a little bit later on that one? How about we hear what you have to say and then we'll follow up just in case there's any overlap. Thank you though.
Director Schmidt. So facts are the foundation of reality. They anchor us to the truth no matter how inconvenient. Decisions that are grounded in fact can appear cold or dismissive. Feelings, on the other hand,
are subjective emotional responses. Feelings are about how something impacts you personally. Feelings without facts can cloud judgment. Without policy JBA, there is a very real possibility of losing federal funds for non-compliance
with the new Title 9 rules. D49's most recent ACFR shows that about 10% of our funding comes from the federal government. We are also in a time when the state is pulling back money from K12. Women have spent generations
clawing their way to equal footing. In 1972, Title 9 was signed into law, giving women equal sports competitions aimed at countering male dominance. Currently, biological female athletes are being forced to compete against transgender athletes who were born male
and still have male attributes. Their only choice is to forfeit, risking disqualification, their reputation, and being labeled as prejudiced and hateful. Multiple studies have shown that even though testosterone reducing hormones can shift strength, DNA stays male and
some prior muscle mass and bone structure may persist after one to two years of hormone treatment. Muscle mass decreases but doesn't fully align with biological female averages. According to the National Institute of Health, male-born transgender athletes have
superior performance relative to biological female athletes. Male DNA contributes to larger heart and lung sizes proportionally. This results in higher red blood cell counts and increases in oxygen delivery to muscles
muscles which enhances endurance recovery and sustained performance over time. Fast twitch muscle fibers enhance explosive power, while narrower hips and longer limbs are biomechanically advantageous for leverage and reach,
allowing competitors who have male DNA, which gives them skeletal muscle endurance or sustained performance edges does not appear to be equal. In addition, biological females losing to transgender women lose a sense of agency
in a domain meant to celebrate female achievement. A UN study showed that across many different sports, almost 900 trophies were awarded to trans women when competing with biological females. This can be viewed as comparative as competitive unfairness
and a lost sense of equality and representation. In practical terms, a gold medal becomes a silver. A scholarship worth 20,000 to 50,000 annually slips away. and world records are broken by trans women who have a pre-transition edge with male DNA.
Transgender athletes want to be included and don't want to be banned from those spaces that they feel they belong. Conversely, biological female athletes want their own space in a fair game without being coerced into accepting a biological male into their performance
and private spaces. Director Hy. So this policy is intended to preserve fairness and safety of biological girls in sports. It fails to do so in two respects. It encourages existing bullying of cisgender girls who
look a little different from someone's idea of feminine, escalating it to formal complaints to administration and the board. It also subjects cisgender girls to playing with or against a trans boy who has been on testosterone therapy.
Last time we talked about this topic, I proposed an alternative solution where we would evaluate the athlete in front of us and make a determination about their gender eligibility based on their own unique situation. Immediately following that meeting, I approached the inside out youth services cohort that
attended because I wanted their direct feedback. I expected resistance. I did not get it. This makes perfect sense was one response I heard. So this tells me that preserving the integrity and safety of girls sports for girls has widespread
support and the only question left is how. The community has weighed in on this solution, counting unique respondents once each, our emails indicate support for this policy at 43%. Public comment last month ran at
38%. The community consensus is to reject this policy. This policy has been rushed to market and I do not understand the urgency. There are no known trans athletes in D49. I've talked to the parents of a couple of trans students and they tell me their kids are
deliberately avoiding sports, the locker rooms, etc. The only urgency comes from a presidential executive order that is already being challenged in court. As a federal overreach into issues of state and local control in violation of the
10th amendment, I would have expected my peers and constituents who style themselves constitutional conservatives to respond with outrage, not compliance. Director Livier Wright. Um before commenting, I want to remind everyone
this is the business section of our meeting. So again, as I did last meeting, I'm going to caution everyone regardless of where you are on this issue. Um at this point, we're not clapping, we're not cheering, we're not yelling, we're not any of that. This is a time for just our discussion. Um,
anything else is really a disruption of the business portion of the meeting. So, I realize feelings are running high on both sides on this, but I'm going to ask for respect um for what we're trying to do up here and for this portion of the meeting, just as we respected everyone's
commentary and your ability ability to express yourself through that applause during that time. Um, so now I'll start my time. So um first I have concerns with this policy in part um because Chassa has goes in
one extreme. CHASSA um says athletes will participate based on gender solely on gender expression. So their choice of gender policy goes to the other extreme. The reality is that means female athletes in D49 and male by the way because although everybody's focusing on
female in order to be constitutionally compliant and applies to both um areas of sports. Um it's interesting to me that people aren't concerned about exposures in one direction and are in the other. Um but um that means that regardless of what we
do, if the concern is that females in district 49 will be playing against students assigned male at birth, that's still going to happen regardless of how you vote on this policy. Um it does absolutely nothing to change that. Um
second, so really what needs to happen is CHASSA needs to look at how their rules are applying so that whatever is applied is universally applied to all schools to create that fair field. I disagree with CHASSA and I disagree with this policy because I don't think it
takes into the reality of current treatment and transition. So I think that we need to be looking at that reality just as director Hy said. Um, it's very different when you have someone who's been on hormone blockers from the age of eight, um, in terms of how their bodies are developing and
functioning versus someone like Leia Thomas, who tends to be the big example, who didn't start transitioning till they were 19. Um, the sports advantage and all of those pieces shift. Really what should happen is Chassa should put together a task force to develop rules that take all of those pieces into play
because otherwise in fact you will have students who've been on testosterone since the age of 13 playing on a female team um in by the time they're 16 where they will be on full-on male developmentally muscle and bone. Second, there are actually currently three
federal court um court cases in two different districts. One is one would event two of them will eventually be heard in the first circuit. One will eventually be heard in the eth because we all know they'll be appealed in New Hampshire. Um they are complying with Trump's order and transgender students
are suing New Hampshire because of that. There are two athletes suing their have standing. In Minnesota and Maine those states are refusing to comply with Trump's executive order and um are suing in the opposite direction. there's already federal litigation. I don't
think we need to be the lightning rod to also invite federal litigation. How about we let the federal litigation play out instead of taking that financial risk? But also, again, this doesn't solve the problem. If your concern is your cisgender female child playing
against a trans female student who has gone through male puberty, we have zero control over that and this policy doesn't change it. Director Dvola. So, first of all, I want to reiterate something I had mentioned at
the last board meeting and that is uh transitioning students when they are um not fully developed is child abuse. to be able to do puberty blockers
and hormone therapy and those types of things at the age of eight or nine or 13 is wrong. And I stand very strong in in in opposition to transitioning students
with those types of things in surgery etc because their brains are not fully developed. I said that at the last meeting. In the past couple of decades, our society has turned away from truth and has tried to acknowledge the untrue existence of more than two sexes, male
and female, brought about by mental health issues corresponding with the normal changes in one's bodily functions during early teenage years primarily and exacerbated by social media. has become an abnormal health contagion. To promote
ideology uh or encourage a child to believe that there are more than two sexes and that he and she can become the opposite sex is to teach a child a lie. State laws and policies passed that attempt to validate such mental health
conditions as normal must not be acknowledged as realistic or valid by public schools. As a Christian, I must take a stand against transgender ideology, what goes against the laws of nature and of nature's God and common
sense. It is time for public schools to promote the truth that there are only two sexes, male and female, and that boys and girls, do not belong in bathrooms, locker rooms, or on spe sports teams of the opposite sex. Thank
you. Once again, just a reminder during this portion just to hold applause and let us get through this one. Um, you know, what I've heard a lot of discussion, I've heard a lot of things at public comment and some things have been stretched a
little bit when they talked about safety and as safety applies in here. Uh, there were a few people who mentioned predators and sexual different things. When when this was developed, it was safety against a biological or
physiological female playing against a trans woman. And there was a difference in and another person mentioned it as far as punching difference. I had mentioned last time that if you have two equally matched athletes, male and
female, um a biological male would have 162% more punching power. And if you think about that, even with volleyball, if you look into softball, we do have a lot of co-ed sports and there's opportunities for everyone to participate. They also talked a lot
about suicide risk. And uh I was looking at the CDE website and girls are at much higher risk than male students uh for persistent feelings of sadness, poor mental health, seriously considering attempting suicide. There's another
subgroup that also has a higher risk of suicide and that is the LGBTQ plus students. They were higher than among heterosexual students uh for persistence feelings of sadness and hopelessness, poor mental health and seriously considering attempting
suicide. So when we look at me mental health indicators, it's something that we have to pay attention to as a society. I've also heard comments made about protected classes. And in Colorado state law, some of those protected classes are race, color, religion,
national origin, ancestry, sex, pregnancy, that's for employment only, disability, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, age at least 40, marital status, and familial status. So, we have two in here that
we're talking about. One is sex and one is gender identity. Who triumphs? If a physiological girl is uncomfortable competing against a trans girl, does she have any say? Are her
civil rights protected there as well? And I'll tell you the truth, that's a needle that I don't know how you thread it. But what I do know is when you get down to biology, there's always differences. There could always be outliers and differences. Men are stronger than
women. Men have denser bone structures, longer limbs. They have greater muscle mass. They have, you know, they they're different. They have greater lung capacity and they have bigger hearts. Um they have more red blood cells. So, you
know, for years we were told follow the science. I also like what one of our student board reps had said recently. I was talking with Cat at the San Creek one and she said people need to be heard and people need to be seen and so that's all I have. Uh
student board, would you like to add to this? Kira, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has already spoken on this issue. I understand um that this is very close to many people's hearts and so um I applaud everyone for each side for um
having the courage to say something about this regardless of which side. It takes a lot of courage and I ask I uh share some courage now that you'll bear with me for just a second. Um I do agree with Katherine um whom um Miss Thompson has just spoken about. Um I love her
dearly. She's one of my friends and I agree when she says that everyone deserves to be um listened to and heard. Um however, I do support this policy because my fear especially as um first
of all a woman and second of all I'm an athlete at St. Creek High School that of course we want to hear everyone, but I just hope that in an effort to do this that we do not compromise um the privacy and safety that is also
very important and I believe that should come first. I would not feel comfortable changing in front well honestly anybody but especially not um someone of the opposite sex because well there there's many reasons why I just don't believe that that is right and safe and so
whether it be playing against a sport that is not co-ed which I believe is not right I would feel uncomfortable and unsafe and I know that many people would and so I know that this is not a perfect policy however I feel like um either this or an amended policy that still keeps sports and bathrooms and locker
rooms separate should be the way that we go so as not to um potentially put students both male and female at risk um from sports or for for any of these reasons. Um we want to hear and support everyone but I don't want in an effort
to do so to potentially put another group at risk. If we're compromising like that it's not really a compromise. It's just putting another group um in a difficult position. So, um I trust you all to make the right decision. Thank you.
Thank you. Um Marin, um I don't know Cat super well, but she's she's a smart girl from what I've known. Um I think she puts it best, but also Kira when she talks about um putting one group over the other, I
think is that's what we're bringing this down to. So, I think it's a it's obviously a controversial topic. Um, and it's a hard decision to make. Um, as a female and as an athlete, I I don't know if I could uh definitively choose one or
the other. But, um, I do think it's important to acknowledge what Mr. Hy said. Uh, I don't I think so much research needs to go into this that I don't think it's ready to be made a decision. Um, I don't know how much I haven't read through this completely,
but as far as I know, I don't know any transgender athletes um in the district currently. So, I think I talked about this at the last meeting um with uh Miss Thompson about this being somewhat of a preemptive um proposal. um while we're
still researching and obviously um there's so much going on with this um across the country, I think we want to be careful and cautious um about what we choose to do. Um and also like as a new Chassa rep, the Chassa piece is super
interesting. the student board talked about CHASSA is a membership um group organization. So, we're members of CHASSA, which gives them the authority to kick us out at any time they want, which also affects athletes uh male and
female. So, if we choose to proceed with this policy, um there's a there's a chance that could happen as well. So, I just think we need to be cautious about what we choose to do, but um I trust you guys. So, Director
Schmidt, with regards to having to compete against other teams that have trans women, trans girls in. The only choice for biological girls is to
forfeit. If they don't want to compete against them, that's their only choice. That risks disqualification. their reputation and they'll be labeled as hateful director. So it is true that on average
men are bigger, stronger um than women, but not all um boys are created equally. Not all girls are created equally. When we're talking about athletics, we're talking about things that tend to attract the outliers. And so, um, you know, the average high height of a high
school girl might be, and I'm just throwing these numbers out there, 5'6, but, um, the average basketball or volleyball player might be 5' n, right? And if we have a trans girl who wants to take try out for either one of those sports, they're 5 foot seven, they've
been on puberty blockers for years. Um, they're clearly not going to be able to compete on the boys team. Um, and there's no significant athletic advantage that they would gain on the girls team. Why not let them play? Um,
can you please withhold comments? So, uh, as far as changing in the changing room, that's a that's a very good concern. Um, and I think that we could absolutely, again, we're talking about case by case. We could make accommodations for that. there could be alternative um changing rooms. I mean,
we know that um you know, our our schools often times make um those same kind of accommodations for trans kids using the bathrooms. So, that would be an easy com uh uh thing to just continue. Um but I just really want to
make sure that we're paying attention to the fact that we will probably never have to exercise this policy. Uh the the incidence of this is extremely rare. Um, but just having this conversation and putting that policy out there still does
harm because you're messaging to a significant portion of our community that that we don't value them that and I don't think that's who we need to be as a board. Director Olivia Wright. It ultimately
still does not address cisgender female students from D49 playing against someone who is not cisgender. It does not because we have no control who makes other schools teams. You're competing against. And the
reality is those teams will be made up essentially based on what those communities say unless and until CHASSA develops unified roles and CHASSA is the appropriate place for that discussion to happen. Um with a longer and more
careful discussion especially given like I said that we have three federal cases going on right now. there's no reason for D49 to become the fourth um and foot the bill when um the first circuit and the eighth circuit which um politically lean in opposite directions also are
most likely going to be hearing cases because I'm sure they will be appealed once they've gone through the second set um and we're going to have more guidance at that point. Um, so setting ourselves up to be the the fourth um target of litigation doesn't make sense to me when
it in fact does not change who our students play against um which is ultimately what what we're talking about. And also regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with the
um fact that some parents and of children make a choice different than any of us may or may not make for our own child. Those children exist um in that category. those families
exist and we have to deal with what that reality is. Whether or not we agree with those famil family's individual decisions about the um course of treatment they have chosen for their children. Um that's the reality. Uh
whether it so our own personal belief of how we would handle that situation as parents has no bearing on what actually is happening within those families and how students present in our schools. Um and I think we have to consider that. Director Dilla.
Um yes, I just wanted to mention one thing really quickly. Uh so this this policy of course is the first step. Uh there will be followed this will be followed by regulations which we would um uh have our uh assign our
administration to come up with and I have been in conversation with Mr. Hilts what those regulations could be. So there was some concern out there saying well how are you going to uh u apply it or follow it etc. And um that is in the
in the process. We would just want to get this passed first and then the regulation would follow and that would make it more clear to the public. The last thing that I want to address is there were also comments made or allegations that we would be checking
genitals. That will not be happening. And just so once again that's going to fall under the regulation portion. Um you know I know that not everyone shares my faith and that's the incredible thing about being an American is we do have
freedom of religion. Um the second commandment of the New Testament is to love your neighbor as yourself. And so I I look at a lot of people that I love. Sometimes we can have disagreements. Sometimes I may not
like them that much, but I have to remember what that second commandment is. I care about women's sports. And as I had quoted last time from a distance, it was Caitlyn Jenner saying that if we don't acknowledge
physiological differences, women's sports will cease to exist. That being said, I also want everyone to feel welcomed and included. And you know, like I said, it's it's there's there's no way to make everyone
happy. And that's okay. That's where you have to make tough decisions. So, I think we will go on to a vote. You can make everyone happy with chocolate. Unless they're lactose intoler. Dvala.
I. Hyle. No. Levia Wright. No. Schmidt I. Thompson I. And that vote passes. Remember too that anyone who didn't get checked in in time or anyone who still wants to share, we are going to have a second public forum at the end where you
can express your opinions at that time. Okay. Next, we are on to item 7.6. Can I get a motion for action item 7.6? Six. I move to direct the lobbyist for district for the district to register a
formal position in opposition to the enactment of HB25-132. Second. Any discussion? Director Schmidt. Oh, hang on. I think Jam Lyn's going to talk about it first and then we can have discuss. May I request May I request
please a quick amendment? Um, you would direct me, not the lobbyist. I'll I'll work with the lobbyists because you the lobbyist is not your employee. So just for clarity, you would direct me and I would work with the lobbyist. I just I would encourage an amendment. This I I
withdraw my motion. Second. Can I get an amended motion? I withdrew it. So now we'll do a new one. I move to direct the superintendent to direct the lobbyist for the district to register a formal
position in opposition to enactment of HB25-1312. Second Jamie Lynn, you want to cover some of the reasons for taking this position? Uh yes. So this is very important. Uh the proposed action um would help us to have
opposition to House Bill 25-1312 um due to its requirements regarding chosen names and dress code policies which undermine local control and its introduction of new operational complications involving recordkeeping and existing district policies and
protocols uh regarding parental notification and involvement in the education of their children. To give a little bit of background, 1312 was a very hot button topic at the state capital. Um uh the main point that was
um contentious was the second section which uh stated that um um dead naming and misgendering would be considered a type of coercive control and custody issues, custody battles.
they did amend that and uh correct me if I'm wrong Brad but or Mr. Miller, they did uh amend that section. So um because there was such opposition to that uh particular piece, so the um the coercive
control language was removed, the elements that apply directly to schools uh fell into I want to say section seven and eight, but they're further down. Uh, one had to do with uh, misgendering and dead naming in a in a public
accommodation setting being a sort of a a an almost automatic violation of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. That language has been amended to take out those two terms and to refer to violations of of gender expression and
gender identity protections to be an a a um an element or or a indicator of potential discrimination. There is a piece that pertains to schools that is problematic more so for charter schools.
It has to do with the dress code situation. A lot of schools that that we work with have dress codes that are identified for males and females and that's eviscerated effectively through this uh new legislation and oh sorry director li okay so I'm
actually going to point out two things one is I read my packet yesterday morning and I didn't see this and so I this has happened multiple times at this point where something has been added and
I wasn't not there's no email telling me something was added there's no indicator I'm a board member at a minimum we should know if something's going to be added and we should be explicitly notified as five members um because once
that packet is posted on Friday we each have a dedicated time that is based on our own individual schedules um that allows us to read and prepare hair. I multiple times this has occurred and at this point I'm incredibly frustrated
that when I open this I see something new. Second is this passed. So it is no longer um it it my understanding is it passed Miss Thompson um last night Miss Thompson. So a couple of things. One the
bill didn't um it it got rushed through at the end. There was a lot of changes at the end and I think there was hesitation um with respect to whether to put this on to the to the agenda. It was a placeholder I know earlier in the week that that there was a potential
resolution on legislation. I I did see that uh and with respect to the life of this bill that there is one more element which is the signing by the governor that needs to still take place. Yeah. And that's one thing. There was a placeholder set that we had to wait for
the Senate to vote because there were multiple amendments and reconciliation. So this is an encouragement for a veto. So it wasn't something that was withheld under and I can't remember if this one is Robert's rules on the requirement is it or there or else it could be another
requirement for 24 hours notice at a minimum. And so that was what we were trying to do because it was such a fastpaced thing. The the only other comments I'd like to make is because we passed a PARD bill of rights here and we believe in parental notification and
participation. It's my understanding that elements of this bill not only supersede or or invalidate some of what we have in policy ACA as far as parental notification and consent and also the charter thing with our charter schools.
It denies them the ability to establish their own dress code to provide a little more clarity. Marie, and I apologize for your situation, but there was a point in time during the late development of this bill through the Senate Judiciary Committee and then the Senate floor and
then for reconciliation where it was very potential that the thing that we ought to do because the bill has a safety clause, which means immediate implementation, would to be have a first read on policy revisions regarding those elements. And so that was why the hesitation with the placeholder. I
understand that. My point is it takes about 30 seconds for anyone in leadership to send the board members a text to say, "Hey, make sure you double check if you've already read because we've added a full item." 30 seconds. and that yes, I'm not questioning your
legal ability to add something within as long as you've met the 24-hour requirement, but I am saying there's a level of basic respect and understanding and that every board I have served on, we made a point of ensuring that
occurred. Okay? Because different people had different schedules. And I remember Kevin Butcher losing it at people if they added something beyond Monday because the man worked lots of hours every day and he spent his weekend on that packet. Okay? And so the minimum is
at least as a common courtesy to say, "Hey, make sure you double check there's been a change to an item." I have brought that up previously in private. Um and at this
point it's a lack of respect. Okay. And at a minimum we all deserve that. Certainly I would have tried to do the same. Um because at least then it would have let us I you know not even knowing this was here I was like whoa that
passed. I wonder what they took out of it. And I didn't have a chance to hear what they took out of it yet. Um, I wanted to listen to all the commentary and haven't had a chance because, you know, I spent yesterday. I think it's a really valid point. We do get an email about a change to our packet and I do
think it's a valid point that if we do a last minute addition, I think it's reasonable to request that a text be sent. I not all of us got the email. Mike didn't get one either. Okay. And by the way, that was the next thing I was going to say is Lynette says, "If you're not getting the notifications to a
change in your packet to please let her know." But I do think it is respectful and judicious to ask for last minute additions that we do a text message and let Yes, Director Schmidt, I see the flower. Give me just a moment and I'm
assuming you would like to speak. Director Schmidt. So, I'm understanding it's changed so much. So much. I'm understanding that these policies are going to put additional
burdens on educators and administrators and it's going to ask them to focus on promoting policies that actually violate free speech, deny parental rights, and put religious liberty at risk. So why wouldn't we oppose this? It went
through so fast and nobody even really knows what's in it. I agree that we should strongly oppose the law and ask for a governor veto for Governor Polus to veto it. Director Hy, let's try to do one minute each to
finish up here and get to student board. Yeah. So, um I'm in the same boat as uh as Marie indicated that I did not know that this was added to the agenda. Um it's a pretty deep topic. I have not had an opportunity to read the uh law and
understand its um implications and so therefore I am not in a position to take any kind of action on this tonight. Um, and I just want to point out that this is the third topic that we have had in the last month and a half regarding
trans people. And I just it really really really feels like uh it's being aggressive at this point and it's just making me feel very uncomfortable. Director Davilla. Uh
what's really important to note is we have a short window of time which is why this is on here. Um because normally through our policy and our processes we will have that first read and that second read. We don't have that time.
Um, this is going to be heading to uh the desk of PUIS and we want to be able to make it very clear with our uh lobbyist that we want her to take uh action against this and to Mr. Hile's
point. Yes, it seems like this topic has come up uh a lot and that's because our state legislature is become very aggressive with their transgender policies etc in the state of Colorado.
Um and so we have to take a stand against it because of the aggressiveness that's happening in the uh house and senate which is very one-sided. Um, so, uh, and in case you didn't know, there
were over a, uh, a hundred people, uh, board members across the state and board leaders across the state who took a stand against this house house bill and wrote a letter and signed that letter
uh, in opposition to this House bill. And we want to continue to voice that concern when it gets to uh, Polus's desk. Um, I don't know if we want to continue to state that a veto would be
something that we would encourage our lobbyist to ask for. I I think that the the uh motion as read indicates that that it's a directing to take a position opposition to the bill.
What I would like to add is just a a slightly uh different point of view on this one in that my concerns are local control undermining the ability of charter schools to decide for themselves what their dress code would be and also parental rights. I want to make clear
when we passed our parents bill of rights nowhere in there did we put this is only for the parents who agree with us. That is not the truth on the non-legal name change. If you look at ACA, if the parent consents to the non-legal name change, we are going to
recognize that. And so when we talk about parental rights, we don't talk about parental rights who believe this way or that way. We mean parental rights. And so I stand for parental rights. And if they are in favor of a
non-legal name change or other elements in there, I support that because that's their kid. So anyway, I know we just hit you guys with a lot, but we're what we're doing is this is in encouraging the lobbyists. It's for Superintendent Hilts to encourage the lobbyists to
encourage the governor to veto it. The governor has the choice whether or not to veto it. It can a veto could even be overridden by twothirds vote within the the Senate. So, do you guys have any opinion on this one? And it's okay if you don't because this was fast-breaking
and late developing. Um, I agree with you. I'm all for parent rights and we'll see what happens and I'll say more if I am at a meeting with more information. Thank you. Thank you, Marin. Um, I agree. I don't have enough
education on this topic, so I can't really speak to it. Okay. Can we get a vote on whether or not to have Superintendent Hilts um direct our lobbyists with this issue? Tala.
What am I doing? Are we voting? Yes. Yes, we're not voting. We're just saying or no, we are voting. I Hyle, no. Olivia Wright, no. Schmidt, I.
Thompson, I. Okay, we are now on to and by the way, I feel your pain sometimes keeping up with the schedule and there's a lot going on and uh going to the bathroom during voting time to discussion items. No, ma'am.
Point of order. We had the one last item that was moved from consent agenda. Um so 7.7 special service providers. Thank you for the reminder on that that we moved and on that one I think director Schmidt you wanted that one moved correct but I can make the motion. Okay.
Um I move to approve matters relating to special service providers as recommended by administration. Second. Okay. Any discussion? Okay. So I've been in contact with Mr. Anderson and the
specific number of the special services providers has been a little bit confusing. I'm still not really sure if the correct number is 87 or 108. Um that doesn't that doesn't matter a ton. Um h
however this document shows that D49 has four certified behavior analysts, 28 counselors, eight school psychologists, and eight social workers. If the number's uh 108, that makes up about 44%
of our special services providers. Speaking as one member of the board, I feel that we have too many mental health professionals. I realize that part of the job description includes academic counseling, which is fine. However, in my opinion, if a student is experiencing
any other difficulties, parents should be notified first and given a list of outside agencies that meet their needs according to their job descriptions at all grade levels. These mental health professionals provide individual and group counseling to students with
identified concerns and needs. Who decides that? Some job descriptions include conducting psychoeducational evaluations and assessments for referred students. Some provide diagnostic evaluations and assessments to determine
learning, emotional, and behavioral needs of students. Some also provide mental health education. Should public schools be mental health providers? Or should that function be under the parents control?
Some parts of the job description seem reasonable, however, some seem to be overreach. It is imperative to always initially bring parents into any situation involving a student's mental
health. As one board member, I would like to know if parents are notified of these mental health activities prior to them taking place. I am not comfortable endorsing this until these questions are answered. Director Leight, the majority
of those positions listed are required to provide services for kids on individualized education plans. As a parent who has signed at least 50 of those after the last six over the last 16 years, yes, we as parents are exact aware of those things. The
psychoeducational testing is actually required by law for our students to qualify for those services. Some of the categories kids receive services for in fact include things like serious emotional disability um that's one of the six major
categories. They also include um autism spectrum disorder um which is an affective needs which qualifies under some of those testing. Um so students receive specific um group um lessons and
some of those skills those need those minutes are all part of either MTSS if they're not yet on an IEP or part of their IEP service minutes which I as a parent sign. Um, so yes, as a parent, I am very aware of which services my kids
have received, but these things are also required under law for kids to qualify for those special education services. BCBAS are explicitly developing plans um for students who have affective needs to support those students in classrooms.
Again, those services are part of IEPs. We can't restrict those positions because we need them um to meet the idea requirements. And yes, again, we sign. We're parents. We approve the minutes. Um, and they're necessary for student
success. Director Dvola. Yes. A a lot of these positions are necessary. So, it's I mean, we wouldn't be able to necessarily pull out one thing and not pull out another, etc. Um, and a lot, correct me if I'm wrong, a lot of these these
professionals have already been hired and they have positions already. Like we've already said you're coming back. Correct. Correct. That's what you are saying. Yes. Um, and so, um, I do have concerns,
uh, just like Director Schmidt said, um, I am not comfortable with school psychologists being involved in everyday affairs with the majority of our kiddos.
Um, but like I like I said, speech language pathologists are very necessary. uh assisted technology specialist is necessary. So I can't just lump sum not say you don't have a job. So um but I do agree with the concerns
that director Schmidt um voiced. School psychologists don't provide that. School psychologists provide testing. They test. That's literally all they do almost every day all day is the testing required to qualify for an IEP.
My son has had four of them rotate through Falcon High School in the four years he's been there and they sit in his IEP meeting and I don't think the poor school psych ever gets to see him again. Um because they're then on to testing other students and attending
their IEP meeting. School psychology is not counseling. Um it's determination of educational benefit. Um they're the ones that administer the IQ tests. They administer the Vineland. They administer all of the testing that determines disability category and then help
qualify students for services. That's their role. They're not trained to counsel kids. So, please can we make sure we understand the definition? And just a quick reminder to wait to be
recognized. Um, Director Dvola, did you want to add something else? Uh, yes. I do have to uh eat some humble pie for a second. uh what director Levier uh Wright said is actually true. I was reading it as psychiatrist and not psychologist. So I apologize for that.
That is an error on my part. Um because I work I I work with the school psychologist. Uh yes. So um that's the individual education piece. So I apologize for misunderstanding that piece. So thank you for that clarification. I appreciate it. And
before we go back around, I just was looking over some of the positions and the top one that's mentioned is an aiologist. I really appreciate aiologists um because they help me here. Some of the other things when you look at IEPs,
district behavior analysis, uh occupational therapist, I am doing that right now after having surgery, hoping to regain the use of my right hand. Now, this is as an adult, but kids have these needs too. physical therapists. And down
here we have um speech language pathologist. I went through speech therapy in the third grade because I did not know how to pronounce my S's. My son had an anterior thrust which meant that his tongue moved the opposite way when
he did speech. He also had oppositional defiance disorder, ADHD, and a couple of other nice initials. So when I look at this, I see some of them as very valuable services. And I do see Mr. Anderson and Dr. Lamont kind of u going
forward. I don't know if there's something you want to add to this while I put this back in. Thank you. The this is Paul Anderson, executive director of people and culture. I wanted to clarify the question around the the numbers that you
see on that document. um when we get when we discuss our SK salary schedules later, there's a there's a a chart in there that shows 108 um special services providers. That is our full that's our budgeted number of positions. So when we when we work on
the budget, we count that, you know, we count up those dollars. the number that you see put forward are is smaller than that because of vac because of of resignations uh this spring and and the fact that it is difficult to get many of these positions filled. So we contract
out uh in instead of filling them with employees. So that's the difference between the 108 and the number that you see on uh the document today. Director Schmidt. So, just to be clear, the
only positions I have a difficult time with is the psychology ones. My question would be, are these only performed are these assessments only performed on special needs kids with parental support or are these
performed these? Yes. On according Yeah. according to their IEP, it parents have rights. They have a packet of rights for their IEP and they have to have that um and the school psychologist helps them
to identify that they need special needs uh special supports. It has nothing to do with um what we previous like you you and I maybe have previously thought. So that was my error um with the interpretation because I work with the
school psychologists at my school and parents have to consent for it and it looks like Dr. Leon wanted to add to that or not. No. Okay. Director Levir, right? You wanted to I just wanted to point out that it's not e before the IE
pre-process can even begin parents have to consent to the beginning of it. And often parents, sometimes the school recommends to the parent that they get tested, but often it's the parent parents actually legally have to request it. So under IDEA, parents have to
request the evaluation and we have to sign consent to evaluate before that process begins. If a parent refuses to consent, there's another whole extended process um and schools can't do anything until they have that parent consent. again, I've been like going through it
since um well over 20 years now. So, I've signed literally 50 of them um over that that 20-y year period and I've done um and each time I had to sign a consent. So, Director Schmidt, I just
want to clarify that um besides providing um assessments, the school psychologist would provide services and that is determined by those assessments that are given. So, a school psychologist might be providing mental health services. It might be for a child
who has a ser has been identified as having a serious emotional disability or a student who has been identified as having autism spectrum disorder. But those services are provided with the consent of the parent. So just so there's no misunderstanding, a school
psychologist does not only test. Um that would be the waste of a perfectly good school psychologist. Um so the school psychologist does provide services similar to a speech language pathologist providing services or an occupational therapist providing services, but those
services are provided per the um assessment data. what's determined that the student needs and then with consent from the parent. Thank you. Okay. Can we get a vote?
Tala I Hyle I Wright I Schmidt I Thompson I and that passes. Okay. Now we are on to let me find my place. Discussion discussion items. And what is the first one up? I got out
of order here. Ah, the deck. And we have Lauren Stewart. Well, don't do that. Hi everyone. I'm Lauren Stewart. Tonight I am here as the DAC secretary and a parent of two students at Remington.
Um, a lot of what I'm going to put in front of you is a little redundant because Jamie Lynn kind of stole my thunder last board meeting bringing up a lot of what we wanted to talk about. So, I'm going to keep this short. These were some of the state statutes. Uh, what DAC should could do for the board of education for district
49. Um, these were some topics that had been brainstormed by our chair and our co-chair just ideas of and to put in front of you so that if you guys ever need a parent committee, please come to us. We have really good representation
from most schools in the school district. Um, this is the one I wanted to focus on tonight. Um, that is hyperl to the DAC responsibility inventory from the department of ed uh the Colorado Department of Education. as a DAC, we decided that these this is what we were
going to focus on. So submitting recommendations to the local school board um as it pertains to district performance at least annually determining what areas you want us to study. If there's an issue and you want us to kind of look into it or bring in presentations, we would love to do that for you. Um publicize opportunities to
serve. We're always looking for DACARPS. Same for our Sachs. And then assisting the district in implementing um the district's parent engagement policy. So every year we bring you this long list and this is the only slide I'm going to show you from it. Hopefully you browsed before this. Um but the the
overarching view of this and let me preface this with we said to schools um for their sachs to look at if you had any amount of money what would your budget priorities be? Not that we're going to spend it, but if there did if money came up and um the sack really
wanted technology, but the principal wanted playground equipment that you could see this is really what the school accountability landed on as a priority for the school. So, most schools want more technology or updated technology. Um safety and security that included cameras or armed security personnel at
the elementary level. Um updating outdoor areas and equipment and then professional development funding. We have a lot of opportunities. There's a lot of opportunities out there, but funding is tight. So, do you guys have any questions for me?
Okay. Thank you. Um, I just want to tell you, you're amazing. I'm still convinced that you sleep somewhere here on site, so you can be everywhere. Thank Thank you, Lori. And, uh, I wanted to thank you because I went through the list and it was very informative. And I can tell
you right now that our student board rep know how amazing Miss Stewart is. Is that not correct? So, thank you. Director Levier, right? Um, so I know um at a prior meeting we had discussed as a board some DAC priorities. Has that been
shared with the DAC yet? And do we have any feedback from them on what they thought about those pieces? I think everyone was blown away when Jaime Lynn brought it up and the discussion that you guys had. everyone was on board with what she said, what you agreed to. We just definitely want to be more
involved. I we felt like we put this list together and I'll say I do that. I don't know what happens to it or do you scroll through the slides? I don't know. So, we just want to be effective. We want to be here for you. We want to make sure that we're reviewing whatever that may be and giving really good feedback
from the parent point of view. Um, and I I just think it's we have a lot of committees in the district, but this one, you know, we meet every single month. We don't cancel unless there's snow and it's just really good representation for you. But no, everyone was pumped. They were very excited. So,
thank you Jam Lynn for bringing that up and we're excited for next school year. Thanks, director Hy. Uh I just want to make sure that the entire DAC knows uh that um this financial areas emphasis list that you have displayed right now. This w this
came from direct conversations with the uh budget MLO subcommittee that I meet with every month um where they were reaching out to me and said how can we add value to um the school board and it was my suggestion. I said you guys are producing this thing on a school by
school list. It's a uh school by school basis. It's a lot to get through and if you as a group in the DACK as a whole could review that and distill it down into something that is a lot easier for us to parse and prioritize and maybe the
superintendent can you know look at that and say yes there are some ways that we can um we can address some of these that is a huge value ad um and so I just want to thank the entire um DAC I will be speaking to the MLO subcommittee about this um soon um but thank you this is
This is really great information. And next school year, we plan to have our subcommittee meetings during the DAC meeting just to get more buy in. It's hard. This is a volunteer committee and everyone's busy and asking them to come an hour before just to do their subcommittee meeting. So, we are going to plan time within the meeting so that
no one has to give up any extra time. So, you're telling me I have to have a free meal uh with the DAC? By the way, everybody, we feed the DAC. So, if you decide to volunteer, submit your application today. I will receive it. So,
Yeah. Anything else from anyone? Do you guys see the list of their most desired items and relate them to your schools or do you have any thoughts? We love you, Miss Stewart. And thank you for this great information
and for keeping everything well organized. It's fantastic. Thank you. Thanks. Okay. Thank you. Which one are we on now? I'm trying to see. The next one we are doing is 9.2
showcasing SWAT. And this is students working against tobacco. And I just have to say you've heard a lot of us talk about the recent death of Lance Carol. Um the first engage 49 that I ever attended. um he was there with the SWAT
team and I just don't think his legacy will ever leave this community. Um Superintendent Hilts also shared with me how the special education students were especially hit hard by his passing. It's really incredible that one person could
touch so many people including SWAT. So I just wanted to put that in. But if you could make that presentation. This is students working against tobacco. Good evening board. My name is Lauren Olirri and I'm the dean of students at San Creek High School. I am joined by
Sarah Rollinsson, one of our deans of academics. Together we've had the privilege of supporting the incredible students in our SWAT program, students working against tobacco. Lance Carol launched SWAT at San Creek last school year and has grown into something much
more meaningful than just a club. As Lance's health declined, he entrusted Sarah and I with the opportunity to get to know and help lead this inspiring group of students. It's important to remember that these are the young people of our
future and their voice is all that matters. I'm really excited to introduce two of our SWAT team chair members, Miss Kira and April. Hello everyone. I am April and I'm the secretary for students working against tobacco. Um, and sadly our president and
vice president Zayn Okconis and River Merrill could not make it today, but we just thought we'd mention them. And then of course Kira is here. She's our wonderful secretary and she has designed all of our amazing swag. So, thank you Kira. Um, and the next one. So, we have done a lot of
activities as you can see with these photos here. Um, and we like to commemorate those with just posting it on some of our social media and going out into the community. I'm gonna let you go. So, you might have heard a little bit from Miss Aer, but um, we just wanted to
tell you a little bit about what SWAT is. So, SWAT stands for students working against tobacco and we focus on educating students on the dangers of tobacco usage and um the effects that are emotional, social, financial,
physical, all sorts of things. And then we provide resources such as second chance tobacco, posters, merchandise to give out and so on. And we're more focused on education um than anything. We never want to alienate anyone um
because everyone has the choice to do um what they will do, but we want to make sure that people are educated before they hopefully make any decisions that could affect their health. So, thank you. All right. So, kind of like Kira said, SWAT matters because it is really just
educating everyone on the dangers of tobacco. It gives students and kids a safe way to quit using all different types of tobacco products with that second chance program. It lets the kids have a safe and open space to talk about
their fears or if they are addicted. Um, and it really connects everyone who is trying to get better from their addiction or the ones who want to try and prevent it before that even happens. So, and our motto is that 90% of people
who use tobacco products started before they were 18. So really at this age level and middle and elementary schools, we are really aiming to help prevent that and bring awareness as to the dangers. Perfect. You get this. Yay. I get to
talk about merch. Um, so part of my job as the treasurer was to design some super cool things. We do a lot of tableabling at Sand Creek where we have our trivia wheel where we can inform um people about some important statistics about tobacco usage. And then when they
answer a trivia question, they can come home with a stress ball, pen, chapstick. I have the chapstick on my keys right now. It's actually really good. And then for the members of SWAT, we have some cool jackets. And then um we also recently designed
some shirts that have a little message about Mr. Carol. So the front is pictured on the slides if you can see it. But then the sleeve, which unfortunately I forgot to put on the slide, um just says um in memory of Mr. Carol with his classic bow tie so we can
remember all the amazing things he did for us and wear it on our sleeves just as he um wore his heart on his sleeve as he tried to help us out. So, all right. So, we really try to do a lot with our SWAT club. Um, and so like Kira
said, we table at schools and or mainly our school during lunches and we try to just spread that awareness. Um, recently this year, we have presented to Remington Elementary School and the next slide, I believe, will talk a little bit more about that, but we're really trying
to aim to those younger children to educate the dangers. Um, with that awareness being brought, we are trying to like encourage and incorporate those healthy coping mechanisms, whether that be reducing stress before they can lead to the nicotine or if they already on
nicotine, how to healthfully cope with that. And then the second chance program is offering all that support that students can get through the school. Mr. Carol was really in charge of that and he really did care. And so bringing up that second chance is really an
important thing to us. And Remington, at Remington, we had a few key objectives. We had a trivia room where we wanted to bring the fun and help students really want to get uh engaged with this topic because of course it's intimidating when a bunch of high
schoolers come in and you're a fifth grader. So, this was a fun way to give them some cool merch and get them involved and give some little statistics so that they know. And then we had an artifacts room where we had some real deal piglongs. Um, Clem's flem, which is
that little jar right here. I got to I got to show all the kids that there was one who nearly puked because it's the amount of fleg someone with COPD um coughs up in a year. And COPD is caused by smoking. So, yeah. Yeah, it's pretty
gross. And then a jar of tar that has the amount of tar that's in cigarettes for it was either six months or a year. I would have to look up to know for sure. But either way, that's a lot of tar you'd be breathing in. And then a fake mouth that had all the different um like cancer spots and all the things that can happen to your mouth when you
subject yourself to nicotine usage. And then we had a guest speaker as well um who was willing to share his experience um with quitting tobacco and how he overcame that. Um it was incredible to see him come and um help support our movement. He's an incredible student.
So, uh yeah, that's what we did and we hopefully helped a lot of students that day. Okay. Oh, so we are thankful to have a grant from El Paso County Health that um works with SWAT and they worked with Tobaccofree Colorado and came down when
we did the visit or when Mr. Carol and the students did the visit to Remington. And uh linked here is a video um that includes Mr. Carol and the students and their day at Remington. Um due to time we were going to um leave that because it's about 5 minutes and we know we're
running short. So we will let them finish up. So luckily this year I believe that we had a lot of new members during SWAT and we are really maintaining that idea for hopefully that will continue on to next year. Um we are trying to just educate everyone who is willing to
listen whether that be adults but mostly focusing on those peers. We are wanting to present at assemblies hopefully possibly at other schools by going on more events like that to the Remington. And we are also in on I
believe it's trivia Tuesdays we are doing a trivia question that occasionally relates to SWAT and stuff. So it's like, oh, how many percentage of adults start nicotine use before they
turn 18? And that's our motto, 90%. So we really just try to bring it out to all of the students at San Creek. And really, really hoping to educate and inspire other SWAT clubs at other high schools to really try to bring the
message out and gain the confidence to also like speak out such as we are. Is there anything else? Any other goals? All right. Thank you guys so much for your time. I'm going to dismiss them because they have AP exams bright and early. So, wish
them some luck. Um, and we appreciate your time tonight. Thank you. And you can put me down for a jacket and a stress ball. Oh, do you have a question? Uh, I think we have a couple comments for those of you who don't have AP exams
tomorrow. Well, Director Davo was first out of the gate. Uh, first of all, thank you so much for that presentation. I am really enthusiastic about you guys being involved with that. So, thank you so much. Um, and Kira, you're amazing. Just
wanted to let you know. Um, and remind me of your name again. April. April, thank you so much for that presentation. It was flawless and it didn't even seem like you were nervous at all. So, you did a great job and um um I need a hoodie. So, if you want to donate one to
me, I will gladly take it. Treasurer, we got to cover this for the director. Hy, uh I really want to thank you for everything that you are doing for our students. This one hits me pretty close
in a couple of different ways. One is that uh I got to know uh Lance Carol personally and um I knew him as somebody who was really committed to doing good in our community and to see you guys continuing his legacy is just very very
heartwarming to me. Uh and then another way that this hits me is I lost my mother to COPD as she was the tender age of 54. Um, so, um, and I wanted to also connect this because this was a statement that I made, um, in our last
meeting to the, um, wellness coordinator because your program was mentioned a number of times. Um, and a student who is addicted to nicotine is spending so much of their energy in classroom uh,
thinking about getting their next nicotine hit that they are not going to be able to focus as much on their academics. And so you've you're not only improving health outcomes, but you're improving achievement outcomes and um just tremendous work. Thank you for
everything you do. And I'm glad you also address vaping. And it hits me too because from 13 to the age of 43, I was a smoker and I am no longer a smoker and my teeth are whiter and I have a lot less things to worry about these days.
Director Director Schmidt, unfortunately I share the same tragic event as m as director Hy does. I lost my mother to COPD and smoking also. It's really rough and I think if you can touch just one kid, two kids, however many you can get
to and get them to not do this smoking thing, that would be grand. I appreciate what you guys are doing. Director Livier Wright, I just wanted to say thank you because I think that this is incredibly needed. Um I sat as a parent on ASCA and
then things that were brought up from late elementary school all the way on up. um now that we have vapes um instead of just cigarettes is vaping is becoming a significant problem beginning even in fourth or fifth grade and vapes are
targeting your age group on purpose with the flavors that appeal to kids. Um, and as a pediatrician I spoke with recently said, you're inhaling the nicotine, which is the mo one of the most addictive substances and the hardest
addiction to beat, and um, imbalming fluid when you're using the vapes. So, yes. Um, so you're essentially inhaling inbalming fluid um, at the same time and damaging lungs with a in a different way. Um, popcorn lung is now becoming a
thing and needing lung transplants is becoming a thing with our young people because of these products. Um, and so letting students know there's a way to also have support um when they want to quit. I've watched multiple multiple teens try multiple times. Um, it's not
an easy thing to beat and knowing that they can have some peer support to do it and support in their school community to do it um I think is really important. So, thank you for beginning this. I'm hoping that it grows. Marin, I see your water bottle tucked under your arm. I know you have
to take off, but I didn't know if you wanted to weigh in real quick before you leave. Yes. I was just going to say I'm so proud of you guys. You guys are making such a significant impact in your school. Not only your school, but like the elementary school and the younger generations. Uh this is going to carry on for a long time. So, keep up the
work. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, next up we have item 9.3, uh, proposed update to board policy, staff leave and absences. And this, I believe, has to do with
bereiement, time off. Hello, I'm Paul Anderson, executive director of People and Culture, and I'm just going to talk for a minute here or less. Um, we we are um we are talking about bereavement. Um, we appreciate the opportunity to talk about this this new
offering to our workforce. Um, I think it's a an important way for us to show care for our workforce. Um, and and and it's a real it is real enhancement to our current leave offerings. Uh the main point I would want to let you know is that the VCT has been was was really involved in the in the process of
developing um this particular new policy um provision. And um and then the second thing I would want to just say is that Stacy Johnson, who you'll meet here shortly, uh has really taken the lead on on pulling this together for us. And Stacy in her role as human resources
manager provides some specialization or expertise around all of our all of our leave uh leaves that we that we offer to our workforce. So Stacy's the real expert here for us and I'm uh pleased to bring her here this evening. Hi, I'm Stacy Johnson, HR manager. um
and wanted to talk through some of our recommendations for um an adjustment to our policy GBGI which is staff leaves and absences. So I want to talk about what our current approach is um and then go through what we what we did some of
the conversations that we had um and then what we would like to propose for a new policy. So um our current approach is we have our bereavement policy under staff leaves and absences but it's also kind of tied to our sick leaves um
policy and that is because we define uh immediate family kind of under both and also if an employee has a death in the family they'll use their sick time in order to take any kind of bereavement time. And so um right now an employee
may be absent due to a death in their immediate family. The definition is up there. It's defined as a person related by blood, marriage, civil union or an adoption. Um and that language was taken from the healthy families and workplaces act. We are to to offer bereavement
leave under sick for those reasons. Um and an employee may take up to 5 days of bereavement. The time that they take is deducted from their own sick leave if available. if they don't have sick leave available, then the time off is unpaid.
And so I wanted to see if there were options to changing this. Um I first started with see if I can move it. Um surveying the principles and other district leaders. I did that at the beginning of this last school year to see if there
was interest in changing this policy, if we had any support there. Um there was a strong majority of our leaders that voted to look into it a little bit more. Uh 89% actually wanted us to make some adjustments. Um and so we I took that to
the VCT group. Um again a strong majority there uh voted to look into this a little bit more and see if we can draft a policy. From there a subcommittee was formed um where we discussed considerations and some ideas for implementation.
So the proposed approach that we have and this again was put together uh by the the subcommittee the subcommittee was um some teachers some HR professionals so myself and our leave specialist and a couple of managers that all came together to talk about this new
proposed approach. Um the definition of immediate family for death would still say stay the same. So it would be person related by blood, marriage, civil union or adoption. Um we still would keep they may take up to five days of bereavement
but we would pay that um through a different I guess a different way. So it would they wouldn't have to take it out of their sick leave but it would be paid at their regular daily rate of pay. Um bereavement days may be taken intermittently but no later than two
weeks from the immediate loss. So sometimes there might be a death that employee wants to take the day after, but then the funeral is not till next week. We'll allow them to do that, but they still need to take um it needs to be taken within those two weeks. So
um I wanted to talk a little bit I there's been um some discussion about budget impacts to different things that we propose and it's really hard to say um with this. it's difficult to track since they're already taking bereavement leave through their sick leave. So, if they do um let us know, I'm going to be
taking a couple days for bereavement, we have been able to track that. Um but it's also not directly tied to anything really. The cost is going to come from sub coverage um or when we do our sick leave payout when they retire, those
kinds of things. Um any questions? Director Hy. Yeah. Uh, I just I really like this proposal. I mean, I think that it shows that we care for our uh um for our staff
and um you know, not trying to influence anybody, just a a suggestion for consideration is uh you know, anybody who was recently um affected by this who might consider um uh compensating them up to five sick days that they may have
used. Um just you know because like hey that's not fair man I mean that that was just me right so just something that something to consider director li right. Okay director
Schmidt I think this is really a nice perk for our staff because boy it's hard when you lose somebody. It really is. So I think being able to make up that difference and even
with the jury leave too to make up that difference for our staff members so they can go and take care of what they need to take care of and close what they need to close. Thank you. Yeah, director of the be right. Um, one
consideration and we tend to be good at this piece anyway, but um, I understand overall having the limit on two weeks there may um, sometimes when there was a military death overseas, it may take longer than two weeks to get the remains back to the
family to allow for burial. Um, so if we could consider allowing HR to have a mechanism to make an exception to that two week under extraordinary circumstances, um, I want to make sure we've considered that given we're a high military impact
community. Um, Director Dilla. Yeah. Um, I I am very much for this. I I do know when my father passed away, uh I had to take sick leave as bereavement.
Um and so I I understand the the wanting of being able to to give those extra days. Um what's what's really uh important too like is knowing that we probably can't go
backwards in order for us to um um like what do you call it? Why am I drawing a blank on the word? What did my What did Hyel say? You mean repressicity or because like I said,
this would be one we would pay back, right? Yeah, there you go. To pay it back. Um I would probably not be for that just because how far back do you go, right? It's going to be unfair no matter how you square it. Um and they
have to be okay with moving forward starting next year. this is how it's going to be. I wouldn't retro. Yeah. Yep. And the only comment I have, it's it's interesting because uh Jaime Lynn just mentioned her dad and we found out the other day that my granddaughter,
who's about to be pinned, is an RN, took care of Jaime Lynn's dad, which I had no idea. I had no idea until she told me a couple days ago. All right. If there no, if no objection, we will be moving this. Oh, I think Paul
Anderson wanted to add something else or not. Uh, I think the I can't remember if Stacy specifically stated our intent and timing this the timing of this is really to get it effective July 1 and and we did have some discussion about the
retro, you know, doing something retroactive and that is just the challenge of where where do you draw the line and we're not we won't be aware of all of the situations. Um, so we think a clear a clear line making it effective July 1 to start of the next school year
is our recommendation. Okay. If there's no objections, this will be moved forward for action at the next meeting. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we have a new job a new job description 9.4
student success specialist for truency and expulsion. I think that the job title on the paper we were given isn't the job title on the agenda. Um, so just so we're aware, it's the job title here is one we talked about at our
work session already and the job title on our agenda is director of student success, which is a different position. Correct. But it's the it's so good evening board. Dr. Dr. Sand, executive director for individualized education and deputy superintendent back again. Um
so once we went back and started looking at um the role of this position and then wanting to take advantage of Medicaid funds, we like we along with a a conversation with Mr. Hilts decided that we would um add some um supervisory
underneath this. We took a look at the number of students who are expelled, which exceeds 60 at this time, and the amount of time and energy that this person would put into making sure that attendance is taken, work is being done so that we get funding for them. Um,
this position kind of morphed into again a position that would support some of the departments that are currently under IE and then also continue to do the expulsion, truency, and and other things. So we're taking advantage of the Medicaid funding.
Okay. So is this in lie of the other position instead of in addition to? So this is in lie of the other position is gone. Okay. And so then we're increasing responsibility and so therefore there'll also be a salary differential between what we were originally presented in
this. Correct. Correct. Okay. Director Schmidt. So who's doing this job now? Uh so this job right now the expulsion piece has to be done by each school at this time and the state requirement is for a student who is expelled you must
provide one synchronous course and then the rest of it can be online in some way shape or form. Providing the synchronous online course is a challenge um to say the least. You have to find a teacher that is wanting to do that. You have to
provide a course that is in your course catalog. There are lots of requirements or stipulations around it. Moving to an online expulsion program as opposed to so the students will remain enrolled in their school but they'll be placed in
this online expulsion program means that we don't have to offer that online synchronous. They can be or excuse me in-person synchronous. They can be fully online. But then there comes some things that we need to do around attendance which again they already they have to do
also at the school level um or in the school building. So we're kind of taking a burden off of the middle schools and high schools. We'll only be able to do this for 6th through 12th. Um so we're taking that burden off the middle schools and high schools and then um uh
doing that through this online program through this individual. This person will also be required to make sure that transcripts and things that the school needs for the student to transition back to their school following that expulsion will all be taken care of. There are some state reporting requirements around
it. Again, there's attendance requirements around it. Um, you can either take attendance by the student physically being in the course or by the amount of work is done. So, this person will have to track the amount of work that's done. And the whole goal is, I don't know if you've heard or not, but
we've um lost students in Colorado. The enrollment is down by I think around 300,000 statewide. Our goal is not to lose these students. There's it's a bump in the road. It's a hiccup in their education. We want to maintain that
connection with them so that when the expulsion has been completed, they can transition back into the school, be successful, not be behind, um, and be prepared to move forward. Um, we're hoping that again, the requirement is someone who has middle school or high
school experience. That individual can make a connection with the students to again encourage the let's continue to work through this. Um, if you need some help with a content area, let me see who I can find to help you with that. We're hoping that we don't lose our expelled
students. Um, and like I said, we're sitting a little bit north of 60 right now um, for expulsions. So, is this an sorry, is this an administrative position, a salaried position? It is an administrative position um, again for some of the
things that are kind of running a program, a school program, but not a school. So there are some requirements around again attendance the courses that are completed making sure that they're matching up with what the school is needing needing so whenever the student
transitions back. So there'll be quite a bit of logistics around this to make sure that again we hang on to our students are expelled they don't disappear. It's a good service. Thanks director Livia right and they're also
directly supervising four people the spirit programs um so that supervisory pieces also and an evaluative piece will also be a chunk of work which validates that additional step individualized education or cannot be a department that
has anything in common we are very eclectic so we have a little bit of this and a little bit of that okay if there are No objections. We will move this forward for action at the next meeting. Thank you. And next up we have
item 9.5, proposed salary schedules. Good evening. I'm Paul Anderson, executive director for People and Culture. And tonight, yeah, we are talking about salary schedules. And we are running a little later than we would like to be. Um we would have liked to have been doing this about a month ago,
but this has been a really challenging year in in a number of ways. And um we're all aware of the the challenges with getting something solid out of uh you know from from a state uh budget perspective. And and so we we we finally
know what is final and and um so we're able to start working with numbers. Uh so in the in the packet tonight are the six salary schedules that that uh we're proposing uh moving in into next year and some a couple I'll point out I'll go
through some highlights if there's any of the schedules that you would like to to to discuss specifically. We'll we'll open those up and and walk through those. Um, the first thing I would like to just say is is express appreciation for how the partners that I have that I
get to work with in the finance department, Spencer and Heather of course and and Rebecca Brooks now our new CFO. Um, Rebecca just jumped in both feet and um so it's been really good collaboration over the last couple of
weeks and in getting to to what we see here tonight. Um, we are stretching dollars. We are straining budgets with with what we're doing. And um, I think we are Spencer and Rebecca would report that we are
doing everything we can this year and maybe to the point of some uncomfortability um, with what with what we're doing with our salary schedules. we uh have decided to to not transition to the the the the new salary schedules
that we've been we've been working on over the course of this last year for educational support personnel, administrative and professional technical workforce segments. So, we um the the primary reason for that is that it was it was going to cost us to to
transition our workforce onto those schedules was going to cost about $2 million in new new money. and that and that would be $2 million ongoing. So, we simply don't have the money available to make that transition. So, we're we're walking forward with the same
construction, the same schedule designs as we as have been in place this year. Um the we can say that there's an overall average increase of of 3.7%. A lot of details behind what that number is. Um but that that is uh that is our
overall average. Um returning employees um will all receive some increase in base pay. Um individual increases are going to base are going to vary based on the workforce segment. So we certainly don't want to
say everyone's getting 3.7. That is the average across uh the district. Um and then all of the schedules are going to have a modest increase to to the base of that schedule. So, the teacher teacher schedule, for example,
um is going to move, I think it's $441. So, we really wanted to get to 51,000 or higher, and we're just not going to get there this year. We'll be at 50 50,500. Um the teacher schedule includes and the and the cost to the teacher schedule
includes the first year of of teacher repositioning. And um so the the overall um increase for teachers we have at 4.5% as an average. And I'll just point out that what the average increase when you when you
remove the repositioning part of that is 2.6% overall in the teacher schedule. on the administrator schedule. Um we're walking forward with that that that same format and applying overall a
very m very modest increase to the base of that schedule. And you'll see in the chart here where we we differentiate between building administrators and essentially all other administrators. Um, and we we one of the things we
learned this year through our work with our consultant was how significantly behind market we were with with our building administrators, principles and assistant principles very specifically. And so we are paying attention to that and finding a way to
to um do more to get us closer to market. We're getting about halfway from from what our consultant says we ought to move to based on our our comp philosophy. We're going to get about halfway there this year. And so that group will the average will be over
10%. Um and then you'll see you can see there that the central office or all other administrators averages at 1.7%. uh and beyond that. So the other schedules, educational support, special service services providers and
professional technical are are receiving those um small increases to the base. The last thing I will say about the the raises that will happen will be whatever the increase to the base of the schedule is will ripple through that schedule. So
every cell moves up a little bit and then each person will receive a step increase based on the construction of the the schedule. And the exception to that is anybody who's already topped out on the top step of step 60 on the ESP schedule or step 30 roughly on the
teacher schedule. So um so there's a summary of of um what we're doing going uh for what we're recommending for 2526. Anything that you would like to add? Okay. Director Dola questions.
Okay. Start that way. Director Schmidt. So did I understand it right? This is in the proposed budget. Yes. Okay. Um, and then you also said that you would have liked to start it on this a month ago. I would have liked for you to
start on this a month ago, too, because I could have looked it over a little bit sooner. So, you know, that works out great. If it doesn't, I understand schedules. Director Hy. Yeah, I just uh want to say um that
uh you guys have done an incredible amount of work on this in order to to do something that is this generous because I I don't think that the public and uh all the staff really understand the significant budget pressures that we're under right now. We're expecting, you
know, possibly a small decline in student count for our uh operated schools. um you know, the state budget. They they passed this year um a um finally a um budget bill that kept our funding intact at the state level, but
they were under significant pressure to cut. Um and then um you know, we're looking at a at an economy that is starting to show significant stress and so um we can expect um declining uh tax revenues from that. So, uh, in my
professional world, uh, 1 and a half to 3% is, uh, you know, a pretty typical band and, um, we've been able to do better than that for, um, you know, the teacher segment in particular. And, um, so, uh, I mean, I I I salute you for
being able to hit these targets, Director Dola. Yes, you guys did an amazing amount of work to get these um to get these proposals brought forward. Um my own my only concern is the optics of the
building administrators increase versus the rest of the population there. I know they've been under the market for a while. Um but that seems to be really out there.
um especially if they're or they're making a certain amount of money that's above where everyone else is making. Having a 10% increase is a significant amount of money. Um so I don't know what we could possibly do about
that. Um, I would suggest doing it in increments um to get them to market instead of trying to do it all at once. So perhaps a smaller amount and I and I'll clarify this is this is a a halfway
move. This is not a full move to the we'd be looking at if we were trying to get to where uh what what our data is showing is we this would be more like a 20% or more increase for that group. So we're we're going part way as it is, but it could certainly be relooked if the
board so chooses. That's just it's the optics just does not it doesn't it's not it doesn't settle well. Um, and then also our building administrators that we currently have are very
committed to where they're at and what they're doing. And they took that pay knowing it was under even if we give them a raise, they're going to be appreciative of that
of that raise. So, I don't know. Mr. Hilts might have something else to say. Uh my comment is a little bit more kind of tactical which is if you look at our voice of the workforce annual survey the group that gets the highest rating is our is our managers and that mostly
means our building principles and administrative teams. When I do the vow learning tour I'll often have teachers say we can't end this tour without you knowing how much we love and then they say the name of their principal or their principal. And so, um, a wise
organization preserves its strengths. I think it's reasonable to be concerned, especially now that this information is public. It's reasonably to be concerned that we have already eroded our position. And you're right, we've been
able to hold on to people, but depending on their goodwill is incre It becomes tactically unsound. Um, and I don't I don't want to end up a year later and say, "Oh, I wish we'd done that before those people that we lost left." Um, and this is the
season of May June surprises. So, I may end up sounding like a gloomy prophet before long. I would suggest 8%, but that's me. Just a quick note, when we were doing
some when we were doing school tours the other day, the one thing that really impressed me is we're walking through with Oh, when we were walking through the schools with the principles is how many of the students names the principles knew. That was just a point. Director Levier Wright, I don't think
you've spoken yet. Um, so I think also kind of the way to couch that 10.2% is if we look historically at what the percentages have been and how our building principles who've been here
a long time have purposely sacrificed. Um, I mean, one who's his own superintendent now, a long time ago, I remember him specifically coming to multiple people on the board saying, "Don't say this too loud, but I'm saying, "Please don't give me a raise
because I need to keep my teachers." And so, the principles who've been in our community for a long time, have sacrificed for a long time. Um, we did a huge jump with teacher um, amount in a prior year. I I
think we need to pay that that forward here. It's 630,000 compared to 3.4 million. Um when we're talking about so we look at a total comparison of dollars and then again if we say okay what group
tended to take the hit for a very long time in this district and it has been our building administrators. And so I think being able to make that jump now because the reality is we may not be able to catch them up the other half in another year. Um we're doing something now that that our financial team is
saying is sustainable for them now. Let's make the investment now while we can and then hope we can move a little closer to market in the future. Um but also recognize we need them if we want to continue this piece and we need to send that same message.
Director Schmidt had her hand up for So, I'm understanding we are 20% behind comparative school districts. That's a lot. Um, but I don't know. I'm kind of
with Director Dvola. I'd rather see 8% myself. I I'm questioning. Is it 22% behind or 21% behind? I think we're m making a little bit barely more than half right now because
we're giving them the step two. So, um we're probably just under 20% would be my high math calculation just on the fly. Yeah. Director. Yeah. And I just want to point out too
that this isn't just about uh retaining the principles that we have. We have a lot of schools. people um change jobs for a variety of reasons. We had we heard today that um we're having somebody else stepping up into the horizon position next year. And so um
when it comes time for recruiting um do we want to lose our strong internal candidates to our neighboring districts or do we want to have a strong pool of our own to be able to choose from? And if there is a significant salary
difference, um, then, um, we're we're fighting an uphill battle. And so this at least gets us it gets us a little bit more in the conversation with with some of these candidates. And that's important. Director Schmidt, but you have to have
the money to be able to pay them. Can I ask that the team already did the analysis to make sure we could afford it and that it is sustainable, but it's still a stretch? Is that what I was hearing you say? So, I'll cover this um in the next presentation for the budget
as well, but you'll notice in the summary that was provided um that it costs us about 5.5 million currently for everything listed here. That does include the building administrators. And to get to that, we did have cuts in
personnel of approximately 5.2 million to make this as budget neutral as possible. So, um, in short, we're going to make it work. Um, and then we'll get into more details in the overall budget and we have some other opportunities for other
challenges, but for this, we made it a budget neutral with the personnel cuts. And just so the board knows, one thing we've been discussing because we are behind the eightball and to be totally fair, Rebecca, were you have you even been here a month yet?
No. Okay. So, as far as getting it a month ago, that would have been a little bit difficult. Welcome to being the position of our new CFO and magician. Um, that we had already talked about having a Zoom meeting on the 22nd and we could also have a special meeting at
that time to discuss pay schedules. Um, and I'll get in touch with the board to see if we want to do that Zoom or in person. But if you could, I think everyone has confirmed for the 22nd. Um, a special meeting on the 22nd to
vote on pay schedules because this is the time of year that we need to get going on that. She literally just sent us the email, so there's no way everybody could have confirmed it yet. Um, but yeah, we've been doing emails back and forth with the different board
members. So, yeah. Okay. Thank you, Lynette. See, well, over here. I just thought she was going to keep handing me chocolates. Anyway, I think we're going to move on now to the proposed um budget. I'd like to make one last um uh comment.
I I that would be amazing if you would have that meeting on the 22nd. our HR team. Um, assuming that you're moving these forward for a vote, we'll begin work tomorrow on getting ready to produce contracts, notices of assignment, and um, we So, we we would
love to move fast if we can. So, thank you. So, are you saying that we need to do it sooner than the 22nd? What we were trying to take in mind is the employee appreciation events and different things that are coming up. Well, I the 22nd will work for sure if
you so the sooner would be greater would be great, but that I don't intend to dictate your calendar. If that if you can make that work earlier, we would love it. Um, we're going to begin our work no matter what. We won't send things until you've you've approved the
schedules. Okay. All right. We'll see if we can make it any earlier. So, 22 graduations. Yeah. Okay. So, now we're under the proposed budget. Hello, I'm Rebecca Brooks, chief
financial officer. Um, and I have Spencer McCabe up here with me who has been very integral in setting all of this up. Um, we are going to talk about a few things here. Um, first of all, we're going to talk about I'm going to kind of breeze through some of these
that are probably repetitive over past years just because of how late we are. Um, but basically, this is something that we need to do every year. You guys need to see the proposed budget. We need to allow our our constituents and
everybody in the community to to look at it and have a month of feedback. So, basically, this aligns to district policy and our own expectations of what we have to do. This is our first draft of our formal bud budget. So there will still be some tweaks and changes along
the way before we bring you the full recommendation to adopt a budget next month. Okay. So um around our beginning fund balance. So just kind of want to talk about how our budget is made up.
Before we can even talk about just overall revenues and expenses, we have to talk about what we have left over. So that's what our beginning fund balance is. That's always your starting point. Then you add your revenues. That's your total res resources. And then I think last month when I was here, um, I
briefly talked about recurring expenses, recurring revenues, and one-time monies and one-time expenses. So, this kind of breaks that down of what our state PPR revenue is. That is ongoing. And then fund balance, it goes away. So, you
can't really you don't want to get into the situation of putting salaries or recurring monies into one-time funds. So, kind of just reviewing there. Um, right now we are currently projected to
use $9 million of our fund balance by the end of this year. Now, I want to give you or yeah, sorry, not this year, next school year, what we're talking about for the budget. Thank you. Um however I do want to caveat that that is
based on very conservative preliminary revenue estimates. So we are making sure that this is hopefully worst case scenario. Okay. So we do know um that we typically have done a
97% budget of personnel salaries and benefits. We did bump that up just a percent just in case we ever get closer to being fully staffed. Um especially with some of the cuts that we've made, we wanted to make sure we were very
being very conservative there. And then we are estimating that our ending fund balance for the 2425 school year to start our beginning fund balance of 2526 will be 22.8 million. And then this is kind of a
overview of all of our different funds. Um I will note um I'm not going to go over each one of these because we're going to kind of break into each of these further into the presentation, but I also want to make sure that you guys note that at the end of each fund description is the number. So that way
you can correlate these um if you ever try to refer back to financial statements or anything like that, it might help kind of with ongoing understanding of what the funds are. And then these are our revenue assumptions. Um so our per pupil revenue
is increasing by 2.9% or $316. However, we are expecting a student growth decrease of half a percent in our operated schools. We do anticipate that charter schools will grow. So overall we will see more
revenue coming into the district, but we'll be passing that on through. So, it ultimately results in a a revenue decrease for us of about $1.9 million. Um, and then the long bill has passed as of
yesterday. It had not when this was submitted. So, um, we can confirm that the PPR or per pupil revenue that we have based this budget on is stable. There was no change. So, the next thing that we're hoping for at this point is
that our enrollment projections are higher than than what we are currently basing the budget on. And then, um, our total revenue, we uh, just to give you kind of a an estimate, I think we talked about this at the last board
meeting that I was at, it's bumped up a little bit. Our projection went from about 154 million up to about 155 million. So that's that's a little move in the right direction. Um and then we're going to move on to our expenditure assumptions. So you'll see
that we have a total budgeted expenditure of 164 million. So that doesn't math well. That is essentially where we get the 9 million that we'll dig into fund balance. Um we do expect an expenditure increase of 2.8%.
We did add the 5.5 million to staffing and we do have where personnel is currently at 82.6% of our budget which is a really good spot of where we want to be um as far as that percentage that we talk about between 80 and 85. We
really want to stay closer to 80 but 85 is that max. Um, and then I would like to kind of just brace ourselves for some potential mid-year budget cuts because we may still need to make some additional cuts. I would really love
once we find out what our actual enrollment is um, to really be able to pivot and make whatever cuts to really reduce that 9 million so we're not taking that big of a hit to our fund balance. Um there is something I kind of want to
circle back and touch base on on the 5.5 million increase to staffing. We have identified that there are a few people um oh actually I should take another step back. We took to VCT um the proposal of the staffing increases and
all of the things that we wanted to do. Um and we proposed removing the MLO3B annual onetime payment. um with doing that which we we had some questions but overall there was really not a lot of push back which surprised
me. Um but there are a few people that are at the very top of their scales that would actually see a pay decrease by taking that away. Um so Paul Anderson and I have been talking about some some ways that we can maybe work work through
that. we've identified the issue and and we'll see what we can come up with to kind of bridge that. Um, all right. So, now this slide's a little counterintuitive. So, this is called a
revenue decrease walkthrough on this slide. And the reason this is a revenue decrease walkthrough is because these are all of the things that bring down our revenue in the general fund, which is the the primary one that holds our fund balance for the overall district.
So the reason that these are a decrease to revenue is because we are allocating more of our revenue to other funds. So while it is a decrease in our general fund, it's an increase in transportation because we've had additional expenses or increased salaries. We'll kind of go
into that as we get to each of these funds, but those top three are revenue allocations to other district funds that the revenue gets shifted to those. And then the fourth one on accurately budgeting our charter school allocation
for special education for ECEA. In the past, we have not necessarily budgeted for the full amount that we passed through to them. So, we are making sure we're tightening up our budgets and making sure we're more accurate. Um, we are losing $1
million in our rate due to being maxed out. And then this is just a revisit of the same 1.9 million in per pupil revenue due to loss of enrollment. So, this kind of gives you all the really big chunks of what that loss of revenue
looks like. And then these I'm I I think for time, unless you guys have questions, we won't go into each of these worksheets. This basically breaks it down by each
different category. We talk about revenue and MLOS's and everything. And it kind of I'm going to kind of skip through these unless you have specific questions or have something that you'd like me to talk about. Um I will just point out on this slide just so you guys
know what the different categories are. Internal services includes central services and education services. Individualized education services includes special education and things like GT and ELLL or English language learners. Um and GT is gifted and
talented. And then internal v vendors are things that we charge internally from departments like transportation facilities and educational technology. And I'm going to just zoom through these. Um another key point once we get to the zones uh we noted which
schools they gained with closing the icon zone. So you will see some changes to their budgets overall because they gained student enrollment based on those schools. Um, and now let's jump to this
one. So, this is kind of going back to the very first thing we talked about full circle about our fund balance assumptions. So, this is where we're estimated uh we know where 2425's beginning fund balance was, which is the first column. And then the second column
is where we are anticipating our fund balance to be at the beginning of this year, which those two equal our 22.8 that was noted originally of what we expect to have at the beginning of the 2526 school year. Last year to this or that current
year to next year, we're anticipating a 3 million fund balance jump as of right now. We do have some potentials for some additional revenue. There's a chance. It's not guaranteed, so I did not factor it into the budget yet. Um that we will
get an additional MLO match payment at the end of this year, so next month. Um there's also current year fund balance. It did not it it was only hit by the 3 million because we had that onetime MLO match money. we received um
over $9 million already this year. So otherwise we would have been in a very similar situation if not worse this year if that hadn't saved us. Um so that's this is not necessarily a new problem. Um and
then the MLO match is covering our CD a CDE audit findings on what we had for the contact audit. So that's also helping to kind of offset where we could be in a much worse situation. All of these next slides, there's three of them. They all have to
do with our assessed value because they're MLO rated. We did conservatively project a 10% increase in assessed value. We do anticipate it will be slightly higher for all three of these which basically what that means um it
doesn't mean we can pay additional salaries we I want to clarify on this slide it means that we can shift or reallocate monies to salaries to alleviate general fund pressure. So, I just want to make sure that that's clear
um in our wording on this slide as well. The rest of these, it's basically just what's on the slide. I don't have a whole lot more to add, so I don't want to take up a lot of extra time. Um a lot of these are kind of tying back to the other areas where we're either
increasing allocations. This particular one, our lease has ended. Um, I don't want to take up too much time, so let me let me just skip to the timeline. So, today, obviously, we're
bringing you the proposed budget as a discussion item for you. Uh, we this will basically kick off the budget hearing for the for the community. Um, and then we will also bring this to DAC next week. Sorry. Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. May. DAC. Yeah, and we did miss an A in
DAC. We apologize. We misspelled that, but it was too late to edit the the slide, so apologies. Um, and then we'll bring this back on June 12th. Um, so that you can take it as an action item and make it formally adopted. This is our traditional budget
calendar that we put in here every year. Um, and then do you guys have any questions? Director Schmidt, I just want to request a meeting as soon as possible so I can understand this just a little bit better. Um, I don't know if y'all have any time, but I'm
going to try and shoot you an email and see if we can't get something set up. Yeah, we can work something out. Thanks, Director Hy. Few questions. I'll try to keep them simple. Um, if we could go back to the third slide there.
Um just so we all know what we're talking about here. Perfect. So that last line there about the estimated ending fund balance of 22.8 million. So that is the end of this current
school year. Okay. Yes. And so with us going it's actually a point that I had written down to make and I must have skipped it in my nervousness. Um happy to help. We we are anticipating that with the 9 million that will actually drop us to
what is under the board's recommended 10% balance. So that that is concerning. That's why we really want to make sure we make changes soon to make sure it doesn't hit that 9 million if our re our enrollment isn't up.
Okay. And on slide number seven, uh, the loss of $1 million in e-ate revenue due to maxing out. I don't understand that one at all. Could you quickly explain? Yeah, I'm going to turn this over to Spencer. So, is um essentially a reimbursement
for anything you spend on technology. So, typically like Wi-Fi access points, that's kind of like the big thing that we use for that. Um and in our construction fund, we pretty much maxed out that reimbursement. Um so for the 2526 school
year, we are not eligible to get any money from that. Um so that's just a loss of revenue for next year, but ideally we would get about 250,000 each year. So where where does that revenue come from? It's I don't know the organization.
It it's a federal program. Okay. This this is the program that initially excuse me Peter Hilts superintendent. This is the program that was initially uh instituted to help schools add internet at all. And up until a couple years ago, we were using it. Lots of districts were using it just to pay for
your internet service provider bill. Well, they've they've taken that list off the menu, but we're still using it for other purposes. So, this is this is the federal government uh supporting uh really it's probably the end of about a
20-year cycle to bring public education to modernize communications and and technology access for public education. And if the program continues, we would be able to just skip a year and then keep going. So, we would potentially be
eligible if the program is still there. And my final question for you was on the uh the MLO um with a projection that the uh assessed value will go up 10%. Is that primarily based on bu con new construction because I just got my new
assessment in and it actually showed us a small decrease. Yeah. So it's it's the net of of both of those things. So, it's new home construction, new commercial construction, any new growth that you have in the area, which we all know we're in a very high growth area, but
then it's kind of taken back a step by any decreases in in value from the last assessment, but this is an assessment year. So, it is anticipated to be net high. And we actually, it was RBC, right, that kind of we have a consultant
that that gave us recommendation that we were safe to to definitely do 10% because it would come in higher. Thank you. And I'm going to make a suggestion that we're going to move this forward for action at the next meeting. And then what I would like the board to do in advance is to email the team with
detailed questions um just to help with the budget because of all the documents in inside. So if there's no objections, we'll go ahead and move this forward for action. Okay. All right. Thank you so much.
All right. Now we are on to policy and procedure review. Y there's just one policy that's being revised. It's GBEC. Um, just to clarify, um, I believe it is if the supervisor
has suspicion of alcohol, they can take certain steps to get some testing. Looks like there was a new paragraph in here about drug testing and that would be at the and it also ties in with any
automobile accidents. Um, so are there any questions about this policy revision? And if there are no objections, we will move this forward for action. We are on to the second
public comment. For anyone who's still here, if you want to give me the list, I'm going to read off names. Now, if your name's not on here, but there's still something you would like to share, we have um the space for that. So what we have is we have and if you're here if
you could go up to this area Stacy Adair, Annne Eastston, Brett Dayberry, John Graham, Jim Walter, Eleanor Skelton. We'll see how many are here and then I'll move down
from there. Cicada Carpenter, Christy Davis, Okay, we will start with Stacy Adair. You want to set the timer, Lynette? Uh, good evening to anyone who's
left. As a public school teacher in a nearby district, I'm proud to stand in support of D49's new policy that organizes sports teams and facilities by biological sex. This policy ensures our student athletes can compete fairly, feel secure, and thrive in their
athletic pursuits. The policy is grounded in a straightforward reality. The biological differences between boys and girls significantly impact athletic performance. Boys on average have physical advantages, strength, and speed that could limit girls opportunities to
succeed if teams were mixed. As a teacher, I see how hard our female students train, pouring their hearts into sports. This policy protects girls ability to compete on a level playing field, earn victories, and chase opportunities like college
scholarships. It's about valuing their effort, and preserving their place in athletics. Beyond competition, this policy prioritizes privacy and safety. Locker rooms and hotel stays during team trips or deeply personal spaces.
Expecting girls to share these spaces with biological males can make them feel uneasy, undermining their confidence. It can also make our girls unsafe, as we have seen by alarming instances in news reports. In my classroom, I work to create an environment where every
student feels supported. This policy extends that care to our athletes, ensuring female students can prepare and compete with dignity and security. I had a telling experience recently that underscores the broad support for this approach. I wore a t-shirt that read,
"Real women are not men." To my surprise, a colleague who identifies as liberal approached me and said they loved my shirt. She confided that she too believes men shouldn't compete in women's sports, highlighting that fairness in athletics transcends
political divides. This moment reinforced my belief that our community, even with diverse views, values protecting women's sports. Please join me in supporting District 49's policy. It's a vital step toward creating a fair, safe, and supportive environment.
Thank you. Next up, we have Annie Eastston. Okay. Brett Dayberry. kind of had to word smith this as I uh figured I'd be speaking before the vote, but uh there are three main points to policy JBA. Shall boys be allowed to
play in girls sports? Shall boy boys be allowed in girls locker rooms? And shall boys be allowed to sleep in the same facilities as girls on road trips? Item number one. Most people have heard of the swimmer Riley Gaines. She raced against a man who calls himself Leah
Thomas. In 2022, Thomas won a national title in the women's division. The year before, he swam as a man and was ranked roughly 450th in the men's division. Also, there's the 2017 under 15year-olds boys
soccer team that trounced the US women's national team. I could give example after example, but I think you see the point. Girl, boys and girls sports is obviously unfair, not to mention potentially
unsafe. Items two and three. Are there any among us who believe that it is okay for a boy to enter a girl's bathroom or locker room? Are there any among us who believe it is okay for a boy to sleep
quote with the girls on an overnight trip? If so, please raise your hand so the rest of us know who you are. In any other setting, this would be considered a criminal act. Why allow it
here? For those of you who on this on this board who voted against the policy, did you consider how many lawsuits you could expect from I rate moms and dads? This could cost the district huge sums of money. As we know, President
Trump signed an executive order acknowledging the existence of only two sexes. If the district had chosen to go against his this EO, this could have amounted to a huge loss of federal funding. Did you want to be responsible
for putting the district in an extremely difficult financial situation? Thanks for the three of you. I've got a question. Um, actually, can you hold that till afterwards because we have I've got somebody that had signed up to speak on the phone right now. She was
here, had to leave. I've got her on the phone now. Can she Well, she'd have to wait till the other people who are here. So, if you can wait until the other people who are here talk, then we can bring that back around. Okay. Thank you.
Okay. Next up, we have John Graham. John Graham. I fill a lot of uh different roles in the community and uh with the school district. former board president as well, parent, etc., business owner. The purpose of the board of education is to improve student
outcomes. The district's purpose is to prepare students for adult life. To do this, you must provide a safe environment for all students that walk in our doors. All means all. The board of education should take into account or at least hear all points of view when
making a decision. I think you've been doing that. Disagreeing with a point of view is not disrespectful and does not diminish anyone. Today we heard a lot of point of views. We hear about God. We hear about science, politics, ideologies, individuals and families,
insults, agreements, and disagreements. Regardless of anyone's point of view, the role you have here is to keep students safe and respect their fundamental right to privacy. Policy can be used to address a situation that has happened or address a situation before
it happens. That's what you're doing here. Trans kids have a right to associate under the Constitution and to choose their identity. They also have a right to be safe. Biological girls and boys have rights too. These rights are
not obregated by anyone else's identity or any other family's point of view. XS chromosomes or XY chromosomes. Biology. The science is settled. Penis bathroom or vagina bathroom. Same with the locker
rooms. Same with the sports. Keep all kids safe. Respect their privacy. And I have to apologize to the staff for keeping you here so long on the days that when I was board president. This is brutal. Thank you all.
Thank you. Um, next up, Jim Walter. Okay. And if Jim Walter is not here, next up will be Eleanor Skelton. Hello, my name is Eleanor Skelton and I am a secondary English teacher in a
neighboring school district. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on agenda items voted on tonight regarding trans students. I am currently in my fifth year of teaching and I have taught in both Texas and Colorado. Every year I have had at least one, if not several
transgender students in my classroom. I try to do everything I can to support all of my students. However, I have seen trans students face targeted, horrific bullying from their peers and even adults in the school communities where I have served. One of my high school students last year was a junior with
unsupportive parents. Every day, she came to school and changed into clothing that matched her identity and did her makeup during first period. When the bell rang for dismissal, she rushed to the bathroom to change back into other clothes and take off her makeup. When the librarian and I found out that she
was using Lysol wipes on her face to remove makeup, we helped her get actual makeup wipes that wouldn't hurt her skin. Can you imagine going to those lengths just to be able to live authentically? I am also non-binary myself. Part of the reason that I moved back to Colorado last year was because
of discrimination that my LGBTQ students and I faced when I helped sponsor a GSA club in Southeast Texas. Policies like those discussed tonight harm both staff and students. I was homeschooled K through 12 within Christian fundamentalism. I was not enrolled in a
public school until I went to college at UCCCs. The church and homeschooled communities I was raised in did not believe in reporting legitimate child abuse in favor of parental rights, enabling parents to raise their children how they believed God wanted, even if they harmed their children
unintentionally. I did not receive mental health services until I was in college. despite severe anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideiation. I wish I had received help before I was in my 20s. I am asking you to consider how rhetoric like this perpetuates harmful stereotypes about gender non-conforming
people. Be better. Choose kindness. Thank you for giving me space to speak today. Thank you. Next up is Cicada Carpenter. Hello. Uh, my name is Cicada Carpenter and I have been a teacher for eight years. Thank you for the opportunity to
speak on policy JBA. I acknowledge this policy has already passed, but I would still like to make my statement in hopes of preventing further harm. This policy greatly simplifies both the simplifies the complicated reality of both gender and sex and it cannot be reinforced in a way that is safe or fair for the
students. I am here to voice my concerns as a teacher and also as an interex individual. I was assigned female at birth but I have had naturally high testosterone levels since puberty as you can see by my beard. I am not a rare case. For every 20 people in this room, one of us will have PCOS, the same
condition as me. Policy JBA insists that biological males have athletic advantages over biological females determined from birth. My high testosterone levels were not present until buprerty and yet by your own admission they would give me an advantage over other biological females. Would you have allowed me to play on the
girls team? If so, this policy is not about fairness. It is about dragging po politics into students lives. If you would not allow students like me to play on the girls team, your policy contradicts itself and must be reworked. I also have deep concerns over how this policy will be enforced. As in cases
like mine, it is not always so easy to determine another's biological sex. How will you ensure that you always sort students into the correct team? Uh birth certificates can be changed. Secondary sex characteristics are not always reliable as in my case. We all agree that physical inspections are a horrible
idea. There is no way to enforce this policy fairly inconsistency with consistently with such sweeping generalizations. Trying will result in a great deal of wasted educator time and funding. As a teacher, I have the best interest of the students at heart. I would hope that you do, too. Please be
kind to our most vulnerable students and reconsider policy JBA. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Is Christy Davis here? She's on the phone. Okay. Yeah. And and bear with me, Brett, because we are
going to let the people who are here in person first just because they're here. Um, what about is it Dom is not here? Okay. Victor Moore, Tony Brown. How about
Zultan Erdos? Hello, good evening. Thank you so re receiving me. I'm kind of a tired. I'm sorry for my accent. My name is Zultan and my nation is Hungarian. Um citizen in this country since 14 years living in
the country 23 years and uh sadly seeing what uh this country's go changes. I'm not here to pointing fingers. I just my opinion and thank you for seeing me and let me talk. Um I didn't printed any paperwork.
I'm sorry. Um I was working when I get the call. So good evening members of the uh school board, parents um and students and coaches. I'm here today to speak up
the fairness in girls sports. Female athletes train, complete and strive for excellence in a system designed to ensure equal opportunity. Yet allowing the biological male into girls athletes undermines his fairness and compromises
um the integrity of competition. Biological males poses undeniable physical ad advantage, greater muscle mass and bone density and speed that cannot be erased by identity alone. When
they either female sports, they take opportunities away from the very athletes these programs were created to support. This is not about exclusion. It is about protecting the rights of female athletes to com uh compete on a level on
playing field. Girls deserve the chance to succeed and based on the dedications, skills and pers per p perance policies must ensure ensure supposed to be ensured that woman sports remain uh
spaces where female athletes can push their limits without unfair competition. I I urge the board to stand firm and defending the fair play and maintaining the competitive environment that truly honored the spirit of women
athletics and also as a Christian. Um all right, sorry. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, so next up we have
Jackson Hoskinson. Good evening. Uh, my name is Satan Jackson and I am the school advocate at Inside Out Youth Services. I'm here to talk to you about your proposed policy, JBA. Actually, I'm I'm here to talk to you about a letter to Chassa that some
of you signed on about banning trans kids from sports. Or or maybe I'm here to talk about the waste of time that you all spent on trying to talk about the Kelly Loving Act that has already passed. Or maybe I'm here because there's so much transphobic language coming out in proposed resolutions from
this board. So, it seems what I'm actually here to talk about today is Director D'vola, Director Schmidt, and Director Thompson, and I'm pretty sure you too, who are continuing to refuse to acknowledge science laws and basic decency and are choosing to use their
seat on this board to fight culture wars that have no place in a board of education. In the past two months, there have been at least four separate instances of members on this board wasting time and district resources to make public attacks on trans people and trans students completely
unnecessarily, begging for attention to be recognized as transphobic across the state. Because of that, nobody here believes that your reasoning is about safety, privacy, um, or fairness. And excuse me, I'm a little I'm a little
tired. Um, I was hoping to have some really inspiring questions that would get you to rethink this position. I'm instead just going to point out why you're hypocritical and transphobic. Director Schmidt, um, I have seen you tonight not approve raises for your staff and not want to include mental
health support for students. How dare you put the district at risk of a financial lawsuit this this large, especially when we're talking about how tight the budget is. Director Dvola, I don't care that you don't like trans people. The your your seat on a school board is not the place to fight that
battle. Colorado protects trans kids. If you don't like that, you can't serve on this board. You're going to break the law. You have broken the law. There's going to be lawsuits. You're putting people at risk. If you have personal problems with trans folks, get out of here. I'll email you mine. Thank you.
Olly, is Olly still here? Hi y'all. Um, so I wrote uh two different public comments for tonight. Uh, now three, as you can see from my very messy handwriting. Uh, so you're going to have to forgive me for any stumbles I may make. Um, but my name is Olly Glesner.
My pronouns are they, them, and I am the communications and advocacy director with Inside Out Youth Services. I want to start by thanking directors Hy and Levier Wright for their opposition to Policy JBA and their opposition to the board's opposition to the Kelly Loving Act. Um, it's really nice to see y'all
taking your position seriously, your responsibility seriously, doing the research, listening to the experts, and listening to the lived experience. So, thank you for what you've done. Um, everyone keeps saying that this is about facts and not feelings. And yet
for three meetings now, we've tried to share facts. Um, and they don't seem to have worked. And the truth is, I've heard a lot of feelings tonight from people who express disgust, fear, concern, and we cannot make decisions
without both feelings and facts. And that's the truth. And that's why I want to share my feelings right now. My feeling is that I am afraid. I am afraid for the young people that we serve. I'm afraid for myself as
a gender expansive person. I'm afraid for my little family that matters more to me than anything else in this world. And I am afraid for these things because of the policies that are passing in schoolboards across this nation like the one passed here tonight. Mostly, I am
afraid because of the national hateful rhetoric that has inspired these policies that is engineered to prey on fear and then to inspire it. It creates a vicious cycle of misunderstanding of of fear of the
unknown, of anger, of confusion, and all of us get hurt in the process. So because you have fed into this rhetoric tonight, Director Schmidt, Dvola, and Thompson, I ask you to please, for the sake of your community,
consider these questions. What are you so afraid of? What about trans children scares you so much? And why, as adults with power and responsibility, hold those children responsible for your fear? Thank you. Thank you.
Is Larry Langston here? Okay, then we have Ivy Lou, Chris Harrell. Uh, good evening everyone. Uh, my name is Chris Herold. I'm a parent of three children, two of which go to
Remington School just down the street. Uh, one will be there in just over a year. Um, and I'm here to speak to Policy JBA. I think even though you've voted on that already, my comments are still relevant. So, across country, there are very very few male to female trans athletes in high school sports.
There are none in D45, D49, and there probably won't be in the near future. I'm concerned that this is being proposed simply for political reasons. It certainly isn't going to help my daughter or keep her safe. There's some very real consequences of this policy, however. It
opens us up to completely unnecessary lawsuits. And that at a time when the district finances are in a concerning place. Worst of all, there is no way to enforce this policy, or at least I'm skeptical of uh plans to enforce this policy without violating the privacy of
students. This will put district staff in an impossible position. National politics and cultural issues are important, but this is Falcon School District 49. I'd like to see the board focus on the education and well-being of our students, including my children. So, to
your credit, when the issue of inconsistent compensation of district staff was brought up just a couple of weeks ago, most of the board agreed that was a problem that needed a solution. I'd like to see more of that. My kids school depends on Title One funding and will be in trouble if the Department of
Education is abolished. Why hasn't the board done more to prepare for that? Many teachers in district 11 are are dissatisfied with their leadership. What is the board doing to pull those teachers over? I know that the word trans is effective at generating political
clout. But I'd like to see the board to do the hard work of tackling real issues in our district. Thank you. Thank you. Is Spencer Reed here? Okay, then I just have to get Oh, okay. Hello. Last name was incorrect. My
name is Spencer Nelson and I'm here to speak on behalf of my uh younger trans siblings. So regarding policy JBA, not only does passing and implementing this policy not solve the
common problems that people voice their concerns over, it has it will establish a precedent of discrimination and harassment and bullying for students. Not only trans students, but all
students who don't fit the traditional boundaries of what students should look like. Everyone is going to feel this, not just the trans students who can't play anymore. Any any girl who looks too masculine is going to have her body
scrutinized and looked at in disgusting ways by everyone. And I cannot think of something more horrible to go through in high school than that. All these students are trying to do is just play sports, have fun, socialize, and just be
kids. And now they have to worry about their coaches, other people's parents, and their just everyone around them looking at them way too deeply. And that's a real shame. I was really hoping better. Thank
you. Thank you. And I do need a board consensus because on our policy typically to speak, you have to be here when you're called. And so we would need uh another exception
tonight if we want to allow someone to call in to have a comment. Okay. No, if you're here that that's definitely What is your name, sir? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Yeah. What is your name?
Okay. If you would like to come up and speak, that's fine because you're here. So, yeah. Okay. Is she? Yep. Okay. All we have to check is Yeah. What's your name? Okay, bear with us. We've had a lot of changes. Yeah, no problem. Take your
time. And just as an FYI, the uh the inhouse sign up form or check-in form does stop at 6:15 so that we can give Lynette some time to um sort through and put everybody in order. But there was a
discussion at one point of making it available again. And I don't think we did that. Making what available again? The check-in. Um well, we had online sign up. they there was telephone assistance for that, but she does have to have time
to sort the people who sign in and she has to get ready for the meeting. So, yes, I understand and that's why we take it down at 6:15. But at some point during this meeting tonight, there was a discussion about uh the number of people and not everybody getting a chance to um
check in and so there was conversation about about us taking a recess and making it available after the meeting. But since we are getting kind of late and I want to respect the community's time and their ability to speak so we have two people who are here that
would like and and like I said just bear with us. We're working through a lot of glitches with the online signup. No criticism for that. Yeah. Okay. Go ahead. Okay. Thank you. Uh good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Angie Reer and I'm the executive director of
Inside Out Youth Services. Originally, I had planned to ask you to oppose policy JBA, preserving fairness and safety in sports due to its harmful consequence. However, now that the vote is done, I want to shift the focus. I'm asking you to protect all cisgender female
athletes, not just those who match a narrow idea of what a cisgender female athlete should look like. Cisgender women like me who don't present in traditionally feminine ways and who are often misgendered such as I was tonight coming up to the podium are increasingly
being harassed because of policies like JBA. Recently while washing my hands in a public restroom a woman looked at me, turned around and told staff that a man was in the women's room. She then came back, demanded to know which stall I had used and went to great lengths to avoid
it as if my presence had contaminated the space. These things are happening here in our community because of policies like this. Cisgender women and girls are now being policed and scrutinized in public spaces. Some are even asking more feminine presenting
friends to escort them to the restroom for safety. So I ask you, how will you responsibly implement this policy? How will you ensure that all cisgender girls can play sports without fear of being questioned, harassed, or forced to prove their sex? This is not an effort to
protect all women and girls. It's an effort to protect it's it's an effort to protect all feminine presenting women and girls and to prophesize what a cisgender female should aspire to look like. Tomboy, athletic girls, and non-traditional women exist and they are
confident in who they are. They deserve dignity and respect. I'm lucky to have a strong support system, but those young girls out there, they need to know that they can count on you to let them show up as their full selves without fear of being punished for not fitting someone
else's ideology. Thank you. Thank you. And I would like to also formally apologize for misgendering you. That was not intentional. Okay, you want to come up? Hi. So, my name is Devin Chetron. I use she
her pronouns. Um, I am the transgender buggy woman that you guys apparently don't like. Um, I would just like to say that your attorney claimed that you guys wouldn't face any major issues with lawsuits. State law is still state law.
People could still sue you for discrimination. You guys might be avoiding one type of lawsuit. You're not avoiding the civil rights lawsuit, but it's 100% coming. None of you guys thought about that when you voted on it except for those two. And I want to thank you personally. You guys actually
did your job. You did your research and you care about your students. The other ones though, I don't think that they do. I honestly stand by that. They are more concerned about their politics, personal politics, than paying attention to their
students. I was a transgender kid. I got treated like trash because I cross-dressed. You guys are the people that defend that. You guys aren't helping trans kids. You're not helping sis girls. You're not helping anybody but yourselves. The whole idea of
transgender girls being a danger to other girls is so stupid because you can look at it from the perspective of you can go based on individuals. You don't have to do a blanket ban on all of them. That's not helping anyone. I'm not like every other trans person. I'm not super
masculine. I'm not super buff. Okay? I have friends that are though. I'm not like them. Not all of us are the same. We're not a monolith. I don't think you guys understand that though. So, I want you to hear that because you haven't heard that enough obviously. Okay. On
top of that, regarding girls restrooms, like one person here said before, and changing rooms, how is that going to be a danger? What are the statistics that say that it's a danger? What are the statistics that say that kids are getting hurt in the bathroom when a trans girl is changing with them? Why
don't you go and focus on changing infrastructure? Change the way that the dressing rooms are set up and change the way that the bathrooms are set up. I did a paper on this. It's not difficult. I'm 24 and I know this. Thank you. And last question for the board. Once
again, if we don't have someone here in person, the policy is they have to be here when they are called. So just director Schmidt, I will say that already tonight we allowed one speaker to speak for another speaker and board
members can phone in. So speakers should be able to too. Director Ohio. So the one person who spoke um for another person, she was here in person and um just delivering a a message that uh on behalf of somebody
else and she used her two minutes to do that and she's allowed to do that. Um but I don't like the precedent of um allowing people to to phone it in because um we still have an opportunity people can um can send us their
comments. Um and uh I I think that we would start stretching these meetings out uh pretty far once we open the door to that. Director Levier Wright, anything? I agree. And it is now 10:43. So if they
couldn't be here at 6:15, they sure as heck could have gotten here by 10:43 if they wanted to speak. Then stay. We all stayed. But either way, follow policy. Director Dvola. Uh I I don't foresee us
having an extensive amount of meetings where we have 40 plus people signing up to speak. So I would like to make an exception for this particular meeting just because normal board meetings we usually don't run into this issue.
Um if we do I would like to specify that it is an exception because the rest of the people here stayed. they stayed to have their voices heard. So, because we have had to bend a lot of rules tonight, I'm in favor of allowing it this one
time, but I really don't want to see that happen again out of respect for the people who stayed here to have their voices heard. Miss Miss Thompson, if you don't mind, I I will mildly object and suggest that creating an exception could
create a precedent that could create problems for us. uh we're in limited public forum. There's lots of parameters around that and potentially in this case you could take a written comment and u and that might be suitable
here. Okay. Well, in that case, I'm going to defer to our legal counsel because that's what we pay him for. And is there anything in miscellaneous? Okay, we are adjourned at 10:45 p.m.