Elementary and Avondale Elementary. And as always, our district has a lot of longevity, and we have a lot of staff members who come and they stay with us, for a really long time. And we hope to keep that as a tradition, and, hopefully, we can continue doing that and we can do that with providing competitive wages. Okay. My turn. I too have been to some of the award ceremonies, and they're they're a lot of fun. It's one of my favorite things. And the rest of mine, I would actually like to save, for the first action
item to talk about the rest of my points that I would like to give information for. So Okay. Alright. That sounds good. Well, I'm just gonna echo the award ceremonies. I had the privilege last week of being a Vineland, got to meet, Victoria, and, it was just really fun being in the school. It kinda took me back, and, I love the it's just a really good atmosphere when you walk in there. I enjoyed it. So, I do think you're doing a great job. You talk about longevity. She explained to me that before her, we had a lot of turnover in the
principal role there, but it looks like we're gonna have her for the duration. So happy about that. So yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And I'm gonna take my kids to come play on the playground because that is an awesome playground. I would've been at several of those as well this week with both with Rhonda, and then Chris. Today, we handed out I the coveted glass apple that was really fun, and how they switched from the the owl, you know, did that switch back because everyone wasn't too happy. They're very happy you're back to the apple.
So, that was really fun to see. That was at North Mesa. And it's at it's just an absolute joy walking into those rooms, and just all the teachers' big smiling faces. I mean, the environments that have been cultivated there with staff and and then with leadership is so awesome. It is so awesome to see, and and you see it with the longevity of the teachers. Also, I wanted to say I took, my students. We did a tour of the Pueblo District seventy Art Show.
I think it just finished up on the nineteenth. It was at Rawlings. Wow. Wow. I was blown away by the talent of the students in this district. It was awesome. So that was really fun to see. So, that's all. I just I'm having a lot of fun. I love this district. This has really been awesome. I'm just gonna echo what they've all said. I got to go to Desert Sage, and I, it's a beautiful school. It's so much fun to walk into an elementary school. The classrooms are just adorable, smiling faces, and, just what a friendly environment.
And it's obviously re just as mentioned, whether it's a an apple or a nice mug, recognizing those people for years of service. But I thought it was really neat. We actually, like, had, she had had all the staff raise their hands, you know, for, we started out with, like, who has less than five years experience. And I thought that was really fun. I got to go with mister DiPietro and, really enjoyed that. I also, I agree with you about the art show. That was fantastic. And I wanted to say, as we're rounding out the school year, to those of you, watching on YouTube or here in the room, if you would please, like, let
us know about end of year, celebrations, performances, and and, you know, I know we're all trying to get to things and knowing in advance is really helpful. So we I wanna be there. I wanna celebrate our students. And, as I read agendas and hear of people retiring, I also wanna say, thank you to all of the people that are retiring this year, and for all of your years of service. You set a precedent and, a help to build our our culture and, support our
history, and I just you know, I'm I'm really grateful. So please reach out. I'm easy to find on email, so thanks a lot. Alright. Thank you. We have a lot of discussion items tonight, so we'll jump right in. Item seven point o one, presentation of the Pueblo County High School, also trip to Indianapolis, Indiana. Hello. Good evening. I am Vicky Polliger. I'm the HOSA mentor sponsor. That is our, career tech student organization for our biomedical sciences at County High. With the board's permission, I would like to take four students to the HOSA International
Leadership Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 17 through the twenty first. I have, Caitlin Duran who placed first at state in medical terminology, so she's a state champion, and she wants to compete in nationals. And then I have a team of three, Avery Mead, Macy Johnson, and Lily Nybert who placed fourth in public service announcement, and they would all like to go and compete at Indianapolis as well. While they're there, the kids have a not only have a chance to compete, but they get to go to symposiums, and there's a lot of college booths there trying
to recruit these kids for medical school and all that fun stuff. And so, they have a good time, and they get to network with other kids from all over the the world. Last time I took kids to nationals, they got pins from students from China that were involved in HOSA. And so it's just really great fun networking opportunity for them. And yeah. So we'll be going, living at 05:30AM on the June 17 and getting back on the Sunday evening about 08:15 as long as the board gives me permission. Any questions?
So you're flying? Yes. We are flying. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not driving kids that far by myself. Unless you wanna go and be my my co driver. I'll go. Of course. And then do students have to qualify to compete in nationals? Yeah. They have to place them at top 10 at state. The first three are automatically guaranteed spots at nationals, but if for some reason first, second, or third place can't go, then it bumps on down. I see. So yeah. So they have to and we went to, State in February in Denver Alright. At the new Gaylord Resort Hotel.
So that was that was a new one for us. Yeah. Yeah. So, I also have one more thing that's not on the agenda, but I would love to present. I just found out today that Abigail Johnson, our FFA teacher at, Pueblo County High, has been is going to be recognized as their local Air Force Association's teacher of the year. So Oh, wow. So I just wanna say congratulations to her. Thank you for sharing that. That's exciting. Yeah. Thank you. Seven point o two, Good evening, madam president, members of the board.
We do have two MOUs to present tonight, and both of them reflect the work of our bargaining team over the last few months. The first one is to establish a collective process to review and determine appropriate bargaining unit placement of positions. So within this MOU, some specific points, we will table action on our movement of our certified and master trades in and out of the bargaining unit right now. While we, do that, the district will have still have authority to hire positions as
needed to meet the operational needs of the district. And then in 2627 school year, we'll establish a joint committee between PCEA and the district, which will review current and prospective classifications and make recommendations for movement in and out of the unit. So which positions would could be in, out, and what does that process look like. So we'll take next school year to to review that process and look through that, and that is outlined in this MOU. Questions about that one?
Any questions? Mhmm. K. The second MOU really is something that, we have been working on together, but mostly through PCEA and, Susie, McGaughey has really worked on this to establish, and implement an educational support personnel mentoring program. So, I think they've done some presentations to the board, and they actually obtained a grant through NEA and some funding through CEA. So the pilot program for next year will be supported through that grant funding, and
the district will provide some in kind support as far as release time for professional development. The MOU really outlined the pilot year, for paraprofessionals and custodians, new hire paraprofessionals and custodians to provide support and to help to retain those new employees in those positions. It also establishes the program goals and the roles and responsibilities, within each of those, components from coordinators to mentors and mentees that will be in the program. It also outlines the structure of the program, the mentor and mentee responsibilities.
And, again, compensation, through stipends will come through the NEA grant for this first year. Maybe it will be two years depending, because they did get some additional funding from CEA, and then any funding beyond that would be subject to to bargaining and the financial status of the of the district. Questions, to that, Emily? K. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Next item, presentation of the online Rye High School flexible learning program. Doctor Martinez. Thank you, Kimberly. Ladies and gentlemen of the board, tonight I'm bringing you information about, new flexible learning
option that we'd like to offer at Rye High School. As you know, Rye High School has seen declining enrollment, in 2022, 2023. We had 260 students up there. Next year, we're we're projected projected to have about 200, and we continue to lose students. And a lot of the students we are losing are we are losing two online programs, statewide, multi district online programs throughout the state. And, we'd like to recover some of those students. We'd like to keep those students here in District seventy learning from our teachers with
our programs. So, what we're looking to propose or what we are proposing is a 20 student pilot, an online program. It would be an asynchronous program where students would be doing their work online. But to ensure that they're still connected to Rye High School, they would have, weekly check ins with a Rye High School teacher who would be connecting with them, ensuring that they are completing their assignments, that they are making progress, that they aren't going to fall into a situation of credit recovery. We're really focusing on making sure those students have a community that they're built to
and connected to so that they feel like they're part of Rye students. As Rai flexible online learning students, they would be able to still participate in all of the clubs. The art show that you just attended, Rai had a lot of great pieces in there. The students would be able to participate in the art shows and sports and all the other events that go with high school to ensure that they're still having a high school experience, but with the option of learning online remotely. All of the same graduation requirements would apply. So, we ensure that over the course of four years students are still meeting all
of the board and state requirements for graduation. We would start with an application process. Again, keeping it to 20 students. We would start with an application process. So, it's not the right program it's not the right program for a student who's already credit deficient. We have a different pathway for students who are already behind in credits. It's it's a it's a pathway for the student who may be considering leaving us totally and going to an online program. We feel like this is has a pilot, an opportunity to keep students in the district, to make sure that our students at Rye have another pathway, and that we can ensure that they stay with us and continue to grow with us and move
in the same direction that we're moving. Any questions? I feel like I have a few. Sure. So you said the goal is to recapture some of the students that have left. So when you open enrollment or you put out the applications, would you be specifically targeting those students who have left, or you're opening it up to students who are currently? Mister De Jong will be reaching out to the students who have left, who unenrolled or withdrawn from district seventy and and enrolled in one of the online multi district options. So we wanna recapture those students who've left us. Yeah. Okay. I'll go ahead. Yeah. And is this, since it's high school specific, is it available to ninth graders, incoming
ninth graders, or are we looking for students that were at Rye High School? You know, because I I think that's a totally good, you know, we wouldn't know their success unless we went back to their middle school records. If they withdraw Mhmm. They potentially could be a student who could be in the online flexible learning program. Okay. So that could be a ninth grade. And would you take into consideration families? So if more one or more students are either attending. Right? You know? Because I could see that via family issue. Mhmm. It's a really good question, Michelle. If there are if there are a family of students, again, our priority really is
those students that we have lost. Okay. They would they are our first priority. So to make sure that we have those students available. In our conversations, mister De Jong and I have really said, this can't be a net loss for Rye High School. Right? This has to be a net gain in the end. So we really wanna avoid that situation where, where we are taking our current brick and mortar students and then enrolling them in an online. We want our brick and mortar students to stay connected to us, but we don't wanna lose our other students to other online programs if we can offer them something that's still rigorous, that's still connected to our community, and still well supported.
Mhmm. And so oh, go ahead. No. What would it look like after year one? So you said pilot year is 20 students. Would you be looking to I mean, how big are you willing to let it get to not affect your current student status? So we're working with the, CDE office of online schools and programs, and the max capacity for any online flexible learning program that's connected to a brick and mortar school is 100. So if you hit a 100 student, you actually have to apply the district has to apply for another school code.
We have to hire a principal, and that becomes its own school. So at all times, it would have to stay below a 100 if it's going to stay connected to a brick and mortar school. Would you be willing to let it get I mean, guess that time to add half your school. If we could if we could out half your school. If we could if we could get to a hun if we could if we could bring a 100 students back to district seventy Mhmm. That would put us over what we were in 2223 when we were at two sixty at Rye. So as long as it's not continuing to take students from the school, if there's new kids coming in, you're welcoming them in. Mhmm. Okay. New kids or kids who've left us. Sure. And then just one more question when the weekly check ins with is that with
a teacher? Mhmm. Okay. So what does that look like? What's the burden on the teacher there and how are they is there what's the metrics for those check ins in there? Yeah. So we've we've outlined what a process of a check-in will look like. So the check-in will, number one, ensure attendance. Right? So that that attendance and we report attendance to the state, so we have to report attendance to the state to ensure that we are meeting the state's requirements. But that check-in will check that attendance, will check course progress, and so that check-in will go, you know, are you hitting all of your course in your English or your math? Are you making progress through each of them?
What's your plan? And so that so that we know that the student is progressing appropriately. The teacher who is gonna be doing the check ins for us currently has a light caseload. He's a CTE teacher and and doesn't have a full caseload, so he's the one who volunteered to, to do some of that support. Okay. Great. Thank you. Mhmm. And when you say I can't remember. Did you say this already? Will the students have to physically come into the school to check-in or is it just online? Virtual check ins. Okay. Yep. Through Zoom. The one time the students will have to come in will be during testing, state testing. So for juniors, of course, it'll be for that science, CMAS, and that SAT, and
then, PSAT for nine and ten. And you mentioned some of the extracurricular Mhmm. Activities available to students. Mhmm. What, what about academic, classes? Is there any kind of hybrid option? If there was a class that that they felt would they would be better benefited by being in a classroom, would they have access to just pick and choose the classes, or would it be strictly online except for extracurricular? The way it's set up right now, it's set up to be an, a purely
online program. But if we had a a class that was available to a student, we potentially could have them come in. We haven't had specific discussions about that, but we certainly wouldn't wanna limit them. If that's the key that brings our students back in our brick and mortar buildings, then we would be open to having those kids back in our buildings. Okay. And you've also mentioned, reclaiming students that had left to do other online programs. I know that we have lost students to homeschooling. Mhmm. Would it be open to home you know, current homeschool students as well, or would
you really be eliminating it to those that are in online school? If a student has unenrolled for a homeschool program, they've unenrolled from district seventy completely. So we'd really be looking at students who are currently enrolled in an in an online program to bring them back to ours. Okay. So if they were homeschooled, they could potentially reenroll in district seventy. Mhmm. So if they were enrolled in district seventy, they could potentially take those courses. And you asked about, you know, how big would we be willing to let this get? Mhmm. Not so big that it wasn't done with fidelity. So I think that's the most key important piece is that it is done with
fidelity because if it's not, then then that makes us not set apart from other online programming that we're trying to not have our kids go into. Yeah. The biggest piece for us really is that connection to community, connection to a school teacher, connection to a school counselor, connection to the principal. There's always that connection so that they they are able to progress and as miss Ryan said, separates us from all of the other online programs. Especially in a small community like Rye. Mhmm. The school is so central to the entire community. So yeah.
It's good. Any other questions? Thank you for your time, ladies and gentlemen of the board. I appreciate it. Next item, discussion on possible CASB training and work session. Michelle. Alright. Thank you. So to begin, I just wanna share that I really enjoyed reading the Federalist Papers. I did. You did. Alexander Alexander Hamilton, especially, his writing is very clear. And one of the things he talks about well, there are 85 essays. But in Federalist 70, he talks specifically about the need for a unitary executive, a
president that connects swiftly and do what is necessary on behalf of our country, think about you know? But as far as the legislature is concerned or a policy making body, a people making policy, he talks a lot about or he mentions in the document being slow and deliberate, and and and really looking at all aspects of policy before implementation. So with that being said, I had, written to Anne and, requesting the opportunity to
complete our CASB training. We had CASB training back in January. We had a half day, and we have a half day, available to us. And so I asked for CASB training. And when I asked, about how did you know, the process, it was mentioned that we should let CASB know what we're interested in addressing. And I asked about policy making. When I look around at districts across the state and country and how long it should take to make policy, it's not something we do quickly.
And when I say that we have policy in place that we might revise, that we might amend, but that's different than, like, if I wanted to pursue policy, I wanna know that I'm going through this the proper procedure. And by no means, like, I mean, I just, like, I want this for myself and I wanna, I was requesting it because CASB said, what would you like to know more about? Or this is what we've been turning to CASB. So so the policy process includes research, drafting of a preliminary, policy proposal, reviewing the policy with concerned groups, so inviting people in.
And I know when I'm looking across school districts, they often have they call them research sessions. They call them work sessions. They call them various things. But I like that idea. I like initially hearing from the stakeholders, regarding development of policy, whether it be like and I can give you a couple of examples here in a second. But presenting new and revised policy to the board for consideration and action, looking at, like, talking to administration and all stakeholders within the district, like, how would this look, for administration and all stakeholders within the district. Like, how would this look? For example, I'm gonna use one.
When I started teaching, nobody had a cell phone. And the first thing that students came into my classroom with was a beeper. And a beeper. I was like, what is that? Like, I couldn't afford a beeper. So I didn't know what a beeper I know. Crazy. Right? So these kids have these beepers on their hips, and he's like, well, what is that? And, like, who's beeping you? I don't even know if that's a correct terminology, but it's what I asked. So, anyway, of course, today, you know, I think about cell phone policy, and it's something that the state has mandated that we update.
And when we're looking at that, you know, everybody involved from our superintendent to our administrative team to our teachers and every single educator in every building that has to do something with cell phones. Like, how are they going to make this happen? Right? Like, what will it look like? How will we make sure that we're supportive as a board in making policy that is that we can enforce? Because, really, it's the the staff and everybody else that's gonna have to make sure it happens. So I'm just asking and I mean, this is my I think this is something
I would like to work on, but surely, like, the other four board members probably have other questions they have about whether it be policy or governance or anything else. But I would just really like CASB training. I think it's very valuable. I think it, creates a team. So that is my request that we pursue CASB training. We like I said, we have have a half day coming to us, and I would like to talk about, and I listed and I believe it's available to everybody, but I listed policies that I would like to address, BG, BG, A, BG, and
it does go through the policy making process. So I just want more guidance and, you know, like, what is our timeline and, you know, how do we make sure we're engaging with all the right people? That's number one. And then my second request was, that we have a strategic, work session or a strategic plan work session, I should say, or retreat. However, we'd like to look at as a board. I think this would be up to us. I just want you to work we want to be transparent. It's our responsibility. But, with this work session, our district just went through a bit like, a lengthy
process in creating a strategic plan, looking at, like, asking stakeholders, teachers, students, community members, what's your priority? And I think this is an ideal time for the board then to meet, and we've also answered the the survey and and come together and and create a mission goals for ourselves and work with our superintendent to do that. And so I just want time with the board, and I want to address these issues. So I think that's a good suggestion because we've talked about trying to figure out
if we can, you know, get common goals and what the goals for the district should be and Mhmm. Kinda digesting some of there was a lot of information given in that in the statistics they gave with the the community involvement. And so I do think that would be great to, you know, start breaking some of that down and come up with, you know, some of the goals that that we would like as a board to see our district go through. So I think that's a great idea. Me too. Me too. To be fair, that honestly gives the superintendent direction, and it helps the superintendent know
what your goals are and the district's goals are so that they have, a plan in place to move forward. And so, I mean, for whomever is the next superintendent, it would be great to have some goals in place so that they have something to work towards. Yeah. One of the things I like about that part of it especially is, I think if we have priorities or pillars or whatever you wanna call them that we agree on, it gives us a filter through which to evaluate everything that comes across our
desk. So if something comes across and it doesn't fall under one of our our pillars, one of our priorities, we can go, this isn't our priority. You know, we all do that all the time time in our daily lives. And so I think that could be really helpful to help focus our energy into the things that we really care about instead of responding to things constantly. So Yeah. Yep. I I forgot to mention. I also listed in my list of, of policies. I just you know, I mean, as far as students go, just knowing what are
like I said, I mean, I started out with beepers, and I ended with handheld phones that are really little, like, they're computers, really. And so, you know, just making sure that, like, we're familiar with our policies, and we can talk to each other about it. And that's why I think work sessions and study sessions as a board are just really helpful because then, I mean, that's a way to address Yeah. Keeping things relevant, keeping things, like, like, in keeping things current, I should say, current. So yeah.
Cool. So I think for me, one of the challenges is, you and I have talked about just the time investment. It's not just these twice a twice a month meetings. It is really a significant time investment in trying to run my business and trying to do other things. I wonder I'm just throwing this out there. It might not even be feasible and maybe other people can weigh in. But I was just wondering as we go into the summer months, if there's less business kind of regular board business, maybe we could do a regular meeting on one
of our monthly meetings and then just give our second meeting to work, to do the research, to to have the work session, to have a study session, whatever, you know, whatever we wanna do so that it's just to kinda balance the time a little bit. If we need the the two work the two regular meetings a month, then that's one thing. But maybe it would be possible just through the summer when school's not in session to kinda table one of our monthly meetings and make that a work session.
So can I can I speak to that? Yeah. Please do. Because I would like to speak to that. It's not really feasible to table, one of those meetings because we're conducting business. And I and I know that we may not speak a lot about the consent agenda, but the consent agenda is where all the meat and potatoes are. It's where everybody is being hired or and people are the turnover happens and the resignations and the and the everything happens in that consent agenda. So it's it's super important for us to have those meetings because we don't post positions, especially for, like, a non renewal until you voted.
And so we need you to vote. So my suggestion would be that we don't always have an executive session. You could potentially do start it early and do a few hours before the executive session, but the actual 06:00 meeting really has to happen so that we can conduct business. I'm sorry. I appreciate that one. And that was kind of why I posed the question because I didn't know how much of that business. It drives everything. Didn't know going through the summer how much of that The lots. Yeah. Okay. It's a lot. Yeah.
Just because kids aren't here doesn't mean we're that's really a huge time where we're hiring people. And and we have twelve month employees, throughout the district. For sure. Yeah. We we do a lot of business during the summertime. Yeah. Okay. That executive session time, we're very proud. Right. The executive session or even a couple hours before the executive session so that it would run into that Yeah. Would be a great time for a work session or for a a training. Yeah. That's my suggestion. And I I think that as far as the our working, our strategic plan, if
you will, our adopting a priority. Yeah. Priorities. But I I think, our mission or, you know, looking at the district's mission, looking at how we are going to, evaluate super our superintendent and and move, you know, because they I mean, contractually, superintendents contract us from July 1 to July 1 or June 30. And so I just wanna make sure, like, because we are setting precedent for a new board that we do this with the calendar in mind so that we're always
with the calendar in mind. And that's something, like, when you when you're, evaluating policy, I agree with you, Anne, that sometimes I mean, I know I've set goals. I have set goals my whole entire like, all of my career. And sometimes I set a goal and I'm like, oh, wow. You know, that's that that's a lot like, that's a multiple year goal. So how am I gonna how am I gonna show my growth this year? And I would want to be fair to the superintendent and and make sure that we're giving them clear, measurable, goals that
Wanting to achieve that they can be in line with, and that's part of it. So my ultimate objective would be to do something sooner than later, but could we do I mean, I I'm not sure for I I don't know that we're voting on this now, but, like, a June session with CASB and then the next couple of sessions, if we don't have executive, let's start working on that, dissecting that. I would have to work with CASB to see what they have available. Sure. We don't really get to pick their dates. But I'm I'm happy to reach out and see what they have available. And in my mind, I always thought Fridays, as being a day available to myself.
But the reality is we could do CASB training any day, and we could do it on a Tuesday. Right? We could actually do it on a Tuesday because we're already here on Tuesday and or something like that because if it's four hours. I don't I mean, I don't I don't feel like we should I mean, maybe that's part of this discussion. It's when are we available. Yeah. You know? So Yeah. I I like the idea before the meetings. Mhmm. Even just because my whole afternoon shot pretty much on a Tuesday anyway. So Yeah. If I can plan that, that's that's better than taking a Friday off.
So Yes. I I like that idea. Yep. Thank you. I wonder if we planned it on if there's nothing in executive session, if we just plan on having, like, almost like a standing work session at that time. And then if we do have something in executive session, that could come up. I'm like You just have to make sure we have something to do with 03:30 every time. And if we need an executive session, the work session would be tabled. Right. We don't need an executive of it. Items that would be discussed on the work session because I do have to post all that. Right. But we would know by that night if we're gonna have an actual executive session
or, you know, what our work session would be. Have to know. So I know I try to have the meeting finalized on Thursday. Right. I know that I make a lot of changes over the weekend sometimes, but I do try to have it finalized the Thursday before the board meeting. Right. And we usually do know if we have an executive session on that Thursday. Right. Yeah. So I'm not gonna do it by the last minute. My Let's do it. Time frame. But, yeah, just so I would have that information. Yeah. Okay. So we could say, like, if we don't have an executive session by Thursday, then we can say, hey.
These are one of the topics understanding correctly that you are saying that Tuesday afternoons are tough anyway. So if we said we were going to have a work session from three to five and then a an executive session if necessary at five you know what I mean? Like, I think depending I mean, I think we have some room here because our work session is up to us. I mean, we can have it any day of the week, really.
Right. I mean, my my point is though is utilizing that time. Mhmm. Because when I mark off like, I mark it off if we're gonna have an executive session or not. Okay. You don't have to have an executive session before your regular board meeting either. So Yeah. You could always have your standing work session. Yeah. And then if an executive session was necessary, you could also always have it after your board meeting. Journey into that. Yes. Just as an option. Yeah. Yeah. So, basically, what we're saying is let's just set the expectation that we'll meet earlier on Tuesdays, executive session and just kinda set that expectation.
Obviously, it's fluid and it's flexible. We're not setting anything in stone, but at at least I like that idea. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Me too. And I think it would be helpful if we're gonna have a work session to have presenters present to us the data again because it was very fast. So, like, the data collected from the community and then what we were sent from teachers and students just I mean, they don't have to be in the same session. Yeah. I they could be, but just to to revisit that because We could always pull it up too, though, on the PowerPoint. Should we pull it up for sure?
We can Yeah. Just kinda dissect it. Yeah. We could try to Okay. You need further discussion? Alright. So seven point o six presentation of the adoption of policy, JBA, preserving fairness and safety in sports. So last meeting, we kinda had a brief discussion about exploring a policy regarding fairness in sports. Brad Miller had mentioned at that meeting that he had some experience in that realm,
and so he did provide us with a a a sample. All of the board received that earlier this week. So I guess before I jump in, I'll open it up for comments, surrounding Brad's Brad's suggested document. Well, I guess my question was it's a sample. So is this I mean, it's a sample. This is what other from from what I my research, it looks like eight, not school districts, but eight different some school districts, some BOCES have have adopted this.
But there are a 171 other school districts in the state that haven't. I'm just curious. First of all, is this the policy that was adopted by the eight? That's my first question, I guess. So if I may? Yeah. Please. Yeah. So Brad Miller speaking. I represent a couple of the districts. District forty nine is the named party in a in a lawsuit that emanated out of this, adoption of this policy. The others are District twenty, District eleven, Cortez, a couple of charter schools, and and as you mentioned, a BOCES.
And what happened was a year ago, February, the federal government expressed its attitude through what what's called an executive order February that declared that the perspective of the Office of Civil Rights would be and title nine would be that, boys should not compete as girls and girls sports. And so that group of districts got together and adopted this policy. This is a template from that. It was designed particularly for to narrowly address the issue of sports.
So it's not about gender expression, gender identity in a in a broader sense. It is specifically around safety and equity in sports with the notion not being about about gender, but about being the physical disparities that are inherent in in students, based on how they're born. And so that is consistent with the federal government's approach. These policies were adopted. There's been a lawsuit, and the Colorado High School Activities Association has conceded that those policies are acceptable from its perspective, that they're enforceable and, won't be challenged by CHASA.
And so that's one step forward in this. Now I know that our our administration's already explored. We've had conversations around the viability of doing that here in Pueblo. I've always respected that you guys have been suitably cautious and thoughtful. Michelle, I love what you were talking about just in terms of policy. And and so I didn't even present this, you know, even though I was counsel for some of the others, I didn't present this as something something that d seventy should have done last year. But at this point now that CHESS has done this, and now the federal government
has reached more significantly into the state and challenged Jefferson County High School District with violating its approach to boys and girls sports with a threat of revoking federal funds. And so now this becomes a little bit more pertinent to us to consider. There's risk both sides. I have no interest in us hustling into something here. If you were to go in this direction, my recommendation would be that we work really hand in glove with AD and and and and all this because the related
regulations, the application of a policy is really, really critical and needs to be done carefully and thoughtfully. I over answered your question, but I thought I'd throw it all out out there. Can I ask a question about, how would the ballot measure that is going to be on the November ballot, support this policy? Right. Yeah. They're totally different. So two related things. There's a case out of Idaho and one out of West Virginia. They're in, call them, red states, but republican dominated legislatures who have adopted policies that
co that are coordinated with the federal government's current understanding, you know, that they're, that boys should not compete as girls in girls sports. They were challenged by athletes who thought that that was discriminatory against them and because of their gender identity. Those courts those cases are at the Supreme Court and may be resolved in a certain way. So that's one piece of this. And then to run his very excellent point, a group of citizens put together ballots or or petition drives and got on the ballot a couple of questions that would
relate specifically to this. And so the question might be answered for us in November. Okay. Brad, can with the latest, up in Jefferson County, County and the previous one, I think, in Colorado involved DPS, correct, last year as far as the federal Yes. Government coming in saying you violated this federal rule of title nine rule. That's those stem from, like, either complaints that are filed at that level or how are how is the federal government do you know how that's exactly coming down from them as far as how they're identifying who they're looking at and who's violating what?
I'm a lawyer, but I'm not a constitutional, you know, focused, person. So I'm gonna be a little bit glib around this. I don't know about DPS. In Jefferson County, what I know is that this was initiated by the Department of Education and and the DOJ supported the Department of Justice supported an inquiry. It was supported locally of people that had concerns, but it wasn't based on a case. It was based on concerns that they're So so just because I've thought this through thoroughly, can I ask a few more questions?
While I understand that this policy would not be challenged by Chassa. Would it not be challenged by state law and us would it not be a violation of state law? Because I feel like we're in a no win situation. Mhmm. Because we can't win either either way. What are the what are the liabilities of adopting the policy? Because it is somewhat in conflict with state law. Well, it is very much in conflict with state law. That's so I would like to have to speak that. But from my point of view, I think they're either, you know, which one is
which how do you mitigate the settle line on there. They're in opposition. And so great. Listen. I I think I've been characterized or And so right. Listen. I I think I've been characterized or, you know, I've I've got this identity that I'm I'm all on on one side of the coin. And that to some degree, that's fair. But I think there's both sides of this. There's a there's a question of whether, you have a parent of a young lady who's on the volleyball team who gets hit in the head and and says, why didn't you protect me? Why didn't you give me safety and security? Why was my daughter exposed in the locker room or on a bus and, you
know, touched inappropriately on a bus by someone who, you know, who identified that isn't actually of the same, sex as that person. So there's that realm of cases that are possible even under our current state state law. And then there's certainly the ones on the other side that you violated, house bill eleven thirty two and all the 11 o eight and all the things that have to do with protection of gender identity and expression. Those are real. I can't I can't help you escape that. We've talked as as a board about whether that state law extends to, parental rights,
and and some districts will say parents don't get to know this. I think your district in a great way says, you know what? We're gonna inform and and get their, consent before we allow students to to identify or, you know, express that identity differently. So good on you on that respect, but there's still potential both ways. I think the question is timing. You know, Rhonda has brought this up, and I completely get it. Could we wait and see what happens in the fall? Because that could be transformative in terms of law.
Do we, do we take, you know, some steps? And as Michelle said, you know, like, let's engage and see what our community said. I mean, there's a lot of good approaches to this. But I would say that at at the end of the day, my view, it's ultimately safer to be on the side of, call it traditional approaches, but I think that's where the trends are all going at this point for the purpose of sports, because of physical disparities, not because of gender identity, but because of the way people are built physically and the equitable outcomes for students that wanna get scholarships and win
races and so forth. Okay. I mean, I think I've said from the get go that I don't I don't disagree with protecting students on either side. I I'm just apprehensive at breaking the law. And so how do we how do we do both? Especially when there's two loss and they both say something different. Yeah. How do we do both? And and do we I want all of our kids to be protected and not not just the girls playing sports, but all kids to be protected. And so how how do you balance that?
And that's a tough question. It did sound correct me if I'm wrong, but it did sound like some of it is a case by case basis as well that you could make determinations on. Is that, like, our current policy or is that just kind of a guideline that we It's I've I'll circle back to what I said at the beginning, which is the rule making around this is really consequential. What kind of how are we identifying, you know, physicality? You know, what are our you know, are we relying on the parents said this
is how she was born? Do we do we just trust that? Do we have to verify that? How How do we verify that? All those kinds of questions are really, really critical. I have another question too. Does this apply does it extend to activities? Is it just athletics? Because you have you have ROTC. You have I mean, there it's kind of a a gray line there. You have ROTC. You have theater. You have, speech and debate. You have a lot of things that are activities that, potentially cross that line too.
And so does it They probably don't have the physical contact though in the same But they would have changing. So ROTC changes into uniforms. And so, you know, band changes into uniforms. So there it does cross that line. I would say just from a legal standpoint, I don't think so. I think this falls under the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment, which is it's it's more about the physical like, can you hit a volleyball harder than I can? Will it hurt me if I get if I'm the recipient of it? It's that stuff and and the disparity in terms of opportunity to, you know, to
be on the podium. And and that's what it is where that might not be the case in the band. It's like you may not be be able to answer. So you you represent two districts that do have this policy in place. How how they, like we wanna talk about, like, the changing room. So during the school day, you may have somebody entering a locker room during pee or and they're in one rock locker room, but then sports, it shifts over where you are now going to a different locker room based on the policy around the fairness in sports.
Has there been any challenges that your district has like, did they face in regards to it? Why are you Why this? And you put in this, but then you have it in here. But I just wondering how that For those of us who've been around the block and we used to be in, like, this group shower setting, you know, in PE and all of that, things are different now. We have a lot more privacy and and intimate I mean, spaces where you can have privacy. And so that's a big part of what we do with District 20 and District 49, who I represent.
We we're just you know, we just give a lot of discretion and and privacy. But, but then we have the question of, like, riding on a bus or, you know, going on the trip and and playing on the Western Slope, and then you stay overnight. How do you deal with that? And and we have we've explicitly said no on on those questions. So and knock on wood. We haven't been challenged there, but but as Ron has correctly said, there's all sorts
of risk both ways. I think this is an important topic for a lot of reasons, but a lot of reasons we've discussed. But, also, we spend a lot of time thinking and talking about student retention. And I know because of my background that we are losing students to homeschool over these kinds of issues. I know because I lived in that world for a really long time. And so, you know, I don't think that should be our primary concern, but but
I do think that it's a factor that we need to acknowledge, at least recognize that that it does exist, that there is a retention issue, and parents are concerned about this this issue. So so it sounds like if we wanted to move forward, it may maybe a work session would be good. It sounds like to me like there's two issues. It's one deciding what kind of policy we wanna have, but then passing a policy
is not the same as being able to implement a policy. So we would really need to give a lot of thought and care to the implementation of what that looks like. It it sounds like to me, Brad, that's what you're saying. We we took about, we took about three months to do both the policy and regulation in District 49, which was the first adopter of this. And, so starting point, if anything, would be to I I suspect it's in your board docs, the the draft policy. And if it's not, certainly, you know, to elevate that and let people take a
look, and and you wanna have public comment on it and and these sorts of things. So something like that. But, at the same time, I think you don't just want the lawyer telling you what's sort of For sure. Options you need to practice the practical inputs too. I think so. I think it would be good to to hear from your community too where your community stands and I mean, when when we say our constituents want this, we should have data to prove that. And so it would be good to survey our our constituents and and see where
they stand on this so that we do have better data to support, a policy that is going to be, if if we're going to adopt a policy before state law supports it, it would make a lot of sense to me to have data to support that. And then also your state law, I'm I'm very I think our state law will be very telling as well. With November. Yeah. I mean, that vote will obviously tell you across the state where our where our constituents stand, not just not just in this county, but I I do think that
you should potentially look at surveying your community too to see where they stand on this so that you have the data to support or, not support the policy. I think we need to have a little more of the specifics that we're going Yes. To include in the policy before we start asking. Yes. I agree. I just think that it's something, like, you don't want to, you know, next meeting adopt this policy because it's it would be very difficult to implement without knowing how we're going to implement it. I'm sorry. I wanted to respond to one other thing that Michelle brought up the downside.
It's not just the aid at this point. There's several so I've because I've been visibly involved. I'm aware of non client districts and and others schools that are moving rapidly in this direction as well based on the CHASA outcome. So we you would not be sort of the next in line. There's others in involved in this discussion too. And as stated, I was just trying I mean, I think in implementing pursuing new policy, we have to do our due diligence to make sure that whether it's parents,
staff, the community as a whole, like, reaching out to them. I know not everybody reaches back. I know how this works. You know, but if we can get interested people to come and work with us, then we can say we've done our due diligence. And that's for all policy moving forward. And I think we're, you know, we're doing this right. I mean, we're talking about it, and I I I just think that's and looking at this, that's what we, you know and it is time, but we I think our previous conversation about our time and on Tuesdays having work sessions on occasion and
inviting people to be present. We're gonna be talking about this. Come and listen, and then they can make comment about it is really helpful in engaging people interested, impacted on all policy moving forward. Yeah. Yeah. I think having these conversations now is a win win because if our hand is forced in November anyway, why not be ready to implement so that we are not then in violation of anything and then putting our district at risk of, you know,
some other legal action against us. So I would say this is a great time to start so that if we do adopt early, fine. If we decide to wait until the November ballot, fine. But either way, we've done we've done the groundwork. So we should absolutely start having this discussion now and bringing in all those that would, be needed to implement the policy should it happen. As opposed to waiting and starting in November. Right. You know, kinda chasing yeah. Kinda behind the April. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, Brad, assuming in November, depending on what happens, with the ballot, it's it's possible
that Colorado could still be at odds with the federal government. It might not resolve anything, really. We just don't know, but that is a potential outcome that we're in the same boat that we're in now. Potential outcome that we're in the same boat that we're in now. Do they have what's gonna be on the ballot, you know? Yeah. I sent it to you guys. It. Okay. Uh-huh. I sent a link that that tells you. No. No. Otherwise, it's gonna be on the. I I think it's completely plausible that that ballot measure doesn't pass. Yeah. And so in that case, what what are you relying on there? I think it has to do with, you know, values and community interests, and it
has to do with the fact that, Chassa has already acquiesced to this. And so you've got at least that state body that is non in non opposition minimally on this. So there are a couple of safe havens, and the Supreme Court, I would predict as much as I would predict that the ballot measure might not pass, I would predict that in the Supreme Court that it probably will go the way of more traditional values on this one. And so that will pave some ways. And then the the case, frankly, that is involved with Chassa could move up, and
then that case could be resolved, in some way as well. Yeah. So there's a lot of, litigation and and ballot measures that we just don't know the outcomes that we have to do our best to navigate. It's almost like we're standing in a minefield, you know, in any way we stop. There's a risk involved. But I do think it's prudent to begin to educate ourselves, begin to talk about it, begin to talk to the community, and move forward along those lines.
So any further discussion? AJ, looks like you wanna talk. Well, I was just gonna say, so this is one of the things we would add to our work session and start working on what the details would include and Mhmm. Yeah. What specifics. Yeah. I saw one example. They had, like, a chart of, you know, all the comparisons, all the sports and activities. Mhmm. Maybe that's where we throw something like ROTC in there and say, okay. This one is, you know, this specific, you know, boys, girls, other, you know, as far as coed, some of that too. Yeah. I think I think you're gonna hear a lot from your public too wondering about
how how is it that we let girls then play football. Like football or, you know, what happens whenever somebody wants to play soccer. I I mean, it's going to it it opens up a lot of questions. Yeah. So we just need to be very specific and methodical about how you're going to implement it if you're going to develop it. Yeah. It looks like great. Yeah. The implementation is really good. Keith key part there. Okay. So moving on to open forum. Do we have, public comments?
I have one. Okay. So thank you so much for allowing me the time to speak. I've done this before, and some of you are familiar with what I come to say. And part of it is to pump you up because I am here as a supporter of District 70 and always have been and always will be because the kids matter. And so being a pastor, I I cannot come before you and not use some scripture. But and let us not be weary of doing good for in due season, we will reap if we do not give up. That was a a letter from the apostle Paul to a church in Galatia, and
I think he writes it to all of us. We should not give up trying to do good, and that is what happens around here. And I'm gonna tell you right now, it does my heart good when I hear the board say, I was in this school. I experienced this this award ceremony. I was at this place. I saw these kids doing this. Do more of that. Keep getting out. Keep getting into the schools. It matters. It really does. I can tell you that, there may be times when, a, a, administration in the school sees you walk in the door, they may not be thrilled.
And I get that, because, I know what it means to feel like you're under the microscope and and that's fine. But when you guys show up to be a part of it and to be encouraging, which is what I think the majority of you do the majority of the time, keep doing that. Keep doing that and I'm gonna keep encouraging you. I was a part of something called the National Church Adopt a School initiative not too long ago, which is something that was started in Dallas. And I would encourage you to pursue something very similar, not just with churches, but with all civic organizations, encouraging people to be hands on with our schools, with our
kids in in a place where we can provide labor. We can provide encouragement. We can provide support. Schools have gotten to a place where they have started to, well, kind of cloister. I've kind of started to shut things down and and keep the public out, and I get that there's a safety thing there, and and that's important. We need to keep that in place. But I do want to to encourage you to be more open and inviting, to volunteers in your schools, in our schools, because it really does make a difference. It does matter quite honestly.
It's money saving, and, it also lifts up the encouragement of, of the school, staff. Now I'm losing my time. I am the first one to to jump into this survey to let you know, about girls and boys sports and boys and girls sports. One of them is a problem, the other one not so much. But here's the thing, 61 boys are playing girls sports in GEFCO schools, which is why there's an issue up there. Proposition one zero nine says boys can play in boys sports, girls play in girls sports. That's the way it's supposed to be. Title nine was set up that way, and there really shouldn't be much of a
question here. And here's what I want to encourage you to consider. You've got the summer. I encourage you to have whether we're talking November or not, to have your policy in place by the start of the school year. It will make all the difference for the kids showing up to play sports. Thanks. Thank you. Brian. Thank you, Brian. Okay. Moving on to action items. Approval of interim superintendent appointment. So we have discussed, discussed what to do about the superintendent vacancy. We discussed maybe appointing an interim superintendent.
So do I have a motion for a specific, nominee for that position. I'd like to start. Okay. Adrian, here we go. You can acknowledge. Alright. So I just wanted to kinda go through the past few years on what the district, what the admin has accomplished. Because I think a lot of times we lose track of that. So these are a few things is over the last few years, we completed the bond. And even on top of that, we actually upgraded buildings that weren't included in the
bond and came up with money for those with different bond grant or without the bond because of different grants. Best grant was one of those, and we were able to receive that. We repaired steps for teachers and staff and also increased wages. And on top of that, we doubled the fund balance all while all while staying under budget. Good job. That's that's an awesome accomplishment right there. We also eliminated multiple one forty contracts to reduce expenses and also maintain function within
the district. That was something as I was running that a lot of people had concerns over. And that was a way that we were also able to kind of bring some of those costs down and open it up new, opportunity for others to kind of come forward and shine in positions that were either related or absolving some of those positions as well. There's actually for the first time in the district, technology plan so that we will no longer have to take out loans for buying technology for the district or for
the schools and students, but there's actually a plan in place to prevent having to take out a loan. And that's the first time that's ever happened in the district. We are also now gaining interest on the money that we have to have in in the bank because of policy. And it's over $1,000,000 a year and that is because of utilizing interest from other banks as well. So that's quite an accomplishment and then we were also able to get our zoning changed. So instead of being urban, we were able to get town fringe.
That's something that a lot of people have pushed for. Well, we're not urban, we're not rural, so how can we be classified as one versus the other? And because of a lot of push specifically from our district, they have actually come up with a new category of town fringe at least for the current time being and that has actually helped with our funding as well. So all this to say, we've had a lot of accomplishments over the first over the last few years, and I think a lot of that is in part to Rhonda and Bob and the admin that they have created the team around.
And with that being said, I would like to nominate Bob as the interim superintendent so that way we can continue these successes and continue this trajectory in in what has started going because I know these guys have more goals in mind. Okay. And just, to clarify that, we would be nominating as an interim superintendent, and then we would enter a hiring process. And, of course, if we appoint him as the interim, he would be welcome to apply for the for the the permanent position.
So do I have a second? Okay. BJ Wilson? Yes. Ken Bennett? Yes. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susie Carnes? Yes. Motion carried. Well, doctor Wilson, thank you for those, comments. And I have to say, you know, Rhonda has been a steadfast leader these last years and I I'm thankful for her entrusting me to be alongside of her as the assistant superintendent. I think, we have done a lot of great things and she's been a great
leader. And so, I thank her for that for trusting me to be along for the ride and then also for showing, you know, the support that, and advocating for some stability as we go through this change and advocating, for myself to to to lead this effort. And so I thank her for that. I thank the board for for trusting in me to lead us during this transition. I I don't know what the long term will be like.
None of us do, but I will tell you this. It's my twenty sixth year in the district finishing thirty years in education. Started as a teacher here, left for a few years to get into administration at at Florence High School, then came back to to resume my education or my career here as a administrator as an assistant principal, a principal, assistant director director, assistant superintendent. So I I will promise you this. I will continue to work with a great team to utilize all of their strengths, to move us forward during this transition, and I I'll tackle this interim position just
like I have with any other position. Give it my all and make the best decisions we possibly can for our students, staff, and community. So thank you. And I Thank you. Do do you wanna say one more thing? My my wife, did decide to come out tonight, and she said, well, what's going on? And I said, well, you're gonna have to come out and find out because not quite sure yet myself, but, as administrators, we can't do the job that that we do without the support of our our family. And my kids are grown now, and they're out of the house, but they certainly gave up a lot as as I moved on in my administrative career, and and
and my wife is supporting me. And I do frustrate her at times, and she does get frustrated. And I'll take phone calls, and we sometimes joke because she'll say, you know, you're you're like a secret service agent when you get a work phone call. Like, it's like you're talking to the president or the world leaders. You're walking around outside or you're going to another room and so it's it's always a joke, but truly she's she's supported me. So I I do wanna thank her and because I couldn't do it without her. So thank you. You're up again, Bob. Congratulations, Bob. Thank you. Moving on, item nine point o two, approval of the ESS social worker job description.
Just stay up there. There you go. Just stay up there. There you go. Okay. Yeah. Here we are. So yes. It'd be my recommendation to approve the job description as presented. Alright. So I have a motion? So moved. Second. Sorry. Okay. AJ Wilson? Yes. Anne Bennett? I'm gonna vote no. I would rather see resources directed to teachers. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susie Carnes? I'm gonna say yes on this one. Yes. Motion carried. Alright. Item number 10, consent agenda. Approval consent agenda items. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented having been reviewed
by the board? So moved. Second? Second? I get it. AJ Wilson? Yes. Anne Bennett? Yes. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susie Carnes? Yes. Motion carried. Alright. Item 11. The next, board meeting is scheduled Tuesday, 05/05/2026 at the educational service center. 24951 East Highway 50 Pueblo, Colorado beginning at 6PM. Do I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? So moved. Second. AJ Wilson? Yes. Anne Bennett? Yes. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susie Carnes?
Yes. Motion carried. 07:19PM. It's a record. Yeah.