Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Down. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey.
Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. All right. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N.
Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. I'd I'd like to call this meeting of
June 11th, 2026 to order. I am Aaron Kenworthy, first vice president, and I will be conducting this meeting as president Applegate is joining virtually. On behalf of the board of education, welcome to tonight's meeting. We welcome all attendees, those joining us live in the audience and those connecting virtually. We also wish to
express our appreciation to the live simultaneous Spanish interpreters for facilitating access this evening. Gracias. Roll call, please. Miss Harper. Miss Applegate >> here. >> Dr. Edaria >> here.
>> Mr. Gibbons. Miss Kenworthy >> here. >> Miss Moian >> here. >> We invite you to please stand and join us in the pledge of allegiance. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve today's meeting agenda as presented in board docs?
>> I move to approve today's meeting agenda as presented in board docs. >> Is there a second? >> I second. >> Any discussion? It has been moved and seconded to approve the agenda for today's meeting of June 11, 2026 as presented in board
docs. Please note that we will take a 15minute break at approximately 6:45 p.m. this evening. We are now moving on to honors and recognitions. Section 2.01, our learners, our future national merit recognitions. We will begin with honors and recognitions.
Every month, the board of education has the pleasure of recognizing students, staff, schools, and community members for their achievements and contributions to Jeffco public schools. For our first recognition of the evening, we would like to honor the semi semi- finalists and finalists with the
National Merit Scholarship Program with the Our Learners, our future recognition. Will the following scholars come to the front of the boardroom when your name is called? Fiona Fox, Everett Tomkins, Binley Foster, Sophie Hack,
Oscar Naser, Marquy Reynolds, Claudia Creel, Monica Foster, Sarah Gee, Summer Jacobs, Evelyn Johnson, Kale Parker, Daniel Cus, Riley Smith, Jonathan
Neberg, Lena Gibson, Malia Memon, Liam Wall. Tonight, we honor an exceptional group of scholars who have reached the pinnacle of high school academic achievement. Being named a national merit semi-finalist or finalist is a
prestigious milestone that places these students in the top 1% of seniors nationwide. Out of over a million entrance, these students have earned a spot among the among an elite group of just 16,000 students nationwide.
As stated in priority one, our learners, our future. Our goal in Jeffco is for all students to have extraordinary student experiences that recognize their strengths, challenge them to improve, and support them to succeed.
These students are evidence of extraordinary student experiences from the board of education. We are proud of you and wish each of you the best in your futures. Congratulations to each one of you. For our next recognition of the evening,
the board of education is pleased to honor the award recipients of the annual equity and excellence art exhibit and the elementary, middle, and high school art exhibits. I would now like to invite Tim Miller, retired art teacher at Golden High School and curator for
Jefferson County Schools Arts Collection to present this year's art purchase awards. Mr. Miller, please join us at the front of the boardroom. >> Thank you, Miss Applegate. Um, I am presenting to the board of education
this evening the district purchase awards from the annual equity and excellence exhibit and elementary, middle, and high school art exhibits. I would like to thank the art show coordinators and the individual art school teachers uh the school art teachers from Jefferson County schools without whom these wonderful
opportunities for the students would not exist. Also in attendance tonight is Jefferson County visual arts coordinator Shyra Rose. I want to thank Shyra for her hard work and her innovative ideas in promoting these art exhibits and encouraging teachers and their visual
arts program. Thank you, Shyra. All of the pieces of artwork that you see up in the front of the room were selected for purchase by Jefferson County School Board President Michelle Applegate and Superintendent of Jefferson County Schools Tracy Dorland. I would like now now to read the names of the students who are district
purchase award winners. And as I read your name and if you are in attendance, if you could just come up to the front of the room and stand next to your piece of artwork. Okay. The first purchase award from the equity and excellence exhibit goes to Kase Thompson, a student from Green Gables
Elementary for their piece titled Colorado State Symbol Trout. Their art teacher is Angela Green. The next purchase award from the equity and excellence exhibit goes to Gus Ike, a student from Three Creeks K8 for their piece titled Weaving. Their art teacher
is Amy Picar. The next purchase award from the Equity and Excellence exhibit goes to Julia Pedent, a student from Evergreen High School for their piece titled Place versus Displacement. Their art teacher is Sarah Grenamman. The first purchase award from the
elementary art exhibit goes to Kai Clamur, a student from Rooney Ranch Elementary for their artwork titled Brint. Their art teacher is Anne Rhodess. The next purchase award from the equity from the elementary art exhibit goes to
Quai Hang. I hope I got that right. A student from Schaefer Elementary for their artwork titled Art Gallery. Their art teacher is Hannah Glashin. The next purchase award from the elementary art exhibit goes to Jack Baird, a student from Wilmont Elementary
for their artwork that is untitled. Their art teacher is Elizabeth Marcus. The next purchase award from the elementary art exhibit goes to London Robinson, a student from Fremont Elementary for their artwork titled Jelly Toast. Their art teacher is
Elizabeth Galmish. The next purchase award from the elementary art exhibit goes to Grayson Flack, a student from Van Arsdale Elementary for their artwork titled Last Light of Autumn. Their art teacher is Terresa Maguire. The next purchase award from the
elementary art exhibit goes to Giovani Valdez, a student from Fletcher Miller for their arts artwork that is also untitled. Their art teacher is Jenny Hstead Middle School. The first purchase award from the middle school art exhibit goes
to Sierra Fishman, a student from Bell Middle School for their artwork titled Succulent. Their art teacher is Stephanie Loado. The next purchase award from the middle art school middle school art exhibit goes to Issa Candia, a
student from Foster Dual Language K8 for their artwork titled Sunset. Their art teacher is Jesse Diaz. The next purchase award from the middle middle school art exhibit goes to Lily Lurman, a student from Evergreen Middle
School for their artwork titled which is untitled. Their art teacher is Marissa Port. The next purchase award from the middle school art exhibit goes to Alyssa Sawik, a student from Summit Ridge Middle School for their artwork titled The Perfect Bloom. Their art teacher is
Shannon Walsh. The next purchase award from the middle school art exhibit goes to Elizabeth Cribsova, a student from Lincoln Academy for their artwork titled uh untitled. Their art teacher is Jenny Karp.
The next purchase award from the middle school art exhibit goes to Savannah Dvau, a student from Three Creeks K8 for their artwork titled Forest Fox. Their art teacher is Amy Picar. And the final purchase from the middle school art exhibit goes to Alexander Eastm, a
student from Summit Ridge Middle School for their artwork titled Self-Portrait. Their art teacher is Shannon Walsh. For the high school art exhibit, the first purchase award from the high school art exhibit goes to Mason Mullen, a student from Arvvada West High School
for their artwork titled Runners, Take Your Mark. Their art teacher is Candacei Schrader. The next purchase award from the high school art exhibit goes to Felicia Cow, a student from Rston Valley High School for their artwork titled Faux Fawn. Their art teacher is Liz
Burr. The next purchase award from the high school art exhibit goes to Tyler Bilansky, a student from Evergreen High School for their artwork titled Tachinid Fly. Their art teacher is Andrew Spears. The next purchase award from the high
school art exhibit goes to Ali Overhide, a student from Arvvada West High School for their artwork titled I don't even like coffee. Their art teacher is Candace Shrader. The next purchase award from the high
school art exhibit goes to Parker Kder uh a student from Arvvada West High School for their artwork titled True Horsepower. their art teachers, Candacey Schrader. And the final purchase award from the high school art exhibit goes to Michael uh Coker, a student from Warren
Tech, for their artwork titled Urban Three. Their art teacher is Pete Peter Kunis. Um first of all, I would like to congratulate all these students and their artistic uh outstanding achievement. If we can just give them a hand.
Okay. And also now I'd like just take a few minutes for family members to be able to come up to the front to take photos and for the board members to personally congratulate the students. Okay. station. Nice.
So that's whispering. You all get out. next Thursday. >> Yeah, you bet. Congratulations. >> Yes, you're welcome. Yeah. Yeah, it was. Yeah. Did a good selection. You got a good selection this
year. >> Pretty diverse. >> Oh, yeah. It's It's great. Yeah. Absolutely. >> Thank you, by the way. >> Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much for everything. And >> this is one of my favorite things is the art show. So,
>> that's incredible. Good. Yes. >> Is this bittersweet for you? Your last I bet it is. Yeah. Some tears. >> I'm not not crying yet. >> Okay. But you will. I'm just wait. Just wait. test one too.
>> Awesome. >> Mr. >> Yeah. Focus on >> Thank you. Appcate. Congratulations. Very exciting. >> Yes. Um the university. >> Yeah. So for whichever >> Okay.
just has a eye. >> Okay. >> You know, I'll definitely make that because I'm the one that orders these. So, I'll make that change. >> Thank you, sir. Yeah. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> We're celebrating next. >> Oh, okay. I don't know that I got that
on the screen. >> We just finished. Yeah. So, we're going to move on to our next piece here. >> It's fun. >> Tracy for her time. >> Yeah, >> I was a kid. Somebody bought it once and it was like the thrill. >> It's exciting. Yeah,
>> the artwork is awesome. So, >> do you want me to handhold my >> Yeah, I would do it down here. Um, but when we It was good to see you. Okay. I'm not going to go until I say hi. >> Yeah.
>> No, I don't. Okay, I'll go ahead and finish here. Um, all of the artwork displayed here tonight will join the district's art collection, which now numbers over 369 pieces of artwork and is on display throughout the education center. I would
like to end by saying that we know that the arts can generate enthusiasm and motivation for learning with their emphasis on creative discovery and the ability to stimulate a variety of learning styles. The arts teach discipline, the value of sustained effort to achieve excellence and the
concrete rewards of hard work. I speak for myself and every art teacher in the district and being so appreciative to the board of education for continuing the art district purchase awards and giving your time and continued support of art education in the Jefferson County School District. Thank you. And it's
been a pleasure to be able to display the wonderful creative student artistic achievements that wouldn't have had the opportunity to be displayed if it wasn't for the superintendent and the school board's continued financial support for these purchase awards. So, thank you again. Appreciate that.
And it's very nice of you, Mr. Miller, to thank the board and to thank me and others for the support of the district um art show and commitment to the arts. But you also deserve to be recognized um because your leadership um your work in
the classroom with students um and your commitment to these art shows has really been um the foundation of our ability to make this special for our students. So, thank you for your service to our kids um and for your leadership as well. >> You're welcome. Thank you for saying that.
>> For the final recognition of the evening, the board would like to honor Superintendent Tracy Dorland. Superintendent Dorland, will you please join us at the front of the boardroom? It is with profound gratitude and respect that the board of education pauses to reflect on the lasting legacy
and transformative impact superintendent Tracy Dorland leaves behind at Jeffco public schools. When Superintendent Dorland stepped into her role in 2021, she did not simply take a job. She accepted a monumental challenge. Entering during the height of global
pandemic, she assumed leadership at a time when educational systems nationwide were facing unprecedented disruption. With unwavering confidence and courage, she took the helm of Colorado's second largest school district and provided the steady guidance Jeffco desperately
needed to navigate those turbulent waters. Through her strategic vision and collaborative spirit, Superintendent Dorland didn't just help Jeffco survive a crisis, she positioned the district to thrive. Her tenure is defined by several landmark achievements. Academic
excellence. She championed the implementation of rigorous, highquality literacy and math curriculum across all schools, ensuring every student has a strong, foundational, equitable education. The Jeffco thrives strategic plan. Under
her direction, the district aligned its collective focus, creating a clear, forward-looking roadmap centered on student success, inclusivity, and community partnership. courageous district consolidation. Facing difficult demographic realities,
she led the highly complex but necessary school consolidation efforts. The painful but vital process in short that resources could be pulled effectively giving all students access to robust comprehensive educational
opportunities. Fiscal responsibility through her guidance on the budget reduction blueprint. Superintendent Dorland ensured the district corrected its financial trajectory, securing long-term fiscal health to meet the needs of Jeffco students for generations
to come. Student outcomes. Her leadership directly translated to the classroom, resulting in the highest graduation rates ever seen in Jeffco and expanded exceptional post-secary and career pathway opportunities for our graduates. Superintendent Dorland's
legacy is deeply woven into the fabric of our schools. She showed us how to face hard truths with grace, lead with integrity through difficult decisions, and always prioritized always prioritize the well-being of our students. On behalf of the board of education, our
staff, our students, and the entire Jeffco community, thank you. Thank you for leading with conviction, partnering with humility, envisioning a brighter future, and strengthening Jeffco public schools. We wish you the
absolute very best in your next chapter. We will now move forward with board proclamations. The board publicly recognizes special events and significant issues by issuing proclamations. In the month of June, we are commemorating Pride Month, National Gun Violence Awareness Day,
June 5th and Junth Day, June 19th. We encourage you to read the Jeffco School Board's proclamations in board docs. Items 301 through 303 are presented in board docks as proposed proclamations for the month of June. Before we move on to that, it has been called to my attention that we did not complete our
vote on our agenda. So, we're going to hop backwards for a moment and take a vote because it was seconded and it was moved. We are now going to vote on this
evening's agenda. Miss Harper. >> Yes, there was a motion to approve today's agenda. It was seconded and approved. So, we'll have a quick roll call. Miss Applegate. Yes. >> Dr. Etcheria. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Gibbons. >> Yes. >> Miss Kenworthy. >> Yes. >> And Miss Moinian? >> Yes. >> And now we'll vote on our proclamations. Do I have a motion regarding the approval of the proclamations? >> I move to approve items 3.01 through
3.03 on the proclamation section as published in board docs. >> Is there a second? >> I second. >> Any discussion? It has been moved and seconded to approve the June proclamations as presented in board docs. Roll call, please. Miss Harper. >> Miss Applelegate.
>> Yes. >> Dr. Edgearia. >> Yes. >> Mr. Gibbons. >> Yes. >> Miss Kenworthy. >> Yes. >> Miss Moinian. >> Yes. >> We will now move to public comment. The public. Let me go back. We will now move to the public comment portion of the
meeting. Public comment is an opportunity for the community to share their thoughts with the board. 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. To address the board with respect. As a reminder, individual speakers will have three minutes and groups will have
10 minutes to address the board. Guest with card number one, please make your way to the podium. >> Good evening board members. My name is Tim Krug and I am joined by my wife Yumiko and our children Joseph, Eddie, and Mia. And we live in Evergreen.
Uh tomorrow we have a meeting here at the district office uh at which uh the district will deliver to us their final decision um regarding our complaints concerning our son's Eddie's our son Eddie's concussion
um sustained at Conifer High School. uh district employees put our son's life in danger and we believe attempted to hide the fact that they did that and in doing so um put his life in even greater
danger. It has been nine months of appeals and such as we have gone through this. And in nine months, the district has never interviewed the alleged victim, Eddie Krug. Nor has it interviewed witnesses that were on the
field who have reported seeing and hearing things that are directly contradicted by the head coach's statement. The head coach is the alleged perpetrator and his statements seem to be ha taken as fact by the district for
the last nine months. In those nine months, I've had an opportunity to learn quite a bit about this district. Uh and I don't think that anyone in the room will be surprised to hear um that this district seems to be in real trouble. Uh
you have enrollment issues, um huge financial issues, an absence of consistent leadership as your superintendent has recently and suddenly resigned and the deputy superintendent was hired on an interim basis and my
understanding is uh his time will be up in a few short weeks as well. Um, but most importantly, I see that this district is developing massive trust issues with the community. And there is nothing worse for a school
district than to lose the trust of its community. The best and most reliable way for a school district to earn and maintain the trust of the community is to hold itself accountable for its mistakes and to hold
its staff accountable for their choices. We believe it's time to say enough is enough. This district is going to stop concealing things, stop hiding things, and become truly transparent with the community. And we believe that our
meeting tomorrow provides an excellent opportunity for the district to say, we are drawing a line in the sand and we are no longer doing things that way. We are going to do things a new way. And I think that we're very lucky uh that
interim deputy superintendent Dwight Jones is leading this meeting. He is a uh talented and experienced administrator. Uh and I very much believe that he is capable of just knocking the ball out of
the park tomorrow. But he is leaving in a few weeks. And so I believe that he needs this board's permission to begin a new path and set us on a new course and set up the new superintendent for success. So I'm
asking this board to please either as a group or as individuals to let Mr. Jones know um that it's time to do things differently and to allow him to make uh this district look good.
And so, thank you uh for your time tonight and uh we appreciate your commitment to our schools. Thank you. >> Thank you. Speaker number two. >> I'm Stephanie Skoolie from Lakewood here to talk about Superintendent Dorland.
With me, >> Mary Parker from Littleton. >> All right. Good evening, Jeff Public Schools leadership and staff, members of the board of education, Superintendent Doran, the many millions of fans tuning in to the district liveream. Over the
years, I've participated in public comment in a few different roles as a parent, community organizer, and a board director. Tonight, I add another category as a friend, former colleague, thought partner, and at one point employer of the outgoing superintendent
of this remarkable school district. Being a superintendent is a bit like being a unicorn. It's not an elected office, but most people understand it is highly political. You need deep expertise and teaching and learning, but also an understanding of school finance,
student safety, mental health, technology, public policy, facilities, communication. The list goes on and on. You have to be approachable, but also decisive. and you answer to a rotating group of employers selected by voters who may or may not fully understand what
a superintendent's job really is or occasionally what their own job is. I was honored to serve on the board of education that hired Miss Dorland. It's easy to forget that Jeffco experienced significant leadership turnover in the years before her arrival. During my
four-year board term, I worked with three different superintendent, one interim. It's also easy to forget just how much this district navigated just between the two years that I served as president of this board. Leading a large school district through challenges of a pandemic, which we heard about. Creating
a public-f facing school data dashboard to improve transparency, managing school closures, expanding career and technical education, updating it. The list goes on and on, including what did not happen before 2023, but we're going to claim it
anyways, which is designing and building a world-class learning environment for students of Lecher Miller, which I'm going to claim. This is not an exhaustive list. It certainly isn't a claim that every decision was perfect, but it reflects how you, Tracy, have approached leadership in public education. You believe deeply that
Jeffco students and staff are worth that effort, that this district is worth that effort. For you, this work has never just been about the title or paycheck. It's always been about making things better for students and staff. The status quo has never been good enough
for you. One of the things I have appreciated most about working with you is that you are genuinely curious, that you push. We have not always agreed when we work together and we were always consistently aligned, however, on our belief that students and staff deserve
our best thinking, our best effort and a sense of urgency around improvement. And it stretched everybody. everybody. I understand that we stretched everybody and we never allowed perfection to become the enemy of progress. So Tracy,
thank you for your years of service to this district. I'm excited for you. I'm excited for your family as you begin a new adventure. I'm grateful for the teeny tiny part that I have played in this journey for you. And I'm going to leave you with the words of our modern philosopher, Taylor Swift. Stop that,
Drew. Um, you should think of your energy as if it's expensive, as if it's a luxury item. What you spend your energy on. That's the day. My hope for you is that you spend that energy on work that challenges and fulfills you, with people who know you, value you, and
share what matters most. May this next chapter be filled with joy, purpose, and the things and people you love. Because that is indeed my good friend of the day. It's all yours. Thank you. Speaker number three.
Okay. All right. I'm Sarah Sterling and I'm from Golden, Colorado. Good evening, members of the board of education and superintendent. My name is Sarah Sterling and I come before you tonight as a lifelong resident, a graduate of Jeffco public schools,
an employee of Jeffco public schools, and a parent of three students currently enrolled in Jeffco schools. I am personally and professionally invested in the success and functioning of this district. I have experienced it from nearly every perspective and I want it to thrive for our students, families,
staff, and community. I am here tonight because I have concerns about communication and responsiveness from our elected board of education. Over the past several months, I emailed my board representative and received no response. I followed up with another email and
again received no response. I reached out to the board president and did not receive a response there either. I do want to thank Dr. Etchivaria for being the only person who responded to my outreach. I understand that each of you serves in a volunteer capacity. I
recognize that you have careers, families, and many other responsibilities competing for your time. I am also aware of some of the issues your time is being pulled for within this district. However, I also believe that when someone chooses to serve in a position of this importance,
there is a responsibility to make every reasonable effort to connect with and respond to the constituents who are living this system in real time. In fact, I attended a district town hall where community members were encouraged to get involved, attend meetings, ask questions, and reach out to our elected
representatives. It is difficult to encourage community engagement when community engagement goes unanswered. Part of the reason I reached out to board members was because I had concerns regarding communication and leadership at the school and district level. When concerns involve district employees,
including administrators, families and staff need confidence that there is a meaningful avenue for oversight beyond the district's internal chain of command. The board serves as an important role in providing accountability, ensuring that concerns raised by the community receive appropriate attention. When outreach to
elected representatives goes unanswered, it can leave constituents feeling as though there is no check and balance system available. When someone takes the time to thoughtfully communicate concerns, being acknowledged and receiving a response is essential. It is one of the most basic ways people
know they are being heard, valued, and taken seriously. Even when there is disagreement, communication builds trust. Silence erodess it. I have seen many people come forward over the past several years to express their concerns and struggles with and within our dis
system only to feel that accountability remains elusive. I work to address issues within my own sphere of influence and control. When a concern falls outside of that sphere, I reach out to those elected or appointed to lead. That is how a healthy system should function
and how I want our system to function. Tonight, I respectfully ask that the board consider establishing a practice or policy that ensures ensures constituents receive a response within a reasonable time frame. I believe such a commitment would entrust and improve
trust, strengthen accountability, and help restore confidence in the relationship between the district board and the community it serves. Thank you. >> Thank you. Speaker number four. Tom Coin Lakewood.
This is for Tracy and every other superintendent who is struggling to turn around a failing school district. Unfortunately, there are a lot of them out there today. Tracy brought much neededed new leaders into Jeffco. Renee Nicthod has made many of the changes that we saw dramatically improve
Alberta's academic performance like standardized curriculum, highquality instructional materials, and proven technology like map accelerator. Jeff Gatlin has made many long overdue improvements in the management of the district's facilities and operations. And Brena Copelan, bless her heart, has
replaced Jeff Go's antiquated and outofc control accounting system. Our billiondoll school district will soon run not on linked error-filled spreadsheets, but on a modern enterprise resource management system. Brena and her team have also struggled mightily to
manage the worsening financial crisis created by union control boards reckless teacher pay increases. Before you trash Tracy, think about this. Jeffco's had six different superintendents in the past 12 years from a very wide range of backgrounds.
Yet over this period, Jeffco's academic performance has failed to improve while its financial health declined. This isn't a damning indictment of the soups, but of the union backed boards that have effectively controlled our billion-dollar school district since 2015.
I'm not going to say that Tracy didn't make mistakes. Every firsttime turnaround CEO does in hindsight, all of them wish they had done four things differently. I'm sure Tracy is no different. First, they wish that when they took over, they had been brutally honest with
investors and other stakeholders about the true extent of their organization's problems and the scale of the challenge they faced. To her credit, in November of 21, Tracy presented the board with the Aino report about Jeffco's academic problems and the Moss Adams report about
the multiple scandals, cost overruns, and lack of controls in its $857 million capital program. But she did not emphasize strongly enough how screwed up Jeffco was and how big a challenge she and her team faced. Arguably she couldn't. Her union control board would
have crucified her. The second lesson is to make your tough people decisions early. Leaving poor performers in place for too long has cost Jeffco dearly over the 16 years since we moved here. The toxic, dysfunctional culture that they sustained has blocked performance
improvement and led to 40 and counting child sex abuse scandals. Third, firsttime CEOs wish they had engaged with their critics early on. Those critics would have balanced the bias spin Tracy received from too many long-term Jeffo employees.
Fourth, when she realized that the ultimate obstacle to turning Jeco around is the JCA contract and their control of the board, Tracy didn't drop the gloves, as we say in Canada, and she didn't resign. Instead, she tried to work with her boards and with the union. Too late
in the game, she realized that this was a fool's errand. The bad news is that these four common mistakes leave a firsttime CEO, turnaround CEO, feeling pretty beaten up when they leave. I know because I've been there. The good news is that a turnaround CEO
will never make these four mistakes again. And in every other organization that hires them will have a much greater chance of success. So congratulations Tracy. You've survived one of the hardest CEO learning experiences there is and ever and your next your next
district will be lucky to have you. Put Jeffco behind you and never look back. >> Thank you. Speaker number five. >> Hi, my name is Natalie Perez and I am from Lakewood. I'm here to speak about
the cell phone policy. Uh my name is Natalie and I'm here because I care about ensuring Jeffco students have the best possible learn learning environment. I am the parent of an incoming Jefco high school student. I appreciate that Jeffco has already taken
steps to reduce distractions, especially for elementary and middle school students where devices are required to be off and out of sight throughout the day. However, the data is very clear. Policies are most effective when they are consistent, simple, and apply across
the full school day for all schools. Uh this includes high school. Right now, Jeffco's policy creates different expectations by grade level and in high school allows phones outside of instructional time. Research and educator experience show that this is
where challenges persist. When phones are allowed during passing periods or lunch, students don't walk into class ready to learn. They walk in mid text, mid video, or midscroll. Even brief interruptions have lasting impacts. After a notification, it can take
students significant time to fully refocus and inconsistent policies place a burden on teachers to manage devices instead of teaching. Taking away valuable instructional time. At the same time, we know what works. Schools with
clear schoolwide phone-f free policy see less in-class use, phone use, and stronger teacher satisfaction. Educators report increased engagement, fewer disruptions, and stronger student relationships when phones are off and
away for the entire day. Research also shows that reducing phone use during the school day lowers distractions and can improve academic outcomes over time. Schools across the country and in Colorado are already demonstrating that
bell-to-bell away all day policies are the most effective and equitable approach because they are clear, consistent, and don't vary from classroom to classroom. So my ask is simple. As you finalize this policy, strengthen it by ensuring a clear,
consistent district-wide expectation that phones are off and away for the entire school day. JCO has the opportunity right now to put in place a policy that truly supports learning, student well-being, and strong school communities. Before I finish, I would
like to thank Dr. Avaria for her leadership on this topic. I have talked to so many parents and teachers wishing for a bell-to-bell policy for high school students, too, and I appreciate her bringing forth her thoughts. Thank
you for your time and leadership. Thank you. Speaker six. Good evening. Susan Miller, Lakewood. Paula Reed, Lakewood. Um, good evening staff, um, board and, um, Superintendent Dorland. In March of 2020, COVID changed
our world. An understatement perhaps, but as a school board member, a global pandemic was not on my bingo card. We shifted from inerson to online learning affecting so many of our most vulnerable children. We were building the response to CO as we navigated through it. Within
3 months, not only were we trying to figure out how we would return to school safely, we were forced into a superintendent search. This search would bring the seventh Jeffco um superintendent in eight years. To say that Jeffco was struggling with leadership challenges is an
understatement. No billion-dollar organization can thrive with that leadership level of leadership disruption. We did not know what the future held for us with regards to CO, but we did know we needed a leader that could help us navigate the uncharted water with a focus on children. Jeffco
had significant challenges beyond CO that needed to be addressed. flatlining academic growth, weak ELA and math proficiency levels, inconsistent curriculum across all grade levels, changing demographics, financial uncertainty, and a community with very
different opinions about when and how we should return to inschool learning. Tracy Dorland's vision for Jeffco was grounded in what was most important, the children. That is a school district's purpose, to educate children. And in a high choice state, if children are not
served, families will seek other options. While navigating COVID, Tracy kept her eye on the critical factors that impacted children's learning. She worked hard to have Jeffco become a more data-driven organization to serve children. She worked to guarantee all students had access to high-quality
curriculum, aligned leadership across articulation areas, ensured grant dollars follow the children that were in need. She also identified new leaders inside and outside of Jeffco that shared her vision. It was no longer the Jeffco culture of it's my turn. Instead, she
hired team members who would be most effective. Were feathers ruffled? Yes, as they should be. Without ruffled feathers, change does not take place. Perhaps the biggest challenge Tracy faced was the closing of 20 schools during an $800 million capital
investment program. At the time of the 2000 bond election, Jeffco had approximately 106,000 seats for approximately 76,000 children. To say we had over capacity is an understatement. Dollars that went to empty seats were dollars that could not go into
classrooms full of kiddos. This was not suitable or sustainable. Tracy and her team worked to rightsize the district to red redirect finite resources. She brought the board along with her. It was a very challenging time, but it was the right path to follow. Tracy and I didn't
always agree. I'm sure Paula, you would agree with that as well. Um, but I did appreciate her willingness to engage, listen, and work to address issues that were brought forward to both of us by the Jeffco community. Thank you, Superintendent Dorland, for your unwavering faithfulness to children in
Jeffco. I am hopeful that the work that began with your team will continue to benefit the children and families of Jeffco. It was an honor and a pleasure to work with you. I wish you the very best in your next endeavor. Godspeed. Do you want to say anything?
>> Thank you, Tracy. You've been amazing. >> Thank you. Speaker seven. Speaker number eight. Director Kenworthy. We do have somebody that's online. >> Okay. >> But we're having to restart. So give us just one second for the online. All
right. Thank you. Speaker number seven, Mr. Chester, are you there? Can you hear us? >> Can you hear me? >> Yes, we can. >> Thank you. Good evening. Um, thank you to the Jeffco School Board and Superintendent for a reporting me some
time. My name is William Chester and uh I'm from Wheatidge. Uh, I just wanted to share some thoughts tonight regarding the need for bell-to-bell no school policy uh for K through 12 districtwide. Um, you most likely have heard that this
past Monday, June 8th, the Denver Public Schools Board of Education unanimously passed a bell to bell no cell phone policy for K through 12. With this policy, they've joined others in Colorado, including BBSD, prioritizing students and their focus, their well-being, their mental health, their
academic success, as well as community and school culture by passing a bell-to-bell no cell phone policy for K through 12. Our family is pleased to see this progress, and we emphatically share that board's belief that this policy will be a win for students, teachers,
and for the community and the school. The research on this issue by scientists, researchers, and psychologists is clear and correct. No cell phones in schools. Policies requiring phones to be away only during instructional time did not go far enough
because phones used during passing periods, and lunch continue to disrupt learning throughout the day. When students use phones between classes, social media conflicts, group chats, and all of the drama are brought directly back into classrooms. The impact is not
just on the students with the phone. The impact is on all students and teachers. Teachers are spending too much instructional time redirecting students and managing device usage, storage, and interruption instead of teaching the children. I firmly believe this Jeffco's
school district, the second most populated district in the state, can help lead the way for other school districts in Colorado and the county by setting the highest standard on this issue, passing a bell-to-bell, no cell phone policy for K through 12, focusing
on the science and embracing this as an opportunity to prioritize academics and education, focus and health, and peer connection for all students. We need to remove cell phones from schools for the sake of our children's futures. This is not a punishment. It's for their good
health. And this is about our love for our children. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Speaker number eight. I think we just have one more left. Director Kenworthy. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, if you have not
spoken yet and you have a number, please come on up. Hello. Hello, Jeffco uh, school board. Thank you for allowing us to speak. My name is Ben Dorland. >> My name is Wyatt.
>> Hi. I'm Olivia. and we are here to speak about Miss Superintendent Tracy Dorland. You'll find out quickly that I'm not as good of a public speaker as her. So, um I do want to give a couple of quick shout outs. Um thank you cabinet. You've
uh really helped her out and uh I appreciate everything you do for her. I'd also like to uh say hello to or give a shout out to R1. you guys uh have always had her back and I appreciate you guys and Jeff if you're watching uh
happy retirement. Um Frank D'Angelus, John Dephano and JCAA, Dr. Kim and Lisa Roo. Thank you all. Um I want to start by saying how proud I am of you.
I didn't think I was going to get emotional here. Um the results under your leadership are proof of all of your hard work. and the changes you made worked. Congratulations. You chose to lead with grace, positivity, and gratitude.
You elevated those around you. You kept Jeff's students at the center of every decision you've made. And I know that because I've heard it. Everything you brought to this role came from your unwavering commitment to improving the lives of students and
staff. Soup, you're a strong strong leader. Strong strong strong woman leader. Some get intimidated by that and other run others run towards it. Thank you for being such a such an incredible role
model for our children. One day White and Olivia will take away the most from your time as superintendent. They've been part of countless conversations we've had about your job on the ski slope, on the golf course,
dinners, pretty much everywhere. But um they have had a front row seat to your ability to see around corners and stay few steps ahead of everyone else in this room. You are strategic mastermind and we have the
privilege of witnessing it firsthand. From my unique v uh vantage point, I got to experience this job alongside you. And I'm so proud of how you handled the pressure that came with it, including what happens in this room and from this
podium. Sometimes, sometimes good, sometimes bad, and a lot of times ugly. You found your hedgehog a long time ago. Over the past five years, you've navigated uh cliffs and fog,
challenges, and uncertainty, and you've emerged stronger, wiser, and you're going to a better place. You controlled your narrative, and no one can take that away from you.
I'm incredibly proud of the legacy that you'll be that you're leaving with Jeffco and that you'll continue to build into your next chapter. Your impact will be multiplied from the 70 approximately 70,000 students at JCO to hundreds of thousands of students in districts
across the country. The College Board is fortunate to have you on its team as it reaches for even greater heights. You have found your next hedgehog, and I cannot wait to be part of the next adventure with you.
On behalf of our friends, our family, and your army of supporters, thank you. Thank you for everything you've done, for who you are, and how you've shown up every single day. You are my ripple in Still Water.
I've always been and always will be your number one supporter. We have grown together so much over these past 5 years and the best part is we just getting started. I cannot wait to see where our next chapter takes us and how lucky I'm to be there right
besides you. So after years of listening to public comment, we get to be the last group. And I just want to say congratulations and we love you.
So, uh, I'd first like to just start off by saying that I love you, Mom. Um, it's been 5 years now and I have seen you through many, many different walks of life through those 5 years. um when she took this job as superintendent of Jefferson County, I couldn't have been
more excited for her um and myself because my teachers were going to grade my stuff a lot nicer. But um it was it was a fresh start. Um you know, she was at Adams 12, so she was driving an hour to work every day and now she drove six
minutes instead of 60. Um and she had an amazing team around her to support her. Shout out Lisa. Um, I know she's not here. Is she not here? I don't think she's here. Um, what I didn't know is how much this job would ask of her. Um, I watched her leave leave the house
early and get home late. She would answer calls at all hours and carry the weight of decisions that affected thousands of students, teachers, and families. Um, there were difficult days. There were long meetings, and there were challenges that most people never saw. but she always showed up with a smile on
her face and the determination and commitment to doing what is the best for kids. As her son, I've gotten to see a side of this job that most people never do. While many know her as Superintendent Dorland, I know the person who came home after long days,
still thinking about students, teachers, and families. I know the woman who poured her heart out into this work because she genuinely cared about the people it served. This role was never just a job to her, but rather an opportunity to improve lives, which is the thing that I love most about her is
that she always dedicates everything to other people. Her passion, integrity, and willingness to give um to give so much of herself to others has inspired me every day, and I couldn't be more proud to call her my mom. I am incredibly proud of everything
you've accomplished during your time here. Thank you for showing me what leadership and perseverance looks like. Jefferson County is better because of you. And I know that wherever life takes you, you will continue to make a positive difference in the lives of others. I love you and congratulations
on an incredible 5 years. This is really tall up here. Hi, I love you. Once I got through with Jeffco and started looking at colleges, I was pursuing a few different majors and one
of those was political science. And after witnessing your experience with all different types of communities and all of these amazing and interesting people, I've decided that I will never
be a political science major. You will always have Wyatt, Dad, and me behind your back. I know how much this job meant to you. And throughout all of your years, we saw every moment of it. And we are all so proud of you because
of it. Your next steps and wherever you choose to go is going to be amazing. and you're going to put in as much effort, time, work, and consistency into it as you do to both this job and us as a family.
Although, I guess you'll put more into me than those two back there. We love you so much and we're just so proud that you've gotten to where you meet where you've meant to be. We love you.
Thank you. >> Thank you. Public comment uh is now concluded. Thank you to those who participated in public comment. And oh, is there >> number 11? >> Number 11. Yes, we still have somebody left. >> Uh what's your name?
>> I'm on the summary. Gerald Sullivan. >> Yep, you are on our list. Go ahead, sir. Okay. Mr. Dorland, I wish you well. Don't have time to dwell on much more. Um, and if you guys can uh I was in Denver when Rob Stein gave the pallet manual. Um, I
don't know what his experience is since then, but um he's a great guy and he'll give you a good go if you can keep him around if he'll stay. Um, okay. I'm here to address uh the pad or cell phone policy. And >> can you move the microphone?
>> Oh, I'm sorry. There you go. I'm sorry. >> Make it taller. Okay. Um did you hear what I said before? Okay. Um thank you for um creating the policy. Um I think it's a very good core policy, but I see
some problematic issues. Okay. And the concerns are um section five bullet one uh where it requires compliance with district's acceptable use and school rule r rules for students. It's too vague to enforce. What are those school
rules? Okay. Um by the way, I have I've been in Jeffco for 13 years. I have had students since 2018 at Devlin. I have a 23 grad. I have uh son who just
completed his freshman year. Um there's a lot of potential for conflicting policy and search abuses. Um and how do you mitigate defective school administration or governance?
Okay. Now, with regard to JSAR, the school-based policy, um, despite the expectations you have in there and the good faith you expect, um, you know, you're going to end up with arbitrary and capriccious school rules that are not well thought out, and it creates a
Pandora's box of district staffing and service requirements that and strain on your bureaucracy that you're not going to have the time, money, and resources to meet. Um, I could go into specifics of Devlin, but I'm going to save time and not do that. So, I'm going to
suggest that you uh revise the policy. Um, you you don't want to implement till July 2027, and you add provisions to the effect that schools will not restrict and must not restrict uh student use of
their um smartphones during lunchtime and passing periods. Okay. um policy should be consistent in every school and uh differing for high school, middle school, etc. is is fine. It's age appropriate. Now, why? Well, students
and parents, you know, the vast majority buy into reasonable policies. Okay? They disregard all unreasonable government rules, policy, and laws. That's just the way it is. It's human nature. Okay? Um, students, especially in high school, are
young adults. They're highly competent and highly responsible. They can manage their time on phones. And it prevents tyrannies of minority factions like an anti-tech faction that might take over school governance, which I have experience with. Uh, my son's note
cards, uh, when I asked him for feedback on this was not nothing was wrong with the own policy and the usage has simply gone underground. Um I'll try to speed through some thing here some things here but uh feedback from from uh Devlin in
their last steering committee meeting was the Bel uh ban failed. Um nobody wants to be the phone police. Teachers and admin are blaming each other. They always will. >> Can you wrap up your comments? >> Yes. Um
so they didn't get the buyin from students and parents. It didn't work. Um and it's a fantasy that students um are not socializing that that they are socializing more without phones. They use their phones to socialize and um
they really need their phones for scheduling of sports, um medical appointments, work and all the other things that busy kids have going on. Um thank you very much. >> Yeah, thank you for your time. >> Is there anybody else in the room
holding a number who needs to speak? Going once, going twice, gone. At this point, I'm going to take a brief five minute break. Thank you. Heat. Heat.
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hey, hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down down
Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Hey, Heat. down. Down. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. In the beat in the Heat. Heat. N.
down. Thank you. We're back from our break and next on our agenda is a consent agenda. Items 5.01 01 through 5.19 are presented in board docs as proposed consent agenda items. As a reminder to our listening public, the board received a preview of
these items at our June 3rd study session. Director Chavaria has advised the board office that she wishes item 5.03, the district cell phone policy, to be removed from the consent for a separate vote. We will vote on items on item 5.03 immediately following this
vote. Do I have a motion regarding the approval of items 5.01, 5.02, 02 and items 5.04 through 5.19 on the consent agenda as published in board docs. >> I move to approve items 5.01, 5.02, and
items 5.04 through 5.19 on the consent agenda as published in board docs. >> Is there a second? >> I second. >> Any discussion? >> It has been moved and seconded to approve the consent agenda items 5.01 01
and 5.02. Then items 5.04 through 5.19 as presented in board docs. Roll call, please. Miss Harper. >> Miss Applegate. >> Yes. >> Dr. Etavaria. >> Yes. >> Mr. Gibbons. >> Yes. >> Miss Kenworthy? >> Yes.
>> Miss Moian? >> Yes. >> We will now turn to item 5.03, which was removed from the consent agenda for a separate vote. Do I have a motion to approve policy JSA and regulation JSA-R as presented in board docs?
>> Yes. I move to approve policy JSA and regulation JSAR as published in board docs. >> Is there a second? >> I second. Is there any discussion? >> Yes. Um I want to appreciate all the hard work that went into this policy.
Unfortunately, I will be voting no this evening because I do not believe the proposal that we worked through last week fully addresses the main concerns that I raised of a true away all day policy for all grade levels. I recognize that cell phone policies do not typically come before the board. However, as elected representatives, we
serve as the direct connection between the district and the communities we represent. On this issue, I've received more than 500 emails requesting an away all day policy for grades K through 12 from parents, teachers, and community members. Recently, I began hearing from
many low-income multilingual families in private that are afraid to speak up publicly on this issue. These families have expressed the embarrassment they feel at the inability to provide a phone for their children. and having an away as a day policy gave them hope that their student would feel less isolated in school, similar to how universal
lunch program has helped normalize school lunches. As a former single mom who could only afford one cell phone between my two children, this resonated with me. The presumption that all students families can afford phones and that a strict policy won't help those disenfranchised students feel connected
show the privilege and lack of empathy to those students, which is 30% of our JECO population. After carefully considering that feedback, I do not believe this policy reflects the will of my community, both the outspoken voices and the quiet, embarrassed voices have
reached out. My concern is not whether a phone should be used during instruction. We all agree that they are distracting in the classroom. My concern is that this policy still permits access during lunch passing periods and through various exceptions. In my view, these allowances undermine many of the benefits families, teachers, and
communities are asking us to deliver. Consistency is important. Teachers have told me that inconsistent expectations across classrooms is one of their biggest frustrations. Yet, this policy still leaves room for individual and school-based interpretation. Students will continue to face different rules
depending on their teacher and their building. It also continues to allow teachers to permit personal devices use under certain conditions, raising ongoing concerns about data mining and privacy and potential exposure to misconduct through apps like Snapchat. I
am also concerned about equity. Students across Jeffco deserve consistent expectations and opportunities regardless of where they attend school. While this policy is often described as a floor, not a ceiling, I worry it will create new glass ceilings for some students. If some schools choose a more
comprehensive, distraction-free approach, while others do not, students may have unequal access to the academic, social, and mental health benefits that result. Likewise, if enforcement varies from building to building, some students may face more restrictive or punitive practices than others. When
opportunities and outcomes depend on students school assignment, we risk creating inequities and glass ceilings that hold some students back while others move forward. From a safety perspective, I'm not comfortable with phone and earbud use during lunch and passing periods. In any emergency, students must remain aware of their
surroundings and responsive to adult direction. Survivors of emergencies often report hearing danger before seeing it. In a crowded cafeteria, earbuds could delay reaction time and increase risk. Most importantly, we are missing critical opport a critical opportunity. One of the strongest
arguments for an away all day policy is what happens when students put their phones away. They talk to each other, build friendships, and develop social skills, and connect face-toface. At a time when families, educators, and mental health professionals are deeply concerned about student isolation, lunch, and passing periods should be
opportunities for human connection, not additional screen time. As a lifelong educator who has worked primarily with multilingual learners, I know the first language that students acquire is social language. Kids learn tag long before they can analyze the theme of a story. In our high schools, that might start
with something as simple as I love pizza, which opens the door to real conversation. Social language is the foundation of academic language. Our schools need time, our students need time to practice basic communication skills, and lunchtime is the perfect setting for this. Finally, I've heard
from families living near district boundaries who say a strong bell-to-bell policy will influence their enrollment decisions. With Denver and Boulder maintaining stricter policies, and as we continue to face enrollment challenges, this feedback deserves serious consideration. I appreciate the hard work that has gone into this proposal,
but I do not believe it goes far enough. Thank you. >> Any other discussion? >> Yes, briefly. >> Go ahead. So, first I want to say that I share and agree with many of Director Etchavaria's concerns. Um, but that is not to say I'll be voting no. I will be
voting yes, but I think the concerns are valid and should be kept in mind. Um, it's worth noting that this policy is not written in stone and our vote will not change that. And so, I urge us, all of us on this board and along with the educators in this district, to keep some things in mind in the coming months and
years. We should continue to monitor this to determine how it is impacting academic performance. Monitor it for how it is affecting discipline um and what trends we may see in our schools um about discipline as this policy is implemented. We need to pay particular minds to enforcement to ensuring that
it's enforced consistently and understanding the burden that this may or may not place on teachers and other educators at the building level. We also should keep in mind the experiences of our neighboring districts. As dire pointed out, this policy is not identical to policies that are being
adopted by Denver and Boulder and we should do our best to learn whatever lessons we can from them and to help them learn lessons from us so that we can all have policies that are allowing students to thrive. At the same time, as as uh sympathetic as I am uh to the attraction of a bell-to-bell policy, um
I agree with emails, comments, other things I've heard that in some ways it presents harder challenges for enforcement. enforcing in passing periods and lunches can create more discipline issues. Um, additionally, I have spoken to educators and students who are participating in our growing
opportunities for internships and and vocational opportunities. The ability to communicate with sites and supervisors is something that students expressed to me was important and I think is valid. Um, so it's not a simple issue. Um, I think there's a lot that we need to
continue to look at. Um, and in in the future, um, I look forward to monitoring reports that will help us understand how this policy is impacting our students to help us fine-tune it in the coming months and years. Thank you, >> President Applegate. I'm wanting to
check in and see if you have any comments you'd like to share. >> Thank you, Director Kenworthy. Um, I share a lot of similar comments that have been lifted up. I do believe this is something and and for the record, we have put in the policy that we plan to
review it on an annual basis, but it certainly could be changed even the very next day that we vote on it. Um I was led largely by the student voice and the committee that spent a lot of time with this. There is a lot of research and studies and I truly appreciate everyone that reached
out to us on this. I agree this is a very complicated issue and one that we will continue to refine as we learn more and understand more. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I agree with all of the comments that have been shared by Dr. by Director
Gibbons and uh Director Applegate. Um and I do want to just uplift and thank the staff members for all of their support, understanding, and patience with us while we went through this policy. Um, in going through this policy and the
conversations that we've had together, to me it seemed important to try to find some middle ground, some common ground. As we were hearing uh one perspective from the students as well as different perspectives from other members in the community that were hoping for a belltoell. Um, as we heard this evening,
we had a couple of comments about the the cell phone policy even. Um, and different they were different comments. Um, for me, I think that this is to Director Gibbons's point, I want to continue to see what how this impacts um
any punitive punishment. See, tracking that information as well as making sure that um there is consistency that's being held. And I do recognize that students in grades 9 through 12 um are at a different phase in their development. And so to me, fi finding
some middle ground, some commonalities, trying to avoid any unintended consequences of high school students feeling the urge to leave campus because they wanted to use their phones was something that I was deeply concerned about and didn't want to um bring into
the equation. Um but again, I'm looking forward to being able to review this uh cell phone policy in the coming months uh as we approach the next school year. So it's not set in stone. Thank you. I want to also lift up that we will receive monitoring reports on
this cell phone policy along with um our stated annual review. Uh I'd also like to weigh in and say thank you to the staff and to the community members who engaged in the process. I think that we have listened to multiple stakeholders and honored multiple perspectives and it
this will be ongoing work and ongoing conversation and I think that our community can handle that. Uh Superintendent Dorland, would you like to add anything? All right. At this point then if we are done with discussion roll call please. Miss Harper.
>> Miss Applelegate. >> Yes. >> Dr. Etchavaria. >> No. >> Mr. Gibbons. >> Yes. >> Miss Kenworthy. >> Yes. >> Miss Moian. >> Yes. >> We have several action items for
discussion and approval this evening. We will begin with our first action item, the adoption and and appropriation resolution of the 2026 2027 budget. Pursuant to Colorado revised statute CRS22-44-103,
the board of education of each school district shall adopt a budget and an appropriation resolution for each fiscal year prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. The proposed budget for the July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2027
fiscal year was initially submitted to the board of education for study and compliance with CRS22-44-108 on May 6th, 2026. The district complied with CRS22-44-109 by providing legal notice of the proposed budget to the citizens of
Jefferson County as published in the Denver Post. District staff have provided updates to the board of education on the budget development process over the last several months of which are recorded in board docs. Do I have a motion to adopt by resolution the
2026 2027 budget and maximum fees and to appropriate all necessary funds towards district spending plans. >> I move to adopt by resolution the 2026 2027 budget and maximum fees and to appropriate all necessary funds towards district spending plans.
Is there a second? >> I second. >> Any discussion? >> Yes. Um, after countless budget updates, thank you, Brena, and many hours trying to fully understand the reality of our financial situation, I will be voting no
on this budget. School finance is incredibly complex. Even for someone serving on the board, it has taken me months, and I still don't fully grasp the challenge we face. My biggest concern with this proposed budget is that we are choosing to spend money that we do not yet have and in doing so putting our schools and communities at
risk if our mill levy override does not pass in November. For the past two years, Jeffco has operated with a deficit budget. In household terms, that means we've been withdrawing money from our savings account to pay for recurring monthly expenses. While I agree with Superintendent Dorland that we must
invest in our people, we have been making those investments using reserves and reserves eventually run out. At the same time, we have delayed our transfers to capital funds for two consecutive years. In household terms, that's like deciding not to set money aside for
future roof replacement or water heater because there are more immediate bills to pay. The need does not go away. It simply gets pushed into the future while our facilities continue to age. The consequence of continuing down this path is that we are becoming increasingly dependent on future revenue that has not
yet been approved by our voters. If the mill levy override does not pass, the decisions before us become far more difficult. We could be forced to consider reducing the work year, cutting employee benefits, making additional staffing reductions, or even closing more schools. As someone who lived through a school closure, that risk
weighs heavily on me. I know firsthand the impact it has on our students, families, and staff and entire communities. I cannot support a budget that effectively bets on the outcome of an election to maintain our current level of operations. I want to be clear, teachers deserve competitive
compensation. Our staff work incredibly hard and should be paid accordingly, but I believe we have a responsibility to build a budget on revenue we actually have, not revenue we hope to receive in the future. This district has already reduced approximately $40 million in expenditures. I appreciate the
tremendous work that Brena and her team have done to answer questions, explain the budget, and identify savings. However, I'm not yet convinced that we have exhausted every possible option for bringing our expenses down. I was just elected 6 months ago and have been asked to approve another deficit budget. I
cannot do that in good conscience. The financial risks are too significant and the consequence of being wrong are too great for our students, staff, and communities. And for those reasons, I will be voting no. Is there any other discussion? President Applegate, would you like to
speak? >> Yes, please. Um, I would just simply say that, um, as I've been on this board for two years now, two and a half. Um, I do believe that the investments we've made in our people are the right investments. And I recognize that this is one more
year of deficit budget. I'm comfortable saying that at this point, we will still have about a hundred million left in our reserves. I'm not willing to go below that. And so I am approving this budget because I believe it's what's right and I believe in the people of Jefferson County. Um
and I recognize that Dr. is bringing up really valid points and we have concern for the future. And so this is um this is something that I feel we must do now recognizing that this would not happen again a year from now if the MLLO does not pass. So thank you.
>> Thank you. anybody else that dies. >> I just want to echo um director Applegate's comments. I agree with them wholeheartedly that um I think what we are doing is necessary, but it is also not sustainable. And it is incumbent upon us as a board and for the entire JefCo community to work together to find
solutions for our funding problems moving forward that both allow our students to thrive and allow our educators to thrive as they educate our students. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anybody else? >> I think it's important to keep in mind that um and again I I agree and I want
to echo the points of director Applegate and director Gibbons and director Etravaria also made some excellent points about uh the spending needing to be sustainable moving forward and I agree with that perspective. Um, however, in approving this budget, we're
um keeping a steady hand on the ship to proceed forward with the upcoming school year. And I just want us to keep that in mind with this vote. Thank you. Thank you. I also want to acknowledge that I believe this budget is what is needed for this coming school year and
understanding that the um Jeffco school district is not the only school district that is struggling with um underfunding from the state budget and that that continues to be something that will be worked on at the state level and also locally. Um and I believe that the whole
of Colorado needs to invest better in our staff and our students. Um and Jeffco is a part of the state of Colorado and we are experiencing similar problems and challenges that other districts in the state of Colorado are facing. um for the well-being of our
students and our staff. I believe that this budget is a re a reflection and a result of a lot of hard work, difficult decisions, tightening our belt, and we still find ourselves without the resource we need to adequately fund our
students education. And so I will be voting yes on this budget because I think that's what our student and our district need for next year. And I want to thank all of the staff who have worked diligently to help us um cut 40
million from this. Otherwise, we would be passing a budget that is not 13 million in def 13 million in deficit, but much much larger. So, we're doing the hard work to reduce the deficit spending.
With that, it has been moved and seconded to adopt by resolution the 2026 2027 budget and maximum fees and to appropriate all necessary funds towards district spending plans. Roll call, please. Miss Harper.
>> Miss Applelegate. >> Yes. >> Dr. Etchavaria. >> No. >> Mr. Gibbons. >> Yes. >> Miss Kenworthy. >> Yes. >> Miss Moinian. >> Yes. Next, the board will take action on the
authorization of use of fund balance in 2026 2027. Pursuant to Colorado Revised Statute CRS22-44-103, the board of education of each school district shall adopt a budget and an appropriation of appropriation resolution for each fiscal year prior to
the beginning of the fiscal year, which we just completed. Pursuant to CRS22-44-105 parents 1.5 parents A. If the budget includes the use of a beginning fund balance, the board of education shall adopt a resolution specifically authorizing the use of a portion of the
beginning fund balance in the applicable fund. Do I have a motion to approve by resolution the use of fund balance in all necessary discrete funds towards the 2026 2027 adopted budget? I move to approve by resolution the use of fund balance and all necessary
discrete funds towards the 2026 2027 adopted budget. >> Is there a second? >> I second. Any discussion? >> Yes. >> Briefly, and this sort of dovetales with earlier comments on the budget, but I
want to say that I think that our use of fund balance in this instance is responsible and necessary. Um, as we've all discussed and as many people who have been following the board's work in recent months, there's been a lot of hard work and frankly painful work um to make budget cuts that have already
occurred. Um, this use of fund balance is going to help us to make a softer landing to lessen the pain and there's already been enough that's been felt by our educators um and give us opportunities to proceed into the new budget year and and prepare for future budgets with
a little bit of just smoother transitions to the budget realities that Jeffco and other districts around this uh state have. >> Thank you. Any other discussion? President Applegate. >> No, thank you.
>> Thank you. >> It has been moved and seconded to approve by resolution the use of fund balance and all necessary discrete funds towards the 2026 2027 adopted budget. Roll call, please. Miss Harper. >> Miss Applegate. >> Yes. >> Dr. Edveria.
>> No. Mr. Gibbons. >> Yes. >> Miss Kenworthy. >> Yes. >> Miss Moinian. >> Yes. >> Next, the board will take action on the negotiated agreement with Jefferson County Education Association. The district and JCA negotiating teams reached a tenative
agreement TA on compensation and benefits for licensed educators for the 202627 school year. All agreed upon changes are in accordance with article 17 of the master agreement. In addition to compensation, the bargaining teams conducted negotiations within several
identified articles, reaching a tenative agreement on many areas as noted in the attachments included in board docs. Do I have a motion to adopt the resolution to approve the tenative agreement and revised contract language as agreed to during contract negotiations between the
district and Jefferson County Education Association? I move to adopt the resolution to approve the tenative agreement and revise contract languages as agreed to during contract negotiations between the district and Jefferson County Education Association. >> Is there a second? >> I second.
>> Is there any discussion? >> Yes. Um I will be voting no on the tenative agreement tonight. I want to be very clear that my vote is not a reflection of our teachers or the incredible work they do every day. I believe our educators deserve their earned steps and lanes and I would like nothing more than
to support increasing compensation for our employees who serve our students. How however I have consistently said that I do not believe it is responsible to spend money we do not yet have. That principal guided my concerns with the budget and it guides my decision tonight. My concern is not about whether
our teachers deserve a raise. They do. My concern is that we are being asked to commit to compensation increases before we have secured the revenue necessary to sustain them. As board members, we have a responsibility to look beyond the immediate decision in front of us and consider the potential consequences if
things do not go as planned. A raise is only meaningful if it can be maintained. Employees deserve not only increased compensation, but also stability and certainty. If additional revenue does not materialize, the district could be forced to make difficult decisions in f in the future to balance its budget.
While I am not suggesting any specific outcome will occur, those decisions could impact staffing levels, programs, schools, or employee work calendars next year. That uncertainty is uncertainty is what concerns me. I'm also concerned about trust. Over the past several
months, I've heard from many employees who felt they were not included in important budget decisions that directly affected them. While our fund balance resolution states that staff and stakeholders will be involved if future reductions become necessary, I am not yet convinced that we have rebuilt enough trust to ensure those
conversations would happen in a collaborative manner the employee our employees deserve. I would much rather approve compensation increases when we have greater certainty about our financial future than make promises today that could create challenges tomorrow. I believe our teachers deserve
both fair compensation and honest transparency about the district's financial situation. For those reasons, I will be voting no on the tenative agreement tonight. That is, this is not a vote against our teachers. It is a vote for fiscal responsibility, transparency, and ensuring that any commitments we make to our employment
employees are commitments that we can actually keep. >> Any other discussion? First, I want to appreciate the incredibly difficult work um on both district staff and JCA negotiators to reach this agreement. Um and it's a
particularly difficult agreement because I think as everybody in education knows, it will continue to not fairly compensate our teachers and other educators to the degree they deserve. But that is a problem that has pre-existed us and unfortunately we can't solve here tonight. This country has been underfunding public education
for as long as it has been funding public education. And the way that we have done that is by underpaying teachers for as long as we have had them. Um so it's an incredibly I think painful process when two sides that are dedicated to education have to sit down
and accept that nobody's going to get what they deserve. But by doing this it I just appreciate the good faith and the hard work that went into into this from both sides. um and the work that both sides had to do to accept incredibly difficult budget realities. The budget realities though
that we must never lose sight of are the household budgets that our educators struggle to maintain. Many of them will still be unable to afford to live in the district in which they teach. They will still be unable to afford to be part of the communities that they invest so much of their
passion in when they go to work every day. And I think we all need to keep that in mind as we move forward. We're going to hear, I'm sure I will, about how we have budget problems caused by overpaying teachers. Well, I've yet to meet an overpaying teacher in my life.
They don't exist. Um, I wish we had that problem in the United States. And so, I just want to we just need to keep all of that in mind. Um, this is difficult. Um it's difficult for educators that
they they will still um have struggles to to pay their bills and buy their groceries. Um but I look at this agreement as not just um a step, albeit a small one in the right direction, but a step in terms of maintaining good faith relations that allow everybody to
come to work and do what we all value and what is so important um educate our students. Um, and then finally, you know, this does all interact with the budget, of course, since the bulk of our budget is paying our educators. And, uh, I will say, I guess for the second time tonight, that all of us need to work
together, um, include going into the fall to make sure that we work with our community to fund our school district and compensate our talented our talented educators as much as we possibly can. Thank you. >> I agree wholeheartedly with Director
Gibbons. I believe that um as a former teacher, I know I was not ever compensated fairly for the amount of time and effort that I put into my own classroom. And we need our staff. We need our teachers and they deserve our support. Um I think
it's easy to say that a no vote is not because you don't support the teachers. It essentially is a no vote against the work and the negotiated contract that they have worked hard to bring in front of us. Um, and for that reason, I will
be voting a very strong yes on this agreement. Anything else? I want to add one thing and that is a public thank you to Amanda Parzio, our lead negotiator and the entire team uh
Jennifer Kempson um many school leaders who are on our bargaining team with her um who spend countless hours um doing this work. I just really appreciate you, Amanda. Um the grace that you bring to that process, the leadership that you've
shown is incredible. Um, and so thank you for getting this over the line and uh, and thank you to those of you who are not here that are on Amanda's bargaining team. Um, thank you for your commitment and time uh, to the process as well. >> It has been moved and seconded to adopt
the resolution to approve the tenative agreement and revise contract language as agreed to during contract negotiations between the district and Jefferson County Education Association. Roll call, please. Miss Harper. Miss Applegate, >> yes.
>> Dr. Edgearia, >> no. >> Mr. Gibbons, >> yes. >> Miss Kenworthy, >> yes. >> Miss Moinian, >> yes. >> This brings us to the end of our action items this evening. The time is now 6:51 and I'd like to call for a 15-minute
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leadership reports. First, the board will hear from Superintendent Dorland, followed by reports from the board. Superintendent Dorland. It's okay. >> Superintendent Dorland. >> Yes. Sorry. Thank you. I was dealing with the situation. Um
here we go. >> All right. Um, as we close out the school year, um, I just want to acknowledge that has been such a joy, um, to spend a lot of time celebrating our students. Um, it's one of my favorite times of year, um, the
springtime. And across Jeffco, we had 5,400 students graduate, receiving more than 12.6 million in scholarships, which is just incredible for the class of 2026. Um, and over the past few weeks, our district has celebrated the accomplishments of students in countless
ways. We honored academic scholar recipients, celebrated graduates across Jeffco in 36 unique graduation events. I know um all of you were attending those events and so we were on the marathon of
gra of graduations. Um, and each and every one of them as you guys experienced is unique and special and tells you a lot about each school. Um, so those are very special. We also recognized exceptional student learning through the graduation capstone showcase, which is always fun every
year. What I've always appreciated about Jeffco is that we recognize there is no single path to success for our students. Whether a student is heading to college, entering the workforce, serving in the military, pursuing a technical credential, or still exploring what
their future might hold, our responsibility is to help them graduate prepared for whatever comes next. And I am incredibly proud that our high school reimagined work um that with our high school reimagined work, we just keep getting better and better at this. This
year, our seniors completed over 6,000 concurrent enrollment courses. Obviously, saving our families much, much money in tuition if they decide to go to postsecary um course work. I offer my congratulations to the class of 2026. We are incredibly proud of all of you
and what you have accomplished. And thank you to the parents, families, teachers, support staff, administrators, coaches, mentors, and community members who supported these students every step of the way. No student reaches graduation alone and this milestone belongs to all who encouraged,
challenged, supported, and believed in our students along the way. And as I attend my final board meeting as superintendent this evening, I find myself thinking less and less about the programs and initiatives and our many,
many accomplishments over the last 5 years. Um, what I find myself thinking about is people. Last week, I had the opportunity to celebrate many of our school and district leaders at the annual JCAA awards breakfast. It was a meaningful, very meaningful opportunity,
as it is every year, but especially this year for me having it be my last one, to recognize individuals and teams whose leadership, commitment, and service make a difference for students every day. We have extraordinary people and leaders throughout this organization. Those in
our schools and those here at the ed center, Mr. Linton was just in the audience. Um, and I leave with deep appreciation for all they do on behalf of students and families. I also want to just say I am especially grateful for our cabinet team, some of whom have gone
home this evening. Um, uh, because they have another early morning tomorrow. Uh, but I I just over the past several years, this cabinet has led through significant opportunities and challenges while remaining focused on students and supporting one another. Their leadership
has strengthened this organization. The student outcomes we have achieved are a direct result of this cabinet's commitment and expertise. I have been fortunate to serve alongside each and every one of them. They are talented professionals, trusted partners, and
most importantly, people who care deeply about this district and the communities we serve. This community and this board is lucky to have them. I also want to thank my family who we heard from tonight. Um, thank you Ben, Wyatt, Olivia for joining us this evening. I
often say that I came into this role knowing Jeffo as a parent. My children attended Jeffco schools and my first relationships in this district were through teachers, principles, and school communities that impacted my family directly. Serving as superintendent gave me the opportunity to see this district from an entirely different perspective.
As much of this role has given to me, it has also required sacrifices from my family. They have been my biggest cheerleaders, my source of perspective, and my constant support system. They have celebrated the successes, helped me navigate the challenges, and gave me
grace when no one else did. I was able to be a steady and effective superintendent because of their support, and I am deeply grateful for them. As I prepare to conclude my time in Jeffco, I do so with tremendous confidence in this district. The momentum we are seeing belongs to our students, staff, leaders,
families, and community. It is bigger than any one person and will continue long after I leave. I congratulate Dr. Rob Stein as the sole finalist for interim superintendent. I have known Rob for more than 20 years and have great respect for him as both a leader and a
person. He is deeply committed to students, understands the complexities of district leadership, and will be a strong partner to this organization. in particular. I appreciate his time with me so far um seeking to learn about the
approach to the results we've achieved for student achievement. Um and I know that he will work closely with the cabinet team to keep our work going forward in the interest of students and their success. I wish Rob and Jeffco every success in the year ahead and I
know Jeffco will welcome him warmly. I came into this role as a Jeffco parent. I leave as an even bigger believer in what is possible here. Thank you for the opportunity to serve this community. It has been one of the greatest honors of my career. >> Thank you, Superintendent Dorland.
Board members, >> I can go. >> Okay. >> Um, we've received a lot of emails this month. Um, and I just want to say that I truly appreciate hearing from our families, staff, community members who continue to
share their perspectives, their concerns, and ideas regarding the works of our district. Um, mostly we received emails, well I received emails this month on the cell phone policy, over 500. Uh, the mill
levy override continues to be a topic of conversation. Um, I want to thank special thank you to the first team. Um, Miss Pena, thank you. Uh, I had to refer several complaints to your team and I
appreciate all the work that they do. Um, and there continue to be concerns about board transparency and sexual misconduct in our district. So, I truly appreciate the emails and being able to
engage with the community. um in that way. Uh we also on the board have a lot of meetings and committee work that our listening public might not know about. Um we have one-on- ones with our
superintendent. Um I had a conversation with Miss Tollison this month regarding sexual misconduct. Uh we attended the MLO facilitation training with uh Superintendent Dorland this week and also um
I attended the capital assets advisory committee on May 21st which I reported on last me last week. Um we had lots of special events in May. Specifically, uh I was able to attend the Jefferson Academy graduation on May
20th, the Pomona graduation, and the Stanley Lake graduation both on May 22nd. On June 2nd, um I attended a super special event. Uh it was the Triad Early Childhood Council uh award ceremony
where we Jeffco had um 12 nominees from 10 different schools for the early childhood champion awards. Uh, so that was super fun. I was able to sit with a teacher at the Jefferson County Open School and she shared uh her love of
working with our preschool students and it was just an incredibly inspiring conversation. I also attended the JCA award ceremony with um, Superintendent Doran and we also attended a board
retreat last Friday all day. Um, we've got a lot of board business that we were tasked with this month. Uh, we had several meetings for our interim superintendent planning and we also had meetings on property disposition.
So, I just wanted to close with uh great gratefulness for the opportunity to serve our students, our families, and our community in Jeffco. Thank you to for everyone who continues to engage, advocate for students, and contribute to the important work of public education.
I look forward to celebrating the accomplishments of this year while preparing the opportunities for the challenges ahead. Thank you. >> Who would like to go? Go ahead. So, I want to acknowledge and thank Superintendent Dorland for her leadership and I want to wish you the
best in your future endeavors. Um, Jeff Co is is forever grateful for your service. So, thank you so much. Uh, this past month has been a whirlwind of graduations. Um, spent a lot of time at Red Rocks. Uh, it
was but it was a lot of fun. And to Superintendent Dorland's point, uh, each school and each graduation was unique and special, and I honestly just felt so honored to be there and be able to share in the festivities. And congratulations graduates once more. And finally, as
we're at the end of the school year, I just want to reflect gratitude for my family, particularly my husband, and his continued support. Uh there's a lot of sacrifice that comes into play uh sitting on this board. Uh, and I wouldn't be able to get through half of
it without him. So, thank you, honey, for all that you do. That's all I have. >> Thank you. Thanks. >> Well, I want to um I very much enjoyed attending graduations as well. Um, and
they are all unique. And I particularly wanted to mention um one that was particularly poignant for me was MLAN um both the adult and the youth programs. Um, and so I want to appreciate the opportunities to go to these. You know, these are a lot of work. Uh, it's a lot of work to be on
this board. And, um, in my case, um, with with kind of my demanding day job, I miss a lot of the fun stuff. I miss a lot of the breakfasts and dinners and and things like that. So, it was a real treat to be able to go to those ceremonies and really see what this is all about. >> Um, and and why it is that that we do
this. Um, I also, um, appreciate Superintendent Dorland. I wish you the best in your next venture. Um, I feel I did want to note that we, uh, the two of us went and spoke to the Edgewater City Council. If your next gig isn't what you hoped,
we may have a future as a road show. >> So, um, we were we were cracking some some jokes together, um, with with little to no rehearsals. So, um, and it was positive to to go before, um, another board of electeds and to be able to kind of talk about funding concerns
and the challenges, um, but also the successes of the school district and why funding it is so important. Um, and I was very much um, encouraged by the reception and I think the really smart questions and observations that we got from the city council and look forward
to future engagement with um, all kinds of community members and groups elected or otherwise on uh, funding issues moving forward. And with that, I think I will pass the mic. Uh, >> President Applegate, would you like to
speak? Yes, thank you. >> Um, I want to offer up my just best wishes and congratulations to Superintendent Dorland. Um, it has been a pleasure to serve alongside you. I have learned a lot from you and I
appreciate all you've done for Jeffco public schools. So, we wish you nothing but the best on your next venture and and Jeffco is better for having you have served in the superintendent role. So, thank you. Um I really want to just reflect back a
lot of what we we've already heard from the DAS tonight. Um June is always kind of a reflection time for me when I look back at the previous year on the board and it's been um there's been lots of highs and lots of
lows, challenges and opportunities as our superintendent says and I'm grateful for um the people that I get to learn from. I'm humbled by the people that I am surrounded by. Um, and that's not just the cabinet and the teachers and
the support staff and the principles. It's also um the community that comes and um reminds us what's important to them, that emails us, that calls us. And so for that, I appreciate and just lift up gratitude for that. um also had the
opportunity to attend um many graduations this season and I'm struck by just the uniqueness and all of the opportunity that lies ahead of our graduates. Similar to director given, there are some graduations that sit really special to me and those are the
schools that a lot of folks don't think of. Um, our transition services, our project search, SESI, schools where um, students had to work tremendously hard to get to that day. And um, it's really special
and that doesn't take away from the how special it is for every single one of our graduates that rocks across the stage. Um, but to see the the culture and the um the unique aspects of each school is really special and I also just
look forward to um our future and I know it will be um different and we will have changes and we will have ups and downs like we've always had, but I agree with Superintendent Dorland. We have a strong cabinet. We have strong leaders in our schools. Um, we have excellent educators
and excellent support staff and Jeff Co will will be okay and Jeff Co will carry on and we will we will move through this next phase and I'm I'm excited to work with Dr. Stein if he is appointed. And I want to also close with gratitude
to my own family. Um, director Moian said it well. this job is not without a lot of a lot of time away from the things um including family vacations and that's uh I appreciate the opportunity to be virtual tonight so that I am able
to spend some time with my family this week. Um couldn't do this without my husband and my kids support and that means the world to me. So um with that I hope everyone has a wonderful safe summer and we are excited to see you all
in a few months. Thank you, Director Kinworthy. >> Thank you, President Applegate. Uh for my board report, I'm going to start with just a reminder for our community that governance board members are not elected to fix individual school or employee level concerns. Uh we are
tasked with high level policy governance and looking at the entire picture. I just think it's an important context to set um as we you know continue to hear from people in public comment and from community members um in emails and other communications
that we do have a first team that is built so that it can receive individual concerns and go through the appropriate channels so that you're gaining access to people who can actually address um at the right level um the concerns that are being raised. And so I just wanted to bring that up again. Um, I also enjoyed
attending 13 out of our 36 graduations. It was a marathon. Um, but I did it and each one was enjoyable. Um, I was particularly grateful for the chance to take my own incoming 9th grader to a graduation so that he can begin with the
end in mind before he starts high school next year. Um, I also wanted to lift up our board retreat. We had a lot of um, important engagement from especially from our cabinet members. I'm looking forward to the work um that they'll continue to do in supporting us as we
move through transition and leadership. Um I believe that they are well positioned and um prepared to help hold Jeffco as we move forward. Um and I'm pleased that this board has moved forward in selecting an interim superintendent. Uh, and I want to lift up I'm particularly grateful for the
support of our current interim deputy superintendent, Dwight Jones, who is um finishing up that particular role, but who will stay around for a while to provide support specifically to the board as we continue to move through on boarding and interim and also starting
to engage um some of the work that will go into leading a national search for our next permanent superintendent. So, I'm grateful um for him being willing to stick around and support us through that transition. Um I am preparing for a summer full of time with my family, but
also I believe that this will be the first summer I've served on the board where I I don't see a whole lot of space for not doing board work between um bringing on an interim, getting ready to do a national search, running an MLO or some sort of tax initiative this fall um
and also preparing for the next legislative session. My calendar feels very full this summer. So, I don't think it will be um the nice rest that I've experienced the last two years, but it will be good work. Um I
want to say thanks to so many of our former board members for being in attendance tonight. Um former President Skoolie, former President Parker, um Miller, Reed, and Rush members were here as well. It's good to see them and it's good to know that there are people who
even though they've left this seat are still watching us and paying attention. It's a special level of accountability from our um former served serving electeds that I um value because there are few people who know what it is like to sit in these seats and to have gone through the drinking from a fire hose
and the onboarding and um continuing to hold the district through the multiple ups and downs that um we seem to experience on a regular cadence. So, thank you to them for being here. And lastly, um a special heap of gratitude for Superintendent
Dorland. The superintendent role is hard. The superintendent role in Jeffco is extremely hard and demanding. Uh that is a thing I've learned along the way. Not something that I knew when I first stepped foot here in the ed
center as an elected. Um, navigating the complexities of school leadership in Colorado specifically requires rare fortitude and leading a community carrying layers of trauma demands true grace. We honor Superintendent Dorland
for her fierce and unwavering dedication to Jeffco students and her courage to choose what was right over what was easy again and again steadying us through some of our hardest chapters. And so I'm deeply grateful for
the leadership and the modeling um of how to face challenges head-on um even when there are different opinions um and different perspectives. We are better for having had you here with us. Thank you and I wish you
nothing but the best as you move forward. I hope we get to see you again. Jeffco knows that you'll still be around for at least one year because you still have a kid who hasn't graduated yet. you're still a mom in our community. Um, and you're still with us through July
5th. So, um I just I have great gratitude for you in particular the role that you've had to play in continually training up brand new baby politicians, brand new board members who are stepping
into this with all of the care um and love in their heart, but also lacking a lot of context and understanding of what the role really actually demands and means. um you have done that work um for me I'll speak for myself with a lot of
grace and I appreciate it and with that I believe our leadership reports are finished so we will now move on to our study session portion of the evening first the board will have the opportunity to engage in a dialogue with
TDPAC leadership on the strategic initiatives of the committee and topics of shared interest presenters who we ask to please introduce yourself at the table. We have allotted 40 minutes for this presentation. Please include time at the end of your presentation for questions from the board. Before I turn
the time over to the presenter, Superintendent Dorland, is there anything that you would like to add? >> Um, thank you. Um, Miss Kenworthy, I just want to say thank you to this group of folks. Um, first of all, thank you for being here a little late this
evening um to present to the board and mostly thank you for your commitment to the committee. uh and and really talking about all of the important aspects of technology, data privacy, and everything that the committee um um discusses. It's
uh it's great to have experts coming together to partner with our team uh to give us advice, uh give us guidance, be thought partners with us, and so just thank you so much. Thank you for being here. Thank you for what you do. >> All right, I will go ahead and get us
started. Uh good evening, board of education. And once again, thank you for the great introduction, uh, Superintendent Dorland. Um, so we are here tonight to give an update on the work that the technology and data privacy advisory committee has done,
which we commonly refer to as TDPAC. And so before we get started with introductions, I want to I want to send a special thank you to President Applegate for attending TDPAC and also Aaron Norton who is here with us tonight who stepped up as our chair this year.
And we'll go ahead and finish out introductions. I'm Joe Ibec, the chief information officer here at Jeffco. I left. >> Christopher Linton, director of information security and IDAM. Uh Sean McDermad, director of student technology services.
>> And I'm Hillilary Young, executive director of infrastructure services. >> And I'm Erin Norton, the chair of TDPAC. >> And we have two topics uh tonight which follows a familiar format from last year. uh we're going to look at our 2526
school year TDP pack uh year in review and then we will move into topics that we hope to cover um over the next school year which we're still thinking about and working on with our committee members and so with that I will hand it over to my team and we will go through
those topics. So we we started the year kind of trying to take a look at three key focus areas that we had identified about a year ago in May of 2025. Um being the student data privacy, the device usage and screen time and artificial intelligence specifically in
education and trying to look at those as being those three key focus areas that we want to look at um throughout the course of this year. And I think we've decided it's definitely going to take some time for us to continue going through those various topics. And then Sean, do you want to speak to some of the AI updates that we spoke about at
the uh September meeting? That's a long time to go back, but I'll do my best. Um, so in December or December last last year, um, we introduced um Google Gemini. We made that available to our students from grades 6 through 12. Um at
the same time as we're doing that we're also working with our um teaching community from across the district talking about best practice for AI in the classroom. How how student how to be working with students to be setting the appropriate guard rails for AI in the classroom and then provide trying to
provide as much um support as we could. One of the big changes that we made at the same time as we did that is we knew kids were already on um Google or on our AI the AI chat bots. Um, one thing we we we realized at the time is we had a we had an environment available to us that
was safe that allow that allowed kids for us to understand what the kids were doing that was um designed for students. So it was really careful about the way it responded um and a bunch of other stuff and we actually had that platform locked down. We had other platforms made
available to our students like chat GBT and Claude and some of the other ones. At that point, once we realized that, we said, "Oops." And we flipped the script, which was one of the reasons why we actually made Gemini available. We knew kids were using it. We tried to provide them the education information they
needed to use it effectively. And then we turned all the or we turned as many of the um other major platforms off as we could that were the biggest threat and we made Gemini available to them knowing that they were using it, knowing they were going to use it. So, if they're going to use it, let's give them
as safe an environment as possible to work within. And so we ended up taking that pack. >> Um Erin, is there anything you would like to add or anyone else? >> No, I think you cover. >> Okay, sounds good. >> Um and then we talked about the fact
that the cell phone policy we knew is something that was going to be on your all plates this year. Um so we simply were making the TDAC members aware that that would be a separate initiative and that there would be those separate cell phone policy meetings. And we encourage just because of the wealth of experience
um we have a wonderful group of members of parent and technology leaders on that TDPAC committee and encourage them to attend some of those subsequent uh cell phone policy meetings. And then finally because it was September we were in the midst of starting to consider our budget reduction blueprint. Um so Miss Ibec
provided um insights into how we should approach the technology um considerations for the budget reduction blueprint and we listen to feedback from the TDPAC members about how what considerations I think we should watch for um at for potentially change
services. Anything else you wanted to add related to that? No, I would just say that uh within it because we have so many services that we provide um what we wanted from TDPAC and to hear from TDPAC about budget reduction blueprint was if
we were following the right thought process. So we got a lot of great input from the wonderful committee members that Chris just mentioned. Um, so we we appreciate the input that we get and we appreciate the opportunity to talk about our processes. So then in the December meeting, the
December meeting followed, I believe it was just a day or two after the second cell phone policy meeting. So we just wanted to publicly thank um the TDPAC members who were attending both the cell phone policy meetings um as well as the TDPAC meeting. And we uh Lisa Ru actually came to that meeting. she
provides some updates about that process and sharing some of the surveys um the wonderful student feedback that we received throughout that process. And so TDPAC appreciated being able to help support some of that cell phone policy work over the course of that year. Also in December, this was about one week
before we were to notify some of our affected um IT staff about the budget reduction blueprints. So we provide an update to TDPAC about some of those timelines and how potentially that would affect IT services in the upcoming 27 26 27 year. And then finally at the
December meeting we started to preview um both the screen time and AI topics that we were planning on addressing at that March meeting. Anything else anyone want to add? Okay. So this then brings us to our third our March meeting and this is where Sean's
team really um got to shine. He invited several members of his edte team to lead us in a great exercise about screen time and how not all screen time is created equal. So I'll hand it off to him for that. >> Yeah, this is a real shining moment for the edtech team where leading into this
we did a bunch of research on um on screen time in the in the classroom and one of the things we realized was is that when we're looking at screen time there's a lot of subtleties. Our understanding since CO has really really significantly shifted. Precoid it was all minutes minutes. Since then we've
got a much better understanding. The American Pediatric Association, is that right? Um as well as a bunch of the other national nationally recognized organizations did a bunch of digging and they realize it's it's not as easy. It's it's it's complicated. It's not just the
number of minutes, but it's the intended use. where the where the h how active is the student in the in the engagement with the computer? What's the cognitive load on the student? Are they are they fully engaged or they just zoning out? And it's also what the focus is. Is the focus a computer? Is the focus is a tool
just um something within an activity that the focus is actually through the computer? And so there's a lot of subtleties to it. We did a really we we did a fantastic um exercise with the edtech team walking the TDPAC members through this conversation. It was really
spirited. It was um really vibrant and really it was also blessed by Michelle Applegate was there. Thank you very much. Um she gave a layer or perspective to the whole conversation that was fantastic. She talked a lot about a lot about her observations of technology
used within J Jeff JCO classrooms that really gave a layer of credibility to our entire conversation and shaped the entire conversation. So we're looking forward to continue that over the next year. Um, we also started on a conversation about AI in education or I should say AI in the district. We've
talked a lot about AI in the classroom over the last year. One thing we're ready to start talking about is AI within operations. And so we started that conversation there. We talked with some of our TDPAC members about how they're using AI to change their businesses, how their businesses are
taking advantage of AI and could we actually leverage their expertise and their knowledge to responsibly and safely um start looking at how do we use AI within our operations to help address some of the challenges that we face in in an organization in public education
and especially one like Jeffco going through some of the challenges we're going through. So that was a really valuable conversation we started. >> I mean, >> how's that? I think the screen time and device uh use topic is uh people are
very passionate about this now um more and more. I think you're probably hearing it on the national level as well. I think there's a lot of questions around um as we've made screens basically uh omnipresent in the classroom, right? How are we making sure
that they are effective? Right? So, when we buy new vendors, when we bring in new programs into the classroom, are we making sure that they're actually positively impacting student learning? Um, and I think I hear it all the time. So, I think this is going to continue to
be one of the hottest topics, maybe even hotter than AI, um, going forward. I think parents are very concerned about the amount of time that kids are spending on the classroom, particularly um you know when they're young. Um I think there was even feedback in one of
the district-wide surveys that K through three, right? Um most parents don't believe in a onetoone device policy anymore and really want to make sure that any device time um is really focused on learning. Um so I think you know we're going to continue to talk
about that. And then finally, at the May 21st meeting, which was just a few weeks ago, um we did receive some updates about the district cell phone policy. We heard how you all as a board were considering some revisions to that and we obviously heard the vote on that this evening. Um but thank you again for allowing TDPAC and
especially the the students. I really wanted to call out the JSLB students that attended those cell phone policy meetings were fantastic and just to hear their engagement and to have them be a part of that process was fantastic. And then as Director Gibbons, as you said, it's going to be something to continue to monitor and as we go forward, we're
here to continue to support if you would like TDPAC's input in the future um related to cell phone policy in the future if revisions are necessary. And then uh we gave a few brief updates about just some uh information security incidents related to data privacy that had occurred over the last couple months
and the limited to no impact on Jeffco schools. So we were really happy I think to be able to share that. And then finally we kind of wrapped up the May meeting um making sure that we were in alignment as a TDP committee and wanted to if we wanted to maintain those three key focus areas. So I I think I'll hand
off to committee chair Norton now if you want to talk about kind of our plans as we look forward. >> Yeah. So we so these three areas that we've been talking about here um I think we those kind of started probably over a year ago right that focused in on those three um and they probably are no
surprise to anybody in this room. Um the idea now is that we want to at least get one or two subcommittees or working groups underneath those topics to really dig in in the next year. So we're looking at some leadership, you know, volunteers on the committee um to really
study some of those. It might just be one um it's probably going to be device usage or AI first. Um that's seems to be the strongest uh you know interest area on the committee. Uh so that's what we're looking at in the next year. Um
and then the second thing is around revisiting the TDPAC charter from 2014. Obviously uh that's what 12 years ago quite a bit has changed right because it changes so rapidly in um the world of technology. So, we're really looking at
um how can we update that, make it a little more applicable to the current time. Um and obviously those three topics, right? I don't think there's any mention in there of AI, but we'll definitely need to um address that in the charter.
>> I just wanted to add to that related to the TDPAC charter. It was something that Miss Ibac called out after the May board meeting and we sat down and actually reread through that charter and some of the things that were happening in Jeffco in 2014. The reason why the TDPACT committee was formed. Many of those have
changed and some of the reasons and the direction in that original charter are probably not as relevant and we really feel strongly about these three key focus areas and want TDAC to remain nimble going into the future so that we can adapt and be able to cover other topics. So, we're hoping at that um first meeting in the fall to bring the
charter before the committee and try to make some recommended updates and then uh work through the process to get that charter updated. And at that point, that concludes our presentation, but we want to open up to you all if you have any questions for us. Board members questions. And I'm
gonna because uh President Applegate has participated so much, um President Applegate, I'm going to invite you if you would like to go next. Thank you, Director Kennedy. Um, I just want to start by just tremendous gratitude for this committee, Miss Ivet,
Miss Norton, the entire staff. Like, it's a it's a really, really cool committee. Um, and that sounds silly to say, but one of the most amazing things about our committees is that these are really our people who are experts in their field coming in to give us advice.
and um it's just some of the most um engaging dialogues and and really passionate people about making sure that our students are safe, that our district is safe in a way uh in the world of cyber security and AI and the way we think
about um how we structure our house. Um when I was a new board member, Miss Ibec kind of drew me a picture of a house and explained that certain things were in the house and certain things were outside of the house and how our security systems work. and it's that's something that has stayed with me this whole time. Um so I just um want to just
lift up the amazing work that this group does. A huge thank you to the staff. Um you know, our own district staff does a lot of support for this committee and it's a lot. I think it helps us to have really valuable um conversations and so and I know that's their their evenings
and it's outside of of normal business hours. So that's that's much appreciated and I'm really excited to see this committee kind of take on its um its own new direction. Um you know redoing the charter, thinking about AI and thinking about how they show value is is really
um something of their own initiative and I'm I'm really proud and honored to be part of it. >> Thank you, President Applegate. Members, go ahead, Mr. Gibbons. >> So thank you for being here tonight. I did want to just start with how you close by talking about updating your
charter so that it's keeps the committee nimble. I think the topics that you're discussing tonight show that the committee certainly has a lot of relevant important cutting edge topics that the board can certainly benefit from that guidance. Um I first wanted to started with AI and you know you talked
about um you know how we had this process of moving to like adopt Gemini to basically kind of control the process instead of fighting sort of a losing battle. I wanted to hear a little bit about what how you understand students are currently using it and what your thoughts are in terms of how AI
integrates into education moving forward. Both kind of the pluses of that, the positives, but also some of the negatives. >> Well, that's an easy one. You know, trying not to say too much in this. Um, so obviously our students are using AI. I'm not going to be the best
person to answer this, but I'll do my best to answer it. Um, c students are using AI for appropriate use and inappropriate use, and that's just students being students. So, yes, there are incidents of students cheating. Yes, there are incidents of students not using it in a way that it's appropriate.
But I think if we focus on that, that's the wrong thing. Our students are also using learning how to use AI effectively and appropriately. the guid the guidelines that the edtech team has worked on and delivered to oh I think we've ended up educating a good portion of our educators now and
a good portion of our students. I think we're up over 700,000 students who we've either directly connected with or indirectly connected with conversations about what is appropriate use. Um the fascinating thing about a lot of these conversations are they don't have
technology anywhere near them. It's all talking about what's what are our foundational values when it comes to this use. So what we're actually finding our students doing is using AI as a thought partner is using AI as an avenue
to access things that would be challenging otherwise. So like I said it's try we're trying to train them how to keep the cognitive load where the cognitive load belongs and having the AI assist them on keeping that cognitive load with them. Um, some of the other
things they're using it for, um, I'll speak to with my own daughter, though my own daughter isn't in Jeffco. I know there's going to be parallels in Jeffco. Um, they're using it to help them with homework. And what I what I mean with homework is I don't understand a concept. Can you help help me understand the concept? AI is fantastic at that.
Um, my own daughter, I I worked with her on learning Newton's four laws of physics. AI was instrumental in helping do that. So, I know some of our students are doing that, too. So it's it's a balance. It's it's they're using it all all over the place for good things, not
for good things. I think our responsibility as educators is to guide them and continue to guide them on how to use it as the best learning tool possible to actually maximize their learn their learning rather than replace their learning.
>> So yeah, go ahead, please. Yeah. >> Um I just want to say I think it's it's a great question. I think it's really important to when we talk about this that we don't just ask about how the students are using it, but how our teachers using it as well. Um, and making sure that they're trained. And
um, I just think it's something that we have to make sure we bring into the conversation. Um, we have to be careful not to introduce too much slop into the classroom, right? If you've ever used AI, you know that you might know that term, right? AI can sound really smart,
but it can also be a lot of slop, a lot of junk. And um I think it's really important that it's here. It's here to stay. It's going to be here. Our kids need to know how to learn, how to use it, right, and incorporate into their lives. But our teachers also need to know how to have responsible usage with
it. >> So, I I appreciate that comment on AI slop because that actually kind of speaks to a concern I have and and I' I'd love to hear some thoughts. I'm a lawyer. AI is becoming a big deal in my profession. I'm learning how to use it. I'm also learning as I use it that it's
often wrong, alarmingly wrong. And I read stories about it in legal publications all the time about lawyers getting in trouble for that. I know that when it's wrong, and I know how to figure out kind of navigate that process, and so I don't get myself in trouble the way others in my profession
do. But my concern is is for, you know, our students who are experiencing II as they are students, how we're going to navigate educating them on how to use AI, but also how to discern when it's right, when it's wrong, how to find the slop, how to be able to find answers for
themselves to doublech checkck it instead of just relying on it. Um, and I just think that's something we're going to have to work really, really hard at. And I think that's, you know, your committee and any thoughts to that I I would welcome because I I think it's actually going to be a really big
problem. It's certainly already a big problem in my profession. >> I can jump in. I have a lot to say. These people know this. Um I think it's a partnership with the instructional teams, right, to make sure that they are really up to speed on it and know how to do it, how to teach it, and how to use
it in the classroom. I mean, I it's work, right, to to train them and get them up to speed, but I really think it's one of the preeminent issues now and going into the future. >> Can I help? >> I think something I've to support you in
what you're saying. Um, it's something I've not noticed in my own use and it's also something that actually I think really really complements the value of education is I've been able to use AI most effectively when I'm the expert when AI
is simply my partner. So it means we need to double down on our education. We need to better continuing to educate our students as best possible that we as adults need to understand how to use it what and ensure that our expertise continues to grow not only within AI but
within our area of discipline so that when we do use AI we can guide it effectively because when guided effectively it's really powerful when not guided effectively it's destructive and so you're absolutely right how do we train our students and how do we train our teachers with these skills and with
this knowledge to be able to use it to to our best advantage. >> Um, you talked about screen time, typically K through five. Um, that's a topic that's near and dear to my heart, particularly as a parent of a second grader. And I've been, on one hand, you know, at school visits, I've seen how
our onetoone technology policy policy has actually worked really well in the upper grades. And I've saw some really super cool things that our students were doing at the middle school and high school level um, with use of their technology. At the same time, and I say this particularly as a parent, I'm concerned that it's yeah, not working
great for our younger children. And of course, there's also a cost involved, you know, and that's something that this board has to look closely at. Um, I'd like to hear kind of if you have ideas or or if there's things that the committee's discussed or learned in terms of what screen time, what perhaps
changes to the onetoone policy might look like um at the elementary levels. Um, are there challenges that would come with that? Are there opportunities that would come with that? Um yeah, your thoughts on that? >> Pediatrics.
>> Yeah. Um so over the next um year or so, less than a year, more than a year, we'll see. Um we're going to embark on a journey that address asks those exact questions um for all the right reason. And it's really critical. We're we're we're we've set up two workshops over
the summer. U we just surveyed our DTLs. We're going to be working with a group of um teachers for a couple of days in late or in late July and then we're break we're going to start inviting some parents in to do a group um to do some work in early August. That's just the the start of this conversation that's
asking and asking and we're hoping to answer those very questions you're asking. I think that's really really admirable that we got to the state that we're in right now by having onetoone devices available to all of our students today. The world has changed. We have learned a
lot. It would be I think irresponsible of us not to ask the questions that you're asking and try to answer them to the best the best we can. I don't know what the answer looks like although I have suspicions. I know it's probably not one to one for everybody but I don't
know beyond that what it is going to look like. I think it's critical that we approach this from as moderate and as moderate or as moderate and researchbased waves we can with our eyes wide open understanding that there is this is a
big big topic. There's lots of complexities. If we base our direction in research and in science and in national best practices and we have open conversations with our teachers who are experts in their field as well as with our communities who are experts in their
children, we can arrive at a right balance. I don't think we're going to be all the way over here and I don't think we're going to be all the way over there. We're not going to make a 100% of the people happy, but if we can make as broad a swath of people happy as we can by basing our efforts in research, in
science, and most importantly in engagement with our experts and our community, I think we're going to end up in the right place. >> Then my last question, um, appreciate, you know, comments on the cell phone policy and I think we're all going to be
watching that really closely as that unfolds. Um, how do you think the TDPAC can support this board in developing and fine-tuning the cell phone policy in the months and years moving forward? >> I would say in the two years that I've been on the TDP committee, I've been genuinely impressed by the parents and
community members and the wide range of different expertise that they have in the technology workspace or in technology in general. So I think would be something based on some of the input that I saw based on the uh cell phone policy meetings earlier this year that
um if you guys have reports if you guys are monitoring discipline and just keeping an eye as wearables this things like the meta smart glasses are going to continue to evolve in this workplace um we are you know because we're technologists because we love our technology we're usually trying to stay
up to date with those latest technologies those trends and we would be happy to help advise or uh research arch or dig into and especially some of the subcommittees that Miss Norton was speaking about um to dig a little bit deeper and then hopefully provide some additional information or context to the
board in the future. >> I guess just piggybacking on that, I'd say that it's got to be really iterative, right? So, we're going to have to try stuff, learn, adjust, uh listen to the community, right? Listen to the experts. But, you know, this is I don't think this is a oneanddone. I
don't think anything with technology is a oneanddone, right? It's it's ongoing. Um so we have to kind of stay on top of it and take an iterative approach. >> Thank you. Other board members. Go ahead Miss Mon. >> So I had a town hall recently and one of
the topics that was brought up was device usage and the onetoone. So I'm really appreciative of the work that the committee is going to undertake to take a look at this and dig into it. I just want to clarify. Do you think that you guys will have some recommendations and ideas for us in the coming year within
the next six months? When can we expect to get an update? I'm so excited about this topic. >> Um, our original target date was to have a recommendation by the end of the calendar year. What I'm recognizing, especially with all the changes happening with the district and the size of the conversation that I would love to
have one at the end of the calendar year, but it's big. I would love to or at the at the latest. Just saying. I'd love to be able to have have a set of recommendations by the end of the school year, but I think we need to take things at the pace that they need to go um to
make sure we're getting all the right voices and all as many voices heard as we can to be able to make as the right decision based on as broad a data set as we possibly can. So, we are obviously happy to come back and have give you guys updates as we need to and take you
along for the journey with us um at your request. >> Lovely. I look forward to those updates. Um and I'm just a little curious because sitting in the seat, we we review a lot of budget topics in terms of different softwares that we are engaging with
across the district. And I'm just wondering if the TDAC plays a role in providing those recommendations for the various softwares that the district and the students use and how that kind of plays out. >> Yeah, I'll go ahead and start us off here. It gets back to um one of the
topics that we're going to tackle next year, which is looking at that charter. Um and so one of the things that we rely upon TDPAC for is input uh for things like this. The charter is not written to set TDPAC up that way. Right now that
said, uh we have been using TDPAC in this manner. Um we not only talk about software, but we get deep into how we're using the software and the data in that software, especially the data privacy, student data privacy, and many topics there as well. Um so, so yes, and um
I'll ask my team to chime in and give more context. >> I like your answer. I honestly I don't know much more to say. There's it's Jill actually gave a great answer because it's not it's also it's it's fairly complex and um the the
some of the software that we're talking about isn't necessarily directly classroom software. It's a lot of the data software we've talked about too, the governance around the data. And so we are definitely engaging TDPAC in a lot of that stuff, especially around the area of um student data privacy. And I I
agree with Jill, it's when we look at our charter, do we need to or how do we adjust that uh to if we include indust instructional practices or not? >> And does the TDAC identify any softwares that are duplicative across our district?
um we have not engaged in TDPAC um in that way at least since I've been part of it. That doesn't mean we don't look at that though. Um outside of TDPAC, we we absolutely especially over the course of this year and we'll continue to next year really look at where we where can
we best use our our taxpayer dollars to make sure that we're not buying the same software twice or three times. >> Thank you guys so much for all the work that you guys do and for answering all of our questions. I really appreciate it. Hi, I just wanted to say thank you so
much um to the team and engaging in this work. Um I was teaching on March 13, 2020 when we got the frantic email from our principal asking if anybody had extra computers
because we didn't have enough computers for our kindergarteners um at the time. And um being a specialist, I had a set of six in my room. So had to hand them out to students. So I understand in my experience, that was the first time I
had ever experienced a onetoone situation with students was that day. Um and at that time most of those students were five. But if we're talking about kindergarteners coming in at four years old, what is the current recommendation
for four, five, and sixy olds and being on a computer in front of the screen? Not necessarily on edtech, but just the general recommendation for screen time for a four-year-old. >> Um, I'm going to be honest with you and say that's not my area of expertise.
That's the area that's where our curriculum management um team comes in. um they are very very cognizant about the appropriate amount of screen time. Again, I can't give you numbers, not my area, but they do work with our with our um teachers to try and set those
guidelines and ensure that those guidelines are to the best of their ability teachers are aware of them and then it becomes a responsibility of the teacher and the principal to make sure those guidelines are being followed as best as they can follow. That being said, it's one of the reasons why we are
partnering with um the the instructional side of the house as we go through this journey looking at screen time in our classrooms so we can actually set clear guidelines and written guidelines that are easy to access and easy to understand um that are based in science that are based on
the desires of the community so we can answer so I would be able to directly answer your question in the future. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. Um, and also to Director Monian's point, um, looking at the consent agenda even for this week,
what do you think the cost savings might be for, um, reducing the onetoone in our kindergarten classrooms and possibly first and second grade for the district. >> So, I'll speak a little bit to um the
consent items that you all will see. Uh so we refresh devices in our current program and in its current uh format at first keep me honest here fifth and ninth grade. So what that means is our first graders come in they're issued a device and we hope that they can use
that device for four years and it doesn't break on them. Um once they become a fifth grader then they get a new device there. Um, so if you think about the groups of kiddos that we're talking about, one through four, five through eight, five through nine, and
then um and then beyond. Um, we'd like to have the conversation in those groups. Um, just because that's how we're purchasing right now, it doesn't mean that we have to stay in those groups as we have the conversation and we learn more research. Um, but ultimately we could take our consent
item and we could look at it and we could look at a third of that. We could look we could look at a half of that, 25% of that. Right now we don't know. Um, because it's going to depend, you know, what cohort that we want to focus on. And then we could look at how many devices we're purchasing for that cohort
throughout their K12 experience. And then we could do the numbers at that point in time. >> And then one point of clarification, our kindergarteners are actually at a 3:1 ratio. um the kindergarters are not at a 1 to1 ratio. Yeah, >> thank you. I appreciate it. Um I think
that's it. Thank you so much for all the work you do. I appreciate it. >> Thank you. Um I just looked it up. I think the Academy of Pediatrics AAP recommends about one hour per day for the age group that you mentioned, but it also requires considering quality
context and balance of the type of time, which reflects what you shared with us in an answer earlier. Um, I want to really thank you for mentioning that not all screen time is equal. Um, and I think about our, you know, early readers
spending time on Lexia versus playing whack-a-ole, right? That's if, if we need an example. Um, because Lexia has had is a screenbased program and it has had a positive impact on some reading outcomes in this district. But I'm getting a lot of feedback. I'm wondering
why. fixing it. Okay, great. Um, so thank you for that uh piece of information. There's actually several things that you all have said that I'm like, can we clip that and put it out on our social media pages? Like little tiny clips of
everything that all of you have said tonight. Put it out there. Um because I think there's just a lot of education for our community that still needs to happen around how we're already using edtech and how we're using tech in the classrooms. Um, I know last year at the back to school bash, I spent 20 minutes
on the bus with some of our edtech team and I walked out of there. I mean, I'm fairly informed. I have parent two kids in the district. I'm on the school board here late at night hearing about the things we're doing and I learned more in that 20 minutes about the things that were available to a reluctant reader in
my family than I did in all of the other ways that I'm engaged. So, really grateful for the edtech team and I also want that education really just to get out to all of our families in our community. Um, a couple of the questions I had, one is because I had a conversation today with
um an elected in the larger Jefco area. Um, is it fair to say that our district devices do not readily permit social media access? mostly >> mostly
>> um it is fair to say that our um onetoone devices on JFKO networks between the ages or between the grades of kindergarten through 8th grade um do not um are not able to or should not be able to access social media. Um up until
this year we did a pilot last year where we start or we in investigated high schools um us removing social media access from our high schools as well. We're moving forward with a recommendation this upcoming school year for we're going to be um filtering
social media from our high schools unless the school decides that they want to continue to have access to social media. Um we worked a lot with our schools um on this and one of the things that we learned especially going through the cell phone policy is top down
doesn't work really well. So we chose instead of going top down by saying thou shalt not, we said we said we will make this available to you, we will turn it on. If you don't want it turned on, please let us know and we will continue to allow social media to be available to
you. So the answer next year will probably a be a little bit different than it is this year. My hope and maybe I shouldn't say this out loud. My hope is that I'd be able to tell you next year that all the schools opted into a social media block, but that's at the decision of the principal within the
right what's right for their community. >> I appreciate that. Um my follow-up question was if a family asked if there's a social media ban, how might you respond? And right now it's it's a no, there's not a strong social media ban for every single student across the district. Is that
>> again? It's it's the same maybe >> meaning >> um we we're actually being pretty cognizant about choosing a word about social media filter. >> Great. >> Thanks Tracy. >> Thank you. >> Um and really is is during the during
school hours again our students in um elementary middle school should not be able to access social media through their school devices. Again that's a should because it's technology and students are smart. Um and next year for our high schools it'll be it'll be a
similar answer. Now after school hours ours is going to be a little bit different because there is legitimate uses in clubs and other and other organizations where we want our students to be able to use social media appropriately um effectively. But what we're really trying to do is make sure during instructional hours are focused
on their instruction and not somewhere else. >> I appreciate that. I know that several of our schools have social media accounts and it's one of the ways that they communicate with the families and the parents. Um, so the the nuance in your answer is greatly appreciated. Thank you. >> Um, I had other questions. Um, Director
Gibbons asked one of the ones about the one to one device, but I think we were jumping ahead of ourselves. That's the work that you have coming up in front of you. So, you don't have an answer, but you will for us after a year. And I'm excited about the subcommittee idea that you all have. So, you can do some deeper dives. Um, and the answer that you gave
to Director Gibbons is one of the when I first wrote down that's a great answer. put that take that clip and share it. Uh so um I'm just going to throw it out there again for anybody listening watch that clip. Uh I want to also lift up the change any possible change to a onetoone
policy. I like the timeline of not doing it immediately but having a year because of our change in leadership and we're asking our interim superintendent to keep the wheels on and not make any major changes as part of that work. I think it also your work and deliberation
this coming year will land right about the time when we have a new long-term superintendent who's here and ready to maybe implement some larger changes and that would be a fairly large shift to our um policy around um onetoone access for all of our students. So
>> I think the timing is great. Uh, that is all that I have, but I just um Oh, the last thing I want to end with, Miss Norton, thank you for your leadership and for stepping up into a chair position for
TDPAC. I know that you do this and you also serve on the DAC. And so, your engagement in our advisory committees and Jeffco is not to be understated. You've had a huge impact. and I'm incredibly grateful for the work that you've done and the presence and the time that you've provided to this work.
So, thank you so much. Yeah. And to the rest of you, thank you as well. Um, but I know volunteering your time is a is a a huge lift. So, thank you so much. And that is all that I have. Are there any other comments or can we let these folks
go home? Have a wonderful night and thank you for coming. For the final item of study, the board will receive monitoring reports 3.1 and 3.3 from Terrapenia, chief of family and community partnerships, Matt Cormier, executive director of student services,
and Michelle Gonzalez, director of psychological safety. Presenters, we have allotted 45 minutes for this presentation. Please include time at the end of your presentation for questions from the board. Before I turn the time over to the presenter, Superintendent Dorland, is there anything that you would like to add?
>> Um, thank you, Miss Kenworthy. Um, welcome to our guests and uh, you all have the special privilege of the final monitoring report of the school year. Yeah, thank you for finishing us out
strong. Um this is an really important monitoring report. Um looking forward to you guys sharing uh what you've put together here. Thanks. Thanks to all of you and your teams for the time, energy, and effort that went into this report and very much excited for the board to
hear about it. Miss Pena. Thank you, Superintendent Dorland. Good evening, members of the board. Superintendent Dorland. Um I'm Tara Pena, chief of family community partnerships. And tonight, Matt Cormier, Michelle Gonzalez, and I are pleased to present monitoring report for board ends 3.1 and
3.3. So, tonight we will review the ends, our interpretation, key evidence demonstrating progress, areas of challenge, and our compliance determination. Wend's 3.1 focuses on meeting students where they are to reach their fullest
potential. Board ends 3.3 focuses on ensuring students and families have access to the resources and community partnerships that support their health, safety, and stability. Together, these ends reflect our commitment to supporting the whole child. I do think it's rather fitting that we just had a
conversation about technology and the impact um of technology and um the opportunities and challenges that presents, especially when we're talking about the health and well-being of our children. Um and so I think there's some um really meaningful alignment there. Um as well
we interpret these ends as requiring both direct supports within schools and strong partnerships beyond schools. Our responsibility is not simply to provide services but to connect students and families with the resources needed to remove barriers and create opportunities
for success. The evidence presented tonight examines both the systems we use to personalize student support and the resources we provide to strengthen and sustain student well-being, safety, and stability. So, as we looked across the evidence in
this report um and you have a very robust um report in front of you, the five conditions consistently emerged as essential for student success. physical well-being, mental well-being, safety, stability, and individualized supports.
These conditions are what allow us to truly know students by name, by strength, and by need. When students are healthy, when they feel safe, they have stable support systems and receive the individualized resources they need, they are better able to engage in learning,
build relationships, and reach their fullest potential. Throughout the rest of this presentation, you'll see how our schools, staff, and community partners work together to strengthen these convictions so that every student can thrive. The snapshot um on this slide
demonstrates what it looks like when we put that commitment into action, knowing students by name, strength, and need, and responding with the right supports at the right time. When we talk about board ends 3.1 and 3.3, we're talking about creating the conditions for student success. And this slide reflects
the scale of that work across Jeffco. This year, we supported more than 10,000 students with IEPs, over 4,000 students with 504 plans, and over 9,000 students with advanced learning plans. We trained more than 12,000 staff in suicide prevention,
supported nearly 1,300 students experiencing homelessness, and saw a nearly 20% reduction in substance related infractions. We're also encouraged by what students are telling us directly. Through Jeffco listens, our student perception survey,
students reported stronger feelings of belonging, improved school climate, and a significant increase in feeling understood for who they are. And finally, our re-engagement and case management efforts helped reconnect students with school and remove barriers to success. Behind every number on this
slide is a student whose needs were identified and addressed through intentional systems of support. Together, these efforts reflect our commitment to meeting students where they are and helping them thrive. So across Jeffco, we continue strengthening systems designed to ensure
students have the support they need academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. The highlights we'll share represents progress in creating responsive systems that help students access learning and remain connected to school.
One of the most important measures in this report comes directly from students themselves. More than 37,000 students shared their experience through Jeff Coles listens, giving us valuable insights into whether students feel connected, supported, and valued in
their school communities. Overall, we saw encouraging growth across many, many indicators. Most notably, belonging climate and engagement improved across both elementary and secondary levels. These gains suggest that students are
increasingly experiencing schools as places where they feel connected, supported, and valued. As I shared with the board last week, Panorama has indicated that even a 1 percentage point increase in favorability is considered statistically significant. So when we
see growth of six and seven percentage points in areas like school climate and belonging, those are not small shifts, they are remarkable gains. These results are a powerful testament to the work happening in every one of our schools and across the district. They reflect
the intentional efforts of our schools and educators who creating environments where students feel known, respected, and connected. While we know there is still work ahead, particularly around closing experience gaps, these results give us reason to celebrate the positive
momentum we are seeing across Jeffco. So, let's dig in and look a little bit closer. At the elementary level, students continue reporting very strong relationships with their teachers. As you can see here, 94% of our elementary students um report that high
favorability of teachers help students understand what they are learning. Those relationships remain among the most powerful protective factors we can provide to students and are foundational to both learning and belonging. um when we talk about knowing students by name,
strength, and need and for our students to report at 85% favorability that students um that teachers treat them respectfully um is is is something worth uplifting. We also saw meaningful growth in student engagement. Students reported greater
excitement to go to class um with an astounding 11point increase as well as increases in excitement to participate in learning and feeling understood for who they are. Those are important indicators that students are finding connection and purpose in school. I know
that those are some of the most meaningful conversations that we have around the dinner table when my kids come home excited to learn. We started a new project. We started a new unit. I learned this new thing today that I didn't know. Um and so um those are um some some really remarkable data points.
>> I just I just want to highlight these increases are substantial. Um, and I want to just say to, you know, Miss Kenworthy, your points earlier around staying the course on some of our
academic um, strategies as a district in particular, um, the coherence that we have built from school to school related to materials and professional learning for teachers,
expectations of the use of materials. When I um started in this job, and I'll say it again, there was this headline about nobody knows what Jeffco Schools uses to teach reading. Um it was a real problem. I can now go from a second grade classroom in the northwest part of
our district to a second grade classroom in the southeast part of our district on the same day within the two-hour literacy block and see kids learning from different styles of educators. Of course, teachers always have their own style and approach. Different groups of kids in different classrooms are
different but they are learning the same standards and they are doing it with engaging highquality um diverse learning materials that represent the diversity of students who we serve. um that is a direct you see
these results are a direct result of um implementation of those kinds of strategies and the expectation that Jeffco has a coherence from school to school from classroom to classroom. It does not need to look the same. Everybody does not need to be on page
five on day five. But that coherence is essential for a school district of this size to continue serving kids in the right way and increasing student achievement. I just want to say that out loud because I really want this board to hold on to that and you have a cabinet
team that is committed to that work, has led it and will continue to lead it. Um, and so these these these increases are substantial and they are a direct result of Jeffco Thrives and the implementation that the cabinet team has led.
Thank you, Superintendent Dorland. At the secondary level, we saw some of our strongest gains in student voice data. Belonging increased by seven percentage points, climate by six points, and engagement by three points. These results suggest that more students are experiencing their schools as places
where they feel connected and part of a community. They also reflect the intentional work happening across our middle and high schools to strengthen relationships, create cultures of safety and belonging, and ensure students feel seen and supported. And I'm just going to put a plug in here. Sorry. These are
also substantially substantial increases. And I just want to call out and acknowledge both our teaching and learning team, Tara's team, and others who have been working on high school reimagined and the magic of middle school. I believe that these results are direct impact of um our middle school
principles and high school principles helping work with their leadership teams to find relevance for our young adults um in their learning experiences. Um and I think you just see that in this belonging climate engagement um increases. It's it is the right work and
this data is is showing that to us. I think it's evidence that the school leaders and our our team our central teams are doing the right work related to middle school and high school reimagined. >> Thank you, Superintendent Dorland. You know, last week when we presented on monitoring report 2.2 2.6, we also
talked about um double-digit gains in the our family experiences as well. and we will know and panorama will tell us that there's strong correlation between the family experience and the student experience. And so when we're working to create experiences like you heard last week for example destination graduation
that is supporting the transition from you know into kinder to middle school into high school really grounded in partnership and creating cultures of belonging. Our families are feeling welcomed um is is a direct correlation to students feeling um a sense of belonging as well. And so so much
coherence and interconnectedness to the work that creating consistency and coherence um strengthens belonging. And um that is work that you'll see across the entire organization as well. All right. And I lost my place. Here we go. Um perhaps most encouraging
students reported feeling more understood, more respected by their peers, and a stronger overall sense of belonging. Um four years ago, we um introduced the strategy of knowing students, families, and staff by name, strength, and need. And the intentional
work um in investing in relationships and creating cultures of safety and belonging to see that um correlated in these outcomes is one of the things that I will be most proud of in this role. Um and it is something that has been completely operationalized when you you can't go into a school or into a
classroom without hearing language of knowing students by name, strength, and need. Um not only in the relational space, but also in how we're delivering instruction, how I'm grouping students, um and differentiating supports. You know, a lot of this report is around individualized report for students. You
can't meet students needs and produce the outcomes without knowing them not only as as as the beautiful human beings that they are, but understanding their strengths and needs as as as individual and unique learners as well. Um is is the beautiful balance that we're seeing
happening classrooms every single day. So these improvements align directly with our efforts to create safe, inclusive, and welcoming school communities um for every student in Jeffco. We also saw positive movement in school culture and academic experience. Students reported stronger perceptions
of teacher respect, positive school climate and relevance in their learning experiences. We see up here five points of students seeing the lifelong value of mathematics. Um, I know that I have seen tremendous growth in my own child and um
the positive feedback that continues to be reinforced around um illustrative math and and the curriculum that that we have implemented at the secondary level and the excitement that you see in our secondary classrooms um with the use of that resource and students, you know,
are telling us about that impact as well. >> I'm at the risk of having the embargo police come. >> Yes. >> Um and arrest me. Um, I'm just going to say we have received uh CAMASS achievement results.
Um, and it looks good. We've not gotten growth. Um, but at some point, Kristen, maybe you can remember, given that I'm out of town next week, to talk to Renee about how we can maybe share some of that with the board. Even though it's embargoed, these guys should
be able to see that stuff. um like almost every grade level in every test is up some by like eight percentage points which is incredible. There are a few areas that are down uh from cohort to cohort which means kids from one year to the next. Um but the ones that are
down are far and few between and they're one or two points down. So, I just there's all indicators pointing to the right work being done in our schools, moving the needle on both perception of our kids, their experience, um, and
their outcomes. Um, and so it all kind of goes together. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. But I thought it would be fun to share that good news with you guys tonight. >> Can I can I jump in and just say you said we haven't gotten growth. What you mean is we haven't gotten growth data, >> right? Doesn't mean we haven't gotten growth. I just for everybody listen for everybody listening, >> we don't have the data. That's what I
meant. >> Yes. Thank you. >> And while we celebrate progress reflected in this report, we remain focused on areas requiring continued attention. While districtwide results are improving, not all students are experienced school in the same way.
Students of color, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities continue to report lower favorability across several sobery topics, particularly related to safety, belonging, and academics. Additionally, while engagement is improved at the secondary level, it remains one of our
lowest performing areas and continues to be an important focus moving forward. These findings remind us that improving averages is not enough. Our goal is to ensure that every student, regardless of background, identity, or circumstance,
experience school as a place where they are connected, challenged, supported, and feel a deep sense of value in their school community. Student comments also help bring this data to life. So many students describe
in their own words, so these are direct quotes that we've taken from the Jeff Coalition survey. students describe feeling welcomed, connected, um, and safe in their schools. At the same time, some students continue to tell us they struggle to feel accepted or that they
feel that they belong. So, these voices remind us both of the progress we've made and the work that remains ahead. I'll now invite Michelle and then Matt to share highlights related to mental health, safety, and psychological well-being. >> Thank you. Thank you, Tara. Good
evening. I'm Michelle Gonzalez, uh, director of psychological safety. Is this my slide? There we go. Well, um, first of all, supporting student mental health still remains essential to creating the conditions necessary for learning. And
over this past year, Jeffco's continued strengthening prevention and intervention and postvention to support student social, emotional, and mental well-being. So, this slide that you see here highlights several encouraging indicators related to student health and
wellness. Through our no vision left no vision left behind partnership, more than 1,800 students received eye exams and more than 800 students received glasses at no cost to their families. For many students, something as simple
as being able to see clearly can have a significant impact on their educational experience. Our health rooms supported more than 386,000 student visits this year, helping preserve approximately 55,000 hours of
instructional time by ensuring students received care and were able to return to learning. We're also seeing positive trends in substance use data. So since 2019, high school students have reported significant declines in alcohol use,
marijuana use, and vaping. And substance related infractions have decreased by 356 incidents, which is approximately a 20% decrease compared to this time last year. Together, these indicators really do suggest that our prevention,
intervention, and wellness efforts are making a meaningful difference for our students. Beyond responding to student needs, we're also focused on prevention. So, building the skills, the supports, and the systems that help students to thrive before their challenges become crisis.
So, at the elementary level, our universal screener of social emotional skills shows really encouraging growth. The SSIS cell social emotional competence index which is a summitive measure across all five cell
competencies demonstrated uh an encouraging 7 percentage point growth from the beginning of the year to the middle of the school year which signals that our elementary students are successfully developing key skills that support both academic success and
overall well-being. This index um also is inclusive of the significant growth that we saw in self-management skills of our youngest learners, which as we all know has been an identified um area of need. And our
students demonstrated an average growth of 7.5% this year. We also continue to prioritize suicide prevention and crisis response. So this year alone, more than 12,000 staff members and over 10,000 students
received training in suicide prevention and suicide education strategies, which helps ensure that students have access to trained educators who know how to recognize those warning signs and how to respond appropriately.
Uh on another note, when tragedy does occur, um our crisis response team provides critical support to our school communities. This year alone, in addition to the supports provided to Evergreen, um our crisis response team
provided more than 890 hours of post vvention support following um a loss. What we know is that effective postvention is prevention because how we support a community after a crisis can
have a direct and lasting impact on healing, connection, resilience, recovery, and future well-being. Together, these efforts reflect a comprehensive approach to student wellness. One that focuses not only on
intervention, but also on prevention, post vvention, resilience, and the development of protective factors for students. So, to better understand the impact of these efforts, I'm going to turn it over to Matt to walk us through some of the highlights of the Healthy
Kids Colorado survey. >> Thank you, Michelle. Good evening. And thank you for that. Needed somebody to show me the push button. Um, I'm going to be speaking about the Healthy Kids Colorado survey, which is the most
comprehensive survey of student health and well-being and provides valuable insights into how students experience school, their mental and physical health, and their overall sense of connection and belonging. Uh this year more than 12,600 Jeffco middle and high
school students participated in this survey giving us a robust picture of student experiences across the district. And as you know this is an every two-year survey given on odd years. The survey measures a wide range of factors
including mental health and well-being, school climate and belonging, safety and bullying, substance use, physical health, sleep habits, and protective factors that help students thrive. What makes this data particularly valuable is
that it helps us to understand not only where students are succeeding, but also where additional supports may be needed. Uh, it allows us to hear directly from students and use their experiences to inform decisions, allocate resources,
and strengthen the systems that support their overall well-being. The next few slides highlight some of the most encouraging trends we are seeing from the data. As you can see from the slide, the
Healthy Kids Colorado survey shows encouraging progress across several key indicators of student well-being. Both middle and high school students are reporting lower rates of depression symptoms with high school rates
decreasing from 40% to 23% and middle school rates decreasing from 31% to 21%. We're also seeing significant declines. its substance use, including reductions in both alcohol youth use and vaping
among high school students. While no single effort can explain these outcomes, the data suggests our collective work with schools, families, community partners, and prevention systems are making a positive impact. Most importantly, more students are
reporting healthier behaviors and improved well-being, which is encouraging evidence that we are moving in the right direction. To better understand the daily experiences of our students, we also look at key wellness indicators from
Healthy Kids Colorado survey. The chart on the slide highlights a positive trend in sleep. And as a Jeffco parent, I love this data point. The percentage of high school students reporting eight or more hours of sleep on school nights has
increased from 23% in 2019 to 35% in 2025. While we would always like to see more, yes, as parents we would, um, a 12point increase is significant. Three years ago, Jeffco adjusted school start
times to better align with adolescent brain research and what we know about the importance of sleep for learning, mental health, and overall well-being. It is definitely encouraging to see students reporting positive changes to
their sleep habits since that shift. This slide highlights encouraging trends in student mental health and well-being. We're seeing increases in both belonging and students ability to manage stress
while reported symptoms of depression continue to decline. These are important indicators because belonging, connection, and emotional well-being are closely tied to student success both in and out of the classroom. It's already been stated.
And as we discussed earlier, students are continue to report those lower symptoms of depression. While we're encouraged by the positive trends we've shared, it's important to recognize that not every student has experienced school in the same way. This
slide illustrates disparities persistent across several indicators of well-being and belonging. Some student groups continue to report lower levels of connection and higher levels of challenge than their peers. These findings reinforce the importance of our
continued focus on equity, belonging, and intensive supports. Improving district-wide outcomes is important and our ultimate goal is to ensure that every student feels safe, supported, connected, and able to thrive. While there is more work ahead, this data
helps us to better understand where to focus our efforts and how to continue creating the conditions for uh success for all of our students. >> Thank you, Matt. Subordans 3.3 calls on us to ensure
students and families have access to the resources, services, and partnerships that support their health, safety, and stability. As we move into this section, you'll see how JECO is strengthening systems that help students remain connected to school, supported through challenges, and positioned for success.
That also includes how we're supporting some of our most vulnerable learners in JECO. So, this year, nearly 4,500 students received targeted support through student engagement programming and robust wraparound supports. Our dropout
prevention and re-engagement teams supported nearly 1,500 students, including 430 who received intensive case management, helping 234 students successfully return to school who had previously dropped out. Through community family connections team, we
supported almost 1,300 students experiencing homelessness, helping families access resources and reduce barriers to learning. Um, I want to publicly acknowledge the Denver Rescue Mission for helping to ensure that we kept um 30 families um which was 70 Jeff
Co students housed um through that partnership. And we'll talk about community partnerships here in a moment. But when we think about um our students who are facing housing um instability, um housing insecurity, who are highly mobile, um partnerships like those with the Denver Rescue Mission make a really
big impact. We also continued focused outreach and support for our foster involved youth and our Native American and indigenous students, contributing to more foster youth staying on track to graduate with a report of 26.5%
increased on track to graduate. We know that our foster involved youth are some of our most um at risk and vulnerable students in the system. And as you read in the monitoring report, our fostering opportunity child welfare program is um the first of its kind in Colorado and is
being replicated across the country for the positive outcomes that it's producing for this unique population and on track to graduate is a really big deal and something to celebrate and so really grateful for that team. Um, and then we talked about um, you know, the the outcomes and experiences of our
students and our families and really proud of the Native American Education Program, our NAP team for bringing voice and visibility to our Native and Indigenous students and families in Jeffco, supporting nearly 700 students across the organization. So together, these efforts help students
stay connected to school, receive the support they need, and remain on a path toward success. Attendance remains one of the strongest indicators of student success. We know that belonging, engagement,
attendance, and academic achievement are closely interconnected. Encouragingly, our Jeff Kolison survey showed gains in belonging, school climate, and student engagement. At the same time, chronic absenteeism remains a
challenge with 26.6% of students chronically absent. This year, our focus moving forward includes relaunching the Jeffco shows up campaign, strengthening family partnerships with the roll out of the parent squared um communication um
roll out that we will have. It has some attendance modules that we will pilot within our title one schools and building the capacity of our school and attendance teams um through a coordinated effort of our central PBST team. We also recognize that many
attendance barriers happen outside of school. Transportation, housing instability, health concerns, family responsibility, and other life circumstances can make it difficult for students to attend regularly. That's why we are committed to partnering with families and connecting them to resources and supports that help remove
barriers. And we talked about many of those last week in in um the previous monitoring report. Ultimately, attendance is more than showing up to school. It reflects whether students feel connected, supported, and able to fully participate in learning. When we
address barriers, and strengthen belonging, students are more likely to attend, engage, and succeed. Our discipline data also shows both progress and areas where we need to further strengthen. Since 2022 2023 out
of school suspensions have decreased by more than 1,200 incidences and expulsions have dropped from 29 to 10. While reported behavioral incidents increased this year, we believe this is due partly to improved documentation and
earlier identification of student needs. Elementary's elementary schools saw a small increase in reported incidents while secondary schools have continued to see a decline over the past three years. Middle schools remain a focus as incident rates are still higher than at
other grades spans. Overall, the data suggests that schools are increasingly using proactive and restorative approaches to support students and to address behavior concerns early. community partnerships and supporting the whole child. No school district can
meet every student's needs alone, nor can any school, which is why um you know, little um plug for the family community partnership division that we come alongside schools to provide wraparound supports that um our schools can't do alone and really fortunate um
to work and serve in a community like Jefferson County where we have tremendous um strong partnership um from many of the community partners. ers that you see here. So, our community partnerships are critical to expanding access to services
that support student success and family stability. Through partnerships with organizations such as the Jefferson Center for Mental Health, Judy's House, and many others, we're able to provide supports that extend beyond what schools can provide interdependently in independently, excuse me. And and please
know this is just a a highle snapshot of the many many community partners. It is no way intended to be a comprehensive list of all of the many community partners that serve us um and come alongside us on a daily basis. These partnerships have expanded access to mental health and behavioral health
services, teleaalth supports, housing stabilization resources, vision and medical care, suicide prevention efforts, grief support, and traumainformed services. Together, these partnerships help remove barriers to learning and strengthen student safety,
stability, belonging, and well-being. So, as we conclude, we'd like to summarize where we believe the district is on track and where continued focus is needed to fully realize the board's expectations for ends 3.1 and 3.3. So, overall, we believe the district is
on track in meeting these boards ends. Students are reporting a stronger sense of belonging and connection at school. Prevention and intervention efforts are helping students make healthier choices and community partnerships continue to expand access to important services and
supports. Schools are strengthening their ability to meet individual student needs through MTSS, social emotional screening and coordinated support systems. We are seeing positive result from restorative practices and improvements in discipline especially at
the secondary level. Most importantly, we continue to strengthen support for our most vulnerable students by reducing barriers, increasing stability, and connecting them to caring adults and resources. And while we are seeing progress,
important challenges remain. Some student groups, including students with disabilities, multilingual learners, our LGBTQ plus students, and students of color, continue to report lower levels of belonging and well-being than their peers. We also see the need
to continue strengthening the connection between academics, student supports, and school cultures so that students experience consistent support across all schools. Finally, chronic absenteeism remains a barrier to student success. These challenges will continue to guide
our work as we strive to ensure every student feels supported, connected, and able to thrive. So in closing, um you know, you we we heard a consistent theme tonight and it's creating the conditions for success, but we also talked a lot about name, strength, and need. So four years
ago, we introduced the strategy of name, strength, and need. And to see it fully operationalized and having a direct impact on the outcomes and experiences of our students is something that um I know our cabinet team and I are are very very proud of. Our hope is that every
student is surrounded by a strong network of family, school, and community support, creating the conditions for belonging, opportunity, and access for all. So with that, we are Thank you very much, board and superintendent Darlin, and are available to answer any
questions. Thank you so much, board members. questions, comments, go ahead. >> This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. Um, so I'm really excited about this presentation. Um so my first
question is when we're t when we're looking at safety and students feeling safe at at school um are are we is it is it is the question posed to them in a sort of blanketed way like do you feel safe or
are we also approaching it from a perspective of that uh mental health going handinhand with physical safety. So, so you do have access to the report in to excuse me, you do have access to
the the full body of the Jeff Coisonens survey and and how the questions are asked and student safety in Jeff Coisonens in that construct and how it's asked is really directly connected to physical safety. But we also know that psychological safety, which is much of
the thread through this report, are deeply deeply interconnected. And so I think it's it's why we see the value of the data of Healthy Kids Colorado. So not only are students reporting belonging and feeling a sense of safety in Jeff Coenss, we're asking it 10 times
in 10 ways. And so to see them also reporting feeling safe and feeling a sense of belonging in Healthy Kids Colorado gives us additional data point to help reinforce. But to to specifically answer your question, it's around physical safety. >> Okay. Thank you for clarifying that. Um,
and also just providing the e extra context, right, that the mental health leads to feeling a student feeling psychologically safe. They're open to the information they're learning in the classroom. They're um it and it translates into physical safety, right?
They reach out for help when they recognize that they need help. I saw the statistic around depression being almost 50% down and that is really encouraging. Um I had a question back on slide 11 there was a statistic 80% of the students felt
that their teacher takes the time to ensure that they are understanding the schoolwork and that just kind of gives me pause cons for concern that there's 20% of students that feel left behind perhaps. >> Absolutely. And I really appreciate that
you um really flipping, you know, the data in that way. While we do have a lot of of positive data, we talked about the disparities and experiences um that our students are are sharing with us. And so we also talked um here at the board
table and across the organization that our goal is 100% achievement and 100% belonging for every student. And so until we till we reach that goal, which I think if any district um can do that, it's this organization. um we still have tremendous work to do. So absolutely
we're always looking at it from you know to use and to take Superintendent Dorland's lead on this truth and hope um and really looking at the data as a magnifying glass and where do we have opportunities but yes until everything is 100% across the board we will always
have work to do for certain. >> Yes and the work that you guys do is so appreciated and it's so important. Um and then my last question is just around We're tracking the data in terms of what
the students are reporting. I'm wondering if we have an internal mechanism at all to track the supports um or best practices for example of ratio of cells or mental health supports to students.
And I can clarify this. >> Yeah. Can you say a little bit more? >> Okay. So, we're tracking how well the students are are um doing under these metrics, right? Um I'm wondering if we are also tracking
how um how our employees are sort of doing in a sense that right if I'm a cell and I have let's say 400 students, I might not be able to give the same amount of individual attention. What is the recommended um ratio in that particular field? Um,
and I'm just wondering if that comes into our consideration of of the work that we're doing. >> Absolutely. So, we do um especially so putting my high school counselor hat on, we do follow really closely best practices guidance from the ASKA model and to ensure that we're, you know,
adhering to best practice or ratio, especially at the school counselor level. Um, you know, the cell role looks really different and they don't necessarily always have a case load of students that they're serving. it's mostly in supporting the adults and and helping to set, you know, some tier one best practice. Um, but yes, there are
there are guidance in the ratios that we're delivering. Now, in terms of the quality and the effectiveness of programming and the delivery of that mental health supports, um, that is something that we can definitely explore a little bit further and and come back and and have further conversation um
about that, unless the team has anything else they'd add. Thank you guys so much for the work that you guys are doing. It's really appreciated. >> Thank you. It's a great question. Thank you. >> Anybody else board members? I'll go. Uh first I want to share
gratitude. not just from me but also from director Applegate because she has left the meeting. Um but we want she wanted me to pass along her deep gratitude for your student focused work and for this presentation. Um and I want to I want to add add to that ditto. You
know, I am really grateful for the work and I want to lift up the vision um that super superintendent Dorland expressed in creating this position and this um the the focus on the work that you are
doing. That is something that is relatively new in Jefferson County. Is that accurate? Do you want to speak to that? You created Tara's position. >> Yeah. Uh yeah, sure. I can talk about that a little bit. So we um we have uh you know I think Jeff Co has always done
a great job of focusing on um mental health, suicide prevention, uh crisis response, uh tracking and monitoring how our students are doing. Um and the other component here I think that wasn't
always in place was our our family community partnerships team. um we had parts of what are now Terara's team in different areas of the organization. So everything from um federal programs
uh to student re-engagement team um was sort of some translation services but not a ton. We did not have anything like over the phone translations. We had no nothing like a first team that was sort of a give us a call and we'll help you
navigate the big system of Jeffco. And then we obviously um didn't have Tara. We didn't have her position as a chief sitting on cabinet sort of representing the perspective of our families and our community partners. That has been a real gamecher for us. And I think um this
whole portion of Jeffco Thrives around our communities, our legacy um was something that was really important to folks when we started talking about putting Jeff Co Thrives together. There was this component of like we have this community that loves and cares about our schools. How do we engage that community
in ways that's intentional and meaningful? And so um that has I think also been a direct result of some of the progress we've made here. Um, even though we've also tried to highlight areas where we still have work to do, um, having that community partnership
team and family partnership team, I think has made a big difference um, for for all of us in addition to all of the amazing work we do and the substance abuse, mental health, discipline, all the other categories that you talked about tonight. >> Yeah, thank you for highlighting that. >> Yeah, thank you. Well, and thank you for
um bringing us towards coherent strategies and organizational supports because it does lead to increases in our student success and our well-being. That's what we're seeing and it's a direct result of some of your leadership in bringing this um cabinet position together and
coalesing some of the work that we were doing but into one area and elevating it so that it is easy to operationalize across the whole district. Um I think that's why we're seeing these steady increases over time. I mean, every year that I've seen this presentation about this this type of information, we're
just seeing constant growth. And while yes, we still have plenty of work that we can do until we're at 100%, it's the steady increases that will get us there. That's how we get there. Um, and I just want to underscore that that cohesive
leadership is something that you brought to the district when you came and then you brought uh Miss Pena and Miss Pena's team together to do the work for us. So, thank you very much. We're I again I think we're on the right path and strategy around supporting our student experience. Um I want to lift up the
quote that I heard effective postvention is prevention. What a great catchphrase that is for the for the work that you've done especially this year. Um plenty of opportunity right in the postvention space. But it means that it sets us up with prevention for um the next
iteration that next school year, the next five school years. um and also gives us skills, right? We've had to do skill building and some stretching so that we are able to respond and then also have better supports in place so that we don't have to always experience the same thing in the same way. Um I
want to lift up for our community who maybe is learning along with us tonight that the panorama data is collected in the spring >> in February, January, February. Um so that's when it's collected. So this
information that was presented, the data was presented tonight came to us in 2026. So it's very recent. It's not delayed by a year. This is just months old. >> Um so that's good information based on this year, especially on the heels of
tragedy that our community experienced. Um and the healthy kids Colorado survey is given in the fall. So that was given in fall of 25 between October and November is the window for that. Um, and while we do have 75,000 kids in our district, including charter students,
I'm adding them all together because that's the language we're learning for other work that we have to do this summer. Um, we had 12,656 students take the survey. I'm wondering if you have ideas about how do we increase participation in that survey
particularly? >> Yep. So, it is um like all of the perception survey and data that we collect, it's optional. And so, um there's a lot of information because the Healthy Kids Colorado survey asks very different questions than the nationally normed Panorama questions. Um it is a
family choice if they decide um to allow that survey to be administered to their child. And so, um, we can bring voice and visibility like we're doing tonight and helping the community understand how we use the data to help inform decision-m and to strengthen both the psychological, physical safety in, you
know, direct correlation to student belonging, which, you know, has a direct impact on student outcomes. Um, but but especially at Healthy Kids Colorado, it's it's a very personal choice for our families and and we respect that decision should they choose to take it or not. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. I think we
are getting good information from from the data set that's taking the survey. Um, and I want to encourage our families to participate. It provides us with usable data that we then um put into action through how we run our programs
and what we allocate our resources towards. So, I think I just want to make a plug for that. I would love to see higher participation especially in Jeffco because I think we're getting good information back from those surveys. Um I want to also let our families
listening public if anybody is still here at 9:09 at night um in June um that the PBS teams that is a proactive behavior and safety team accurate just to clarify an acronym um and there is information about that on the Jeffco website if you want to know
about that. Um ultimately just thank you. This is the information that is also near and dear to my heart. Yes, we are focused on student academic success, but it really is like you've said intertwined with their feelings of well-being, their feelings of safety, um their engagement
and willingness to show up from day to day to participate in their own education. And so this information really, I think, is foundational to a lot of the work that we're doing. Thank you to you. Thank you, Superintendent Dorland, for putting this team together. Um, and I think it's beautiful
information. I'm looking forward to see it continue to grow. So, thank you and thank you for staying late with us tonight. >> Absolutely. Thank you so much. >> Sure. Anybody else? No. Then with that, is everybody ready? 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 special virtual meeting on Thursday, September, where we will approve the contract of interim superintendent finalist Dr. Rob Stein. With that, we will stand
adjourned and good night. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Down. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Hey, Heat.