Are you up there? I was just like No worries. Thanks for bringing it back. Is there any I'm looking for Right. I'll I'll start it off. Good evening everyone. Uh board of
education. I am David Nancer, director of communications for school district 49. Uh we're going to do uh an impromptu fantastic 49 for you all tonight. It is our pleasure to bring this to you tonight um with a little uh uh information a little less than we would
otherwise be prepared. So, we appreciate your flexibility uh as we honor a couple of very uh very well-honored recipients here for the fantastic 49 uh honor here tonight. And so, leading this presentation for us tonight will be Mr.
Chris Levi and Amy Willis from Odyssey Elementary School. and I believe that they are soon prepared to step up and tell us about our fantastic honores tonight and we will follow up after our presentation with um a few more details about what comes next. So with your
indulgence I will welcome Chris and Amy to the microphone. Good evening. Um, we are here tonight to take a moment to recognize two incredible fathers who mean so much to our Odyssey Elementary School community. Behind the scenes of so many successful
events, celebrations, and even unexpected moments, these gentlemen are there. while their wives play integral pro parts in our building, leading PTA events, organizing unforgettable experiences like bringing the zoo to our
school, running safety town, setting up stations at field day, and even helping rescue a raccoon from a trash can when duty called. These dads are right beside them, supporting in every way possible. They show up,
they pitch in, they step forward without hesitation. Whether it's lifting, building, organizing, troubleshooting, or simply being a steady, positive presence, they go above and beyond for our students and staff. Our school is stronger because of families like
theirs. We are grateful not only for what they do, but for the spirit of partner they bring to our building. So tonight, we say thank you. Thank you for your time, your energy, your flexibility, and your unwavering support. we truly
couldn't do what we do without you. >> So, Mrs. Willis really did give um just a great explanation of what Kevin and Phil bring to our school community. And I feel like like within there, there truly does embody 48 great reasons that uh Odyssey is so thankful for Kevin and
Phil. And she hinted at that 49th that I want to go into a little bit more depth. Um, so reason number 49 that Kevin and Phil are fantastic for Odyssey Elementary raccoon. So let me set this scene. It is right before school dismissal and at a lot of our elementary
schools there is a garbage can right outside the front door and we get reports of a rustling from this garbage can. We're like, is there something in there? What is going on? Is it a stray cat? Is it a dog? Um, no. It is a raccoon. And so we run dismissal. We
send out 365 kids through our front door to be dismissed. We're managing parents. We're telling teenagers, "No, you can't throw away your energy drink right now. This garbage can is unattended." We don't have a plan for what to do. And
so, as we're pondering how to get this wounded, scared, frightened raccoon out of the garbage and make sure we don't end up wounded, scared, and frightened in the process. Uh, Mrs. Pella mentions, "Well, I could call Kevin and Kevin could help save the day. And Kevin and
Phil certainly show up." And they do. And so by this time, it is night. Our raccoon is even more scared than you would think it would be. And yet, we find a way to remove this garbage can, tip it out, get the raccoon into a cage,
and off it goes to be released into the wild to resume the rest of its good life while we get to resume the rest of our good life at Odyssey Elementary. So, thank you so much to Phil Johnson, to Kevin Pello for or for or 48 amazing things that they do and a truly fantastic 49th. That's kind of the
capstone of our experience with them at our school. Thank you very much. >> Would either of you like to comment? >> Uh, yes. Thanks for having us tonight and thank you to the the staff there for for recognizing us. So truly, I don't I don't think the credit belongs to us.
The the staff there, the teachers at Odyssey, they're fantastic and and really we're just too good listeners that do what we're told and go where we're told. Um our wives Stevie and Sam running the PTA. Um they do all the the hard work and we're there just being the
muscle, moving the things. But we really do appreciate the recognition and the tonight. >> Yep. I'd say the same stuff. It's great. great school, great people, great teachers, staff, you know, everyone's smiling, having a great time. So, yeah,
we just are privileged enough to be able to be a little small part of that. And, you know, hopefully here in the next little bit, we'll pass kindergarten because I've been there like five years, so I think I'm on a permanent retention now. So, we'll just keep rolling through it until, you know, we get the next task and duty. So, yeah, like Phil said,
thank you to all of our support systems, our wives, and things like that because they're the real reason that we're up here. So, thank you guys. So, I actually plug I was actually going to comment um that
you're doing much more than you realize because you're showing up and showing up you're being a role model to all of our young men in that school and our boys about how to show up um for your children as an adult and and how to be
present and and to be a positive positive influence and not only your own children but the other children who see you there every day that impacts them. It impacts their perception of what it can mean to be a good man and a good
father and someone who shows up for their community and is involved. And so thank you for stepping up and taking on that and being that role model. And we have many many fathers who do many amazing things. Um and having knowing
that some can take on on the piece of being present at a part of the day when others have to be at work also makes a difference because different jobs require different time commitments in different places. And so when we all work together as a community to demonstrate to our children what it can
mean and how to be there and be a part of it and be a positive change, that's life-changing for a lot of kids, not just your own. And so, thank you for helping to set that example and be that role model in our community. And thank you very much for allowing us
to uh share this great presentation with you here tonight, albeit a little bit uh different than we typically would. Before we go, I would just also like to say with the Fantastic 49 honor, um our honores receive a gift from one of our generous sponsors. So uh we want to
ensure that that continues. We fulfill our obligation there. So we will continue to work on that including a plaque that we will be able to present to our honores tonight. We will get on that and ensure that those end up exactly where they need to be. Friends, thank you very much for your patience
and grace. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay, it's now 6:31 and I'm going to call our meeting to order. May I have a roll call, please? >> Kyle, >> here. >> Olivia Wright >> here. >> Schmidt here. >> Thompson here.
>> Withers here. >> Please stand and join us in the pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all. >> We're on to item 3.1, approval of agenda. May I get a motion to approve the agenda? Um, I have a point of information, please. Yes. >> During discussion item 9.1, are we discussing discussing each policy
individually or do we need to specify which policies we would like to discuss and also should that be mentioned here or at the time of discussion? Um, at the point of the policy and procedure review, you can speak to any
of the policies included in that item. Thank you. I move to approve the agenda as presented. >> Second. >> It's moved and seconded. Any discussion? >> Hearing none a vote, please.
>> Hyle >> I. >> Levia right >> I. >> Schmidt >> I. >> Thompson >> I. >> Withers. >> I. >> Motion carries. We're on to public comment. So our guidelines are 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 and 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 board members or the superintendent are
prohibited. Each speaker is limited to two minutes. During this first open forum, those two minutes must be on an agenda item. If you speak to an agenda item and then shift, you'll receive one warning. And after that, your time will end and any remaining time you had, you
will be granted during the second open forum where you may discuss any any item that you would like to bring to the district's attention. The board will not respond during the open forum, but may assign follow-up action to the superintendent. And if you believe a policy isn't violated, you may use the
stakeholder grievance process to resolve those concerns, which can may culminate in a formal appeal to the board. Thank you for participating. Our first speaker tonight, and do you want to get our clock set
is Stephen Swanson. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Steven Swanson. I'm an 18-year veteran teacher here, a district resident, and proud parent of two D49 students. I'm here tonight because the proposed cuts to computer science pathway at San Creek aren't just a loss
of a classroom. They are a strategic and fiscal mistake for this district. First, let's talk about pure numbers. My program is career technical education reimburseable. Because of how state and federal funding works, the net cost of this program to the district is actually minimal. Up to 100% of my salary can be
reimbursed by the state. This only works if my high enrollment introductory classes are balanced out by small advanced sections to ensure that we meet state class ratio requirements. If the goal is significant savings, cutting a self- sustaining future ready program is not the answer. Second, this pathway is
a massive value ad for our families. We currently offer college credit through UCCCs and as I found out December 9th from Shawn Norman, we can also offer credit at Pikes Peak State College. both of which can boost our school's post-secary workforce readiness scores which directly affect our school
performance framework scores from the state. I do not want San Creek to drop into improvement because there's a lack of classes that improve our scores. But more importantly, I provide accessibility unlike a college instructor in a concurrent enrollment course. I am a trained educator who knows how to modify complex computer
science curriculum for students with IEPs and 504s. For some of our most vulnerable students, my classroom may be the only place they can access high level technical training. If you cut this program, you aren't cutting a class. You are closing a door on students who need us the most. To
paraphrase Hattie Partovi, computer science is foundational literacy and belongs to the public school just like algebra or biology. Finally, if enrollment in the upper level classes is the primary concern, we can cause those classes and fill my schedule with engineering sections, something I already teach. Um, we know that the
engineering pathway at Sand Creek is a draw. Let's not weaken its impact. Also, do not let Sand Creek become the school that steps backward in time while programs in the rest of the world leap forward. I'm asking you tonight to reinvest in San Creek. Keep the computer science pathway open. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Luna Vejo. All right. My name is Luna Vallejo and I am a student that goes to San Creek High School and I am enrolled within the STEM pathways courses. I take both
engineering and manufacturing classes and I wanted to address the board because of the issue with Mr. Swanson. As students, we understand that hard decisions have to be made and our goal in coming here is to be heard and show how deeply removing Swanson will affect
us. Sorry. I personally have not been taught by Mr. Swanson yet. I'm still here speaking on his behalf because the interactions that I have had with him were really positive and showed me that he was someone that I could trust. He always helped me whenever I felt like needed it and he also made me feel welcomed in the school and within the
program. After attending a meeting in which this topic was being discussed, it felt clear to me that people were underestimating the amount that students would be impacted by him leaving it because it's not just the kids in his highest classes that are being affected or just the kids in his intro classes.
It's everyone. Everyone in the STEM pathways, everyone in that he greets in the hallways, everyone. So getting rid of Mr. Swanson would mean getting rid of a great person and a great educator. And this program means so much to me. And I know there are others who feel the same because we are here and we are here
fighting for it. I'm proud of the time and effort I put into helping this program go. So it's disheartening to know that it could be cut by a third right now or soon. When I talk about Sand Creek, it's mostly about how special this is to me. So it's easy to see numbers, but I hope that hearing from a student's perspective will help
you understand how this will affect us. I personally have given a lot of tours to younger students, people who are entering San Creek that are interested in joining uh the these courses and it's so wonderful to see their eyes light up whenever we mention computer science and it's just sad to know that in the future
that's not going to happen anymore. So, I implore you to think about the students in the program who will no longer be able to take a class they love with the teacher who supports them and future students who won't even get the opportunity to have the experiences and just the rest of us because whether it's just a couple of students that are affected or everybody in the school, it
matters and that Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Jack Ruiz. Good evening. My name is Jack Reese and I'm a junior at San Creek High School that is taking all three courses of the STEM program which is engineering,
manufacturing, and computer science. I have right here four uh petitions or signed petitions with about 111 signed names. I am here on behalf of uh
Steven Swanson because he is a very pardon me he is a very I'm glad to have him as a teacher. He has helped me through all three years of
my life or of high school life. Even though I've had him for only sophomore year, he has helped me through freshman, sophomore, and junior year. I I have felt like I could ask him
questions without feeling like I'm not smart. He's able to help me in a way that is honest. He helps me in a way that makes me feel better about myself. Even
if I don't know the subject and even out of school work, he helps me just be a better person. I enjoy his company. I enjoy his teaching style and I enjoy his classes.
Uh, I understand that there may be some budget cuts that can't change, but I do ask that if computer science goes away, please find a way to um,
keep them with us. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Jameson Wilson. Hello members of the board. My name is Jameson Wilson. I am a junior at San Creek High School. Uh I'm here today along with many of my fellow students to
support Mr. Swanson and the goal of keeping him. Um Mr. Swanson has inspired countless students to pursue careers in computer science, uh cyber security, and even engineering. you know, pushing them through courses that he thinks will help
aid them in future careers. Um, even outside of that, in his club, Cyber Patriot, that he sponsors, you know, there are so many things that he teaches that are so important for new people to know. You know, cyber security
and just computer science in general is very, very important in a growing technological world. and Steven Swanson helps to push those programs and teach people um that it's not all just ones and zeros and it's a lot easier than you
think. Outside of that, uh Mr. Swanson is someone who students trust. He's a resource for students who need someone to talk to, who needs who need guidance or who just need an adult who listens. In a school of hundreds of students, finding a teacher who makes you feel seen and supported isn't common. and
losing that matters more than any budget spreadsheet can show. Many of the um yeah see Mr. Swanson is my favorite teacher that teaches at S Creek High School. He is amazing. He's a resource for many many students and even
like just inside of link. He does so much for this school that happens just outside of the classroom and many students that haven't even taken his classes respect him and enjoy his company. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Aaron Kennedy. Good evening, Madame President, board members, and Superintendent Hilts. My name is Aaron Kennedy. I'm a parent of two Stson students speaking under agenda
item 9.2, expense reduction, and its relationship to the dual language immersion program. We cannot begin to discuss expense reduction without addressing DLI in the $2 million DODA grant district 49 received to fund it.
This grant was requested and awarded in 2022 for a 5-year period to run through May 31st, 2027. Per the language directly from the funding opportunity for this grant, any local education agency awarded a grant under this announcement must use the funds to
support programs that can be continued beyond the grant period. Yet, families are being told DLI is ending a full year early. That's awfully concerning. If DI is ending before the grant period ends, the public deserves clear answers. Was DODA notified? Was there written
approval? Are there remaining funds? The public has no idea. Families chose DLI as a long-term pathway towards biiteracy. Kids have invested years building language skills, confidence, and community. Ending DI midstream is not simply an expense reduction. It's a
breach of trust, and it creates predictable harm to our children. Whether that harm is minimized or multiplied is up to all of you. Now, a few days ago, I submitted a core request for records such as the notice of the award, grant agreement, budget to actual spending. Uh, I'm going to get all of
it. Point being, the public needs this information, too. So, tonight I'm asking the board to do three things. Order prompt rolling production of the award documents, approved budget, budget to actuals, and ODA communications. require a public presentation immediately of
spending to date the unspent balance and the plan through May 31st of 2027 and then do the most important thing. Do not summarily end DLI. Doing nothing to preserve the program or help affected families. That's not an option. either
sustain DLI through the grant period by fixing staffing and training or present a funded written alternative that preserves the pathways for these students and protects their progress. These aren't line items. >> Thank you, sir. >> These are children
consequences of your mistakes. >> Our next speaker is Katie Cal. Good evening. My name is Kate Call. I'm a parent in this district. I'm here tonight with a group of parents to speak about the closure of the dual language
immersion program. I'm holding here over 50 signatures of parents that are in support of continuing this program. Um I uh these children have worked hard. You know, they year after year to learn Spanish. They do what we ask all
children to do in school. They committed, they practiced, they struggled through difficult material, and they made real progress. They were building a skill that benefits them academically, socially, and professionally for the rest of their lives. And now the program's gone, and
they're being left with nothing. No transition plan, no continuation option, no Spanish club, enrichment class, not even a small way to keep Spanish alive in the community. Um, that's discouraging and honestly it sends the wrong message. It tells students that their dedication doesn't matter and that
years of effort can simply be erased. I understand programs can be difficult to sustain. But I'm asking the board to consider providing something for these students, something realistic and achievable, an afterchool Spanish club, advanced Spanish enrichment group, even bilingual morning announcements or
schoolwide Spanish opportunities. These are small steps, but they would make a difference. If we value bilingualism, we have to show it. These students deserve a pathway forward, not just a dead end. I urge you to revisit this decision and commit to providing meaningful Spanish
support for the students affected. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Anthony Meyer. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Anthony Meyer and I'm an honors student at Horizon Middle School. Speaking on behalf of the Horizon Middle
School steam and CTE programs, as well as on the behalf of my teacher, Mr. Young. Programs at Horizon taught by Mr. Young teach students about aeronautics, space, alternative energy sources, and caring for our environment. If Mr. Young is terminated, his programs will be cut
as well. This limits the opportunities for students at Horizon. On this wall right here, there are rocks that share the core values of District 49. One of them says, "Offer exceptional choices." If Mr. Young and his programs are gone,
this will eliminate those choices and will completely shatter the trust that students and staff have with the district. How is District 49 the best choice to learn, work, and lead? If students aren't able to learn and Mr. Mr. Young isn't able to work. With this, I urge
you to prevent the termination of Mr. Young at Horizon Middle School. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you. Our next speaker is Tatum Bis. Hello, my name is Tatum Bis. I am a student at Horizon Middle School and I
am here to speak on behalf of the teacher, Mr. Young. Um so he is a great teacher who for many years has worked at Horizon and made them money and he has always been such
of a great teacher to teach student to give students the opportunity to learn how to garden, how to um learn um CAD, laser cutting and several other interesting things that students will
need to learn to be able if they want to um if they want to learn things other than just core values such as math, science, social studies, and reading. He if they fire Mr. young and that will
cause an outrage in several students and it will make them want to talk about they will be talking about it more often and then they will tell their parents and the retaliation the district will fe
they will get from all the students and the parents that loved the teacher would be very catastrophic for the district. They would lose several they would in many ways they would lose money but they
would also they would make more money but they would the go the district would lose money because this teacher he helps the school so much to make money and makes more students want to join the school just for those interesting
classes. My friend he joined Horizon Middle School just because he heard of that teacher. He moved from Falcon to Horizon Middle School because of Mr. Mr. Young and that has made the district more money. And my conclusion, just
please do not fire Mr. Young with the retaliation the district will get is going to be very backlashing. And thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Nicolo Garceli Baitman.
Good evening. I am Nicolos Goselli Baitman, a freshman at S Creek High School. I have asked and I am asking this board again to put students, teachers, and their programs first. Put us first by stopping the cuts towards teachers and student programs. I want
the people who caused this financial natural disaster to look deeper into other areas. I want to stop being punished for the school district mismanagement by administration. Teaching isn't a popularity contest. is hard work. It is about giving students
the best education and what they need to succeed in life. Mrs. Swanson is a teacher who puts his heart and soul into his students. Tonight, you have the opportunity to make a motion to amend the teaching and program cuts and not remove Mr. Swinson and the computer
science programs from the agency cuts. Based on my research, he is CTE funded. The district receives state money for his for him and his his for his programs. Cutting his programs does not make
sense. Again, you have the opportunity to amend and do what is right for the students. After all, isn't education about prioritizing students and meeting our needs? Sincerely, Nicholas Garcelli Baitman. >> Thank you.
Our next speaker is Samantha Bryant. Hello, my name is Samantha Bryant and I'm speaking on behalf of Steven Swanson from San Creek High School. Um, thank you for the opportunity to speak in this meeting. It really means a lot to me to be able to talk about such an important
thing that I value so much. Um for the topic of computer science in particular, um where human evolution is going is drifting towards technology. And I think that it is very important that computer science stays so that the younger
generations can have the experience necessary in order to continue on into the careers that include computer science or any kind of programming or 3D modeling that engineering, computer science and cyber security could all be
important to. Um there is a lot of skills that can be learned from computer science mainly problem solving skills. There are um it's not very costly. We already have all of the computers and websites that
are necessary in order to continue this program. And what would be done with those computers and robots and all of this stuff that was already brought into Sand Creek in order for this to be a thing? I think that computer science is
just a very important program to keep around and um a lot of jobs are rooted towards this area. So if we could keep Steven Swanson in the school, he's one of the only teachers who are able to
teach that at San Creek High School. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Nicodemus Torres. Uh good evening. Today I will be speaking for Mr. Swanson and discussing
about how we should keep the computer science for Sand Creek High School. Uh so to start I will talk about how he has helped me a lot. I don't think that there's anybody at Sand Creek who
doesn't like him. And so removing him won't just be taking away class, but it'll also just be taking a part of Sand Creek. Um as stated earlier um technology is the future and if we get rid of computer
science we will we could possibly uh set Colorado back if people because for example me I want to pursue a career in technology
and so if we get rid this class then me and other students may lose their opportunity to pursue pursue in different jobs and such classes like computer science can help students earn
$100,000 a year. Same thing with cyber security which is what Mr. Swanson um holds. Um, another reason why I think that we should keep him is because the only
reason why I went to Sand Creek is to once again pursue an education in computer science. And so if you guys take away this class, then I might uh lose any hope for any jobs that I
actually want that I want to experience. And yeah, I think that overall Getting rid of computer science just will not be good for the future of Colorado. Thank you. >> Thank you.
Our final speaker is Ty Spalding. >> Hello, my name is Ty Spalding. Um, I'm a junior at San Creek High School and I've in the third year of both manufacturing and engineering pathways. Mr. Swanson is an amazing teacher. I had him my first
year uh in engineering and if it wasn't to him, I probably would have not pursued that path that I chose to go down. While I have not taken his computer science classes, I know that many kids have that need those classes
in order to pursue sorry pursue their dream jobs. Without this, they will not be able to get the necessary education they need to pursue college degrees to get those jobs, meaning that they are not able to get what they want. I feel
like this is unfair to those students that really want to do that. And >> yeah, thank you. >> Thank you. So, we'll have um an opportunity to
address some of that when we get to item 7.4, which I believe is where they were speaking. I think that would be the most appropriate time to have comment. Did you want to say peace? Um yep, probably both, right? Um because one of them is a vote. So, um but then so our next item
is our consent agenda. Does anyone have anything to be pulled from the consent agenda? Okay. Hearing none, then may I have a motion for the consent agenda? >> I move to accept consent agenda items as
presented. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion hearing? None. A vote, please. >> H >> I Wright >> I. >> Schmidt >> I. >> Thompson. >> I. >> Withers. >> I.
>> Motion passes. We're on to our updates and our first update is the superintendent update. >> So, I'm going to jump around a little bit um tonight and you'll you'll hear even some echoes of things that you already heard from speakers uh and especially students tonight. Um, one of
the uh, strangest and most enjoyable things that I've experienced as a superintendent, even as as a teacher, um, was the the phabbotomy mass blood draw at S Creek High School. And that was a fantastic experience. It was it
was very impressive to me and I I give huge credit to not only the students that are pursuing that certification, um, not only to that principal, Amy Sanchez Martinez, and the support she gives to Mr. Jurgger as the lead teacher there. Um we had a board member come and
have blood drawn. A superintendent came and had blood drawn. Other the zone superintendent came. Teachers came on their breaks. Other educators and and staff members came. But most importantly, hundreds of peers came because they wanted to help their their friends who were pursuing uh that
national phabbotomy certification. They have to have 30 blood draws to do that. And so I think the same kind of passion that you're hearing from these very articulate students tonight was was visible in that room. And we could see how the the power of a of a national
certification and the preparation that that gives students to to walk into jobs was was just obvious in that room. Uh we had good media coverage locally which is always great uh and does support enrollment. One of the reporters, uh, shout out to Carolyn from Fox 21, even
got her blood drawn on camera. She wanted to do it live, but too much pressure and we agree with that. Um, but but she did and and and included that in her story. And so we really appreciate that. I think it's just a great example of why um any reduction in any of these
programs is painful. And it it puts us in a position of having to identify the programs that are really drawing and really uh lighting students up. And so um without disparaging other programs, that was a celebration seeing what was going on there. And you've you've heard us talk in other times in other places
about our construction or culinary programs or uh uh other of our developmental CTE programs. U they are very powerful and and very compelling in a totally different environment and grade level. Um, I was very very excited
that students from our Peak Learning Center, uh, the Peak program, uh, under the direction of Karen Sandage, they went down to the Pikes Peak Center and saw a production of Peter and the Wolf, which I thought was fantastic. Um, those are are students who are finding a way
back to the more conventional educational experience and being out in the community. They absolutely at peak, they really believe in the classroom of the community. And so, uh, I thought it was It was just very fun to see them dressed up and going off to hear that great
musical. Um, in addition to the things that I'm reporting to you, I would encourage the board if you are not already uh spending time on our district Facebook page and on our zone Facebook pages um as well as their Tik Tok feed and their their Instagram feed. I would
encourage you to go and watch the testimonials that they are producing from our students. And so some of the students from student board, many that you have not met before are featured talking about the things that that drew them into district 49 or specifically to
the school that they attend. And I really want to I want to give great credit to Lauren Stewart and Victoria Vescus and Krie Muran in the Sand Creek Power Zone and Falcon Zone respectively. They have been uh really attentive to
the voice of the students and what they might want to say to the community. And so, um, big shout out. And then I, finally, I I think I would be remiss. We're we're in the middle of a very, very difficult set of decisions. All of them have trade-offs. We're examining things that are that are hard to even
examine. And I thought that the the presentation, the the the passion, and the articulation tonight for multiple programs was really impressive. and and so um I know that the board will give great consideration to what you heard especially from our students tonight. Uh
I think they represented themselves and especially they represented their families and their teachers very well in in making clear arguments, passionate arguments, logical arguments. Uh even if those arguments don't prevail in the main, they are still well presented,
well made. And so for me that is a spotlight. I really appreciate each of you students. It's It's clear some of you would have been more comfortable not coming tonight and yet you came and you spoke on behalf of something that you really care about and I appreciate that and I think I think we should all
recognize and honor that >> and we're ready for our student board update. >> Yeah, I am here. I did not think I would be. I was in informed just a few hours ago. I get an email, hey Nikos, do you want to replace Genon Hle who's my dear friend? And I'm like, "What happened
again?" And that's my first thought. I text him. He was just watching his siblings. So, luckily Gan and Hinkle's okay. I am glad to be here though for what could be my last time on the day as as far as I'm aware. But it's okay because I'm pretty sure I still have like the record for the most board meetings attended by member of SBOR.
I'll have to check that. But SBOR is going smoothly. We will be soon heading out to elementary and middle schools because we're trying to talk to all of our younger students in the district as well. As we saw today, student voice is
strong and it doesn't even just apply at the high school level. We had a couple of middle school students come up here today and talk. So, we want to make sure that we're truly able to encompass the opinions of every age of students that we have within our district. Also, in our last meeting, we were looking at our
own SPUR bylaws. Just refining our own stuff. That's not that fun. Now that I've talked about SPUR, though, I get to talk about my own school, which is Pikes Beakerly College SSAE. Our robotics is going strong as usual, seeing as we don't have any sports, but our robots
are crazy and they fight each other instead of humans. Uh, we had a robotics video posted specifically talking about our CTE program. You can hear me in the beginning of that if you pay nice close attention. Mr. Els was also talking about other videos that have been on the pages and I was in a different one of
those. And I won't lie, I'm starting to feel really famous. I might need to go into witness protection. I've I've been in too many of these videos. People have been at my home. The paparazzi, it's crazy. Uh student council as well at my school. I got to give a shout out to I think that camera. Student council.
Yeah. Uh I'm the president of our student council at Pikes Speaker Early College and we have been busy. Uh we're getting our open mic night planned that's going to be in March. You don't have to be from our school to attend, I don't think, unless you have to sign a form or something. So that'll be a fun event. We're going to have lots of
students displaying the talents that they possess. So I'm excited to see that. We also have, of course, prom coming up and 45 million other events that happen at the end of the school year. And that is all from me. >> Thank you. And Angie, do you have
anything to add? >> Um, Banning. Okay. Um, Banning is officially doing their first real actual musical with the stage that we got last year. We're doing Little Shop of Horrors. Um, we're also doing an open mic with our new thespian
officers that we have in that program. Um, I think we're also introducing from Patriot. I think we're doing their culinary program and adding that along with like and already on to the C TE programs we
already have. Um, but mainly just nothing really except for those big added things other than that we're just doing regular again events that happen at the end of the year, the 40 million as that guy said.
So yeah, it it's going pretty well. Um, but the the musical is going to be fun. I think we're gonna have a lot of fun with that one. >> Thank you. So, we're now on to board updates. And Holly, would you like to go
first? >> I'll start it off. Happy Black History Month, everybody. Um, first and foremost, I feel like January was like five years long. Um, and we are in the thick of flu season. It rampage through my house. So, this is just a reminder.
Take your vitamin C. Please wash your hands especially after you leave here. Okay. Um so I've been going through a lot of parent teacher conferences which is happening in full swing this week. Um at my daughter's school or at Horizon
they are doing this really fun recycling art project installation and they're actually making these like chahulie uh chandeliers and I think that's really neat especially for middle school. um with recycled materials. Um I was
interviewed by Max also on the student board of representatives for Studio 809 podcast and that was fun and we talked about cell phone policies and AI and you know just having great conversations.
Um, I spent most of my past few weeks listening to many a parent about um just the reductions that we're looking at or the courses that are being eliminated potentially and um just spent
an awful lot of time um I wouldn't say it was awful, it was great time, but a lot of time listening to their concerns and them advocate for their students and I want them to know that I appreciate them and I super appreciate the students coming out here to advocate for their
teachers. >> Okay, Lori. Well, we had our student board meeting and we did discuss bylaws, um, academic requirements to become a member of student board, whether or not to hold those in place, as well as the difference in how different student
board representatives are chosen, especially from the district operated schools versus the charter schools and how it's hard to have complete alignment on who will be showing up on student board. And I did see some of the videos of why you would recommend District 49.
And yes, I saw your video and I understand why you want to go into witness protection. But no, it was awesome. It was um I also attended um the San Creek Flambotomy certification event and I was so impressed. I saw um
Superintendent Horus there. Um I know that uh Superintendent Hilts came after I had left and uh it was really exciting. Part of the excitement was there were San Creek High School students lined up going down the hallway
to volunteer to have their fellow students stick them with a needle so they could get their certification. And it was so wonderful to see the student participation. And of course on my way out I had to stop by and say hello to Angela because
she's been there for a very long time. And she reminded me of a time 18 years ago when my son tried to use a creative excuse to get out of fourth period that he had to leave to get to work. And she called me and I said, "Wow, I didn't
know I had a job." But it's so that he had a job. Anyway, uh it was interesting that she would remember my son 18 years later in his little mischief. Um I then I attended my first ever uh erosce
meeting and I had never been to one of their meetings before and I thought I was a liaison and before I knew it I was being sworn in as one of their directors. So that is the second time this year I've taken an oath of office but I was really impressed with their format and their efficiency and how they
ran a meeting and they got everything done. He apologized for being a little over an hour and so it was very informative and before the meeting when I went through their board packet I was able to reach out and ask a lot of questions about how they determine which
programs would become part of erosce. So it was a very interesting experience. So, you mentioned your urine uh events coming up and I encourage you to invite the board. Um if you send out an email inviting the board whenever possible, we
try to show up. So, we don't know when every event is going to be, but if you send us an email, there's a good chance you'll end up with a board member there to attend your event. So, that's all I have. Thank you, >> Dad.
So I attended the annual planning summit and was very happy to see that the focus on academics through Lisa Felo's department will continue for another year. We also discussed the superintendent evaluation form which had many comments and notable issues. Paul
Anderson will be working with board members to build something cohesive using basically the same format, possibly a couple different areas and types of questions. Um, the rest of the month I was sick and I dove a little bit
into policy while I was down. Okay. So, Mike, I won't need the whole thing. So, I also donated my body to science. I came to the uh phabbotomy lab um over at San Creek High School. I came on the
second day and I asked the student who was performing my draw if she had gotten enough draws to qualify for the certificate because every student had to do at least 30. And she assured me that she had hit that target on the first day
and this was just practice. So, amazing community support. Thank you everybody who uh who contributed um to that. Um I attended the DAC as the um board representative and the APS has affirmed
me in that role. So I will continue in that going forward as well as uh I will be representing us at the SEAK. Um and at the DAC we heard um a presentation on the exigency and uh that was pretty much
the topic of the day. Um I just want to say that uh you know when we talk about this exigency um we are only talking about programs. That is our focus. We're not focused on people at all. And I got to tell you, every one of you who came
out here to speak for your your your teachers, um you do yourselves great credit and you do your teachers great credit. And so I want to thank you. We heard about two of the programs today, but in ourh emails, we've heard about several others as well. So, thank you
for all of your input. So, uh, first I'm going to just mention some students who've achieved some amazing things. So, the PTA, uh, hosts a reflections program and we have several students in our district who have moved on from the school level to the county
level and are being will actually be competing at the state level for recognition. Amara Bernell at Evans Elementary School qualified in the primary visual arts category. Autumn Bradford at Meridian Ranch qualified in the intermediate category
in photography. For film production, we have two students, first and second place. Um Freya Nielsen and Lauren Nordon in um in the primary age group for film. Under literature in intermediate grades, Murdian Ranch
Elementary student Jaylen Lamb placed first at the county and will be competing and representing our county at the state. at the high school. Falcon High School had almost a trifecta. First place Cristiana Hail, third place Ariana Modis and fourth or honorable mention
Janna Randelle. All four will be moving on to compete at the state level. And then we also this year had two students compete in dance choreography. Aubrey Detles Camp at Meridian Ranch and Ellie took second place and Ellie Maidener
took honorable mention. And again, they will also be competing um and representing El Paso County at the state letter level in Colorado. So, this is one of the ways PTA supports our students in the arts and I'm really proud of all the students who were willing to do the extra work to submit
something in that program and be recognized. Um I wear lots of different hats in our community. I know we'll be speaking a lot to the exigency. I wanted to echo both Mr. Hilts and Mike on the passion we heard tonight from our students. It really truly does credit to
you and to the teachers and to our district as a whole in terms of how much you really have found your passion here. And I know that this is very difficult to move through. Um I hope that we can find ways to continue
to to work together as a community to do that. I don't know if anyone saw the news, but I believe Pter School District just announced they're looking at a $17 million reduction. Um, and so are considering exigency, among other
things, as well in their district. We put forward our information early to try and respect our staff as much as possible to give them as much opportunity as possible. I think you're going to be hearing over the next several months district after district
after district after district um having to make some of the same really difficult decisions because this is a part of how a governmental entity that remind that relies predominantly on state funding gets impacted when state
and federal budgets are impacted. Um that that all rolls downhill and hits us eventually. And thank you. So at this point we are going to move on to our action items. And our first action item is 7.1. May I get a motion,
please? >> I move to approve the revisions to policy A. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none. A vote, please. >> Hy. >> Hi. >> Levier Wright. >> Hi.
>> Schmidt. I Thompson. I Withers. >> I >> motion carries. We're on to item 7.2, school family calendars for 2026, 2027. May I get a motion, please? Oh, and 2728 preliminary calendar. I move to approve
the 2026, 2027, and the preliminary 2027, 2028 district calendars. >> Second. It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? Deb, do you have your hand up? >> I just want to make sure that teachers
realize that the people that are putting the calendar together want your input and if there are um conflicts on days to work with them, please, because they are more than willing to work with you. Um,
and that's it, >> Mike. >> Yeah. So, what Deb is getting at is we did receive a a concern about a conflict between some of our um board meetings and some parent teacher conferences. And so, um, I would suggest that anybody who
finds themselves in that situation work with your school because, um, the problem is that these need to happen on a regular rhythm because the public is going to be anticipating them and the more we jumble them around the the um
more of an opportunity we have to um for people to be to miss them and they will be upset. So um yeah, if if any of you find yourself in that situation, please reach out to your principles. Thank you. >> Just as a secondary quick comment on
that, two pieces, open forum is obviously one way in which folks can speak to the board, but email is also another way. We do actually read all of them. Um Lynette responds on behalf so folks know that we actually receive them. That is still another valid way to
get our feedback. Um although it was brought up by one person in the email, I can tell you parent teacher conferences have aligned pretty much over the last 20 years essentially because of the rhythm of the calendar and where breaks are with the
October board meeting and with the February board meeting. And I can tell you for sure from the eight years I was on the board before because I had to miss them as a parent and sign up for Friday mornings. Um, so that is that is one of these pieces that ends up
conflicted because of what a school rhythm is versus what the board rhythm is. But there are other ways to communicate with us. And email often gives us more time to reflect on on what you're saying and you can provide more information often than you can in a a
two-minute speech as well. But also, if there's something specific, building leaders also sometimes can help alleviate some of that. Last year, I believe the entire Falcon zone moved theirs. They were the only zone that didn't have it during the February meeting because we held our board
meeting in their zone. And parents got really, really annoyed because they were expecting them to be that night and were asking why don't we have parent teacher conferences tonight? It messed it up a week. Um, and I was hearing it at PTA because we were making the food. So, um,
that has been a piece. But with that, I think we'll if everyone's good, we'll call the vote. >> May I make one quick observation? >> Um, board policy indicates that we will observe all federal holidays and that the observed federal holidays will be included on the calendar. And so, um,
members of the community and members of the board may notice that, uh, both of these calendars do call out June 19th, which is due Junth. So that is actually in compliance with longstanding policy, but adding it to the published calendar is is a clarification of that based on
the board's direction. >> Thank you. And with that, may we have a vote, please? >> Hyle. >> Hi, >> Levia Wright. >> I Schmidt >> I. >> Thompson >> I. >> Withers >> I. >> Motion carries. We're on to item 7.3.
recommendation to suspend policy GBAC. May I have a motion, please? >> I move to approve suspending policy GBAC for the remainder of the fiscal year 2526 and authorize the proposed delegation
and reporting process. We need a second. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion, Deb? So, even if it's for a short time, I'm not really comfortable giving away the
governance and control of elected board members to unelected school officials. Having the district approve job descriptions may be faster, but it takes the final approval out of the board's hands and places it as an information
item, which does not require a board vote. I do like the template provided and I see how it could be a really good tool for board members when looking at u job descriptions. However, I just do not support suspending policy GBAC
because it takes governance control out of the hands of the elected board and gives it to unelected school officials. >> Anyone else want to comment? Mike? >> Yeah. So, I'm comfortable with this and the reason is because it's still going
to come before us as an information item. At that point, we have the opportunity to review and if we have any objections, we can move to pull that off the agenda as an information item and make it a discussion item and then we
can um uh you know, chew on it there and make any determinations that we feel like we need to to make. But I really feel like, you know, the the the agility that the administration is asking for in
this situation is very much warranted. Lori, >> just as a point of clarification with the suspension of this and delegation to the superintendent, the superintendent his contract is actually
determined by the elected board of education. Any further comment? Okay, then I think we're ready for a vote. Hy >> I. >> Leia Wright >> I shr >> no >> Thompson >> I >> Withers
>> I >> motion carries. We're on to item 7.4 notice of proposed cancellation of teacher employment contracts. May I have a motion please? I move that pursuant to board policy
GCQA and supporting regulation GCQA-R accept the superintendent recommendation regarding the proposed cancellation of the employment contracts of the non-probationary teachers identified by name on the accompany exitency list for
the 2026 2027 school year and direct that a written notice of the proposed cancellation and associated due process process rights be provided to each identified teacher in accordance with board policy. >> Second.
>> It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? >> I'm not sure if this would be the opportunity uh to kind of ask some clarifi like clarifying questions or if you want me to wait till >> No. >> Okay. I think now is the right time
>> because so there's a couple of positions in here and um we heard about one one teacher in particular in the program that's offered at San Creek and I guess along with the DLI and the CTE and all
the other ones um but those were the two main ones that we heard. I guess my question is in a time when we're trying to attract, you know, more enrollment, what are we doing to either circumvent
or try to try to keep it afloat? Try to continue going or what what measures can we take today, tomorrow that could keep these courses intact?
So, I'll I'll try and answer that at a at a pretty high level. Um, and it's sort of inevitable that it will sound like I'm talking about the two specific programs that we heard about tonight, computer science and and DLI. I'm not because you know and it's it's been public actually for about a month that
we are also um we are trimming in other areas whether it's media arts somewhere or a librarian position elsewhere and and we've said from the beginning we don't think the district has any any um
fluff or fat or or nonvaluable programs left. We've already cut. We cut hard a year ago. And so the things that we're cutting now add value. We're now at a point where we're debating which things are more central, more
missionritical, add more value, attract more students. And as an example of that, the um probably the thing that has drawn so many students into our district, especially in secondary, has been our robust concurrent enrollment
programs. And so having that dual credit option, and you've heard this, and you'll see this again in our commencements this year, having more and more students come through graduation with an associates degree shows that the seeds we planted 10 years ago are really, really sprouting now. And so
that's that's an example. and where we saw where where we were comparing programs, the principles and the zone leaders looked at the impacts that you're talking about, the impact on student enrollment. They also looked at
efficiency. And so you heard tonight about programs that have um there are multiple teachers that could teach in a particular program. Um, but if that program is consolidating or contracting,
then we have to honor that reality that we're we're having students that are voting with their enrollment or voting with their feet which classes they want to be in. And so you've had a number of new course proposals come through the you this year and I've said I think almost every time approving a course
doesn't necessarily mean that we will um even be able to to fill it and then staff it. Uh and an example we are seeing right now is that in in at least a couple of our high schools the dance program of performing arts is just
exploding in popularity. I don't know why that is. I have my suspicions that it's it's related to the way we consume entertainment, the way we enjoy um a variety of of different kinds on on Tik Tok, different kinds of dance videos. I think there is just a resurgence
culturally in dance as a performing art form. And so we're seeing a lot of interest there. lots of interest in things like um criminal forensics and and we know that that is connected to popular media, especially television
programs over the last decade. And so we have to be really attentive to which programs are drawing. And then we also look very specifically at at some of the factors that were mentioned tonight. Things like CTE reimbursement are very important to us. They do measure
enrollment. They measure enrollment across the whole program, but also by individual course section because that's part of how we determine a teacher's the amount of a teacher's salary that's reimbursible. We also look at whether a
program is generating more of those articulated credits, transcripted credits, and I trust our zone superintendent and our principles to make those very complicated analyses and decisions. I would not substitute their
judgment with my judgment and I would encourage you to not substitute their judgment. Um, we're talking about people that I know you you deeply respect and the students deeply respect their principles and and um, in particular, we heard a lot from San Creek tonight. Those are students that really love Miss
Sanchez Martinez. they they appreciate her love for them. And that's a good example where principal leadership is probably the most important factor because that that's the person that's charged with
analyzing the entire package of what's appealing to students. Um, I will I will say there's a reason that our high schools have grown while all of the districts around us are shrinking and the state is shrinking and it has a lot to do with principles having their ear
to what students are looking for. I guess then if I want to be more poignant, like the DLI program um specifically, which is elementary and it's only offered at Stson, is there something comparable like in in any
other school district? I mean because to me we do have an impressive portfolio of things that we can offer but that being at an elementary level is so unique and like how how much time have we first of
all I know that it's hard to to staff. I know it's hard to find people who have dual certifications. Like I get that component of it. Um but I guess my question is like how much time have we spent advertising that we We offer this
program for our elementary schoolers when it's easier for them to absorb and learn uh another language. It's harder as they go through school by high school. You know, it's I'm just I'm just wondering for something at elementary
level, something so unique. Is there something comparable somewhere else? There is a a Montasauri immersion program uh across across powers in district 11. They they also considered
closing that. They did not. Um but that has been and that that operates under a charter school. Um that's the one that I am familiar with and it's possible that those factors that you're citing, the difficulty of of
hiring and retaining staff, but it it's also significant that the grant that we accepted from DODIA expected that by this time we would be at 90% language in in the second language in Spanish and we've never even approached 50%. So
we're we're not able to deliver the program that we anticipated and we haven't been able to attract the blend of students um to the degree that we wanted to. And so I believe we've done an honorable job and there's certainly
been word of mouth and you saw evidence of that tonight. Um but not every great idea ends up being viable and I think this is an example of one that that we absolutely believe in. Um I'm a parent of multilang multilingual learners
myself half of my children and I've seen enormous benefit um to them for that dual language um that biiteracy is a great personal asset and we I think we gave it more than a good faith effort especially on the on the hiring side and
we don't see any pathway that this is viable after the end of the grant and and I know board members I know you know this, but I want to say this for our community. Um, we did reach out to DODIA early on in the decision process. It's part of why we made the decision we made
because they also wanted to make sure that the program and and the funds ended up making a positive impact that was sustainable. And so, we're we're redirecting those grant funds into secondary programs that we can sustain after the end of the grant. Um given the
entire budget picture that we're dealing with and the potential of limits from the state in in the out years um I can't responsibly tell you that the elementary level is the right place for DLI after this year. >> Realistically moving forward um we heard
there was a couple of suggestions and then in our emails there were some suggestions that would are probably totally free. um or inexpensive. Uh what can we do to
maybe implement those? Is that would that be on like on the table? >> Sure. And for example, at Stson, we will have Spanish language as an enrichment. We'll also have an afterchool club. And so there is we recognize that there are students that have momentum and there
are ways to try to sustain that momentum as they as they get older and head toward Horizon and eventually S Creek. Um so some of the things you heard tonight are already in the mix and then there are some others. I thought the idea of of uh bilingual announcements was creative and and free. Um and so I'm
sure that that both Mr. Torus and and Miss McCoy at at Stson are listening to those ideas and and will incorporate them where they can. >> Other questions or comments? Lori, >> it has been um a really difficult time
for all of us and uh I want you to know that I have read every email that has come through and um none of us wanted this to happen. Right now we're lining up. I know Douglas
County, Jefferson County, I think DPS made some cuts and now we mentioned Pter's going to be doing cuts. And the last the most important resource that we have as a district is our human beings. It's our teachers.
And we've received emails on several teachers, librarians, programs. Um Mr. Swanson does take the cake for the number of emails and support and to see all of you showing up tonight.
I I can't tell you um you've done an incredible job inspiring these kids and uh the degree of loyalty is it's incredible and it gives great honor to you as a teacher and uh I wish
I could make this all go away. We talked about it in student board um that if we could just set up a printing press and make things work but I also understand trying to look at the overall picture. So what has happened is the principles have worked with zone leaders. Everyone
has looked at their budget and that goes from maintenance to security to nutritional services to different programs to different teachers. Uh they did compare enrollment numbers. They looked at it wasn't just a just a
unilateral we're going to do this with a with a machete. Um it was thoughtfully worked on by the administrators and then they bring the information as an overall package first to the superintendent then to us. Um, I would also like to uh give
credit to our administrative staff because they were able to pull back a bit on the number of teachers who were being let go of and that worked that work was happening out at central um at the central office. So, I just wanted to
thank you for participating and for showing up. You know, you hear a lot of different things on the news where especially teenagers, they get a really bad rap. And I wish the entire community could see what kind of kids we have
here. I wish the entire city could have seen the number of Sanret students lining up down the hallway to help their fellow students get their flambotomy certification. I wish they could see what we get to see and hear what we get
to hear. So regardless of whatever else happens tonight, I want to give you all just a heartfelt thank you for speaking up. I want to thank the teachers who uh who inspired this kind of loyalty. So
that's what I wanted to say, Deb. Okay. Okay. So, on one hand, I felt like keeping every if I felt like keeping every position was in the best interest of the district at this time, I would advocate for saving every single one of
these positions. We're talking about possibly 11-year or 18year staff members. Nobody wants to do that. On the other hand, excuse me, I also believe that sometimes reviewing, reducing, and consolidating
is a good thing that really should be done every few years just to make sure we are humming along at an optimal level. I do not believe that these reductions were I'm sorry. I do believe that these reductions were looked at with precision and were judged for their
effectiveness, class size, and student enrollment as well as not backfilling vacant positions. I think the zone leaders effectively shared with each other how to best make reductions, and I am confident that cabinet leaders and administrators took a large share of
this hit as well. Paul Anderson was very helpful when I questioned if we really need to reduce this position or that position and I really appreciate him getting me to the right people to answer my questions. In the end, sometimes we are forced to make
a choice whether we like it or not or if we want to send admin back to work to work on it further. That's our choice tonight. Um, I'm gonna have Mike go and then we'll go to you guys. Okay, go on ahead, Mike.
So, one thing I want to bring up is when we looked at the reduction in force, we were presented numbers and these may be old numbers, but um uh there were 95 positions that were being affected and of those we got the number of licensed
staff, so teachers um down to 14. So, we've absolutely looked everywhere else that we can look for reductions uh before we get to teachers. So, um I wanted to speak to the dual language
immersion um program uh because that was brought up tonight. Um and that was showcased the first time I attended a district um uh multicultural fair. Um and uh what a wonderful program and they were looking forward to growing it.
And the problem has been as you heard already um staffing it um you know attracting and retaining um teachers that are qualified to run that program and because that has been adding a new section every year that problem has
grown every year. So again, you heard that the DODIA um has authorized us to use those the the remaining grant funds for other purposes that are aligned with the grant and um they've been a great partner with us on that. Um as far as
the um the computer sciences pathway in San Creek High School, um that is my career. Um and I can tell you so I I know exactly you know the value of it. I want to assure all you students who
spoke about it that you are still going to have plenty of opportunities to pursue this career. Um what the high school program was doing is essentially giving a leg up um a head start. Um but there are there are multiple pathways to
get into computer sciences that don't necessarily involve college. That's what I did. Um when he when we were evaluating it though it was the the narrative from um administration was that you know lot of
a lot of uh enrollment in the first section and then it fell off quickly and so year two dropped down to 13 students. In year three this year they had to combine two classes to get to six. So it becomes a question of you know is that
the best allocation of our funding. Um I heard from um Mr. Swanson um he sent us an email and so I gave him an opportunity to respond back with metrics that showed you know these are the things that that are being provided to our students that are giving them a head
start. So, what are we getting as far as college credits, you know, AP tests, uh, passed, um, industry certifications, um, and, uh, the numbers were just not impressive. >> Thank you. So, student board,
>> um, I just had a question. So, I'm seeing a lot of different students, especially from San Creek, based off all the shirts, right? And I'm assuming you guys are here for to defend the teacher. If that many students is showing up for a teacher, shouldn't it be maybe
reconsidered even just a little bit? because it means that that program is very popular in that school and maybe it could the money that was being used or can get from this program at San Creek can be taken from a different program
that doesn't have that much popularity at a different school like a charter or whatever to be able to keep the teachers that clearly kids do care about and need to want to be in the district and want
to be in the Peter, do you want to answer that? >> I will say that I I think there are lots of programs that are uniquely associated with a teacher.
And so there are easily a dozen teachers at S Creek High School alone that jump to my mind when I think about whether those are performing arts teachers or technical career technical teachers or teachers that teach in academic subjects that help students get ready for a more
of a 4-year uh scholarship track in university. And I think if we had brought if we had brought the AP program here to cut the AP program, we would have had tremendous uh concern. If we had brought the medical program that we talked about with the phabbotomy and the
other the other pathways we would have had. It is it is testament that the things that are even considered for consolidation are valued and prized. Um, respectfully, there are other
programs that have both the passion that you heard tonight and the enrollment and articulated credit that gives our students financial benefit. And so when the principal and zone superintendent are comparing and they and they did
compare across zones, it's not just the teacher factor and the popularity and and personal investment of the teacher. it is how that entire program and the sequence of courses serves the school, the zone, and the district. And so, um,
there is not a program I I'll say this definitively, there's not a program in our district schools that is wasted money that and and I think this applies to our charter schools as well. I'm not allowed to go take money from the charters, by the way, Angie. I won't I won't tell our friends at BLA. Um, but
I I think our programs, our schools serve programs that students want. Now, we're getting to a really tough calculation, return on investment and and this is a resource that we're investing in these programs. So, we have to be very precise about our our evaluation
and it's a comparative evaluation. Um, I do respect that students that are that are in the computer science program at San Creek appreciate that program and I know if that program is not there, they won't abandon CTE. They will come over to manufacturing or engineering or
they'll step into a health science track or they'll go to uh one of our our schools that has ongoing opportunities like Spring Studio in the San Creek zone that has a way to take some of those courses through PPSC. So, the demand will adapt.
Nikos. >> Yeah. Just prior to any kind of vote taking place, I just want to as a student expand my commendation to every single one of you students who showed up today, particularly those who went above and beyond and spoke to the board. I
understand that for many individuals our age, it's incredibly difficult to find the courage to go up, particularly in a room full of educational adults, of people who have been speaking in public for a while and to say these important
things. So, regardless of the outcome of anything here, you guys still showed that students have a voice. You guys showed your support for those that you care about, whether that's the person or the program. So, I just want to say thank you to all of you guys for showing
that those in our generation do have a voice that is much larger than some might think. >> Okay, other comments. Polly, >> I probably missed the boat on this one, but my last question is I noticed that
there were several full-time librarians um librarian positions. And my my question is, are those moving into part-time or is there like a I'm sure that I like I said, I'm sure I
missed it, but it I just thought of it. >> May I respond to that? So I I believe there were two there were two um one position a licensed librarian and one a teacher uh in a library role and the the zones have some autonomy for how they're
going to provide library services and it's a blend of we already have some um paraprofessionals that are that are helping manage collections. We also have uh teachers that either do that as a as a supplemental duty. We have parent
volunteers that train on the Destiny software and help build collections. Um, none of those are as good as a full-time licensed librarian who supports general and special education teachers in setting up
there. That is a real loss. It is one of the painful trade-offs. Um, it is one that some schools made several years ago because they were already in in tighter times and we're we're now sort of bringing the rest of the district to
that consistent level. And it's not exactly the same from zone to zone, but the zone superintendent were were very intentional about getting the same kind of um level of support across the schools in their zone so that there's some consistency. Does that answer the
question? >> So I actually if no one else has something I'll comment now. Just as an aside when we went through the fiscal exigency before I was on the board before and I was a parent. Library was one of the places that got hit back then too. And I
know that because I became a parent volunteer in the library and helped um quite a bit. I I think I spent an hour a day at Stson's library for probably four years straight. Um so we did try to meet it that way. But another aspect of this,
and again this is painful in every way possible. We tasked our administration with determining how to make these decisions because they're the ones closest to the education system who can look at the complexity and make the best
recommendation forward. um which is why overall I support moving forward with what the administration recommends. The other creative piece that D49's been known for a very long time um back from when we only had San
Creek and Falcon High School 20 years ago. And I'll I'm really going to age Mr. Smith back because he was the AP Chem teacher back then. Um, but we have a tradition in D49 of recognizing when classes are not available or programs
are not available at one school, allowing students to still attend their school that they love and are a part of the community while also getting that educational benefit from another school in our district. AP chemistry for a very long time was an example of that between
San Creek High School and Falcon High. Mr. Smith it always taught at least one section either first or eighth because San Creek students came out to Falcon High to attend AP chemistry because it wasn't offered there. I'm sure there were students who went down to San Creek
for things we didn't offer. But I was just a lowly Falcon High junior science teacher at the time. We did the same thing with JOTC. Um, for a long time, Falcon High was the only detachment. Students at San Creek
who wanted to do ROC did not transfer to Falcon High. They stayed at Sand Creek, but came out to the ROC program. And in fact, to this day, Falcon High, which is now Space Force JOTC, still sponsors the Dne Balone Memorial Drill Competition
every year. Dne B Conn was a Falcon Detachment graduate, but a San Creek High School graduate who was killed in action. And Falcon High, because they were the hosting detachment, um, still honors him with that memorial. And San Creek competes against them every year
with Mr. Ridge and a few other schools. So, we have that tradition. We see it with culinary and with construction already. We see it with Aerrolab. And I know that our zone leaders are already having that discussion about how to
support students across our district in programs where they can. And I think you heard Mr. Hiltz mention already conversations between San Creek and Spring Studio in looking how to support students who are interested in in a computer science or technology pathway.
Um the reality is we can't offer all things at all schools. We're not big enough to do that. We don't have the budget to do that. And although it would be wonderful if we could, we're at least going to still try to make sure we find a way for students where we can with those pathways. And so
I'd ask, remember, this is our first step. This is the decision on ultimately respecting whether we believe our administration made their best recommendation for what these cuts need to be. But that isn't the end of the
conversation of how to serve our students. That conversation once this vote has happened is going to continue at between our zones in our zones at our schools between our schools developing things like okay we've already heard
there's Spanish there will still be a Spanish enrichment course maybe there are some of these other pieces that will be able to be incorporated that's the next le the next set of conversations that should be happening between our schools and zones and parents and working collaboratively say okay this is
off the table, but what are some of these other things we can do um to still continue that passion and investment in our students? >> Peter, >> I just want to add two two additional components. Um Colorado values so highly, and we
respect this as well, the the demonstrated excellence of a non-probationary teacher. Non-probationary in many states, they would use the word tenured. It's a teacher that has demonstrated that they are effective over multiple years in order to get that status. So, every
person on on the list tonight um the list that we're talking about under the exigency that is somebody that we have validated as an instructor. We've said this person is effective. They're serving our students well. And one of the things I really respect about the
way our our zone superintendents and especially our our human resources team have brought this forward. We worked really hard with a with a human resources lawyer specialist to get this to you earlier in the cycle. As you all know, the community doesn't know this yet. Even probably our staff doesn't know this yet, but we've been able to
pull multiple names off this list before bringing it to you tonight because we've offered teachers new positions. As other positions that weren't subject to the exigency become available either by retirement or relocation, we we have
found some of our own uh teachers coming right back into our our employment. And so I just want to thank you. The districts that start their exigency discussion in another month or even two weeks or or whatever it takes. Um those
districts might not have that opportunity because those jobs might not be available to their staff. So thank you for moving when you did in January. Um and thank you for holding us to a really high standard. >> So you can see board members were asking
about the comparison. So, the list we currently have is the updated shortened list. The list we initially had in our board packet on Friday was longer. The one they originally were talking about when we approved the oxygen amount was even longer. So, it's actually been
continually being reduced as folks because people knew their job was on the line. They they knew to be looking and so as things have become available, they've been able to say, "I'd be interested in this position or that position and apply." question. >> Um, one of the ones, this kind of
reminds me, one of the ones that I had asked Brian Smith about was the Meridian Ranch reading interventionist because they have two. Um, and my concern was that is such a high enrollment school and it is
so important to have good readers in elementary school. Um, so are we going to get to a place where we can get back to some of these services
if we take them away? >> I don't want to be cavalier or or optimistic without information. Um, I will make the case that that we get back to and that is definitely one of the first places. But in the case that you're you're citing um
we have to have a standard and there are there's a there's a really technical reason that I'll mention in a second. But what the zone superintendents have have really tried to do is create a consistent standard. So in the case of the Falcon zone where you will have two colllocated schools that have
approximately the same enrollment as Meridian Ranch. Those two colllocated schools will have an interventionist Woodman Hills and interventionist and Meridian and interventionist. Um why that matters on the technical side is that if we have a school that receives
title one funding and if they wanted to invest that in an interventionist, if we already have two interventionist, then that's the standard and they wouldn't be able to use their title funding to add that interventionist. And so there are schools that may have one
or 1.5 or even two interventionists if they're a title one school and if that funding is approved for that purpose. But if we raise the baseline, then they have to go even further. And I I don't think there's a school that would say a third interventionist would be a good use of resources. And so this also
preserves our ability to um to comply with a with a real hard rule in title one that you can't you cannot um supp you can't supplant a position that's already there but you may supplement a position that is already there. Uh
several of us were at the title one conference in Denver the last couple of days and that phrase uh supplement not supplant that is like the 11th commandment of title one and so this preserves our ability to do that on a spot basis in title one schools
>> if I remember correctly quite we added quite a few of things like subject interventionists um behavior positions behavior intervention positions some Some of those positions were initially paid with ESSER funds which were meant to help us
catch up after COVID and then because at the time when the ESSER funds went away, we still had funding available, we were able to continue to invest in them, but the positions were originally a bump in intervention to help us get over the
learning loss that happened during COVID. So, in some ways, we're resetting back to precoid levels now that we've been able to have some of that recovery as well. Does anybody have anything else before we vote? This has been our long one.
Yes, Angie. >> So, um, from what I'm hearing, there are a lot of different positions that are like have been needed and wanted by students, parents, you guys, etc.
So, does that mean that if let's just say um I have friends at Sand Creek. I was not personally in the program, but I do have friends who were in that program. If are they able to actually be able to do a program at a different school
considering it is the middle of the year or are they going to have to transfer? Because at the same time, it's also some of them did it because of the teacher. So, are they still going to have that interest or is it just going to be wasted because it isn't there anymore?
>> So, the interest component we don't have control over. All of these decisions go in effect next year. So, it doesn't do anything to program to class their class schedules this year. The class they're in this year continues till the end of this school year. Next year, if there's
something that they are interested in that pathway and it's no longer offered at San Creek, but it is offered at another high school, there may be the opportunity for them to take that class and just that class at the other school while still staying a creek student. So,
the best example is if you look at a collaboration between Spring Studio for Academic Excellence and San Creek, those campuses are literally across almost they're they're just down the street from one another, right? Spring Studios over off of Constitution, San Creek's here. It would be not really that
difficult to make that connection and allow students to continue to the pathway at a school that has the articulation already in place and the staffing and already has sustainable numbers. Um, and and that's what I mean by that creative piece. We do it with
other programs. We already have a system in some ways to allow some of that to happen. And because everyone's interested in being able to do the best we can in this situation for all of our students. I believe even before
um I had asked zone leaders about hey is this kind of thing possible. There was already discussion going on between Spring Studio and San Creek about some of this and there's already and there's discussion going on as the counselors are building schedules now for where do we see those overlaps so that um program
interest at least we can try and sustain. It's true that some aspects of it are about the relationship between the student and the teacher and that part we're not in a position to be able to do something about given our budget reality and as Mr. Mr. Hilt said, "There
isn't a single person on this list who we don't think is an amazing teacher. They never would have gotten past their third year if we thought they were right. We would have been we're not letting them get to non-probationary." Um, so we recognize we're no matter who we put on that list, we're at the point
where we would be putting someone who has impact and value on students. It would be a different group of students, but it would we'd end up with a crowd showing up for that program, too. Um, and so at this point it's about trusting that recommendation and then saying, you
know, work as creatively as we can to support that as much as we can. >> I appreciate you answering that question. That that was really helpful. Um, and there's no way that there could be a different position created or changed to match that so they can keep
the relationship with the teacher. Because if, for example, my theater or my choir teacher left or was let go of, I wouldn't do it anymore. And that's just because of the relationship I have with them. So, I mean, if you look at
all of the aspects, is there anything that can be done about it other than making programmer just keeping it or whatever, just creating something else at San Creek that they can still use and still have the same teacher. So creating
creates the same budget problem, right? If you eliminate and then create, you have the exact same budget problem. Net zero cut, which doesn't let us balance the budget. Um it is super early in the hiring season for education. That's part of why we did this when we did it. So
like I said, Pter's talking about 17 million. They haven't even come up with a list of the people who they're going to notify yet. Those folks aren't going to know for several months whether their positions in jeopardy. But in notifying folks now, not only do they know to look in other places, but we will have
positions at all of our schools possibly opening as people retire, choose to leave leave education to do something else, their family PCS's, and they're a military spouse. as those positions become open,
those who are on this list can apply for those positions. So, if there's a position that becomes open that Mr. Swanson has the certifications for and creates, then there's an opening, he'd be able to apply to that position and
that might create that situation. But that's not something we can promise or guarantee. It's not something I I I can't see that pathway because I don't know who will be in those positions. And we have teachers who resign all the way through the end of May. The early ones
will get by mid-Marchch and we'll be posting and interviewing for those. But in the education cycle, you know, families family decisions impact teacher decisions and you might not know that your spouse is getting transferred across the country until May and then you're turning your notice in in May. But as those positions get
posted, anyone who's on this list is a qualified teacher and can can apply for a position for which they're qualified and be considered for it. And so that that possibility is there, but it's not a probability. It's not a guarantee. I can't even say it's likely to happen because I can't tell you who would be
making those decisions. Um, that's the hard part. Deb, >> so I'm looking at the overall reductions and I know that's a later a later thing, but I am just not seeing
anywhere else they can cut. I I'm just not um it's it's it's Yeah, I'm not seeing anywhere else we can cut. I don't want to cut
I don't want to cut staff. >> Okay. So, at this point, I think we're prepared to vote. Hy. >> Hi. >> Levia Ray. >> I Schmidt. >> No. >> Thompson.
>> I >> Withers. >> No. >> Motion passes. We're on to item 7.5, Board of Education meeting dates. May I have a motion, please?
>> I move to approve the proposed BOE meeting dates for 2627 in the preliminary calendar for 2027 and 2028. >> Second. It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? >> Hearing none. A vote, please.
>> Kyle, >> I Wright I. Schmidt, >> I'm sorry. What are we doing? >> We're We're voting on the calendar for the board meeting dates. >> I got distracted. Um, yes. I'll vote for those calendars. Yes.
>> Thompson >> I, >> Withers, >> I. >> Oops. Motion carries. We're now on to our discussion items. The first is 9.1 policy and procedure review. So, we have
the cover sheet that goes over what the changes are. And so, um, as a reminder, these are changes recommended by the administration for specific reasons, uh, a lot of them, um, not all, but the the
first five are edits on contact information because the person who you would contact if you had a complaint under these pieces or needed to file changed. Some of those changes are actually related to um, some of the
positions that were eliminated, I think. um and others just needed to be updated. And then on JICDA, the update is because from the last time the code of conduct was passed to now, we've added a cell phone policy. So, it was important to
make sure that the discipline policy reflected that we actually have a cell phone policy. Um so that it was consistent across both pieces. And then as you know technology has developed they've included AI glasses in some of the technology regulations. So uh
questions on any of those pieces Deb? Okay. So the only one that I had pretty important questions on was the policy AC non-discrimination equal opportunity. Now this doesn't have anything to do with the changes. These are just overall questions that I have
about this policy. So, federal and state law tells us that we need to have policy AC to publicly line out all the protected classes. This is good and appropriate. However, when most people think about protected classes, they only think about areas
like race, gender, and religion. In reality, there are so many more. As a board, we should craft and adopt policy that covers all the protected classes that are predominant in our schools in an equitable manner.
Policy AC currently falls a little short of that. The five bullet points that give meanings to specific and distinctive terms like race, protective hairstyles, sexual orientation, gender expression, and gender identity
basically cover race and gender. I have no beef with giving meanings for those. But at the same time, it seems to be selective and could be seen as biased when there are so many more that we should also give meanings to.
Where are the meanings of disability, creed, sex, religion, or special education? This policy does not have a bullet point with the meanings of those protected classes. Sex is a protected class on its own. The meaning of sex, for instance, refers to
an individual's immunable biological classification as either male or female. It is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of gender identity. Why don't we have a bullet point with meanings for sex in our policy?
Additionally, according to IDA, special education covers 13 specific categories. Can I continue? >> Yeah, you can finish. Covers 13 specific categories that can
impair learning. Protecting that class ensures that schools provide students with disabilities access to educational curriculum and services to help them succeed. Why don't we have a bullet point with meanings for special education or disability in our policy?
Creed and religion could probably be discussed to give some clarity because these protected classes both cover beliefs but we don't have a bullet point with the meanings of creed or religion. Why not? If we are going to give meanings of
terms for protected classes in policy AC, then maybe we should include relevant and comprehensive meanings for all the protected classes so that we may equitably address their ability to
access educa equal opportunities also. Mike. >> So, I'm looking at the bullet points you're talking about, and it looks to me that they are not complete definitions, but rather supplementary information. So, when we look at many of these classes, we know exactly what they're
talking about, right? We know what marital status is. We know what religion is. But, uh, for the first bullet point, it talks about race. And it says race includes hair texture, hair type, or a protective hairstyle that is commonly or
historic historically associated with race. So that's additional information on top of what a casual reader might infer from the the the word race. So um just for clarification, >> so why not additional information on the
13 specific categories that can impair learning on disabled or special education children? I mean, that's important. >> Lori, I know tonight we're just discussing an update
>> and that, you know, the board could definitely look at revising those. In the past, I have suggested because there are additional classifications that have been added over time to make it more generic where it says protected classes
as defined by state and federal regulations. Um, and so I actually do understand Director Schmidt's point is that, you know, we pick out bullet points for certain classifications and not for others. But I know that's not
what we're discussing tonight. It was just a point to make that that's why in the past I've proposed that we put protected classes as defined by state and federal regulations. And I've heard that we do need to spell it out. So, if we're going to spell it out and then
pick just a few to give further definition to, I think it is prudent to decide as a board later on, not tonight, but at agenda setting or something else, that if we're going to do bullet points that we do a little bit more definition
on protected classes. Holly, >> my suggestion for that so that everybody wins here is that we just put it in a category and then right next to it you could do like a hyperlink and then it's then it's taken care of. No.
>> Yeah. Well, at this point, this is only moving this forward is only about recognizing the technical change so that we have the right contact person. And like I said, a bunch of the like this one here, um, that contact is important because it changed. So that person who
was the contact, I believe was part of the riff. Um, and therefore can't do that job anymore. And so we would be in non-compliance because we wouldn't have the person you contact if you believe this policy has been violated readily available. And so that's the only piece
we're moving forward. Now, whether this should be a policy that gets revisited under the other piece um would be a separate discussion at another time. Deb, >> I did fill out a form for agenda item in order just to discuss this. So, you know
that that's out there. >> Okay. So, we can see um and reply on that piece later. So, at this point, are we okay with moving these forward to make those technical changes? Do we have a consensus to move them forward? Yes. >> I'm a Yes.
>> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> All right. So, we'll move those all forward for action and those will be on our next regular meeting vote which is in March. And then >> I just wanted to point out that was a really nice scale there. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes. >> So, our next item is the update on expense reduction activities. Uh good evening Peter Hel superintendent and um at the board's uh direction you wanted a little bit more detail about some of the things that we had shared
with uh the Val collaboration team that is our workforce representative body. You could think of it as kind of like a staff senate in some organizations. And so we prepared this for them. Um even as we prepare these documents, the
numbers on them change. They change in real time. They changed today. And the reason that happens is because as you've heard, people get jobs. Um we find savings in in contracts or purchases or we we make arrangements for discounts.
And so even the numbers you see here, um I I I chuckled when Mr. H said that that was older data as in a month older. Um but in this fastmoving cycle that's older and so as
we go through the overall reductions chart that you see here um refers essentially to the departments that constitute our cabinet level leadership. And so that's the team that I supervise. And as you can see we show um a number
of impacted positions. Some of those numbers have now come down um because we've been able to find creative ways and and we will continue to scrub hard in those areas. The purple band in the middle captures non-personnel expenses
that are part of the overall reduction. And on this chart, that purple band represents 18.14%. Um and as we've talked about in other places, our overall budget is about
uh 83% personnel, therefore 17% non-personnel, and we're pulling 18% of this overall reduction out of that. But remember that of those 17% that are non-personnel, the vast majority, about
12% of our total budget are fixed expenses that we cannot touch. uh we can't fire buildings, we can't stop paying for our our our auditor th we have to have certain facilities,
equipment, subscriptions, etc. in order to operate the school district. So what we were able to do was find 18% of the total reduction out of the 3% that is really kind of funible, manageable within the operational part. The other
numbers reference personnel. And so when you go to the next slide, what you're seeing here is how these broke up by our our five areas. So I don't think I need to explain what zones are, um where where those cuts were
coming from. Districtwide applies to things that are um non-personnel, and that's that 18.14%. And then the gray slice of the pie here are positions that we cut from central administration. Those are uh people that
either report directly to the cabinet or are in other other senior or middle management positions, administrative positions primarily, but not exclusively. Um there is a mix and you've seen some of that detail um in other places, but this was intended to
to kind of prove a point that a couple of you have made that we started hard in our administrative ranks and in and we even started there a year ago. As you know, we consolidated from four zones to three. Uh we've eliminated a department.
We've eliminated directors across multiple departments. Um and you'll see those called out a little bit in the slides to come. So of those uh three of those senior administrators were were in central office roles. Um there are also
reductions that will not show up as a reduction in FTE or a reduction in positions but we shrank the position and so we will often talk a teacher contract in the district is 182 days. Uh my contract and and others like me that are full
year our contracts are 261 days. So between 182 and 261, we have 200 day contracts and 210 and 220. And so we have multiple instances where we cut a contract from 210 days back to 23.
That's a that's a 7day or maybe from two 200 down to 182 or something like that. So we reduced contract days. We reduced dean and AP positions across some of our secondary schools. Uh we reduced the administration of our security team, not
personnel in the school, but security administration uh we reduced by 25%. And we cut positions out of our learning services department. And obviously we're we're cutting things that we think have added value. We have to be creative. We have to find ways to deliver the core
mission critical services even with reduced staffing. But there will be some things that we have funded and prioritized that we can no longer ask people to do because we can't just cut people and expect the same level of production. That would not be caring.
That would not be respectful. We can't do that. We also made some reductions across our support personnel. Um I should have been more specific on this slide. I apologize. Limiting district coaches. This is about academic coaches, instructional coaches in the common vernacular. We're not talking about
activities or or or sports programs. Uh we reduced our our personnel in our centralized data services. Um we we believe we can do that and still maintain the level of service necessary to operate the district. We have offered a benefit uh with a partner um that many
of us appreciate that I've personally used as as a for for counseling services. We really like uh Henderson as as a benefit. Um and and I believe we will find opportunities to use that that service but not to provide it generally
to the workforce as we have for several years. And we significantly reduced our centralized communications. I'm just going to be kind of direct about this. Given the opportunity um to retain more of our central communications team versus prioritizing zone and
school-based communications, our cabinet believed that our model and the performance of the individuals in our zones and schools justified keeping our community liaison in the zones who do lots of school supportive
communications. And the trade-off was that created some redundancy with the central communications team. And so we reduced that centralized communication support function. We've reduced some contracts. Um we
found places where either we could live with a different service level. So for example, in the Sentinel contract, we have service level agreements related to uptime of our network and response time to help desk
tickets. We let Sentinel know almost a year ago that this was a possibility and so they've been scrubbing. They also had to con contract their workforce. Um they had to have tough conversations as some of us did. And so that allowed us to
save a million dollars out of that contract. We have continued to um peel off some of the modules in P school and and stop paying for those. In each of the zones, there is a an improvement methodology. In in the Falcon zone, they
have worked with modern teacher and leap innovations for empower FZ. In the power zone, they've worked with the Marzano research group uh to do the high reliability schools program. And in the Falcon, in the San Creek zone, excuse me, they've worked with Stutter Education um that helps them maintain
their community engagement and and measure performance against standard. And in all three of those cases, they will absolutely continue to work with Leap and Modern Teacher, Marzano, and Stutter, but they will do it in a in a contracted consolidated way. And so
they'll save money. Uh we also eliminated our performance excellence department. That doesn't mean we stopped caring about performance excellence. Not at all. Weii we care about continuous improvement, but we made a major accomplishment this year in the area of
performance excellence. And so rather than sustaining a department that wasn't going to have as much of a function in the years ahead, we are shrinking that department and distributing the personnel into other roles in other
departments. So we will continue to have data and performance functionality but not in a dedicated department with a director and an administrative assistant. And so we save significant dollars there. We also reduced programs. As you heard
tonight, we we eliminated some programs that were were low yield, maybe low enrollment, or they might not have been as aligned. It's really helpful when a program can move, especially from middle into high school. But we have programs that move elementary, middle, high school, and so that was a criterion that
we applied. Um we consolidated gifted education facilitators. And so we will have a pretty common model next year where a gifted education facilitator will serve two schools. I just learned yesterday uh that in our friends in district 11, they're going to use three
schools per uh education facilitator. U this is part of the phenomenon statewide, really na nationwide, but certainly in our region where districts are having to do more with less. And so that's one where we consolidated to a more consistent model across our
schools. And we also uh as you saw on the list that that came before you, we reduce some instructional coach and interventionist staffing. The rest of the slides are just detail. I think that's where I go into. Yep. The rest of them are selected specific reductions. I'm happy to speak to any one of them or
all of them at the board's uh discretion. Um but we we provided to you this to you in advance so that if you wanted to get a little bit more specific, we could do that together. So questions Deb,
>> what the Baldridge thing is that just the application for the awards and the site visit or is that the entire program? >> So it's a couple of things. Um the the department of performance excellence put
a lot of time and effort into developing our district performance dashboard which was a big part of our application. We're going to keep the performance measuring and monitoring reporting but we're not going to do the application. And the application had a fee. Um the site visit
had a fee. It's a privilege to pay that fee because it means you're one of the role model organizations, one of six this year um that were identified as finalists. And so although although we're very proud of that achievement um our intent if we are
named a national Baldridge award recipient then we would be disqualified for seven years. So we wouldn't be applying next year anyway. But if we are not named a recipient we already know that we will be uh a finalist presenting at the the National Conference on
Performance Excellence. And so it makes sense to pause that application and effort in either situation. Either we're a recipient or we're not. But in either case, we wouldn't make an application next year, which means we can't have a site visit. So we eliminate those costs, which means we don't need a department
structure to support that effort. So it's really all of the above. >> So we're gonna keep Baldridge just thin. Is that what you're saying? We're going to continue to try to pursue
continuous improvement in performance excellence, which is the Baldridge framework, but the using the Baldridge framework and being committed to it doesn't cost us anything. Applying to the the performance excellence program, hosting a site visit, those cost us
something. >> Other questions, Lori? Not necessarily a question, but uh just a a comment that uh and I do mean this. This has been one of
the hardest nights I've ever had as a board member. We do have a requirement to have a balanced budget. >> We do. >> And um that's a duty. Along with that requirement is a duty to figure out ways
to do things. and there was no possible way to do it without the human toll. And so that that was just the comment I made is that it's it's hard to say thank you with the with what we've seen tonight, you know, like I said, but to
the principles, to Mr. Anderson, to the zone superintendent, to the principles, I know it wasn't easy for you either. It was much harder for you because you're even closer than we are as board members. And so just knowing that it had
to be done was very tough. So I appreciate the graphs. I appreciate you showing where the savings are coming from. I understand why we're doing and what why we had to do what we had to do. And um I I've hated every minute of it,
but I wanted to say thank you to everyone who did their best to minimize the human toll and to come up with these numbers for the public. Thank you. Mike. >> Yeah. And I wanted to add to that um
because I came to this building for a meeting um the day after we approved the resolution and people first started getting their notifications. And I got to tell you, this building, it
felt like a funeral. Um and there was there were tears. And I mean everybody who has been speaking about this and making the decisions, they had to inform people that they have direct relationships with that they may have
hired themselves and mentored and they had to tell them that um that they weren't going to be able to retain them anymore. Um and so the central office absorbed that hit and absorbed it hard in order to soften it
for our um our schools. And I appreciate that. Um, I also wanted to say too, because I've been talking about this a lot, the way we got into this situation is that there is a handbreak essentially
on um revenue in the state of Colorado. We've got Tabore, we've got the the the BS factor. Um, we're still feeling the effects of Gallagher even though that Gallagher has been repealed. Um and there is no similar handbreak on the
expenses side. And when it comes to um this board and what we have control over, we can't raise revenue um at the scale that we need to raise it. It's up to the taxpayers. Um this the state has to come to you with a with a measure
that you will approve or we can come to you with a local measure that you approve. Um, and so as a board, the only tool that we have in our toolbox to balance the budget, which we are required to do by law, is cuts.
>> Any other comments or questions? Holly, >> this might be a silly comment, but there's some things or at least one thing in here that could be potentially repurposed, like the Discover D49
magazine. Um, I mean, there are kids who work on the yearbook, right? I mean, and there's got to be like a newspaper, too, maybe at one of the high schools. I'm just saying like >> and you don't have to put out a physical
thing like people can sign sign up. >> Oh, good. Like a and have the students do it. Um just >> as part of their their credits. Yeah. And learning and uh so they get journalism and photojournalism. I know that's silly, but I'm just
>> I want to get creative. >> I appreciate that. those things. >> A lot of the cost of of D49 the magazine is that we direct mailed it to every resident, every every address in the district. That is a really nice to have. It's not mission critical, but we still
have talented journalists, writers, photographers, videographers who can create digital content. In the past, we took that digital content, we printed it. Mr. Mr. Nankair and I have already talked about doing something similar including with student uh student journalists um especially video
journalists as we as we are seeing in this generation and creating something like maybe a poster or or a sheet that's got QR codes that you could click through to the story or click through to the video or click through. Um and so I appreciate the exhortation to be
creative u that is exactly what we're already trying to figure out. Deb. >> Yeah. I have to say my mom was always big on nickels and dimes. Nickels and dimes. They're going to either save you or bury you. Um cancelling the
billboard. I know that's a nickel and dime, but I got to say once all these financial things were coming up, I'd drive down Woodman and that billboard would make me nuts. So, I'm kind of glad we're canceling that one.
>> Any other questions or comments? No. And I love the idea of the QR codes with the posters in the thing with the D49 because then if you get it to things like maybe you get the new Falcon Herald and a bunch of those free papers to put the little QR code in there, then maybe
it actually helps reach some of the same people we were trying to reach with the magazine. Because the history behind that magazine was that we had plenty of folks who no longer have children in the district who would complain the only time we hear from you is when you want money. We hear from you never any other
time. And so that was started to address that to say hey yes we want to share with you what's happening even if you're not directly connected to our schools. And it's kind of gone up and down depending on whether we had staffing and funding to be able to afford it. But um the next generation of QR coding might
be the might be an interesting way to help reach that same audience another way. >> I'm also on the titlebased reduction slide. Can you kind of go into that just a little bit? Make it a little clearer,
please. >> So >> slide 13. So, title one in particular, but also titles 2, three, four are federal funded programs that are targeted, and title one's the one we're the most
familiar with because it's targeted for students whose families demonstrate financial need. We use uh we use eligibility for free and reduced lunch as a measure. And when a school has more than 40 in our in our district 42%
um then they qualify for title one funding. we get a sum from the federal government that comes through the state. The state has to approve how we spend it. And so, uh, two things have changed slightly. One is the current federal administration, and this is the
conference I was just at for two days, um, with our title one team. The federal government said repeatedly, "We will we will be more flexible. We will be willing to grant more waiverss and we will let you spend money with a little
bit more of a broad brush than a than a super targeted focus that they might have used in previous years because we understand that schools are under tremendous financial stress and we don't want to hit to hit the students for whom this legislation and these programs are designed. And so what it means when we
say we're repurposing title one funding is there are things that we there are things that we do with title one funding that might not be the very highest return on investment but because
it's grant funding we have not applied the same intensity of scrutiny and so I think we owe the same level of scrutiny to our title funded programs as we have just applied applied to our personnel deep and in sometimes difficult trade-offs. And so we we literally were
talking about this over the last couple of days that there are probably some things that we have done and funding travel and and trainings is one of them. Um I probably will not go to another title one conference in person because
it's only in Denver I don't know every five or seven years. But when they are gathering next year somewhere, Nashville I think um I can log in for about a third of the price, watch those live presentations, get the and so more
conferences, as schools are tighter on their budgets, more conferences are offering a virtual option. We're going to take more advantage of that going forward. >> You're welcome. >> Any more questions? Angie,
>> what does the slide number 15 mean? >> So, um, we are applying another another high scrutiny activity. We are making sure that we're authorizing and overseeing
two of our functions with charter schools. We have we have an oversight responsibility that includes lots of reporting and and asurances that we provide to the state on the charter school's behalf. That's the oversight function. We also have the authorization function. Those those take district
personnel. They take our time. They take some of our money and they take our people. And so we want to make sure that we are ted up. Um we believe that we have been generous. our charter schools believe that we probably have not. And
so we're going to have a pretty robust dialogue with them. Um, but I can tell you we have really good data. The difference in a school that uses our system and has the right personnel trained to report appropriately versus a
school that does not is it is almost indescribable how much more work it takes to support a school that isn't in our system and doesn't have the right personnel on their team. And so we are going to make sure that if a charter
school by decisions they have made is generating additional costs to the district that we are recouping those costs re getting getting paid for that. Um and we're pursuing grants. Uh you heard some conversations tonight about a grant related to uh world language, but
we're going to continue pushing especially on literacy, math, and facilities grants. and we have a couple in the pipeline right now um where we've pushed our own schools to apply uh particularly for state early literacy grants and we are we we think we have a
very strong case to compete well for some of those grant dollars. So that's the only place where we have impact on revenue readily available and it's still not remotely sufficient to the need.
Okay, any other questions or comments, Mike? >> So, on the revenue side, um I talked about the the state factors that are affecting us, but um there's another significant factor as well, and that is from the federal level. Specifically,
IDEA originally promised us 40% of our sped um expenses. um talked to um Rebecca Brooks, she provided some numbers uh over the last several years. Just as an example, this past budget year, um not the one we're currently
living, um the federal funding was 11.1%. So, uh certainly if the federal government was doing um more to meet its obligation, our budget would be in a lot better shape. To that end, I have been taking advantage of opportunities
because we're in an election year and when um when congressional candidates for our house district have been holding forums, I've been, you know, reaching out to them, meeting with them, and trying to put that bug in their ear
about idea funding. Um and so, um hopefully, um we can get some traction there. Okay. Anything else? Okay. Thank you, Peter. >> Thank you. >> So, we're now on to public comment
section two. We don't I don't believe we have anyone signed up for that one. Correct. So, then miscellaneous anything then we are ready to adjourn. Oh.
Um so it is 8:42. Was he on the original list? Yeah. So why don't we take care of it post adjournment if you want to speak with Mr. Hilt. Okay. Thank you.
>> And so we are adjourned.