okay It is Monday March 24th 2025 I call this special meeting of the Elizabeth School District Board of Education to order at 6:01 p.m Can I get a roll call please Director Callahan here Director Fletcher here Director Olsen here
Director Pal here and patroller here Okay let's stand for the pledge of allegiance I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and
justice for all Okay I move that the board approve an amended agenda for this meeting um special meeting March 24th I move that we remove communication item
6.2 Second Okay Any discussion Okay Can I get a roll call Director Callingham I Director Fletcher Hi Director Olsen I Director Pal I And Dr
Waller I Okay Motion to approve the amended agenda Our motion is approved Um next up approval of minutes I move that we approve the minutes from the board meeting on March 10th 2025 as presented
Second Any discussion on that Okay Can I get a roll call Director Callahan hi Director Fletcher I Director Olsen hi Director Powell I And Director Waller Hi Okay Motion approved Uh next up we have communications and we're
excited to have Legacy Academy here Um we've got the principal Tony He's going to present their midyear data Tony would you like to introduce Merlin as well Yes Is your mic on I pressed the button Hold
it down There we go You got numbers at front here 558 Maybe just turned it off I guess they're not all 596 Yeah I think I still have
I'm Tony Vjink I'm the principal at Legacy Academy I have with me tonight our executive director Merlin Holmes Um so I was asked to come show you our um data as I guess you were reviewing the
data with Kim for the rest of the district So was happy to come and show you where we're at Um you use I Ready for the district We use NWA map which is what also a lot of schools use So when we look at it one of
the things we wanted to focus on um is still connecting I hear it but I don't see it Do we need the HDMI or Apple TV or Oh there it's gone Now we just need HDMI How am
I screen Do we need connection on your computer I have a dongle thing if you need Oh okay It's trying to connect Okay Thinking about it It's swirling
It's the uh admin ATV right Yeah Yeah Still to go get the little Still not connecting It's not a regular US But I can not the HDMI Okay I have like a this says could not connect
Well while while she's doing that I just take the opportunity to let this board know how much we appreciate your partnership with us as a charter school and how much we how much we see your support for parents choosing the best education that they want for their
children Superintendent Snow Barker has also been a very good partner and has a history of supporting charter schools He's known for that in the state of Colorado We just really appreciate the partnership that is here Some of you may not know but I used to be principal of Legacy
Academy a long time ago when the building was built I was here for about a year and a half during a fairly turbulent time but we got a building built and got things moving forward and that was when Dr Blanc was here you know
Dr Rod Blunt that was here many years ago probably 15 20 years ago but appreciate the support and partnership that this board has always shown towards Legacy Academy Just thank you very much for that Great Thank you And I I'll just add to to Merlin's statements We certainly appreciate your partnership as
well I feel like we have come a long way in in really trying to make sure that we're working together to make sure that again all of our kids are important to us and and kids who have chosen Legacy are are equally as important and um we really are are pleased with the work
that that Legacy has been doing and obviously just like our schools when you you know you look at your data and you're always looking to improve and really congratulate Tony and Merlin for their leadership and looking at areas that they can always improve improve and really proud to have them as part of our
district So thank you both Right Yeah When we were looking at we knew we had to kind of change direction So we we came up with an instructional framework We came up with some goals for our staff some expectations um changing curriculum moving away from the digital stuff that
Legacy has been known for because I think that has um kind of we've suffered in the direct instruction realm and I know you guys are looking at that as a district too more direct and explicit instruction So we've already started
that process in our building and trying to get back to less reliance on digital We still use the digital because we think it's important and innovative for kids to be able to use that But at the same time we kind of want to get back to to basics and and learning So what I
have here is our NWA report This is directly from them Um so um we look at growth and achievement It's based on RIT scores So RIT score to you know give the most simple
explanation it compares apples to apples So it'll take a snapshot of all the kids in the nation who have taken NWA which is a lot Um a lot of schools use it and it groups kids together in the same ability level age group grade level
everything So when you look at growth scores it compares kids of equal footing to each other So you get an apples to apples comparison So one of the things we wanted to focus on this year was looking at growth scores because we want
our achievement to go higher But first we need to stabilize So what I have up here right now is the last year from our fall to our spring This is where we ended um as far as mathematics So you
can see we wanted to do improvement We made our goal 68th percentile growth for math and reading Um so this was where we ended the entire year last year from year beginning to year end So what I
have here now is this is from this what's going to come up here is this is from beginning of the year to January now So you can see We made substantial growth gains there
in just a half a year versus the whole year So our goal is 68th percentile By the end of the year we're at 67th percentile And you can see that's brought our achievement up as well The green So we have a lot of kids
celebrating um because we had a lot of kids who are struggling who saw growth in the 80th percentile or higher Wow who have been struggling for quite a few years Um we've had a we had um couple of
classrooms around the 80th percentile for growth and mid70s for achievement mid to upper 70s for achievement So this is the quad chart We um when we look at this we want people to be um high growth
and high achievement So we do want to be up in this area And I didn't show you the previous one but it was all like down here on the other one So we're moving up in the right direction Did you When did you start the the implementation of direct instruction When did you start That that was just
this year Yeah I was principal Last year was my first year as principal So we kind of looked at what changes need to be made Maryland came on in November of last year So we started talking about looking at our data talking about the direction we needed the school to go And
there we with it I mean would you can you kind of summarize top three things that you changed in order to achieve that Um well right now for math we I'm not trying to
we kind ofated math with Sachs and math right now We're looking for a permanent replacement for math Um the reading we saw big changes in We we changed again from the Savas all digital curriculum to
um a more comprehensive you know um higher expectation or more rigor as they would say in in education but a higher expectation curriculum We went with benchmark advanced and we've seen a lot of growth in our reading because of that
So and in our instructional framework with our expectations in teacher planning and um coming up with learning objectives and progress monitoring and checks for understanding and things like that So um yeah I think that was about that was
about uh about it as far as the academic We also um started capturing kids hearts in our school So that has led to um getting us on a direction for more self-managing
classroom um there So um it really builds towards students taking responsibility for their learning using their Excel model So we're coming up with classrooms that are more self-managed and less you know teacher managed and things becoming more
organized in in that realm as well So for reading I'm sorry What level like how much interaction electrically electronically would you say they still use a mat Well
every kid still has an iPad and they use them daily It's just we've kind of shifted what tasks they're being used for okay and where the learning is taking place So the problems that they have to do for homework or whatever still on the on the iPad it depends on
the the class and the grade level For the younger grades we're definitely going back to more pencil and paper things You know we and again since state testing is on electronic devices and they have to use their iPads and stuff we don't want to scrub it completely Want to make sure we're mixing it well
Yeah The biggest I think the biggest component there that I was seeing was the the lack of direct instruction and too much o overreiance on the digital stuff for the teaching So yeah but we still believe it's really important that kids have those digital skills as well
We just need to establish the the skills that they can transfer back and forth Right So all right So for reading I'll take you to where we ended last year just like before So this is where we
ended last year um with reading So last year we already started to implement some goals in reading which is why you see some high achievement but that that achievement from beginning of the year to the spring didn't change right because look at the growth The
growth wasn't there to push the achievement levels up So that's what it looked like on the chart This year again we're shooting for by the end of the year
um 68th percentile and I'd like it to be a little bit higher but we got to kind of start somewhere and I wanted to make it realistic and achievable the first year So And so here's where we are at with reading right
now So again that was the previous one was beginning of the year to end of year last year This is beginning of year to mid year So this we still have our spring data to go So we got the growth up So now we can see our achievement
starting to grow go up as well and grow And so we got to try to get these these grade levels here these dots up in here with everybody else Well at least you moved out of the third quadrant there
Yeah Yep Well yep You want high high growth and high achievement So you want to move up this way But again reading is where we had the most growth I think of individuals We met with each teacher myself and the assistant principles We
met with every single teacher and we looked at every single student We went through their map data And um when you look at each student it has a little graph It shows where the students at and it has a little narrative of things they can work on and it even projects where they're going to um go on CMAS It kind
of gives if they're going to meet expectations or not And then we have So this is our language usage from last year and we actually dropped in that because again there's not enough growth
there to sustain beginning to the end of the year and then where we're at right now So we we've still got to boost this up a little bit language usage but we think that's going to come around because our reading scores are going up and we're working a lot on vocabulary We
knew that was kind of a a area we needed to work on schoolwide So have you seen any correlary between increased reading and better math Um that was why we kind of started with some of the reading stuff last year
immediate We didn't have a new reading curriculum but we kind of made some changes with intervention and things last year It's kind of like what we're doing with math this year We kind of bandated it a little bit Um because we were we were thinking from what we were
looking at in our data some of the the reading was holding kids back on like story problems or real life applications They didn't understand what it might be asking them to do So we had to increase vocabulary and reading comprehension to
kind of hopefully turn that around So that was one of one of our guesses anyway as to what was happening So I I think that that with the data we're seeing now that that was some of the problem is there the reading
comprehension wasn't there And then we have science And then science we also know we kind of need to to revamp That's just not
um we're not as far off on that as other things Oh in the language usage that's only two through eight That doesn't include K or first in language usage So this is our science
um last year So again we got low growth but we have high achievement in science That's been pretty traditional for us So um we need to look at how we can get growth because we think we can get that achievement even higher and then here's where we were
from beginning of the year this year um to January So again our growth isn't high So we expected to see the achievement level drop that it did So but we are going to start looking at how we do science Science curriculum is a
little trickier because it's not quite as all-encompassing um to try to find something that meets all the needs of the students So we're we're we've had discussions about what we want to do to address some of the science gaps and how we're going to get
those fixed in the future here But reading and math we're trying to get those on track first So that's that's all I got Any questions or Thank you Tony Thank you for coming in I appreciate it
It's great to have you Well thanks for having me Yeah Thank you I'm an electrical engineer but I truly do not believe electronics are the way to teach math You just got to put pen to paper Yeah That's the only way to get there Right
All right Thank you Great Thank you Appreciate it Do I turn this off or leave it on Go ahead and turn it off Yeah Thank you sir Okay Thanks very much Thank you Thank you So next up is board member reports Um
I'll kick it off I don't have too much but I did enjoy the presentation by uh Zach Roshelle today I hope others did as well Um and I got a chance to look at some of the feedback from our recent survey And I do want to say thank you to
the parents who participated in providing feedback That's how we make decisions and I know that it takes time and it is appreciated I don't have anything We have a fact meeting tomorrow Um so a couple weeks ago I went to my
first CAC meeting the um classified accountability council I have to always think about it really hard what that means But anyway so it was I was very first of all I was very impressed how engaged and on it everybody was in that meeting
It was pretty astounding um and later on we'll be talking about a policy that was kind of addressed in there So tried to address some of the concerns in there but that was very helpful to me uh to hear that and to hear their input So um I I was I was pleased to do that And
then um just again on behalf of Elizabeth Education Foundation couple things coming up Um number one we talked about it last time but um we've got notifications out now to all of our stars awards winners And so that's exciting So that's uh the banquet is
going to be on April 12th and um so hopefully all of the board members can come to that and and it will be a fun time and it's just an amazing time for the kids There's honestly there's so many people who as adults have said you
know when we talk about it from the EF tent or whatever and they're go "Yeah I was a stars award winner." And they they I mean they're you know like 20 years ago and they are very pleased to I don't know if it was 20 years ago but at least 18 years ago Yeah It's been going on for
a while So it's a very amazing thing And um we have um a couple of upcoming things First of all uh just a reminder to everybody that American Furniture Warehouse is an ongoing yearround fundraiser for Elizabeth Education
Foundation And so if you uh are going to buy some furniture from American Furniture Warehouse for spring cleaning and you know just for the new springtime or your patio furniture whatever you got to do um they provide um a donation back If you buy a mattress we get a little
bit more certain mattresses Don't ask me why but whatever And um so anyway just don't forget to mention EF or Elizabeth schools when you make that purchase And then I I think it's on the 15th but I'm not going to swear to that of April Um
we're gonna have a fundraiser at Jack's Pizza So information will be coming out more specifically on that soon So that's all I have nothing to say Okay
All right My turn Um so I just want to follow up on the training today Zach Rishelle is a is a um instructional expert that we are partnering with We met him six weeks ago I guess it was at our class conference and um he came
today to do an overview with our staff Um very wellreceived uh according to our leadership team's follow-ups afterwards Um direct instruction is is what the way I learned and probably the way most of us learned is you know teachers had
knowledge and we needed to learn it Um unfortunately our education uh colleges today have really shifted away from teaching to facilitating learning and and to engage students and and productive struggle Um which is
obviously why we're no longer fourth in the world We're at 40th in the world And so um I just believe very strongly as a as a district that we can defy the odds We can change our pathway and we can be a district that can see our students achieve at at rates that are more
appropriate than the 40% of reading uh on grade level that we're seeing right now And that's exceeding the state So um we're excited about it Um again today was our first day with Zach Zach is meeting with our principles every month um to continue to train them and prep
them and and guide them in their instructional leadership So it's not just a teacher only training It's our instructional leaders that are being trained on a regular basis as well And so um we're really excited about the direction of of um uh ensuring that our
classrooms are more engaging I I truly believe that part of our challenges and behavior in our classrooms has a is a result of our not having students engaged um within our classrooms Not 100% but certainly a large portion when kids aren't engaged in learning um they have plenty of time to do other things
and obviously sometimes that can be disruptive Um I do want to apologize that I do need to cancel my forum that was scheduled for Wednesday this week Um we will be rescheduling Unfortunately we've had another district commitment that I need to fulfill surface that will
not let me be here in the boardroom on Wednesday night Um so again um I look forward to the opportunity to engage parents again in a forum and we'll let you know as soon as I have that date Do want to give people kind of a heads up
on the state budget um outlook Um Colorado is experiencing another shortfall Um there is strong commitment not to return to a budget stabilization factor which is how they balanced the budget in the past on the back of public
education Um many of you know that we were very active in in uh uh the work to adopt a new school finance formula There are triggers within that formula that will prevent it from being implemented based upon where the state is
financially Right now that is not being looked at Um uh this year um the new finance formula uh brought about a new investment of about $500 million in education by the state of Colorado and
that was to be implemented over a six-year period with 18% of that being funded this year That is unlikely to happen Um right now they are hoping um certainly Speaker McCcluskey is hoping that they could do a 10% investment uh
this year into the new formula which would still be very good for us Um but um the other interesting news that came is that part of the uh funding work that we did last year included some adequacy studies Um is Colorado
adequately f funding education um the two studies or two different studies done so that they could be compared um it came back that Colorado needs to invest anywhere between 3.5 to 4.1 billion more dollars in education to
adequately fund education based upon the needs of students Um you can agree or disagree with that but needless to say the 500 million that was agreed to with the new formula is well be below that So the likelihood of that happening is not
um within the the the horizon However there is talk um about a potential ballot initiative Um we all know that there have been numerous ballot initiatives for K12 education that have failed over the last 10 years Um but
there is talk about considering another one now that we have this adequacy study and can present more factual data Um so we are watching our budget very carefully for next year Um we will be very conservative in our budget projections
um and make sure that um we don't face a a recision or a um a fiscal exigency next year Um and so need the other thing I do want the community to know is we typically don't get a final budget from the state until more likely this year
the last or the first week in May And so obviously school is pretty close to wrapping up and so we'll be doing a lot of planning and and work with our finance advisory council We'll begin that work tomorrow at our our meeting Um but um we will we will really be kind of
on pens and needles until the state determines their their final outcome uh in the budget So unfortunately that's not great news Uh could be worse It could be a budget stabilization factor where they're writing us an IOU again And right now knock on wood that doesn't
appear to be the case Uh just a quick legal update I sent out a a community uh superintendent update uh this afternoon at 3:00 and that included a lot of information about our our legal case Uh the ACLU uh case filed on behalf of a
couple of parents in our community Um uh we did receive a ruling last week from the judge that uh we have been uh at preliminary injunction has been uh ordered um that would require the return
of of the books Our biggest challenge is those books don't exist They were thrown away Um and so we're working through that Um needless to say we don't agree and while we respect the legal process there is an appellet process for a reason uh when you get a a a ruling from
a single judge who you may disagree with Obviously there's always that process to take it higher Um and we are in the process of doing so We have filed a motion to stay and appeal Um we have notified the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals of our position Um and we are
currently awaiting a response from the circuit court judge as to whether she will stay her motion pending the appeal or whether we have to go to the 10th circuit uh to get their um ruling on a stay in the motion Um again um this was
not unexpected Unfortunately when you go to the courts um when you get a single judge you get a single judge with a point of view Um and when you get a single judge with a point of view um that may be different um you always run that risk of a judge feeling differently than than maybe uh what we believe the
law says Um but again we respect the process and we'll continue to to pursue uh that that particular case Um we believe very much that it's been lost that the the content of the books is the problem Um there's a lot of trying to
twist um the facts into making it appear as if those books were removed for political reasons Um I shared in my superintendent's update the excerpts from those books Um and we did provide that in our response uh filing to the judge because we felt like she needs to
read what she's ordering us to put back on the shelves um she needs to squirm a little and realize she's asking us to put filthy content back on the shelves in our libraries and um we don't believe obviously that she she took the time to understand that So anyways um we will
keep uh the community posted on future rulings Um we do have a website that is um uh in place for all of our filings to be reviewed by our community Um and again I intend to continue to issue updates um to our community as we have
more information So then final we are in the final quarter of the year Um this is a long run between now and the end of the year A very busy time I had a lot of teachers comment today as great as spring break was Now we enter this long grueling run
with testing and and very little breaks and and lots of content uh that needs to be delivered in this last quarter So um we do encourage our parents and students to realize school isn't over yet Senioritis is not it's not time for it
yet We still have some time Um and so again we're really proud of our staff and excited at the the uh energy that we saw in the room today at our professional development So I think with that I think that's all the updates I have Okay Any public comment
All right So next up we have our discussion section And our first discussion item is about executive sessions People often wonder what they are um why they're needed So we've invited our legal
counsel Brad Miller here to talk about executive sessions why they occur and the rules that are applied I think you're turned off You have to hold it down Yeah there I see it
Hi Hello Brad Miller I'm a outside legal counsel I work with a number of districts and charter schools and uh it's h good to be with you So I've had some opportunities to be with you over the years or the last couple of years Um
so when when a group like you has the audacity the timmerity the the just the the the to be candid to have the courage to take stands against what people that do my job kind of
conceive of as the blob sort of the the sort of the standard bureaucracy and education that has has really taken hold in Colorado Uh it's it's inevitable that you're going to face um some form of resistance It takes the course of of
challenges around the way that you interact as a board because you're subject to this broad thing called the open meetings law and then the open records act And so it it's in a way timely but it's it's the sort of thing
that I feel that is really um important to do on a pretty consistent basis is to just take some reminders around what um what our constraints are so that we can be really effective in the work that we do I'm undeniably proud to work with
this group And Jamie is amazing just amazing and Dan has been superb particularly in the course of some uh recent litigation and so forth But we're going to continue to see these sorts of things um when we work in the public and
and uh every district every school district and and most local public bodies in Colorado have been sort of lawfared around this to use a term a colloquialism that you know speaks to the idea of using um administrative
rules and different things to to to just sort of slow down the process of change and and you guys are undeniably change agents doing some good things that are just parent oriented and traditional in a sense and and trying to reflect the values of your community So with all that sort of
predicate said I I did provide Jamie a little outline if you don't have it available to you now Okay it's in your binders and and we're not going to go through it like a PowerPoint I'm not going to sort of walk you through all the elements but I thought it might be a handy document for you to utilize or as
a reference sort of material in the future and I'm cognizant of your time I don't want to take too much of it you can stop me or or bring me back to some of the topics that are included here but I'm just going to broadly swoop through what is an open and noticed meeting What
is what is your ability to interact with each other outside of this u room look like a little bit about email and then mostly executive session and then I'll pop into open records just briefly Does that sound good Director
Wilson Okay thanks So we're we're a board of five which means a quorum is three which means under the open meetings uh law that if three of you are together for the purpose of discussing or or moving any
sort of topic that might be a board topic forward whether that's by action or or just by conversation and building consensus so to speak that is a meeting that has to be noticed under the open meetings law means we have to post it Jamie would put it on our website we
might put it on our front door however you guys um do that And so we got to be really careful about that U and that includes things like email communications where you might have a an exchange of ideas and and it might feel like it's just sort of you know
aspirational ideas things that you're you're kind of topics you might want to deal with but all of that could constitute a meeting if there's a back and forth with at least three of you So all of those things are open meetings Um doesn't mean you can't be humans You
can all go to a graduation You can all go to a football game Um lose to my kids at the classical academy if you want in football Do what you want to do But uh those social sorts of events are ex explicitly excluded from this But when
you're talking about school business just be cognizant We're we're not going to meet as a group of three And by the way we're not going to meet serially in one and one and then one and one and one and one to build consensus You can all meet individually as as pairs but we're
not going to do it with a purpose to develop some sort of consensus or or a plan Okay Um the the thing that we're going to most focus on is a thing called an executive session And this is where the
what I characterize as lawfare um comes into play quite often People will watch as you gather you um make sure that your meeting has been properly noticed with as much of the agenda as possible on it in advance If you're going to amend the agenda as we did tonight it's it's going
to be because of late breaking information is going to be because of um you know some some meat that came up after the posting time and then you have to do it at a special meeting All five of you unanimously have to vote at a regular meeting Just a majority of you have to vote to change your agenda But
typically we got it out there probably the weekend you know the Friday prior to Monday meeting is your standard at least And and that's what we're going to do with an executive session We have to have that posted and we have to have it in writing ideally or almost necessarily
in writing on your posting with a few things in in mind One that it has to site chapter and verse specifically CRS24-6-42 PN 4 and then PN with one of the five or six exceptions to um open
meetings that are out there uh legal advice personnel matters on a specific personnel performance issues uh negotiations and advice to negotiators discussions around children that if exposed would impact them
negatively So that might be for an expulsion or something like this Um and and on down the road there's just a handful of things that we can uh security issues Um so where where do we put our security cameras We don't want to tell somebody in the world what the capacity is of our security So we're
going to do that in private So those things can be done and we and so it we have that 264024 B E F whatever we have that cited and then we say with particularity and this is what's really critical what the topic is going to be
in as much depth as we can without you know revealing our secrets So um personnel matters to discuss the performance of the superintendent That's pretty clear We know who was going to be talked about We know what we're talking about That's
pretty good Legal advice on specific legal matters related to next steps in the uh ACLU case Pretty clear That's enough to say uh negotiations and advice to
negotiators period That's not enough We need to give some more specificity It's related to whether or not we're going to build a facility on XYZ plat We're going to try to give some more particularity We vote in by roll call
vote Needs to have a two-thirds majority That means four of you And and then we go into the session that session's recorded except if we're talking about a particular student or if I'm there and I advise or one of my peers is there and
we advise that this is going to be legal advice and related legal dialogue and then we turn the recorder off for that period of time but then we'll turn it back on to have like Q&A and stuff at the end Then we vote to come out of executive session we've taken no action in an executive session and if there's
any action to be considered we might have within the session said does somebody want to make a motion David says I never get to make motions I want to do that I'm going to make a motion and he comes out and and he says based on what we talked about in
executive session I move to terminate Dan Snowberger you know based on the performance that we discussed and and and and whatever the thing but but but that's not been prepared it's not been sort of prevoted on It's it's it's we're not just rubber stamping something we
decided in there We're going to actually come out and do that separate So we don't know what the votes going to be necessarily coming out That's executive session questions about any of that When was the last time Brad that they updated the categories Has that been
updated anytime recently like the ABCDE EF or have they been that way for a while Um I hope not because I've had them long memorized and I don't think that there's any categories that have actually been sub substantively changed There's been um there's probably just
some I've never used so that might be what I've seen here Yeah Uh so so some of the categories are are very rarely utilized uh you know uh so for example the the conf the matters to be kept
confidential that would be it's it's even hard for me to come up with a something to as an example um but uh E is is that's these are kind of shorthand so it's not determining
negotiation it's advice to negotiate you know it's got a long sort of chapter or verse to it um And so they've been pretty these are the these are the ones these are the okay the current
ones um good reminder we we I always advise that we we want to minimize the number of times that we go into executive session sometimes I've I've worked with schools that have been in sort of a a period of flux and there's an executive session almost every meeting It may be very legal It may be
very right but it builds an aura of non-transparency it it it it diminishes the trust your public has in what you're doing because they think you're being secretive whether or not it's appropriate And so we try to we try to avoid doing it really often And then we
try to do it very efficiently And I I will say this one last piece is when you're in this session to the extent that you veer off path and start to dialogue about something that wasn't the call to the session that necessarily renders it
um a violation of of the executive session law And under the right circumstances the entire tape of that could then be provided to the public it it would expose the entire conversation if you take part of the conversation out
of the context of what you called to be in there for Even if it's another legitimate secret thing you should have come out and and and called for additional um part of the session or or do something different not just meander
into something else Okay Can you go into executive s for multiple things that you've announced Yes And and what we would do is Jamie or whoever is managing the recording will actually within the minutes of that the the
the record of that say you know at 6:48 we move from this topic to that topic and and sort of separate them sort of you know transparently within the session It's still okay to do one motion that go
in for A B C whatever maybe Yes Okay But you have to site the statute for that right So it could be 246 4024 B E and F for legal advice regarding this thing for negotiation advice to
negotiators regarding that thing and personnel matters regarding that thing Yeah You would say all those words all in the front Yeah Um it is not a topic to say we're mad at Mike for the way he's been and so we're going to go in and scold him We We can't
deal with board frictions or or anything like that We That's not a There's a lot of things you can't go into executive session for that you just got to sit out here and do um the the um the the structure of the
of the organization or some sort of strategic thing that we want to do We want to cut back on you know uh uh cabinet level salaries We can't do something that's like that that in secret We got to do that out
here Um I I just wanted to touch base on uh Kora You've heard the acronym for Colorado Open Records Act Uh feels like uh Jeff and I talk every day and I do that with people in his role in a lot of
places because Kora has been highly accessed recently in the last postcoid really And so to that end the the board thing I want to make sure that we're clear on and I've said this to most of the board but I haven't said it to you probably uh we don't want to use our
personal emails email accounts for district business That can become a little bit of a an a fudgy area because then it could open the door to what else is he doing with or she doing with that personal account and could open some
access through Kora into you know places we don't want them to go So we're going to try to use our our district accounts and and just be aware that all email traffic amongst you unless it is absolutely clearly privileged by virtue of being engagement with me around legal
matters or being something about a particular student Um it is kora a bull it can it can be um asked for and most likely we're going to provide it and it's going to show things that uh we hope would demonstrate your
professionalism and your you know your your all of those sorts of things Just be aware that as you engage in writing with each other or with Dan or whomever that that's that could be in the newspaper next week And and so then the
final thing I want to say is I am I'm aware that people will send coral requests here and then be outraged that we're trying to charge them something for uh the resulting documentation And it's oftenimes because they'll send something like I want all
emails amongst the board members on the topic of charter schools What do we do with that We have to do a total deep dive into all emails from all times because there was no time frame and there was no specific words and there was all these things and and
we might say you know what 60 hours of work at $41.37 an hour and we're not going to start until you pay us for that because in good faith we want to make sure you're going to pay us for putting Jeff and everybody and your lawyers into um into that um amount of work And then
people will say "Well no no I just want the words charter and or school or you know they they'll they'll they'll think that they've re reduced it but they haven't really and and and on down the road and so we'll sometimes have back and forth and you'll find sometimes constituents
are are finger wagging saying you guys are just you're cheating us and I will promise you I cost more than $41.37 an hour and frankly so does our staff and so that is the amount that statutoily we can charge We are not gouging anybody when we say we need 250
bucks to get this done We really thoughtfully and your team really thoughtfully decides what does it really take to to download this and then to review it because we can't put a kid's name or directory information out there and what if there's a legal you know thing So we've got to review it It's not
like we can just abjectly just throw things out So we you this district does it in a very fair manner a very thoughtful manner almost to the point of giving away more than it we are never cheating anybody and I just wanted to say that with great confidence to you
guys in public Those are all the things I wanted to cover All right good Thank you Thank you Anything else Dan Not that I can think of I think you covered it all Thank you Appreciate you Thanks Thanks
Okay next up we have our district CFO Rebecca to review our budget to actual since our adoption um of the revised budget in January Trying to make this a little more readable It's a lot of
numbers on a small screen Can you guys hear me Yes Okay And just if I could real quick just to set this up when we did our revised budget we want to be able to from this month forward actually provide you a report of how are we doing on that budget So that's really the
intent of this We did quarterly financials I think did last month Last month Yeah So we did quarterly financials last month So this is something we've added to our reporting just so that we can monitor that we are on track to to adhere to the the amended
budget that we approved in January Just Sorry Thank you Rebecca So um since this is kind of off of the traditional reporting um I pulled this while we were um on spring break last week So I just kind of it's an unusual kind of dividing
line but it's year-to- date as of the 18th of March The only exception to that is I did get notice of what our property taxes this month would be that we haven't actually received but I got notice of what they were So I did include that That's the only caveat that
that kind of deviates from the March 18th date Um that being said that means we did not include any um revenues through the rest of this month or our payroll had not been processed for the month of March yet So we'll kind of talk
about that here in a minute Um I'm trying to be consistent and show you guys and kind of stick to similar layout um with what our budget is So I utilize the same budget document that the midyear budget revision uh came to you
as However when we get a little further down we are kind of making some efforts to break out salary and benefits in some different ways to kind of be more transparent in the different categories And I'll go into more detail about that as well Um starting at the top on our
general fund our revenues here Um we it's pretty common with the way things come through to us for our big section of our money which is our bucket of property tax state equalization and the specific ownership tax Um those are
the top three and those are our largest percentage of our budget um property tax is always late in the year We have gotten one big payment in March and then we will continue to get more in um April and June Um and then
the way they've changed the state equalization payments this year is that they front-loaded us and so now we will not get any more state equalization payments except for one in the month of May when we do not receive property taxes So you'll see on the percentages
on the state equalization line we have received almost 100% there We're at 87.4% We will receive one more large payment but that piece is just about done The way that that happened I've I kind of I'm going to repeat myself a little bit from other meetings but
because of that shift that kept us from having to borrow from the interest free loan until February Um and so that should hopefully be the only month that we will have to borrow with property taxes coming in strong but we'll keep an eye on
that Everything else um we are a little low on improvement fees but it is typically picks up in the spring So I am hopeful that we will still recognize the 450,000 but we did drop that down um
from what we received last year Um and then everything else we will exceed on our investments because we've already hit our budget and we still have a few more months That is because of high interest rates Um which is a good thing Everything else is kind of coming
in in line Some of the grants you'll see we've already received all the funding for those so they're at 100% Um we should still continue to receive facility rental monies and infant toddler monies um as tuition and facility rental monies are
paid Any questions on the revenue section for the general fund When does the MLO generally the bulk of it generally come in That's usually paid along with property taxes So that's also late in the year Okay Yeah That kind of goes along then with the timing of when
property taxes are paid Yes Yes Like we had to go in and pay ours I only paid half So I had to pay it in February The next half isn't due till June Yes If you paid in full I think it's in April that it's due So it just that timeline Yes And I don't know why We kind of did an
little brief analysis but last year we received a really large second payment in March Last year that we did are not on track to receive this year So it'll just be spread out over the other remaining months to still get to our
total bucket And typically the property tax amount there's always a few people that don't pay their property taxes So we don't always but there's also people that it comes in from prior years that's overdue So it kind of ends up washing most of the time Um but that's what
we're supposed to get from property tax We may not quite realize all 100% of that but it'll be pretty close Okay cool Thank you Yep Any other questions on the revenue All right I'm going to go down to the allocation
section This is where we pass Whoops too far This is where we pass through our funding to Legacy and Aerrol Lab Um they're we have two different kinds of arrangements with them but they're both essentially charter schools Um and
so that's the funding that we've passed through to each of them Um Legacy is always a little bit further behind as far as we don't pay them until the end of the month when we get our funding from the state typically So this would
not have included the March payment to legacy yet for their um per pupil revenue that we passed through to them So we get on the charter schools we get the payment for the whole payment and then we keep we send them 95% of it Is that correct So we actually send them
more than Well It's more complicated than that but figures but um I knew I had closer to 97 but actually it's even less than that in some cases Yeah we have a calculation where we estimate services that they purchase from us built into their monthly transfer So if
you would like more information on that it's it's a pretty detailed spreadsheet Oh that's okay I guess I just assume that they got paid directly but they do not They do not It still comes through us It does Oh that's interesting I didn't know that We count them as our students Um and then so we get the PPR
and then that piece is passed through to them Okay Interesting Learn something new Yeah Um and then we've uh got a little bit more going to our fund 23 which is our basically our athletics and activities fund Um so we
have 550,000 going there Um note that everything on these next four lines here all the transfers I do at the end of the year And that's very strategic because if for some reason we don't need the full 550 we can save money uh and put
that to overall fund balance So I kind of wait and see what we need and then do an adjustment um and transfer at the end If it ends up being more then I come back to you guys with a supplemental budget in June Um fund 26 um is our that's like the the
pupil activity where we kind of have all the fund raise dollars Um and there are some things that got charged in error to fund 10 that we can reimburse out of fund 26 So it's very um interesting with
all of these funds that are non- taxpayer money we cannot transfer money to them Uh meaning a fund 26 um but they can transfer money to us So we are kind of repurposing some things from that fund 26 to help us with our overall
budget So that's why it's shown as a credit in here Um and then that fund 64 um that is our old self- insurance fund that um we had some acred balances out there when we transferred last year I thought we were
done Um but we had some acred balances out there that we're able to finalize the rest of it So um we're working with our new auditors to figure out how to close the rest of that out but that's the total amount that we can close out
and pull back over Any questions on allocations All right Now to the the meat of the salary and benefits So I'm going to kind of talk a little bit about how we're breaking these out now and the
reason why So um in the past we kind of just had each of the schools and then we lumped in everything as district salaries And I think that that gets a little confusing because a lot of people when you look at that big number they're
like "Oh man they're district right it's district heavy of of leaders and not at the school I think this shows a lot more detail because even though they may be at the district level um we can kind of talk about what some of these are um in
more detail because they really are studentbased or they're at multiple schools So that's why they're at a district level So um obviously anybody at Running Creek Singing Hills EMS or the high school are obviously in front
of a student or the leadership of the school curriculum and instruction that's going to be the your it's Kim Kim Moore essentially along with some other um staff in there making sure that we've got everything we need as far as the
curriculum ordered um and the b associated benefits special services special services that's our occupational therapists that's our social workers that's all of the psychologists some all of those types of people that need to
help with the students that may not be assigned to a specific school Early learning that's obviously our preschool and infant toddler um employees And then kind of that's when it starts getting into more of your traditional
district level for the next few And then safety and security that is definitely going to be in your schools Um but they are categorized under safety and security Um even though they're protecting each school technology they also have someone assigned to each
school So that's a little different there Um facilities is districtwide but that has custodians at each school Actually that's not true Custodians are not in there They are included at the school level And then transportation that is definitely student interaction
as well While it may not be instructional we thought it was important to kind of break these out to kind of show it's not all super topheavy Just one clarification people may see on here 623 Board of Education salaries and
benefits We're not paid Yeah No no no no So what is that You could elect you could choose to be but you It's your board board executive assistant Okay Well that's okay then So thank you You can't do without pay
And that is inclusive like the it's inclusive of benefits and salary So it's even like the parapiece and and all of the extra things that have to be paid as an expense behind the scenes Um so that being said some of these categories
should be around 67% if they are annualized So some of the district level ones should be around 67% because we're salary that are paid July through June But for all of those that are majority
either classified or teaching staff licensed staff we should be somewhere between 58 and 60% Um our average overall is 65.7 So we're still trending high We're definitely trending high in
subs Um so I I I'm hopeful that some of the adjustments that have been made going forward will help us realize where we need to be but we're still too new in some of those adjustments to see the
full ramific or the savings in the percentages So people who we cut in the oxygen their salary that was paid is still reflected in the beginning part of the year just not being replicated but it still shows as salary paid out
Yeah And we did have some overtime and things that we've since kind of curbed So hopefully these numbers start looking a little better as we get closer to the end of the year How many employees do we have in the
early learning I don't know off of the top of my head but I could probably get that to you before I leave tonight I think there's I think there's seven uh three and four year old classrooms if I'm correct Three at one and four at the other I don't know off the top And then there's an
infant toddler room and a and a or an infant room and a toddler room Um and each of those rooms have two two staff members And you'll also need to realize that we had kids club for half of the year that's also included into these numbers at one of our schools So that
inflates it a little bit that has since become part of EPR but we do have a partial year of salaries in one of the kids clubs um included in the number Thank you Any questions about the salaries and
benefits This format is how we will be presenting to you our budget for next year Um and I think to your point Mike it might be helpful for us to indicate maybe the number of staff included just so that you have kind of that overview of here's the staff members that are included in
that budget So I think that's a good question to do you want categories or just overall staff in each category because like at Running Creek that's going to be so many teachers so many paras like do you want the classifications or do you just want a
total in that category will be able to do either So whatever would work for you we're break detail is better I think And we're breaking it down by the position that much harder to do So we can certainly say you have this many grade level teachers you have this many pair of professionals you have this many
lunch room aids So so we'll be able to give you as much detail as you'd like Yeah I think that's okay So the fact that we're six to 7% high we shouldn't worry about that So that's where kind of remains to be
seen as to if we will stay within budget or not Yeah So we again we've got this we've got the salaries of the people we cut that are still reflected in this number So those won't be repeated moving on So we should see that number come
closer But certainly something we have to be careful of We have to monitor closely That is part of why we're doing this so much more frequently because we were just going to do quarterly financials but it needs to be watched
closely Yeah Yeah Yeah Doing after March payroll would be helpful We just obviously March payroll went out today Today Yeah So we couldn't include that in here think if we include March payroll um then we would have four
months left of of pay and we would be able to see probably the changes Many of the staff members that we cut in exigency were paid through November and so you know those staff members that we cut we still are showing that their pay that was paid out from the beginning of
the year through November So it inflates those percentages However we're still trending high So it's it's it it should keep coming closer and closer as the year ends but we don't want to wait until year end to really be paying attention to it either I might ask that we that we do this before our next board
meeting so that we have March payroll included in here Um and that way we we can see if that 71 is coming closer to the target or not Okay And then we are on to the next page
which is um we we are keeping similar breakdown here [Music] um as we did on the salaries There's a little extra breakout on a couple of departments that were combined in salaries above Um but for the most part
this is a very similar breakout Um we're pretty much on track There are some kind of caveats here We do have a couple departments that have revenue um to offset expenses So um the elementary
schools and the middle school have a um consumable fee that they charge parents And so the consumables that is a reimbursement to help offset the cost of those consumables and the consumable
expenses are reflected in their expenditures here So while it looks like Running Creek only has $1,000 left they actually have the revenue offset for the money collected from parents as well Um so that's a little deceiving the way
this is I think in future years we should include the consumables in the planned budget amount Um so that that's a little clearer That would be a tweak I would do next year um the preschools those um those have a offset by grant
funding as well So that's another one we need to capture what grant money's in that budget as well and just maybe break it out separately So the those top four kind of look worse than they are Um and then everything else is pretty well on
track other than legal expenses are are really high this year And in addition to that we've had um one settlement that's been paid and is reflected in here and another one that has not yet been paid but will be reflected in here So that will
definitely be above what we have budgeted and we will need to do a supplemental budget I'm sure for whatever overages unless we're able to have some offset Just to be clear that settlement was from the case that stemmed before this board before myself
that we had to settle in July So and that was a $70,000 payment that we had to make But we are highest legal expenses not even counting the ACLU lawsuit We are still at our highest level of legal expenses that I have
history of So um unprecedented amount of legal expenses so far this year Hence hence Brad talking about the $44 doesn't cover Yeah you know the Kora the Kora barrage that we've had throughout the year it absolutely does which seems to have stemmed I shouldn't have said that
Um if anybody can find a lawyer for $41.34 per hour I would kind of run away from that Probably not worth it So any questions on the overall expenses section Um really no but can I go back to
revenue now that Dan brought up core Where does the core revenue head So that just goes into our other tuition It's such a small amount Well I'm sure it is I just Yeah I just didn't know It's just in the other Okay
If there's other things that you would like broken out specifically on here that's another thing You can send me a note and I can I can break those out But that's kind of the catchall of what doesn't fit in these other bigger
categories Got it Okay Um and then the end here this is this is where the midyear budget ended of of where our revenue or fund balances and reserves would be Um this is just kind of a live total based on what our
expenses are It calculates those Um so it it really does that part doesn't really matter till we get to the end of the year because it's kind of just a moment in time And then I'm going to briefly unless you guys have any fun 10 questions I'll go
over the remainder of the remainder of the funds Um but they're in much much better shape overall So food service food service is looking good Um our food service revenues they are all very much
reimbursement based now that we are getting the state and federal aid So it's very delayed in getting the funding So the fact that we're threequarters of the way through the year but we're only 50 and 64% on our funding on those two lines of state and federal aid that's
pretty normal because it it is delayed Um salaries and benefits we're pretty much right on track there Um and those also we annualize pay but we kind of lose any extra overages um pretty early
in the year because our food service staff is one of the first to no longer have to work in in the calendar year Um but we're pretty much right on track in good shape We're we're looking to still have a decent fund balance at
the end of the year and that's with doing some steamer replacements and equipment replacements still even after we did the spin down plan So any questions on future
Okay Grant fund So um our grant fund essentially it has to zero out um at the end of the year So we will bring in whatever revenue of what we spend Most of them are reimbursementbased We do have a couple that are upfront So that's why we do have a decent amount of
revenue that's already been received Um but we're trending well um on on our grants but that's basically we just moved them over into their own fund for the most part so that it tracks differently and doesn't muck up our fund
10 or general fund Any questions about grants I think you guys all got a copy of the grant listing recently Thank you Yeah pupil activity So this is the one that I was talking about This is athletics and activities Um so this is
the one that is funded from the general fund So um right now we're planning to send over 550,000 but that will remain to be seen based on the actual expenditures We are trending a little lower on expenditures
right now I know that we have had um all of our athletics directors and and their athletic secretaries have really been trying to pinch pennies this year and utilize as much fundraising as they can Um and so we're starting to
turn that around We've also put in some structured coach pay um and limited the amount of coaches that they can have based on the number of students in the sport And so we're starting to see kind of a little more reasonable number in our sports um and activities fund here
We are going to kind of shift a few things going forward that might bump that back up again but give you kind of more transparency in this fund because we currently do not charge for the use of transportation So think future years that this may look a little different We
really feel like we need to reflect the total cost Right now transportation costs cover all costs for sports and athletics And so you look at that $ 1.6 million um uh budget for transportation that
actually includes sports and activities And and and my belief is we should be transparent about what does it cost to operate our athletics program And that would include anytime we need to send a bus and a driver to a location what the cost of that is Many districts do that
some don't We're going to move to doing that next year just so we can be very transparent And I know this shows currently a very negative fund balance but that's just because we haven't done the transfer So we will basically make it whole for
whatever it needs to be Any questions on this one All right And then this is our um fundraising fund non taxpayer dollars Um we did change at the midy year to try to
funnel some more spend down So we instead of my traditional $600,000 in revenue $600,000 in expenditures still carrying a $400,000 fund balance we need to spend that down So um we are on track to spend
it down some but we've got to I'm sure we will really kick into high gear with a lot of the end of the year activities when a lot of that is purchased out of this fund Um so we'll we'll keep an eye on that So why wasn't that being spent down I mean this is money for that the
students pay but So we we briefly talked about this I think at the quarterlys Um because some of these are things that it's a club that was opened and then they didn't quite spend it all and it just then the club doesn't exist anymore
It just hangs out there We have some really old scholarship money that we spent all down except for a few hundred dollars like and there's just not enough to give another full fund uh scholarship So it's a lot of little things like that
But it's also your book club book fairs your the money goes in there It's your principal's discretionary It's your run for funds It's your different clubs like your Lego clubs the different boosters that we that we manage versus like an
outside booster club So it's all of those funds in one huge conglomerate Okay So they should in theory be spent the year that whoever is fundraising for it and and that's part of why we're encouraging them to spend those down
This year we did have some club sponsors that traditionally the district had paid out of general fund yet they had a huge fund balance sitting here that was raised by their club And so you know the expense of the club is having a sponsor to ensure that the their supervision And
so this year we did shift some of those club sponsors to those funds and that's how we've spent some of those down as well That's good Yeah So the this the club sponsors are aware of their personal amounts Yeah
Yeah We put into place a structured system of how those are determined what's reasonable Um I think we've talked about uh earlier prior to to to Rebecca and I being here there there were club stipens that were from here to
here Yeah And the ones that were less were not always because they did less It's because they thought that's all they needed And yet you had others that did less and had larger stipens And it truly had been a that feels like a a
good number And so we we put into place this year a system of what is what what's a reasonable club stipen based upon the time commitment And so now it's consistent That's good Okay Where is band is that So it depends on if you're
talking about the class or if you're talking about the activity itself So there are monies brought in if it's the class fee that comes into fund 10 under our our class fee revenue our course fee revenue Um if it is for the additional
things that they need for marching band then that falls under the fund 23 which is the one above which is athletics and activities And then they also have fundraising in the one we're talking about now So they're kind of in three different buckets depending on which piece you're talking about I would say
that's the other reason why some of these funds haven't been spent because they've used the other funds first Yeah And then these sometimes are forgotten Yeah Yeah It it's um it's tricky and it's confusing for those that aren't
money people to keep track of the different buckets of money sometimes So a lot of times they utilize their bookkeepers at the schools to or or office managers to help track that Yeah So at the beginning of every year or of every
club activity stuff um I assume they get a report They know what they've got supposedly They do And they just I guess we just need to be sure that they are getting it a little better or something Yes Yes It's a hard problem to have to
have money to spend if you don't I mean what's the deal Well especially I mean drones French horns these things are cheap right Right No they're not Yeah Yeah Exactly Any other questions on this
fund All right Almost done Capital reserve fund We prefunded this last year with a million dollars Um and we we have spent it Um we have had so many capital
reserve projects um that are high dollar um and it's just the tip of the iceberg So we have so many more to come but as of right now be based on our budget restrictions we are not transferring any more money into fund 10 this year or from fund 10 this year I'm sorry I
misspoke Um so we just are spending the monies that we have in there at this time It will be an area that we'll have to look at for next year So we'll have to look at funding some capital projects We've been able to take care of some major ones but there's plenty others on the Oh
yeah So this will be an area we'll need to have in our budget for next year to transfer money to Yeah Is the water tower and EMS fire system just not paid We haven't paid all the invoices or did we over budget No we have not paid all
of the invoices So the fire system got put on hold because there were some issues with that And I don't know if Tyler wants to speak to that any more than than I am aware of but I know that there's an additional piece where they have to come back in and finish So we
will still get more billing on the fire system and then the water tower We got a we paid everything up until it still has not been it had not been painted last I knew but I'm not sure I need to schedule to be done It's
scheduled to be done now The the interior coating if you remember that was delayed We had to to purchase city water last year to water the fields when when it started getting warm Um when they finally finished the project we did go ahead and have them fill the tank so
we could begin watering And they committed to come back and coat the tank As a result we retained the cost of coating the tank until they actually completed it um through an agreement with the company And so that 19,000 I think it is is what they will get when
they finish the job of coating the tank That's painting the interior of the tank with the rubberized paint uh that will keep it from rusting and and make it last long April 15th Okay April 15th is the date we have the weekend April 15th is when
they'll be here to and hopefully get it done before we have to start our regular watering cycle Dan what do you not know I know Do you fix the buses when they break I change your oil
Oh dear So any other This is the last of it Any other questions on where we're at I am glad we saved $4 on the SH one That was great Stood out to you Yeah those other three lines I over budged it but I mean it's it's it's a little bit
I rounded up All right Well thank you Appreciate it Thank you All right Next up um there is a draft of our board schedule for next year the 2526
schedule Notes on that that I'll remove when we finalize it but it kind of let you know that why I did what I did when I created it Okay I glanced at it I don't see it here but
they're just next to the Mondays So you know why it wasn't the first or the second or the fourth question You know I wouldn't be adverse to those notes staying in if there was what those notes staying in I know you were saying about taking them out but I mean it
because this is public Yeah Right It makes it helps people understand why it's not the second because when it is a little off schedule it helps them understand The web page does say typically second or fourth Yeah But it does I mean if we don't have school that day we're not going to have a board
meeting So it does but I've heard you know general comments about well I'm really confused It seems like it's you know not the same schedule It's like well you know so you want to keep the notes in there as explanations I think so I think it's good It's good for us to remember and it's good for people to know I'll just
try to make it look better I mean you're obviously trying to screw up by having it on different Exactly You know it was all We were just joking It was And we're just We're just trying to keep it all you know we got a special right
Nope No And this is just discussion Yep Yeah If anyone sees anything that they want us to consider changing this will be brought back to you for formal approval but we wanted to at least give you the the draft of what it looks like We do not have a July board meeting We
have the last two years scheduled one which has been more of a retreat So we haven't put that date on here but that's typically one we'll we'll ask availability in July recognizing that sometimes people are on vacation So any anything else on there
Okay All right So now we're moving on to action items Um so first up we've got the second reading of replacement policy GB GH sickly bank Um so this policy is basically being revised to combine all
sickly policies into one Um it has been approved by or it has been reviewed by both TAC and CAC um both agree with it and there was some discussion um maternity leave and paternity leave was not in the
classified sick leave bank It was in the licensed bank and ultimately CAC felt like it would be inappropriate to to try to separate that out and they they certainly saw some value in leaving it in So um so right now this will be a
common policy across all uh classifications of employees We still maintain two leave banks One for classified one for licensed administrators may fall in one or the other But at least the rules for when you contribute how you join when you can
join are all consistent now So we can promote that regardless of who we're hiring We don't have to remember oh you're classified you have to get this one It will be the same So we're we're very comfortable that this is the right um policy for you to um adopt So has CAC
seen this Yes Including the the couple of additional things I did from the meeting Okay Um because there's on section E paragraph sub paragraph 4 and then in J a couple of additional things because you had said would come or Adam
would come Yeah we did talk about Thank you Mary Mary was our CAC representatives We did talk about Adam coming to explain the rationale even though I think Kath was leaning towards so I think we're looking for a second reading not a second and final so this won't be a final because I think they
should look at it and because I guess this number four that I kind of suggested to add in on section E was because of a question that I asked and really the the response was it's not come up so I don't know how it would
deal with that but that is the way it's written Yeah a pregnancy related sickness or illness gets X but then a pregnancy leave that's not related to illness is an additional thing and it could be technically two requests So I asked
about that So I thought that would clarify it And then um Thank you Ro uh um Mr Roger had had talked about that he would monitor all the balances and stuff and report to everybody So that's kind of why I put that in there So Um I think
I think that'd be good for Adam to come back to Yeah So we'll So so TAC and CAC will meet before our next meeting So we'll bring it back to you for third and final So this is just second Yeah Thank you very much Okay I move that the board approve the
second reading of replacement policy GBGH sickle bank I'll second that Okay So uh discussion One question I had that was a little confusing to me and maybe it's when I was reading it but it says
when the bank when the bank is between 500 and 749 days my question is does everybody have to donate a discretionary day except those with seniority who can then donate sick days
Um so 0 to 49 4.99 all members donate one day um until the balance rises above 500 Um 500 to 749 the donation schedule Members with four or more years seniority may donate one day from their
accumulated personal sick leave And I think the rationale was that somebody who's been here that long probably has more sick days to donate Okay So but they don't they don't donate a discretionary They don't they they
didn't they donate from their sick leave So we have discretionary leave which is issued to employees every year Whatever is carried forward is then called sick leave So they would donate from their sick leave bank not their discretionary leave So it wouldn't impact their leave this year It would be believed that
they've saved up overtime that they would then contribute to help boost that balance because they could have a lot more days than someone who's just been here a year and doesn't have anything in sick leave Yeah And and that's that's just what was confusing to me was I didn't quite understand the the the
donation overall Yeah Okay So that's a good distinction because I didn't realize that So discretionary leave is your current sick leave basically It's what you what you're giving have any rollover becomes sick personal sick leave Yeah sick leave has restrictions on how you
may use it Okay Um so it's not you can't you can't take a cruise and use your sick leave You typically use it because you're ill You you're What if you get sick on the boats I'm sick Honestly I'm on the boat and it's nice But or if it's related to
pregnancy that's probably not to be a problem for me All those people with co Yeah stuck on the Yeah Oh dear All right Any further discussion
Okay Can I get a roll Director Callingham Hi Director Fletcher Hi Director Olsen I Director Pal I Director Waller I motion approved So that's the third This is a second reading We'll bring it back for third
and final Third and final So my question is do you want to repeal that if we're not I think I think you'll want to skip 9.2 table 9.2 Yeah So just do you want to table it Move to table it I think we move to table Okay I move that the board
repeal table I move that the board table the repeal of policy GDCA classified sick bank Second All right Any further discussion on that one This one we just don't want to have
the other one go away until this finaliz We We originally thought we were on track to adopt one and cancel the other Sorry And I didn't think about that So I was like that Yeah Yeah Thank you for catching that Okay Can you get a
roll call Director Callahan Hi Director Fletcher Hi Director Olsen Hi Director Powell Hi Director Wall Hi Okay So we're tableabling that one until after we deal with GBGH
sickly Okay Next up is the second reading of replacement policy JICJ student use of cell phones and other personal technology devices So again this is the policy that was recommended to us by the TAC with edits
based on their feedback and then discussions in our last board meeting So um before we go into discussion I move that the board approve the second reading of replacement policy JICJ student use of cell phones and other
personal technology devices Second Okay Now let's let's go into discussion Um first up again I would like to thank the parents who gave their feedback Um it it really helped And if there was
several things I pulled out of the feedback when I read the comments Um so I did sense some confusion regarding the policy Like some of the some of them kind of implied that you know the student would not be able to have the phone in their possession which
isn't the purpose of the policy The purpose of the policy is you can have your phone in your possession It's just in your backpack and not in use Um and and again there were questions about implications um if they repeatedly
violate the rules and at that point then consequences would have to be enforced Um the feedback was really interesting It was very enlightening Um the majority agreed with the policy the need to get rid of distractions in the classrooms
Um the majority agreed with not using cell phones during passing periods However many still desired that their child be able to use the cell phone over lunch Um one thing I noted after I started getting some feedback was we
didn't specify schools Yeah So um you know school it was it was an overall So I don't I can't pull this was middle school this was high school this was elementary school I can't I can't decipher that Yeah some parents would have children at multiple schools but
only answer it once So yeah Yeah Um most agree there should be consequences when the students do not follow the rules And um one of the things is a few felt more comfortable that the phone were silenced
versus turned off um they were concerned that it may take uh more time to turn it on during the event of an emergency and I have mixed feelings on that because does it distract when it vibrates I mean granted
it could be in your bag but and the other thing about it if it's not turned off it's still going to go onto your smartwatch and all that stuff and it's still going to be there as a distraction on the smartwatch Um and then I I do question if there's an emergency situation do we want kids
paying attention and getting out of harm's way or do we want them texting and calling you know do we want them to wait until they're given the direction to when is it safe to use your phone right in an emergency So I mean there was really a lot of a lot of good
feedback Mhm There was and I I was having uh I had a discussion with the teacher today but a couple of people have said this about in the event of an emergency I mean we they absolutely we do actually absolutely have the card out for you know in an emergency as directed
by a staff member you can use them You they can turn them on and you know so people can do that But um the reason that we want a staff member to direct that is um my understanding is the protocol in the event of an intruder in the school of course the doors are locked down
right The doors are locked down the kids kind of get into a corner or something so that hopefully not in view if the intruder tries to go by and look in the window of the door So if a phone is on and is ringing or the kid is talking on the phone guess what that sort of gives
away that there are some people in the room So that's a danger about that I mean there's really no absolutely perfect process in this whole thing But that's something to consider about the I want my kid to I want to text them and make sure they're okay And we understand that
I understand that Understand completely But uh the first priority is making sure the kids are safe to begin with And um you know unfortunately that's probably going to mean you might have to wait a little bit longer than you would like to know for sure
until we know what's going on So I went through and um kind of made some modifications First off I don't like the first paragraph or the p excuse me the
first sentence Um the board of education recognizes the importance of promoting responsible digital digital citizenship and empowering students to make thoughtful and reflective decisions and develop a positive presence online I think it kind of steps out of
our role Um I think that's a parents responsibility That's a big burden to put on the teachers and the schools and it's one less thing that pulls away from the focus on academics I liked our old um you know the board of education also believes that person the board of
education scratch out also believes that personal technology device may be useful tools for students in the educational environment and you know there's no doubt that they can play a vital role in monitoring health and during emergency situations
um but they do need to be regulated um I changed assure to ensure that the presence does not disrupt or interfere with the educational process Um second paragraph it says building
administration shall develop procedures for staff concerning confiscating personal technology devices in accordance with this policy I have concerns over school setting the procedures as I think it contributes to inconsistencies I think
that the overall what we're what we're trying to get to is consistency um in practice Um another thing about that sentence I think is the way it's for con uh
concerning confiscating them and that sort of leaps to the conclusion that we're taking them all away I mean that's kind of like second and third level Uh and it's kind of like you have to turn it into the office It's not like we're ripping it out of your hands Well
and we specify that in here We do but I mean having it up front like that with that word confiscating makes it sound different than it is later in in the consequences section So um I kind of don't like the confiscating word because that sounds harsher than our in than our
practice will be And I do think so Would it would it say managing PTD's violations in accordance with this policy Would that be better Yeah I like that Managing PTD violations I like that
Violation remediation And then again to your point Rhonda I think it might you know honestly the policy kind of dictates how it's going to be Now I guess the thing is when they're turned in in the case of a violation I
guess who's going to decide how they are put away And I I would like because I know there's concerns over phones getting stolen phones getting damaged Um a cell phone locker was
brought up before and I like the idea of if if it's a repeated violation you know like first time you have your warning the second time um if it has to be confiscated I don't I don't want us
to have to put our hands on it I would like they have to go turn it in They put it in the locker It's locked and then at the end of the day they come and uncheck it I don't even mind if the locker is under a camera And that way we can look and say you know no one touched that
phone You can see it being put in You can see it being taken out Um that kind of puts a little bit of the burden on the child too or the student should I say They walk away with the key right Mhm But it isn't the third level that the parent has to come in with the
kid to get it Yeah So and they can take care of Does there need to be a couple of different levels of locking and securing like the first time they have to turn it into the office they can the kid can go get it themselves at the end of the day But I
want parent notification on that Pardon me I want parent notification on that one Yeah we're jumping ahead but yeah Yeah Yeah I think that's a good idea But then um do we want any kind of administrative level of kind of a double
code so to speak that the administrator I'm sure there's a master there would be a master code or some way that you could override it override But I'm not sure if it's electronic or if it's padlock whatever Didn't somebody buy a locker or something and we're talking about Yeah
somebody was going to move move it potentially into the office and maybe that would be the way to do it But Yeah So kind of not necessarily building administration but is is that what you're saying You don't want I I don't want the teachers I
don't want one teacher to say you know right when they come in the room you're throwing it in a basket No No This is this says you can keep it on your keep it in your backpack But this you know or if you know they they catch a kid it's you know they take away their phone and
stick it in a drawer Yeah Um no we we want a the policy itself should dictate how this is going to happen and then uh in the case of violations so that in the office there is a policy that covers how
they're handled and this this would kind of be it I mean what are your what are your thoughts Is that reasonable is that put too much would that cause more distraction than I don't know I'd love to get I'd love to
get tax feedback We'll meet with TAC next week So it might be good to get them to weigh in on that Well and it's important to to know what you know what's manageable and what's not Yeah No agreed Agreed I think they want consistency I think that was
what they had shared with us is they really want they don't want the ability of you can do this and I'll do that because that's exactly where we are right now which has led to the confusion Yeah But otherwise they're going to send the kid down to the office Office kids coming probably Is
that how it works If it gets to that because first time it's a warning Yeah So that's true First time That's right Over at the middle school where they kind of semi-implemented a policy Um have there been a lot of repeated violations Not a
lot It's a handful Um and typically those are handled by calling the parent Um And more often than not the parent has come to pick up the phone themselves So in some cases because a parent couldn't it's been returned to the student at the end of the day So that's been worked out
with the parent Now one thing that we had in our policy we had prek through 12 So I think that the high schools I think the high schools we need
to they we need to graduate into a little bit more freedom So there were a lot of parents that said they they're fine with it not in the classroom They're fine with it not passing period but they wanted it over their free time at lunch
And I would my vote on that personally would be yeah high school gets to have it at lunch and I think it is sort of like a a high school privilege and and then the earlier levels can it's kind of a learning time to you know control you
know have reasonable use of of this technology which is an important technology to have and use and have available but it's not going to and and as soon as this last bell is done They can turn it on They can find out if they have a message to do something different
about getting home or whatever Um and I I my personal vote would be okay in the high school to have it on at lunch but definitely no on the passing periods anywhere That would be my vote on that I'm not willing to die on the hill
for all or for school I wouldn't be going down the hill for any of them for for lunch across the board but I mean if if we want we want to restrict it I I I can go either way Yeah I just I know
that you you said it's been just very nice at the middle school to see the kids actually talking to each other more and I would kind of hate to lose that momentum that we've got in the middle school And um I I don't know I just
think it's a good training ground for one of a better word um for the earlier grades and then just approach to look forward to once you're like kind of like the older kids in high school can leave campus for lunch They're like I get to leave campus now or now The number of
parents who have also indicated the pressure they feel to get their child a cell phone in middle school because every other kid has it Yeah True So I think I think you know there's one you could argue that that would be a reason why not having them out at lunch may help some parents who otherwise are
having a challenge and telling their child no you can't have one when everyone else is out at lunch with Yeah with them So yeah that's one way to look at it And how long are lunch periods They're not They're like half an hour at most aren't they Half hour at most Yeah Yeah
So it's not like I mean they need to eat and they need to get it done and then they need to get their stuff ready and go to the next class How much can you do in a half an hour for crying out loud You can do all that while you're What' you say You can eat while you're Yeah As an 8-year-old boy
So Rhonda I'm reading right here Um no use of the phone on school or district premises K through 12 Yep And this is what we're going to revise that a filter we'd have to do on each of the schools I'm
thinking um I mean if you're saying on premises filters is that include after school's done and they're in the parking lot Well no because it says uh well during the school day starting and
ending of the time of the school day is defined by the school Yeah So parking lots typically for most of except for the high school And again if we say high school is permitted at lunch typically is when a student might be on the parking lot Yeah Or should the only time
they should be but doesn't mean that's the only time And maybe it should say students in grades preK through 12 are prohibited from using PTDs on school promise premises during the school day as defined above or something
Mhm And then uh exception is if we decide this um you know high school students can can have their phones on You're going to revise that better than that What I did was I changed under prohibited uses I changed
one back to preK through 8 And then um and then I I added back in two which says secondary students um are prohibited from using PTDs during classroom instructional time or passing
periods One of the questions I have was upon entry into the classroom well if it's supposed to be off during passing period it should just be should just be off if we're going to stick with that Um and um it says students must turn off
or and and again another question was silence their PTD and stored away in the student's backpack locker or school designated location And that's question um may be used during lunch period school sponsored
programs events or activities happening outside of classroom or instructional time except that headphones earbuds or any other PTD that interferes with or diminishes a student's ability to hear communications from school staff or
emergency alarms are prohibited at all times So you want to add in back in that paragraph to amended Yeah I I think it needs to be it needs to be clarified for the high school And what's the consensus on buses Buses
you know what I mean Some of those rides are about a half an hour long Yeah More Yeah Keep the kid quiet Our recommendation was that we allow them on buses Yeah The policy that we came from did not did not recommend that but but our even our
TAC agreed that and I think bus rides to your point definition of school day means starting and ending time of school day I think that excludes clarify those clearly so I can I listen to my Walkman on the way to
school every day There you go Who put these Tootsie Rolls on the table Are they reading them Down to six And then down below it's a little it's a little confusing but you have to read
more into it in order for it to become clear but that's when it talks about students should not use PTDs on school or district premises when being transported in vehicles Yeah Yeah That But then it's it's four one through seven to do this that this that I think
we need a subtitle in there I something like additional privacy and safety restrictions on use of PT PTDs or something So that because that is that has been confused by people I think seeing this and I have to say that I had to kind of read it two or three times
like wait a minute I thought we weren't going to do that Then I realized it was the no taken movies no you know no so it should be so like a subtitle another subtitle additional restrictions section Yeah On and and I at first I was thinking just additional restrictions
but I think you know most of them are related to uh privacy and safety Um well and yeah and something or taking pictures of other kids without their permission if the subtitle I think that will go a long way to clarifying that
section that's all that's about Um so I mean so we're saying if the kids are on their way to a field on a field trip they're all polling the bus they can't move their phones there Well you know I was thinking about that about
field trips and things No we I think it's really I think it was in the beginning we said uh let me see because that's kind of way I read that they may be used during lunch school sponsored programs events or activities happening
outside of instructional time It says cannot uh when being transported when the conduct has a nexus to school or anycurricular or non-curricular event and then it lists those So it says they can't be used when the conduct conduct
has a nexus to okay and then it lists that but that's probably not very clear So the fact that it and also some of these things are you can't take photographs and stuff without permission of the of the kid So like if they're on a field trip and that's that's tough to
take a picture of a a sculpture or something Yeah A sculpture or you know the group of the kids you know in front of whatever they're there to see or something You can see that they might want to do that Um I'm just going to say something silly about this word nexus I hate that word
Can we change that to connection too That that was Yeah that that was the original policy So we Yeah but we're fine changing it I know that's a silly one but every time I read that it just makes me So what you
know one of the there were a lot of parents that talked about having it on But there were some that you know having it on that was that was a concern But being silenced
that's not going to take care of the problem Well and as far as I'm concerned the watch is a cell phone It should be in the backpack too I'm sorry I mean it's a distraction It can still receive communications Yeah
So I don't know I It's a PTD It's a wearable This is going to be harder to get somebody to take off than just putting away a phone you know Uh and I I still don't understand the earbuds and all that stuff how that gets connected But um but watches are
basically a phone on your wrist Well they are but if you need to know what time it is you don't have your phone and you don't have your watch So well if the phone's off the watch doesn't work Yeah Is that how it works But if it's if it's off it It's on in your backpack it's going to work Unless you have one
connected but if it's Yeah If it's just silenced it'll still do everything So So then you want to take out the wearables No I don't want to take out the wearables I want I want to have the
phone off I get it that it takes a little bit to power up but I like I said there's no perfect answer to this whole thing but um you're still going to have the wearables problem I don't want to take that out but I think that's going to be a harder
battle than the phone to just say take off your watch too So call me not techsavvy when it comes to those He just got a call It comes to these But can these not be connected directly to cellular without having a phone Depends
on the watch They can if you buy the one Yeah Yeah Yeah Nowadays they do have a backup that if your phone is off it will ring your watch So So it's there's an override to that Is is that what you're saying for you can get them with you can't you would have to differentiate
Okay And there's no way they can go around and say "Well that one's got cell service and that one doesn't." Well we have a lot of people doing Dick Tracy stuff you know that we know they've got something going on but they still ring They they can still
be a distraction Yeah Well I know mine even when though my my phone is usually silenced my phone will buzz a little bit when I get a text or when I get a an email because pretty much unless you get rid of the wearable all the kids are
going to do is they'll just keep going Switched Yeah Well this is like Yeah Don't they start trying to chase gun laws I think there's a ring now too That's Yeah wearable category Although that's typically monitoring your health I don't think it rings I don't know if it does
It just monitors health Oldfashioned ring Red Yeah And there there are I mean if you're talking about the glucose monitors and things that is an app on a phone and but we have that exception you know for IEPs or health conditions that
need monitoring on phones we have those that exception built into this to the phone not allowed situation So um I feel like we we are trying really hard address everyone's concerns and we need to do that
Um but there's just a couple of things It's like if you're not going to do a couple things specifically you've lost the benefit that you're looking for which is you know classroom management less classroom distraction and you know getting to
class on time Um so I don't know That one's important That's medical Okay turn I don't where is the medical It's uh back under exceptions So page
the top of page three the very first Students may possess and use PTDs during classroom instructional time or during times when PTDs are otherwise prohibited when specifically authorized under a current individual education plan a section 504 or healthcare plan enforce So if a student has to monitor blood
Yeah blood sugars Is that on a health plan that that they've I mean is that registered with the uh whoever the as a health plan Is that monitoring Yeah Health it's it's documented in some plan whether it's a health plan or their IEP Okay It could
be an either So So that would fall under this exception then if they had to monitor it Yeah Absolutely And they probably wouldn't have that thing if they didn't have to monitor So correct How many people did you send the surveys to It went out to all all families I'm
thinking we should resend the link before spring break 290 responses on this Yeah And it actually they all came in almost immediately Yeah it's actually a pretty good response compared to prior years But but I but I do think it would be wise for us
to send it send out the link If you haven't responded please do Um because obviously this isn't a final reading We're still working on this So see if we can't increase the response rate Yeah A couple of chances is always good Attorneys communicating with me So
okay We won't make you turn it into this Do you know how many families it is Like um we probably have I would guess 1,600 families in the district Well we have almost 15 We have 2600
students counting chart counting the charter school Many of those families have and this actually apparently went to legacy students too It went to legacy Yeah Yeah So yeah I I'm happy to I was just sitting here thinking yeah I meant to actually include that in my
superintendent update today but it had lots of other stuff So I'll send out another one in the morning I'll resend the the link and just encourage people who haven't responded that that critical information for the board to Yeah No Will we know if we if we get duplicates
that that would be the thing out again Are they going to fill it out It's still it's I believe it's still set to one per IP address Okay So I want to make sure So one per device So okay Unless they go to the computer or other you know I need
I need solid solid solid data data Um one thing it does in the exceptions it does reference students um accessing their phones during emergency situations to initiate communication with their parent other family
members and um such permission will be directed by a staff member in charge during that incident Then it talks about violations Um so first offense the student will be given a verbal warning and directed to
turn off and or store the device in an appropriate location and staff will enter a behavior referral into impendent campus which is our student information system to document the verbal warning Um the second offense
um the personal device um the PTD will be I I scratched out confiscated and said taken to and stored in the main office and a behavior referral will be entered into infant campus The PTD will be returned to the student at the end of
the day and I'd like to add the parents will be notified And then the third offense again it will be taken to and stored in the main office A behavior referral will be entered into infinite campus The
student's parent legal guardian will be contacted to arrange to pick up the technology device Staff the student and the students parent legal guardian will develop a plan to have the student check in the PTD at the main office before school and pick it up at the end of the
day Um the plan will be reviewed each semester and continued for any reason deemed necessary by the administration and their sole discretion and then subsequent offenses it will be taken and stored in the main office and a behavior referral will be
entered into infinite campus The student's parent legal guardian will be contacted to arrange to pick up the device and the student will be subject to discipline in accordance with board policy And somewhere in there is where we need to put in how the office will store
because we've gotten a lot of comments about that Well I don't want you know you know it's going to get damaged It's going to be and we don't want that liability either So we want to have something pretty secure Um do we have anything now Is it something we're going to have to
buy In some cases we have in others we'd have to buy I know District 11 um I just heard this on a on a Zoom the other day Um District 11 they have a policy in place and I
don't really want to do this but they have those pouches those lockable pouches For one thing I think that's I mean I like the fact that we are letting the students still have it with them It's in their backpack or it's in their purse or whatever and it's with them and they it's off but they can get
to it if they have to um they have it so that the and this I'm assuming this has to be per classroom that they've got these pouches I think what they do is when the student walks in the door they have them put their phone in a pouch and they activate the
the so it's kind of and it's locked at the main so it's just that all day it's not like get it and then go to the next class and do it again Okay I wasn't sure how they did it but those are not those are pretty pricey I understand I think there's grants Okay which maybe a grant would be an option Yeah we could see if
there's a grant option I'm not sure if there's a We did have We did apply for a grant um that was being offered for districts who were implementing a cell phone policy We were not selected for it It just had a pot of money that you could use however you wished but we were
not selected Well the thing that I don't like about the pouch idea is um again it's not with the student if they you know if we have an emergency situation they don't have it with them Um number two those I mean I I'm not
going to be able to say facts that this is a problem but I've I thought I'd heard issues where sometimes they are difficult to open And so especially in an emergency anything that makes it tricky is not a good plan uh to get that
open and get your phone out if you had to And then can can you get to wherever that those pouches are Um it takes about two weeks to get around it Yep To figure out how to demagnetize it Oh well so you spend all this
money in there put a calculator in there So yeah So I mean honestly I just think the the absolute solution is that is that they most of the kids are going to comply and keep it in their backpack and keep it away and we'll have some But I mean even
at the middle school we're not having that much problem with it it sounds like I agree We're good with it Yeah Yeah Or we could take a basket with a pulley and just tie a string in it Hoist it up So um but the these locker things or
whatever but just for storage in the case that there's been a violation and it's really more attention for Yeah in the office for the student protection of the phone for the students purposes for the parents and for us too to make sure
that it is protected Um I don't know I think I think that's a good idea The only thing I can see with the key lock is handing a key to a six-year-old boy
Yeah I think I think elementary would hand be handled differently Yeah Yeah Luckily while we have phones at the elementary it's not nearly as prevalent Yeah I would hope not And I and I haven't seen the lockers I mean you have some that have the RFID where
if they have a badge they can hold it up and check it in and out It monitors it We'll look at we'll look at We know ordered for a classroom that we figured it could be moved to the office and we don't think we have the specifics on that but no And we waited to find out
what we decided in our policy Yeah I just want that consistency for the for the students for the parents and for the teachers Great All right Will you send me any changes you had I
don't know if I caught them all And we'll we'll go ahead and push the survey again um and encourage people who haven't responded to please respond that their feedback is urgent But yeah so far again I mean people were Yeah people
were the link you have will continue to give you updated results So if we send that out tomorrow you can click on that link and it will give you it will give you current results as to how many have responded So that's good The fact that we had almost I think the 290 responded
probably within the first two days Well yeah you said the first link you sent to us it was at least 250 responded like within the first day So we may get another 200 if we send it out again So Okay Okay
So um do we need to Did we do a roll call No not yet We have a second that Yeah we have that So can I get a roll call Director Callahan Hi Director Fletcher Hi
Director Olsen Hi Director Powell Hi Director Waller Hi So this is just this isn't this is going to third but not final Yeah it's far from final I think we'd still want more feedback I'd be on six weeks So send me your changes
That way those are reflected Okay For TAC or whatever else too Yeah we'll want to take it to TAC and and CAC with your changes So if you can send those that would be good Well and can we I mean I know we finished but at some point can we get official somebody some feedback
from like once this is instituted like within the first few months of it being instituted like get some feedback from the schools and maybe some parents and say you can actually put it in the policy that the board requests a
quarterly update on what implementation I mean if it's working I don't care but just within the first few months just to say hey how's this going because you know what we can just bring back some changes The other thing we can do
too is once you have your final of here's going to be the stipulations is we could send it out also in another survey to parents just so you have we've worked we've added this we've added that okay how do you feel about this now So we could do that too just to make sure
because I I think you have feed parents who say I want this I don't want that and who knows what combination So once you have a final we could certainly send it out and ask for final feedback Yeah I'm I'm just more worried like not worried but more
about how it's working Yeah Is it work That's why I'm asked about the middle school like how's it working You got single digits of of kids violating this in a day So yeah it's it's it's been very minimal in the whole school So it's probably it's it's easily managed Kids
are obeying like it sounds good So and I'd like to see its effect on academic performance Mhm Yeah I think that I would love to see that as part of the report because the people who are the teachers who are very excited about it I think they I
think they are very excited to see how this affects their classroom behavior and the effect on the education process Well and it's it's hard to say like you know in the last meeting there were there was talk of well a
teacher needs to work on their classroom management skills but then you you say that and then you turn around and say but you can't enforce this It's it you know it just it's kind of tough It's it's a hard policy and we're not going to make everybody happy There's
always going to be someone that's unhappy but just try and do the best that we can to get the focus and keep the focus on education All right So with that next up we have the
second reading of revised policy HAM health education So the name of this policy has been changed to exclude sex education since we've chosen not to participate in comprehensive sex ed and we're only
focusing on health education So I move that the board approve the second reading of revised policy IHM health education Second Okay Discussion
Um one of the questions I had was um line five It talks about let me read it verbatim So people that the students shall be provided with alternative alternate educational
assignments or activities Let me bring this up here [Music] Um in addition it should inform students about potential physical and mental health hazards they are likely to encounter in various life situations and
help them make sound intelligent decisions when they are confronted with choices that could affect their health or the health of others This in the first paragraph Yeah Yeah Um so what would those mental health hazards be Um who determines what is
considered a mental health hazard And is the advice that we are giving a reflection of perhaps what the parents would want or um it could be in contrast to
So any and all discussion of you know with any mental health topic or or anything that's kind of verbed like this Um I know that we want it to be transparent to the parents Um so it'll
be in the curriculum it'll be in the curriculum review and it'll you know all the parents will will be able to get input on that the committee will look at it Um yeah the way I read that is obviously physical health hazards mental
health hazards stress you know when you experience stress Um so I think I think that's what it's referring to but you're right it is vague and so it does lead a lot to interpretation So anything that
anything would be transparent in the curriculum to where it could be looked at by the parents and Um okay That was that was one of my that was just the big thing that stood out I was going to suggest we just eliminate mental health but I I think I mean the
reality is is people do feel stress and stress is brought on by a number of things and that's mental health So I don't know that that's something we want to exclude but I understand the concern of other Yeah other things that could creep into
there but I do think it should be covered in the syllabus and the curriculum that's being used So that may be the best way to address that And that you don't want an enterprising teacher to view Yeah Yeah Exactly Way off right Yeah Could you just call it end health
concerts It could be Do you have about potential health hazards A health hazard would be and even give an example for example stress you know uh stress coping mechanisms or something I don't know if we say that or
not but I don't know Yeah I mean if you took out physical and mental and just said it should inform students about potential health hazards that they are likely to encounter in various life situations and help them make sound intelligent decisions when they are confronted with choices that
could affect their health of others I like that better I like that Just get rid of physical and mental limits Just potential health hazards I like that Yep And then that whole second paragraph kind of goes back to the teaching about family life and sex
education and any curriculum that includes human sexuality And so yeah I think it's I think it's referring to we don't teach it separately We haven't subscribed to the comprehensive
sex education where it is a separate standalone curriculum Um again we talk about um uh body systems and anatomy physiology um health Um so that does to some degree
you could say touch on sex education Um and that would be in accordance with the biblical law So we're not saying we're not covering the reproductive systems or the digestive systems or any of the body systems um and that that is not a
separate course that it's covered within those curriculums which again to I think we're on this point those curriculums eventually should be reviewed by the curriculum review committee and should should be curriculum that we have adopted but the the sentence that says
we will teach about family life um I think that's dangerous territory okay and then and then the sex education we we were talk I I think that should come out and then in the in the in regular courses on human anatomy phys
physiology science health consumer and family studies Again we've got the family studies thing I mean there's just so many iterations of family Consumer and family studies is home is it That's Yeah that's what it's that's Yeah Family and consumer studies at fax
I think you had asked one time what is fax Fax is family consumer studies It's it's homeck Okay It's cooking It's sewing Okay So what's wrong with just calling it home right Do we have to have an acronym for
everything that mucks everything up Um yeah I don't know Anyway um you know I mean we if you want to another time that would all be great We could strike that whole paragraph in my opinion if you wanted to just remove it
Um I think it's a dangerous paragraph Well I mean you could just say the district shall teach regular courses on anatomy physiology science health consumer and family studies You could just take
out about family life and sex education And that last sentence I'd be okay with that I think just to I don't know I just I just think there's so many iterations of a family today you know and that's that's good
and that's fine but we that's really not our place to cover all of those iterations And I'm with you I just take out the whole paragraph Drop the whole paragraph Drop the whole paragraph Yep There we go
I was also to me and I know this kind of came from the fact that this originally had like two options One for you can opt out with a reason or without a reason but I think we ended up with kind of a dual thing here going on I thought we had clarified that did we not Well the
purple one which is three We said no reason is required at the end We added that Yeah except that in the middle of the paragraph it says this notice shall also inform parents that they can exempt their kid on the grounds that it is contrary
to religious beliefs and teachings or closely held personal beliefs Now to me that's a reason and we are assuming the reason there And then number four kind of says again the notice shall also inform parents that they can exempt their kid
from any just generally from any portion of the district's comprehensive health education curriculum without stating a reason Personally I think all we need is I think the problem is we have a CRS 22251064 and it's probably specifically stated in that So we probably should
look at that before we strike that because I I believe that the law requires exemption procedures um based on that and we can ask them to state specifically what they're looking for or not and we've chosen to not So
I'm not sure if if we take that out if we're going to be in violation of so it might be worth us doing some checking with Brad and make sure there's not a reason we have to state that If not I agree we could take it out But yeah I mean why couldn't you just
say from a specific portion or portions of the instruction on any grounds without and no reason is required Sometimes the law will say the district must have a policy that states X Yeah And and so I
just not not having a law book in front of me I'd say we can look at that come back to you with whether it's stated or not And if it's not we can drop it I think to your point it shall include a procedure to exempt a student
upon request of the parent or guardian of such student from a specific portion of the program on the grounds that is contrary to the religious beliefs and teachings So that's directly from the statute So which statute is that 22251064 Okay Well okay So now we're back to But
again we are saying you don't have to state what your reason is So we we we're still sticking with you're exempting your student you don't have to tell us why Yeah And maybe it's just clarifying the verbiage of no reason is required
So then so then the So then I I'm gonna make that we could state a parent does not need to state the specifics to their reason I mean if we want to be more clear instead of no reason is required we could say in sets
request a parent is not required to state the reason So maybe be a little clearer in that sentence Yeah I mean if the language says on the grounds that it is contrary to their religious beliefs I mean that would be apparent saying yes that's the reason But if they have some other reason then we might need both of
those paragraphs because which is I think is redundant But then the number four that is currently the number four is basically for any reason uh you know without stating reason at all True And it's not I mean it just is so maybe we take out no reason as required So you
can do it on the top one You can do it on number three which is statute or you can just we're letting you exempt without giving any reason So well this was cases or post class class there's too many too many so
that's probably why they included I guess they did that and they actually included more than what this says Yeah Yeah So so we can strike no reason is required under number three since number four says you can't accept without any
reason without stating reason Yeah I mean I think if we're going to keep them both which sounds like we need to um they can say yes this is for religious reasons if they want to or they can just say just no I don't want it to And either way is okay Yeah
So I had a question on the regulation which I might as well just ask it now because it It's applicable Is it just for portions Is the class mandated and they can only exempt from portions
or can they exempt from the whole class Well it's a graduation requirement It's a graduation It's in your graduation requirement So you'd have to change your graduation requirements Okay They they can exempt from the course but it does create that conflict within graduation
requirements So what would happen then We have situations where students come in halfway through their high school career and and we do have to exempt some of our graduation requirements because they were complying with graduation requirements from their prior district
So we don't make them take a ton of additional courses and stay an extra year and a half because of that So I would say would be handled the same way you you've exempted we've given you through policy the right to exempt from a part or whole So technically your
policy would say that your other policy really isn't necessary Your policies conflict If you say you have to take but then you say you can exempt we probably should modify the grant requirements At the high school I never had anybody
that I know of I mean health is so much health is so much more than just I mean honestly it would be very sad if someone exempted I know I mean it would be crazy There's so much more to like a Christian science person I'm thinking you know maybe they
just want to handle all that themselves you know I guess that's I don't know that it's ever happened I can certainly check but Well hopefully it won't I have them do portions of when I was in the library of language arts where a book their family didn't agree with for religious reasons Yeah So they would come and do it Look they would do other
things Well maybe it won't be as much of an issue for transparent Yeah With the curriculum comfortable with everything Keep in mind that it does state the notice to parents shall include a detailed substantive outline of topics and materials to be presented So on the
whole health education course we are required to provide notice to parents that has a detail of outline of topics and materials to be presented So we're giving them lots of detail So that happens automatically That's if your
policy says it must So when we adopt this has that not I believe it's probably applied to this the sex education or the human growth and development portion This is actually changing it where technically it's going to be the whole health class It's going to be a syllabus
basically provided because now we're talking about nutrition talking about nutrition exercise Yeah Okay They should go do that Some say long-term illness Alzheimer's comparative neurosis
Wow That's going to be a detailed class Okay Okay Got some changes to make Yep I didn't get it I got all
Can I get a roll call Director Callahan Hi Director Fletcher Hi Director Olsen Hi Director Powell Hi Director Waller Hi Okay Motion approved Next up second reading of revised regulation
IHM-R Health Education So we just kind of talked about this So I move that the board approve the second reading of revised regulation IHM-R Health Education This is not a policy we've ever had This is something class has recommended and
it basically provides a parent a very easy to use exemption form Okay Okay Any discussion on the form No He's making fun of me Here we go
I think we talked about it all with the other one So yeah Z Okay Is there anything the same like sorry angry rolled out You want to say no reason must be given
Okay Roll call All right If no further discussion can I get a roll call Director Callahan Hi Director Fletcher Hi Director Olsen Hi Director Powell Hi Director Waller Oh I Okay motion approve
Only three more All right So next up um the first reading of revised policy Ike ensuring all students meet standards So we've been discussing setting academic performance
expectations for promoting students to the next grade level And this is the first revision of policy Ike to address those expectations So I move that the board approve the first reading of revised policy Ike ensuring all students
meet standards Second Okay Discussion So I know Mary has a couple of recommendations We talked ahead of time and I agree with them Um I don't know Mary if you want to go over those Sure Um so in the first
paragraph it says um teachers shall identify students early in the school year who are not making adequate progress toward achieving the district's academic standards And the way it currently reads it says and may choose to implement um an individual learning plan for each
student So we I was concerned about the may choose to like it's all up to the teacher uh to do but it's it's more like the teacher will recommend it But yeah we have MTSS committees at all of our schools So if if a student is struggling typically that student is recommended to
the MTSS process multi-tered system of support Um and so really should read uh will recommend um a student uh for consideration of an of an individual learning plan
So it's a very first paragraph the last second to last sentence and instead of may choose shall shall shall shall recommend Okay shall the student is it the year shall or will
which one do you want Yeah I don't know whatever All right So what else did you have Mary Um let's see So there was Let's see I think I think the rest of it we got worked out in when we talked Let me think Yeah And
I I I think the key I had a great conversation with the teacher this afternoon after a training about this Our plan is not to retain a ton of students Our plan is to provide expectations that will support um our
not only clearly signify to our staff We expect students to learn grade or to achieve grade level standards but it'll also will provide support to our staff um in conversations with parents because sometimes some of our students who are struggling the most we get the least
amount of support from parents who are willing to have them attend summer programs have them attend after school programs take additional supports accept the plan Um and so this really our our plan is not let's let's
retain the 59% of our kids who didn't achieve proficiency in reading but really to provide another tool in the toolbox so that conversations with parents can be serious about you know we we need to work together You know if if
a child we've had children who miss 60 days of school why aren't they learning Gosh 60 days of school out of the 160ome days of school you know So this will provide some some uh a stick if you will
um for us to have those conversations that you know if if your child is not progressing if your child is not achieving um we may need to consider retention Um because the bottom line is we cannot continue to just move kids forward And so the intent again in Florida I think I
shared with you I was in Florida when Jeb Bush passed or or proposed and it was passed in the legislature a barrier at third grade for children who weren't proficient in reading It did not lead to mass retention It led to increasing expectations and children actually
meeting them meeting them And so our goal and just to be very public with community is not to retain a mass We're not putting student parking at our elementary schools We are we are intending to make sure that we set expectations and and that we help children achieve that and that's our
goal and in the rare occasion where where a child needs additional time retention becomes a possibility Yeah I think my other worry but after we kind of talked about it's kind of related to the ILBC and the regulation um because I
was confused about it's it's actually up to the building principal to recommend a student for retention Colorado statute but then if a and that's by Colorado statute yes and then um so that so Dan was explaining that to me but then if um
if a student seems like they should be retained but the decision is made to promote the child Actually then it comes and the superintendent makes the final decision If they are determined in spite of being way behind that they're going to still be promoted anyway it will come
to the superintendent for decision As you saw with Kim's presentation of data we know how many students are more than two grade levels below Those are students we'd be monitoring And so through our followup with schools we'd be saying "Okay what's your plan on
these students?" and and obviously if one of those students is not being retained or there's not a plan that shows that there's an active you know achievement progress being made then um then it would come to me or my design to
review and and make a decision as to whether we support that Yeah So now one note I had and Dave you're gonna love this policy references reading but what about me How did you know that I had that on my
I was just reading through it and I'm like everything's reading Yeah we don't have a separate policy on that We only have a policy and literacy So I think our intention here is um that it's all subject areas We have two policies that are next that we're going to talk about
that are specifically literacy but we do not have a policy on math Well you know say in the math where I'm going to reference back to your question to the legacy principle and that is do you do you find a correlation between the reading and the math scores Because
because research is very specific research I I haven't found a research study that says a student behind in math is six times more likely to to drop out Doesn't mean it's not there I haven't I haven't found it So that this specific Sorry thank you for pointing that out
this specific paragraph is citing research so that it backs up why yeah are we strongly considering this but I do think too that you know I mean to his point earlier in in your question um they are correlated I don't think
it's a real direct study or thing but you can see that if a if a student can't read a word problem that's going to be a problem on the math but if they can learn to read it they're going to do better on it so hopey ity will follow through but you know we need to monitor
this and if we need a math policy then we'll do it reading is a foundation to continued learning I mean once you can read you you open the doors to lots of additional learning opportunities um it says uh where was it parents will
be notified by spring break if their child's at risk of retention you've got a third grader who's not Well spring break I mean we just had spring break there so they have like two months left Are they going to Yeah the key
would be parents are also notified um uh at the end of the first quarter So they they would be notified that they're below if we're considering retention they have to be notified So they they would be notified that their child's below multiple grade levels in advance
of third grade But third grade at spring break is when parents need to know before spring break that your child is at risk Meaning we haven't made a final decision but based upon the growth we're seeing Yeah I mean we need to have this serious conversation If they're two grade levels you're not fixing that in
two Yes So that's basically kind of a followup right But that but they would have been notified within the first quarter They would have been notified the year prior in second grade the first quarter of second grade I mean it's not going to be a surprise if we're notifying parents at least twice a year
that their children currently meet this criteria Okay And I think that's that's that's the intent If it needs to be worded differently we can But no I was just you know the by spring break I mean that's at that point it's kind of a done deal Well my my trouble my trouble that
led to this statement is we've had parents when we implemented our takeflight groups and we talked to parents about their children's reading scores We had a number of parents who said when we told them that we considered I ready performance as to as
to which students we needed to screen further We had multiple parents tell us "Well my teachers told me I ready doesn't matter." And that's that's why we felt this had to be in here because parents need to know We shouldn't mask it We shouldn't say don't worry that I
already showing your child's behind They're really not We need to be very explicit And so that's that's why that made it in here because hearing that from children who are significantly behind and we've spent extended resources now on take flight therapy for
dyslexia That was troubling to us That's why we felt like that had to be in So this is I mean this isn't a necessarily a literacy policy This is ensuring all students meet standards Correct So we can put math You could put math if you want Like I said I just don't have
research to site So I mean we could add a paragraph about you know students likewise performing significantly below in the area of math sha I mean we could do that I I was citing research which is why I'm not opposed
So are we going to make the watching out for retention thing be in the area of reading and or math that they're two years behind It could be Yeah that's your call
I I would agree with you that typically they're parallel A student who's behind in math is also behind in reading I've seen very few students who who read on grade level and are not progressing in math That would be two two or more grade levels below a grade level below maybe
And sometimes you hit math skills that are challenging and but I've seen very few situations but we can clarify that this is all this is this policy is not literacy in particular it's meeting standards and that would be science
social studies standards too for that matter because that's really going to be affected by reading social studies comes down to very very very direct Okay So any further discussion Do you
want us to work on something else We can I mean I'm happy to to work on how to include that just to emphasize that math is important to us That would be great Okay Find some research Okay Yep I I'll find research
I know Okay Can I get a roll call Dr Callahan Hi Director Fletcher Hi Director Olsen Hi Dr How I Okay so that'll go to second reading then Yeah
Okay Next up we have the first reading of revised policy ILBC early literacy and reading comprehension So the revision of this policy is another opportunity to address our academic expectations for promoting students to the next level next grade
level So I move that the board approve the first reading of revised policy ILBC early literacy and reading comprehension Second So this most of the changes here are actually legal changes based upon the
read act changes that were made um I believe in 20 I want to say 2023 So yeah I think it was 2023 might have been 2022 Um but um so so this already outlined
the consideration of retention Um and so the red you'll see some additional information Um uh and we did add reference to board policy concerning promotion and retention So that second is clearly um
something we've added to reference our other policy Um but most of the changes here are from um CASBY and so one note I had and and you kind of touched on it So you know studies show that up to one in five children can be
diagnosed with some level of dyslexia and we have this policy but how will that potential be taken into account when diagnosing a reading deficiency because typically a student with um with dyslexia will have a plan potentially an
IEP and so that plan would then govern the expectations of that student So once a once a student is on an IEP or a 504 plan Um it does to some degree outline a set of expectations based upon the student's disability Um so with dyslexia
we know that take flight is a two to threeyear process for a student to actually achieve grade level expectations Um so that would then be documented in an IEP So that would then exempt a student from from potential retention And you
said you're looking at we're piloting the the take flight Piloting it This year we've actually identified um and making an offer to a certified academic language therapist who is also a qualified instructor who can train others to become certified
academic language therapists Originally we were thinking about contracting with a trainer who would train staff and then have to fly in to observe We actually have identified someone um who we will likely bring to you as a recommended hire who will actually work for us and
be able to train additional counts and they will provide increased daily dyslexia therapy next year It won't be twice a week This this year what we've been able to start with the resources we've been able to identify has been two days a week Next year we will have
students no less than four days a week potentially five days a week and take them Okay And and and one of the angles I was coming at on this was so we have a teacher and they have a student and they're like well this student is you know deficient in reading
but and they could put them on a put them on a plan or or look at you know maybe they need to be held back this that but they don't realize that this student has dyslexia I think because of our putting our our our count will
likely be our literacy specialist in the district meaning that any student uh on a read plan any student who's not achieving grade level status will be students that they will be digging into and potentially screening So we'll have
the ability to screen for dyslexia uh with this new hire um on a regular basis So as we identify a student who's falling behind in reading the key is catching it early Most stu most schools the two schools that I've referenced before um Orton Academy and Allies in
District 49 those schools start at second grade Typically you're not jumping to the conclusion that a kindergartener who may be having initial challenges in learning letters is dyslexic It may just be a developmental issue Typically after first grade it's not uncommon to say "Okay that student
clearly is showing signs of of dyslexia Um at that point then you can diagnose and you can begin treatment." So our ideal situation would be that students at the elementary level um would receive TakeFlight therapy if they're identified as having significant dyslexia and that
would allow them to leave elementary school on grade level In the meantime we have middle schoolers next year and we will have take flight therapy for those kids who have moved beyond because our system didn't catch them So we will have all levels uh next
year I don't know that we'll have high school students but we will definitely have middle school students who are in take flight next year um with the intention of after three years being able to catch students before they leave elementary school Okay Any further discussion on this one
I answered my questions earlier on this and I kind of just described it before about promoting and who get who decides Okay Can I get a roll call Director Callahan Hi Director Fletcher Hi
Director Olsen Hi Director Powell Hi Director Waller I Okay Motion approved Last one So this one is actually approved approved then ready to go on right no it this was first reading so
we'll bring it back one more time okay so next up we have the first reading of revised regulation ILBC-R early literacy and reading comprehension again another chance to discuss our expectations moving forward
for promoting students to the next grade level so I move that the board approve the first reading of revised regulation ILBC- R early literacy and reading comprehension and I will say I'm just double checking
to make sure I'm not overstating all of these changes are legal changes um from CASBY and and so all of them align with our other policies So there was no additional um insertion of language into here Um it was all recommended from the
ReadAct change that occurred a few years ago that we've just never looked at this policy Can I get a second Second Okay I'm sorry I jumped in again That's okay It's getting late Okay Was really excited about that Yeah
I know Um I loved it Um I like how it talks about um compet competency in the areas of phenomic awareness phonics vocabulary development reading fluency including
oral skills and reading comprehension Um do we need to specify no queuing or whole word teaching methodologies in there I think because we're mentioning the five components we we indicate that that's not the way we're going to teach
So okay those would be in contradiction and this would be no exceptions Can you put no exceptions in there You can if you want All right It's your policy Okay Any other discussion Um Dan and I discussed earlier kind of again part of the process of me trying to understand
you know when the principal can can recommends and it is by law it is the principal who recommends retention Yeah and it's the superintendent who then steps in if people are trying to promote the child Anyway so at the the last
paragraph that's in red on page five the second last paper we talked about just adding at the end of that it's it's like if the parent guardian does not attend a meeting to discuss this the decision to promote or retain the student is is due due to the student's significant reading
deficiency shall be made in accordance with board policy And I think it should also say and according to applicable law Yeah we can do that So a comma and board policy with board policy and applicable law Yeah it probably doesn't need a
comma President it has always kind of sat wrong especially when we talk parental rights that that retention is not the right of a parent to deny Yeah So that's where I was like and honestly the basis of that is you
know there there have been school districts who have been sued for educational malpractice when parents have refused retention and then children graduate and they don't have the skills and then they come back and basically say "Well you're the educators you should have known." Yeah Um so I think I
think there's most states that law is rooted in that you know you're you're the educator you know what the child needs to learn and if they're not then you should make the appropriate decisions So yeah I think there was was
it on the news today yesterday this weekend about um there was a student not in our district but a student a validictorian somewhere in this country that couldn't rear right and a validictorian
and a validator Yeah that's that's quite frightening Thank God not in our district But that's why that's why you put these things in place to help put in the guard rails and safeguards to make sure that doesn't happen Okay So can I get a roll
call Director Callahan I Director Fletcher I Director Olsen I Director Pal I Director Waller I Okay Motion approved Uh our next boarding meeting is on April 7th here in the boardroom district office 6
pm And with that I any other new business I will just say you have in your email box the official appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals that was filed this evening Good What time does Summit close Okay With that I adjourn this meeting at
9:53 8:53 Just like 95 It does feel like No wonder I feel uh Yeah I was I was looking at got minutes out Got a sign