--------- Good afternoon, and welcome to the work session for the board of education of Greeley Evans School District six on Monday, 03/23/2026. This meeting will now come to order. Will you please call the roll for us, miss Richards? Director Azari? Present. Director Bentley? Present. Director Campus Spitzley? Present. Director Edmonds? Present. Director Lemos Garcia? Present. Director Mash? Present. Director Roegi? Present. Seven members present. Thank you. Our first item of business is to review our calendar, which looks like it has every single thing through the end of the school year.
Lots of end of year celebrations, awards, dinners. I don't know if there's anything specific that we want to highlight, but, again, please check your calendars. Please get your RSVPs in there as soon as you can. And miss Lemon usually reaches out if there's something that she needs by a certain date. We got a, email from Amy at a luncheon for the. Doran was invited, by one who's on there for She's the director of that.
And so, they asked Dorn and right the rest of the board. So it's, like, a regular board invite because it I'm until I know a little bit more about the organization, I'm not not officially putting it on your calendars. But but I I will attend if I can. Maybe Tom will attend. I we need I wanna make sure it's not a vendor ask, quite frankly. Yeah. I've met I've met with them before. Yeah. They come to my rotary too. They the acronym stands for we help and love everyone. Yeah.
And they they take care of It's not where we care of kids with disabilities. Mhmm. So when they spoke with me before, they were really looking for clients, which really can't be our role. Role. Mhmm. But, I'm I'm interested in going to the luncheon and learning about them. And I imagine if Tom's available, he'll go too. So, we'll we'll invite you all, but it's not tech there's no charge, and it's technically not a board event. And is it's okay when I attend that event that I wear the school board representative? Okay. Wanna make sure. Thanks. Thank you. Okay.
Thank you. We will move on to board member comments, and let's begin with mister Azari today. Okay. Thank you, president Masch. Well, I, even though it was spring break, I did attend three different events. Not necessarily, one of them was not representing the board, but I'd like to report on it anyway. The first thing is I attended along with a couple of other board members the visit to the Greeley alternative program, school on March 11. And even though I've been in the district for decades, that was insightful experience to
me because it's kind of a mystery school. A lot of folks don't know a lot about it, and I and I learned that that school focuses on, giving students opportunities through small classes and individualized in person instruction. Many of those students have difficult life stories to tell, and we heard from, I believe, three students that day. And even though they have those peoples in their lives, the staff at that school work closely with them, to help them achieve graduation.
And that's a really big deal, not just because it helps our graduation numbers, but more importantly because it helps them, reach that sense of accomplishment, after going through some tough experiences. So I really appreciate the work of that staff. Second thing I'd like to report on is that I was asked several years ago before I was on the board to be the annual emcee of the stars of Kiwanis stars of tomorrow show that's put on by Kiwanis Club. And, I just wanted to report out that, that show features talents of students from
all over Weld County, and many of our students, from Greeley are featured on that show. And two of them, received awards for their presentations. Nora Green from Chapel Hill was runner-up in the middle school division, and Palmer Nemec was the winner in the high school division with a $2,000 scholarship. And it also gave me an opportunity through the script to highlight Palmer's service as the president of the junior board of the Success Foundation. So it it really, gives us all, some shining opportunities there in front of parents
from all over the county. And then the third thing I'd like to report on is that I attended the beam signing ceremony this morning out at Ames and, for their new workforce innovation center. Mister Hanson was there as well representing the district as well as Robin Rogge from what I understand that was it. And this new center will certainly they they commented how the new center will provide opportunities, for for for students, and that includes our students here at the school district,
that will help develop our our students' needs through that concurrent enrollment, to develop workforce readiness, even more so. So I really appreciate the work of AIMS as well in our partnership, which is ongoing and and very valuable. So that's it. That's all I have tonight. Thank you very much. Director Lemos Garcia? I, attended the, gap visit, as well on March 11. It was a great experience for me, and I was so grateful to hear three students speak about their story and celebrate with them because they're graduating here shortly.
So that was, just a great experience. And, they had to go to school. Oh, yeah. It was a great event. That's what I did. Thank you. Director Rogge. I just wanted to just kind of highlight our memory back to our last board meeting where our, Abigail, one of our student leaders, received, her scholarship, and just that was such an exciting event. And so I I was just so happy for her and just to see, the work in our community that that backs our students and helps them move forward.
And so that was just a real a real thrill. And then I also attended the the gap, visit and just appreciated, what is done for our kids that wouldn't make it otherwise. These are kids that there's been intervention done. They would probably not be, graduating or, going, you know, forward with a high school diploma. And that was to see that there has work being done, to see that they graduate, and they they were, all three of them, I think, were so thrilled that
they were gonna be able to accomplish that. So that was a a wonderful visit. And then, the beam signing, this morning was a lot of fun to see that that is really gonna be a beautiful building. Like, all the work with the great the wood roof stuff is it's really a unique and and pretty building. But then also what that will do for our district in terms of the opportunities for, education in areas that we don't, at this point, aren't able able to provide.
So, anyway, that was a really that was good to see. People in our community, I that I have never seen before. I mean, just I've I've lived here so long, and I it was I was mentioning to director Azari that there's this whole group of people here, and I've never seen any of them before. They just run-in different circles, I guess. Well, thank you very much. Director Edmonds. Just a couple things. I was able to it's a fun opportunity to speak at career day at my son's school. Mhmm. And they wanted me to actually talk both about my work at the food bank,
which is always good to just teach the kids about the little things they can do to make big differences. But then they also asked me to talk about what it meant to serve on a school board. Of course, these are first, second, and third graders, so they they weren't paying too much attention. But I got to emphasize the, you know, the the civil duty of being an elected official and how it really highlights community effort. And so it was just really cool to to see all those kids, and it's always fun to see my kids' classroom. And then, just would encourage folks. There's, like, seven, eight more days that they can enjoy our students' art.
So I've been seeing it at different places downtown. I've been at a couple meetings at Saint Helen's, and, it's just really cool to see the artwork there. So I do encourage folks to keep getting out and seeing that artwork before it comes down and goes home, with the kiddos. Thank you. Director Campos Fitzy. So I did not get to go to the gap visit because it was during my work hours, but, I did get to email Meredith, who's the principal at gap, and found out that speaking of career day, they do a monthly It's an assembly
where they have community members come in and share their story and how they got to where they are now. And they do these every month, and they're a half hour long. And the reason that came up was I was introducing her to one of our Weld County judges. His name is Vicente. You know, his kids are a red shirt is, who did not you know, dropped out of high school and got his GED and then ended up going to CSU and then CU Boulder for his law degree, and now he's a judge in Weld County.
And so just a cool story of success even through, you know, students who who might have needed more intervention. So, so that was a cool connection with her. And then I did get to go to nine to five, which was the Greeley West musical performance. It it was featuring Dolly Parton music and lyrics, and I am a huge Dolly Parton fan in the sense, so I could not miss it. Took my kiddos. It was 07:00 on a Saturday night. So, but it was the beginning of their spring break, so I let them actually, at intermission, it was already, like, 08:30.
Their bedtime is, like, before 08:00. So I told them, if you're tired, we can go home. It's intermission. And my daughter was, like, no way. I need to see how this ends. But it's yeah. Based, on women working in the nineteen seventies, who concoct a plan to overthrow their sexist, egotistical boss. So it's commentary on the glass ceiling on women and how, we got rid of that. So, anyway, it was delightful. Thank you. Director Bentley. Nothing to report. I was on vacation while you guys were running amok, sounds like.
So, I'm excited to be back. Awesome. Yeah. I enjoyed spring break. Got to see my kids a little bit, but they were off doing fun things. But I did attend the community council on education, which for those of you who don't know, is a monthly meeting at the Chamber of Commerce that invites businesses, and then we give an update from all of from District 6 and Ames and UNC. But this time, it was an update from North Range, about all of the different youth programs that they have. And it is a very long list of all the different ways that they support
parents and children of all ages from parenting classes to all kinds of different supports, children with special needs, children with mental health concerns. And they're, of course, one of our partners in the district, and we have counselors in all of our schools to some degree. Sometimes they're there every day. Sometimes they share with another school, but just an amazing partner and resource here in Greeley. So that's always a fun opportunity to get to brag on district six and to
hear what exciting things are happening with AIMS and UNC as well. Alright. We're moving on to our policy review. Last meeting, we decided that we needed to have some discussion around our dress code update updated policy. And so I'll turn it over to you, doctor Pilch. Thank you, president Masch. So we're gonna hear from our chief of safety and security and our in house legal counsel, around the process to get to this proposal, for the the proposed changes
in the dress code policy and then, really what what the policy means and and then give you all a chance to visit some more. And back, we'll see if we're in a place where we want to continue to table it tonight and go back for some more revisions or if, we're ready to go forward tonight. So with that, I'll invite, chief Corliss and and attorney, Nate Fall, to join us. Is it okay if I have to join this all again? Sure. Yeah. You guys can come on to my attorney's event.
I will figure it out. I'm not I just unplugged. Why? Must be 76.8 degrees, but I don't know. Stress. Yeah. Mhmm. Okay. So, definitely, I know this is a is a big topic. I think the most unique thing about dress code similar to the cell phone policy is it impacts every student. It's not just students that might be involved in other things, but it specifically, and it it affects every student that comes into our schools every single day, and so
that's it's important, it's a very important policy and we just want to make sure that we get it right. So the committee have a variety of people here from the Admin Building as well as it's it is heavy on the the school administrators because they're the ones that are dealing with it on a on a routine basis. But at the same time, it it was important to have Teresa's perspective from communication, Sean's from athletics, my team, Jerry from restorative practices, and, David Reyes from the family center as well to to get his input, from that side of side of things.
We did I did also grab meet with the council student representatives. I would like to go back out and contact them a little bit more and get get their feel as to where we where we began, where we're at now, and what are some of the things that they would like they would like to see within the policy. The main purpose was to improve clarity and consistency in district wide dress code policy. I think the previous policy and this is kinda what led us to be like, hey. I I think we need to review our current policy because there had been several years that there hadn't been a full revision of it, and I think it was
like, hey. We just add this little thing here. We just add this little thing there, and it wasn't a comprehensive look at the entire, dress code policy. Second is to update the the the dress code enforcement and appropriate consequences for dress code violations. And I often tell the administrators don't turn a dress code situation into a suspension. You know, these are opportunities to for a restorative conversation and and talk with the student, work through the with the student in that situation. And then along with those lines, is to develop a dress code guidance document for
all district staff to support consistent enforcement of the policy. I think some things that we've witnessed in the past is we would have one school that was being a little more relaxed in this area than another school, and and my goal would be to promote a little bit more consistency amongst the district that hey, this is district six and and this is the the expectations that we have, for for our district, dress code. Mister Carlos, I think it's really important that you're clear here that this was really came to us because school administrators were concerned about the inconsistency across the district.
We were not concerned about the inconsistency across the district. We're not living it day to day as the school building administrators and staff are. And I'm gonna let miss Duloff speak to some of it from an administrator perspective. Absolutely. And so this is coming from input from administrators, and I also wanna connect it to the slide that, chief Corless has from our student council representatives as well of we want to be consistent as administrators. And one of the things that I am so thankful for from our school board and from our district administrators is the consistency that we are able to implement with
our cell phone policy. So Wade brought that up already. We we have a clear policy from district administrators and from the school board. And then what was helpful was that our district leadership then had the principals get together and talk about implementation and how we can consistently implement it as administrators and making sure that one school isn't implementing different from other schools, one principal is not implementing it different in the same building, so that there's the inequities that can come up with that. And so Wade and I, and one of the things that I really appreciate is
that he and I don't always agree on all of these pieces and so I'm thankful that, we professionally get to disagree on some of these pieces with this ultimate goal of we want to be more consistent. And so if we have a policy that we can agree on, even though I might not agree with it fully, we can agree that we're going to implement it consistently. And and I think that is the hard part of, whether you're gonna see some input from our students is that frustration of the inconsistent implementation.
And so whether or not all of the different pieces, like all of the principles agree on it 100%, we can agree on implementing it with fidelity consistently like we did with the cell phone policy so that we're not doing, an injustice to our students and implementing it inequitably, which has a negative impact on the culture of the school and the time that the students spend on class. And so on the next slide, it says I think it's the next one from the student council of representatives of the frustration about the inconsistent, implementation.
And so we often hear from students, which I appreciate that they turn the term dress code from a noun into a verb, and they say, miss, you you dress coded me, but you didn't dress code that person. And that person has the same thing. And so we we want to be consistent and equitable. And we want kids to be in class. We want kids to be learning. And so the goal is for for that consistency to come through. And we wanna agree first on the policy so that we can then, as practitioners, implement it with fidelity. And and I you can read them, but these were a couple of the things
that did was also brought in by the administrators, just preparing students, that that maintaining a school appropriate appearance matters, preparing students for the workforce, employer, address, code or address expectations. Portrait of a graduate and then student internship program that they're prepared to to dress for the for the jobs that they pick up in those internships and then create what you know we're trying to focus on. I think our other one was a really long list of everything that you can't do and we probably still need to expand on a little bit more, but we
the first section is a opposed to just a real long list of you can't do this. You can't do that. You can't do this trying to describe what does it look like to be within the dress code expectation and then obviously update the the enforcement section. Principals we have already spoke to this. This was feedback from the council student representatives, the things that she was speaking about in regards to enforcement accountability and expectations. They did push not hard, but there's couple girls, that spoke in regards to being
able to show the torso region of their body. And then there were some comments about hats. My comment on hats is hats is hard to regulate, because there can be some associations to gang ties and some of those other things that come along with hats. There's, there's several other things that can come along with hats as well. So that's just one that I one quick example that I can give you. And then they did mention that their their belief on it because it is a smaller percentage of the student body. The the dress code itself shouldn't the gang related clothing shouldn't be the the the
main focus of the dress code policy. Nate, I'm gonna turn it over to you. Is that good? Yes. I'm happy to talk about it now. So there are there's a you can see JICA has been shared with you. There is a significantly substantially revised copy of JICA. You should also, in your board docs, see a copy of the original JICA policy and how that's been changed. So I can just walk you through some of those revisions if that'd be helpful. So we created this required dress code standards as, mister Corliss has pointed out that
kind of this idea of a positive dress code. So this is what you need to be wearing, at all times. So things like pants and a shirt covering your full back, sides and shoulders, sturdy soled footwear, etcetera. And then we did originally have a students may wear section, and we just adjusted that. So now it's as solely as students may not wear section rather than unacceptable items. And so, again, kind of, to mister Carlos' point, we kinda had this laundry list of all these things that students were not allowed to wear. The revisions and red lines that you're seeing actually don't change a whole lot of
what was previously written. I can see that the red lines, I've been told that this was written very badly. I can understand that the first and second bullet points of students may not wear needs to be adjusted slightly. Right? Sunglasses or dark glasses worn inside the building. Right? That's probably what that should say. Worn inside the building during school hours. Same thing with hats, hairnets, and hoods worn inside the building during school hours. But you can see that that was actually just a revision of what was previously in policy. And that said, sunglass sunglass or dark glass, absent of verified medical condition and or
hats worn inside the building may not be worn. So you can see that we just kind of adjusted some of this language to make it more clear so that, as miss Zula pointed out, so that practitioners can come through and they can read the policy, and it's a little bit more clear now. But, really, the substance of these revisions haven't really changed the dress code, to be completely frank with you. Some things have been removed. And then, to Chief Kurose's point, the torso, right? This has been kind of a big topic.
This is a big topic for this committee. We spent a lot of time talking about this. In the previous version of JICA, this board had already prohibited clothing, that bears or exposes traditionally private parts of the body, including, but not limited to the stomach. Right? And so that was this board's previously approved language. We've changed that to torso, because from conversations with the committee, torso is a more accurate way to describe that part of the body rather than stomach.
Right? And so I'm just pointing out that some of these revisions didn't really change what this board has already approved and adopted. The other areas that I did wanna mention is so now there's a gang related apparel section that's just for gang related apparel. Previously, that all that information was was embedded under the unacceptable items list, and now we've kind of pushed that into its own section around gang related apparel. All of my research, around creating kind of a gang dress code.
Right? It's we're we're, in pretty, you know, I I I gotta be honest, we're in some pretty narrow territories here in terms of, potential cultural discrimination issues. Right? But there's nothing wrong with having gang related apparel in a board policy as long as it's specific. And you've worked with law enforcement, you've gotten the opinions of folks who have an idea of what gangs, what they're wearing, right, what they're using to symbolize gang affiliation. And as long as we have that policy reviewed on an annual basis and we're
including all the right stakeholders, there's no reason we shouldn't have a policy like this, in this community. From what I understand, we do have a really serious gang problem. We do have a lot of students who dress in a way that, identifies gang affiliation. And so there's a interest in maintaining that language. So we did, and we just created it. It's own kind of stand alone language to kinda emphasize that this is gang related and this is the reason that these items are being banned or prohibited is for
gang related reasons. Right? And so you can see, for example, rosaries are included on that list. Rosaries are a item of religious expression, but what we're saying is if it's solid red or solid blue, we're not prohibiting rosaries. Right? You can have a red and blue rosary, right? And so just the way it's written and how it's kind of emphasized under this gang related apparel, I think is important. A couple of the changes, so we created an enforcement section. Previously, the enforcement under JICA was under, like, that first paragraph under the original policy.
That was a big one for administrators because they didn't want they weren't enforcing it in the way the the board had previously adopted that language. We weren't suspending and disciplining kids to the extent that the board policy had been written. So we created this new enforcement language, which is much softer, than the language that was previously included, and it's really just providing students with alternate clothing. They can be disciplined for insubordination if they continue to violate the dress code policy. Right? But we're gonna use our responsive behaviors, manual.
We're gonna use that practice. We're gonna do best practices and not just go straight to discipline. And then we added some language on, graduation I'm sorry, exceptions just to make sure that we're capturing that folks who have, cultural or, disability related, for example, needs that they might need to be wearing items of clothing that would offend this dress code policy, that they certainly would be permitted to wear that clothing. Also, providing for building specific standards that, some buildings can have uniforms if they want,
and that's something that I believe I don't know how many schools currently are doing dress codes. So eight, it looks like. So we wanted to kinda give that language a little bit more board policy so that schools have that authority. And then the last thing I wanna mention is this graduation adornment piece. That was the only area that wasn't revised. This is very specific in state law. It was recently I was asked that no other district, large district in the state of Colorado has this this graduation adornment language. I actually redid some research right after that conversation.
So I'm looking at academy twenty, which is the tenth largest district in the state has graduation adornment language. Mesa County fifty one has graduation adornment language in your dress code policy. Royal public schools has graduation adornment language in their dress code policy. And then I will say that Adams twelve and, Douglas already one, have decided to move their graduation adornment language to their graduation policies. So that language, we could just cut and move it to the graduation policy if
there's an interest in this board for for one reason or another shortening this policy. It makes sense, at least in my brain, that we have all dress related issues all in one policy. But if this board thinks it's appropriate, and this policy seems too long by having this graduation adornment language in it, then we could move that to a graduation policy or something of the likes. So those are the primary changes. I'm happy to kinda talk through more specificity with you, or if there's anything you wanted me to add with this.
No. I just I just have that one last slide that really I mean, that just kinda shows that we did make make some changes to the document itself, but the areas of the body that we're recommending to be covered are the same as what it was before. But I definitely seek seek input on some of it. I that's something that I I think is a strength is to take feedback. And, to miss Zuloft's point is we want to get it right so that that
we can implement it with fidelity across across the district. That's that is the primary goal. That is really what we wanna do. We wanna keep our schools safe, when we talk about certain apparel. And then we wanna we wanna keep it to where it's consistent district wide of what the what the dress code expectations are. So, I just wanted to say real quick before we go on that I was at the council student reps meeting with Wade when we discussed this. And the overall consensus or or my my feelings of it is it was pretty nonchalant. The kids weren't fired up. There was no, heated conversations.
We we had a a girl from, I think, Frontier, one of the charters. She she actually expressed that it's way more lax than hers, and and she she likes ours better. But, it was it was a pretty easy conversation, and and the kids went through it pretty, you know, pretty short in short order. And, I didn't I didn't get a I didn't feel a lot of pressure from them to for us to to do anything or for anything specific. It it was pretty pretty high level. Are we opening up for comments? And is that the end of the presentation?
I did include, David Rose in this presentation as well if you did have any questions that were more geared towards maybe some cultural questions surrounding some of the pieces that are listed in the in the dress code. Well, you you had mentioned, Nate, about the, rosaries, for instance. Okay. Red or blue rosaries. Where do we draw the line, and the policy where it says the district will accommodate students who wear items required by the sincerely held religious beliefs. So how does how do you handle that on the ground? That's I'm just wondering when it comes down to something like that.
Yeah. That's a great question, director Azari. And so, I mean, really, it's gonna be a case by case basis when we're talking about exceptions. And so if a student has a rosary, that's not something that we would ordinarily prohibit. Right? That's permitted to to have that. And so the the the key here is that it's solid red or solid blue. Right? So just the cross. It's the entire Mhmm. Beads and everything. And and I guess to to sorry to cut you off, Nate. To to to add to that. A lot of those are handled and and I we actually had an individual student
that and a parent that pushed back on not necessarily the rosaries, but the hair nets and David and I set up a meeting and spoke with that family And by the time the meeting was was over, it was a complete restorative relationship, and I've got a great relationship with that parent and student to to this day. But, it is working through those situations and not and and explaining as to why, we're asking them not to wear it in that direct affiliation that that's being utilized for identification in certain gang related activities.
And that is where the implementation part comes in with the consistency. And chief Corla said this, but the goal is not to suspend students or to exclude them from class. The goal is to have a clear policy that is clearly communicated that we can then do the restorative reteach and practicing, as kids are coming into the building that day. Not as a blame or a shame, but really working with students on that one to one, like, individual basis, so that we can, track the violation if there is one, do some reteaching and communication with parents, and then get them into class on
time without their cell phone. How do families that, their the girls wear the head coverings? Is there something is done when they come into the school to kinda get that taken care of? Or So that is under the exemptions part with those head coverings. We would just yeah. Okay. And when we've explained that to students, they they don't seem to bulk at that. The piece is one of the exceptions. And that was one of my, comments with well, I have I have many comments, and I don't wanna hog the time. So I will give my first half and then pause and then let people talk,
and then if I have time, give my second half. But one of them was actually the exception. I felt like it was really far down, like, if it could get brought up. I I have a very rough draft of what I I think, a dress code policy might look like. I brought one for everyone. You have one for. I shared it with Deirdre, through gymnast. Okay. It's kind of hard to tuck it through just because it's a log document. So number one, I think it should be two pages, not five. I think that could be achieved by pushing the gang related stuff, which I think
is super important. It's a j I c s. Doctor Campos, let's wait till you sit down so that the microphone, can pick your voice up, please. So, the gang stuff, I agree with the students. I think it's it's it feels like a very large part of the dress code, and I think it's a very important part of the dress code. I'm actually really proud of the work that's been done in the dress code, to negate gang activity in our school district. I think every parent wants that. I just think it belongs like, that we can so under non allowable dress, number
five, is any clothing, paraphernalia, grooming, jewelry, hair coloring, accessories, tattoos, apparel, head coverings, or body ornaments, ornaments that are or contain any advertisement, symbols, words, slogans, pageants, or pictures that, refer to drugs, tobacco, alcohol, weapons. And then b, by virtue of color, arrangement, trademark, or other attributes, denote affiliation with gangs per district policy j I c f. And so we have a district policy that talks about you that's in the original thing, but it talks about gang activities.
So I feel like that's plenty of language to have in your regular dress code that then all the blue the blue red stuff can live in JICF. I don't think any of it should be eliminated. I agree with all of it. I just think it clutters this part of the dress code. Like, a parent would have to read through all that gang stuff before they get to the exceptions about head coverings for, you know, cultural exceptions exemptions. So I so that's numb one of the things. I think one of the I'm really glad, Wade, that you point pointed out that this isn't something that touches all of our students.
Right? It is so important, and so it's so important to get it right the first time. A 100% agree. And while I think it touches all of our students, I do think it touches our female students more. And I think that's a fact. And I think if you were to pull data, that's what it would show. So I did find it interesting of the district administrators. Teresa is the only female that was represented. I know you had six out of nine, school administrators who are female, so I I appreciate that. But but I do think because it affects girls more, and and this we are
really are getting to just talking about the torso, whether that needs to be a topic of conversation or not. I think that's something this board can decide. So I have it on mandatory and allowable dress number one. And so it says, students must wear a top with straps or sleeves. Yes. That will eliminate the tube tops. That is not backless. That will eliminate backless shirts. They must wear a bottom and they must wear footwear while on school grounds. And then non allowable dress, if you go to number one, apparel that exposes private
parts of the body, genitalia, nipples or buttocks, or undergarments are not allowed. Clothing that exposes these areas by nature of the material, meaning, like, see through or transparent, is not permitted. I I I would love to hear people's opinions on why that language isn't clear enough. I think the current policy is way too long, and and sometimes longer doesn't mean clearer. I think simplicity does make enforceability a lot more a lot easier. And I think there's no point in having a a dress code that no student
is following. And I I'm sure I can walk into any high school and there will be a lot of crop tops. And I think we're not enforcing it because it's enforcing it because it's not enforceable. So can we just write a dress code policy that is enforceable, that isn't, creating mass disruption in school and taking kids out of the class unnecessarily? So So I I have a question, doctor Campos. Betsy, I'm gonna put on my old hat. Okay? If I were to come in front of the board as a former orchestra director at Greeley Central High School, I'd ask a question about enforcement with concert dress and
concert wear and expectations that I might have as an orchestra director and then parents come to me and say well, according to this school board policy, my daughter can wear etcetera and even though that's in violation of your concert dress policy, it's not in it's not in violation of the district policy and you should be following the district policy, not some ambiguous concert dress policy that you throw out into the kids because they're on stage.
How do you how do you handle that as a board director to me, mister Azari, really central orchestra director? And I love that question because it comes to a second part of the revision that I don't agree with, which is the addition. It's the second sentence that is further dress code standards foster a professional learning environment that prepares students for the workplace. And then as part of your slides, you showed, you know, the portrait of the graduate, the summer internship programs, all of that. So so I do I do think there is a place for for professional dress,
like your choir, you know, when you're on stage, like an intern. I've had many avid students come into my exam rooms just this last week that I got to meet at Greeley Central. So lots of sophomores. And when I email them, I say, please wear business casual attire. This is what that means. You know, dark jeans or khakis with a button down shirt. Like, it it is just different than I think the expectation we should have of them for high school and just being kids. And and, I mean, I I we as adults, we don't I don't dress like
this every day. I don't even dress like this in clinic. We only used to have jeans on Friday in my clinic. And then during COVID, they made it you could have jeans all the time, and everybody loves that. So I don't know making a more this feels like a more restrictive dress code than it was before. And and I do feel that we're we're going the wrong way if we're talking about making it enforceable and consistent. And I think it can still be very robust, without without some of the what
happens is unnecessary discipline in my opinion and sometimes body shaming, because it is often male staff telling female, you know, students how to dress, and and that can feel bad for a girl. Let me ask you a question in that regard. So looking at this image, what portion of that do you disagree with? I guess as far as the I mean as far as the how the policy is written, I do think that we agree that it can be cleaned up a little bit, but in regard to this portions of the body that are covered in
this image. What what part? So at minimum, the language in our current revision reads, pants, short skirts, or other lower body attire that is secured at or above the hips and provides full coverage longer than mid thigh length. So at minimum, I don't I don't think it should say longer than mid thigh length because not even your slide says longer than mid thigh length. So I already feel like that's an inconsistent inconsistency. It says on the right. It says Does it say long? It doesn't say longer than. Mid thigh length.
So you could say at least mid thigh length. But as far as the portions of the body, I guess what I'm asking is, as far as the portions of the body that are being covered, do you agree with this or not? I'm not because it's covering the torso. Okay. Okay. That's all I was trying to and then I guess the question is raised then, how much is too much and and how do you you talk the this is literally this is literally a question as far as enforcement Mhmm. As to how can schools best regulate that as an administrator and it's you know
the joke I get all the time they're like well do you want us to get a measuring tape out of how much is too much and and really that enforcement standard of it so it's just trying to figure out where do we regulate that line of how much is too much on showing skin in the in the torso region. And so I have had to answer, a question about torso from my seven year old because she is in a cheerleading club at Greeley Central. They're called the wild kittens. They're adorable. And I had an exchange student this last year, who was also a cheerleader.
Right? Those the uniforms do not comply with dress code. And so it is very mixed messaging for my daughter. She asked me one day because she likes to you know, she was living with a 16 year old, so learn some things. It likes to tie her little shirt and show her belly button. My seven year old does. And I have to tell her that's not allowed in school. And she says, why? And, honestly, I don't have a good answer for her. I, will weigh in, I guess. So I guess I also like, I guess, what I would just consider basic.
I want our clothing to be safe and not substantially disruptive. I fail to see how someone who is complying with a dress code wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt is professional. So I feel like let's take all that why out because I don't think that our students are gonna are gonna agree. I don't agree. I don't agree that that some of these delineations are gonna help our students be professional.
I agree. You're giving a speech. You're applying for a job. You're an intern. You're inquire. And I did also think about our cheerleading outfits, our uniforms rather, that they are not compliant. So Which which that's listed in the exe exceptions as far as athletic. Why is the key? Why is yeah. I get I mean, the why, I think, is is more of a values thing, I think. And I don't think that we can put any one values values value system on
our students. So so then I would just go to the substantially disruptive piece. And I don't know what I was curious that it's all admin. Like, did we talk to the teachers advisory council? Are our teachers feeling like this is a daily issue like the cell phones? Yeah. We did talk to TAC, about this some meetings back. Teachers at the high school level are troubled by students wearing a sports bra to
school as a shirt. But I'm terribly sorry. I'm allowed. Just as they are troubled by a student wearing gang clothing. I think that people would argue that a sports bra that you would wear to an exercise class is an undergarment. I I don't I think you're gonna that's a hard case to make. Is that truly an undergarment or is it because it's something you might see in the gym or somebody might wear riding their bike? We could put undergarments including sports bras.
Well, I mean and then when so then when do you draw the line of adding in and you keep adding in, okay, exceptions or specifics? It's gotta be clear. And as a former educator, again, I'm gonna refer back to my orchestra directing self. I would we deal with it all the time every day in the performing arts and you talk about individual Liberty you talk about self expression. It's there every day in the arts and we have to have clear.
Specific well regulated guidance that is based on common sense and is I agree with you Doctor Compass Betsy easy to enforce. The folks that are on the ground every day in the school's deal with this every single day. I assure you every single minute practically and I as a board member I would defer to the experts that are on the ground. Amy's representing a huge number of them and a lot of those folks are women
that are in our schools And, again, I would defer to their, wisdom and their day to day vision of what's needed to have a standardized policy that is consistently enforced. I would caution, board members, to be to be to be careful in what we implement. We need to listen to those folks that are on the ground. It's really, really important, or else there will be continued inconsistencies throughout the system.
That's that's just the way I feel. I would like an opportunity to chime in. As I was reading, the dress code and some of the changes, and while I know that you initially said that you wanted to be it to be positive, I I felt that, it didn't come across as positive. I felt like there was a short component of what is accepted, and then it went into a lot of what wasn't accepted. And so for me, I would, encourage a revision, and, I'm glad that doctor Brenda
presented a a revised option because I was trying to think about what that could look like. And I agree with the basicness of what a person can and can't wear. I feel like we're diving into a lot of items in here that while might be a concern, focusing on the very basics of how our students can dress. As a parent perspective, when you think about affordability and you think about fashion and you think about, I just need my child to show up in school, like, that's
the fight that a parent potentially fights. Right? Then are they wearing a shirt that shows their belly button? And so when I think back about about why I wanted to be on the school board, it's about our students showing up in school. Right? Again, I know that this is a concern, and I know it's a topic of conversation. I've enjoyed reading what doctor Brenda has presented because it does just keep it to the basics. And then while our we leave it up to our teachers and our administration to address on a daily basis and try not to, you know, try to be consistent
across the board. It's less focusing on really what they are wearing and more about how we are teaching. And so I would lean more toward what doctor Brenda has presented, a a proposal of a revisement, and the proposal that she suggested about moving some of the gang information to a different a different page or a different section. Because while it is important, what are we really focusing on? Is it really the focus of the gang component, or is it really a focus of the dress code?
And so if it's the dress code, then this more simple for me feels better. That's just my opinion. I I I think, we probably need some clarification on current practice. It is my understanding that currently, when students are in inappropriate clothing, you ask them to change or cover it up. And so currently, the the big conversation, I think, is belly buttons. So currently, if students are wearing a sports bra, you ask them to cover it
up. If students are wearing, midriff, you ask them to cover it up. Is that correct? Yes. And so what what chief Coyle is saying, like, our current policy says that our students' torso should be covered the way that it's currently written. And so we want to continue that practice of having it covered. And so there's not a suspension for a student who is is currently out of dress code. It's a conversation with the student and helping them get into dress code. And, typically, it's like, hey.
Can you please zip up your jacket? Yep. Absolutely. And so they zip up their jacket. And so then it's enforced, and they're covered, and the student might unzip their jacket when they turn around the corner, but we're trying to be consistent and following through with all of those pieces. And I think, to me, clear is kind of we we want our kids to know what that clear expectation is. Our teachers and our our classified staff who are helping us on the day to day basis about dress code. Like, the clarity and the consistency is what our teachers and our staff members are
asking for. And so I agree with you of the the female side of it and when we're going into the practitioner. Part of it, it gets the if it is vague, it is harder to enforce. And so that is where I think a lot of the inequities come in because it maybe I don't enforce it the same way that my peers do at other schools. And so that is inequitable for the students all around because we're not communicating clearly
what it is, and we're not enforcing it the same way. And so the example is in looking at, this option is that we have some students who are gonna do a great job with this regardless. And then we're gonna have some wonderful students who are super smart saying, well, this is what the the policy says, and they're going to wear essentially a shirt that is covering the exact same thing that a bra would. Like, it looks like a bra, but it's like, nope. This is my shirt. I have a my underwear is underneath it.
This is my shirt, but it's the same level of torso being exposed and breast being exposed that a brow would. And so we are trying to be clear so that we can be consistent and we can be equitable with those pieces. And as somebody who works with teachers and staff on how to enforce it and as somebody who enforces it myself, to me, if we can if we can say torsos are covered and just be consistent across the district with that, that actually makes it easier, I think, for students, for families, for staff because this is the rule.
This is what we do. This is what we do in every single school so that it's actually easier to enforce. Because right now, with our inconsistencies, it is not easy to enforce. What's interest sorry to interrupt you, but it already says that in the policy in district policy. It already says torso should be covered. I don't understand the chain. Like, just like that current policy, updated policy, it's the same. And so here's where I wanna play my nerd card a little bit is that, Anthony and chief Corliss have given me the opportunity to, help with this because this
is a passion of mine. Because having a positive school culture is incredibly important to me. And being, like, an equitable educator is incredibly important to me, and kids feeling safe and comfortable in school is incredibly important to me. So my nerd card is that I was given permission to do doctoral research in my doctoral dissertation on dress code implementation. But the key like, a lot of the research is about the inequities in dress code policies across The United States. But my fun nerd card part is about the implementation of it.
And so a lot of the kids feeling not safe at at school, the kids not feeling comfortable, comes from how we as adults implement the policy. It's not necessarily the policy itself. It's how we implement it and what the response to the behavior is. It's not an automatic, automatic, get out of here. You're not following dress code. It's how do we engage that student in that conversation. And and being clear and kind and welcoming and getting them into dress code and then back into class where it's not blaming and shaming. And that that is our hope of we wanna be clear, kind, consistent, work with
principles, and sit down and say, okay. Just like we did with the cell phone and and personal technology, how are we going to implement this? What does this look like? Let's run through some scenarios and do the same thing with the principles that we can then do with the safety teams and the teachers so that we can all be on the same page with it. And so it sounds like the enforcement piece was the piece, at least for you, principals who left, you were most interested in. And so I agree that it, what got struck out in that second and third paragraph did seem pretty, severe for just, dress code violations.
That said, my criticism for the revision is it doesn't seem much clearer, to be honest. I think it feels less severe. Like, the punishment isn't like you're gonna get suspended, but it's, like, up to people's discretion. It it doesn't feel and so I did add some language, to make it a a little bit more. So I kept everything you guys still had, allowing the student to change into their old own alternative clothing if available at school, providing temporary and school appropriate clothing, contacting parents, guardians to bring alternative clothing. But then, obviously, enforcing the dress code consistently using the requirements outlined in the policy.
And then and then I I will say I didn't come up with all of this all on my own. I looked at a lot of school district policies. So and then number two, not confront students on dress code violations in a manner, like you said, that's unnecessary, that unnecessarily disciplines or publicly shames them, obviously, but sometimes that needs to be written. And then document in Infinite Campus after three informal conversations with the same student. And then upon seeing multiple infractions documented in Infinite Campus, add the student to the referral form for support conference follow-up with restorative practice coordinator.
So it it still ends in restorative practice, but it feels a little more structured than just kind of like at building's discretion because then I think you're still gonna see the the inequities that you are pointing out are happening from building to building. So, anyway, I I guess I felt that the enforcement needed more structure, but to be less punitive. So Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah. I have a question about I mean, there are always gonna be students that want to see what they can get away away with and push every boundary. So, again, like, how big like, is this a problem?
This student with her cute little crop top that shows two inches of belly, is that a problem? Is the person who is trying to get away with literally wearing a bra ruining this style choice for everybody else? And is that common? Is that three people? Is that every day? Because I guess I just kinda come back to the, is it substantially disruptive to the classroom? And I go along with doctor or director Lemos Garcia of, like, the kid came
to school. They're sitting in their chair, and they're listening to the teacher. That is a win. So I would yeah. I guess I'm just curious about are we talking about this kind of torso that that's a problem, like our cheerleaders' uniforms? Or is it the person who's trying to wear a fishnet top? And and is that a really large problem, or is that a student that could be dealt with on an individual basis? Do wanna go verify, but I think the Greeley Central cheer uniforms do cover the full torso. But I will go verify to make sure.
They definitely Even when they're getting go beside like I I think so, but I will verify. I do think what is difficult as we've talked a lot about this per and we have talked a lot about torsos. We've talked a lot about belly buttons. We've talked a lot about, you know, how do we how do we make this consistent, and equitable for students. And it is it is a difficult question, and that is why that task force has talked about it a lot. And this the simple answer is that torsos are covered, because when we get into
inches, when we get into that gray area, that's what makes it difficult for implementation, and that is where we have gotten frustration from students and parents about our inequitable implementation of the policy. And so we're we'll continue to work with families and restore those relationships as as chief Corliss gave an example for it. Unfortunately, many of the policies that we have, as a district, as a school board, are because a few people have made some interesting choices that have then created a
policy for everyone. And so that is where we appreciate your leadership as we're working through this, and I really appreciate the engagement in this conversation because I do think we truly want the same thing of our kids are in school. They feel comfortable, and they feel safe. And we're proud when we have community members walking through our building. I will to end it. See, I was surprised this got brought up. I know when the cell phone ban got brought up, it came from us. Right? Like, there was a lot of passion on the board about having a cell phone
ban be consistent across buildings, be clear, have real enforcement. And and so it came from the board. And then after we decided to take that step, the state actually, you know, dictated that all boards needed to have a cell phone. So so it became district level work. I will say dress code, I I'd like, didn't come from us. Right? Which I I thank you, doctor Pilt, for for pointing out that, like, where did this conversation come from? Like, why why are we in the weeds? Right? Because this feels like the weeds for the board. We don't normally do this kind of work.
But it is a board policy that we revise. And and so it's interesting the way different school districts approach dress code policies. There's basically three camps. There is the centralized approach, which is this, like, what what it sounds like you guys are wanting from us. We're kinda like the cell phone policy that it's across the whole district, across all school buildings, clear clear enforcement, clear rules, so centralized. There's total decentralized policies that are, like, a few paragraphs long, and then the schools
come up with all their own regulations, or it's all just in the the regulation exposed into regulations and handbooks. And the policy itself is just very high level, not into the nitty gritty. And then there's hybrids where the districts will have more be like, more meat on the policy, but then still leave a lot of discretion up to school buildings to have their own. So it it's interesting to me that the rather than local control, like, in the school building level that you guys are asking us for district level enforcement and control.
And and so because you you have raised it to district level, you know, you get the the seven board elected board members, opinions who have children in the district, who represent constituents in this district. And so you have heard one opinion. Well, and I I would like to make a comment, here also. I mean, I think, I I love the idea that there is a consistent policy. I think that for principals and for teachers, just, you know, the torso has to be covered. If crop tops weren't in fashion, we wouldn't be having this discussion, because they are.
But I think, you know, if kids understand that, I mean, I I I, you know, grew up with, you know, we had to put our hands down on our to our sides to see if our skirts were long enough. So it's not a new problem, and fashion will always, push. But I think that the whole concept of having something this male, female, whoever you are, this is the policy. And this has to be covered and it it gives, it gives the the district
something that we can kind of stand on and say this is this is our policy. So I I I I I mean, I have sympathy for, moms too with that have, you know, their kids want to dress cute and and be in fashion. But I think there's also that idea that, you know, school is important and there is a policy. And so I would I would back, this idea of the whole torso being covered. The priority as far as I'm concerned is number one, is it clearly understood by
the students? That's number one. Especially at the high school level, that's where they're gonna fight you on it. It's gotta be clear. And then it's gotta be enforceable by the administration, easily and understood and and restorative justice practices rather than the disciplinary we're gonna throw you out of school approach doesn't really work well. The restorative building back. Kids need clarity. And if my experience is gonna be worth anything, I'll just share with you. Kids are gonna complain about things.
It's okay. We vote most of us are parents. They're gonna complain. But as long as you're clear and it doesn't change and it's that's the way it is here, then that's the way it is here. You can wear your whatever or not when you're not in school. My daughter had a dress code violation when she was in middle school. She was sent home. She complained that they were too harsh on her, that her shorts weren't that short. And I said, there's no reason to to fight this. You can wear your shorts when you're at home. You wear what they ask you to wear when you go to school.
And the same thing happens in all the workplaces I've ever been in. So, again, I would urge the board, regardless of your feelings, I apologize, but that we on the side of listening to our administrators who are on the ground and the staff that are in the building, what works for them, because they deal with the kids all the time every day. And if what vice president Bentley says is true, and I believe it should be, we didn't hear a lot of feedback from the student the council of student reps
on the policy. So I'm I'm taking that pretty seriously. Not even close to this much passion. So Yeah. They're living there, but I don't know. It'll still show my belly ever, so we don't I don't have much input. When the council student reps talked about it, was it this current version, or it was, like, the one that it is now, or did you show them the revised? Input of what they would like to see. Because you had mentioned that you would love to hear from the from the students. Is that something you wish to do before we decide to make these revisions, or
this was kinda just you'd love to if it passes what we have now with revisions, you wanna run it by the student council? No. I think it's fair to, let's let's clean up what we have now and I and I I think it would be good to try to meet with council student representatives one more time and get their input as to where we're at with the revisions and some of that articulation to them as to why we made certain changes and clarity. Is this clear to you as to what we're gonna be doing? So So I'm I'm still a little confused about so wait.
Let me go back. I so I think I think I understand now what happened is we said there's an issue with dress code violations and with enforcement of dress code violations, and there's inconsistency. Well, then so we went to policy because we often think policy is gonna fix a problem. And sometimes it does, but those times are far fewer and far between than than just the humans fix the problem. So so we went to look at policy, and in that, we put together a
committee, which then caused a lot of stuff to get moved around, added, and changed, which I know Nate and Wade worked on extensively, but I know you didn't do that in isolation. I know you did that with a lot of input from the committee. With the thinking that if we went to policy, made some revisions, and then went back and and pushed this out to our administrators, we could then build some consistency across the system. Is that am I close to how we got here? Because I'm I'm not what what I hear some of the board members saying is,
yeah. Let's change the policy, and now let's allow torsos to show, where we've never it's always been your stomach doesn't show. And so I I so I I suspect we came together to because we believed we could clarify policy to clear up something at the building level that we're frustrated with. And what we've ended up with is a very long, complex policy, which I do think can be made more simple and probably presented in a different arrangement.
But And I think some of the perspective from a couple of board members are we're fighting this battle that seems really hard to fight, so let's eliminate the the rule. And we kept on the same thing with cell phones, to be fair, guys, and we didn't because we believed it was a battle worth fighting. Mhmm. Well, in order to help solve problems, we need to specifically disruptive to learning. So I am trying to understand if a girl sits there actively participating in the
class wearing a sports bra, is that disruptive to the educational process, or does it interfere with someone's values that makes them uncomfortable? Right. I have to remind them. Are they are they learning? Like, the point, they should be learning. And I 100% agree that we're not in the classroom, and this does feel very weedy. But we have to approve it, so we have to agree with the final. So that that's just I I'm, if I'm oversimplifying, I apologize. But that that's my perspective is if it's safe and it's preventing gang issues and
it's not disruptive to the class. I think, if I can say this without sounding crude, I think the issue is when you don't have a clear policy around that's being enforced around the torso does not show and it must have a back and something that goes over the shoulders, we are going to see clothing that looks close to lingerie in the classroom. And I I think that is a value judgment. Do we want clothing that looks like lingerie in our classrooms? And and do we want clothing where young men are showing their boxer shorts? No. We don't. Did that already. So And it does say no Yeah.
No. It does say that. Garments. So It does say that. Feels like that part is then a hard and fast rule. They just put one over the top. But there are other undergarments. It's the same thing. Yeah. It's not under. It's on top. I've got see, I have something else under this. Yeah. So am I right, miss Sulaf? Is that the issue? I mean, what what is the problem we're trying to solve here? So I think the very positive thing, and I started with this piece too, is that we, as a district, have implemented the cell phone and personal technology policy. I think with consistency and with fidelity, there's some hot spots here and there.
We're working on it. We're even doing a cell phone sweep tomorrow to make sure that it's it's happening. But we as, administrators, staff members have, been very appreciative of a clear policy that has a the clear next steps of how to address that policy, and we were able to calibrate as an administrative team and then as staffs to ensure that we're implementing those pieces with fidelity. And so then the from the where doctor Pilch is talking about is absolutely right
is that we have had concerns from staff members both classified and certified from parents and from students that our buildings, particularly at the secondary level, are not implementing the dress code policy with fidelity. And so as chief Corliss has been working on the administrators, we as administrators have identified that there is not clarity or there's pieces in the policy that we need help with. And so that is where the task force then came together, to look at the
policy itself to identify, is there anything that needs to be clarified, added, removed so that as practitioners, we can implement it with fidelity. And so doctor Pilcher is absolutely right, but I would say the where it came from was frustration from, again, staff members, parents, and students that we as administrators are not implementing it with fidelity because we are not clear on some of the pieces of the policy. And then just to piggyback on that, I hear you 100%. So I don't I'm trying to figure out where where that line is and and
how do we how do we write it in. I'm not avidly against opposed to something, but I do think we have two camps on that particular region is really what we're talking about. And I didn't wanna echo just repeat what, president Mash said. I I do feel that we can't put cell phones and torsos in the same category for disruption. I I think they are different things. And, again, please don't think I was saying that. Okay. Please don't. No. No. No. Either. I don't not what I meant. No. No. No. And being clear and consistent was very helpful, and so that is why you said
it as an example. So Yeah. That's why I used it as well, is that we we had a policy for cell phones. We didn't really we changed, like, one sentence in our cell phone policy. I think we just weren't enforcing it. Mhmm. Well and I think that we we definitely agree. We want it to be clear and concise. And and if the board's role is to give teeth to the administration so that you can say, I'm sorry. This is board policy, and that makes your job easier. That's great. But I think your doctor Pilcher was trying to get to the the y of
the torso, I guess, or, like, the what is that what is the problem that we're trying to solve with that particular piece of the policy, maybe? And I get if you give them an inch, they take, whatever. I'm I'm terrible at idioms, but they take a You need to spend time with Kyle. Just just get an idioms. A mile. Yeah. And so and and so I I and I do I do believe it has to be all or nothing. I don't think you can play an inches game with torsos. And I wish you could. Right? But I'm sure it's a two inches for me is a lot more than two
inches for Amy. So you you can't. It has to be all or nothing. We and, I mean, it already is. And so to me, it's a little bit interesting. The current policy isn't strong enough, but how is the updated policy gonna be stronger? And and so I am definitely in the camp of consistency. And if we're gonna continue to disallow torso, then it should just be you know, there we shouldn't play with inches in my opinion. And so I think we we opened up the conversation by reviewing the policy and bringing it to you as we identified as administrators and as the, the committee who
is working on it so that we could be more clear and consistent. And then if anything makes like, if anything needs to be adjusted or if we have any recommendations that that come from a district and board policy, of course, they come to you to review. And so, I recognize that this conversation can be frustrating. And I actually really appreciate the time and attention that you've taken to it because we care so much about our students being in class, the culture of our schools. And so I appreciate the the effort that you all have put in to this
conversation so that we can, again, ultimately have that same goal come to fruition of our kids being in class being successful. I don't know if there's other energy around. It does if we are trying to make this a little bit shorter and for maybe the average family member who just wants to see if what their kid's wearing is part of the dress code, maybe we could move the graduation piece to the graduation policy and the gang related items to the gang policy, and then this is just, like, everyday wear. I think you really need gang language in in dress code.
I I do have. Yeah. I also do need specifics of the bandana. Yeah. Yeah. I guess if there's a way to make it Mhmm. Yeah, a little more You have generalized and then you have more specific in the gang policy. I I understand what, doctor Pilch is saying to those just, like, as a parent only, you know, the parents only wanna take so much time that if you have to direct them to another policy Mhmm. That they then have to take the time for that. And so I I understand what you're saying is having it in one place where if most parents are looking at dress code policy and that's it, that having the
gang things there, at least with the specifics, you'll probably actually reach more parents than if they look at it and, like, oh, could this or could not? Well, you know, maybe We already talk about color. Mhmm. Like, I mean, it's already in there, and then you can just talk about the bandanas and the rosaries before because, I mean, you literally have to read through all of that before you get to the exceptions of, sincerely held religious beliefs. Oh, Oh, yeah. No. I think the order of it is Yeah. We should move the exceptions up. We we should. That's really good feedback to move the exceptions right up at the top.
But I guess I you know, just kind of listening here that this process that you've gone through with work working on this policy, which is including, principals and teachers, you're saying that, you know, you want everyone to come together around a policy and all be on the same page. Exactly. So that is the whole point of this whole process. Correct. Okay. And this new revised policy makes that easier for you versus the older policy. Is that what I'm understanding? There has been a lot of conversations.
So while this has been about an hour's worth of conversation, know that the task force has been 10 times that going over and and having these conversations. And, chief Carlos and I have professionally argued over hats and torsos and and all of this piece too. And so I I say, yes. This does make it easier for staff members to communicate to families and to students and to enforce. And, like, message and message and message, be consistent, be consistent, make it positive upfront,
positive conversations at the front so that we're heading it off would be the strategy. What does shorts being not altered mean? They can't be cutoffs? They can't I think they roll they roll them up. Oh. So there's the fun, trend also of unbuttoning the button and folding it down. To show off your torso, hopefully. Or whatever you have underneath you. Okay. Any other pertinent information, that needs to be out there for the committee to consider?
I I just think it's interesting that in director Rogi's days, it's the exact same dress code because you still are having girls put their hands to the side to get to that mid thigh length. So I am sad that our society hasn't progressed in that many decades, but that's my opinion. Well, it's changed quite a few times in terms of the fashion trends. But it's but same issue. Alright. Well, thank you for your at least ten plus hours of work on all of this. And, yeah, and hopefully So, miss Mash or director Mash, I think we need we
need some direction. Do you want us to just can this whole thing and stick with the policy we currently have, which is an option? Do you want us to go back and attempt some revisions on this and come back again to another work session? I mean, I don't know what I I I mean, one option is to just implement the policy we have. Because I think that's part of the problem is we haven't been implementing it. Now I think, Monet, if there's legal issues around there were things in here that legally we needed to change if we were just to use our old policy. Our old policy is more punitive, which, I don't I don't really appreciate that.
Yeah. But we we go ahead. This policy and the previous policy are legally defensible. Both of them. Completely. Yeah. So we but we could go back and We've talked about this again. Needs to get moved up, I think. And this this one yeah. Like, I think they're gonna be work. It sound it sounds like we're at a place where, like, there's things there that really is gonna make things easier for you, especially with that punitive portion of it and the things needing to be rearranged. So maybe it seems like what's best is that they can take it back, arrange
some things around, you know, moving the exceptions up and relooking at just the structure and the flow of it and then obviously be presenting it to us because that would mean that we, tonight, wouldn't be voting on it. Right? We would Yeah. We won't be voting on it. Be. So so please can. So in the interest of transparency, I would just have a board director make a motion if you're not planning to make any changes. Not right now. Not right now. Yeah. Obviously, no. But during the board meeting, you're just saying to make a motion to table this for further discussion. The agenda.
You could amend the agenda. Okay. So the wording on that would be great, but, yeah, it sounds like it sounds like we're close at least, but getting some of that stuff cleared up. And then maybe once that's cleared up and out of the way, then we can maybe a I was curious if there could be a policy that is covering torsos and a policy that is not covering torsos, and then there's a vote.
I don't know. I don't know what no. Well, I think I don't know if that's something get into the actual meeting, someone could recommend us, suggest a change, and we could see if it ends. Yeah. There's a majority of the board that wants to do that. I do think important is that staff are asking for more help on this. Mhmm. And and I don't think the help they're looking for is for us to say, yeah. It's okay to show torsos. I just wanna be clear about that. Yeah. But but it it's your policy.
I mean, it is your policy. Curi like, the it's that just it's a curiosity for me if the problem is them seeing torsos or the problem is that there's in that this dress code exists that this dress code is creating the problem, that teachers I'm curious. Like, the the dress code is creating the problem, so then teachers are like, well, the poll our current policy says to cover your torso, but, like, some people are doing it, some people aren't. And so is the the problem the policy, not necessarily the torso? I I'm I'm I appreciate this, like, role of school board member and the policy
piece to it is very sticky. And, again, I appreciate the attention that you're taking to it. I know for the sake of time, we can't go in and out of all of the other pieces. But the example of that is, well, you don't follow this part of the policy. Why are you enforcing this part of the policy? So that that is the enforcement conundrum of from a student, staff, parent perspective, that is where we're talking and seeing the inconsistencies of you enforce this, but you didn't enforce this. And I I hear that frustration of what you had said earlier with that is
just, you know, what's a sports bra to one person is not to another. And then so where who starts making the judgments? And so it does sound like there's a little bit trickiness there of, like, now you're leaving it up to, like, okay. Well, I thought it was, but this principal may not think that it was. And so I know that that it sounds like it can create a little bit of frustrations there for you. And that frustration opening it up. We'll go through the entire system. I'm gonna say my own experience, and I'm gonna go back to my concert etiquette, comment. I mean, if it's if it's not clear in this policy, district that are gonna
be pulling what's left of their hair out, okay, dealing with this stuff because that's on stage, and it becomes a big issue very quickly. So I just again, clarity and listening to our administrators and staff members. On our band and orchestra, teachers have wonderful heads of hair. So just want that to be for the record. Okay. So we would like a revision to clean up some language to maybe rearrange.
If so if we do, we need to somebody needs to move to amend the agenda. Tonight. Yes. Yeah. But that's what we would like from the from the committee. And then we'll make it official at the board meeting. K. May you can help just with something to work. Yep. Should we say that right? Mhmm. And then this doesn't require two reads because it's not a new policy. Right? It is not. No. Okay. So then we can see if we feel like we need to bring it to another work session, or we can just discuss when we're voting on it.
Okay. I have some visions working up in my brain right now. Okay. I thought it was Does I thought the temperature in the room raised up a little bit? He is a warrior. It's not wide appeared at first. Okay. Well, then thank you very much for for coming, and we will make for mister Fall now talk about the legislation and that he needs a nap. That's, like, so much. Well, I I if if it would be okay with you, president Masch, we could table that discussion for next meeting given that it's 05:55. I was gonna have the sponsor help me anyways since she's out today.
Okay. Is there any is there just though any that, like, encouraging us to take a look at them for the next time? So I sent you an email with CASB. It provided some guidance around the two most recent revenue forecasts Okay. From LCS and whatever o o OSPB. And it's they're a 105 page revenue forecast are super complex. And I thought CASB's document did a good job of kind of, like, really synthesizing that information Okay. And then why what what's important for us as school systems Okay.
In terms of this revenue forecast. So what I will mention is that it's pretty likely that they're gonna hit the pause on the rollout of the new funding formula Mhmm. For School Finance Act. So we'll see. K. That's everything. Thank you. Alright. Thank you. Okay. We you you all are welcome to Yeah. Go back to where or you can sit there. We're gonna debrief the work session. Back to where you came from. Yeah. Thank you, David. Yes. Thank you, guys. Thank you for being here. Okay. We will debrief the work session. We'll start with you, doctor Campos.
I think I've said everything I have to say tonight. What? Thank you all for listening to me. Call the newspaper. Director Edmond. Just thank you to everyone who's put a lot of work into this. And, yeah, I appreciate just the continued work we just gave you. Director. Just appreciate the discussion and just trying to work through, just the implications of of different policies and how it plays out in the schools. Yep. I would agree. Thanks for the conversation and allowing us to voice and share our opinion and allowing
us to listen as well. So thank you. Director Azari? Yeah. I'd extend all the same things. Thanks for the professionalism of everyone in the room and listening to each other. It's important. Agreed. I I mean, I think it's just really, important that we we stay balanced, you know, one way or the other, you know, whatever whatever that means and whatever policy and and what we're doing. So I think we have a balanced board, and and we get there in the end. So I'm just thankful for all you guys' input and everybody's hard work on on
all that they do with this policy and and all the others. And excited for the business meeting. It's gonna be shorter than this one. I got I got a plane to catch. Oh, okay. Yes. Thank you very much. Thanks for being here. Thanks for listening to all of our ideas as as most of us non educators, we're trying to understand them and listen well. So, hopefully, we will all digest all this information while we digest our dinner. This meeting is a trip. Part: 2
Good evening, and welcome to the board of education meeting for Greeley Evans School District six. This oh, thank you very much. On Monday, 03/23/2026, this meeting will now come to order. Please join us for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands. Miss Richards, will you please call the roll? Yes. Director Azari? Present. Director Bentley? Present. Director Campus Fitzy? Present. Director Edmonds? Present. Director Lemos Garcia? Present. Director Mash? Present. Director Rogge? Present. Director Rogge? Present. Seven members present. Well, we do thank you for attending our meeting this evening, whether in person or
online, and we sincerely apologize for our delayed start. We had both an executive session and then a very robust discussion during our work session, and it just, was a little went over for sure. I just wanted to take the opportunity to share with the public. There's just so much more that goes on behind the scenes. And I wanted to thank our legal counsel, mister Nate Fall, who helps us to write our board policies, which helps to govern, the everyday goings on in each of our buildings. And then also to our our both district administrators and our our building principals, they're
doing everything they can to support their staff and to keep their students safe and comfortable while they're learning. And it is just hours and hours of work on top of their daily lives. So I wanna say thank you for that. That is what, you know, prompted this robust discussion. I also wanna thank our seven member board who are all so engaged and, just allowed for a very respectful and engaging conversation. Welcome back from spring break. Seniors only have eight weeks of school left, and I will take that opportunity to
introduce our students sitting with us, both whom are seniors and we're gonna miss them so much next year. But Sarah Venegas and Abby Tovar with the council of student representatives. So, my little plug to seniors, whatever you're planning to do next year, if you meet with your school counselor, they can help you write a resume, apply for jobs, apply for scholarships, and make sure that everything is in order for you to graduate on time and walk across that stage where we will all be, eager to shake your hand for that accomplishment.
We will now approve the agenda, which is an action item, which requires a motion. I moved to amend the agenda by removing j I c a student dress code from the policy revisions under item 11 o zero for further revisions and consideration at a future meeting. I second. Is there any discussion on the amended agenda? Seeing none, miss Richards, will you call a vote for the amended agenda? Director Azari? Aye. Director Bentley? Aye. Director Brent, Campus Bitsy? Aye. Director Edmonds?
Aye. Director Lemos Garcia? Aye. Director Mash? Aye. Director Rohge? Aye. Motion carries seven zero. And now on to the best part of our meeting, all of our celebrations, and I'll give it over to doctor Pilch for her honor roll. Thank you so much, president Masch. I am super excited to welcome back to our boardroom a a face that I think you all will recognize. Joanna Fedor is the Colorado ProStart teacher of the year. Joanna, stand up. Let's recognize you for a minute, and then I'm gonna bring you to the podium.
And I'll bring you up here in just a minute, but I wanna talk about you first. So Joanna is a teacher at Northridge High School, and and we're just honored to yet have another District six employee chosen as one of the Colorado leads, as she has been in the ProStart teacher of the year program. I'll tell you a little bit about the Colorado ProStart. It is a high school hospitality education program, and it is a part of the Colorado Restaurant Foundation, the Colorado Restaurant Association, and the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation.
The program offers restaurant and hospitality management to students. They offer culinary arts and business economics for juniors and seniors to be able to take as part of of our career pathways programs. And students typically earn college credit, while in the ProStart program. There's lots of scholarship opportunities as well as paid work, experience opportunities for students through the Colorado ProStart program. And they serve currently hundreds of students at 40 different high schools across the state
of Colorado. Joanna is a well respected leader in our school district, and, she's known as her colleagues for bringing energy and joy and enthusiasm to Northridge High School for the students and the staff. And whether it's her work promoting wellness activities, spirit activities, or or her highly engaging instructional practices, Joanna is a vital part of our district six and our Northridge High School staff. We're honored that Joanna chooses district six, and we, want to congratulate her on this
very much well deserved recognition. Come on up, Joanna. Oh, you wanna get a picture first, Casey? Go ahead. We can get a picture first since you're here. Yep. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Oh, boy. This is kind of nerve wracking. So doctor Pilch told you a little bit about ProStart. Thank you very much for that. I think for me, what I wanna share with you is what means the most to me, about ProStart and about this award is really being able to see my students gain confidence in themselves, gain industry experience, and really be able to gain experience
that is gonna help them in whatever career they choose, whether that's in hospitality or not. And I genuinely feel so lucky to work for a district that supports, CTE and, programs like ProStart, as much as you do. It really makes a difference in students' lives and the, trajectory that they decide to go in. So thank you so much for your continued support of CTE programs. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, John. And moving on to another celebration, we would like to celebrate the classified employee of the year.
And so I will invite Rose Downs to the podium. And I think Jamie Gallegos is also joining Rose at the podium, both from our classified council. Hi. Good evening, school board and doctor Pouch for having us here. I am Rose Downs, the president of Classified Council. And I'm Jamie Gallegos, the recorder of the classified counsel. I am honored to talk about our classified employees. They are the heart and soul of d six. So many of them go unrecognized, for the hard work and dedication that they put
in on a daily basis. They make sure students arrive to school on time. They, make sure they have a clean and safe environment to go to school. They are fed breakfast and lunch and snacks throughout the day. They have the materials they need to learn, books and technology to keep them moving forward and learning to the best of their ability. And to make sure they are healthy and well enough to stay in school to continue learning. So tonight, we are here to honor our classified staff. For the classified employee of the year, we had close to 76 nominations.
It was wonderful for Jamie and I to see and read all of the positive and hard work that these classified employees do on a daily basis. I would like to say that all of them are winners in our eyes, which they are, and I know they're winners in your eyes too. The difficult part is to select one out of the 76. But we have our top three here with us tonight, and it's an honor for us to introduce them to you now. Okay. So our first, person that we'd like to recognize is Jason Harmon from Northridge High
School. Jason Harmon is a trusted leader and role model at Northridge High School whose impact reaches far beyond his role as campus monitor. Through the strong relationships he builds with students and staff, Jason helps create a safe, welcoming, and positive school environment where students feel seen, valued, and supported. His dedication strengthens the culture of Northridge every day and his influence is felt through the entire school community. K. And our next person that we'd like to recognize is Jim Leachman from Greeley Central High School.
Jim Leachman is a dedicated campus monitor at Greeley Central High School whose professionalism, reliability, and genuine care for students make him an invaluable member of the school community. Through his calm presence and approachable nature, Jim has become a trusted adult for countless students who know they can rely on him for support, guidance, and encouragement. His kindness, strong work ethic, and commitment to building positive relationships make a lasting difference every day, strengthening the culture of Greeley Central High School and District six.
Now it's my honor to introduce our outstanding classified employee of the year, 2526, Gina Holman, office manager from Hyman Elementary. Gina. Gina has been the heart of of Heiman Elementary. Come here, sweetie. Down there. Thank you. Thank you. Love you too. Okay. Gina has been the heart of, Anne Hyman Elementary since the school first opened for twenty two years. She has served at the school as the office manager, steady force behind the scenes,
ensuring everything runs smoothly for the largest elementary school in District 6. And she's also known as mama Gina. Congratulations, Gina. Okay. You can come up. Oh, sorry. There's no tape. Get back with me when we're still taking pictures. Don't don't trust me. Thank you everyone for having us here. We greatly appreciate it. Do you have any questions or concerns for us tonight?
No? Okay. Okay. I'll I'll I'll just, echo what we said a lot before is we're oftentimes when you think about school districts, we think about teachers, you know, in front of the classroom, we think about principals and whatnot, but all these individuals I know that every principal would say that they can't do their job well with even without employees like this, especially when you talk about the making sure the kids get the food in the in the cafeteria, make sure the kids are being safe and, you know, all those different things that can get overlooked that make us successful. So I just appreciate, the hard work of having to narrow down that list because
I'm sure it's very hard because there's so many that go unrecognized, but we just as a board, we're very appreciative for how well they represent District 6 for our students. Yes. Thank you so much. Yes. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here. Good evening. Our next item on the agenda is a report from our council of student representatives, students from Greeley West High School. Welcome, Spartans. Hello, board of education, doctor Pilch. Thanks for having us here tonight. My name is Jeff Cranson. I'm the principal at Greeley West High School, and I'm excited to, introduce to you two students. They are gonna talk to you about the opportunities they have and and the things
they're involved in at Greeley West High School. So without further ado, I'm gonna turn over to Yvonne. Good afternoon, members of the board and doctor Pilch. My name is Yvonne Jaime, and I'm a junior at Greeley West High School. And I simply wanna share with you some of my experiences in the programs that make Greeley West High School unique. Now, Greeley West IB program is an essential part of what makes us unique. IB, otherwise known as International Baccalaureate, is one of many programs offered within the school's walls and provides students with ample opportunities to challenge themselves and grow into individuals. I'm not a conventional IB student, but I am taking IB Language and Literature SL
along with all of the other juniors and seniors in Greeley West. Having the IB course as a requirement for all students challenges us with a more rigorous course and allows all students to see that they can succeed in a college level class. From my experience, many kids have generally improved upon their reading and writing skills, because of the push that otherwise, they may not have had. This week, we are currently kicking off the individual oral assessments, which is a ten minute presentation of a comparative analysis between media pieces. People get the choice of picking pieces of media that were explored throughout the school
year and develop develop an analysis of something that, similarities between the two. My involvement in the course is something that I value and is also something that I otherwise would not have taken, but I am glad to have that extra push. That extra push to all of the juniors and seniors is something that, in my opinion, has helped many improve upon their skills that they otherwise lacked or needed aid in. Another program, I have been involved in is HSB or High School of Business. In my opinion, one of the most valuable classes you can take is in fact within the HSB program, that class being personal finance, where I've learned general money skills
such as saving, budgeting, and investing. As I have been a member of the program itself, I can say that High School of Business is a very valuable portion of Greeley West as a whole, and it helps it stand out as a school within the district. Along with this, we have advancement via individual determination, otherwise known as AVID. As As an AVID student since my freshman year, I can say that Greeley West's attention towards the program has made it quite valuable to students as a whole. AVID targets the development of weaker skills, but it does so much more than that. Along with helping my academics by pushing me, Avid has also helped create a tight knit community of students who can rely on one another for assistance.
I can say with confidence that my involvement in the program has led me down a better path academically. With its direct involvement in me taking very rigorous courses, such as AP statistics, AP calculus, AP biology, among some others. Not only that, but it has also helped me aim higher than ever before with plans of differential equations, calculus three, linear algebra, and much more within the remainder of my high school career. I can say with confidence that our AVID program is one of the biggest things that makes us stand out, and I am certain that we will be able to regain the title of AVID demonstration school very soon. My name is Maybelline Sarate, and I'm a sophomore at Greeley West High School.
I am part of the AP program, tennis, the the avid program, and the CSR CSR officer. But today, I will be talking about my experience in the band program and Greeley West performing arts program. A big part of Greeley West culture is our performing arts. You will find many students involved in various activities at West, which include theater, band, orchestra, and choir. Greeley West gives the opportunity to all students to make a perform to take a performing arts class, whether you wanna take orchestra or band, but you are new at playing an instrument. Gluely West has the option for you to take a beginner level class and make your way to the advanced level classes.
Band plays a big role for me at West. Marching band performs at our football games as well as assemblies, which showcase our school spirit. Many band students audition for higher bands like CSU honor band, All State honor band, Combined League honor band. I myself am part of West marching band and wind ensemble. Band is a class that I look forward to as it gives me a break from my schoolwork and it's on and do something that I love. Marching band is one of my favorite things at West because I get to perform at a lot of events and it's a way to spend more time with my friends. I always look forward to parades and competitions during marching season.
Wind Ensemble performed at CBA at the CBA festival at beginning of the of the month in hopes to make it to state. That is a great way to make new friends and a part of the com and be part of the community. I am looking forward to continuing band for the next two years at West. Geely West, Wind Ensemble, and concert band will be playing alongside Brentwood eighth grand band during our concert March 25, and I am excited to play Skyfall by Adele. Orchestra also has many students audition for combined league orchestra and Allstate as well. Orchestra has some exciting events coming up. Chamber Orchestra will be representing District six as they as they perform at the state
of the state of the city event on April 15. Our theater program has been up to some great things. Let they just wrapped up nine to five on on the fourteenth. Nine to five had many student students participate in which included in the theater singing and as well as a live band from from all from students all over our district. Really wise performing arts will be hosting their annual gala April 16. There will be music and singing and many activities to do, and it's a great way to get the community together. Performing arts is a is a way is a great way to bring the community
together, and Greeley West Performing Arts is no exception. Greeley West would like to thank the school board for our facility and all of its all of our opportunities to provide it on our school. With this being said, we would like to ask the school board to help students reach opportunities that are available for them. Issues within the school may reside with the lack of communication at at the parents and communication community involvement within the school is something that we would we believe we should prioritize more. We believe that the help communicating, promoting, and opportunities at our school as well as
helping with helping with drive students and staff involvement would be a great benefit to the school and community as a whole. Do you have any questions? I'm sure there will be a few. Thank you for coming. Director Lemos Garcia? I don't have a question, more of a comment. So thank you both for showing up today and sharing with us about the things that are happening at your school. More importantly, the amazing things that you all are doing. It's just so amazing to hear all the things that you continue to do throughout your short school day.
I don't know how you all fit it in, but, thank you for sharing. I appreciate you coming in. Miss Venegas? Thank you, president Masch. Well, I always say a little something with my CSR people come up here, but I think especially right now, West was our last ASR group to present to the board. So you guys will hear about our schools once again next year, so that'll be exciting. But I think you guys did great. You guys are awesome. I love when our schools come up here and just, you know, talk about all the amazing things they do and highlight their schools, but not only highlight their schools,
but highlight themselves as individuals. And I think that's so important, especially since you guys do do such amazing things. And, yes, I'm just so proud of CSR as a whole and every school that's come up here and had the opportunity to present to you all and you listening to their stories and listening to the students and about their schools is just so important. So thank you for giving CSR the opportunity to do that. Good job, guys. Director Campos Pitti? I have a comment and a question. The comment was thank you for highlighting so many of your school's strengths.
I always love to hear about how strong AVID is, and your IB program really is, amazing. I love, that you described yourself as not a conventional IB student, and I think that's the whole point, at Greeley West is to bring more of our students into these advanced courses. I also really love to hear about oral assessments. I think in the world we're living in now with AI and, the oral assessments are kind of the the way to really assess the students' knowledge of things. And thank you for highlighting the HSB because every year we get to hear that
a a number of you get in the top 10% of the country, like the scores, and and that's just such a cool opportunity, at Greeley West. And then I also really like that the performing arts were highlighted because Greeley Central gets the rep for being our magnet school for the arts. But really, there's amazing, performing arts happening at Greeley West as well. I got to share during the work session that I, my children and I got to go to nine to five on the last night of the show. And I don't know how many of you were there that night, but the mics turned off for the entire stage for I want it felt like three minutes.
But the show went on. It was so incredible. The kids didn't skip a beat. They kept singing, even though no one could hear them. There was no pause. There was no awkward anything. And then once, eventually, the microphones turned back on, it was like nothing had happened. So I was so impressed, with the performers and the the mute the musicians that entertained us that night. So thank you guys. And then the question, you mentioned an area for improvement was better engagement with, it sounded like, community and parents.
And I was curious if, as CSR, if you guys have ideas for how to bring that engagement into your school. So our main thing is Greeley West High School is that we, we're not necessarily lacking on resources like, other schools. We have a lot of programs. We have a lot of that. But the issue is that there's a lot of people who aren't necessarily taking advantage of those programs. Like, HSB is a really big thing. I am a really big proponent of the personal finance class. I personally I I think that's a very important class to take that everyone should be taking. Not a lot of people are taking them, like, all things considered, and it should
be required. Like, something something along those lines to increase, not only that, not only, like, taking the HSB course, taking, the IBAP, like, having that as a requirement, but also within outside, school times. Like, within the sports sections, there's also, sort of lack of school spirit within that. Like, if if there's something along those lines, like, that could help, maybe requiring personal finance, maybe having a requirement of a few AP classes for graduation, something along along those lines, I think, would go a very long way.
Well, I grew the West, like Yvonne said, we're not lacking a lot of things. We have we have many resources, but, one of the great things is that we have a lot of programs like the HSB, we have our AVID, we have our IB, and then we have our FFA. We have a lot of programs, but just students don't know many don't know much about those programs. And sometimes it they just don't know how to, like, join the programs or they're not aware that we have those programs. And we just wanna know, like, how would we how would we get those programs out more to our communities and, like, may possibly to, like, the middle schools are
looking middle school students are looking to come to West, like, encourage them to join those programs as yeah. I would just I was gonna ask doctor Pilch about what exactly happens at the oh, oh, that's a career expo. What all do we do to tell our eighth graders about the programs at our high schools? I know there's, like, incoming freshman night and things like that. So there's incoming freshman night and counselors are visiting the schools. What else, Strassmas, would you add? The career expo for the eighth graders that comes up at Aims Community College.
Okay. Yeah. That's that's always, a challenge is there's so many amazing things happening in District 6, and we we wanna shout shout it out and tell everyone about it. So, we continue to look for creative ways to do that, but thank you for sharing that. You're fully engaged. I think I think your voice with your peers is also super powerful. Mister Cranson. I was just gonna say, and then, you know, in the summertime along with the registration, we have our jump start programs. And so we're trying to get each of our elective teachers to do a couple days to a week of, courses, for incoming freshmen to kinda get to know the
extracurricular opportunities. I know some of the things that we talked about today in preparation for this is just, we got a lot of great things going on and and how do we get more participation? We'd love to see every kid part of an extracurricular activity, a music program, a sports program, and how do we how do we really bring that community together to to get get get get in part be a part of of the great things happening in our community and our schools. And so continuing challenge a continuing challenge for all of us. Thank you, mister Cranson. The other thing I'll remind you all about is is our big box truck, our
portable, STEM lab and that our current tech ed lab, that does go out to to, all of our middle schools. And so students have an opportunity to be exposed at through that program as well. And then, was that and the Xello. Yes. That was the other thing I was thinking of Xello. And so that when we presented Xello at last board meeting, remember part of what we're doing is beginning some of that career exploration earlier on in the grade levels so students begin to think about that. And then once, you know, once we've fully built out where students are building that
high school plan, that'll make a big difference because they'll they'll be thinking about what what's the career I want and we can help them to determine, you know, maybe there's another high school that you should look at that offers more options in that in that career interest that you have. Well, thank you all for taking a Monday out of your school week fresh off of spring break, and best wishes for the last two months of school. Have a good night. Okay. And back to you, doctor Pilch, for your superintendent's report. Thank you so much. I will just remind everyone that we actually have an extra Monday in March, so
we won't come back together for three weeks. And by the time we come back together, we will be in the thick of Colorado state testing. And so because state testing will start on April 6 and go through April 24, with the the CMAST testing. And then the other reminder I'll put out there is that our, ninth and tenth graders will take the PSAT on April 13, through the twenty fourth, and then our SAT administration date is April 15. So although we're talking about only eight or so weeks of school left, this is
a really important time for children to be in attendance, our little children and our big children, and to get plenty of rest and to have a good breakfast and and to show up, as a part of this this testing. I'll also share that, we haven't had an AI task force update for several weeks, and we did put some information in eWeek last week about that, but, but we are, right now in some gathering input stages and and going to the district accountability committee, tomorrow evening to gather some input from parents around our our AI work and
their understanding and hopes of AI. It's it's a it's a big thing, and we know it's here. And I've heard some of you mention AI tonight. And then finally, Thursday evening at 06:00. I don't think you all have this on your calendars, and there's not an obligation for you to attend, but you're certainly welcome to. We are a part of, a community meeting concerning the downtown civic project. So the the developer, the city of Greeley, District 6, the county, will all be a part of this meeting Thursday evening at the rec center at 6PM.
It's an basically, a neighborhood meeting to talk with downtown employers and people who live nearby about what the project is and and to give them an opportunity to ask questions, really, about the block that it that the the city building is on right now and the Juror Block. So pretty exciting. The project's moving ahead and, barring, you know, no delays, we'll we'll begin actually the the actual work on the project, on the site in the fall, early fall. So we're pretty excited about that. We're in design phase, mostly through design phase, and, rock and roll and no?
Schematic. Schematic design, yes. Not the where is the plug in and where does the projector go, but the stuff we're all interested in, like who is whose office is where in the building we've been working on. So exciting, going forward in the next few weeks, and it will go quickly, no doubt. So thank you for that. Our next item of business is an update for our innovation 2030 plan, climate and culture goal two safety and security annual safe schools update.
And I welcome chief Corliss and mister Upke up to the oh, Okay. So I'm gonna try to get through this a little bit, but I may end up turning it over to Brad because you can tell I've lost my voice a little bit. So so, president Mosh, members of the board, Doctor Pilch and council student representatives. This is our I two thousand and thirty updates for safety and security and our annual safe schools report. This first photo is of our team which includes myself, Brad Lubke, the director of
safety and security, Brian Breeze, the assistant director of safety and security, Jasmine Overshiner, who is in the back row. There's our threat assessment coordinator. It also includes, 25 campus security guards, two of which you saw tonight that were representative in the, classified, awards. So our work is in line with the mission and vision of district six. I will tell you I just a disclosure real quick is, I did push the AI button on these slides, so that's why they look a little different.
I don't know if I'm gonna push that button again because it changed a bunch of these slides so but this that's why the mission and vision looks a little different. This is with our, values of District six. More specifically, we work, to ensure safe and secure and healthy schools within the safety and security environment. However, our our unit works to serve all of these values in a different capacity. Again, here's the part of my 2,030 of student learning and achievement strengthening partnerships, climate
and culture and operational and organizational effectiveness. I would say we work. In all of these areas but most specifically, safety and security will be tied to climate and culture of our schools. This is a III created this. This isn't like a nationally recognized model, but this is the simplest way that I can break down safety and security. Opposed to just saying we do a lot of things for safety and security. We call this the five pillars of District six safety and security, and it's also in line with the national preparedness goal of prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery.
I also put that line across the top, which is kind of shows you where we're operating throughout the day. And I would say right there in the middle where you see it between green and yellow is I think as a as a school day progresses, we're operating between the green and the yellow on a daily basis. Each pair indicates a barrier that we're putting in between ourselves and potential. Negative things that could happen. Criminal events, the first department that significantly supports us is IT information technology.
That goes in with the Chromebook monitoring communication systems, and tech support. Second is environmental security and control systems, which includes, building secure buildings, building technology, and traffic safety. The third one is our threat management and our daily practices. How are we operating within our school building every single day and that goes down to our administrators and implementing the safety and security procedures that that they're asked to do with their school buildings along with that is the climate and culture of the
schools, which which goes along with response to behaviors and restorative practices and the things that we're doing to support our students at the building level and again completing threat assessments and response management and safety support plans to support students. The fourth one is emergency management and crisis management that goes down to our safety protocols and initiating our standard response protocol. Through I love you guys Foundation along with the building safety plans and our command
center. Functions within that within that area, but it also covers all all five of them together and then the last one is our law enforcement and our first responders and our local partners that support safety and security at our schools. That leads into the great partnerships that we have with Greeley, Evan and Evans PD along with the Weld County Sheriff's Office. The Greeley Police Department expanded to seven SROs this year and then we have one sergeant. Evans PD has one officer one sergeant and they have one will county SO deputy
and one sergeant so those are their photos below the one in the middle below is not an Evans officer. That's Seth in the back row with his, canine onyx that he frequently, brings by the schools to to check-in with the kids. So onyx is more popular than all of us. So I'm gonna go ahead and turn it over to Brad, let him take it from here. My voice becomes a little raspy. Let me know. Hopefully, I'll bring a little clarity to this. So, I twenty thirty goals for district six safety and security, again, to support the social, emotional, well-being of students and staff.
One of our main objectives district wide is to update the district wide plan for crisis response. So if there's an emergency district wide building specific, what do we do? What does that look like? And then the, our outcomes are to implement, safety and security measures across the entire district to include our support building, so the administration building, facilities, transportation, and so on. Some of our actions and strategies, most everybody should be familiar with the I Love You Guys Foundation, which is our standard response protocols for lockdowns, evacuates.
Raptor Technologies, whenever you go into a building, it's the cool little white sticker that you get that has a barcode in your picture on it that says, hey. I'm here visiting all these kiddos. Emergency plans or EOPs for all the schools, so those are site specific. So if you're at one school, what does the emergency plan look like for this school as compared to another one? We've trained all school administrators and district six leadership and incident command systems, which is a nationally recognized systems for kind of the hierarchy of what do you do in an emergency, who's in charge, who gives the orders for that.
Next is our the functionality of the command center. I believe it's where you had your meeting earlier today when we were in there. The command center is up and running. Looks like the the main space deck of the Star Trek when you go in there. We're still fostering that and doing what we can to make that top notch. I want district six command center to be above and beyond anything else you've seen in the state of Colorado, and we're getting there. It takes a little bit of time. There's some glows and there's some grows, but it's getting there. It's pretty fantastic. And then, our collaboration with school resource officers, which I attribute to having partners that
were in law enforcement and still having those strong connections there. Actions and strategies, the focus on collaboration, communication, and consistency, the three big c's that we have, the development of the response to behaviors website, and the changes that are may maybe be need may Necessary to be made in that. Consistency with data entry into infinite campus, that's across every building within the district to make sure that we're always consistent in that. Restorative practices, you'll see a slide on Mr. Mr.
Hayden tonight back in the back row on restorative practice, as well as threat assessment and response management plans, miss Overshiner. That will lead us to alternatives to suspension. Our frameworks and outcomes, MTSS, PBIS, that's all we've gone over before. Our focus on improving culture and, our climate and culture of schools. Tonight you'll see a little little bit on that to show there's been some some major headway. And then our, monitor behavior data via Etchaclimber. Yeah. The e o EOP is an admin training, so yearly, every building in the district
we get with the administration in that building to go over that site specific emergency response plan. So who has changed in the building? Who's the new leadership? Who are new teachers that are now in active roles to help an emergency in that building? Get them inputted into this binder, so to speak, that we have access to, and then let them know, hey, in an emergency this is your role, this is your responsibility, this is where you may evacuate to and so on and so forth. Just covering every crisis that we can foresee for each specific building.
You'll also see information tied on our site risk assessment. So every year safety and security goes to every building we have in District 6 and performs a a site assessment on that. That's checking everything and anything under the sun in that building to include locks, windows, just to make sure everything's operational and still up to par. So I talked a little bit earlier about some EduCLIMBER data. So part of our STOP grant was to see an an overall total of 80% district wide as parents and students feeling safe and secure within the district.
You can see we've gone back from the winter survey, the winter parent survey as of 2017, you can see we hit that we hit that 80% mark this year, which is a gigantic improvement for safety and security. I'm I'm super, super happy about that. I'm super proud that we hit that mark. But that's up 3%, it also, like I mentioned, made us hit our percentage on the stop grant. So it's one of the it's one of the measures we met on there, which I'm very proud of. Grants awarded, some of the stuff was from last year. We'll skip to the middle to the SAFER grant first. That was a grant that was written mostly, I think, by mister Czech with a
little bit of help, but that covered support for the command center and electronic infrastructure for that, to include radio infrastructure. The school security disbursement grant, which we went over last year that we had got was really the big grant that district six got to start the command center. So that was a $509,000 grant from the state that got the command center up and running and started to get the tech all put into it. We just finished buying some additional portable radios for the school district because that grant sunsets here, in June 2026.
And the Bureau of Justice, the STOP grant, which is the grant that's funded both our threat assessment coordinator and restorative practices coordinator, that was for 810,000. That sunsets later in October. So Jasmine Obersteiner, the district's threat assessment coordinator, she leads the district in any and all threat assessment. She is the primary contact in the district to help out. How do we support these kids? How do we wrap around them, how do we get them through whatever they're going through and get them to graduation. She's completed over a 100 successful RMS plans. RMS is a response management support plan, which is a plan that that wraps around
kids. How do we service these kids? Is it they need an adult to talk to? Do they need a counselor they need to see? Is there some type of in house mental health support that we can offer to get this kid all up and going again and try to get them to a 100%? And Jasmine single handedly alone has created a threat assessment team at every building within District 6 so that she's not running call to call to call to every building, but they can start to handle in house now with with her oversight, with her guidance on that.
Mister Jeremy Hayden serves as our restorative practices coordinator for the district. Currently, every district, six schools, at least one administrator that's trained, administratively trained. Yeah. The whole nine yards. Right? As a, restorative practices person within that building. Some of his work to showcase since he's just started is we're seeing ISS in school suspension is trending towards a 13% reduction already since his since bringing him on. We've also seen a 16% reduction in OSS, so out of school suspensions with Jeremy,
and these are all alternatives to suspension. So with Jeremy, we've gone from 57 restorative circles, so to speak, to almost 1,200 district wide to let kids kind of know here's here's the here's the wrong, how do we right the wrong and and bring it back together. The command center I pointed out just a little bit ago, that's that's the hub, that's that's my goal to be the heart of the district. So they monitor surveillance cameras for the district, they do requests from administrators to I
I don't have time, but I heard someone's going on the playground. Can you take a look to kind of give that time back to the school while they research that? Access control, the two gentlemen that work in there can single handedly communicate with the school, could lock down a school from the touch of a button behind their computer there. So if they see something on a camera before anybody else in that building, they can initiate a lock down, a secure, and evacuate right then and there, and then use radio communications to talk to them. A direct line of communications with first responders, again, I I attribute this to having
a good relationship with both GPD, Evans PD, and the Weld County Sheriff's Office, that we now have a direct line with dispatchers for Weld County Communications via, some radio equipment that we have there. So no calling into 911 wait. We could our own little radio codes and we can talk to them directly to get them there because seconds matter. They also assist in monitoring safe to tells, GoGuardian alerts on the Chromebooks, and any Raptor alerts that we may get while school's in session.
Couple of pictures, Jose Diaz on the left, Tony Legas on the right. Safe Schools audit. These are the things that we look for when we go to the building to check to make sure everything's up to par and that we're ready to go. You'll see traffic and parking, exterior, office, so on and so forth. Kind of changed some things in how we score them. It's either gonna meet standards now or it's gonna be needs improvement. This is because Brad's algorithm failed how I originally had it in my Google Docs, so I had to change it so it would correctly show up on a bar
graph. Safe schools audit this year, almost all of our schools that are a 100%, the schools that you see that are just under that 100% line could be a door that we had a lock that some screws had broken out of so the mechanism won't close, some windows that had a missing lock or a lock that had been broken and may not have been able to secure all the way. The big jump for here is the jump we have at the GAP Building. Last year it was significantly low, but since we've acquired that building, it's been easy to submit a work order via the new program that facilities has pushed out and
now gaps all the way up to to a 100% now. So pretty amazing. Which one? Okay. Safe routes to school. So the safety and security team collaborates with the Greeley Evans Districts or the city of Greeley. Was it their traffic operations, to find safe routes to school. So part of that was meeting monthly to establish what what does a safe route to school look like. So when you drive some around some of the schools now, you'll notice the the white pillars that are on the roadway that kind of bring traffic, traffic calming pillars.
That's all stuff that we have worked with the city of Greeley to do to try to calm traffic and keep traffic safe around schools. The city came and presented to us a couple of weeks ago some improvements that can be made on the city's side. And so we're partnering with them by getting this part done. It now allows the city to apply for grants to start doing those big projects around the school, start making those safe routes to schools improvements. Next steps for safety and security team is continue to improve, safety and security and support the climate and culture around the schools.
I'd love to to see that 80 go up even more. I'd love to see it trend to a 100 and stay there. Emergency operations plans are a constant continuing update. We always assess those and look at those every year, every couple of months, make sure the same folks are still there, there's no turnover, the memorandums of understanding we have with locations are still good, the same people are there. And to continue to strengthen our response to behaviors, resources by providing the school staff with whatever we can to be supportive. Alternatives to suspension, Jeremy is another great one, but to continue that work.
K. I tried to rock through it pretty quick. It wasn't your responsibility to make a bar last time. Sorry. But we appreciate it. Got behind me. You know? Oh, no. It's all good. Thank you for the presentation. Of course. We have a few comments and questions. Mister Azari. Thank you. Thanks for the presentation, guys. Just a question. Obviously, Jasmine and Jeremy have done some great work for the district, and, those positions are covered under the, grant. Right? The BJA stop grant? Correct. Yes. And that grant sunsets in October 2027.
Yes, sir. So are we what are our next steps? Do we reapply? Is that a grant, an ongoing, repetitive, renewal grant? Not right now. It's not a renewal grant. It's a federal grant. So, you know, it'll be something we'll need to consider in that budget cycle when we get to the the previous spring to that. So, it'll be our goal to keep the positions at least through that school year, and then we'll need to look to see how if there's a way to continue. As you all heard earlier tonight, we're we're we're facing some pretty significant, budget cuts
probably in the the next coming couple of years. So we'll have to talk about all of it. But, we all see the value in the positions. Our administrative team sees the value in the positions. It's they're they're truly critical and beneficial positions here in the district. So so just to requal reclarify, doctor Pilch, that grant, we can't go after that grant again or can we reapply? I don't think that grant will be available again. Okay. We don't expect. If it if it would be, we would try to apply.
But Of course. And every to to piggyback on what doctor Pilch said, I aggressively search for grants every single day to find how can we lessen the burden on the district to keep these two employed because of the numbers you saw. I mean, it's it's good work that it's trending where we want it to go. I I don't want to see it stop. I don't want to see it stop. And I hate to lose two two good friends that work for the district now too. So Okay. Well, thank you. Yes. I hope we we need to get we need to keep those issues. I would agree. Yes, sir. Director Campos? I just wanted to highlight the trends that you just mentioned, that are very impressive
down towards 16%. Those are big numbers. And then to increase restorative practices from 57 to, about 1,200 is also very significant. And so I agree that It's amazing. It is important work that's happening, and and I'm glad you two are on our team. Miss Jovar? Where's your goggles at? Goggles are down there. But, I just wanted to say thank you, for keeping our schools safe.
Like, we really appreciate it. I don't think, like, there's been a day that I haven't felt safe. Like, it's been it's been good, and that's been since I was in middle school too. So thank you. That's, like, really, really appreciated. I see a bunch of stuff, like, on the media as I'm sure we all do. And I I'm just really grateful to be here and have such a a great team, working for us. And then also, I wanna go on that center. The I've had the opportunity to be in there in the summer one time because I was doing my work with Josh. We went to go, take a picture of Cameron, I think her name was, which was, mister Corliss' intern.
And that room is so cool. There is, like, a billion TVs, and it's like they were telling me, like, oh, this button, like, you can lock down any school, like, as I said in the presentation. So it's really cool, and I think that it's a great center. So I wanted to add on that. And then also, lastly, to talk about Jim for a second. He was recognized earlier, as a part of one of those, members. And I just think that that's really it's really cool because Jim, he is a trusted person in our building specifically. And, like, I've never really interacted with our security guards before, but, Jim, he's he's
a really cool guy. And we have, like, posters of him, like, in our English classroom too. Like, he's just like that guy. And he he's good at his job too, of course. So but, yeah, I just wanna say thank you overall. So thank you for all your guys' hard work. Happy to help. Thank you. That the oh, do you have something else to say? No. Oh, no. Just looking at the number of buildings we have and that they're all at 98 to a 100%. That's that's so encouraging. I was just thinking too. I think after this city, the new civic project is done, we will own all
of the buildings that we utilize. Is that true? Pretty much. Very close. Anyway, I just like having our own buildings where you guys can get that. We rent warehouse space right now, but we're looking, hopefully, us. Gotcha. And then on that safe schools audit, I mean, that's a huge tribute to the MLO and bond. Mhmm. Is that's why our buildings are where they're at on a safety and security side of it is is those projects and mister Ken Hansen and his team.
So Yeah. Well and I also to add on to miss Tovar's point that the relationships that the SROs and the security team make with the students makes all the difference. They can see when a student's having a bad day. The students feel like they're just a member of their educating team as they are, and I think that makes a a real big difference even in that survey data of perception of of safety is that you know somebody's there and you have that relationship. So, yes, thank you very much.
Thank you. I will say while I'm skeptical of AI as a whole, I really liked this presentation. It was very pretty. Oh my goodness. Alright. The next item on our agenda is public participation, but we do not have anyone signed up to speak. So we will move on to approving our consent agenda. I move that the Board of Education at Greeley Evans School District six approves items as presented on the consent agenda and authorizes the officers to sign any and all contracts. Second. Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, miss Richards, will you please call the vote?
Director Azari? Aye. Director Bentley? Aye. Director Campos Fitzy? Aye. Director Edmonds? Aye. Director Lamos Garcia? Aye. Director Mash? Aye. Director Rogge? Aye. Motion carries seven zero. Thank you. Alright. And then we've amended our agenda to eliminate that last item. So it was a late start, but it was a quick meeting. Thank you for joining us, and we'll see you back in three weeks. Enjoy the spring weather. This meeting is adjourned.