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[music] hey, hey. The time is now 5:06. The board has completed our executive session and will now continue with the study portion of this meeting. The first agenda item is a special public comment session for the community to share their thoughts with the board related to the potential MLO
in November. Please note that during public comment, the board does not engage in discussion with or respond to individuals. Each speaker or group has been given a number. The board invites you to come up in that order. When the person before you completes their comments, you may step up to the podium. We listen with respect and ask those who
address the board to do the same. As a reminder, individual speakers will have three minutes and groups will have 10 to address the board. Guest with card number one, please join us at the front. Welcome Tom Coin Lakewood, [clears throat] your board wonders why so many people in
Jeffco don't trust you. Let me give you an example. In 2010, we moved to Jeffco from the Canadian province of Alberta, which has one of the highest performing education systems in the world. On the latest OECD pizza assessment, Alberta 15year-olds ranked seventh in the world in math and second in literacy and
science. These results didn't happen by accident. They're the result of the 13-year Alberta Initiative for school improvement. One key element of that was a strong tie between improved academic performance and higher teacher pay. Pay was treated as a reward, not an entitlement. It only
it only went up after performance improved, not before. And voters approve tax increases to pay for those rewards. Today, the top pay step for a teacher in Alberta with a masters is about 112,000 Canadian. And they can be dismissed for poor performance by the Alberta Teaching
Profession Commission. Comparison with Jeffco is painful. In our district, top pay for a teacher with a masters is about [clears throat] 102,000. Due to the union contract in state law, it is effectively impossible to fire a Jeffco teacher for poor performance.
And if they retire at 60 after a 35-year career, they walk away with a lifetime pension of 89,150 a year. In 2019, only 51% of Jeffco eth graders met or exceeded state ELA standards. In 2025, just 49% did. In
2019, just 42% of Jeffco eighth graders met or exceeded state math standards. By 2025, nothing had changed. It was still 42%. And this is happening in a county where 52% of adults have bachelor's degrees or higher. You can't blame these terrible
results on poverty because the percent of economically challenged students in Jeffco actually declined between 2019 and 2025. But despite no improvement in academic results between 2019 and 25, over the same period, union control boards have
increased Jeffco teachers pay by a shocking 53%. This wasn't a reward for improving our children's education results. No, it was the result of JCA getting their candidates elected and controlling the Jeffco board of education. Later this evening, you'll see a presentation
showing that if the proposed MLO passes, $55 million or about 75% of voters higher taxes will go to even higher teacher pay regardless of our children's academic results. And Jeff Go's budget will be back in deficit.
JCA will of course threaten voters that teachers will leave if we don't pay them more. It's not going to happen. Many districts won't give them credit for all their years of Jeffco experience. Cherry Creek will only give them a maximum of six years. Jeffco teachers aren't going to take a pay cut to leave. And if they
look for jobs in the private sector, they'll discover that the corporate training jobs teachers used to get are now digital, online, and being done by AI. The blunt truth is this. Jeffco teachers don't deserve another penny of our tax money unless voters see substantial improvement in our
children's academic results. But your board's going to give them a big raise anyway and keep turning a blind eye to Jeff Go's epidemic of child sex abuse cases. That's why nobody trusts you. >> Thank you.
>> I believe that's our only speaker. I'm going to look across to make sure that's correct. Okay. Thank you to those who participated in public comment. We will now move forward with the study portion this evening. First, the board will receive presentation to review the district's
financial outlook and evaluate potential funding options, specifically examining proposed dollar amounts, intended uses, and budget forecasts for a general purpose mill levby override and a special purpose mill levy override to facilitate an informed transparent board discussion. Welcome
presenters. Uh please introduce yourself at the table. We've allotted 60 minutes for the presentation and please include time for us to ask questions at the end of the presentation. Before I turn it over to our presenters, Superintendent Stein, is there anything you would like to add?
>> I think >> just a few things that I'm hoping that that we'll all get out of the session tonight. First is we're going to hear from some staff and consultants about the needs and the potential that MLO might address. um and then any recommendations they have about how the
board might want to move forward. Um second is to address any of your questions and concerns and make sure that you have all the information you need to make informed decisions. And then third is really to put this out there for our community so that our community has a chance to hear your thoughts and del deliberations and have
access to all the information um so that so that they understand any decision that the board might be making in a couple weeks. Great. Uh, so I think we'll do ladies first, guys. Uh, I'm Brena Copelan. I'm the
chief financial officer here in the district and I'm going to open with a couple comments. Um, this presentation is more budgety uh than usual perhaps. Um, but and I'm also hoping that it becomes really clear why um, we think we
need this money and what we plan to do for it. I think that a key question folks often have for us is what are you really going to do with the money? So, we want to make sure we're really transparent about our intended uses of this. You know, in summary, Jeffco gets
12% below average in terms of our combined per pupil money and special purpose mill levy compared to our adjacent districts. That's 12% lower. And so, what can you do with 12% less
money? Um, in theory, you can only pay 12% less or you can try and be closer to competitive and staff less. Those are really your levers to pull in a big district. There just aren't a lot of variable costs other than people and how
many of them and how much we pay them. Um so some of that will be in this presentation. When it comes to capital, um we have no real source of dedicated funding for our capital. And capital
includes broadly speaking a lot of different important maintenance for our buildings as well as technology. um and potentially on occasion rebuilding things. And so without that, we really um cannot maintain adequately
our important school facilities and athletic facilities. And so I want to be clear um without additional new revenue. Uh we really don't have money dedicated to that. So that's a that's a real need and concern. So um those are our topics.
With that, I'm going to hand it to Brian Sammons. >> Oh, who's going to introduce himself, but let's pause and do full introductions, everybody. >> Mattuce. >> Oh, okay. Matt Polo, chief of staff.
>> Jeff Gatlin, chief operating officer. Good evening. My name is Mark Streo. the executive director of facilities and construction. >> And hello, I'm Brian Sammons, director of budget. So, I'm going to kick off this context setting that we have first. Um, so before we move into the
discussion of potential mill levy impacts, I think it's helpful to first revisit the district's current financial position. These next few slides summarize the FI27 adopted budget and provide the baseline financial assumptions that were in place when the budget was approved in June.
Here's a highle summary of the FI27 adopted budget for both the general fund and capital reserve fund. The budget approved by the board in June was built assuming no additional revenue from either general purpose milly override or special purpose mill levy. During the 27 budget development process, the district
implemented the budget reduction blueprint resulting in approximately $40 million in ongoing budget reductions in the general fund. Even with those reductions, the district continues to rely on fund balance to support ongoing operations. So on this slide, I like to draw your attention to the fund balance use
reflected at the bottom of the table. In FI26, the district budgeted a use of of approximately 49 million of fund balance. However, the current forecast is approximately 51 million and could increase further based on current expenditure trends. Likewise, the 27
adopted budget reflects the use of approximately 13 million of fund balance. Given current enrollment trends, it's reasonable to expect the 27 use of fund balance could increase when we return with the FY227 revised budget if no additional revenue is approved by voters.
So when the district was faced with an estimated $60 million budget gap, the district implemented the budget reduction blueprint for FI27 to identify ongoing budget reductions and new revenue sources. Through that process, approximately 26.8 8 million in ongoing budget reductions were identified within
district departments while approx approximately 13.5 million were identified within schools as shown on the far right side of the slide. General administration experienced the largest percent reduction relative to its budget at 15%. Reflecting the district's effort to minimize the impact of reductions on
classrooms whenever possible. Okay, so this slide illustrates the district's multi-year general fund forecast based on the assumptions that were included in the FY27 adopted budget. While the budget reduction blueprint improved the district's financial position, the forecast continues to show the use of fund balance in both 28 and 29.
Two assumptions are important to note. First, revenue is predicted to decline in FI28 despite assumed inflationary increases of 2.9% to per people revenue primarily due to the continued enrollment declines. Second, the forecast does not include salary cola
increases in FI27 or FI28 due the projected revenue constraints. Building on the multi-year forecast, it's also important to understand the district's long-term outlook of spendable fund balances. For purpose of this analysis, a spendable fund balance represents the reserves that are
available for the district's use and exclude TAR reserves, which are legally required and not available for expenditures. Assuming no new mill levies or no change of current financial plans, spendable fund balance continue to decline in both the general fund and capital reserve funds over the next few years. By the
end of FI28, spendable reserves are projected to decline to approximately 62 million in the general fund and 9 million in capital reserve fund. It's also important to note that facility sales remain the primary source of outside revenue supporting the capital reserve fund, averaging approximately 10 million
annually. Brenn, is there anything here you'd like to add? So, I just wanted to share with the board that some of the spend uses that the board has approved recently for the general fund um and recently is going to go back about five years
includes things like um in my first couple of years we had a bunch of really small elementary schools. And we knew that to continue to staff and operate those schools um it cost a certain amount of money and it cost more than it typically would per pupil in a um larger
school. but the decision was made to avoid disruption um to the students themselves that we would create a runway for those schools. So that's that's one example. Um, we also sometimes have fewer kids than we forecast. And um, the
the forecasting that my team does in terms of enrollment has gotten incredibly good. And at the same time, um, we're already experiencing yet again this year. Um, greater declines than we forecasted. We forecasted declines and the declines themselves are a little bit
bigger. And so trying to figure out midy year actual changes to a budget is almost impossible. And so when we don't have as many kids, we don't get as much revenue. And by definition, unless we decrease our expenses, we are going to
dip into reserves. And that has happened pretty steadily um every year I've been here. Um sometimes we have capital needs that aren't otherwise planned. Um an example of that would be Fletcher Miller. And so quite um a decent amount
of money was transferred into the capital reserve fund largely out of the district's reserves to fund that project. Um and it was a priority for a number of different reasons. Um but that's another example of kind of a one-time use that uh this board has used
in the past. So when we think about spendable reserves and what are some examples of the types of things we use spendable reserves on? Um I would characterize it as stability for students um ability to provide a runway for significant changes to our schools
and important critical one-time needs. >> Thank you, Miss Copelan. Okay. So, as part of the annual budget process, the district reviews both the current budget year and the multi-year financial outlook. When a district adopts a budget that uses fund balance and projected fund balance use continues
throughout the multi-year forecast, Colorado statute requires the district to develop a high level plan of action and include that plan within a budget resolution. As we just reviewed, the FI27 adopted budget includes the use of fund balance and projected fund balance use continues throughout the forecasted period. The next slide outlines the
district high level action plan pathway to address the ongoing structural imbalance. As part of the FY27 budget resolution, the district identified two potential pathways to align revenue and expenditures. The first is through voter approval of a general purpose mill levy override and or a special purpose mill
levy. If approved, those revenues would first be used to offset plan fund balance use. If additional revenue is not approved, the district would need to continue identifying structural expenditure reductions to align ongoing revenue and expenditures. Several example of those potential actions are listed on this
slide. I'm going to now turn it over to Brena to review the financial impact of the general purpose millia override. Great. So, here is Colorado revised statute um that references what a mill levy
override um is and is for and broadly speaking it's for um district operations programs and services can be you can be more specific than that but that is what the statute says. So, how is um MLO capacity? This is
something that we've mentioned before, but I want to make sure the board and the public really understand this idea of a capacity figure or a cap, so to speak, on how much mill levy override we collect. I think the key message for
voters that I hope folks hear is um this moves with enrollment. So, if the district is shrinking and our um school formula funding is shrinking, then the taxes we're going to collect are
shrinking. And so really um you're you know the community is only ever paying money for the kids we serve, which is hopefully a reassuring concept. It's a little bit of a difficult budget concept, but that's no different than the rest of the general fund budget um
in terms of how we've had to manage over the past several years. So again, the the capacity, the total mill levy override or the cap, the maximum amount we could collect um is computed based on what's called total program, and that's just the formula for funding that the
state sets. There's other parts of funding that the state doesn't set, but that's the formula they set. Um existing mill levy overrides reduce that capacity, meaning they use up a portion of it. Um if uh if we're if things move
forward this fall, we would be able to collect up to 28% of total program. That would be our maximum cap. And so again, anytime total program moves and it would move with enrollment, it moves with inflation, etc. Um it would adjust what we collect.
A rising property value does not increase or change the cap, only that formula. and therefore enrollment and inflation change the cap. So, um, in prior board meetings and in public discussion this spring with the
partnership, we've started to look at potential ballot language. Um, so up top you see some of the standard stuff and at different times we've had a blank for um, how many millions might we collect um, if if this measure move forward. Um,
in the spring we had sort of a placeholder estimate of around 75 million. Um, as the enrollment picture got a little more clear and the state funding formula got a little more clear, we fine-tuned that. Um, and so the current estimate, and we do need to
furnish the district's correct and current estimate for how much this new tax might raise, the current estimate is that it would raise 73 million. And that is directly related to declining enrollment and confirming final
variables on the school finance formula. Um, so that's why that number is now 73. And as we move forward together, um, we're going to say 73. Okay. So, what's the timing of collections? And this is an important note both from
a budget lens um and what you know the lens of what are we going to do with money um when it first starts coming in. So, if voters approved a new um MLO in the fall andor a special purpose mill
levy um this board is a taxing authority. You certify the mills for collection each December. You do that every December and you have to do it between December 10th and December 15th. Um and we then submit that to the tax collector. Revenue starts coming in to
us on a cash basis in March. Um taxpayers start to pay it a little sooner, but in terms of when we get a distribution um from the county tax assessor, that that starts to roll in in March um and runs all the way through August. Now
obviously that bleeds into the subsequent um fiscal year on a cash basis. The first full budget year in which you know that you have the money available to include in your adopted budget um is the 2728. So if you'll
recall and Mr. Sammon summarized this the current year's budget does not assume the collection that would be presumptive. Um and so we adopted a budget that excludes any new revenue. The first year in which your adopted budget, that initial budget could
include it would be your 2728 from a planning perspective. And just a quick reminder, um I know you know this, but in case our public is curious, our schools receive their budget allocations right at the beginning of January. And
so we kind of need to know stuff pretty quick um when we're going to be sending those out and the departmental budgeting process really is running almost concurrent to that. And so um the notion of spending money um for that subsequent
year that 2728 year it fits really nicely into a process whereas attempting to spend it midyear is extremely difficult. So not impossible but difficult. So, um, in partnership with the partnership,
um, I we're trying to illustrate what the potential budget for the mil levy override piece could look like. And we're using a pie chart here again because the dollar amounts may vary over time, but what we want to make sure we commit to is what percentage of those
collections are going to go to the different intended uses. I'm going to actually start with the charter share wedge. Um we will uh be bringing forward I think an updated charter share language resolution in August. Um the
board already has one adopted on the website that pertains to prior mill levy overrides that we do share on a per student basis with our charter schools. Um public funding for the public kiddos in those charters. Uh approximately this year, charters make up about 12% of
enrollment. That's a little bit higher than it was last year. Um largely because we had a district school convert to charter. And so that kind of bumped up those figures a little bit. And secondarily because the district enrollment has been declining, but charter enrollment has been somewhat
steady. So again, that we anticipate that their per pupil share is going to be about 12%. But that may change in the future, too. That's the one percentage that may move, right? and we don't we won't really control that. Um the partnership was keen to spend the bulk
of the funds on competitive compensation. Um and so you see two two flavors of green up here in the pie chart. Uh one is comp increases that were awarded for the current year. Um, in the board's budget resolution for the
current year, you noted that one of the strategies to address um what would otherwise be a recurring use of fund balance is to seek this new revenue and therefore apply this revenue um to our existing expenditures, including the
comp increase that was awarded for the current year. And so all the details are back in all the spring presentations. um but that is a is a comp increase that's already been awarded. Then the rest of the green um is potential future
comp increases and benefit increases. Um finally the orange is career and technical education an allocation of approximately 14%. Um, we haven't exactly determined how that might or might not go out, but the
hope and expectation is that it actually flows directly to the school-based budgets and the schools are making the decisions about that. So again, the schools would be um would know as soon as January in their budget allocations that these funds would be available
towards um the intended uses and they would develop the hiring plans and whatnot um to then expand access to the career and technical education. So what becomes the multi-year with this new um mill levy override
and [clears throat] so um for the budget year the current year uh 2627 revenue pops up. Um expenditures stay the same at the current adopted budget. Now, I do want to point out I actually think expenditures
um consistent with the past three years are going to trend higher than the adopted budget and we'll come back in January with a revised budget that will reflect that. Um order of magnitude this past January um expenditures rose by about six
million at the revised budget. Just a heads up. Um and then the source or use of fund balance which used to be a use of 13 then becomes a source of approximately 50 leaving 102 million in
unassigned reserves potentially as of the end of next year. Then you see it flowing through the subsequent years. Now the subsequent years continue to include assumptions. assumptions about what we do with compensation, assumptions about inflation, all the
standard assumptions that u Mr. Sammons and I present each time we present a multi-year forecast, the board can always make decisions to change those, right? And so while you see um a deficit reappearing in 2728, that's based on a set of assumptions
that of course we have the ability to move the needle on. So accountability and transparency are two really important things. Um we heard that loud and clear um from our friends in the partnership and so we want to be upfront about what we're going to do.
So to address community requests for accountability and transparency um investments funded through the general purpose MLO will be tracked, monitored and reported to the board of education and community. Um, this is a little bit tricky, but definitely
doable. Um, state statute does say that these funds go into our general fund. Our general fund is big, and there's a lot of things going in and out of the general fund. And anytime you sort of take a hole and divide it up into parts, you're making decisions whenever you
say, well, this part is this, this part is this, this part is this. However, um, we do want to commit to tracking particularly our non salary investments. the sal the comp increase investments are a little bit trickier. I'm going to talk about those in a second. But um
particularly those CTE investments, we will be able to show um potentially our school-based allocations and what decisions schools are making with those allocations. Are they hiring staff? Are they investing in partnerships with the corporate community? What are they
doing? Right? And so the school budget will be the place that reflects the expenditure of those dollars. when it comes to salary increases, those would need to be negotiated. And the cost, so what's so how much money is spent on a salary increase is tricky um because uh
not every person we employ today is an employee tomorrow um and yet new people walk in the door. So there's always some um we do our very best uh uh to cost those out and provide really transparent expectations. We would do the exact same
thing here and say if we give um teachers a 1% cola, what do we estimate that will cost? If we give a 2%, what do we estimate that'll cost? Um and we're happy to provide any supporting documentation for that. The one caveat
is we can't actually code from an accounting perspective a portion of a human being's salary in perpetuity to any specific funding source. That's just not a level of complexity our general ledger is able to sustain and support.
Um each person's salary kind of gets coded to one string. Um unless occasionally a a portion of their salary is paid out of a grant that happens on occasion. That's the exception, not the rule. But we don't have the ability for all 10,000 FTE in the that are in this
organization um to say this percentage is paid by this and this percentage is paid by this. So I just want to be clear about that. Charter schools will track and report their own expenditures. Uh we plan to provide an annual public report produced within four months of year end. That's pretty consistent for
our timelines for how we produce um interim financial reports. Um the audit will come out on November 30th. That's that's the standard timeline for the audit. Um website updates will include all of our reports. And then uh we
expect based on the April meeting um that our mill levy override committee or whatever committee um this becomes over time. But for the moment that one will meet twice annually. Any questions? Okay. This is going to be about our
special purpose mill levy. You get me for just oh no more slide um which is a spending slide relating to multiple years of our capital spending. So we wanted to go back in time a little and take us to present day and next year
when it comes to our capital spend. So, we've been talking with the board through the budget cycle about what's an estimated annual spend necessary to maintain our facilities, um, grounds, etc. And we've thrown out the figure of
approximately 108 million. Um, and and that would adjust over time due to inflation. And of course, um, as you're going to hear or or um have already heard, this mill special purpose mill levy would also move with inflation. those two things would move
together. Um, but you can see back in 2024 we spent 103. Now that is not adjusted for inflation. If you brought it forward to today, it's pretty close to that 108 figure in today's dollars. Um, in 2025 we spent 71
um million, but we had to defer what would otherwise be about 34 million in expected investment to maintain our capital facilities. Um in last year, last year um is 2026,
we spent we think close to 60 million. We're still settling some invoices, so that number may move a little. Please forgive me. Um and we deferred what would have been an expected additional sufficient investment to maintain our
facilities of 48 million. And then for the current year, the current approved budget, the 2027 budget, um we expect to spend about 62 million, uh and we would are therefore deferring approximately 49. And so all the gray hatched areas um
are a three-year trend of deferred improvements. So as we think about sometimes you might invest a little more and sometimes a little less. Uh we are now on year three of less. So with that, I want to hand it to Jeff. >> Great. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> And so with uh with the special purpose mill levy, it's important to note that the charter share would apply as well. And so when we're looking at a $60 million uh number, uh a roughly $7 million of that uh would go to charters and about
approximately $53 million of that would go to the non-charter Jeffco schools for things like capital maintenance, facility improvements, uh building systems and infrastructure. We'll talk a little bit more about those items here in a moment.
And uh similar to the uh to to what Brena mentioned with the the general mill levy override um we know accountability and transparency is also very important for a special purpose mill. And so, uh, what's what's maybe a
little bit different about this one is that Colorado law requires the special purpose mill levy, uh, revenues and related expenditures to be tracked within a dedicated fund, uh, providing clear accountability and transparency for, uh, the allowed uses, which are
capital construction, technology, uh, and maintenance or CCTM as we'll we'll reference it here in a moment. Um, that are funded by the by the levy. And so, how they'll be tracked? How will the funds be tracked? Uh all all revenues and expenditures
probably makes this a little more uh or less complicated than what Brena mentioned. Um with the the general mil levy override, this is all uh reported out of a sing a single fund, a new fund that we would create for this. Um capital projects and budgets will
continue to track expenditures across multiple years. Um and then charter schools will track and report their their own expenditures. Um and then how how will funds be reported? Um there'll be an annual public report uh produced within four months of year end. We'll do
regular website updates. Uh the independent audit that we have will include that distinct CCTM fund. Uh and then we'll continue to use the capital asset advisory committee uh to review uh the uh our capital expenditures and
planning as well. And so kind of transitioning a little bit and Brena touched on this when she when she talked a little bit about the last three years and and some of the maintenance that's been deferred is uh we have been spending roughly about $108
million adjusted uh today's dollars over the past I believe it's 14 years to maintain our facilities and when we do look at an industry benchmark you know that's close to what what we should be spending it might be a little bit on the low end uh of that especially as we as we update some values
uh but it's pretty close. Um but as you know when annual investment falls below that then we're deferring things and when we defer things they continue to build they don't build up they don't go away and sometimes they compound. Um and so we're really talking about ongoing funds uh needed for things like really
our core uh our core infrastructure is really what we're focusing on that the strategic capital master plan really references this as our continuity of operations and that's the the the main focused area of this uh mechanical systems aging roofs plumbing electrical
infrastructure uh building safety systems and other uh crit critical facility needs. And what's important to note is um like I said every year that we defer things um systems continue to age emergency repairs increase replacements
replacement costs rise and the backlog grows but the impact is really the you know I think really the the the big thing that we see and that we want to avoid across our system and for students that means learning disruptions and lost instructional time and uh Mr. Streo will actually talk about uh a handful of case
studies and and one in particular where uh a couple days of instructional time were lost due due to an issue uh for staff and we hear this and unfortunately um you probably hear it as well. Uh when these things happen uh you know our our
employees are unhappy uh they feel like they're working in substandard working conditions. uh the operational interruptions uh become a lot to manage and they're very real and they're very felt uh in the classroom and with our teachers and with our students. And then with our taxpayers uh like we mentioned
when we're not able to replace something and we have to just keep it running and repair things. Um replacement parts can be more expensive and then over time those things add up. Um especially when you compare it to what replacing an item might have cost initially. So, there are
higher long-term costs. And I want to turn it over to Mr. Streo to really just talk through some some case studies around things that we've actually experienced uh in our schools uh that he could talk through a little bit. [snorts] Okay. So, some of the slides that we go
through here, we could really get down and talk about the specificity of this particular instance because every one of these has a story and has a felt impact on the school. But when I reference these these case studies and kind of talking points, really the way to look
at them is in the plural because any one of these examples of a of a system failure or an impact on students is it's repeated across the school district. It's repeated across all 800 square miles. This could be any school in any region that we're looking at. Um, case
study number one is really just an example uh that Jeff mentioned just a few moments ago related to um quite honestly an outdated uh uh mechanical cooling system, an HVAC system that should have been replaced a number of years ago. Um
consequently due to the lack of of available funding and and the requirement to prioritize other things quite honestly ahead of it. Uh this particular piece of equipment failed the week prior to school starting. um resulting in us having to start school a
couple days late. Um incredibly impactful on educational delivery, student experience, um and just overall frustrating. So, uh case study number two, again, uh this is representative of a school. Um of
course, every school has a water man feeding the school for domestic water. Uh in this instance, uh maintenance teams were required to excavate numerous times to repair leaking sections of pipe that that really should have been
replaced. Um time allowing funds allowing the repairs were all that was uh uh allowed at the moment uh in that moment in time. Result here is domest is is an interruption to domestic water to the school. I mean
that requires teams to to go out and provide handwashing stations uh portable water to the school and at times uh requirement to close the school. Case study number three is an interesting one because you probably see this walking into any school with
cracked concrete on the outside. This particular example uh again was something that that should have been addressed a bit a bit sooner. um teams had skimmcoded, we had made repairs. Ultimately, what happened in this particular instance is it
compounded the problem because the moisture intrusion caused this concrete to heave uh which prevented the front doors of the building from securing properly. Um clearly creating a security uh concern for the school. In this in this instance, it required
school staff to be to be stationed at the front door just to make sure that we maintained a secure environment. And again, one example, this can be seen in many schools across the district. Uh, case study number four really speaks to an area that impacts the district as a
whole. It's not one particular school. Uh we had an instance here where underground electrical wiring uh exposed to moisture uh repeatedly shorted out uh during at least two night athletic events that I can recall um causing a
total stadium blackout midame. Um clearly interruption for student ath athletes uh community members spectators um and the safety risk involved in a dark stadium. Uh case study number five, one of the
more common occurrences that we have. Um we have a roofing structure that is well beyond the end of its use useful life. Um we have had teams making repairs to stop roof leaks at this particular site. What has prevented us from replacing
this roof in past years is the fact that the mechanical systems and the roof system are both in need of replacement. And those two projects really need to happen in tandem with some multi-year planning, which requires uh multi-year budgeting and and quite honestly some some confidence that
that funding will be there for multi-year planning. Uh case study six, there there are some things in the district that we um we plan for. We suspect that it may be a risk. In this particular incident, um a
couple years prior to this, uh we had planned for potential uh storm water flood risk at this site. Um this unfortunately happened to be a sewage backup that happened off site, but the road result was the same, only you could argue worse. Um
again, plans had been put in place um to uh create a flood diversion uh ahead of this property uh that would have prevented this. The result here was a uh was it five-day closure? I believe that was a five-day school closure while we restored uh a safe learning environment
for students. Pretty typical picture of a roofing structure across the district. Um this is something that if you were to speak with principles and and building occupants that resonates with just about everyone in the district. Um, of course,
damaged roofs, leaking roofs, um, allow moisture intrusion and create all kinds of interruptions inside the building. Um, clearly educational delivery can be impacted. But moreover than that, there are potential environmental concerns and there again the continued uh, repairing
of leaks on those roofing structures. And then the last one that we have here uh for you to share, I want to point out on the image there, you really can't see it very well on the slide, but the ladder structure on this play system is chained off. This is an example of an
elementary school playground where the play structure um had degraded beyond the ability to safely make a repair. Um and without without the funding immediately available, the only option was to chain it off. and in a very short amount of
time remove that that uh play structure which of course is impactful and leaves the students with an inadequate playground at that location. So just some examples um of the type of things that we see um and have worked through and continue to work through uh in the
facilities maintenance department. Uh last slide here for me. We've re we've really spent a lot of time trying to say what are the priorities for us right now. We are looking at um the ban
of R22 refrigerant which of course is the refrigerant that allows us to cool our buildings in many cases. Um, we currently have 96 school buildings that still have R22 refrigerant on the roofs and in the chiller units uh that need to be replaced uh prior to 2030.
2030 is really the deadline for us because that is the point at time in time where we can no longer uh source R22 refrigerant. So, if something fails or breaks uh we lose the ability to repair it and it becomes an urgent or
emergency replacement of that unit. uh cooling systems very similar um just many of our systems have reached end of life or beyond and we continue to keep them up and running. The case study that we showed is one uh perfect example
of that that it failed at exactly the wrong time. Uh plumbing deficiencies across the district. Um you can't see what's underground but in many cases it's uh it's not what you would like to see in those instances.
uh code compliance and life safety. Um we are looking at a need for elevator modernizations in many many schools. Uh roofing systems we spoke to in a case study um but that is widespread across our school district. And then of course
always we need to uh they have a focus on safety and security upgrades. Uh these are things like our door access uh systems that we are looking at there. And so with that I think I'll hand it back to Jeff. Yep. So, I think it's important um to
understand, you know, how how do we make decisions? How are things prioritized? And Mr. Streo, you know, mentioned a few things that are certainly rising to the top right now. Um but really, we are we are leaning on the development of the strategic capital master plan um and the
associated tools. And I really want to call out the the the tools that we're going to have access to that are dynamic uh that stay fresh, that stay current. And with those, we're better positioned to make data informed uh strategic decisions than than we have in the past
about our capital investments. Um facility condition and life cycle data allow us to identify and address issues earlier. Maintenance request data that we weave into this also uh can provide a focus area where major investments should be made. Uh and then we also
factor in energy use and lived experience into that decision- making uh as well. And also, we know it's important to the board that um that the tools that we're developing will help us forecast evolving needs um in ensuring
that the investments that we're making support students now and where they're going to be in the future. Um and so the the tools and some of the decision-making frameworks that are built into the tools really will really help us uh do that into the future.
>> Great. And the last couple slides um go back to some material. You know, the partnership uh was really compelled by a couple data points that I'm going to share. So the first thing is they really wanted to understand how our per pupil revenue compares to our um neighboring
districts. And I think this particular illustration really resonated because it shows Jeffco getting a total program of 11,385 which when combined with our general purpose MLOS's gets us to about 13,600.
Um that is not only the lowest number on this slide. Um it's also almost $1,900 less than the average of our adjacent neighboring districts. um that represents a 12% less than average or a 24% less than
Denver. Um so we compete with Denver for talent and programming and they get 24% more funding per pupil um between their total program general purpose MLOS's and special purpose levy. And I think our
parents were concerned about that and really felt like um we need to explain to voters um how difficult it is to run with this much less money per kiddo. And finally, I think uh the partnership was really interested to understand
salaries and how they compare across lots of different um positions. You can slice and dice this data many many ways. Um but what you see is a clear correlation uh between average salary data and um mill levy funding per
student. Right? So there Jeffco is on the far left in terms of really low mill levy funding per student. And there Boulder Valley is on the far right with substantially more mil levy funding per student and the average teacher salary
of close to $100,000. So, um, there's a clear correlation between funding and average salary. Um, and while we've done an amazing job at retaining teachers, and so our average salary is respectable, um, that's really
a reflection not of our pay scale, that's a reflection of the tenure of our teachers. Um, so I just wanted to point that out. And with that, uh, we welcome any questions or Matt, am I turning it over to you?
Um, if you'd like to discuss the presentation before we preview draft ballot language, we can do that. Or if you'd like to go straight into language, we have some guests ready to >> Let's Let's take a pause. Um, I think it would be worth asking any questions on this point. Um, or providing any
comments if folks have them any anyone? Yeah. Okay. Go ahead. Nope. Go ahead. Take your time. Dr. I'm happy to start if you'd like. Um I want to say I always appreciate this
and I I really you know um Miss Copeland you've shared with us a lot of this and it's it's always really important for us I think to see it again. Um it was also nice to see the capital side because I think we don't get that as often and so um Mr. Mr. Gatlin, I do
have a few questions. Um, we talk about the average of about that hund00 million funding level and I know when we've looked at past years, how much of that average was how much of that average is because we had bond dollars and we were spending bond dollars for a few years.
Did that bring up our average or do we do we really believe that that 100 million is where we need to be going forward? Yeah, that yeah, I know we've we've presented that graph in the past that has showed what that 14-year average has looked like and you have seen um it's been variable. There have
been years in the past where we fell below that line. We were in the middle of the bond, we fell far above that line. Um and so looking at looking at that trend over or the average over 14 years, we were landing at that 108. That's why we also felt like it was
important to talk about what is a benchmark too that it's aligned closely to that. So we do feel like that's it it it triangulates a little bit that that uh previous spend is aligned to about what we should be spending and what we feel like we should be spending moving forward.
>> Thank you for that. Um I do the the board was able to see the slides that were presented at our retreat and I I think I can speak for myself but I I do think it is is striking to see some of these things and understand how it does impact our teachers and our staff and our students especially when they have
to miss school. And I know this was a very select bit of case studies and you have so many more that you could have put up here. Um, one of the things that I'm really encouraged by with this special purpose capital option is the fact that there is a very specific
account that this money would go into. So when we really think about how do we prove transparency, how do we focus on accountability, this capital option specifically gives a very clear this is the account and this is what it would be spent on. Um, and I just want to I was
just want to be really clear. Typically the board allocates money to a capital fund. those two would be different and distinct and we would be able to track both. Is that correct? >> That is correct. >> Okay. Um I also just want to say thank you because I know that the capital team
does a lot of work to manage all of the maintenance. You know, we have about 75,000 kids in 145 schools. Is that right? And it changes. Sorry. Um and that doesn't count necessarily properties or buildings or other things that we're maintaining. And when I sat
on the CAC, which I know director given and director have had the benefit of doing, it's kind of staggering to see just the lists of maintenance that goes out multiple years. And so I just um I want to share with the public that those things are out there and the that the CAC is one of our um capital asset
advisory committees which looks at that. And so it's it's kind of that uh stuff that happens and you just assume it gets done and the grass gets mowed and watered and all those things, but it it is a tremendous amount of lift to track it all and then sometimes our hands are
forced and something breaks and all of a sudden all that prioritization work goes out the window, right? Because we have to have safe schools. So, um I I'm continually um encouraged and moved by the importance of this option and this special uh purpose mill in the capital
and that it really means a lot to the district and to our students. Dr. did you have anything you wanted to add? >> Yes. Um okay. I was going back to page seven. I know it's pretty far back. Um, I was hoping that you can explain for
our listening public exactly how steps, lanes, and cola work as part of our salary schedule for staff. Um, we'll try and do that in a nutshell.
Um, so not completely dissimilar to uh some private industry, we have salary ranges for different positions. When it comes to our teachers in particular, um we have both what we call steps. Those are
rows on a schedule and then lanes. Those are columns. And as you progress through your career, you move a lane uh when you get additional education. Um so, for example, a teacher with a master's degree is two lanes over from a teacher with a bachelor's degree. At that point,
that teacher is making 8% more than they would with just a bachelor's. Okay? So 4% 4% 4% and because it compounds it's actually a little more than eight. Anyway, um as you gain experience enroll you move down a step. So you start at
step one that's your first year of teaching. God bless you. I hope you make it. Um and then on to step two, right? And so each year there's a progression down. Um Jeffco recently redid our teacher salary scale and we made every
step equivalent. They used to vary. um we made every step equivalent to two and a half percent. And so by virtue of um gaining a year's experience and moving a step, a teacher would receive a 2 and a half% salary increase. The cola, so the
cost of living, what is that, right? This is this other piece. If you think about the whole schedule, the whole schedule for 2526 and you think about the whole schedule for 2627, the cola is the thing that moves the whole thing. Um, so whereas the starting
salary in 2526 might have been $54,000. That is not an accurate figure. Um, it is still only $54,000 because we did not have a cost of living adjustment into the current year. So that's what that's what we mean when we
say cost of living and that is true across all employee groups, right? So none of the ranges of compensation moved at all um in terms of last year versus this year. And the budget you're seeing
here has that same thing happening for next year because our total revenue is going down again. We don't have new money. we just we just don't have a way to keep sufficient staffing and move
that whole salary scale. So what does that do over time that makes it even harder to be competitive right every year that you don't provide some type of cost of living to your entire scale um it makes it really hard to bring in new folks because we start to lag even
worse. So, the cost of living is the percent added to the entire um schedule. It's not an additional like one-time stipen throughout the school year. >> Um it does increase the human being's
base pay. So, for example, two years ago, each teacher would have received a step two and a half% and a one and a half% cola. So that's and you you do it in sequence so it ends
up being slightly more but it was close to 4% each teacher moved a step. Now if that teacher happened to also add education they would have moved a lane um which most of the lanes are 4% the final lane is only 2%. Um but again lots
of intricacies there and again I'm only speaking to teachers because it's probably the easiest to understand. Um, our education support professionals have a number of different salary scales that are shaped uniquely. Um, and then again, our administrators are on ranges, but
they they receive step equivalents. But back to your question, which was, does a COLA increase an individual's salary? The answer is yes. Both that step advancement and that COLA increases the human being's salary on a year-over-year basis.
And so when you say that this expense reflects no cola, our staff is still getting the step increase of 2.5%. >> That's correct. >> Okay. Thank you. Um the next question I had was on page
15. Okay. So, if this mill levy revenue happens, says 15 million um could support the already awarded compensation from the budget that was approved in June. And then there's the
39.5 million could be used for future compensation. I was hoping you might be able to explain this to me like how would that work? Is it 15 million a year? Would it be gone within 2 to 3 years? Is it increasing? Is it ongoing?
Can you explain that to me, please? >> Yeah. So, I'm gonna key off your final word there, which is, is it ongoing? Um, so yes, anytime we increase a person's salary, we try very hard not to take it back. So, whatever costs are associated
with increasing a salary, be it through a step advancement or um a cola change to the entire scale, which does hit the person's um salary, we try not to take it back. So, um, the new money gets spent on increases and those increases
don't go away. So, we keep spending the new money every year on those increases. Um, and so, so it is kind of a permanent thing. Um, and uh, what was the second part of your question? I think I just wanted to be
clear. If we have 15 million of the awarded that's going to compensation increases for this year and then if it's 15 if it's an additional 15 the next year and additional 15 the next year we would run out of that money within two to three years to be able to continue
giving that type of salary increase. Am I understanding that correctly or can you explain it to me? >> Yeah. Um there's sort of a yes and no answer. Thanks for asking because I think that's it's a really um and I think our public would have the same question. Um so new money can go towards
an increase. It continues to go towards that same increase. It can't fund a subsequent additional additive increase. So the 15 million funded this year's step-by-step equivalents, right? That
was all we were able to give. Um, and it wasn't quite 15, it was 13 in the adopted budget, but as I explained to you, the adopted budget is simply an estimate of what we're going to spend, and we never know exactly what we're going to spend until we spend it. So, um, we think it's going to be closer to 15. That's that. It's been awarded.
We're not taking it back, right? So, in perpetuity, we'll be spending that because we advanced people, right? And then the additional amount, the 40 million, um this budget doesn't contemplate or presuppose necessarily um
when and how that's awarded. Um I think we said in the next slide somewhere, sorry, it was somewhere in here. Um we mentioned the fact that these things are negotiated, right? Um and so compensation increases are negotiated. I
never want to presuppose what the outcome of a negotiation is. Um let's imagine that the outcome of that negotiation was that the full I'm going to around 40 million was awarded to a set of increases that were provided
between the current year and next year. So going into 2728 folks get an an increase that they wouldn't have otherwise gotten because again the budget that you've been shown without this money um shows no cola, right? So,
um, those would continue to be award that that cola moves the whole thing in perpetuity. So, we keep paying that much. We don't take it back. But it doesn't necessarily mean that for all eternity, we can never give another increase. The district has funded most of our increases over time, not
necessarily through brand new revenue streams, but through um, if we had stable enrollment, through the inflationbased increase to per pupil. So if we had stable enrollment, our total program would be increasing by inflation. I think Mr. Sammon said it's
approximately 3%. Going into 2728, right? And so we would get that on a per student basis as new revenue and we pass it right through to employees. That's what this district has done. So future increases if enrollment stabilizes could be funded through that
formula. >> Thank you. Um, and then on page 16, I just had a few more questions. So, based on this slide, we're starting to dip into reserves again in 27 28 with a -4
>> and then it's and doubles in 28 to 29 togative8. Does it continue to double? Is it -16 the following year? I don't believe we've forecasted the revenue beyond 2829. Um, so until we do that, I can't really say. >> Okay. But this is just for general
funds. This is not including capital reserves. >> Correct. >> Okay. So, can you give me a potential worst case scenario based on these projections if something happened in the cap on the
capital side of things? So I think your question might be um what happens if we pass the new mill levy override which is what this slide illustrates but we don't pass the new capital measure is am I summarizing okay
if we don't pass the new capital measure and we don't have that 60 million there's really kind of two things that the board has at its disposal. The first is do less. So that means Mark and Jeff um are able to do less. The second is
try to find a way to fund more without the new money. The only place you have to go to fund more is your general fund. So uh the two things you'll probably contemplate in the event that there's no dedicated new revenue for capital is
further deferring maintenance could be dangerous. Second, increasing the transfer from the general fund into whatever capital fund um we're using, which if no new levy is passed, we'll be using the capital reserve fund because you are running out. You, us, we, we're
all in this together. We are running out of um reserve balance in the capital reserve fund. That was the one that dips down to 9 million um at the end of 2728. And 9 million is not super effective um given a district this size. Now, we are
we do have some proceeds coming in from sales. Those are very much a part of our projections. We spoke to those in the spring when we adopted the budget. By all means, we're going to use every single dollar that comes in on HVAC units and critical repairs, and those
are short-term and one-time in nature, so it doesn't solve the problem in perpetuity. Thank you. >> Thank you. And then, so in that scenario, would we need to consider additional staffing reductions and
possible school closures >> among um considerations. Yes, you're going to have to look across all things. So, thank you for presenting a couple more things. Um if you want to increase that transfer into capital from general fund, then yes, you need to
consider um changes to staffing andor changes to salaries. Those are both things. Um and sometimes the easiest way to change staffing is to consolidate schools, right? We saved 20 million in perpetuity and the number has grown with inflation by closing schools and that
was because we have fewer principles and fewer you know actual headcount changes decrease. Um and the final thing the board would probably consider um is trying again. Right. >> Thank you. That's all I have.
>> Thank you Dr. Averia. think you bring up some really important points and um I want to echo them a little bit that the board will continue to have to make decisions as we look at each year's budget and based on what happens some of
those decisions could include a lot of things. Everything is on the table, right? And I think it's important for our public to understand that. So, thank you for raising that. Um I'm going to tee us up into the next half of the section unless there's other questions. Director Minian So, I'm going to kind of play off of uh
what uh director brought up, which is that well, I guess I I kind of want to confirm. Would increasing our revenue sort of solve all of our problems and mean that as an organization, we would not need to continue right sizing to address the
declining enrollment. >> We continue to need to rightsize. And so as we have done every year for the past five years and we uh will be doing again into the following year, uh we do rightsize um for enrollment as enrollment declines that will continue.
>> So would it be fair to say that we need to continue to lean into that work of right sizing our organization in order to address declining enrollment um and that even if we increased revenue that would not change that need? >> Correct. It's also true and consistent
with that that the partnership did not recommend that we use this new revenue to preserve jobs. Thank you. And then the other thing I wanted to just kind of get a little bit more understanding um and also for the benefit of our listening public um help me understand a
special mill levy versus a bond. What is the benefit to a special mill levy versus a bond? >> I love that question. You want me to >> Yeah, you got it. [laughter] Um, so I there's so many aspects to this. The key thing that I think is a
massive advantage to the taxpayer is that every single part of the dollar that they pay in taxes goes directly into our school facilities. None of it goes to the bank. Um, and when you really think about it at our size and scale, we shouldn't be borrowing in
these big lumps, you know, and creating all this fluctuation. We have predictable needs every single year just to keep our facilities going. Why not let the taxpayer take their dollar and put it right into the building as opposed to having these bumps and
troughs and all this stuff and having about 40 cents on the dollar sometimes 50 cents on the dollar going to interest expense. We don't need we don't have to borrow, right? Um we can just go in go out and that and the other thing that does is it actually creates greater
predictability. It means that um Mark and team have a level of staffing appropriate for a district our size. They can create multi-year plans that they are constantly refining but working through as opposed to well I don't know when our next bond is going to come. And
you know their team um since I've been here has grown and shrunk right and that's not efficient for anyone. We'd rather keep our skilled folks managing our facilities here with their um knowledge of our buildings etc over time which that leveling enables us to do.
>> Thank you. So I think what I'm hearing and understanding is that the benefit of a special mill levy is really making sure that every single dollar we collect goes directly to the benefit of our students and our staff throughout our district. >> Yes. >> Very good. And I just want to also reflect back on some previous uh
presentations we received last spring where uh Mr. Gatlin and his team were sharing with us the age of many of our other of our buildings. Uh Mr. Gatlin, I don't know if you can uplift that message for us just one more time for the benefit of our listening public.
>> You're putting me on the spot. Um give me like give me a minute and I can get you the real number. I don't want to say something that's inaccurate, but I have it on my I have access to it at my fingertips. So, hold it hold that thought if that's okay and I'll get back to you. Okay,
>> Director Kenworthy. >> Thank you. Just a few follow-ups. Um my first one's going to be we talked about steps and lanes. I think that was really helpful. Can you just um for our listening public remind us how many for our our teacher pay scale um remind us
how many steps there are. >> 22. >> Great. And then my other question is when we're thinking about the numbers of our staff who are at 22 um or beyond that. Do you happen to know
a ballpark or a very specific number? [laughter] Um, so I think we've run this number recently. It's like 15%. >> Okay. Brian's also these guys, they're so like they like to be specific.
>> I understand. I I mean, I appreciate it. >> Yeah. But it's >> my follow my follow-up question then for Brian is going to be and then how many of our staff are at steps and lanes have maxed out the steps and lanes? I want steps >> in that far right corner. Mhm. I want steps and then also steps and those numbers.
>> We'll get you that. >> That's helpful. Um while you're working on that, um I want to also just underscore talking about steps that in Jeffco our step is calibrated to 2.5%. But that's not the average or that's not the standard
across the state and in other school districts. Is that correct? >> Correct. It's higher. >> It's higher. It is. So when we say that our our um association is receiving a step, that is actually a higher number just steps than it would be in some of the other districts, which I think is a
great thing for Jefferson County. Um so [sighs] um those are all my questions for that. Just that um and we also with our readjustment, we have more steps now than some of our other school districts.
Is that accurate or are they also at 22? Um, I can't remember off the top of my head. I do know that some districts have fewer, particularly in certain lanes. So, we go all the way up to step 22 and the BA lane and a lot of folks will stop at like step 10 or 12 or something.
Okay. >> Um, but Jeffco used to have more steps. So when we made that transition um that was fully negotiated and it was in in the interest of our educators um we actually took some steps off um to be able to move the whole scale up and do
some other changes that they had interest in. So that's a little bit of history. >> Appreciate it. And then knowing that some of our our other um associations have also different scales and and ways that they get paid. Yes. >> Um is a whole another part of that story, but it's much further out into the weeds than I want to get right now.
Um, but just to point out that we have multiple salary schedules and scales that we that we work with and that we have two associations that negotiate. One of those associations is right now currently on an every year negotiation. Another one of our associations is entered into a three-year agreement with
us. And so when we talk about negotiated agreements, um, compensation costs, there's a lot of complexity and nuance in that conversation. >> Correct. >> Fair. Thank you. Do we get the numbers? So this is as of December of last year,
right? There's not a lot of movement right now. So we have to go based on a point in time. This is when we build our budgets off of. Okay. So step 22, um we have 9% of the JCA employees of 450. Um
at lane six, this does exclude a lot of the CTE because there's lots of lanes for those. So just know exclusive of those. We're at 266. Um, oh, I'm sorry. We're at um, lane six is 1,530, so 31%. So 9% within step 22
and 30% are in our um, lane six. >> All right, that's incredibly helpful for me just as um, a mental model when I'm talking to um, the public as we move forward. Um, I think I'm going to stop with that line. The next one I'm going to go to is
capital questioning. Um I want to mention that we have a strategic capital plan, master plan um that is a tool that helps us guide our maintenance priorities and investment and it is um adaptable. It moves on the regular based
on things that happen um today, tomorrow, right? But it also is taking into account student enrollment um previous investments that have been made. This is a tool that we did not have at our disposal as a district in 2018 with the bond investment. Is that true?
>> Yep, that's true. >> Just to verify. So, it is fair to assume I think that any capital money that would come to us through an MLO initiative would now be um those decisions would be guided by what we have in our strategic capital plan.
>> Correct. Yeah, that's I think it's a fantastic tool that Jeffco has developed and in direct response to some of the complaints about investment with the 2018 bond and I wanted to just make sure that that got mentioned here as something that we have to use. President
Applegate mentioned earlier um that with the capital special purpose MLO money there's the ability to silo that and track it independently. We've verified that but that's not necessarily the same for the general purpose in functionality
and I believe it was on slide 17 if we can go to that where we were talking about how funds will be tracked for the general purpose and I believe uh Miss Copeland that you mentioned something about there is an accounting and coding
reality that we cannot code out fractions of or portions of somebody's salary um as specifically MLO dollars. Is that accurate? >> Correct. >> And so that creates a little bit more of a because the capital the special
purpose mill is statutoily required that that goes money goes into a separate fund and gets tracked. >> Correct. >> Right. But it is not statutoily required for the things that go into the general purpose general fund. And >> so that would be the different the reason why we're maybe able to do that
clear accountability and tracking that our community is asking for that that's possible with the capital investment where the question that we're going to be discussing but not as directly possible with the general purpose
>> certainly when it comes to a very um prora share of each employees salary um I I think the example I gave is sometimes we can split one humans salary to a grant. It's important to note grants are in their own fund, right? So
the way that you code things, you can move some money here and put it in this fund and this one's in this fund. Um when it comes to our financial audit, I am required to always present the entirety of the general fund. For our financial audit, I am not allowed to
present a subsegment of the general fund. That's um accounting standards. So that's part of the challenge, too. >> I appreciate it. I think it just gives us language when the general public asks us, "Well, how come we can't also take the MLO general purpose money and silo
that the way that we can with this with the special purpose?" Um, and this is part of the answer. Um, and so I wanted to lift that up um for the listening public, but also for myself so I can go back and listen to this when I need it. Um, so I appreciate that. That's all I have for right now.
>> All right. I Yeah, I have something for you. That's okay. Um, so about half of our building square footage uh was built before 1980. Um, and so when we look at that is just
and and that doesn't mean that there haven't been improvements made in our schools since then, but that does give you a pretty good idea about uh an aging facility portfolio with uh with about with 1980 being about that that halfway mark as far as square footage is concerned. As someone born in the 80s, I
don't appreciate it being called aging facilities, Mr. Gatlin, but [laughter] thank you. I was also born in the 80s, so I can relate to that sentiment. >> I'm gonna join that sentiment as well. [laughter] >> Yeah, apologies. >> Um, thank you so much, Mr. Gallant. M
Mr. Sammons, one clarifying question. When you said we had about 30% of our workforce in lane six, does that mean that about 30% of our workforce has a doctorate >> or PhD? No, >> not workforce. Just the JCA members. Just want to make sure I clarify that. Yeah. JCA. Yep. Um >> in that in So the folks in that pay
scale. >> Yes. >> Interesting. >> No. >> Nope. >> Nope. >> Help me. >> Uh lane six is not a PhD. >> Okay. What is lane six? >> Um it's masters plus 75 >> hours, >> something like that. >> Okay. >> It's um >> so work towards that.
>> We could introduce um a new lane seven that is a PhD, but that is not what lane six is. And and just to clarify, 30% are in lane six, but that doesn't mean that they're capped out. A whole bunch of them are still moving up steps.
>> Um, so perfect. Thank you for that clarification. All right, I'm going to Oh, Dr. >> This question came up when other people were asking questions. So thinking about the possibility for
reductions based on how many percentage of people you see in step 22, um can right sizing be done um through natural attrition or would it be more likely that we would need to have additional
reductions? So, um, so our ability to rightsize, um, has very little to do with the experience of our teachers, okay? It just has to do with what different types of things cause someone to leave in any
given year. And sometimes that's retiring, sometimes it's going to a different district, sometimes it's moving out of state, sometimes it's leaving the profession. There's lots of different things, right? So teachers leave from throughout this the step and lane schedule. Our ability to rightsize
has more to do with how many positions how many fewer positions are we going to budget for and how much natural attrition do we see each year in those positions. We actually see a fair amount of healthy. You don't want too little attrition. We see some attrition every
year across the organization. And so um we've been losing 900 to a,000 kiddos every year. and our schools have been adjusting staffing every year. Um, and we've been able to manage by and large almost all of that through natural
attrition. Thank you. Awesome. All right. Next, the board will have the opportunity to openly engage in dialogue regarding the potential Millvy override and the options before us. Please note that the board is not taking any official action on the MLO this evening. The board will once again have
public comment at the next regular meeting on August 20th, followed by the board taking an official action on the Milwaukee override plan at the same meeting. Um, this is really building off of the conversation we just had and so I appreciate the the kind of break in here to ask questions because I think it was
important to get some of that out. I know some of it's going to come back up in our next dialogue. Um, before I turn it back over, um, Superintendent Stein, is there anything else you'd like to add? >> Yes. Um, I think we're going to discuss um some draft ballot language this evening. I wanted to apologize to the
board for tardiness in getting this to you and assure everybody that we're going to um distribute it publicly probably first thing to tomorrow, but certainly tomorrow at some point um so that everybody has plenty of opportunity and um to review it well in advance of
the next board meeting and that you all have plenty of chance to um make your own revision. So this is sort of a first draft. Um part of the reason for the delay was just because we wanted our consultants to give us some, you know, input into their recommendations for for
what we should prioritize. Some of it was language that you wanted changed after your um retreat and um and some of it is just based on what we heard from our facilities team about um our priorities and making sure that what we're identifying as real priorities in
the field are aligned with um the priorities that we communicate to our voters if you if you put this on, you know, on the ballot. >> Thank you. All right. And we have special guests joining us electronically as well.
Hello. And can you can you all hear us? >> We can hear you. Can you hear us? >> Yes, we can. Welcome. >> Hey there. >> Um, would you all please introduce yourself? >> Yeah. Craig Hughes. I'm the founder and partner at Hilltop Public Solutions and
we have been retained by uh working with one Jeffco uh to work on passing uh mill levbies to fund Jefferson County schools. >> Thank you. >> And I'm Lindseay Rasmmanson and I work with Craig at Hilltop and am one of the
lead consultants on this project. >> Welcome to you both. Thank you for spending some time with us this evening. Um am I turning it over to to you, Mr. Hughes or Miss Copeland? Um, okay, Mr. Hughes, I believe the floor is yours.
>> All right, fantastic. And I believe the uh lang ballot language is up on the screen. Is that correct? >> Um, we can it Yes. Okay. >> All right. Perfect. That's exactly what we wanted. So, what you see up on the screen is after a lot of conversations, after uh the district research, uh the
partnership really was integral in pushing this forward. Uh we have two ballot measure ballot measure languages to look at. The first is, you know, the so-called kind of regular mill MLO mill override, and that is for $73 million
for really teacher compensation to get it closer to market average and providing students instruction skills, hands-on learning necessary uh for really for CTE programs. Um, so those are the two key components of the MLO.
Uh we also have in here what I think is very important language when we talk about these things that transparency and accountability is critical. Um so we have shall the spending of such taxes be reviewed by a boardappointed citizens committee for accountability summarized in annual public reports and posted
publicly on a website for full transparency. So again um very clear binding language that talks about transparency and accountability. And then uh just below that what I would talk about what I would consider um kind
of the critical legal language that the state requires to comply with Taber. Um so you can kind of read that but really uh that is the legal language uh required on such a measure. So that is um the MLO language at 73 million. And
then what we are recommending is a second uh mill that would be the special mill. And this falls into kind of capital construction. And so the first is sort of things that could be spent on uh people uh such as teachers and on
programs like CTE. And then the special uh mill is for capital construction. And so shall Jefferson County School District taxes be raised $60 million and annually thereafter? Um and again legal language here purposes authorized in
accordance with section DA CRS. Uh uh increase for inflation based on the annual changes to the consumer price in index. Um and then the spending is broken out in four very clear categories. Critical upgrades and
maintenance of schools such as replacing and repairing faulty, dangerous and leaking roofs, plumbing improvement, plumbing improvements and parking lot repairs, providing and retain repairing cooling, heating and ventilation systems for a better learning environment,
replacing and updating aging infrastructure and technology, safety and security investments such as secure access and monitoring. So having heard you know the presentation that you just did uh we've tried to incorporate in the language here the top priority
must have investments for capital and have those in kind of those four broken out very clear buckets with again um specific language that I think is you know incredibly uh transparent about where the money will be spent and again
um spending of such taxes reviewed by a board appointed citizens committee for accountability summarized in annual public reports and posted publicly on a website for full transparency and then again legal language very important um from the imposition of a
mill levy imposed at a rate sufficient to generate revenues um etc etc um that is the required language. So, having reviewed um work that the district authorized through Mellin uh
and survey research, having talked to leadership for the partnership, having talked to people throughout the district, uh having looked at what is possible here and the best chance of success, uh what we would recommend is that uh the board look at these two
measures, distinct $73 million for really teacher and educational salaries. IES, educational leader salaries, uh, and CTE, and then $60 million on the special mill that goes for the capital construction. And I think we heard some
pretty compelling language about why uh a bond is less ideal than a special mill just in terms of the ability to to spend more money and spend less of it on debt. And that's why we've got these two separate mill levies. There are a lot of
school districts that will go with the bond and a mill. Um, but in that way they incur significant amounts of debt. This is a way for Jefferson County to address the critical needs they have uh both in terms things like teacher pay but also capital construction without uh
a bond. And so looking at these the priorities that have been outlined by the board, by the partnership, um and then what we think the voters uh could pass and um authorize. We've looked at
the first as the 73 million and the second as the 60 million. So that's that's kind of our summary and recommendation would be for the board to consider two measures. Uh I think it'll ultimately be 5 A and 5B. um broken out in those two distinct and different ways
with very specific language about where the dollars are spent and very specific language that addresses transparency and accountability. >> Thank you, Mr. Hughes. Board, um we we now have the opportunity to have some dialogue. Um um as
Superintendent Stein mentioned, this is kind of the first chance we're having to have some public conversation on this. Um greatly appreciate all of the efforts that have been put into getting to this piece of paper. Um because it is a lot
and that's that's our staff. So massive amounts of thank you to that. Thank you to um our experts. Thank you to our partnership and thank you to you know our bargaining partners who have who have had a lot of feedback on this. So, I am uh I'm curious as to where we want
to start. Um I guess I'm just gonna open it up right now and see where we want to go. Director Minian, first to the buzzer. >> First to the buzzer. Um so, first I just want to appreciate the work of the partnership. They met several times last
year. They put a lot of thought and effort into the whole process. They really dug into the budget information, studied the facility needs that we have. Um, and they even, I think at one point reviewed the benefits of CTE programming.
And I know based on all of this work that they did last year, they kind of came to a conclusion that they presented to us, which was a recommendation to go for a, you know, one ballot question of 135 million. That being said, right, some things have
happened from then to now that I just want to uplift. Um, as you know, we've all been, you know, enjoying our summers. Um, and so now we do have the benefit of having engaged with the community as well as reviewing additional information and guidance as
well as the two polling data sets. Um, and I just want to be clear that our role is to educate and to express the need to our community and present them with the questions Um, and then it's up to our community to make that decision.
And so based on the information that we've received over the summer, um, I think that's why we are looking at two questions versus one. So I just wanted to kind of uplift that and put us all on the same page. Um, and I'll open it up for anyone else who wants to jump in.
>> Yeah. Director Kenworthy. Um, but I'm going to start this by saying school finance is real weird. So, something I've learned in the last two and a half years. Um, also when I think about the last two and a half years, I think a lot about relationships, not spreadsheets and
budgets typically, but about faces and voices that I've encountered uh in school visits and community events. And I've had conversations with student leaders that have shifted my understanding of the role I'm in. I've heard from teachers who are deeply committed to their students and their schools. I've witnessed the profound care that our support staff exhibit day
in and day out to ensure that our schools are safe and welcoming. And in my conversations with building leaders, the level of missional enthusiasm is real difficult to ignore. In fact, it's it's catching. Um I've also had countless interactions with fellow parents, community members, business
owners, municipal leaders, employee associations, volunteers, district graduates. All these have made it crystal clear that Jeffco um cares deeply about the future of Jeffco schools. Those interactions and those relationships and conversations have
mattered along the way. I've listened and observed even when we have collectively heard difficult things and face challenging truths. We've been considering a ballot initiative since I ran and was elected in 2023. I think one of the very first conversations I had at a one-on-one conversation with uh
Superintendent Dorland was about a ballot initiative idea. Um so we heard at that time that the timing wasn't right and we didn't rush and we didn't force a conversation about additional funding. Instead, we've leaned into permanent budget reductions through
school consolidations, reducing property holdings, trimming departmental budget expenditures, reducing staff numbers and administrative positions to address declining enrollment. All through that, we've remained student focused and asked district staff to keep cuts as far from students as possible. And it's been
extremely challenging. Still, we face the hard work of tightening our belt to live within our means. And that work has demonstrated the board and the district is committed to do everything we could before considering whether to place additional funding questions before our community. And I know that there will be
people in our community who will want to what about a position, a program, or a specific expenditure. And it's okay to disagree about the how while still acknowledging the what that Jeffco Schools has done hard and necessary work
over the last five years to address overspending and gain granular clarity around our revenue and our expenditures. In the last year, we've reduced our budget by $40 million, more than half of which came from central admin and department level budgets. This spring, we enlisted community members to work
alongside us to consider our fiscal sustainability. And that partnership studied our past, present, and future financial standing. And I'm grateful that so many community members showed up to learn and engage in a conversation that is complex and layered and super
frustrating at times. The collective time, effort, and wisdom put into the partnership resulted in a recommendation from our partnership that demanded serious consideration by the board, which is what I think that we have undertook as a group. We've continued to listen. We've considered,
conversed, and questioned. We've weighed priorities, consulted experts, and explored the options now set before this body, by our district, and informed by our educated and engaged community. As I see it, Jeffco has two significant funding priorities. Investment in our people, and investment in our educational environments. These are
distinctly different asks. Our people means investment in our roughly 14,000 staff and our 75,000 students in order to provide personally relevant education and prepare our graduates for whatever path they choose in post-graduation.
Our educational environments that our people rely on every day are facilities that support extraordinary student experiences. Both of these investments have been raised in conversation with our Jeffco voters and our community members, not just amongst board members, not just
amongst leaders at the ed center and district staff. Presenting these two investments as two separate ballot questions reflects everything that I and I believe that we have learned over the last months and years. In order to repair and build trust, it is vital to give our taxpaying voters the
opportunity to consider each investment independently while recognizing that both are important to support our Jeffco students. I'm grateful to everyone who has shared their voice throughout the process. We share because we care, even though we may not always agree. These
questions have been shaped by years of relationship building and ensuing conversations. Walt Whitman and Ted Lasso both said, "Be curious, not judgmental." [laughter] And I sincerely hope that our community and Jeffco is willing to move beyond
misinformation campaigns and old narratives that have shifted over time and see that this initiative right now is a reflection of current thoughtful engagement, transparent and honest needs assessment, strategic priority assessment, and student centered focus.
Our students deserve investment. >> Thank you, Director Kinworthy. Would either of you like to speak or can I throw a question out to the group? >> Question. All right, we're going to go question. Um, first of all, I want to express appreciation to Director Mooney
and Director Kenworthy. Those were um I think there's a lot of emotion in this and it it comes through in your in your statements. So, thank you. One of the themes that I I hear woven throughout and that we've heard a lot from our polling is this idea of of trust and accountability and I appreciate that
there is language driving towards that promise to our community in the language but I I want this is our chance to talk about this um and for those of you who don't follow board of education very often um we don't get to talk outside of
this dis so I would really love to dig in I am particular particularly interested in thoughts and feelings on um the citizens committee for accountability. And it's it's um based on the conversation we had a few minutes ago around how the special purpose mill
has kind of a direct um account that it's going to be in whereas the general mill levy override does not. How are we ensuring that our community can read this language and see that we are very serious about trust and accountability?
>> Yeah. Um I think that that is really the most important issue before this board. I think everybody at this dis understands that the needs for this money are very real and actually in some situations I would say even dire. Um for all the gains we've made in educator salaries,
many of our educators still struggle to live in these communities and for all of the excellent management and creative problem solving from our capital team. Uh they can only juggle deferred maintenance for for so long. Um and really I for me it is
transparency and accountability are the primary issues that this board has to address. Um although I think there's a lot about the language in this ballot measure that I appreciate all of us have to be mindful of the history around this particular issue including efforts at accountability that were not
properly handled at a private MLO at a prior MLO before really any of us at least on this DAS were in our roles. Um, and so I think we have to either through this ballot issue language itself or through uh policy changes that we enact
as a board to put this ballot issue language into to bring it into life. We need to take some very very very real concrete steps to reassure the public that the funds will be used in the manner that we claim it will. That said,
as one of the newer members of the board and as somebody who campaigned on issues of accountability and transparency, in saying that it's important to me, I do think it's important for the public to note that when I stepped into this role and had a chance to start looking under
the hood, although school finance is, as director Kenworthy put it, weird. Um, and it does take a while to kind of get your hands around it and understand it. I can confidently say that district staff, district leadership do an excellent job of stewarding district
resources. That does not change the fact that we all have to deal with that. That's not always communicated or understood by the public in a way that engenders trust. And we have to be mindful that trust is not something that you can expect. It's something that we have to earn.
And we absolutely, I think, need to make the, I guess, fourth paragraph of this ballot measure as robust as it possibly can be and to lean in to transparency and accountability in everything we do.
>> Director Gibbons, would you have suggested edits to the language um or do you feel like it reflects your concerns? Well, I have questions about it. I think that if we
I think whatever edits are placed into that language, those are that's those are commitments to the voter and we need to make sure that we're we're making commitments we can keep. I think we also have to be really mindful about um putting solutions into a ballot measure that are flexible enough for future
needs. And so I think there needs to be I think the board first needs to consider are there things in existing structures or processes that we can make more robust and more transparent um while still maintaining flexibility
within some of the systems we already have. I mean I say that knowing that those systems do certain things well but they haven't address this problem as well as we would like. Um, and so I guess, you know, I think perhaps we um
I I guess I' I'd be interested in hearing thoughts in terms of what different accountability mechanisms we as a board think we can create. And then it would be easier to then decide are those accountab account accountability mechanisms things that can be spelled out in this language or are those are
those things that we need to address with kind of more robust policies and and the way we govern ourselves as a board. Director Monian, what I have learned in my short tenure on this on this board is that to
director Kenworthy's comment, the funding is very weird. [laughter] The way that I've come to understand it is that the general fund is sort of like a pot of money. So, it's like the wonderful little pot at the end of the rainbow and it gets handed over to us.
Here you go. Have a nice day. Um, and that's what makes it so challenging to determine and parse out, hey, this money, is it part of the 2018 versus a different one? How does that work? I do think that with the fiscal
accountability committee, we do have an opportunity to perhaps expand the role of that committee to support us maybe through policy changes, expanding our policies um, in in providing this accountability and transparency that we're looking for here. So, I just
wanted to throw that out there as an idea and I'm looking at Brena as the um the uh district liaison for that to see if she has any thoughts or if if I'm stepping out of what that that committee can do. >> Um so, I think the question is could the
existing financial advisory committee help function in a role to oversee the general fund? >> Yes. Yeah. Um that is part of their charter, right? The existing board policy speaks to um a broad-based review of the budget year-over-year changes,
priorities. Um they've focused quite a bit on the reduction process and had great line of sight into that. Um just order of magnitude. Those folks commit um two hours a month or more. It's really more um 10 months out of the year. So that's a pretty sizable
commitment and even then I think they would say they struggle a little bit. Um that being said, the board has four other committees that also have a degree of financial oversight. The CAC has financial oversight for um the capital program. The audit oversight committee
has oversight for the audit. Um the DAC budget subcommittee has um also budget oversight and provides recommendations. Um so it's sort of like what was that Portland show? Put a bird on it. um we've put a committee on it and um I
don't know that the 25 or so financial experts we've built in our community um have been the vehicle for mass amounts of trust building. And so I also would encourage the board per the conversation you're having right now to think um what
are the solutions we need so that we reach the other 599,000 folks in the district. >> Thank you. I do appreciate that observation that different committees look at the budget and spending in different ways and on
one hand there's a lot of benefit to that because you know somebody on the on the CAC who's looking at at capital issues and spending may have a certain familiarity or expertise around those projects in a way that somebody on the DAC wouldn't whereas somebody on the DAC may have a viewpoint in other ways but
by having those individuals split up or those roles split up that might be to me that actually would militate in favor of looking at either consolidating at least some of that function in one committee or creating a having some sort of accountability committee that does take
a more holistic approach than what our current framework is allowing for. >> It is planned right now that the board will um either between the meeting on the 20th or the retreat scheduled for the 21st. This will be a large part of the topic is is how do we set up this
committee? Um the plan is to put this in board policy which does give it more I would say oomph and teeth than just a a standalone committee that's not in policy and I think outside of the deck obviously because there are there are very strict legal parameters around the
functions of the DAC you know the committees serve at the pleasure of the board and it is completely relevant to say first thank you to all of our incredible volunteers who serve on those and what is the best value we can bring and I think asking
um many of them that serve are experts in their field and asking them to bring that expertise in a way that really can um show that transparency I think is incredibly valuable or has the potential to be incredibly valuable. And I'm going to refocus back to the language because
um this is our discussion point. Um Superintendent Stein mentioned that this will be public and people will be able to comment on it. We certainly have the ability to edit between now and then. Um, but what I am hearing is a um, and I've been watching kind of heads nod.
Um, a really important focus on what is transparency and accountability mean and how do we not I'm going to say put our money where our mouth is, but maybe put the, you know, make sure the dollars are being spent in the right ways and that we can provide that information to our
community. Um, if there's not like direct comments, I guess I can move on to the rest of the language thoughts. >> I do like the idea of this being posted for us to receive >> additional feedback and speaking with constituents on it. And I just think um
I think what we've said tonight at least provides some of the context for those who would review this to understand >> what we're trying to accomplish. >> Exactly. what we're trying to accomplish and um and what we would yeah you know the direction we're hoping to move this in but also understanding it's um you
know a delicate balancing act to craft ballot measure language >> any thoughts on um ballot issue 5B I know that's the special purpose mill this is the 60 million um that would be for capital functions um for those who
are listening in the public I'll note that you know with any ballot language. It's important to note what the money goes towards. Um I appreciate that there's been a lot of work put in to identify as we heard presented earlier what those things are especially on this
capital aspect. Um and I assume that whatever language we modify in part A around a committee a citizens committee would be the same for part B. We all agree on that. I the one thing I would note is as I understand it, the funding
for ballot issue part B because it comes in differently and can be accounted for differently. >> In many ways, I think part B actually would be easier to to track. And so I could imagine a scenario where the language for B could remain the same. And again, just to throw an idea out
there, not not saying that it is what makes sense, but that would be, you know, this question B would be an area where I think that is kind of a more natural fit for our existing capital asset advisory committee. Um and that the intersecting expertise between
understanding finances but also understanding proper utilization of funds for construction and maintenance. It's so expertiseheavy um that that committee would be best suited to step into that role and could do so much more easily than the general
use mill uh in 5A. If I could offer one thing to build off that, listening to the presentation earlier and noting that 5B legally goes to a dedicated fund, I think it's important the voters know that so that they don't think it's, you know, going and being intermingling intermingled
with other funds and used for other things other than what's delineated here. So I, you know, if possible and if bond council agrees, put in something about how, excuse me, uh, about how, uh, the funds
from 5B go to a dedicated fund to be used just for these specific purposes. >> It is in there, Mr. Hughes. Um, I got to find it. We could add the word dedicated where it says to be deposited
into we could say the dedicated supplemental capital construction technology maintenance fund. >> I think that's a that could be an important ad. We'll look at our bond council to make sure we're within parameters there because I don't know that our communities understand that we have a capital fund and that this fund
is necessarily different. Um so I think that is a that's a good ad. I would I would be supportive of that. Um, and I want to I want to um add in here that we're going to post this and
the public will be able to comment on it. And there are some um language requests that may be made by our general public that are just actually not statutoily possible. So, we want to hear feedback and we still will always need to refer
back to our bond council to make sure that what language is going on to the ballot is appropriate. Um, and I'm I'm just lifting it up because I want to encourage our community to comment and also manage expectations around um what
changes are possible. >> It's an excellent point, Director Kennorthy. And I I do want to kind of maybe bring us even back to the 30,000 foot level. Um, director Mooneyian mentioned that the partnership did recommend a single funding package which they did in May. Um, and we have done a lot of work since then. In addition to
talking to our bargaining partners, we've also gotten um, you know, polling data back and community conversations and that that's kind of led us to having two on the ballot. Um, are is everyone okay with that? I know that's what's being presented to us. There has been
back and forth on this. Um, I'll ask that I can add my color at the end. or you can just kind of do head nods if that's the preference. >> I'll just kind of reiterate what I said which I think it's important for us to
we understand what our need is, right? Which is that 135. And then it is important for us to simply pose the question to our community to see what their response is going to be on that. And so I'm in favor of breaking this up into two separate
questions because they are around two separate um issues. And so I feel comfortable um looking at it from that perspective. And I'll leave it at that. And I should add we have been talking with the partnership. Um we have been kept keeping them aware of the change in
data. Um in talking with some of their executive leadership I I do believe they are um they understand why this has been presented this way. Um Dr. Ria, do you want to add anything? >> Well, I can talk about it a little bit in my statement if you want. Do you want
me to give that now or >> I think it's a perfect >> Okay. So, um reflecting on the work that brought us up to this point, I keep coming back to the question, what do our students need? Um not just today, but for years to come. Because I have a 2-year-old at home, and whatever
decision we make right now today is going to impact him in 20 years. And that's the reality that five people up here have to live with. Um because in 20 years we're not going to be sitting up
here, but our kids will still be in our schools. So um that has been guiding my thoughts this entire process. What do our kids need? What do our students need? Um this spring the 150 members in the partnership dedicated their time to
studying school finance um district operations facilities and future um Jeffco public schools initiatives. They invested countless hours asked thoughtful questions and developed the recommendation for the board. The recommendation was one single
um funding package of 135 because the thought was that tying the two together would ensure that we would be able to sell the package. Um, however, our responsibility is to continue listening and evaluating the information. And
thank you to Craig and his team for providing us some new information, um, and helping us to make decisions that reflect both our community priority and our responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. So, since receiving the partnerships recommendation,
um, we've reviewed additional community polling that provided further insight into how our community views these priorities. And I've decided that we've come to a point where we're facing two equally but important but distinct needs. One is our
investment in people attracting and retaining outstanding teachers which is 5A. Um and expanding our career and technical education opportunities. Uh, one thing that I keep going back to is um, Tara Pena's presentation on how CTE
has increased our graduation rates to 100% for a lot of our high-risisk populations. And to me, when we are investing in those CTE opportunities that help students prepare for college or careers or military serv service or
apprenticeships and any kind of life after graduation, we're investing in kids wanting to come to school, kids who are excited to come to school, kids who wake up in the morning and they're not dreading going to school because they're going for something they're actually interested in. So that's a big part of
this as well. The other is our investment in the places where those opportunities happen every day. So kids can be excited to come to school, but if this roof is leaking on them, it's not as exciting. Um, schools with safe, functional, and well-maintained learning
environments um help support students and educators alike. So both matter deeply to student success. Um, I also want to acknowledge that my concerns about our budget have remained consistent through this entire process. I did not support the proposed 2627 budget because it relied on the revenue
that we hadn't yet had approved by voters. In my view, budgeting as though those dollars were already available has created unnecessary financial risk for the district. So, considering separating these two funding um pieces into two ballot questions and potentially
reducing the amount requested, those concerns have become a little bit more significant. If only one measure passes or if we receive substantially less um than our budget assumes, we're we have
the potential to face additional reductions that would impact our schools, our staff, our programs, and ultimately our our kids. And for that reason, I believe it's important that our community understands what's at stake. These investments are not
optional enhancements. They're critical to maintaining the quality of education our students deserve. If we move forward with two ballot questions, I hope voters will recognize that both measures address essential needs and that the life the long-term health of Jeffco
public schools depends on investing in both our people and our facilities. Um once again, I'm grateful to every member on the partnership, every student, every educator, every employee, every community member who shared their perspective throughout the process. um those voices help shape this
conversation and I really hope that they will continue shaping the future for the next 20 years and more for our kiddos. Thanks. >> Thank you Dr. Atravaria. Um I know you you mentioned it a little bit. Do you
have are you comfortable with the language as it's presented? >> I mean minus tweaks I know. >> Yes. And I think the biggest thing is educating the public that both are necessary. Thank you. >> Appreciate that.
>> Director Gibbons, is there anything else you'd like to add? >> Unless there's a specific request to hear me speak more. I think I've said enough. >> All right. Fair. Um, [laughter] everyone's already said so many wonderful things. I'll keep mine very
brief. Um, the thing that keeps coming back to me as as someone who's been on this board for two years is how did we get to today? Um, and it is weird. It's complex. It's interconnected. And it's also just like, um, until I got
to look behind the curtain, as you say, um, as a parent of a rising first grader, I share Dr. Etcharia's concerns for the future. Um, I've been in this district for over 18 years as a parent, and I've got 12 years
left to go. and um what we're doing tonight and what we're about to ask voters to consider really matters. But when you think about declining enrollment, closing schools, increasing programming, decreasing programming, COVID, increasing compensation much
needed for staff and educators, a 2018 bond, increasing student needs. Our students we know need more today or at least we are more aware of their needs today and that requires additional programming, additional resources, additional people. Um but not just that
sitting on the CAC I watched the cost of materials, construction, utilities, tools increase and so as we all know as homeowners in this county um it it's a lot. I remember walking into an elementary school and the walls were
peach and teal and literally the facilities guy was like yeah paint's expensive and I was like really peach and teal he's like it still works paint's still good shape and he was right but those are the things where I think when we talk about the spaces that our kids are learning in um
there is there's a market difference when we talk about districts that can bring in extra capital dollars and what they can do with that capital and as a proud parent and of Jeffco schools and someone who plans to be here for a long time. It does feel a little bit like WW when you walk into other districts who
have that funding. Our students absolutely deserve that. And then you focus into then we went into the the blueprint reductions and budget cuts and the whole time we were trying to keep our students first, our families first and give kids the best
chance and the best education um no matter what that was. And so it's been a roller coaster. Um, and we have really tried to remain focused on student outcomes. Um, I'm really proud of the fact that we had our highest graduation rate in the history of the district
since the CDE has kept track. Um, we've gotten numerous academic awards um, more than other districts in Colorado in the recent years. And we are seeing our um, I appreciate that you raised it. We're seeing our students in some of our most vulnerable populations seeing their
graduation rates grow and that's due to CTE. We're seeing test scores come back. We're seeing um that commitment to educational excellence play out and I believe that our responsible stewardship means that we do everything we can with those resources before considering
bringing this to voters. Um but as everyone has really adeptly mentioned, there is a need. There is very specific needs and there are two important needs. Um and so I will say that um there's no doubt in my mind that there's work to do. Polling is a humbling activity to go
through and that is important. Um it's important for me to see it and understand it and know that um this is an opportunity to build that trust through transparency and I hope the education process does say we understand that we have work to do. We are not
perfect. We have a lot to do. Um and I'll say that as the leader of this board and I I know that you all stand with me in that. And so how we build this committee, this um oversight or accountability or transparency committee into our policy and how they maintain
that and how we hold ourselves accountable to that I think is crucially important and we have to do better and I think we also have to make the ask because we are at a point where this funding is crucial. Um and so I you know I'm really appreciate the dialogue
tonight. um what we're about to do is is hard and important and a great gratitude as I mentioned to everyone who's been here helping us um look at all this data um to our experts on the phone who have really um helped us understand what our community is telling us. I've heard the
push for accountability. I've heard um that we have an intent, I believe, to move forward with two ballot measures similar to how this is proposed. So, superintendent, um I think you have direction from the board to move forward with this. Um and I'm really um hopeful
that our August 20th meeting, we will we will get feedback from the community. Um a reminder to our public, our inboxes are open. Please let us know how you feel. Um I know everyone up here values that. Um and I am I truly believe this lies with the voters. So, um
I hope they put our trust in us and I hope we put our trust in them. So, um I believe that's it. Anyone else want to add a final? No. Okay. With that, we will close that item and
we will get to superintendent. >> Just following up on the ballot. It sounds like there was one word added dedicated and um couple other punctuation things to clean up. And um I think because we received this so late, we'll run it through a very careful proof reading and publish it tomorrow so
the public can see it and it will be in your board packets for the next meeting. >> Please. And I don't write ballot measure language for a living. So I'm going to just preface this with that. Um, when we're looking at uh 5B, the first bullet
point, critical upgrades and maintenance of schools such as replacing and repairing faulty, comma, dangerous, and leaking roofs. I'm just wondering if we can wordsmith that a little bit because I find myself reading that sentence over and over and over again and not really
I'm struggling to understand it and I'm wondering if we can make it a little bit more clear and I don't want to be the one to words smmith this but if we can help it along would be my only request. >> Yeah. And not to put you um in that role
but if you do have ideas please email or let me know. and you have a chance. We're just going to put out a draft and then we can all think about it for what two weeks before we finalize. >> And then um a good note on that is
whatever is published in the agenda for the next meeting will be the draft language that the board will be voting on. Um and so the public can know that that that would be a quote final version. Okay. Um all right. So, Superintendent Stein,
welcome to your first consent agenda review. Um, I I assume you know this, but this is really our chance to go through what's going to be on consent agenda. It's we found it to be a helpful tool. Um, thank you everyone. Thank you, Mr. Hughes and Miss Rasmusson. You're
certainly welcome to stay with us, but we will also bid you a fair and fond good evening. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you so much. Have a good evening, y'all. Bye. I don't want >> I don't want my cabinet to go too far until I get through the consent agenda
in case there's anything. Um Brennan, Jeff, hang tight for a sec just in case there are questions. Roll. Okay. So, on the consent agenda for next time, and I think I'm also going to then give you a preview of the actual meeting agenda and action items.
Um you have August supplemental funds notification, acceptance of the monitoring reports, approval of board meeting minutes, um some donation approvals, and then one item I just want to explain a little bit uh more right now. Um our um your attorney who drafted
my contract reached out to me via email and said that there was a discrepancy in my um benefits for life insurance. And so the discrepancy being that whatever was in the um in the contract was
different from the standard practice for all employees in the district. And so she wanted to amend that um to actually increase my life insurance I think from one year to 1.5 years of my compensation. >> That's correct. >> This obviously has very little benefit
to me personally. My wife and kids have asked me to express strong support on their behalf. Um, but that I want, you know, I just wanted you all to know that that's the change and I think we need to hear from our HR team if if you need more detail on that.
>> And I can just add um I did speak with Miss Edgar. She she raised it, she caught it. Stop. Um, and she's correct. So, this is just aligning um superintendent's contract with the practice of the district. >> So, um that's it for the consent agenda.
Um the action items that you'll be reviewing are the MIL levy override certifying the ballot language assuming you decide to do so. Um uh approving a required revenue sharing resolution with the charter schools in accordance with
state requirements. um probably as this or a separate topic um deeper discussion of this question of a committee structure and how to make sure that there's transparency and accountability especially for that first question where um it's not a discrete
fund that's as easy um to track and and and and manage and provide oversight of. Then there's the Colorado state treasures interest free loan program which will authorize the district to participate in the state treasure treasurer's interestf free loan program for the 2627
school year as um a cash flow management tool. The district expects to need a shortterm to need short-term cash in January and February um preceding the start of local property tax collection. So um this this help from the state help
help allows us to do that. Um there's a alternative student transportation contracts. Um so this will be approving contracts for um transportation services for students whose needs cannot be met through our traditional district bus
services um including students who are in outside of district placements and certain students experiencing homelessness or those in foster care as required by law. And then um finally the um ERP ERP or workday implementation
support plan um extend contracted services to align with the revised workday implementation timeline and ensure that um continued support for critical data conversion, migration and other implementation activities through the project are completed. Um, I can
also editorialize that this has been an enormous amount of work of our not just finance and HR and accounting teams, but everybody who's on the implementation side. This changes a lot of their workflow and um we just had a training
was it just today or was it yesterday in this room um with some of our key leaders um who are going to be responsible for making sure that it goes as smoothly as possible. I think that's it as we now know for for Sorry. Go ahead. >> No, I do have one question. Um Mr.
Gatlin, forgive me. You know what's coming. Um on our alternative transportation services, sorry. Um I know we've been really working to streamline this and work it down and utilize our own internal staff.
um help me help me understand how this plays into that and if we're decre decreasing the contract or maintaining it or where we stand, please. >> Yeah, our we can we're we're working on closing out last year or we were tracking this very closely. Um and we are making progress. We continue to make
progress in this area. Uh and I I do believe uh I'm not sure does the consent preview have a proposed contract value in it? >> It does. It's 4.7. I think I I think there's a chance that that's actually going to be lower uh for what you see in
a couple weeks. So, I apologize for that that number, but we'll try to provide as much uh information around how we tracked last year and what you know what our trend has been year after year because we are continuing to make progress and I think that's important for the board to know um with the
diversified fleet that we've put in with all of those things that that we've kept in the loop about over the past few years. So, we'll include that uh in the um in the cover memo for that. And uh but I am anticipating the actual contract ask uh being a little bit less than what you see there. I apologize for
that. >> No, no, no apologies needed. I think that extra context would be incredibly helpful. Um I really appreciate it. And Superintendent Stein, I just want to clarify. Um I believe all of these items will be on consent. Is that correct? >> No.
>> No. Okay. Which ones will not The ones that I addressed in a little more detail should be action and items, not consent agenda items. And I think we'll give the board a little more information and opportunity for discussion and questions. >> Okay, perfect. >> Everything I said after the contract
amendment. >> Got it. And then um I certainly agree the ballot language should be its own action. Um all right. Do you want to speak to the meeting schedule >> or or I am happy to as well? >> Yeah, please.
>> Um, so August 20th is our is our next meeting. Um, but after that, um, our next study session is scheduled for September 2nd. Um, and that will be a uh a 4:30 start. Um, we're going to get to engage with TDPAC and have a monitoring report as well as um an additional FAC
application recommendation, which is pretty exciting. And then we'll have our regular meeting the following week. Um, and that's going to start to look um pretty similar to um our regular um actions. We'll have monitoring report um
and then some boardwork reports and I know we're still working on some of these agenda items. So um that update will be coming. Okay, any other questions? Thank you, Superintendent Stein. you well done on your first study session on
the dis with us. Um this brings us to the end of today's agenda. Thank you to everyone who participated this evening. Our next scheduled meeting of the board is a regular meeting on Thursday, August 20th. And um before I close, I just want to say um welcome back y'all. It's about time for school to start. So just want
to welcome back our teachers, our administrators, our staff, and we're kicking off what's that? And back to school bash is this Saturday. Thank you, Director Moian. Um welcome back everyone. and we're excited for an awesome 2627 school year. And with that, we stand adjourned. Good night.
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