--------- Hey. Welcome to the work session for the Greeley Evans District six Board of Education. Miss Lemon, will you call us to order? Will you give us a roll call? Absolutely. Director Ozari? Present. Bentley? Present. Director Campos Pizzi? Present. Director Mash? Director Matthews? Present. Director Norwood? Present. Five board members present. Thank you. 2.3. We're gonna do the calendar review and community engagement. Could have a calendar in front of you. Devon City straight of address is this Friday, the seventeenth, 07:30AM, usual place. Always good to hear how our partners down there are doing.
Culture day, twenty second. Discover d six Academy starts on the twenty third. I think there's been a bunch of emails out about that. Did you get all your responses? We haven't. So who plans to attend from the Board of Education? We'd like to have some of you here at this first one, if we could. Keep the The Discover well, the Yeah. The Discover District six. On the twenty third. Okay. I think I will be out of town that day. I think I signed up to be there. So I should be able to do it. Thank you. Yeah. That's fine. I will try to be there as well. Thank you. And what about the Evans State of the City?
I am not able to attend that. I'm out of town Friday. I I can be there. I think I RSVP'd. Oh, good. Nice. Yeah. And I saw Anthony, I think, is going I will. To the cabinet. Yeah. Yeah. I will I will get there as well. Yeah. I cannot I cannot put that one in, unfortunately. We'll be represented. That's great. Yeah. Thank you, mister Mitley. Yep. No problem. Museum night at Frittardis Chartis, School of Innovation, the twenty fourth. And then our next board meeting, well, community foundation to spread the good luncheon. School is fun.
And then school visit to Greeley West, and that'll kinda get us to what's that? That's a big one. It is a big one. Mhmm. Yep. That'll get us to the election and the next board meeting, so we'll see what that brings. Guess we'll go to board member comments reports 2.4. We'll start with doctor Campos Spitzy. Alright. So first of all, everyone, happy indigenous day. I always bring my show and tell. So I'm reading my kids, children of the earth and sky right now, Native American children. It's about Native American kids from the Hopi, Comanche, Mohican, Abajo, and Mandan tribes, and
about how they help their families at early ages. So we're doing this and talking about chores. And, other than that, I had a few shout outs. We have an online security system called called GoGuardian, that monitors our kids when they're doing anything online that's, like, under the district. And so I recently had a parent tell me how quickly, this GoGuardian system caught his, senior high school senior, who wrote an essay, a personal essay about something that
had happened in in their life, and it did have a lot. It was a heavy topic. And the father, when he was contacted by the school, he said he was contacted by, like, three different people within a matter of, like, an hour of, like, your kid has written some things and, you know, that are are worrisome. He knew exactly where it was coming from because he had talked to his kid about the prompt that he was gonna answer for this essay. But he was just floored at how quickly the you know, our online surveillance system
picked up on some words that could indicate a child in distress. So just a cool shout out for that. I you know, some some of these things happen, and we don't even know they're happening. And so it's cool to to hear about it. Reading and writing. So this is from my, perspective as a parent of elementary school kids. So I know that we have this renewed focus on early literacy, on our, early grades for reading and math and writing. And I was so impressed with my six year old. She came she did this over the weekend, and I just thought they were fun
colors. But, no, she said in her first grade class, they're being taught about, paragraph structure. And so green is the topic line, and then yellow is like an information line, and then orange are details, and then more information and more details. And then the final color red is like your concluding sentence. First grade, guys. And, yes, I do have a gifted child, but she said this was not her GT. This was her whole first grade class of, like, 30 kiddos. So super proud of that.
I was like, dang. That's, like, high school material. And then this also came from her class, but my five she teaches my my six year old teaches my five year old everything she's learning. And they're they're freaking doing algebra. Like, she's like, mom, we do this. Like, we do eight plus blank equals 12. And then we have to answer what the blank is. And so then they they were doing this at home. And I was just really impressed. Like, here you can see eight plus blank was three or equals 11, and the answer was three. And so, anyway, just really proud to see that kind of level happening in kindergarten,
first grade. So cool. Other more district related stuff, we got to do our Fred Chartus School of Innovation visit this past week. We had a a student panel and then, a tour of the school. They are a very unique school. They're a micro school. They have a 124 students. They were established in our district in 02/2017. They are highly sought after, and shared with us. Unfortunately, have few openings every year, but that's a good problem to have. I think on our, yes, on our calendar, we have museum night. So that's the culmination of their forest loop.
It's really impressive. The kids all give presentations. So if people wanna make it out to the Cameron School Building, that's where Fred Chartis is to see the kiddos' presentations. The same night, actually, Heath Middle School will have their Dia de los Muertos open night open to the public as well. So I'm hoping to try to make it to both of those events. This last Saturday, a lot of us got to go to the Bright Futures benefit event, through the World Legacy Foundation. Just a reminder to students or parents who might be listening, the Bright Futures Scholarship
application is for seniors from Weld County. You can apply. There's a deadline in May 15, but if you miss the May 15 deadline, you have another opportunity until November to apply, and that second application opened October 1. It's a very easy application. You just have to be a senior, in a Weld County High School and have maintained a two point o GPA and do 12 of community service. So I encourage you to apply. You can get up to, like, $14,000 of, college scholarship through the Bright Futures program.
And I encourage parents and, residents in our county, to give to Bright Futures. It's a really great great way to support our students. I know we'll get to celebrate more of this during the business meeting, but, a lot of us got to participate in our big news that we were able to award mister Steven well, not we. The state of Colorado awarded mister Steven Paulson, one of our high school teachers at Greeley Central, the Colorado teacher of the year. And we're gonna have a video during the business meeting to celebrate him.
And, I keep telling everyone we not only have the best teacher in the state of Colorado in District 6. We, as we all know, know, have the best superintendent, and we have the best school counselor. Claudia Kessler won best school high school counselor of the year, and she'll be recognized as at our business meeting as well. But it was so cool. We had the commissioner of, education come out, Susana Cordova, and just a huge, huge celebration and so proud, for mister Paulson. And, yeah, let's see.
I think those are my things. I I talk a lot, but I I missed the last meeting, so I had more to say. I don't I don't have a gavel to shut you down, so you don't be safe. Mister Norwood. Thank you. Had a chance to sneak out and watch a little bit of wild card baseball, in New York. I was hoping mister Hanson would be here tonight because I owe him an iced tea. The Tigers did take two or three from the Yankees, but I think I left that with, officer Corless. So that that was fun. It was a it was a good opportunity, very electric out there. It was really exciting.
So came back. I had a chance to go to Dos Rios, to the color run with my grandson, Madden. Miss Bostrom and her staff put on a great community event there, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It got covered with chalk dust, but, it was really a lot of fun. So then, this past Friday night, I snuck out to watch a pretty good football game between Northridge and Central. I think Northridge snuck that one out as well too. So and finally, I went to UNC soccer yesterday to watch one of my former students, Sonny Yarnell, play.
And then I come to the meeting tonight, and I see another former student here, state representative Ryan Gonzales. So it's very good to see you. Thank you, mister Merwin. Mister Azari? Okay. Thank you, vice president Bentley. So, yeah, I attended, quite a few of the things that Brenda has spoken about, the Prairie Heights celebration, I was, speaking with our superintendent, and that was, the first school that doctor Pilch opened up in this district, one of many over the years, and it's hard to believe that it's been ten years. To me, Prairie Heights still seems like a new school, but they have their own
traditions now, and it was so evident at that event. And I'd like to thank the the, folks there that, worked with the students to showcase some of what the students do, including the chair, leading team, and the orchestra had a chance to play, and then the students took folks out on tours around the building. So, kudos to to Prairie Heights for their success over the years that they've been open. I also attended the High Plains Library District Luncheon. That luncheon, showcased a program that the library district has called We Will Build It
Better, and it's basically a STEM program in which they have a kit, which students can use in order to, develop their science, technology, engineering, and they include the arts in their, abilities. So, you know, these partnerships that local organizations really help support, kids throughout the community. And that was a that was an impressive, demonstration from the library, and I thank
them for all their work as it ties into our STEM programs throughout the community. I am the school board representative to the wellness policy committee, and I went to their meeting on September 30. And and this, I do need to report out to the board, several bullet points that they wanted me to share with you. So I'll just go down the list here. There are five of them or so. So I'm not I'm not an expert in any of this, so I'll just report out. If if we have questions, we do have wellness experts in the district that I'm
sure can can answer those for you. Surveys are showing that we're doing a good job according to the wellness folks and communicating with our families and staff. And we're about five to 10 percentage points above the state average. That that's pretty cool. However, we are a bit below the state average in using our cafeteria spaces. This was new to me. Our cafeteria spaces is learning laboratories, and that is something that our wellness team will be looking into. I'm not exactly sure how that works, but that sounds pretty darn cool that the
cafeterias are used for that for those purposes. Meeting also provided updates regarding, many of our programs in in this and the wellness folks do a very, very good job of putting a lot of information into a fairly short meeting. And one of the, one of the programs they reported out on was UC health Healthy Hearts and Minds program. Again, one of our community partners that come into our schools and with parent approval, help give the students more information about their heart health. Now it has provided, 1,259 of our students with extended opportunities to learn about hands
only CPR, and they're trained in that with certified professionals. They also had a briefing on our farm to school program, which encourages the use of school gardens as learning environments for education about nutrition, food, and sustainability. And we currently have those those school gardens.
So that might be something in the future that we might wanna look at. And finally, our students, from the student health advisory council will be speaking, as I'm not sure which students, but, several of them, I'm presuming, will be speaking at the Student Health Association National Conference, which is happening in Denver, on October 17. So that's this week. They will speak to why they are a part of our student health advisory council, what they do as members of the SHAC, and how they see the wellness policy
enacted in the school district. Very impressive group of kids as as we'll notice our student leaders these, these kids do a lot for our school district, and I look forward to continue working with them. And that's all I have, mister Bentley. That's all? That's it. It's always amazing how much time and effort you put into that dorm. Really appreciate it. Mister Matthews? Yeah. It it definitely is after the first few weeks of the school year where we don't get out too much. We've definitely done a lot more in the last last three weeks.
And so, I also went to the Prairie Heights ten year anniversary. Just doctor Pilch, you made a a point at that. Just how important building Prairie Heights was, to passing a larger bond issue and regaining the trust of of this community. And so very appreciative of of the board that that went after, the grants to to help build that school that, that put that together. That's been and and one less school to do. I think everybody knows we let all of those, round buildings that were built have
to be have to be redone. And that was the first one. John Evans was torn down, and we built, Prairie Heights. That were so it was technically a replacement school, but, yeah, just can't thank our community enough, for for taking a chance, that board that went after those grants to put that on the and for putting that on the ballot. Also went to the High Plains Library Foundation, another great partner, for District 6 and, just continue to hear and we got to see just all the different things they do with the link library and what a resource for our children in this district.
And and I hear that again and again and not just from from kids in our district and not just from kids in in Greeley, all over Weld County. So we appreciate their work. Also went that week to the greater, great ed education, Colorado luncheon down in Denver. And I know a number of us have been to that to that luncheon before, but the Success Foundation was honored at that luncheon. And so it's just a great chance to, to congratulate the Success Foundation. Again, another great partner, and we appreciate all that they do, for our district in
terms of providing, so many of the things that have been, that our parents sometimes can't provide in terms of instruments and, athletic. And also, we have what do we call the what do we call our our, STEM labs. Smart labs. Smart labs. Yeah. Our smart labs, I mean, we have more than than anybody else in the country. And a lot of that is due to the, to the effort of the Success Foundation. Also was there for the Fred Chartas visit that was, it's great to see them in a permanent home and and how well they've adjusted to that permanent home and
all the opportunities that building enables, Fred Chartas, students to enjoy. And then, got out to a couple of different arts things, Greeley Central Band Concert and Greeley West Choir Concert. And just, those are do appreciate the the arts and the impact that they make on our on our students' lives. And, yeah, they're both fantastic concerts. So it's been been a lot of fun in the last three weeks in District 6. Agreed. Thank you.
I don't have a whole lot to add. I just I just wanted to mention the teacher of the year assembly that we got to go to for Steven Paulson. That was it was just pretty touching to to watch the entire gymnasium chant we love Paulson and and to see the difference he's made in their life. They're obvious the obvious difference he's made in their lives. So, wasn't wasn't a lot of dry eyes in the room, but it was it was pretty pretty cool to be a part of that. Moving on to 2.5, legislator engagement. Looks like we have, few guests here. Representative Scott Slaw, senator Scott Scott Bright, representative Laurie Garcia Sander, and representative Brian Gonzales.
We'd like to welcome you guys. And, I'll let Nate or doctor Bilch walk us into this. Thank you. Thank you, vice president. Welcome to all of you. We're so glad to have you. We have a little bit of information we'll share with you. And then, what I wanna do is let each of you introduce yourselves, and and the board will introduce themselves too. But if you all would share, what your role is and what your relationship to the Greeley Allen School District is, when you introduce yourselves. But I wanna give you some information about the district and just a little overview of who we are.
You know, the former English teacher and me and her handout stuff. Thank you. You're not grading these later. Right? No. I'm not grading these later. Right? No. I'm not kidding. No. No. But, we do require participation. We're really, really, pleased to have you here tonight. We have not had a session like this with our board for many years, partly because of the pandemic, and and we just moved away from this. But, my experience has been that it's really valuable to bring, our legislators into the room with our elected, school board officials and have a conversation around your priorities for
the legislative session, our priorities, here in the district, and, really, for you all to be able to put an a name with a face. So when you wanna reach out to a school board member, you can remember, like, oh, yeah. Doctor Campos Spitzy. That helped. Maybe I should call her and and see what she thinks. And so you, you know, you have access to us, when and so we can be a resource to you as as you're down there advocating for our community because, we know it's really big work work you're doing and that things come at you really fast. And, we we want to be a resource to you.
We wanna support you, and we wanna thank you for your service, ahead of time. So with that, representative Gonzalez, you wanna start by introducing yourself? Yeah. So good evening, everybody. Representative Ryan Gonzalez, House District 50, which is East Greeley Garden City of Evans. I am District 6. I graduated from District 6 in 2013 from Northridge High School, so go Grizzlies. I have a very soft spot for Grizzlies itself. So, you know, the STEM magnet program, I was part of the STEM magnet program in that school when I was there. So I actually did my capstone project on suicide awareness, which kind of did a snowball effect into kind of going out of the community and helping other causes with
nonprofits and just kind of see what I can do with the community myself, make a positive change. Right? It's good to see all of you board members. I've spoken to each of you. I know my first session already under my belt, wanting to make sure I do the stakeholdering done right, especially my district. I wanna make it clear I vote my district and I will never ever ever ever apologize for that. When it comes to education policy, I've reached out to Doctor. Peltz saying, what do you guys think about this bill? What are some concerns? What are some things that, you know, we could do better? Just making sure I'm in tune with my district. So education, school board members, higher ed as well.
Business people, business policy. I go to my small businesses community in my district. When it comes to health care stuff, I go to some health care people in my district as well just to make sure I'm in tune with the subject matter experts who are dealing with these policies. You know, I have a saying, we vote and we write these policies, but you guys have to deal with it. So I'd rather make sure I'm in tune with the concerns and priorities and challenges that face my district overall to make sure I vote accordingly. And so, with that, I also just wanna justify that, the Healthy School meals for Aldo, I wanna explain my no vote because, I did mention to board member Azari
my why. And it's not just this district per se, but I did get a lot of people all over the state who students and kitchen staff who who were concerned about the amount of food being thrown away. And my constituents, my district cannot afford to have their tax dollars being thrown away. And so that was part of the reason why I voted no, not because I don't wanna feed children. I do. We all wanna feed children. But I just wanted to clear the record and go on record why I voted no on that specific bill. However, I did vote for the, school finance act, which guarantees districts a goal, not guarantees, but gives district six at least 11 more million dollars here down the road,
making sure we have the resources, equipment, and just overall, support that we need for our students, for staff, for the board members, for the community. This upcoming session, as you know, the budget. So we will be facing some cuts again. And I wanna make sure I have a saying that we should be funding the big three. That's health care, infrastructure, and education. We should be funding those three first and foremost. And if we have wiggle room, then we can talk about other offices, departments, agencies, FTEs, whatever it is, but we should not be funding stuff at the expense of
our students, of our health care, of our roads, of our infrastructure, and of our housing. And so I made that clear to the legislature, to some of the people in the capital that that is my priority. I will not be cutting higher ed. I will not be cutting k through 12 ed. I know that's something that the governor has had in his chopping block is Medicaid and higher ed. And so I am very opposed to those cuts that the governor has considered to make. So I just wanna go on record that I will be fighting for k through 12 higher ed, Medicaid, and health care, as well as infrastructure.
So I'm just looking at affordability issues right now. So I know affordable housing is something that's big. I'm proud of my work in construction defect reform. There's a lot of work to be done, but, you know, I'll see cutting some red tape and things like that. We have a lot of work to do in the housing aspect. So I'm working with some people in that process to make sure we have affordable homes and affordable economy, you know, getting rid of a lot of these fees that you see everywhere. It's it's does a lot of undue burden to our constituents, my constituents, as you know, low income, not a lot of high income people in in my district, but
I wanna make sure I'm in tune to their needs, their concerns, their priorities, their thoughts. Energy, I'm proud that we passed nuclear this last session. So as we face towards more renewable clean energy, I think we can't do that without nuclear. And I think that's something that we should all consider down the road if we wanna phase away from traditional methods. Let the markets do what it's all in their own, but not without the expense of nuclear. So, I look forward to the conversations with you guys. I'm here for you guys. Tell me what you need. Tell me how I can help you guys. How we can have a partnership. It's part of my job. You know, I answer to my constituents in my district, not the capital, not the
leadership, not the people in the powers that be. I kinda have to come and explain myself to my people. And so that's the the foundation I stand on. This one? Hi. I'm Laurie Garcia Sander, and, I live up in Eaton, and I represent House District 65. So there's just a few precincts that are in District 6. I do have a family member that's still in District 6. And, I grew up in LaSalle and, went through UNC for my bachelor's and master's. And so, background in education, I've been watching District 6 and part of District 6
family in the, kind of in in the adjacent world for a really long time. As a teacher, a principal, and a district administrator, I still work a little bit for all Highlands School District, on contract. And so I am very aware of what's going on in education, have been for the last thirty years. My goals at the legislature are always going to be, can we stop putting more on our teachers and principals and admin? I'm looking forward to trying to find ways to unwind the, burdensome paperwork that we
have going on. I worked on a bill last, last session that attempted to do, to do just that. There was a big price tag slapped on that, so I've been working on that for a while. Looking at my own auditing for paperwork that we're asking, schools and districts to produce. An example is, I do the office of civil rights and English language development programming for all Highland School District. When they're asking me to report for CDE and for the office of civil rights,
I'm filling out that paperwork twice a year, multiple times for different people, different departments, and it's kinda ridiculous. So if I do that for a district of less than a thousand, I can't even imagine what that's like for district six in our larger districts in the state. You know, there's just bigger departments, more kids that were doing the same work. So, I'll continue looking at ways to unwind, the bureaucracy. And, obviously, school funding is always another priority for me. I'm here to listen, really, and I'm looking forward to just continued conversations.
I know doctor Pilch has been wonderful. I reached out, I think, maybe to, to miss Overton also in the past year about just kind of some things that have come my way, but always looking forward to just the conversation. Let me know if there are bills that you think that might help in the world of education, because that's really the fire in my belly and why I'm down there. So, please, let me know how I could how I could help. Thanks. Awesome. This on. It's on. Okay. Thanks everyone for having us here today. We really appreciate engaging with District six.
It's the core, core school here in Northern Colorado, and it is the shining example of how to do it. We really look to you guys, as the example of how to do school best and how to best serve families, in Northern Colorado. Well, so Scott Bright, Senate District 13, which includes half of Greeley and Brighton and the Highway 85 corridor in between. So, my first engagement with district six was in kindergarten at Cameron Elementary, which Fred
Chartis is there now I believe in that in that building, so I won't tell you what year that was, but, that was my first first, exposure as a student in district six schools. I am the owner of ABC child development centers, which has been a big partner with district six over the years. Some of the the highlights of that relationship was, my mother previous owner of ABC, worked with Doctor. Tim Waters back in the eighties to develop the Colorado preschool program and became one of the first contractors with district six, for some preschool slots through the CPP program
back then. One year later again with Doctor. Waters, we developed after school programs that are on-site at the elementary schools in district six. Since then, it's become a model that a lot of other communities around the state and around the country have used as well. So, we're proud to partner with district six schools, with the district six community, as well as other school districts around, and doing that after school care on-site for those kids. Families really appreciate having their kids in a safe place, and so happy to do
that. Happy to serve on lots of district six committees over the many years and decades that I've been engaged here, moving things forward and watching, watching the continuous improvement of the school dish. An amazing, was part of the small team that got to work to hire our current superintendent and, really happy that that has played out even 10 times better than we could have imagined. So, awesome there. So I serve on the senate education committee, the senate health committee, and the senate
finance committee, and I'm ranking the ranking member on senate education. So, you can tell that that is my, that is definitely my focus, and I lead our caucus in any conversation when it comes to education. They all look to me for advice on which way to go on education issues. So happy to represent the school district, and I look to to you guys and Doctor. Pilch as well. Every time we hear an education bill, she's she's getting texts from me, and I'm like, what do you think about this one?
What do you think about that one? And how about this provision? And what sort of amendment do we need here and there? So, District six has a voice in the legislature, via those, conversations. So, as we look forward the state of Colorado is definitely in a budget challenged place, just like representative Gonzales. I am here to protect education and protect health health coverage for our more needy families in Colorado. I will stand up for that all day long. To me it's a conversation of wants versus needs, and we have as Colorado has
stepped into funding a whole lot of wants for a lot of folks, and I'm sure a lot of those programs have great merits. But we really need to focus on the needs that Colorado has and I believe that those needs are high quality education and high quality health care for for those in need. So, we'll be focusing on that for sure. Some of my initiatives going forward are streamlining and making more efficient and effective the department of early childhood. So I engage with those folks a lot, It's my specialty, was part of the
different committees and whatnot that brought the Colorado Department of Education to be, and want to see it thrive and see it be successful. And it needs a little bit better level of accountability and a little bit better, efficient process with which to work through its goals. So those are the things I'll be working on going forward, and again, we'll be highly focused on anything education related. So thanks for having us today. My name is, representative Scott Slaw, and if our time to speak is proportional to the amount of time that we've been in office, I will not talk very long.
I'm I'm a relatively new member, to the general assembly. I replaced representative Ryan Armingost for, in House District 64, which comprises Mead, Bertha, Johnstown Milliken, and a huge part of Greeley, everything basically West of 30 Fifth Avenue in in that direction. So I have a number of schools from District 6 that are in my district. I also so I grew up in Milliken, Johnstown area, so I'm from that area. But because Milliken and Johnstown are very small, a lot of my friends and a lot of my interaction with a lot of things were here in Greeley in District
6, and so most of my good friends as a kid were district six students. I also you know, education is super important to me, and I grew up around it somewhat as well. My mom was a school bus driver for thirty five years, and, yeah, she's a she is a saint compared to me. I I and as are all of you. I I don't know that I could do that. I taught at UNC in their ROTC department for several years, and so I've been tied in a little bit with the district when I was there from 02/2010, 02/2011,
02/2012, those three school years over that kind of period of time. But education is something that I really hope to focus on. I've been, really lucky to have kids in really good schools. And then as an army reservist, I've also taken time where I have gone away from home here in district sixty four. And I so I've had my kids in a couple different places, and so I have recognized how important schools are to kids. And so I appreciate everything that you all do to make sure that our kids throughout this district, get the education that they really need. So and that's all I will say.
Maybe next time, I'll have more to say, but, we'll be working for you all down at Capitol. Thanks. Thank you all very much. I appreciate, giving us a little bit of background. What you have in front of you is just some demographic information about the school district. And then in your folder, we provided you with our brochure that is our strategic plan, innovation 2030. I believe I believe Scott served on the committee to help develops develop this probably ten years ago, eight years ago. Yeah. But and we appreciate you being involved in that.
But, this really is the the driving structure of the district. It is the work that we do every single day in the district. And behind this are very extensive plans that are monitored on a regular basis that have data tied to those plans. All that can be found on our website, but this really is a working document for us. And then we just put in a couple of other pieces for you. One is our career and college readiness information. We're really proud of this work, and and I believe we're a leader in the state around this work with our career pathways and our concurrent enrollment and our the
numbers of our students who are earning college credit while they're still in high school. And then finally, you probably received this at your home. Maybe you did not, representative Garcia Sander, but the rest of you should have. But this is our report to the community that really gives you our annual report of of how, how the district is doing and what the district is doing. So I wanted you to have a little bit of background as you walk away tonight. So with that, I'm going to introduce our in house legal counsel, Nate Fall. He's my partner around all all things legislative, and and is often the person when
when you text me and ask me what I think about the bill, then I text Nate and say, tell me what this bill is. What is this? And what what do we what what do you see in it? So, he's really, a big part of the work that we do with the legislator the legislators and, and the work we do with our board when our board decides to take a position on certain legislation. So with that, mister Ball, I'll turn over to you to share some information that you found tonight. Thank you, doctor Pilch and members of the board, and, thank you all again for being here tonight. It's really nice to see you here in this room. I know that we gotta have representative Gonzalez a few weeks ago, so thanks for
coming back. Glad we didn't scare you away. So as doctor Pilch mentioned, I'm more of a boots on the ground, liaison when it comes to this school district and our work Suzanne Barkas. I actually read the bills in the laws. I know not many people tend to do that, but that is something that I do, get to do. And then I work back with the board of education in terms of what laws are we seeing out there, what concerns might the board have, and then, of course, we can always bring that back to you, when concerns arise. So, the board just asked me to provide, a few of kind of the big
bucket areas that this board is concerned about for this upcoming legislative session. And then I'll kind of stop between each bucket, so to speak, and then we'll give an opportunity for, you to add anything to that. And if the board has any other questions that they might wanna have, and we can get it through it that way. So the three main buckets, for this Board of Education would be unfunded mandates, return to local control. And ensuring school finance is continued, with the current at risk formula, that's been developed.
So, when we're talking about unfunded mandates, what we can say is generally these are laws with great intentions. They're written for all the right reasons, but they create things like financial strain for us, resource drains, and then increased costs. So in terms of financial strains, you know, oftentimes when laws come in, we're forced to reallocate funds into other areas. We're diverted from, staff taking their core duties and transferring them to another task, or increased costs to which could potentially lead us to needing to reach out to our
voters for more money, which nobody likes doing. Right? And so I just have a few examples of that. Just so you're aware right now, we have currently have seven, trainings that we require every year for all of our staff to go through. I'm sure representative Garcia Sander, can empathize with the fact that we have to do so much training, for our staff. And again, these are all on, important issues like non discrimination or accessibility, CART, child abuse response training, right? Those are really important areas. But again, these are things that we need to do with, thousands of staff members
and find a way to coordinate all that information to make sure that they're getting it. That's just an example, but specifically with bills, house bill twenty four twelve sixteen, this was a bill called supports for youth in juvenile justice system. This was passed a few years ago, and it's really for justice engaged youth. So students who are in detention or on probation, are currently going to jail perhaps for whatever reason, that they have the right to continue to educational access. Right? That's really important work, and we want to make sure that we're doing that. Kind of a key proponent of this bill is that we are to identify a
justice engaged point of contact for our school district, and that individual serves as a liaison between the school district, between all of these justice, agencies like probation, the courts, detention, you name it, as well as working with the families to making sure that these students are connected back with the school district to make sure that they're getting, a provision of educational access that they have a right to. It also created a justice engaged bill of rights, which includes among other other things, providing students with a graduation and promotion plan, appropriate credit for coursework completed while justice
engaged, prop enrollment or reenrollment no later than ten days upon request, and so forth. So, again, these are things that districts should be doing or probably doing. We don't know, but, essentially, we got lucky. We already had an individual in our system who is doing a lot of this work. Her name is Tammy Segura. She's excellent. She was our at risk coordinator. Now she's our justice engaged point of contact, and that takes up a significant portion of the work that she's doing. She's having to attend hearings. She's having to talk with family. She's having to connect with probation. She's having to do all this extra work on top of the job duty that she was already assigned, which was a full time at risk coordinator for the school
district. She's phenomenal. I don't know how she does it and how she finds the time to do all that she does, and we're fortunate. As you can see, we're a large school district, and so we can move around some folks if we need to, but it just adds more onto the plate of the employees that we already have. I know that many of you represent some pretty small school districts, some rural school districts. They don't have that same level of access to ensuring that these folks, can identify that point of contact and do all that work that they need to do. Another example, last year, senate bill twenty five two seventy six.
This is called protect civil rights immigration status. Again, it's a great bill. It's important, to ensure that we are protecting student information. This is something that we're already doing. I think what was challenging for this bill is that it required kind of policy adoption plus training plus compliance by September 1 year. So the bill was passed last May. We have to change basically all of our student information systems to adjust to this new data collection process, surrounding student information so that we're not over collecting information. So our student information services team, had to do make a ton of adjustments over
the summer, just to make sure that we're up to compliance by September 1, plus the board policy adoption after we've only had a few opportunities for the board to meet. You can just understand how significant of a challenge it is for us to kinda get up to compliance with a law like that. And then the last example, I don't need to belabor this too much. You've heard enough about it, but house bill twenty one eleven ten, that's our Colorado law for disabilities. Accessibility law. We're not alone. The Colorado General Assembly is also part of this. All all government agencies are. But what I can say is that getting to compliance with those WCAG standards has
been a tremendous overhaul. I think we've spent I don't even wanna ballpark it, but it's been in the tens of thousands of dollars. And I'm looking at our director of finance just to make sure just to do an audit of our website. That that's in addition to all the vendors that we have to work with. This is an educational institution in 2025. Most of what we use is technology. It's not patent paper anymore. So all the vendors that we have to work with have to be in compliance with these standards as well, or else we could be subject to a statutory penalty. Again, we're not alone in this, but it has been a tremendous amount of overhaul.
Some districts have been fortunate to hire a full time accessibility kinda guru. We weren't so lucky. Again, we did get lucky in terms of some staff just really devoting a ton of time and attention to getting up to speed with compliance to these accessibility laws. I give a huge shout out to Theresa Myers, our director of communications, and one of her directors, Kim Desmond, has become extraordinarily knowledgeable about this law just on her own time, you know, and she's become kind of the point of contact for the district to make sure we're caught up to speed with accessibility. She's not trained in this.
She had to train herself, really. And this is just kind of another example of an online May. Please. So when this all first started to come out about two years ago, the accessibility stuff, I I meet with a group of weld superintendents every month, and, they're all from much smaller districts than ours because they're they're all small. And, they they just were you know, had no idea how to even approach us. And so we actually they came to some of our trainings. Teresa and her team worked some with with Windsor. The superintendent from Eaton came.
The superintendent from Fort Morgan came to one of our trainings because they just didn't even begin to know how to be to implement this with, you know, with their staffs. And and we have, you know, the Centennial BOCES. And so BOCES was getting up to speed to help the superintendents as well, but it's, I think what we're saying is what we would really appreciate it is if you would just ask a question of, like, this sounds like a really important law and a really important thing to do, and who's gonna do it? Do they have the resources to do it, or should we should should we be
thinking about additional resources for k 12? And we know there are no more resources, if we're gonna ask them to do this this thing. So that's just what I think we're asking is to be mindful of that. Like, somebody's gonna have to do that job. Who's gonna do that? And if I can't get access do wanna give kudos to representative Laurie Garcia Sanders. I saw that one of the bills, I forget if you those primary sponsor, cosponsor was the tech accessibility liability so that we're not liable if it's a vendor who is, not meeting the accessibility laws.
So thank you. Also, I think speaking to your point from earlier, I saw that you did the data reporting requirements, trying to streamline that for k through 12. I just appreciate that. And to, representative Gonzalez, I love that you supported the protect civil rights immigration status. I think all, Nate is saying is the September 1 timeline was a little a little, small. But but I think if, as a board, we all would have been in are in support of that. Yeah.
Just wanted to clarify. And if I just may add, I do we do ask those questions in committee sometimes in in our debates and hearings. Representative Garcia Center has a saying, it's like, it's a it's a problem for tomorrow or it's a solution for tomorrow's problem or what's the saying you have? But, we have those discussions. Of course, you know, as you know, they still pass it. We try to introduce some amendments to make it at least some less burdensome, but the unfunded mandates aspect is something that we highlight, especially all of us can agree is an issue in the legislature to especially when it comes to local control.
We don't wanna give you guys more burden because it just has cost. And with three swatches being so strained right now, I just don't think it's fair. And as what was mentioned, it's it's well intentioned. All all these bills are well intentioned, but the the unintended consequences, the unfunded mandates, is just a big problem. Today's solution is tomorrow's problem. There's nothing. Sounds like a really good idea. And it's like, now how are we gonna implement that? Right? Thank you. Do we have any more comments from the board? Well well, just one. I just wanna touch on, and maybe you can address this a little bit. We every year, and it's it's not a legislative, question.
It's just a it's agenda question. Every year we have students go down to the capital for the legislative, session. And, from the students' perspective, it is, it's really a great opportunity if they get a chance to meet you and talk with you. And so that that is scheduled. I just looked on the Colorado Association School Board website that's scheduled for February 12 Okay. Thursday, February 12 in the morning. It would be just wonderful from their perspective.
I usually go down with them, and it's just great to have them have that opportunity Absolutely. To meet with you. Mhmm. K. Thanks, Nate. Thank you, representative. Thank you, director Azari. Don't don't don't. Oh. Thank you. And I usually travel with director Azari to that, and it's an awesome opportunity. I know we were kinda you were had a very busy day, representative Gonzalez, last year. So so, certainly understand that, and hopefully, we can get that opportunity this year. The next one bucket I wanted to speak to is local control. I know that this is a hot button issue. It's as highly valued in this school district like it is in so many other
ones. Really, at the end of the day, we wanna make sure we're responsive to our community. Right? We wanna make sure that any curriculum and instruction that we're adopting, reflects the needs of this community. We want to have flex flexibility in that regard. And we also want to be innovative in our own ways. Right? That's something that Colorado, I think, really respects and and encourages in many way with its public education system. And at the end of the day, this Board of Education is held accountable to its citizens in the same way that you are. And if we're not able to adopt and pass policy or pass curriculum that meets
the needs of these students, then we might not be serving them, to the extent that we can. So again and I appreciate Doctor. Campos Spitzy's comment earlier. This is by no mean an opportunity for me to throw shade at any particular, lawmaker here. I I understand, that there are many, many reasons and factors why you may support or oppose a certain bill. But just know that just kind of the impact that some of these examples have on us can be challenging. And so just a few, House Bill twenty five eleven thirty five, that was communication devices in schools.
Similar twenty five sixty three library resource decision standards. Those are two bills that essentially required the board to adopt policy in alignment with statewide standards. Right? This is a cell phone policy and a book review policy. We had already been working on and developing a robust cell phone policy before this law was enacted, and we had already gone through a very significant and robust book review process, before this law was adopted. But again, this is just requiring districts to now adopt and align themselves with state standards that might not necessarily reflect the needs of our community.
I would say our policies are better than what state law requires, and that's because I wrote them. We also have, House Bill twenty three twelve ninety one procedures for expulsion officers. This made significant changes to the expulsion officer hearing process. It required a five hour training that all expulsion officers need to take, and it also required that we engage in policy adjustments related to expulsion. Again, this is just kind of an issue surrounding kind of the safety needs of our district and our community and how we respond to certain acts of violence, for example. We just wanna have that discretion and flexibility.
Our goal is never to expel kids, but sometimes it's an unfortunate thing that you have to do, given kind of, what that student may have been engaged in. Right? And so just knowing that these types of laws can serve a way that they're taking away some of that local control from us, and that can make it a little challenging. A good example, I will say, on the flip side, we're still kind of waiting, but the, Senate Bill 20 or House Bill twenty five eleven ninety two, that was that financial literacy requirement bill that we were originally concerned that we were gonna have to hire, full staff to complete that financial literacy credit.
We're gonna have to do trainings. We're gonna have to adopt new curriculum and go through curriculum review process. Ultimately, the state board is going to develop standards that hopefully we can fit within one of our existing courses so that students are getting that financial credit, prerequisite for graduation. And that's something that we can more work with rather than kind of requiring us to follow these rather than kind of requiring us to follow these certain standards. And, of course, we want students to get financial literacy. Right? We wanted them to get that education, but just so we can kind of adopt it and align it with our own curriculum, I think is a huge benefit. Question. Please. Regarding the cell phone bill and then the other bill that you mentioned.
Library resources. Library resources bill. I remember being in some negotiations on that, and and that bill came to us initially with a whole lot of mandates and a whole lot of fiscal note and stuff like that. So we worked pretty hard to peel that off and say, we can't have a fiscal note, so therefore, pull off whatever is requiring the fiscal note, first of all. And then second of all, let's, leave this up to local control and say, we understand that cell phone, use is an issue at schools.
We wanna make sure that schools have a policy because what we're finding is, you know, a third of schools around the state of Colorado just didn't have a policy at all, so they weren't addressing it. And so as I was in conversation with, many folks, including district six, it it was like, okay. You guys have a policy, so this kinda already passes through your test. Let's just get those other third of the schools on board with regard to making sure they have a policy. So that was where we negotiated to. I hope that that's satisfactory. Yeah. Yeah. And, senator Bright, thank you so much.
So, yes, that's exactly what we're hoping that you're able to do while you're down there. Right? Because, you know, we'll see a bill that's originally something that we just cannot work with. Yeah. And thanks to the work that you're doing kind of on the ground and kind of, you know, lowering this set of requirements or standards so that we have a little bit more local control and flexibility is exactly what we're asking for. Yeah. So, you know, at the end of the day, they some lawmakers really wanted to push forth a bill that said this, and we were kind of stuck, you know, with with something.
Right? And I think and I would agree very much, that both the cell phone bill and the book review bill, were toned down enough for us to all kinda work with it collectively. So yes. I remember too that, senator Wright, when you contacted me, you said, does it help you if you have a more strict policy? Do you need do you need help from us to to implement something that is stricter? And, we had that conversation, and I and I felt like we were landing in a pretty good place here at the time. And I know that you you work to get that to a place that we
could all work with it. Awesome. And I'd prefer that you guys that district six and all school districts be allowed the opportunity to develop their own rules that work for their own communities. And I, you know, I'm I'm not in favor of the state mandating things, but, you can only hold back the tide so much. So we just work as hard as we can to make sure that only the best things get through. And, this is a case in point of where we negotiated to an acceptable spot for as as many as we could. So yeah. Awesome. And and you did have a board who who fully wanted a cell phone ban.
So we we we had the reason the work had already been done here is because many of your the board directors were passionate about that work happening. Mhmm. But, yes, I'm glad that the other third that hasn't done that yet is now being asked to. And I I I feel like to your point, like, that is up to you to decide. You know? You need to decide the issues that are going on in your school district. The state doesn't need to be, legislating that for you. So thank you. Thank you. Do I have any other comments?
Okay. The last one, and then we can open this up for more of a conversation. You can stop hearing me blab. The bit the last one, and really this is probably the most important one, is school finance, and that kind of continued need to push forward the at risk funding that was adopted several years ago. I know it's a little awkward, but behind you is a demographic that we wanted to show you, just for what this district, you know, these are students that are within each of your jurisdiction as you pointed out. This is kind of the makeup of this school district. Right? So our percentage of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, is 30% I'm
sorry, 20% higher than the state average, 8% higher for multi language learners. We're kind of on par with students on IEPs or students with identified disabilities. And, again, same thing with homeless population. Our percentage is really similar, to what the state has, if not just a little bit higher. And that's important to think about because the new at risk formula, really provides more funding for these particular students. Right? The new funding formula, at risk funding is kind of at the top. Right? And if you can see there, we just have a significantly higher percentage of students,
who are considered at risk compared to the statewide average. And again, we're the thirteenth largest school district in the state. That's 23,124 students. So you do the math. That's a pretty significant percentage of students who need support. English language learning funding comes second. Again, you can see that we have 8%, almost eight and a half percent higher, than the statewide average when it comes to multi language learners. Third is special education funding. And I should have added that homeless percentage is a categorical add to at risk now. So it's just if you are, identified homeless student, you are considered at risk, and
so we support more students, who meet that categorical standard along with foster and migrant students as well. And then there's also cost of living factor, size of the district, and then the contribution of local funding. But just know that these are the students that this district rep this district serves, and these are the students that we need to support. It takes a little bit of extra resources to support these students, and it's just really important to keep in mind. Question Please. On your data collection there. With the state funding school meals for everyone, has it been a challenge to collect
data on free and reduced lunch counts? Yes. Yes. Yes. Without so we don't so in addition to not collecting we were just talking about this before the meeting. In addition to to not collecting, student information for students who would qualify for free and reduced lunch, We don't we don't do that for food now, and we don't charge fees in District 6. We're a fee free district, so we don't do it to waive fees. Whereas, like, my former district, we need that information to waive the fee for a student to to be involved in extra curricular activities, for example, or to pay their
AP test score. So, we believe that number is probably 71% or so, actually. And we we do still try to collect the form. We do still try to collect the numbers as as best we can. But it's it's a it's a bit of a barrier, but we also get it. So we're we're working our way through that. And, just asking open ended question. I know that the USDA CACFP form has been used for a long time to identify, the income level of the students within the district.
Is there a better measurement tool to identify the needs in this area? I don't know. That's a great question. And I don't have my experts on this here tonight, but, let me let me let me get some more information on that. Is there a better way to do this? Yeah. I mean, if the state should be using a different metric? Well, you know, they used to. There there was a time when our principals could actually designate it because they had enough information about the family that a principal could say, yes, they qualify, even though the family had not provided that information.
I get why that went away. I mean, I get that there's human judgment in there and human mistrust too. So but let let me let me look into that in with my team and and get back with you. Doctor Pilch, wasn't there something about, because, you know, people weren't reliably com completing the lunch forms anymore that Medicaid was gonna be used as a substitute? Yeah. Medicaid is. So, you know, if you you if a family receives SNAP benefits or Medicaid benefits, then they that they qual automatically qualify.
Got it. Yep. Thank you. So on the issue of disabilities, I know I mentioned to was talking to doctor Pilch about, this the dyslexia screening bill that was just passed. I'm really working with the nonprofit, Center for Dyslexia here in the district to partner with district six to kinda see how where it goes. So to maybe be potentially first in the state model as to, you know, making sure we we attend to these type of needs for your students. We are just wanna provide an update on that. There's a little rollback on funding for them, but I'm working on getting some kinks
there. So, you know, obviously working with these public private partnerships, I think is a way to go as well as an alternative source of like funding per se. So I'm happy to continue these talks and conversations to get these partnerships going just to, you know, I think District 6 can truly be a model for the rest of state when it comes to stuff like that, for our students with dyslexia. So, I'm happy to provide you an update when the time comes, but we're working out that kink right now. Thank you. Yeah. I think speaking just as an individual board director, not for the the full board, I think universal dyslexia screening should happen.
Right? Like, there's so many kids that we can catch that we're we're not catching. The problem is is really we're not we don't have enough funding to then support them. And so to give a family that diagnosis and then nothing else feels unfair. So it comes back down to that k through 12 funding. If if we could be more fully funded, we would love universal dyslexia screening. Yeah. Just today, I was having a text message conversation with, our director of of assessment
about about our early literacy testing, all of it. Mhmm. And, the possibility of looking to another tool that would also do dyslexia universal dyslexia screening. Because right now, she's telling me it takes up to forty five minutes or so per student to do that screening. And so that's that's significant time when you have the numbers of students we have. Are you using doubles right now for your are you using the doubles t one two screener also? Or Yes. Okay. Yes. Yeah. That's the one that takes up to forty five minutes.
Yeah. And I don't know if there's a a better or a different one. She thinks there may be that some districts are using, so we're we're beginning to explore that. Okay. It's all money. Just money. That's all it is. Just money. I'm curious if we're opening it. Yeah. Please. I'll just open up the rest of this time for the board to ask some questions or comments. So I know, I forget if it was I think it was early this year that the adequacy study results came out of what it would take to fully fund k through 12 in the state of Colorado and close some of our achievement gaps.
I'm curious your thoughts on it. I know it it feels like this like a, you know, crazy dream to to be able to fund k through 12 at that level. I think I forget what the exact number was, but I know there was a b for annual additional funding. But, yes, I'm just curious your thoughts on the adequacy study results. Again, just I mean, Colorado is a unique state. Right? We tend to vote socially and then, and then budget, fiscally conservative.
And it's it's kind of a challenge to play with that because you're given, like, two different sets of rules, two different priorities. Right? And then we have, different limits on the growth of government. But then we also have a vehicle of funding things that maybe fall outside of that, and that that monster has gotten bigger than than the general fund budget already. And so it's it's interesting to me the way that we go about solving our problems. We go about, funding the things that we wanna go after.
You know, I I have to go I have to side with the will of the voters, and because they can they consistently at the ballot box choose to keep the size of government, limited in in its funding. And so it's a challenge to go about then, you know, funding all the things that we need to fund. Cost of living in Colorado, and I hear this I hear this everywhere I go, is exponentially higher than every any other state that we're at. And so how do we weigh that cost of living versus what we want to
pay for the services we want to get from the government? And that's again a big push and pull there. It comes back to to me every single time it comes back to our wants and our needs. And I feel like there's probably a billion dollars worth of wants out there that we're funding. There's probably a billion dollars worth of needs that we have that we're not funding. And so, it's those hard discussions that it's not just gonna all come in one conversation. It's gonna happen in small conversations here and there and here and there. And it's a constant uphill push to try to get it there. So, I believe the state of Colorado is unified in prioritizing education as well as
health concerns. And we just have to, wave the flag of that initiative and get folks to to buy into that as well. So it's a long road. I'm not sure there's one clean easy answer. I mean, case in point, you look at, the state of New Mexico, and they just uncovered a oil and gas fund, severance fund that now is funding free childcare for all folks in New Mexico. Right? So, the only other state that I know of that has that capability in that
in that area would be the state of Alaska, maybe Wyoming. Right? Colorado just doesn't have we've tapped out every single extra reserve that we have and every extra possible tax increase we can put together. So, under our current law, I mean, this is kind of where we're at. We just, again, have that wants versus need conversation. So and to that point, I've said, you know, since I was a teacher, number one, we always will never have enough money for education, it seems like. But our oil and gas pays for our education in Colorado, and we really, really
need to make sure that, especially from Weld County, that we defend our severance taxes, that we really I mean I mean, we've got to defend oil and gas in Colorado. It is what pays for our education, and when we start, attacking oil and gas and restricting permitting, that's just hurting education. You know, we have put so many burdens on on education over the last since I've been in in education, thirty years. It's every year, it's every year, it's more and more and more, and they're unfunded mandates. And, you know, I spoke about it a little bit ago that we need to
try and unwind the things that aren't costing us money or that are costing us too much money in education that that we can cut from somewhere else. I I remember in January, we have what we call SMART Act hearings. And SMART, I was like, I know what SMART goals are. Right? And so I go into these SMART Act hearings, and they're asking us, to really look at each of the departments and what they're spending. And listening to each department come up and say, here's where we're at, and we're asking for more money in our department.
And after about the third one, I kinda put my hand down. I was like, okay. Wait a minute. I was a principal during the BS Factory years, and every year, we were asked to cut back. As a teacher, I was told we're gonna have to cut 15% from our school budget. As a principal, I turned around and told our teachers we're gonna have to cut 15%. And you know what? As an educator, we did it because teachers do what we're supposed to do, because principals do what we're supposed to do, because school districts do what we're supposed to do. We follow the rules.
And now I'm finding out across the across the state, all of you departments aren't cutting. In fact, you've added to your budgets. I had a really big problem with that because every single department that came to the SMART Act hearings were asking for more money except for education is just asking to be funded. And so, you know, as senator Bright was talking about, you know, there's wants and needs. And our state budget, you know, the biggest the biggest pot of money is is Medicaid. The second biggest is education. And then after that, we fund all the other things, that's infrastructure and everything else.
And when we're looking at the other you know, the the second biggest pot of money being education, we have got to prioritize. And when we say prioritize, we've got to look at what what are our priorities and figure out, like, when we are putting mandates on our schools and our districts, does that align with what our what our needs are? Is it a want or is it a need? And, you know, last last session, we had bills coming through. We want this in our education system. We don't want, you know, this to be taught in our standards. Is that a want or need? And that's an under another unfunded mandate.
So, you know, I will I will argue till I'm blue in the face as a teacher. As a first grade teacher, you're asking me to do this. As a principal, you're asking me to do this. And every year, you know, I didn't think I was gonna get into politics, but the fire in my belly was, you know, you're every year, we're being told you have to or you can't. You know? And and as a as a teacher, as a principal, that kinda stinks to have these legislators who don't know what it is to walk in our shoes telling us you have to and you can't anymore.
And that's really frustrating because, ultimately, these are the kids that pay the price. These are the kids that we're sent down there to work for. And so, you know, adequate funding, is is it ever going to be adequate? I don't know about that, but we will do what we can to defend and get as much funding as we can for education and make sure that the money means something, that it's not going to the priorities that, you know, Joe Schmo doesn't really understand because they've never walked in the shoes that you're walking or we are
walking. So I would just like to add, kind of what senator Bright and senator or Representative Garcia said is, you know, we have a lot we're growing more government with offices, agencies, departments. That takes resources, that takes money, that takes more FTEs, which takes from education. We make the point, why do we need this? You know, what mister Fall said as well as, you know, these unfunded mandates increase costs and more resource and constrained resources. I don't think they they look at the full three sixty scope of, well, this is our goal, but they don't look at, you know, what are some pros and
cons like a cost benefit factor, so to say. You know, we have our fiscal analysts that do all the the fiscal notes and stuff. We don't necessarily look down at, like, the whole cost bet factor. You have a cost. Right? But what are the benefits? Are there is there more cost and benefit? Is there more benefit to cost? I mean, weighing those particular options, working with senator Kirk Myers and Joel budget committee and representative Taggart to look specifically at what we're specifically funding line by line by line. And if I'm there long enough, I would like to sit in that committee so District 6 can truly have a voice in helping me shape education, especially k through
12, in the specific itemized issues that we have here in the district. Local control. I think that's what's a part of the other issues. While these policies are well intentioned, you know, nothing against Denver, but what works in Denver doesn't work for District 6. What works in District 6 does not work in Denver. What works in Grand Junction does not work in Greeley and vice versa. And so I don't think they understand that these cookie cutter policies that the legislature is passing has a lot of these severe consequences when it comes to, you know, the good, well intentioned, goals that they want for education. You know, our teachers are strained and, you know, they deal with a lot.
You know, our our staff, you know, I call the team. I don't call the staff. You know, some of you saw my email. We're all a team, you know, district sixteen. And so, you know, the the the back of house, front of house, whatever it is, it's all convoluted to make sure that we are striving for the same common goal. And I don't think it's fair that we have had these more expanding government at the expense of our teachers who should be getting paid more. I think we can all agree our teachers deserve and should get paid more. You know, that's something that we've all highlighted at the expense of, you know, well, you guys are creating this office adding more employees, but we could be funding our
teachers. You know, we could this would be going towards students, you know, making sure monies go into the classroom itself to make sure district six remains competitive. Part of the issue again is, you know, the the very the the views on on energy at the state capitol. You know, the severance tax here in Weld County is huge. And that pays not only for our teachers' education, but our roads, our local municipalities, our fire districts, things that our communities really, really need. But we're literally hurting them when we're shutting down an industry that's vital to our community that many of the students whose families work in an industry, you know, they
go for a job, they're blue collar, and they work in these industries, and they don't feel they have a voice and they're concerned. We hear about it all the time in the capital. I hear it here in my community. They're worried about this this view in the capital that's so anti oil and gas that they're concerned, you know. And I think that we should consider, at least we do, you know, making sure we we fight for the severance tax. We fight for our jobs. We fight for industry that's so important here to Weld because we're sitting on on money essentially. And that money could be used in return to fund our teachers, our schools, our
education. Even if it's just here in Weld County, you you know, each each place is different. Right? But I think we should use the resources we have here locally. I gotta quit going last. Yeah. You know, so I haven't worked on any legislation yet. And the and the thought that comes to me when I think about a lot of the things that, are the legislators have said so far is is something that's important to me just because I spent a lot of time, a lot of time now, in the in the army doing some things, and I think, you know, I did that to serve America and to protect, you know, values that I believe are
independent or are important. And some of the things that were said, it made me think I think our nation that we live in, it was founded, before it was founded, on a huge amount of individual independence and self reliance. People came here to be able to provide for themselves and to improve their their station in life, not necessarily to just, you know, have it easy and to and
to get from others. They they didn't want that. So when we look at the things that we're funding in the state, I am all for looking at what are the wants and getting rid of massive amounts of them because needs are the most important thing. And as has been said many times, education is at the very top of the list, you know, in the top the top tier of the most important things that we've got to have. It's education. Because all of the the children, and young adults that are going through and getting
an education, in twenty years, thirty years, fifty years, they're going to be the ones that are carrying on and accomplishing work and making our economy, making all of us be able to live and have communities that are sustained. And if they aren't able to get a sufficient amount of education all the way across all of the different things that they need to learn, they will be behind in being able to do that. So I just, again, I haven't been able to be involved in the legislation yet, but I look forward to being able to this year, hopefully, do some things that
will that will push some of that funding away from some of the extras that, you know what, maybe that's nice. But education is is just so critical that that nobody's gonna wanna let me nobody's gonna wanna turn me loose with the pen to, like, like, start crossing things off of a budget and redirecting those funds to education, health care, infrastructure, a handful of other things like that, because there'll probably be a lot of programs that people would be disappointed to see go that are great things. But taking care of our kids and making sure that they learn the things that
they need, there's nothing there's very few things more important than that. So, again, I I haven't been involved yet. So, you know, maybe that was a super blanket general obvious statement, but, yeah, definitely looking forward to working for, education in a huge way. Thank you all. Do we have probably enough time for one more question or comment from the board? I would just like to say thank you for your support on that funding formula. That has been, will be huge for this district. I remember when we were having that debate in the in the house and have
other districts commenting on on the bill and, saying, you know, we we have we have teachers that that provide food for for students, and and I just had to chuckle a little bit. We we have entire we have every school in this district has food pantries. When we talk about 67, percent at risk students and 22%, multilingual learners, I mean, that is it's not just something here or something there. Those are programs and and people. And so I appreciate your support on that.
I know I know you guys, did and appreciate your continued support as I imagine, that debate is not not done. Just know that it makes a huge difference to this district. Is there anything that we can do to support you all as you go into this legislative session? Because you're about to start the season. What can we do to support you? First and foremost, thank you for having us. Really appreciate just making sure that we have the open lines. I know that like I said, I've spoken at length with you and a few of you in the room, before, but just any of you, when bills come up
and, you know, we all have different flags around how things might, affect your different departments or education as a whole, please do reach out. Again, I think all of us are are willing to carry bills for education, when you see things that are coming up that might help support or things especially when you think, here's a bill that we really need to put some brakes on. The way to help us would be just making sure that you're available to show up for testimony. That that matters a lot.
Your voices are huge. You know, we will especially senator Brighton and myself working in education still, you know, we take this very personally and, just wanna be the best representatives that we can for for all of you and our our state's kids, really. So thank you. I would say just a point of contact, just make sure things can change very fast. As you know, with amendments and everything and next day, it's it's up for a final vote. So just, making sure if something changes, I know we can't be like that because
we all got lives. Right? We've got things to do. We work. But, you know, I just want you guys to know that I was that at at risk student in District 6. I was. You know, my my family, we had Medicaid, we had SNAP, but we didn't depend on it. It was it was a handout for sure. So it is it is personal to me. This is this what I represent this community, making sure I'm in tune with the needs, especially when it comes to education. Because, you know, there's people who are like me and people who are in worse situations, our students and people that we may not even know about that we work with, who are in maybe a predicament or some sort of dilemma.
And I just wanna make sure I'm in tune to their stories and in tune with your guys' priorities and needs. I know last time I was here, the CASB stuff was very interesting to hear about the fun and baddies aspect. So stuff like that, I think is something, that we're in tune to make sure that we are representing our constituents, our district, to the best of our ability. Awesome. Great comments. Thank you, guys. Three things I wanted to point out. When when the school finance bill was being heard, the adjustment to the formula given the budget circumstances, we were anxious in the senate education committee to to see who
would come down and testify, and I can doctor Pilch was the only superintendent from the state of Colorado that showed up just to testify on school finance, and that was huge. And I was so so proud, so proud. And I've said that at a state level to, recognition for that. I can also, I also really appreciate the nonpartisan attitude that this board has, and that we can work together in this space. Space. We're all headed to the same goal. We might have different ideas about how to get there, but we are all headed
for the same goal and we can always have I can trust this group will always have constructive conversations about how to get to that common goal that we have. And and we will always put aside our differences, in affiliation and we'll work towards those goals. And so I really appreciate this board, and I appreciate my colleagues for for holding that line too. That's a standard we definitely want to to atone to. The other thing that I would mention is, it revitalizes my energy and my dedication
towards anything education related, when I get a chance to tour a school. And so that is really important if you want to know something right that's very tangible that you can do right away and that is just continue to invite, your legislators to come visit schools. The more we can get in there, the better. The more personal stories, the more things we can view with our own eyes and ears, the more we can talk about at the well on things that are pro education. So, those are things that, that I wanna say here. And last, Danny stole my most important appoint.
As the new guy, what I need most is education myself. Like, I need to learn more district six district six district six things, so I need to reach out and reach out to me, please. I would like to visit schools. I would like to talk to educators. I would like to talk to principals. I would like to talk to all of you. I would like to really know I mean, I I've got the map, and I drew all over it of all the schools in District 6 that are in my district, and there's a lot of them. And so there's there's a lot that is important to me.
This is one of the most important issues to me, and it's one of the education is one of the most important issues on my list of things that are important to me because, I have personally seen, the impacts of it in my family. And so if if I see those things, I know everybody else is seeing those things. Absolutely. So please please help me be more educated on how I can serve you all. We are so grateful that you all have given up your time to be with us tonight and to get to know you a little bit better and to hear
from you. And I I am honored that you are as dedicated to education as I am. Thank you. You're welcome to stay for dinner with us if you'd like. We have our nutrition services actually prepared dinner tonight, so you're invited to stay if you'd like and continue the conversation if your schedules allow. I I hope this has been time well spent for you. We really appreciate hearing from you and and just getting a chance to connect, and I'll see if the board has any other comments Northern Colorado.
We we mean something to you in in Correct? Correct? Debriefing. Yep. We'll we'll start Keep him throwing whatever we want then. Anything else for the legislators? Alright. Start with debriefing. That's six minutes, so catch up a little bit and keep Brenda on a leash. Start with mister let's start with mister Matthews. Just thank you for being here tonight. We understand we get invited to a lot of lot of different school events.
We can't we can't make them all and know your time is precious. I can only imagine the number of things that you get invited to to do. And so thank you for being here tonight and for listening to us. Thank you. Yeah. I I would say the exactly the same thing. You guys are are busy folks, and to give up an evening to come up here and, share your insights and thoughts and feelings with us and for us to, hear what you have on your mind is extremely valuable. I it's very, very good for us to hear that.
We have a lot of respect and, appreciation for our legal counsel, mister Fall, and all he does for us in working with you folks. So thanks for that as well as we continue down this road of taking care of our kids. Right? That's what's that's what we're all in it about. And they probably are our greatest generator of economic wealth in this state. So we don't lose anything by putting money towards them.
Okay? It will come back. So thank you. Thank you again to all of you guys for coming. Really appreciate it. As a former educator myself, thank you for fighting for the school finance bill and for understanding that the greatest investment that we can make is in our kids and our students. Thank you. Yes. And I think I already expressed my gratitude, but, it is wonderful to have Scott Bright representing us on the education committee at the senate level and representative Laurie Garcia Sanders representing us at, at the House of Representatives level on the education committee there.
So thank you for bringing your perspectives. Yeah. I just echo everything they said, and thank you guys for your time. We know it's very valuable, and you guys are very busy. Just good to hear you guys' perspective. We we get nates and and try to understand a fraction of, what you guys have going on, but it it really is valuable for us to hear how not only what you deal with and and what you have going and what you wanna have going, but what we can do to support you guys too. So, thanks to doctor Pilch, for putting this together. I know this was this was pretty high on her wants and wishes for this. But, you know, it's nice to hear Scott say the difference that doctor Pilch made
in in the senate down there and talking to you guys. There's there's a reason she's superintendent of the year, and we're pretty proud of her. So, thank you guys. And, I think with that, we'll, adjourn and have dinner. See you guys back for the business meeting. Thank you. Part: 2
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Welcome Welcome to the board of education Gley Evans School District 6 business meeting for October 13th, 2025. I'd like to call this meeting to order. >> Would you please join me in the pledge of >> allegiance? Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Miss Lemon, could you please pull call the role? >> Director Zari, >> present. >> Director Bentley, >> present. >> Director Campo Spitzy, >> present. Director Mash.
>> Director Matthews, >> present. >> Director Norwood, >> present. >> Five board members, present. >> Thank you. Um, not much in the way of announcements. You might notice that I'm a hair tad bit uglier than Mrs. Nash. President Nash. Um, we would like to uh
we would like to excuse her and send uh her and her family a heartfelt condolences. she's dealing with a personal family issue and we just want her to know that we love and thinking and praying of her at this time. Um after that we have the superintendent's honor role. So I'll turn over to Dr. Pilch.
>> Do we need to adopt the agenda first or do I go first? Okay, >> I'll let you got it. >> It's after I'm just going in order. >> I'm a new guy. >> It all started so quickly. >> 99% chance that I >> Good evening. Good evening everyone. Um
and thank you um for the opportunity to do my superintendent's honor role. First, I'm excited to recognize Early College Academy. So 10 years ago, Early College Academy opened. Um it was my first year here, so I can't take any credit for for getting it up and
running. That was really my predecessor and the then uh college president at Ames Community College who brought that together and that board of education and that uh board of trustees as I will just tell you we have seen honor after honor
at early college academy and it is truly remarkable to know that this school is representative of our district 6 demographic. Um it is we're not peeling off our you know our wealthiest kids or our kids um who who uh need uh special
education services. We take them all at early college academy. And I will I am so excited tonight to recognize them for being recognized by US News and World Report for earning high high national and metro area rankings in the US world
US News and World Reports 202526 best high schools report. Uh these rankings are determined by a compilation of sources. Um, but I but I would say that probably a big part of this recognition is their graduation rate and
their SAT score. And as a school this past spring, Early College Academy had an SAT score of 1,084, which is 86 points higher than the Colorado State average for SAT scores. I
mean, it's truly remarkable and we're so proud of the work um that the leadership and the staff and faculty and the students have have done at Early College Academy. I'd like to introduce to you all Mr. Bill Fern who is the principal at Early College Academy. Um and it
looks like he has Dr. Law with him as well who is our Ames counterpart administrator. Um and I'd like the two of you to speak a little bit about the accomplishment at Early College Academy. Dr. Pilch and members of the school board. Thank you.
At Early College Academy, uh our mantra is effort creates achievement. Um in the spring of 2025, we had 76 graduates, 62 that graduated with associates of arts degrees and three more that completed them over the summer. So 85% of our graduating class um graduated with two
years of college under their belt. um with our SAT uh scores, PSAT and CMAS science, um it placed us uh 13th highest um high school in Colorado. So, we are super proud of um everybody involved in that. Um this year
we're launching our associates of science degree option and we already have 12 students who are currently qualifying with degrees of designation um including associates of science in math, associates of arts in history, political science, psychology, and also Spanish.
But these things don't happen in isolation. It's collaboration of effort from our incredibly talented and hardworking professors, teachers, students, and support staff. This is a collective achievement, a community of learners dedicated to high standards and hard work. Dr. Pilch and esteemed
members of the board of education. Thank you so much for your support and continued belief in ECA. Without your support, none of this would be possible. >> Thank you. On behalf of Ames Community College, I just want to thank you all for allowing us the opportunity to continue this partnership. This year,
while we do have a smaller class, um we are almost on board with 100% of our students getting their associate degree. So, we are really pushing hard on this current class. And in open enrollment, like Dr. Pilt said, we are open enrollment. So, our community represents
who ECA is. Thank you. Okay. Also tonight for the superintendent's honor role, I am honored to recognize Miss Claudia Kesler who is a counselor at Gley Central High School. Um, and we're recognizing Claudia because she
has been selected as the high school counselor of the year for the state of Colorado. Uh, yes, WOW is right. She was selected by uh the Colorado School Counselor Association and she was honored just last week uh for this at an awards dinner. And so, Claudia, we're
just so proud of you. I'm want to invite you up um to be recognized and and to receive your certificate tonight. And No, I saw you, Claudia. There you are. [Applause] >> Do you want
you have notes? >> I did. I did. >> We'd like you to share. >> Okay. Good evening. Um, first of all, I want to thank District 6 for this recognition and the School Counselor Association of Colorado. Um, I'm not just here representing myself, but I'm
representing all of the Gley Evans School District 6 counselors. We do this because we love our children. We want them to feel safe. We want them to feel safe and have a safe place in our building. No matter
where our students come from, we are here to love them and support their dreams. I want to thank my past and present school administrators for supporting my ideas and listening to my concerns, for giving me a safe space and their guidance. Thank you to all the Gly Central teachers for supporting our work
and most importantly understanding the importance of mental health of our children. Thank you for our community and parents for trusting us and guiding our students to success. But most importantly, thank you to all of our past and present students for giving us an opportunity to
gain their trust and help them grow and help them graduate. So, thanks. [Applause] So, this is yours. This is awesome. started. >> Thank you.
>> You can come over here if you want. >> You can come closer. You really can. [Music] You take this black. Thank you guys. Thank you, Dr. Pilch. Now we're on to
The approval of agenda item number four is the action item on the motion. >> I move that the board of education of Gley Evans School District 6 approves the agenda as presented. >> Second. >> Thank you guys. Uh any discussion?
Miss Lman, could you give us a vote? >> Director, >> I. >> Director Bentley, >> I. >> Director Campo Spitzy, >> I. >> Director Matthews, >> I. >> Director Norwood, >> I. >> Motion carries 5-0. >> On to 501. special items. Uh the council of student representatives report. Um as
always we have president Sarah Venegas with us. Um tonight we're joined by Edwin Power. Correct. Right. And then looks like we have a presentation. So turn over to you guys. Unless you have anything to say, Dr. Pilch. >> Good evening members of the board and
Dr. Pilch. I'm Aaron Allen, principal at Northridge High School, and I have the priv privilege of being the repres uh the supervisor of the Council of Student Representatives. Uh I am so lucky to work with these wonderful students. Tonight, you'll be hearing from our officers. Uh they run a very tight ship
at those meetings. They have a lot of fun. Uh they do a great job representing the district and they are such an amazing voice um for our district. They have some amazing things planned for this year. And I'll turn it over to Sarah Venegas to start us off. Good evening members of the board and
Dr. Pilch. I am Sarah Venegas and I have the honor of being this year's president of the council of student representatives. I am a senior at Early College Academy where I also serve as their student body president and the president of their national honor society. However, today I'm here to
share along with the other CSR officers the amazing work that CSR does within our community. CSR has been able to build connections and that community within our district, providing events and fundraisers for families and
students to enjoy all around. We've helped provide strong student representations throughout all of our schools, fostering that connection, big or small, in order to showcase that inclusivity and diversity that our district 6 is all about. We focus on the
opportunities to have feedback discussions with our district departments in order to improve the district for our students and also voice their opinions. Furthermore, we help provide strong student representations of our students throughout District 6 by providing the opportunity for our
students to showcase their school here at the board meetings in order to showcase the opportunities and uniqueness that they offer. We strive to continue improving our district through community outreach, voicing our students, and building that sense of
belonging within Weld County District 6. I will now pass it on to CSR social media officer and treasurer Maybelline Zarate. Good even Good evening everyone. My name is Maybelline Sarate and I am the social
media coordinator of CSR. Today I will be sharing my experience in CSR as a new member and a new social media coordinator of the team. CSR is an amazing team with even more amazing people. See, um, every member has a every every
member has a role to play in CSR and they has a role to play in CSR in and every member has a voice and they they get to use that voice to speak on matters that they need that need to be fixed in their schools.
CSR is really amazing because you you are with a you are with people that you sorry you are with members that have the same opinions as you and want to achieve the same goals as you but also on the same line have different different values and different beliefs which help
us make different decisions on different matters which is really important which is really important because CSR is being able to see all schools all high schools in in the in the district. We we
will be discussing sorry um we have some exciting speakers coming to CSR. First Dr. Pilch and Dr. Pils. We're excited to see and um and also our district 6 um
um director of of safety and security um Wade Cornells. Um thank you for listening. I will now pass it on to our vice president, Edwin Power. >> Good evening. My name is Edwin Power and
I'm the current pres vice president of CSR. I am currently a junior at Northridge High School, a STEM student, a member of National Honor Society, and play basketball for the school. Today, I'm here to talk about CSR's plans for this semester. One of the primary goals of our group is to contribute to bringing the community together. This
year, we plan to do lots of outreach and we'll begin this by helping out at the Funplex's Haunted Night at the Family Funlex two Fridays from now on October 24th. We decided this would be a great option as we can help give back to the whole community as well as be able to interact with kids and families from
across the whole district. This is however just one of the events we plan to participate in within our community during our first semester. Though the next event is still in its planning phases, we will soon decide whether to commit to toys for tots or Santa Cops. These events will give us an opportunity to represent District 6 within the Gley
community and support people in need. And we as a group are excited to get started. I will now pass it on to our secretary, Aaliyah Medina. >> Hello everybody. My name is Aaliyah Medina and I am District 6 CSR's um secretary and I will be sharing
information on our upcoming trip to CASBY. I have participated in the CASBY event last year along with our previous CSR president Tim, with our current vice president Edwin, with our newfound president Sarah. Last year, we attended meetings where we shared ideas and shared experiences from our schools and
districts with other students around Colorado. We went through a leadership seminar and at the end, we met with other school band members from across the state and shared ideas on how they could try to improve their district. The experience of attending the CASBY event last year was something I will
never forget. The Broadmore was incredibly beautiful and having the chance to help other districts see how they struggle and have the opportunity to help them was something I can't put a value on. Being in CSR has given me the chance to work so closely with all of you. And I can say I would never think
what I think now about the district without having been given the experiences CSR provides. This year I am planning to attend once again. I've taken what I've learned from attending last year's CASBY event and I've applied it to what we're doing in CSR. Uniting the district like CASBY United Colorado
is something we continue to strive for at every meeting. And with that being said, thank you for your time and we'll be back to tell you all about our experience with CASBY in the near future. >> Thank you guys. Anybody have any comments or questions for CSR?
Mr. Matthews. >> Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you for being here tonight. Know this is an u not necessarily an important time, but also often a busy time. October is a busy time for students. I know you guys have a lot uh going on. So, thank you for taking time out of all your studies
and all your extracurriculars and all the different things that you do to come and present to us tonight. We appreciate uh your work in the district. >> Ditto. Uh I know you guys are very busy. It's uh pretty wild that you guys have find all the time you do to uh put towards your schoolwork and then
everything else on top of this. So we really appreciate your input and you guys being here in your report. So thank you guys. All right, on to 5.2. The fullbrite teachers. Okay, there you go. [Applause]
Um, District 6 welcomes exchange teachers from across the globe hosted by the University of Northern Colorado as part of the Fullulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program. We heard from them at our last work session and I see Mrs. Overton coming up to uh introduce them, let us know what's going on.
>> Thank you. As you recall and as you had mentioned that they were here, we talked about them and they um presented some of their facts at the September 22nd board meeting. These international and secondary level educators are in the
United States for a six weeks um professional learning residency at UNC. During their time here, participants engage engage in academic seminars and and work through um classrooms and observe and co-e in classrooms in our
district and collaborate on best practices with our educators and also with the UNCC faculty. They're also involved in civic and cultural activities within their host communities to foster mutual understanding. And then of course, one of their requirements is
that they attend a public school board meeting. District 6 in continued partnership with UNC is honored to welcome these fullbrite educators to our community. We're pleased to host them at your board meeting this evening. At this time, I would like to invite them to
stand and be recognized. Thank you. There are 22 of them um with us in this program and these teachers will return to their home countries with a new insight gained from their experiences in our middle school and high schools. They will share what they
have learned in colleagues and with students bringing with them a broader perspective on education in our country and in our state and in our city. We would like to thank you all for being here and coming to Gley and sharing your
thoughts and being engaged with our students and with our staff. Surely no doubt your presence in the um will have lasting impact on our students and staff with your your presence here. Thank you.
>> Okay. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Uh looks like Dr. Cample Spitzy has a question or comment. more a comment, but um just proud of this partnership that we have with UNCC to allow um teachers from around the
globe to come see how we do education in district 6. And I got to meet quite a few of the Fulbright teachers um at the multicultural festival that UNCC hosted a couple weeks ago and um learn a lot about um their different countries and
their different cultures. I know my children, they they all made these boards, you know, like presentation boards um about each of their countries. And my kids were fascinated to learn about where y'all are from and and educated my husband on um the crater.
You know what I'm talking? There's a crater that has burned continually forever and they went home and told my husband all about it. So, thank you for being here and and immersing yourselves in our community and for letting us benefit from learning from you.
>> Thank you, Dr. Cample Spitzy. Um, seeing nothing else, we thank you guys for your time and appreciate everything. On to item 6.01, uh, superintendent report. So, I'll turn this over to Dr. Pilch. >> Thank you, Vice President Bentley. Um, I just have three items tonight for my
superintendent report. First, I want to recognize that today is Indigenous People's Day, and I want to honor that um on behalf of all the indigenous people in our community and in our state. Um, and then I wanted to just share a little bit about our work session for those who weren't able to
watch that. Uh, we were fortunate tonight, really very fortunate to have four of our legislators join us in the work session with our board of education. We had Senator Scott Brightite, Representative Scott Slaw, Representative Lori Garcia Sander, and Representative Ryan Gonzalez here
tonight. Um, we had an opportunity to talk with them a little bit about our priorities as as a school district and as a board of education. And then we we were able to hear from them on their priorities and and really what what their focus is. And what was especially uh delightful and reassuring here was
just how deeply dedicated they are to K12 education. um really dedicated to public education and I appreciate the them giving up their evening to come out so that we could put a name with a face and get to know them a little better and really hear their priorities and I look
forward to working with them during this upcoming legislative season. So, thank you to them. And then finally, uh, we have among us tonight the Colorado Counselor of the Year, the Colorado Superintendent of the Year, and the
Colorado Teacher of the Year. Now, um, we we had the opportunity to recognize Mr. Pollson uh, here last week at his school. Well, he was recognized and and the surprised by the news that he is the Colorado Teacher of the Year, but we're going to bring him back in November for
more formal recognition from you all. But I wanted to share with you all tonight some some video pictures from the assembly uh last week when the folks were all here from Colorado Department of Education and the Betcher Foundation and uh Blue Bell Ice Cream and our state
board members. It was just a nice crowd. So, Miss Lemon, if you'll go ahead and proceed with that. Thank you. And that concludes my report tonight. Mr. Bentley, [Music] >> he's just like so amazing. He's a teacher that I'll always remember. I've always been asked, "Who's your favorite teacher?" And I never had an answer
before. >> First of all, we learned that you are on from the moment you walk in this door to the time that you leave. And I have a feeling even beyond that. >> I will forever cherish everything he has taught me, everything he has made me
experience. You are a world opener. You teach students and other adults that there are opportunities beyond what they thought they could achieve. I am pleased to introduce a very special guest, our education commissioner for the state of
Colorado, Susanna Cordova. So, we are very excited to be here today and we were here just a few weeks ago to celebrate something very special. Mr. Carson Mr.
We're here to announce that your teacher, Mr. Steven Paulson, is the all teacher of the world. He just tells you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. And I think for anybody who just wants to, you know,
help their students and connect with their students and support their students, Pollson is exactly the type of teacher that you want to look up for because you can tell by all the supporters that he has. It's for a reason. Never before
has the Gley Evans School District had a Colorado teacher of the year. You all have a star among you, a superstar, and we're so honored he chooses to work in the district and at Dilly Central High
School. We're so honored. I honestly was not surprised when he was named a finalist. I was like, "You're going to win." I just knew he was going to win. So, as his wife, I I know what he's capable of. I love this. I love our
I love all of you. I'm just very glad that you guys get to be celebrated. I think this is the best place I've ever worked. You guys are the best. And I'm going to make some kids angry with this comment. You are the best students I've ever had and I've had a lot of good students. So, I'm just glad that people got to walk into this
gym and see you guys. Thank you guys. That was amazing to be there for you. you that was there and and us that got to witness that the the the whole auditorium or the gymnasium chanting we love Paulson was was something pretty special to see and uh it's pretty obvious that the state made
the right choice. So congratulations and we're honored to have you here. Um do you guys want to say anything? I feel like we should open this up. >> Dr. Britz Campos Spitzy. >> So I I've talked a lot about you Mr.
Steven Pollson, but and I know I I share with you personally when when students um tell me in the exam room when I do my well adolescent exams, uh what's your favorite class? And often AP human geography is their favorite class as
Wildcats. Um and actually the day you got the award, um I took an hour off of work to just run to Gley Central and then I went back to work and I only worked a half day. So between 10:00 a.m., you know, the social media was
active and before I had finished my day, I had a Spanish- speaking patient who saw me wearing my Gley Central shirt and said, "Did you hear Mr. Pollson won teacher of the year?" And so her son was your your student when you were at Gley
West. And um he's an amazing kid. I'm sure you would know him if I gave you his name. But um anyway, I just think every teacher in district 6, how extraordinary that you get to touch so many kids' lives year after year after year. Um and and you're you're something
special. You were my medical assistance teacher, too. I actually got to quote her during um I got interviewed on on one of the panels for Mr. Pollson to receive the award. And and she said something along the lines of and this is without knowing that I was memorizing
her words. um he is the type of teacher who gives his all. And so I got teary again watching the video even though I was there and we're we're just so beyond proud of you. Um thank you >> Mr. Matthews.
>> Yeah. Um Mr. Pollson's had a had the opportunity to um to teach a couple of my my students, my kids, and um Dr. Campo Spitzy and I got to be on on part of the the team that uh that was interviewed to to say should this should
this person be the teacher of the year and I I will say what what I said then um Mr. Pollson changes the courses of of students lives. I mean we have fantastic teachers in this district to stand out
among this group of teachers is uh is is truly remarkable. But what Mr. Pollson does I think that is unique is that we do a great job of preparing kids to to go to college um in this district.
We we have so many students that that do leave this school district and do so many incredible things. But what he does is he gets kids to believe they can do it. And I think that's our challenge as a district that our students don't always they don't always believe how
good they are. Um, and I think Stephen Pollson as as well as anybody in this district convinces students uh that they can they can achieve and he changes the directory of their lives. And so we're so uh so thankful to have him here and
so so proud of you, Mr. Pollson. >> Thank you guys. Um it's pretty pretty amazing to have the trifecta the hattick, you know, the triple counter Colorado here in our in our buildings or in our district. So, you know, it's true. Iron shopper is iron and and we're just very very lucky and blessed and
honored to have all three of you guys here, especially now joining us, Mr. Pollson. So, thank you guys. Um, on to 7.01 innovation 2030 student learning and achievement update on AVID AP and IB. I think Oh, there Mr. Asma's coming to
the stand. I should share that Mr. Pollson did not know we were doing the video tonight. Um I really intend to do that as part of my superintendence report. Um so it's serendipitous that he's a part of this presentation and is is here in the room
tonight. >> Get a chance to be with with him and and many others even a student tonight. So, good evening, Vice President Bentley, members of the board, Dr. Pelch, and members from the Council of Student Reps. My name is Anthony Almus. I'm the assistant superintendent for secondary
and K8 leadership and post-secondary readiness. Tonight, I'm joined by Kim Silva, our director of schools, Brian Lamos, director of multilingual education and family engagement, and Lisa McGee, our K12 language arts and aid coordinator. We're also joined by
the Colorado Teacher of the Year, Stephen Pollson, and my new friend and student, Isaac Bitler, to share a little bit of the school perspective around AVID, advanced placement, and what we do with international baloria. And I forgot we have Bridget Kaylor with
us, too. So, there you go. And we have more. So, we're all here for this. And so over the past few years, we have intentionally removed barriers so that more students have access to advanced opportunities to make sure every student in this district graduates career and college ready. We
also know there's a lot of work to do. Research says high schools a high school's poverty rate is one of the biggest factors in whether students go on to college and finish. Nationally for the class of 2024, the student clearing
house has reported that about 74% of students, so 74% of students from lower poverty schools enroll in college right after graduation compared to just 51% from higher poverty schools. Furthermore, 59% of students
from the lower poverty schools finish with an associates degree or higher compared to only 25% from higher poverty schools. That's a big gap. And it shows why we work so hard to expand access to rigorous coursework with support and why
that matters so much here in district 6. When we make sure that more of our students experience college level classes while still in high school, it's more than just giving credits. It's giving confidence that our students can do hard things. This work is grounded in our mission and
our vision and our values. And as you know, all of our work is found in our strategic plan. Our objectives for this section of our strategic plan are found in our student learning and achievement focus area. specifically to implement a consistent,
coherent, and aligned curriculum where we implement research-based curriculum, assessment, and instructional practices to ensure that all of our students are achieving at high levels. It also enhance educator instructional practices to support teachers in
delivering instruction that promotes rigorous coursework, ensuring every student has the opportunity to succeed. And we measure this um through ongoing commitment to improving student achievement outcomes for all students by providing meaningful meaningful and rigorous learning opportunities that
challenge all students. And we're dedicated to increasing the on-time graduation rate in our district and ensuring that every student leaves our schools prepared for success in college and a career. This work is driven by a dedicated group
of individuals that meet often to look at data and implement action steps to improve every day throughout the course of this year. And tonight's presentation, we will highlight our support systems that we have in place for students as well as opportunities we offer to prepare our students to be
college and career ready. To get us started, I'd like to first turn this first section over to Lisa McGee, our K12 coordinator for English language arts and Abbott. Good evening. Tonight, I'll provide a quick update on AVID implementation in
district 6. AVID or advancement via individual determination is a college and career readiness system that supports students by teaching them the academic skills, behaviors, and mindset that will allow them to succeed in rigorous courses and beyond.
In district 6, AVID is well established. We have eight secondary schools and 16 elementary schools implementing AVID. Currently, 16% of our high school students and 78% of our elementary students are served through AVID
classrooms. Over half of our staff, 58% have been trained in AVID practices, ensuring strategies reached beyond the AVID elective and impact all students. We also have one of our high schools, Gley West, entering into the revalidation process to maintain their
demonstration status. At the secondary level, AVID increases student access to rigorous courses and teaches the academic behaviors needed for success. In elementary schools, AVID builds student agency, a growth mindset, and strong academic dispositions
starting as early as prek. Across both levels, AVID practices are not limited to one class. They permeate classrooms and leadership practices throughout the campus. Focusing on our class of 2025, our AVID seniors continue to achieve a 100%
ontime graduation rate. This success is rooted in academic rigor. Nearly 3/4 73% of our AVID seniors participated in concurrent enrollment and 97% took an AP or IB course preparing them to excel in
college. Finally, the strength of our AVID culture is clear as 80% of our AVID seniors from last year indicated that they would like to return as a tutor, ensuring the legacy of mentorship um continues in our program.
This slide demonstrates the power of AVID in closing the opportunity gap by comparing our work in district 6 to the AVID Colorado state averages. Our results are outstanding. Col uh sorry, notice the huge jump in rigor. 97% of our students took at least
one course of rigor, significantly outpacing the state's 84%. Our students are highly engaged in post-secary planning. 88% of District 6 students applied to a 4-year college, a 9-point lead over the state's 79%.
With a strong 3.25 average GPA, and 95% of our AVID seniors completing college entrance requirements, these numbers prove our AVID strategies are succeeding in creating college ready graduates. And next, I'd like to introduce Brian Lamos, Bridget Kohler, and David
Whiskers to represent IB. Hello, Director Bentley, and members of the board. I am Brian Lamos, director of multilingual learners and family engagement, and also um have that little clause that says other duties as assigned, and that's the IB program.
Uh with me I tonight I have Bridget Kaylor who is uh the current vice principal at Gley West and former IB coordinator at Gley West. And next to her is David Whisker who we joined our team this year at Gley West as a IB coordinator. Uh currently we have three
schools that are offered the IB program. Our first school is the primary years program which is at Dos Rios Elementary. The second one is our middle years program which is at Brentwood Middle School. And the other school is Gley West, which we're going to go into a
little bit more details tonight on some some data that's pretty impressive. And they have our MYP program, middle years program, plus our diploma program. The IB uh program aligns well with our I2030 strategic plan, especially in SLA
uh 2 in two primary areas. One, it provides opportunities for students to engage in meaningful and rigorous coursework. And secondly, it prepares students for to be college and career ready. With that, um there's really some alignment that has to happen because it has core principles within the IB
program. Those core principles are really four principles. One is to be inquirybased learning. Two to pro really develop students holistically in their thinking educationally. Secondly, to be internationally mindful and third to
have conceptual understanding, a deep understanding of the local issues and the global issues that are complex in the world and to and with that um we come together from the PYP program, NYP program, and the DP program to really ensure that
there's alignment among our D6 IB schools with a focus on rigorous and relevant well-rounded education. And the next two are really what we're going to focus on tonight as we talk about the diploma program. The expanded access to IB classes so that every student at Gley
West has an opportunity to take an IB course and secondly to increase the enrollment in our diploma program at Gley West and the diploma program. It's it's critical to understand that there's a program you can take classes and it doesn't mean you're fully committed to
the whole diploma program. Since making some bold moves in 2022, we're going to share some numbers that are going to be pretty impressive with uh to how many kids are accessing the IB classes and courses. At this time, I'm going to turn it over to Bridget Kaylor to talk more
about the stats. >> Hello board members. So once again, I am Bridget Kaylor. I am one of the assistant principles at Gley West High School. So, what we're going to see in numbers here in just a minute is actually a four-year plan. Four years ago, we decided that instead of being a
school that had the IB program, we were going to be an IB school. We believe that the IB is a world-class education. And our kids deserve a world-class education. And with the right structures, our kids can do hard things and take at least one IB class. That
class that we rolled out is IB language and literature. that explores both literary and non- literary works. And so a lot of the jump in numbers you're going to see is because of that. But we have also found that students are not just taking Lang and lit, they are also engaging in more IB courses because they
realize they can. It's not this scary course that was inaccessible. We have been getting both international and national recognition from IB and school districts across the country because we have implemented a model that has co-taught laying and lit classes for our
ML students and for our students who have IEPs and they are finding success. We have a video that the IB came from Washington DC and they interviewed our teachers and our students and as soon as that is finished I will I will send it on to you but it's really really cool.
um students are expressing liking to read and they're expressing liking to engage and they feel like they're they're part of the school and so it's really positive. So here's the numbers that we see and once again what we're seeing here is this first graph is showing us students
who are enrolled in one or more diploma program course. The big jump is last year. That's when all of our juniors took either IB literature at the high level or IB Lang and lit year one at the standard level. The increase that you see this year is that a lot of those
juniors who took standard level lang stayed in the class to finish it out for year two. So our seniors right now are the final four-year plan coming to fruition. and we are seeing massive success and we are blessed at Griy West to have an amazing set of teachers who
said our kids can do hard things. Last year we had 140 students who took a IB exam that scored a four or above giving them college earning potential. Some of the difference that you see in our numbers versus the tests that are earning college earning potential is a
student can be enrolled in an IB course. It may not test that year because they are in two-year cycles. So, it throws the numbers off a little bit, but once again, we had 140 students who were able to get college earning credit because of IB courses.
And I think this is the one that we're most proud of here. When we look at the breakdown of our special education students enrolled in our IB courses, this is where the support of the co-eing model and our teachers saying yes, we can shows up the biggest. So, our gifted and talented
students make up 10% of our classes. The IB program used to be viewed as a course option and or a program that was really tailored to gifted and talented students. And while the diploma program in its entirety is very well suited for this population, we have also found
success with co-taught models in IB language and literature. And we have 72 students who currently have IEPs or 504s taking one of these IB courses and 313 multilingual learners or 42% of our students um in these courses
for a grand total of 737 total here. Thank you. Thank you, Bridget. This time we're going to turn it over to Kim Silva to talk about our AP programs. Sorry, they didn't use the notebook, so sliding it over. Good evening. I'm Kim
Silva, director of schools for district 6. Tonight, I'll be providing an update on advanced placement programming in our district. AP courses are a key component of our high level instructional programming at our schools. Um, this slide shows the 23
AP courses currently offered across our district six comprehensive high schools. We're so grateful to our community for passing the Millvy override, which allows us to provide consistent district-wide resources for AP and to cover the cost of AP exams for our
students. These resources align with the College Board suite of online tools, including unit guides and exam uh preparation materials. AP teachers across our high schools have actively participated in the district's curriculum and resource adoption
process. All AP courses follow the structure of a comparable introductory college level course, offering students rigorous academic experiences and the opportunity to earn some college credit. Teachers are provided the opportunity to attend AP summer institute in their
respective content areas. These trainings provide instructional strategies for ex from from experienced AP educators and help prepare teachers to guide students through both the content and the format of AP exams. In addition, our district professional
development days offer ongoing opportunities for AP teachers to collaborate, share best practices, and strengthen AP instruction across all of our schools. So over the past five years, we've seen a pretty steady increase in enrollment. While our numbers from last year uh to
this year have remained relatively stable, uh the overall enrollment trends are very positive. This fall we have 1,899 students enrolled in at least one AP course. Many of our students take multiple AP courses and pass multiple AP exams
throughout their high school experience. This slide shows the longitudinal data for the district 6 high school AP scholars based on the 200 or the 2025 AP exam results for our district 6 high schools. The blue bar represents students who enrol who were awarded AP
Scholar designation for receiving a score of three or higher on three or more AP exams. The red bar represents AP scholars with honors distinction, which was is awarded to students who earn an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and a score
of three or higher on four or more AP exams. The yellow bar represents students who receive the AP Scholars with distinction designation for earning an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and a score of
three or higher on five of these. AP exams. This year marks the highest number of AP scholars for district 6 high schools. A total of 254 AP awards were earned in 2025 as some of our students earned more than one award.
Congratulations to all of our students and teachers for this accomplishment. In addition to our AP scholars, 18 students earned an AP Seminar and AP research certificate for earning scores of three or higher in both AP seminar and AP research. 12 students earned the
AP Capstone diploma for earning a score of three or higher in AP seminar and AP research and on four additional AP exams of the students choosing. Overall, our data is really incredible in advanced placement. We're very proud of it. At this time, I'd like to invite
Stephen Pollson to the podium. He really needs no introduction at this point. Uh our Colorado teacher of the year, but he's also he is a he works at Gly Central and he teaches AP courses and AVID. If I had known you were playing the
video, I would have skipped this meeting, too. But um I come from this or this perspective in a unique way because I teach nth grade human geography and I was lucky enough to pilot AP for freshman 10 years ago with one of my colleagues at my previous school and
it's a challenge for nth graders no matter how much work and time and support they put into to go from eighth grade to AP. It's a huge jump. And so over the past decade we're doing what other school districts around the country are doing which is giving nth graders college level opportunities right out of the gate. But you can't
just put a kid in an AP class without support. It's it's that piece of convincing them they can do it and then giving them the tools when you know you're lying to them that they can't do it yet, but they're going to figure it out. And so that's part of the battle is even when they're not quite ready, we just got to keep them hanging on to that belief until they actually can do it.
And so the other perspective I have is teaching AVID for the last 11 years in the district is how do you give students skills, tools, resources that when they do graduate, they move on, they're college and career ready and they can access all of these courses in college and be successful. And the AVID program expects all students to take one course
of rigor at minimum every single year, specifically jumping into AP their junior year. Um, and I really can't speak to all the high schools, but I did a little digging on our own school at Gley Central. And when you study the seniors that just graduated in 2025 at Gley Central, 40% of our students took
AP and concurrent enrollment at Central. 85% of the AVID students took that same opportunity. So, more than double. Taking at least one AP exam. 22% of our seniors took it. 47% of our AVID seniors took at least one exam, if not more. Our pass rate was identical. So, even though
we had less students taking AP classes, and our AVID students are typically the the middle student, they're a 2030 student, they're not the honoral, the the advanced placement traditional student, they had an identical pass rate on those exams. So, the work we're doing is helping them not only take the class, but pass it at the same rate as their
peers. And when they come into high school, oftentimes they don't see themselves at the same level as some of their peers. So, that's a big jump that they have to make. Our AVID students in AP classes experience a 95% attendance rate, whereas our seniors last year were at an 85%. We increased the average attendance by 10%. Our Colorado higher
education requirements, our AVID students finished at 90% higher education. Our seniors finished at 50%. And then the last data point I found is that 50% of our seniors applied and got into a four-year college. 100% of our seniors applied and got into a four-year
college. So, it's not just putting them in these AP classes and saying good luck. It's the resources. It's the tools. It's the skills that we develop that allow them to continue to push forward. And it's starting them early as freshman and giving them those exposures and that belief that they really can do it. And once they see they can do it, we
see the data over the course of their four-year experience. They're not just going to drop AP after their freshman year. They're going to take a second AP class or a third AP class. I have multiple students taking four or five AP classes that never thought they can do that. And they're passing not only the class, but they're passing the exam. So, the work we're doing in AVID as a
district is really supporting these students in college level classes. And they're earning college level credit before they even get to college. And our average students right now, they're moving into their second year of college at a rate of about 84%. So they're not just getting to college and dropping out where the national average of dropouts
about 50%. Our students are almost 85% retaining college after year 1. So that tells us that they're not only graduating, but they're going prepared and they feel confident in what they're being asked to do. And so this is Isaac Bitler. He's a senior at Gly Central. he'd like to share his perspective of how AVID has
supported him in college level classes. >> Good evening everyone. Uh my name is Isaac Berler. I'm a senior at Gley Central High School and I've been a part of the AVID uh program since I was a freshman. Um being a part of the AVID program has encouraged me to take
multiple um challenging classes classes. Um, since my sophomore year, I've taken four AP classes and passed each exam with a three or higher. Um, to start, the AVID program has helped me tremendously with my AP classes,
preparing me for my future at a 4-year university. Um through tutorials for example, I'm able to collaborate with my classmates who will give me different student perspectives on the work that I'm doing in other classes which will help me expand my expand my knowledge
and succeed in those classes overall. also through uh tutorial request forms and notebook checks for example. They have taught me to be more accountable with getting my work done on time and that directly benefits me in my other classes to earn earn good grades in
those classes and ultimately pass the AP exams. Also, in addition to the coursework, um AVID has opened up multiple leadership opportunities for me. One being that I was an avid peer tutor for ninth and tth graders the past two years. And that has built my
confidence in public speaking, leadership, and communication. And I hold I hold these skills really valuable because when I'm in college, uh they'll be helpful when I decide to lead groups through study sessions or or if I decide to speak in front of audiences. Um,
overall the AVID program is a community of students and teachers who have helped me grow and reach my full potential. And I'm thankful for the AVID program and what it has prepared me for in high school for what I will be doing in college to ultimately succeed as a
person and as a student. Thank you. So, as you can see, we have some pretty amazing opportunities for students. Just by raising the bar, they they will respond and they'll um and they'll do the hard work. So, next steps for us is just uh continue with this rigorous support. So, we're going to offer these
challenging classes for students and support them as they're needed um to be career college ready. We'll continue with the diploma program at Gley West um to make sure that all students have that opportunity to be challenged every day and then continue to increase enrollment AP courses and um and continue to see
great data all across the district. We are really in a good spot in the district. Um but the real winners here are our students with all that we offer them. So with that, we would love to take any comments or answer any questions. >> Thank you guys. I'm sure we'll have a few. Looks like Dr. Kemple Spitzy's
first though. Um, do you mind going to slide eight of the presentation? >> Tell me when to stop. >> Okay. >> Um, so, so
Avid is magical, right? Um, it's so cool also that it targets kids whose parents haven't gone to college and the middle, not those honorable kids that you know from second grade their teacher knew they were going to go to college. It
it's the middle and does extraordinary things with them. Um, so so you have us convinced of that. Um, my question is, is there a way to expand it beyond just 16% of our high school students, or is
the magic of AVID the fact that it's kept small? Both. I think that we do want to see the AVID elective expand. Um, but we also are really intentional about the students who need that support. And so we go through a pretty structured
process for our 8th to 9th grade transition and our AVID interviews. And so um one of our program goals is to increase awareness in our middle schools, uh especially if they don't have an AVID elective class. That way all of our eighth graders have the opportunity to apply for AVID. And then
our high school teams are really working to identify potential AVID students who maybe as an eighth grader didn't see how this program would fit them, but now that they're there and they've seen their peers in an AVID elective class that they have the opportunity to still interview and apply. So, we want we want
to expand and make sure we're supporting all of our potential AVID students. And we know that AVID's magic really is in targeting the correct group of students. And and kind of along those lines, um I know that AVID has been implemented in a
lot of our elementary curriculum, the WICO acronym. Um I'm curious why it's 78% if there's a plan to get higher. >> Yes. So when our elementary schools implemented AVID they started with one
or two grade levels and as they've been able to send teachers to more trainings then they've expanded the levels of implementation at the buildings. So the hope is especially as we work with our EL education and we help identify where within those lessons Wicker really already exists and the magic of those
structures uh we're hoping to see that expand as well so that we we do get to that 100% implementation. >> Good a couple slides there. >> Let me add to that Dr. Campusy. So we do have Avid at every elementary school. We
don't have it in every classroom at every elementary school. Okay. >> Okay. >> Um, can we go down to slide uh just two slides down? Yeah, that one. All right.
I took notes, guys. They give us these presentations before the meeting. So, um, so the trends, right? We we look at trends, which is why there's a um time on the x line here. Um from 2020 to 2025
is what we're looking at. Um can you help explain the trend that in 2020 99% of our avid seniors um had completed four-year college entrance requirements. So the second line um and
and why that dipped down to 84% last year and how we've bounced back to 95%. >> Okay. >> Okay. Um I wasn't in the position at the time, but I was an AVID coordinator. So, I'll speak to kind of um what I've seen
in my experience is that AVID initially was all about the 4-year uh college entrance requirements and it really was meant to prepare students for a college, a four-year college. And then AVID recognized the value of those two-year programs and our trade schools. And so
some of our AVID students will come in and they have a vision of themselves in a specific career that maybe is um trade oriented or allows them to maybe start at Ames first and then transfer to a 4-year university. So I think some of our students are are focused on that and
that might be where we see a little bit of that dip. Um, and then I know just as a program, we want to make sure that those um, doors are open and that students aren't necessarily locking into something before they recognize all the potential that they have. And so our push is really to make sure that we have
100% of them that have met those requirements. So should they decide to pursue a different path than what they originally thought that that's available to them. That would be my guess. I don't know if you want to add anything. >> Well, I would just add a lot of times we borrow the average strategies for everyone, right? And so when things are
working, we say, "What can we borrow from there?" It's rigor with support. Maybe you're not in an AVID class, but we're going to look at your data and decide who needs support. We still want you to take a challenging class and we're going to support you to do that work. And this year, just like AVID bumping up, we've also doubled down on
all students applying for college. And so you'll see that go up probably probably here as well as every other category that we'll have. >> All right, Mr. Aari. Uh thank you Vice President Vendley. So I I I also have a few questions. Uh the
first one uh concerns FAFSA FA FAFSA. Okay. If I am correct on my um remembering this and I kind of have to check with our legal counsel a bit. In 2027 there's going to be a law requiring
all the students to submit the FAFSA. I'm thinking >> for 2027. >> I I don't believe so. I think that there was legislation proposed for that, but I don't believe that legislation has passed. >> It was proposed. That's it. >> It was proposed. Okay. All right. So So that Nate wants to say something.
>> It was watered down. I think it passed, but it was watered down to the point that it's ineffective. >> But and I will say this, we we are working hard to get to where every student does FAFSA. We're working really hard. Um, we've got we have strategies
and goals in place to to make that happen. It's just it's a big lift. >> You know, our work with direct admissions now with AS and UNCC. So, we have more and more of students that are applying for college and have the opportunity to go. So, then we know that we need to support them with FASA as well. And we have our first event coming
up. It's called FASA with Tacos that we um provide to our community. And so, we look for opportunities for fun ways to come in and engage with our families to make sure they are filling out the FAFSA. And um I think we set our goal this year at 80% and last year it was right around 45 I think. So
>> well it says 89% at 2025. >> Well of the AVID students. >> So our our goal really would be to have every student do it. Yes. >> Okay. Um and the second question I have uh involves the IB. So Gley West is um
moving to have every student in the building take at least one IB class. Is that correct? Is that what you're saying? Yes. >> Yeah. And that's actually where we are now. So last year, our current seniors, every junior was enrolled in either IB Lang and lit at the standard level or IB
literature at the high level. And then in year two, they can continue um and finish that out if they so choose to. And most have elected to. They also senior year can um go to AP comp and or they can take like a mass media and or
poetry. So, have you um h has has the system laid the groundwork for that to happen? >> We know IB classes like AP classes can be very challenging. Of course, we understand that. But we do have
preparation programs for IB uh in the district. We have, from what I recall, an IB elementary, right, prep program and an IB middle level program, much to Brentwood's um acclaim being recognized
as such a a an award-winning school here in the United States. I'm just wondering, are we partnering with those schools in some way to lay the groundwork for all the students at Gley West to take an IB class? >> Yeah, absolutely. I mean, and we feed
from Brentwood, but we also feed from Prairie Heights and and other middle schools as well, but we have done some vertical alignment with Brentwood and with Dos Rios to just look at, you know, where they end up in high school. Um, but really where we foundationally have started them was in ninth grade. So, our
current seniors when they were nth graders, our nth grade team reworked ninth grade so that they were going to be ready for 10th grade. That reworked itself. So we leveled them up to make sure that from ninth grade they were foundationally prepared. That's why we didn't just go let's go IB for all
laying and lit year one. And so we really made sure that all of our entities were on board. We took advantage of free trainings that we got through IB because of piloting this um and paid trainings as well for like our ML teachers, our special education teachers and our English team so that
they could vertically align so that they had that the students were prepared when they got into that junior year course. And then we were able to then structure the curriculum so we can go slow to go fast. So our co-taught laying in literature SL classes really build them
up foundationally and then they launch more second year. >> Okay. Thank you. And then my third question and the last one, Mr. Vice President and our our Colorado teacher of the year went through this very
quickly. And for for those of us that may be slower learners, uh we have 51 more kids this year that um have gained the AP scholar designation. And you went
through this, Mr. Pollson, but could you could you just reiterate simply what you would attribute that to? Again, it's partially the I the IB work at West, I would presume, that has fed into that,
but I don't know. I mean, AP IB and AP, they kind of cross over periodically, don't they? >> When it comes to AP scholars, that's going to be freshmen taking an AP class right out of the gate typically. So, we look at them taking AP humanography at West Central and Northridge as ninth
graders. And then to get that scholar, the AP scholar, they have to take three AP courses and get a three or higher in one um in in that year to get that schol the AP scholar that you're talking about. So I think the buildup at all three schools of ninth grade AP classes
and then also transferring to AP seminar in the 10th grade. We see a very high pass rate nationally in AP seminar as well in the district. We're at the national pass rate for that class and and on most of the buildings. So, I think students being able to take those classes in in ninth and tth grade is what's attributing such an increase in
those numbers because again, it's building that confidence. It's building a skill set. It's understanding what it takes to to take and pass an AP class and take and pass an AP exam. So, I think our work at all three schools at that ninth and tth grade level to make AP something that's not waited till junior year is why we're seeing such an
increase in our scholar numbers. >> And Dr. Clutch, do you have anything to add on that? Because >> as we're moving forward through this, >> you know, I do. We're going to build we're going to build on this. >> So really Yes. And really what you are seeing is um a decade of work of a decade of work that has really focused
on um a a guaranteed and viable curriculum for every single student in the system where throughout the system our expectation is that students are accessing ongrade level content and they're getting the supports they need to be successful in that. So by the time they're reaching high school, they're
capable of taking more advanced courses than what students were in district 6 10 years ago. We had students who were AP scholars 10 years ago, but really this is this is the compilation of of years of work to get here. Um, and the work is not done. We still have more work to do.
But it it really is about the shift in mindset with with teachers like those you see here today who believe that as you heard Bridget say, our kids can do hard things. um and teachers can teach hard things. And it's it's really that shift in mindset that teachers can do
this and our students can do this and then providing the supports in place to do that. And um and pushing kids so high expectations with a with high support uh for success. And you know, you saw our SAT scores this year that are higher
than they've been in well over a decade. and and that's really the result of the work that's gone on K through 8 and then they hit high school and and they're continuing to push those students. >> Well, thank you and please extend our appreciation to everybody that works so
hard to to get this. >> I will tell you too, in my when I started teaching high school 11 years ago, freshmen were not taking AP classes. It was it was very rare. It was it was hard to get a kid to take a class like that. And we even had folks in the system who did not believe um freshmen
should be in AP classes. And um we had to and some of those were leaders, administrators, not just teachers. So we had to we had a lot of work to do around shifting mindset around the belief that students could actually take um advanced placement courses as early as nth grade.
>> Thank you. Thank you u Miss Venegas. Thank you, Vice President Bentley. Um, I just kind of wanted to comment on all these great opportunities that US as students receive. Although I do attend early college academy where they offer dual enrollment classes. Um we do
believe in that rigorous that ninth and tenth graders are more than capable of taking those higher level classes because at ECA once you enter ECA you're started off with dual enrollment and as you progress we just go off to only dual
enrollment classes. However, IVID um AVID, IB, and AP programs all offer such an amazing opportunity to build resilience for those college classes in order to jumpstart your career and jumpst start those students within that confidence as they attend college or
trade school or whatever career they decide to pursue. Having the opportunity to take those higher level classes are great for students who desire a challenge um while also earning college credits which will ease financial burdens as they go into college as well. So, it's just what a wonderful way to
support us, the students, and I know many students in the district are so grateful for all these wonderful programs and opportunities. >> Thank you, Mr. Powers. >> Uh, thank you for letting me speak. I just want to touch on the AP subjects
more. So, I've I've been taking AP classes at Northridge since I was a freshman. And I think the like obviously the main appeal to the APs is getting the early college credit, but I think a lot of like a big effect that doesn't get talked about much, which the students very appreciative of, is just the like the extra support that they get
from the teachers and counselors and stuff like to help with through help them through the rigorous classes. I've seen like many students turn from like freshman year entering high school. they're maybe not the best students, but as they get more incorporated into like AP and they get more help from their
teachers and like administrators and all that stuff that comes from taking AP classes, they they turn to like model students by the time they're in junior year and senior year. So, I think that's like a huge impact AP has and I want to say that the students are very appreciative of that impact.
>> Thank you, Mr. Matthews. >> Um, have a quick question for I guess Miss Kaylor. Um perhaps Mr. Whisker, I'm not sure. Um but I I think a lot of people in in the room in our system are very familiar with AP. They understand what that is. A lot of us even had AP
classes way back when we were in high school. I don't think people are as familiar with IB and what that means. And so can you just give us a quick elevator speech? Something that when people ask me what I mean, what's the difference? What is what is the advantage of IB? what does it provide
that you can't get anywhere else? >> I think that both IB and AP classes are wonderful preparatory classes and they might speak to different skills of different students. So when it comes to standalone classes, both are rigorous, right? And both are very foundational
for post-secary goals. Where IB classes differ is that they tend to be more depth than breadth and they do a lot of grappling with 25st century skills asking questions about like global context and really getting that international piece to it. Um there's
one additional element in IB diploma program classes and that is an internal assessment which is either an individual oral that they give in their language classes or it's like um a research project that they do within the class. And we have found that it can be very beneficial because the students have a
lot of locus of control over a piece that holds up 25% of their overall score. They get to work with they get teacher feedback on it's very applicable. And so I think that that's where it rounds out a little bit differently is it's not just the one test the one day, which is why I think we found that like a lot of our ML
learners do do well in those IB classes because they have the opportunity to have that piece that has a little bit more like teacher guidance and student guidance. Um IB is also meant to be like a program with like a core being the theory of knowledge class. They write an
extended essay that's a 4,000word essay. They complete um CASS hours which is community service essentially on top of having six other classes. So it really is meant to work as a full program. We are looking at bringing in also the career program at Gly West High School,
which we're a candidate school for it right now, which will blend our CTE with IB for an additional diploma opportunity, which they basically would have to complete their CTE certification and two additional IB classes, as well
as they would have a senior thesis very similar to the extended essay, but in the realm of business and or um like ethics within the CTE realm. Um that just once again like expands what
the students can do. It can expands their opportunities to have that additional certification as well as just the standalone classes that are like the individual diploma program classes. I don't know if that was an elevator
speech. That might have been a really that's a really long >> I don't know if I got all of that, but I I I think I got enough of it. Thank you. Uh I also have a question for Mr. Pollson uh on AVID. Um and and it's
clear clear that you believe the strategies in AVID are are contributing to student success. And so my question would be what what's the one if if you if you had the chance to mandate for all
high school teachers? Uh, and we know that that would never that would never work, right? Uh, but but if you could if we could mandate for all high school teachers uh a strategy, a skill from AVID, what if you could say just if everybody would just do this, our
students would do better, they would be better prepared. What would the one that one skill be? >> The interactive notebook. Um, I think our freshmen come in with they don't know what they don't know. And so teaching them how to organize themselves, teaching them how to process their own thinking, teaching them how to
take notes, teaching them how to keep track of their materials, how to go back and get multiple repetitions with something because the average student remembers 10% of something they saw one time. So then by the end of the week, they barely hold on to much of anything. But if we can create two, three, or four repetitions, they can hold on to 70% of
what they remember of what they've been taught. And that notebook is a tool that allows them to write, to collaborate, to organize, to read, to think, and it keeps everything in one place. And so for me, even though human geography is not an AVID class, I teach it with Avid strategies. And I think the results that we're getting at Gley Central in that
class prove that Avid or not, it's working. And so I think that notebook would be a key tool to get students to be more successful. You've seen the we call it the geography bible essential. >> You've seen it at home. >> Yeah. Um and and so but that would be the one thing, right? If we if we could
just get every teacher to to get on board with the interactive notebook and whatever that means. I'm not sure what all what all packed into that. >> It varies from from discipline to discipline, but the idea that you have one place to write, read, think, organize, collaborate, discuss, reflect.
I think it gives you a lot of tools just in one simple activity or one resource. >> Thank you. >> Yep. And then I I'll just put this one >> and then I just want to say I'll be the wish granter because this year we did purchase notebooks for all of our students third grade through eighth grade in our district. And so with that
with that hope that we will get all of our students organized and ready to go and use the use of a planner, the use of the notes and and stay organized. We've noticed that as a gap as well. And and so we we supported that um through through our through our u mil levy override dollars. And so we're thankful for the community to be able to do that.
But every student in third grade or eighth grade does have a notebook for this year. >> Thank you, Mr. Dawson. Um, and but last question, and you might be the person to answer this, too. I'm not sure. I'm I'll open it up to anybody, but um
believe this work is tremendously important for this district. Our our work at at ECA, our our work on AP, IB, AVID, and in getting kids to college. What is uh what do you need from this board to to better uh enable you to do
this work? >> You want to take that one, Dr. Pil? >> I will. I I'll start. And well, they're thinking um we what we need from this board is for you to continue as you have in the past to advocate at the state level for funding. This is a very all of
this is very expensive. um the the AVID teachers that paying for AP tests, paying for IB tests, it's very expensive. Um training advanced placement teachers, training international balorate teachers, all of this costs money. And unlike many
districts in the state of Colorado, we pay for every student to take their advanced placement or international balorate exam. We do not put that burden on families. And uh yes, our our voters have helped us with the mill levy override, but the reality is it takes
additional state funding to be able to do these programs. And so we need your advocacy in that. Um and then we need we need you to continue to understand how important this is in this community so it it remains a priority in future
budgets. And none of what we present tonight would be possible without mil levy override dollars and additional support. So well said. >> Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Bentley. >> Thank you guys. Um I just kind of echo what everybody said and and just express
my gratitude for for the job you guys are doing from uh you know the CTE stuff and the in catching our students up who are you know behind on the timelines to this advanced work you guys are doing. And it's very exciting to hear you guys talk about maybe collaborating those two. I think that's a very big missing
part in the in the trades world at least. We get we get a lot of trade oriented people who are coming in at least in in my experience with with the certificate or some experience uh that's tangible but but that world is is business and it's and there is a whole advanced side to that that would make
them better employees, better better managers and and just better all around community members. So exciting things. Thank you guys. [Applause] All right, we're on to our public participation portion of the meeting. Uh read this real quick. As a board, we
welcome comments of comm community members and we dedicate a portion of each business meeting to provide an opportunity for the community to present brief comments. All speakers are limited to two minutes for comments. Our board members typically will not respond, but we may ask our district staff to do so. All written testimonies and handouts
must be submitted to board secretary, Miss Amy Lemon. We ask all speakers and those in attendance to conduct themselves in a dignified and non-disruptive manner. Cheering, snapping, clapping, and other distractions are not permitted. Anyone who disturbs order may be required to sit down and or leave the boardroom.
Speakers are responsible for their own speech and to refrain from profane and obscene remarks. All remarks must be suitable for an audience that include kindergarten through 12th grade students. Additionally, District 6 does not support nor endorse any political candidate and we encourage this forum to not be used as a camp for campaigning
activities. This board is committed to providing a safe environment where all members of the school board school community are treated with dignity, respect, and we expect all speakers to exercise their speech rights responsibly. Tonight, our only speaker
is Mr. Jerry Harvey. Good evening board members and Dr. Pilch. My name is Jerry Harvey and I'm running for House District 50. I believe with every fiber of my being that everyone deserves dignity, respect, and a fair shot. These are my core values
and they'll be the guiding light for my campaign. This campaign is not about me. It's about the people of House District 50. It's about building a community where everyone has a fair shot at a bright future. It's about fighting for our shared values and ensuring our voices are heard in Denver. If I have
the honor and privilege of being elected to represent the people of House District 50, I will focus on five priorities that impact everyone in this district. Quality well-funded public education from preK all the way through college. Quality affordable health care,
infrastructure, affordability, especially for housing and workforce. I will work hard every day to serve the people of House District 50 and provide them the leadership in Denver they truly deserve. The leadership of someone who has worked their whole career in public service, not a career politician. The
leadership of someone who knows how to balance a budget and knows what it means to live paycheck to paycheck. And the leadership of someone who will fight for everyone in this community, not just the select few. For more information about me and this campaign, you can head over to jerryforhd50.com.
I hope to be able to meet with each of you during the course of this campaign. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mr. Harvey. On to item number nine, our consent agenda. This is an action item that will need a motion. >> I move >> Oh, go ahead. Jinx.
>> I move that the board of education of Gley Evans School District 6 approves items as presented on the consent agenda and authorizes the officers to sign any and all contracts. >> Second. Thank you both. Any discussion on the consent agenda? >> Miss Lemon, will you please give us a
vote? >> Director Zari, >> I. >> Director Bentley, >> I. >> Dr. Campus Fitzy, >> I. >> Director Matthews, >> I. >> Director Norwood, >> I. >> Motion carries 5-0. >> Thank you. Um, on to item 10.01, approval of school accredititation
plan types. Uh, this is a action item that will need a motion as well. I move that the board of education of Well County School District 6 approve the school accredititation ratings as presented on the condition that if any of the appeals are granted by the Colorado Board of Education, the updated
ratings will be revisited in January. >> Second. >> Thank you both. It looks like we have a presentation on this. Thank you. >> Good evening, Vice President Bentley, Dr. Pilch, members of the school board. appreciate the time tonight to share
with you um both an overview of our accreditation stuff as well as our district unified improvement plans and building unified improvement plans. Um the state board of education will be approving the district's um plan type at their meeting, but we
are given the task to approve the plan types for the buildings. Let me back up a little bit and just talk a little bit about the history real quickly. The um accreditation became law in 2009 in Colorado. This system is a
method of accrediting districts and schools across the state and provides guidelines for giving differentiated support to districts and schools depending on their accreditation category and associated school plan type.
Each district and high school is held accountable to a set of key performance indicators as reported on the performance framework. The district and high school breakdown for these indicators include 40% on academic growth, 30% on academic achievement, and
30% on postsecary workforce readiness, which is sometimes referred to as PWR. Each elementary and middle school includes 60% on academic growth and 40% on academic achievement.
Districts are accredited by the state in one of five categories dependent on the percentage of performance indicator points they earn as on the district performance framework. They can be accredited with distinction, accredited accredited with an improvement plan,
accredited with priority improvement plan or accredited with turnaround plan. The latter two accreditation levels include varying degrees of intervention by CDE. Our district is accredited with an improvement plan.
And this show slide shows the positive direction of movement over the last three years while still within the improvement plan category. Now let me shift to school accreditation types. District 6 will be accrediting
schools based on the plan type each school has been assigned by the state. Based on each school's attainment in the performance indicators, the Colorado Department of Education makes a recommendation as to whether each school should implement a performance plan, an
improvement plan, a priority improvement plan, or a turnaround plan. These are the same designations as the district without the distinction option. These are 18 schools that are at the performance level. This is the highest number of performance schools that
district 6 has ever had. These are 10 schools that are imp at the improvement category. These are five schools that are identified as priority improvement. And again, no schools in turnaround
status second year in a row. We do have three schools that we are submitting a request to reconsider and that is Central Centennial and Maplewood and Colorado Department of Education will present those to the board of
education and that will be make its determination in December. If we are granted those, we'll bring that back to you for reapproval at that point in time. I'm going to turn it back over to Vice President Bentley and Dr. Pilch to
answer any questions and for your board's approval of the plan types as they have been presented. >> Any comments or questions? Mr. Tuttle, >> Dr. Cample Spitzy. >> So, I'm glad you uh commented on the
positive trend um you know between 2023 and 2025 that every year we inch towards accredited Um, I did have to look up how many points we need um to be to have the accredited designation and that it would
be 56.0. Um, so we are we're not too far from that, but if we continue at the pace we're going, it might be a couple years. Um, what's your thinking on moving that needle from 52.3 to 56.0?
>> Yeah. So, >> I'll take that. Thank you, Mr. Tuttle. Um because >> I 2030. >> Yeah. No. Well, it's more than that. So, um so also what you see when you look at these, you see that several of our schools that did hit performance barely
surpassed that 53 >> and there 53.1 53.7. Um so, we've got very steady work that we have to do to to continue to move this this this achievement. Um we are meeting with each school around their major improvement strategies and their their building
improvement plan um to identify their needs uh the supports that we should provide as well as um to provide feedback to them and our guidance around the work that that must be done in the system. Um we will also meet with those
schools that have have hit performance or have been at performance to ensure that we can stay there and maintain that student achievement. So, um, we know we have to take a harder swipe at this than what we have in the past. Um, the other piece is the work we're doing, uh, with
special education around the special education review that was done last year. Uh, those folks were in the district all day today, uh, working in schools and we'll be here all week. >> Yes. >> Yeah. All week um, and here every month for a week working with directly with schools, uh, with leadership and with
staff. Um also uh we're doing some intense work around literacy and the science of reading. We know that that there's big work to do there as well as as still work to do around mathematics computation. So um your urgency is my
urgency Dr. Campospitzy. I I I believe we can do this. I I've we've seen it happen in many of our schools and and schools that have moved and stayed there. I I believe that we have the skill in the system to do that and I believe we can develop the will to do
that in the system. So um Mr. Tuttle, what would you add since I jumped in on top of you? >> No, you did a beautiful job and I will add that the percent to get it to performance rating is slightly different from school to district. So it's 53% for schools, 56% as you pointed out for the
district. So it is a little bit different target, but all the work that Dr. Dr. Pch just described is exactly what we're about this year. >> It's really about I mean it's looking very deeply at each student in the system. Um we I mean in some cases
really two or three students can change that school's rating uh depending on their performance on the state assessment. Uh the other thing that we're doing is we're looking more closely at kindergarten and first grade and really looking at um how our students are performing on their interim assessments right now and are there
children that we should be having conversations about having them do two years of kindergarten or two years of first grade. Uh which we've been really reluctant to do in the past is the literature around retention is is controversial and it indicates in many cases that it can lead to high school
dropout when a student is retained. But um What we realize is we are seeing more and more students come to us in kindergarten who are not as as prepared as we would like them to be. They haven't been in preschool um and and they haven't been in Head Start. And so it's going to take them a little bit
longer. And and you see it when you look at our middle school achievement this year. You see that we're catching students up. when you look at our multilingual learners, we can see we we we are catching kids up, but but um they're not we're not going to see that
performance on a third, fourth, or fifth grade test if if we've only had them in K1, two >> in three years to try to catch up three years and three plus more years of student achievement that's necessary. So, uh we're we're looking at the system
very differently than we have in the past. I'm I'm so interested to hear that comment on um having some kids redo kindergarten or first grade. I actually just got a totally outsider perspective. I have her living in my house right now, a 16-year-old from France, and she said
in France about 50% of kids get held back in first grade, half of them, because they cannot read and write yet, so they do it again. She said there it's a little less stigmatized because they pair grades and so they're still with the same classmates they were the year
before. Um so it doesn't feel as much like they were left behind. Um because it's like first and second grader are together kind of thing. Um, I think truly though when when we are honest and loving and supportive with families, families want their children to be
successful. And and if we really help families understand the the implications of not being ready for first grade when you leave kindergarten or not being ready for second grade when you leave first grade. Um, I I think, you know, I think we can help create some understanding around
this. And we're not talking about retaining hundreds of students, but we are talking about looking at this differently than we have in the past and and maybe even doing some things second semester um with our kinders and first graders to adjust instruction for them.
>> Yeah, I do want to celebrate that all four of our comprehensive middle schools were at performance. So, Brentwood, Franklin, Prairie Heights, Heath, you know, amazing. Um, and another trend I noticed in our K through eights that five out of seven are at performance.
Um, so another, you know, thing to celebrate and, you know, we always talk about the parents love K through8s, but now I feel like we're seeing some achievement data behind the K through eight model as well. Um, I will, you
know, I I'm the the one who looks at everything. Um, our elementary is where we're we're not we we don't get to celebrate as much. So we have 10 K through fives in our district and only three are at performance. Um four if we get Centennial to to get it
reconsidered. Um but four out of 10 is not enough right in K through five. I know we are working um individually with those schools. Um but it does worry me. I it does feel like we do catch them up in middle school. Um but it worries me
that in the foundational years of you know K through three which um which is where we do seem to be struggling and so I I know that I am preaching to the choir and you are well aware um but just wanted to highlight those trends that we do really do well in our are doing well
in our comprehensive middle schools and our K through8s overall are doing well and it's our K through fives that seem to be struggling. anything to add? >> Oh, Mr. Zarya wants to chime in. >> Just just a question uh just to uh
reinform me our relationship with the charters and do we have any responsibility in regards to their u achievement and well >> how is that used? >> So their data is in our district data.
It's there. I mean, it's and we have very little leverage with our charters unless they're up for for a contract renewal. We have very little very little leverage. Um, we will offer supports. Uh, you prior to you coming on the board, Dorne, we had a charter that had
been in turnaround for multiple years and um was up for contract renewal. We did have some leverage with that. We were able to impose district support with that school. Um and and we saw some big change with that district support and there is a a new leader at that site
who understands turnaround work and now we see that school at performance but quite frankly we have very little leverage very little. >> Dr. Pilch, can you touch on how are the these grades the same bell curve as like CMAS testing where 50 is the state average or is this a different system of
how they do this accreditation rating? It's all based on the on that same score was that Cam Mass is to that with the 50 being, you know, >> the state average. Yes. So, so correct me if I'm wrong, but if we get to 56, the law of averages says we're going to
float the state average up and it's a moving target, right? Or vice versa. So, >> sure, we're the 13th largest district in the state. And so, it behooves the district for us to do better because then we're going to help move the state average, too. >> But at the same time, then then we're back to if the 56 If everybody's at 56
and all the sudden next year we're at 50, right? I think a lot of people just see 50 and go, "Well, that's an F." >> Yeah. You don't stay at 50. What's wrong? But it's it's >> there's no 100. I mean, there's nobody at 100 points in the system in the in the state. The highest district is in
the low 80s and it's one district in the state of Colorado. >> Thank you guys. Anything else? >> All right. I think uh we need a vote. Miss Lemon, >> Director Zari, >> I. >> Director Bentley, >> hi.
>> Director Campo Spitzy, >> I. >> Director Matthews, >> hi. >> Director Norwood, >> I. >> Motion carries 5-0. >> Thank you guys. On to 10.2, approval of the district unified improvement plan and school unified improvement plans. Tuttle, you up again?
>> Yeah. Do you want to do your >> Oh, we need a motion, guys. >> Motion for that. >> I move. >> I'll do it this time. I I move that the board of education of Greley Evans School District 6 approves the district unified improvement plan and school unified improvement plans as presented.
>> Second. >> Thank you guys. Thank you for keeping me in line. This is my my freshman meeting. So >> you're doing a great job. Let me shift now to the work of the unified improvement plans for both the district and the schools. Let me begin with the district UIP. We
began this work in May as we wrapped up last year and had our local data to analyze. Then as the state data became available over the summer along with our district performance framework that came out in late August, we made revisions and triangulated our focus and made
appropriate revisions. We also received feedback from our district accountability committee and aligned our action steps and our implementation benchmarks to our I2030 strategic plan. MIS1, as you referred to it as major improvement strategy one, MIS1
utilize aligned resources and effective instructional strategies to ensure all students, including multilingual learners, students that are on IEPs, students with read plan, and students who are identified as gifted and talented are supported in meeting or
exceeding grade level standards. Instruction should be differentiated to meet the diverse academic needs of every learner, providing appropriate scaffolds, enrichment, and acceleration as needed. MIS2, the district will implement a
comprehensive MTSS system to address the academic and behavioral needs of all students across tier 1, tier 2, and tier three. In addition, targeted support will be provided to improve student attendance, promote student and staff wellness, and strengthen overall
engagement within our school community. MIS3, the district and schools are committed to fostering a welcoming environment where all students and families feel a strong sense of belonging. We will take intentional steps to engage families and
the broader community in our schools. In addition, we will monitor the experiences and outcomes of diverse student groups to ensure equity and success across our system. Our efforts will prioritize creating meaningful family engagement opportunities that reflect the interests and needs of our
families guided by the CDE family and school community partnership framework. Now, let me transition to the school UIPs and their work. House Bill 161440 allows schools with a performance plan
type to submit a UIP on a bianual basis. Internally, we require all non-charter schools to have two years at a performance rating and consistent leadership before considering bianual submission. These five schools are opting for bannual submission, meaning
they are not submitting a UIP this year and will submit one again in 2026. just know that those schools still use our PM tools and are still actively planning how they're going to do their work. Our um so they're still designing
their action steps around a major improvement strategies work within their school. So that work's not stopping just because we're opting for the bannual submission. The unified improvement planning template aligns our analysis and
planning around three guiding questions and includes these critical components within the UIP process. Both the district and building UIPs are aligned to our I2030 and the district focused work. It also allows each school
to analyze their data and determine specifically what the focus is for their school. The team then identifies the major improvement strategies as well as implementation benchmarks how they're going to measure that work as well as action steps to be taken at their school
and to move their school up to performance level or to sustain it at the performance level. We asked schools to align their building UIPs with these three focus areas similar to the district UIPs. MIS1 quality tier one
instruction, MIS2 support for students and staff. Some schools in included the family engagement strategies in MIS2 while others distinguished it as a separate focus in MIS3. In your board packet, you have a summary
of each school's UIP and their plans to strive for continuous improvement. The school plan planned action steps for all four quarters, but what is in your 102page document is just the first quarter action steps to give you a sense
of the work at each school. While the board of education is required to approve the improvement plan types for priority importer improvement and turnaround schools, we choose to bring all of them to you. That
being said, I'll turn it back to Vice President Bentley and Dr. Pilch for any questions and the approval of the unified improvement plans. >> Anybody got any comments or questions? >> Mr. Matthews, >> I have a question for um maybe for Dr.
Pilge, but but maybe for you, Mr. Tuttle. Um I've looked at a lot of unified improvement plans in my eight years on the board. Uh and a lot of the a lot of the work looks similar to you know this unified improvement plan looks pretty similar to some in in the past. A lot of
the work is the same. Um in your estimation in terms of moving uh the district is it is it more that we should uh is there work that we haven't been doing? I mean, you mentioned this in in a comment and uh earlier in the meeting
that is that what we need is there work that we need to do maybe some new data that we need that we've seen that indicates we do something different or is it we're doing the right work. We just we just need to do we need to get everybody on board. We just need to do it better. Uh what's the is there one of
those that's that's more important than the other? >> Well, so uh these are the questions that keep me up at night. Uh I will say this that there's no doubt in my mind that this team at the district level and many of
our principles know what is necessary to move student achievement and between knowing and actual implementation and getting results can be a really long walk and and that's what we're seeing here in some cases. I
I also will tell you that I think some of this is staff turnover. We've been looking at you see Miss Overton nodding her head. We've been looking at staff turnover and we do see a correlation with staff turnover with student achievement. No question about it. And so when we talk about retention work and
and retaining our teachers and teacher satisfaction, it may be the most critical thing we do here. Um it is also um when we take our eye off the prize. So
whether that we as a building principal because they've gotten distracted by a lot of stuff, whether that we is us because we're distracted by things that have that have come up. Uh who whomever that we is, when we take our our eye off the work that must be done, we also see
a lapse in student achievement. There's no question about it. Um where we saw the greatest improvement this year um is at schools where we put very intense focus um and very and a lot of supports from the district office. Uh a lot of
coaching, a lot of instructional leadership was provided to those buildings and um unfortunately there are only so many of us to go out and do that work. And so when you talk
about 10 elementary schools, I mean, if that's 10 schools that West Tuttle should be in every week and he is one human, it's 10 schools that the director of special ed should be in. And then you have another, you know, another set of
K8 schools and middle schools and high schools so that we don't lose the progress that we've made in those schools. So it's um it is big and I I will tell you that um because of the movement we have seen I know that the work can be done and I I think that
makes me even more anxious more urgent to do the work because I I we know it can be done. We know it can be done. Um so we have to do it. We just have to do it. I I don't know if I answered your
question. I will tell you leadership matters. >> Um we have a school right now that is on improvement um that has a very strong leader and and we have we chose that school to
implement some specialized programming and I think that might have been a mistake. And yet we expect that school to come off of improvement. And we put this specialized programming in there that is requiring a great deal of principal attention and other staff attention. And um and we did that
because this leader is so strong. But even a very strong leader can get very distracted by really big issues that are occurring at their school. And and that's where so tomorrow I mean we we have another meeting to talk about how
do we provide the right supports um at the right schools to get the right work done. And you asked the question about is there more data we need something we don't know? Yes. Uh Jenny Jensen, director of assessment and I have been
having more conversations than we've had in the 10 years that she and I have had, I think, since I've been superintendent, quite frankly, about our assessments and and what are the right assessments. Do we have the right assessment in K12 especially to tell us how our our
students are really doing and and what what else our students need. We primarily use dibbles and dibbles tells us when our students do not are not able to actually say the word, read the word, read the sentence. We know that from dibbles. Dibbles does not tell us when our students are comprehensing what
comprehending what that sentence means or what that paragraph means. Not really, not very well. And so the question is, do we need another instrument in addition to dibbles? Do we need to scrap dibbles alto together? And so we're we're doing that work right now
to explore that and and to look at that. Um Dibbles is one of the the assessments that is approved by the state of Colorado and we get we get $100,000 a year to implement to help us pay for the Dibbles testing. If I move to another assessment over here, I'm not going to
get that $100,000 a year grant to pay for that assessment because this is one of them that the state um has approved. But let's look at the state data. the state is they're I mean quite frankly considering the statewide demographic they're not they're not really outperforming us that much. They're not.
I mean that's the reality. The whole state of Colorado is >> we're all struggling and we haven't figured this out. Um >> we figure it out at individual sites but then but we got we got to figure it out as a system. Okay, that's probably enough. >> That's a great answer.
>> That's my brain dump on this. >> Yeah, that's why you're superintendent of the year. Yeah, >> you're always thinking about these things. >> Uh Dr. Pch, one of the things you said to me at at a event the other day um regarding this was not only this year we with the unified improvement plans and
and obviously looking at the schools that are underperforming. You mentioned that you was going to be very intentional this year about looking at what worked at the schools that had big movements and then seeing if you could replicate that, right? >> And I think you know that that might pay dividends going forward if we can implement some of that. >> Yeah. you know, we've done some of that
like with two principles partnering together and learning from each other, but this idea of really looking um at patterns across the system like looking at what's happening with staff retention across the system. And so those K8s that you're talking about, Dr. Campos Spitzy,
many of them have some of our best, most of them have our best staff retention in the system. And so, you know, that's looking at patterns across the system of what what what really needs to be systemic across the system. Not, you know, not just like this middle school replicating this middle school, but
really this needs to be a practice across all middle schools. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Anything else, you guys? All right, Miss Lemon, can you give us a vote? >> Director Zari, >> I. >> Director Bentley, >> I. >> Director Campos Spitzy,
>> I. >> Director Matthews, >> I. Director Norwood. >> Hi. >> Motion carries 5-0. >> Thank you, Mr. Tuttle for all that. Uh, that's all of the business we have for today. We just want to thank everybody for joining us, participating. Um, shout out to our student reps who join us and
give up so much of their time. And a big thank you to Miss Lemon for helping me keep my ducks in the road tonight. Thank you guys. >> Good job. >> Meeting is adjourned. [Music] [Music]
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