##VIDEO ID:9oALZHS5DXQ## you know I'm a interactive person and I like for people caller back at me so I'm GNA try this one good evening we want to welcome you to our um regular schedule board meeting today is the 23rd of January the time now is 6 o'clock p.m. on the dot and so we are going to get started item number one and so wanted to make sure everyone has had a chance to review the agenda yes we're moving forward to item 2.1 um before we get started I want to say that members of the public who desire to address the board on any topic related to board work must sign there's a roster in the back on the table um and you have to get that done before 6:30 p.m. so at this time we are just going to go to item 2.2 and that is the roll call we're going to turn that into the hands of Madam president Frasier here Dr Robinson here M Salazar here Mr Williams here Mrs Wills Hill here Mr Goos here Mr Rawlings here Madam President we have a quorum thank you so very much we are moving ahead to item 2.3 it is the Pledge of Le Pledge of Allegiance and reading of the mission and so uh with that being said we are going to have Aspire Online Academy students to come forward if they are here um we have the pledge going to be led by Aaliyah Bergos Ariana Gonzalez Benjamin Aro and Frankie rigz forz so we class online all right so we're going to stand and do the Pledge of Allegiance hi I'm Katie ginster I'm the fourth and fifth grade teacher at Aspire Online Academy welcome to the Harrison School District 2 January school board meeting if you're able please stand for the pledge pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to The Republic stands indivisible Justice for what's up do we have the uh mission statement this is what Online Academy is you're unconventional but it's conventional the mission of D2 is to graduate College and Career ready students with the knowledge skills attitudes and behaviors to personally succeed and contribute to the common good thank you so very much right we are moving forward um to item three1 the agenda and I just need to have Madame President I move to approve the agenda is presented motion to approve the agenda stated by Mr Williams second by Miss Frasier all those in favor I have a meeting I'm so sorry that's what happens when you have the gavel so I I want you to uh strive to one day hold this gavel so you bring everybody at ATT right now have a meeting so with that being said we are showcasing schools and this evening again it is the Aspire Online Academy and we have Patricia Parks the assistant principal so the floor is yours we'll try not to scare the young man again this is Aspire Online Academy and we are located at the Dr Pamela Robinson education center we are the terabytes now I'm going to lose this as soon as I get home because she's already seen it so you will lose it so this we're going to start off with a little bit of our student demographics we are a very diverse School even though we are online uh we have several different grade levels we are first through 12th grade and at this time I would like one of our students who has been with us since the beginning we've only been in existence for 4 years and she has been with us since the beginning hey my name is leani Rose Al Tiano I had the pleasure of presenting to the school leadership last year I have been part of the AOA since its Inception and my love for the AOA is boundless my the curriculum is designed to support students from various backgrounds within valuable assistance from our dedicated teachers the AOA also organizes inperson events allowing us to connect face Toof face with friends and enjoy ourselves the staff of AOA are incredible they not only help plan fun events and imperson days but they also assist us when we Face challenges such as technical issues with our computers grip activities are frequently assigned to the students and they truly enjoy these because Foster because they Foster responsibility and allow time for social iing with peers this school is genuinely remarkable and I wish nothing but success for the school during my elementary years at a different school I had some unpleasant experiences which led my parents and me to seek a new environment the AOA embraced me and I experienced very little bullying and negativity my grades improved significantly along with my overall attitude over time I made friends and we always spend time together previously I was reluctant to work with others but now I just can't stop talking with new people the AA has greatly enhanced my confident in many areas it has also illuminated my future with a bright blue light and going encourage me by saying hey in the future you're going to be a brighter so Additionally the AOA has helped me become more organized and responsible with my time so as you can see we are a small But Mighty staff we have three elementary teachers that for grades 1 through five we have four Middle School teachers for 6 through eight and we have two High School teachers uh for 9 through 12 but we also utilize Colorado digital learning Solutions teachers as well for our high schoolers to give them many options what makes us unique is there's a lot of things that I say we're unique about but some of the things that we do that are unique is we give students a safe online learning environment they have synchronous live online learning so they are face tace with teachers throughout the day so it's almost like they're in a class but they're not in a class and they also do some asynchronous learning which actually teaches them some time management and how to be more proactive in their own learning uh we have student and family in person events we invite our families to join us in any in-person event whether it's arts and crafts or wherever we may go they're always welcome to go with us and then we do we still do the the same as some of the high schools in our district we have work based learning we have concurrent enrollment we have internships for our high schoolers now we'd like to introduce Mr Roush he is going to speak to you also from online hi I'm Calvin Rous this is my fourth year teaching at AOA I teach sixth through 8th grade social studies AOA has provided me a very unique opportunity in that this was my first position out of college so I feel like I've kind of seen AOA come from the the ground up and I've been here through all our changes and our adaptability and as a professional it's given me an opportunity to really expand my digital um skills and abilities within education and also really learn how to work with students through a different medium than the traditional teaching sphere with our in-person days we provide an opportunity for our students to come in still get that social interaction instead of it being just they come in for eight hours and we have a traditional school day we provide them opportunities like our rocket day so while the online provides them the flexibility that they need especially if they are families from maybe a different part of the state or whatever are in person still gives them that social opportunity so they can build bonds with not only their teachers but also their peers so we are a very different School we're different than any other school that you all have to interact with and I think that's our uniqueness kind of gives us something that we have to appreciate so I also want to thank you all for your ability to support us in what we do it has been a very unque four years and every Year's look different but we've been flexible and we appreciate the support with that flexibility from last year's migration to working at home to this year some of us being in the building out of the building we just appreciate the support and hope for continued support from the board I just think that our school is a great fit for many of us and I know for some of our teachers and our staff this has been a blessing for them and again it is different and our uniqueness is what we aspire to be but because of that our families students and staff all Aspire for greatness so here we have our mission and if you'll notice our mission is really student centered and we focus on a diverse educational experience for our students online is a different world for students and you know when they come into the online World they may have one perception of it but then they gain so much more from what we actually offer them and so that's what we strive to be uh some of the key components that we use as an approach is we have personalized learning we do digital literacy our students could probably do more on a laptop than I ever could as a student uh just didn't know anything probably even now they can do more than I could do on a computer uh cultural competency uh critical thinking uh collaboration they still do collaboration even though they are in an online World um some of their benefits are they have a flexible learning schedule and they uh they can self-motivate themselves and it teaches them time management because they do have to follow time management preparation for future online work as you know a lot of colleges offer online classes our students are already learning that world so they will know be prepared for that world exposure to Global ideas how we support students so we have several things here that I will be asking people to come up and speak and our first one is the person who brought me aboard to Aspire Online Academy she began the school and I did ask her to speak and so now you will hear from Miss [Music] Young so this is Bittersweet um this has been an adventure but one of the wonderful ways that we support students is our flexibility with admin how we support them in the online environment they're able to physically come into the environment as needed when Aspire was um first thought of and then created um one of our initial opportunities that were that was presented to us was students who were in need with medical conditions students who needed that I need to stand but I get in trouble if I stay in the classroom all the time so the different unique components that make us who we are as students and as people for some of those who just need a different environment this became that environment so those students who couldn't be in class every single day in the physical world they were able to do that or they are able to do that in our online world and so our students who just need you know we have a few now I'm back in the building and I'm running down the hallway some days and we have those who just need that environment where it's not too many distractions and that's what Aspire um allows to take place and so as a admin team um we were able to actually divide and conquer but with an idea of how do we support around and not just be in one area and I know that sounds interesting because you would say but you're online Miss Young how does that function well online has a lot of components and so instead of just giving work one of the ways that we support students is applying components as you saw with Mr Roush they have all of this technology so they can see them evaluate talk to students while also talking to teachers but making the work visible to students so students are not working blindly they are getting immediate feedback in their learning environments um as they are working and applying their skills teachers are able to give feedback immediately so they're not waiting they don't have to wait that's one of the components of using the different platforms that we use and with those platforms it allows us to be able to evaluate better and give teachers more accademic focused feedback so that they can immediately have that responsive nature in their classroom environment so that's something that can doesn't seem unique but when you have to look at a screen display the work monitor what kids are doing and not everybody asks what do you mean monitor are you actually doing the work because it's easy to close the laptop and just walk in the other direction and so in that uniqueness we have no problem calling home we still made knocks on doors and making sure that students were in their learning environment but it provided them all of those pieces without it being missing in their everyday walk and so our uniqueness is we enjoy being a team that allows that to take place but to also make it the priority and every day our priority were academics and that's what student received as opposed to just here are your sheets work on it we'll give you some feedback later full on classes with live teachers that gave them Support also with um our counselors um they also are able to access them they have counselor connects so that uniqueness doesn't happen in every online World a lot of kids are in isolation in their online world we can truly say for AOA they are interactive they participate they're collaborating and they join as a team and a community thank you so uh at this time I would like to bring up Miss Myra gisa she is our register SL uh front desk slash secretary slash technology person her and I have learned a lot of Technology this year so she's become very good at the technology so I'd like her to speak good evening board members families staff and students of District 2 my name is myeta I am the principal secretary with Aspire Online Academy I started in April of 2024 and this is my first job in the education field it has been very interesting starting in an online environment seeing how students are able to be educated online instead of in person I prioritize communication within our school it is hard not being not being able to see students and families face to face so I make sure to provide regular updates detailed instructions and timely feedback I also check attendance daily to ensure students are on and actively participating we do encourage students to join us for monthly iners days so they can still interact with one another face to face I help families whose first language is Spanish by translating for them we help students feel safe I love being part of aspire Online Academy and now will say it in Spanish Aspire Online Academy super Aspire Online Academy okay so I don't know if you've noticed the slide but we do have on there awesome admin talented teachers Sensational support staff laa and now we have fantastic families and students I have a mom who was planning on being here but something happened and she wasn't able to make it but she did want me to read what she was going to say so she sent it to me she said hello everyone Aspire Online Academy has afforded me the opportunity to support my amazingly strong daughter Bella with a similar education as as her peers I enrolled Bella in 2024 during winter break when she was a kindergartener Bella had been in D2 since preschool but due to her devel velopmental disabilities and her being a medically fragile tra dependent kiddo she had required a nurse to escort her in school at the end of 2023 we no longer had a nurse to support Bella in school and so I looked into online courses and homeschool after having a discussion with the Aspire staff I knew switching to Aspire was best for her the transition was great we received our computer and supplies and attended orientation Aspire has been amazing with the online teaching and in-person days which we enjoy they have provided activities and welcomed parents to join in on in-person days with their kids miss BR Mrs brues has been with Bella for the past two years I appreciate how she teaches the kiddos at their level she does one-on ones makes learning fun the school staff has also been great I have always had great communication with Miss Myra and Mrs Parks as well as the D2 therapist I would definitely encourage parents with kids who prefer a smaller group learning setting to enroll with the spire and now I have another student that I would like to you know I'm working on delegating Authority so that's what I've been doing with this presentation so now I have another student coming forward to speak hello there my name is savan Kaden Alano I have been at AOA for two years starting in fifth grade I am prepared to tell you how awesome AOA is Miss ginster was a really nice teacher who always supported me in my classmates without work and communication now in sixth grade I love all my teachers who also taught my sister they create fun activities and encourage us to work in groups fostering teamwork and communication like my sister I also had some bad experience experiences at different schools however when I came here everything changed and I made great friends with my classmates sometimes we Face technology issues but they always help us out they often start our days with funny jokes that make the whole class laugh the work is enjoyable and I made great friends here the staff at AOA is in fan is fantastic keeping up with technology and organizing inperson days to connect with friends AOA is a diverse and a beautiful school and I wish it the best and last student student we will hear from is an online high schooler who came to me from Vanguard and she's been with us for two years and her name's Jordan Christensen and she couldn't be here tonight but she did want to do a video so I have a lot of different goals for myself and a lot of things that I'm definitely looking forward to um but because of a Spire I've been able to get ahead on so many things like just being able to finish my high school credits and already get started on my degree is just incredible and so I'm definitely extremely blessed and grateful for that I felt that I wanted to be able to have a more flexible schedule and to just be able to work and be able to like start basically the future that I wanted to build for my myself and I feel that Aspire really really helped me in doing that and also was extremely supportive I mean the program and just the schooling itself is extremely flexible it allowed me to get a full-time job while also still being an athlete and not to mention like extremely personal like Miss Park specifically like literally comes to a bunch of my games and just constantly checked up on me and it's just constantly emailing me and just checking up on how everything is going I mean I would definitely 1,000% like recommend this to any high school student not only because you can get ahead in your education and kind of move on to things that you want to do but it also allows you to get like a head start on just a flexible schedule with life and just getting started with your career to be able to get involved with a spire and to know that not only do they care about you prioritizing your future and your education but they also care about you and prioritize you and our interest in uh just the person that you're becoming I will forever be grateful and blessed for your guys's program just because you guys helped me not only get ahead in my education and prioritizing my future but also help me stabilize and prioritize me which in the end helps me extremely and just to give you a little background she is no longer taking courses in the high school she has been full-time college student for about the last two semesters so she is rocketed and I have an impromptu parent who would like to say something not what I came up here to say good evening everyone you guys have know this sorry photo bu she is the first AOA parent the first first is the worst first parent to register her student for AOA so she was the first parent and her husband and her two kiddos to walk into my office and that's how we started AOA yeah guys AOA is a family anybody that says otherwise is selling you something um my daughter was an expert at manipulating the system at the school she was at she was not turning in her homework she was failing her classes I am the product of European parents who believe in nothing less than a pluses so I grew up pretty strict and it was hard for me to imply those same beliefs on my kids we live in a different time um there was an issue with bullying at other schools that they were with we tried the wonderful parental let's be friends approach let's try this and after years and years of of going through this and seeing my kids coming home in tears we made the move to pull them out and put them in a Spire when it became available I was so nervous because everything that I have known was immediately swept from under my feet and uh they were just as nervous as I am today but I'm so proud of you guys their confidence has increased I'm so proud to say that they are honor rooll students I mean I barely had a part in it I sat behind a desk in Monument for hours a day and even with my absence and my husband home to help them their confidence has soared their public Outreach has sworded we have a great sense of pride in our community and they understand what a good role model and a good citizen is these days which is a rare find let's be honest so I want to attribute everything and thank everyone at AOA their incredible staff for allowing my kids to flourish and find out who they are with such confidence and so yeah I have very good things to say about them that's all I have for now very cute dog so I had an my instructional coach was going to be here tonight to speak she is here okay here she is to talk about about our data hi sorry I came in very quietly I please excuse the loudness of my family husband's deployed but I was not going to miss an opportunity to brag about my school that's just never going to happen I've been the instructional coach at AOA for the whole time that it's an existence for the last four years and I have had the pleasure to work with our teachers and with our students this data is you know I'm supposed to show it to you but I think we represent a whole lot more than what these numbers say but it's still my job um we do not have enough participation in our standardized tests to receive an SPF so I cannot show you that even though you probably are used to seeing that in these slides um we do have the standardized data for the students that do go take our Cass we service all of Colorado so asking our families that live in Denver to come over multiple days for Cass isn't just isn't something we're able to do but of the students that do participate you can see that we have um many of our Middle School element Elementary School exceeding and meeting those um grade level requirements we can really chalk that up to the excellent individualized instruction that our teachers provide I've never seen a middle school that has a um intervention block for every subject that they can provide not only scaffolds and supports but extensions and challenges for those students that are meeting grade level um we have other data too for I ready on the next slide I'm supposed to push a button there was training came with this I'm apologize this is our ready data as well for reading um the small tiny skinny bar underneath the larger bar is our um beginning of year data and then the bar above it is our um second middle of year so you've seen just in one half of the year we have already seen tremendous growth and um this is across our whole school so kind like sorry first grade up to 8th grade um this is reading and this is our math data and we know that math can be a struggle right now and we do highly recommend like we really want reading to be there but we have not skimped on the math a lot of our students have started to um get your grade level go beyond grade level and we're really proud of our individualized instruction that our teachers can provide thank you so this is a lot of information on this slide about how we support our students in building relationships and responsibility in the online education I do have a young man who will tell you the important key parts of this hi my name is Angelo I've been a student at Aspire Online Academy for now four years swapping for four years and this is something that I really enjoy oh an AOA or Aspire Online Academy has always created a friendly online community where we as students can work in small groups or whole groups online our teachers encourage us to be active listeners and to have conversations with them and others during our classes teachers have done connection circles with our class online as well we use padlet to communicate our interests with everyone in the class break rooms are used to teach us to collaborate with our peers and how to be leaders in the class being online students we are taught how to manage our time and how to stay organized in the online world we set goals to help us meet deadlines we learn to site sources conduct research how to use technology safely and how to be learn be good digital citizens we learn to take charge of our learning learning teachers get to know what the students need on and try to do their best thank you to Mr Rush Mrs Sebastian Mrs gear dorf Mrs Lee and thank you to all the staff members and workers at Aspire Online Academy for making up what I call a great awesome School so now I I just want to talk a little bit about our areas of focus we have two one of them is math achievement and growth as you can see we have shown some growth in math at our midyear uh already and so you know one of the things there's a lot of things that we are strategies that we're working on for our uip uh collaborative group work is very important to us productive struggle we introduced that this year and it's amazing to see the kids want to really try but know they're like I don't know what I'm doing but I'm going to try it anyway and then you know so that's really pushed them to a different level uh peer explanations to build literacy in math digital manipulatives focus on gradual Le release of responsibility they're the owners of their own learning and fostering literacy and math so those are just a few of the things that we focus on uh in our first uh area of focus our second one we geared this towards what our district has gone to is career connected learning and so we know that students in grade one through eight very seldom think about what they're going to do in their future or what kind of careers are out there for them or what does it take to be in that career field and so we really want to present this to our younger group of students so that when they get to high school they kind of have some ideas of where they want to go and how they want to get there and so we do some career interest surveys we are using zel in early grades not just in high school we are starting early with our zel we're doing Career Fairs we have one a family a career fair coming up in March for All Families all high schoolers all middle schoolers all elementary students so that they can see the different career Fields out there and then we also bring guest speakers in for students to talk about the different things that it takes to be in a certain career and so we are moving in that direction with our U as well and our last I know they didn't give me a time limit so but I this is just some attributes that we have as a Spire Online Academy you know we do live online instruction I've had Parents call back and want to know if I can take them even though they're moving to IND Indiana because they like how we do our program and I said well I can't cross the state line I'm only allowed to take students in Colorado and so but they do like the difference between our online program and other online programs because a lot of their work is a sync our students in first through 8th grade definitely are online with teachers all day and so they get that face Toof face just like they're in a classroom uh we do a variety of class offerings high school has a whole page of uh electives that they can take in different career Fields uh criminology forensic science uh me medical terminology nursing they can take all of those courses online with us um we also offer asynchronous and synchronous we think asynchronous is important for students online because they have to learn to stay do their time management and finish their work in a timely fashion and so that asyn work does help them become better owning their learn owning their learning and becoming better Learners uh focus groups we have intervention for all grades uh flexible staff our staff have been very flexible technology has been a struggle this year but our staff M they go through it they support them they help them through Hands-On engagement we do those in person we try everything handson and then collaboration across D2 schools this year we took our school and we are in in the Dr Pamela Robinson education center we have CRA mid middle school and um we took them with us and we invited um we invited moday with us and we took their first graders and we all went up to the Air Force Academy planetarium it was an awesome trip for everyone and everyone had a great time so thinking in terms of what we can do across our district to support other kids my algebra teacher for one teaches not just ninth graders she teaches eighth graders in several of our other middle schools because they don't have algebra so we don't want them to lose out on that opportunity to get that credit and so that's AOA are there any question hi hi I don't have any questions well I did have a question about how many students does AOA support but I I think I saw the numbers on on so physically um our enrollment current AOA is enrollment currently is around 150 students um and that is that is 1 through 12th okay and I remember four years ago how enthusiastic you were about AOA and the enthusiasm is the same energy is still present and so I um I appreciate the the the diverse Pathways to education that our district provides and I really appreciate the students presenting today because it really does reflect on the district and you all meeting the needs meeting students where they're at and it's not just online to your point give them their homework and then just let them go it really is building skill sets and capacity for our young students through high school and so um doing community work I I really appreciate that we are starting earlier talking about career Pathways um I've known Jordan Christensen since she was probably in the third grade really interacted with her until she um went to middle school she is a busy person she is very um disciplined and so to see I think to make that connection with somebody I know really just singing your Praises I I know her I know her parents and it's like wow okay and yes she is very involved in sports among other things and so I just there's so much credibility in having student voice and students presenting and you all are amazing um and Mom you're you're great for for being courageous and coming up here I think I think um really the challenges that our students face people don't understand and when you've done all of the things that you can do putting your Children First and and really um stepping out of those traditional ways of education and trusting our staff and our district to support the needs of your student I think that was very courageous thank you for doing that I just want to oh I'm so sorry I just want to commend you in a world of technology where we sometimes complain that our kiddos won't look at us at the dinner table and so on um just the aspect of how you take technology to educate our children but you also understand that social aspect because of the world they live in so I just thank you for you can just see so many connections if you didn't know it was online you would think that these young people are in in the building every day so just thank you for making those personal connections just as important as the academics I wanted to share um when I'm in the building visiting CRA Myra she greeted me at the front door when you walk in you don't know one from the other because it is a family and everyone is helping everyone out but I wanted to just commend you all because an is it Angelo Angelo Angelo when I was there one night for C's um Thanksgiving Angelo doesn't know it but I overheard him in one of the exercises we were participating in and he was saying what time is it I've got to get my assignment done he was so excited and I was saying what grade is he and it was just wonderful he's looking at me now and he's saying like where do I know you from but I remember he was so excited about getting his assignment done so I commend you all for your enthusiasm for the whole just the whole atmosphere is great I did have uh one question and I wanted to know how do the students work uh um work work in an athletic program or sports with their uh their schooling I don't understand how that works so when they're in an online school they can go to their home school to play any sport and so um I'll be honest I have students from James Irwin who play volleyball I go watch that I have students at Sierra that play basketball I have students at Vanguard I just gained a Vanguard student that plays lacrosse so apparently I need to learn lacrosse cuz I know nothing about it uh but I do support them in all their sports that they do they can do any club or anything that they want outside of our we just hook them up with a with one of the schools with their home school and then we work it out with the school thank you yeah so that they can participate thank you so um I heard something that really piqued my interest and it was be good digital citizens coming from a young person is that you Angelo come come up to the mic and expand on what does that mean exactly to be a be a good digital citizen well in a school being in online school it's kind of like being citizens of a country except for the except for except for there's different things and I and I've been I'm starting to get as confused as you um I really I I I think it probably has to do with maybe being like being part of the school and being and going to personal things and different things and I don't know I don't know that's I'm that's what I'm getting out of it but um I don't know I I don't know I guess it's like being in a being a citizen of a state you got all these uh people who are trying to make sure you do well and follow the laws and then you got kids that had problems and yeah and then you got a different types of students and maybe that's what I don't know they're referring to I don't know as much either well I think yeah I think you did a good job of explaining it because it makes sense to be a good digital citizen should be synonymous to being a good citizen in real life yes sir that was uh fantastic I appreciate his character is yes that was I have a follow-up question um Angelo how many years or how long have you been a citizen of the Dig digital world come up to the microphone four years wow four four years now if you're talking about the school I'm yes I think that's pretty amazing I know it's fun to be at the school really fun and your explanation of citizenship was amazing thank you that means a lot of coming from high Authority from you thank you can I tell you a secret can I tell you a secret is not really a secret yeah I I think Leo Medina Mr Leo Medina is your grandfather yes that is very true and he's an awesome grandfather okay my My secret is many many many many years ago your grandfather and I worked at the same place Western Forge yes oh was he good guy was he a good worker you are definitely a prod Mr Leo Medina so thank you for you you I you know what I'm I'm expecting great things out of you thank you I've never heard that before yeah I I'm expecting great things and and and thank you so much for your level of passion and enthusiasm want to congratulate everyone in the school this was a wonderful presentation exceeded our expectations and we look forward to hearing more about what you all accomplish in the future thank you very much and you guys are awesome as well keep up the good job sure how I'm supposed to come behind that um um president wiill I just have to say and Angelo for your information uh your grandmother and I we also have known each other for several several years decades even um yes yes so I believe we have some giveaways so everyone if you would come up we'll take a picture of you and we have something for you e e e e that was a uh outstanding um presentation by AOA so at this time we are going to continue on with our agenda we at um item number five communicating with the board and we have here this evening a special guest with us um it is uh city councilman councilwoman council member Yolanda Avala to do a presentation on behalf of the City of Colorado Springs am I supposed is it on yes okay great um so good evening board and students and attendees as well as Buenas noes it's such an honor and a privilege to be here before you uh president Michelle willhill vice president JJ Frasier uh director Pam Robinson director Joyce Salazar and director Corey Williams it's when I think about the service that you give voluntarily I hear you get a siphon now but that ain't nothing um I'm and but I'm glad that you do it it makes such a difference and to hear the voices you did make me come after Angelo not fair so not fair but um I'm so glad to be here as maybe all of you know oh I have to bring pum over here I only have two and a half months left of counsil so this is extremely special because I came when I was first elected and now as I'm uh leaving Council uh I get to come here before this board my sister Rosa Aila and my brother Jimmy Avila graduated from Harrison High School and we lived on Norwood in strep meows and I attended Chamberlain Elementary School I know it's not there anymore but it was great and I know even back then I got a really Superior education and you the board has continued to do that so I am here to everything looks different for me right um to present the proclamation and we have a a recording of that Norma do you want to hit the button all right Colorado Springs School District 2 School Board appreciation month January 2025 whereas the district 2 School Board creates a vision for what students know and are able to do and whereas School boards establish clear standards for student performance and ensure that student assessments are tied to established standard and whereas Colorado Springs district 2 School Board aligned the school district resources to ensure that students meet the standards and whereas the district 2 School Board creates a climate that supports the philosophy that all children can learn at high levels and whereas The District Two School Board is committed to continuous education and training on issues related to student achievement and whereas the board has been providing quality education to the Colorado Springs School District 2 children for over 150 years and where at the City of Colorado Springs and Colorado Spring School District 2 have a collaborative relationship built on trust and teamwork to make the community a better place for all now therefore I Yolanda Aila call to Spring City Council District 4 do hereby officially Pro CL claimed January 23rd 2025 as Colorado Spring School District 2 School Board appreciation month in witness whereof I have here on to set my hand and cause the Great Seal of the City of Colorado Springs be a fixed to this 23rd day of January 2025 signed by President Randy Helms Colorado Springs City Council thank you for that that's that's always fun to do so um January 23rd is pretty significant too and that's Puma's birthday he's 10 today so it's pretty exciting to be here on the day so that's what I have to present thank you so much for your hard work your diligence taking care of the students and always having them at the for Forefront of your mind and what you bring to this District I I'm so proud of a District 4 but will you bring the entire col of Springs thank you all thank you you you'd like to take a picture with you if you don't mind I'd love to I wish Angela were in it oh and I learned everything I could learn about online schooling so that was terrific e council member ABA I would just like to say thank you for your diligence in the support of the southeast colar Springs Community you are an example of leadership tenacity and care and concern um for everything that happens in our community so I appreciate you coming tonight I'm wearing my Cod CU I'm really cold and I know it's not always convenient to come out in the evening when it's freezing um but I appreciate you being here it is it is truly an honor for you to be here tonight thank you We are continuing on we're going to item 6 point I'm sorry no we're not we're going to 5.2 and so we are going to turn it into the hands of Dr Mike claudo Madame President members of the board thank you for so much for giving us the opportunity to share with you some of the presentations and some of the celebrations that we have within this District but before we start with the board we'd like to start with our student board reps um and we'll start with with Misha Misha has been on on the board for the last couple of years and we just appreciate his leadership throughout whether he's catching for the softball pitchers to get them ready to go in or he's at a basketball game cheering on we just appreciate his leadership um and we see that his principal Connor Bodwin is here to present him with a gift for his time on the board um there's I could go on truly at length uh I do wish I had Angelo to back me up and talk about how you're amazing at everything you do uh but when you talk about a a high school student the the number number one thing we always talk about is find your people find your path um and for for the kids that walk around Sierra High School we know that looks a lot of different ways but we know the number one thing uh that we look for is can you find your people and can you get engaged with something and and you've got engaged with everything you know from Sports to to this what an amazing opportunity um you know I now have the very big and important task of finding somebody to fill fill that seat and and the shoes that you know you filled and the space that you left uh you know when we talk about excellence and every Endeavor that looks a lot of different ways you are somebody we are not worried about whatever you do next you will do well um and it's so much because of the experiences that you've had um we look for holistic development and you're a perfect example so so congratulations you have done an amazing job of representing the Cardinal in gold and we're proud of you Aidan this is your first year but you've made an impact since you've been here from being on the cross country team to showing up at all of the athletic events but making sure that you were doing fundraisers by selling us socks and so we appreciate that and those were great gifts as we gave them out to um our team so Mr varg is here to present to Aiden so Aiden I can also stay here all day talking about you and and uh this is coming from all of us at HHS um we thank you I I I can't imagine um how you do it um you're cross country uh your spare time I don't know what you do I I saw today that you're number one on the board for the top 10 as a junior so um me personally I am so proud of you and you came up to me this time last year you said Mr Vargas I'm going to sit on that board and you also told me I'm going to be the I'm going to be the B and there's no doubt in my mind that's going to happen so thank you this comes from all of us I love you to death man e e we want to recognize all of our board members who work tirelessly and are at several most of our events all around the district uh we have uh tonight um our superintendent Dr bur Hansel is being um awarded women of influence and uh she's not here tonight and several of our principal and executive team are with her so um that's why they're not all here tonight and uh it was a nomination from Rise that uh gave her that award so thank you for that uh if you would please come up front and um Mr Vargas if you'll join her Dr Valdes Miss tonson and Dr ganet please can't see I can't there you go please have to watch this all eyes on the screens please a voice for students shining bright from Hall she walked as a parent of Pride to chaping dreams on a districtwide ride [Music] inspirational leading the way she fights for the fure of kids every day a Beacon of Hope Advocate true in Harrison D heart her passion Grady for every student makes a choice to uplift to empower to help them all with alive so here's the leader with vision and will the board president Miss Michelle Wills Hill for every step she takes she pavs the way building brighter tomorrow starting today [Music] those those were students from Mountain Vista Community School thank you Dr Val this principles if you'll stand on the side over there please we'll take a picture with everybody after we're through with the rest of the board members okay thank you so so much uh next Miss Frasier and uh the cluster that works with Miss Frasier is um Carmel Community um with Kelly Moore C Ravens with Mr Dunn Gerson wild cats with Miss Young Talia Young and O the Oak Creek cougars Mrs Linda Donaldson Miss Frasier is always everywhere all the time so we figured we would make sure that you knew how much we appreciate your presence and your support I have been a part of your group just recently but it has been a joy to have your presence to have your support to cheer us on and to make sure whatever we need it's there so we wanted to make sure you were the center of attention but also to know that our Prince are here and we're growing them and it's because of your support and what you're giv us and so from our entire team we are elated to honor you thank you next Mr Williams and his schools are uh Amy Bonine with uh Otero Elementary School Mr Brian Relic with soring eagles is at the event with Dr bur Hansel um let's see I'm sorry Mr Derek fleshman please from Fox Meadow and last but of course not least Patty Parks from does anybody know where she's [Music] from so first we wanted you to recognize each School individually so this box repres so we have the two there and we have the there we have some artwork for you to enjoy we want you to enjoy got when I in there prob was thinking of her when I put those in there but then you have a gratitude jar so every day you can pull something out and read something positive thank you we just [Applause] thank you next we have Mrs Salazar and Ivan paa is the brave wonderful person because everyone else on her team is with Dr bur Hansel so uh part of that team nomin that's right and we're glad you're here uh Jenny courtier from from Bricker him nois at Centennial Amy nun at Sand Creek and of course ivant Pia with Thrive Academy so thank you can I give you a hint yes I did thank you next uh we want to honor Dr Pam Robinson and uh Stratton Meadows is one of your schools and Jared Stanley is also with Dr bansel tonight uh from terman elementary Janet Thomas Panorama cougars an anra gagos is not with us tonight and Sierra stallions honor Bodwin thanks guys [Laughter] things um but you know and this to the entire board you know anytime anybody asks about working in this District it's it's proud to say we have a board that lets us do the work right and and that's the immediate head nod and we know the work is is supported by everyone but specifically knowing that you've been in our seat before Dr Robinson Le is is something that is incredibly call me not that we don't trust everyone um but to have that insight to be able to bring when we're we're talking about important issues and and things that we're trying to accomplish so um we're incredibly grateful that you're on this board and [Applause] now everyone come forward so we can get a picture with the board our student board reps Dr Claudio everyone that is here please not everybody here but you know what I mean B do [Applause] to I have I have thank you know we all thank you everyone can speak for themselves but thank you for doing what you do every day know I could say with confidence it's a pleasure to serve welcome us into your faces let us walk with your children and talk to your support your children babies but ditto ditto ditto 10 times over but I did want to share please know that this work that we do is so rewarding and you provide us an Avenue to go over into your buildings into your space to see your Worth to see your kids and the them just thriving tonight was an excellent example Harrison has wonderful outstanding children our students are outstanding and I will match them up to anybody so thank you all for all that you do we couldn't thank you enough so I just want to say I to am a graduate of Harrison High School 1982 was when I graduated and I will say um I was an angry student had I had all of the opportunities that we provide students today I would have Fast Track um through life differently and so part of the reason that I do the work that I do here and in community is because I never wanted to see somebody fall through the crack so I appreciate all of the work that you all do and it is my great pleasure to serve this District today that was not the case in 1982 or in 1992 or in 2002 but it is now and so I am so proud to serve this District to represent this district and our students and our staff so I want you to know that as much as you appreciate us I and I think I could speak for the board we appreciate you I appreciate you guys so much you don't even understand when when I step into any school not just my schools but if when I step into any school especially when I have my daughter with me my daughter soaks in that information so much I see her grow before my very eyes and to witness that because my dad didn't couldn't see those things but I see those things I appreciate you guys for growing my child with because that's that's that's the best thing in the world for me to see her in that environment and to see her pick up books at AOA and put the books back where they're supposed to be and to see her go and play with kids at Gerson at at at playtime and for her to walk into the English class at Fox Meadow and see them reading and she wants to do those things it's just it's amazing to me so to know that I have a you guys are a support system for me as well as I love to pour into this community but to see my daughter benefiting from that is is the world to me so I appreciate you guys I say ditto um definitely appreciate you all you are boots on the ground um throughout this Bond you've moved in you've moved out you've moved in you've moved out but you kept on moving and so I appreciate you I appreciate you trusting that a former colleague can be a voice for you and I want you to be reassured I know things might move slow or sometimes not even move but you do have a board who yes we are student centered but we know happy principles happier teachers the happiest students so we definitely appreciate the work that you do and thank you so much for appreciating this try to get the [Music] student G try again I really do appreciate everything you guys do growing up in this community going B flower Panorama n Sierra just the growth that I that's been instilled in me being able to dream big because that's what I've told I can do thank you just want to say thanks and I just appreciate everything I have received all from D2 I have tried my parents try to put me in other schools other than D2 I didn't last that long because it didn't show me the ways how D2 has made me a student leader I just really appreciate all the efforts all the support and everything that has came to help develop me into somebody who I want to be in the future thank you de thank you because you're still here because sometimes we not we understand though if you have to if you have to go we do understand okay so U we are moving on in our agenda communicating with the public there was no comments this evening so we get to skip past that go seven matters reserved for board action um we know that next month is Black History Month we do have a resolution G to ask Mr Williams if you Madame President Harrison School District Number Two Black History Month resolution whereas Black History Month is celebrated every February as tribute to the achievements of African-Americans who have shaped American history from 169 19 to the election of the first black President and Vice President of the United States of America in 2008 and 2020 respectively and Beyond and whereas a week was chosen in February 1926 to celebrate black history as it acknowledged the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln on February 12th and Frederick Douglas on February 20th both of whom were recognized as champions of freedom and equality for all men and whereas in the 1960s America experienced the civil rights movement and prominent civil rights activists supported the evolution of the weekend two and entire month and whereas Black History Month is now celebrated in the United States during the month of February and is promoted by a yearly theme which for 2025 is African-Americans and labor this theme highlights the central role that labor has played in the Black American Experience from the agricultural labor of enslaved Africans to the establishment of Black Wall Street it also highlights the role of organized labor in challenging social and economic injustices and whereas Harrison School District number two believes in honoring the achievements and Heritage of African-Americans during Black History Month and whereas Harrison School District number two believes in celebrating African-Americans that have shared their talents for the betterment of American society such as th Good Marshall Martin Luther King Jr George Washington Carver Sojourner Truth KET Tubman adab whales Frederick Douglas Booker T Washington web de Bo and countless others that have inspired America to respect the dignity and and equality of all people and whereas Harrison School District number two believes America is better off and stronger because African-American leaders have helped America for generations to strive for equality democracy and the truth that all people are created equal now therefore VI it resolve that the Board of Education of Harrison School District number two hereby proclaims the month of February 2025 to be the black to be Black History Month in District 2 the district will observe throughout the year and through various programs and activities and the contributions African-Americans have made and continue to make in our nation in witness whereof we have unto set our hands and caused the official seal of Harrison School District number two to be here unto AIX this 23rd day of January 2025 be it resolved by the Board of Education of Harrison School District Two in the county of El Paso and state of Colorado that the amounts shown in the following schedule thank you be it resolved by the Board of Education of Harrison school School District 2 in the county of El Paso and state of Colorado that the amount shown in the following schedule be my apologies everyone oh it's it's much more simple than I've been reading okay here we go Madame President I move to adopt the Black History Month resolution as stated second motion to adopt the black his month resolution by Mr Williams second by Dr Pam Robinson those in favor I I going on to um item 7.2 which is adoption of the fiscal year 2025 midyear budget modifications chance to look at documents comments we are moving on to item 7 point Madame President be a resolve by the Board of Education of Harrison School District 2 in the county of El Paso and state of Colorado that the amount shown in the following schedule be appropriate to each fund as approved on January 23rd 2025 for the current fiscal year beginning July 1 2024 and ending June 30 2025 second motion to um the midyear budget by Mr Williams second by Miss Frasier favor I I caring for we're moving on to item eight consent agenda minutes of the December 12th 20 work session meeting item 8.2 D7 Financial Administration monitor report five item 8.3 treatment of stakeholders monitor five item 8.4 Personnel Administration indicator report I need him Madam president I move to approve the board agenda second motion by Mr Williams to approve agenda second by m Bazar all those in favor item nine in consent agenda the January personnel and compar [Music] item no other discussion I mam president I move to approve superintendent consent agenda second to approve January Personnel report second by m all those in favor I approved to 10 plan there anything we need to add to our Retreat and q& a High School I can work with him on did you want to do it in February and in March is it better for February absolutely we then we need to talk about um dates for oh I'm looking treat ramifications how does Friday the 21st it's we're going to add Friday the 21st Mee that we've already okay thank you so if there's nothing else we're move to item 10.2 yes we do have legislative updates uh the bills they're popping up left and right um actually since uh this meeting started I've been notified of another one this one's actually pretty interesting you know um under State Statute uh high school students are only toic and containing information regarding Hol and that's it so the rest of the high school uh course catalog um is all prepared by school district and the the requirements to well there's a a new bill I don't have a number details app uh it would require students to successfully complete a course in financial literac High School don't have the details on that that's an interesting one um some other ones to highlight uh Bill introduced yesterday Senate Bill 73 which uh applies to military connected children with disabilities military students with IEPs and to move into a school district but go to a private District the public school district would be required to support I that is another dat is one um also going to want to watch um Senate bill 27 which would require school districts to adopt trauma enforced safety practices during really like to hear more about that that would look um we've also got the the food waste bill which is intriguing and would help save the environment but what that bill encourages is um for schools to have food waste policies and to consider family style which is difficult with the uh USDA Food and Drug Administration require with regards to public education and providing food so we'll see how we we'll continue to monitor that one um and then just on the horizon federally uh we've heard about uh House Bill 370 which would prohibit the provision of federal funds to any state or local educational agency that denies or prevents participation in constitutionally protected prayer in schools and then uh 369 this one would provide for the elimination of the Department of Education so bills to watch so anything else saying in certain places all minds are clear we are going to item 11 I just need a recommended motion at this Madam president with no further business I move to adjourn the Board of Education board meeting motion to dismiss and adjourn by Mr Williams second by Mrs Salazar all those in favor I I this meeting is attor thank you e for