I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, Welcome to the visitors. First item, we have a motion to approve the regular board meeting. So moved. Second? I'll second. AJ Wilson? Yes. Anne Bennett?
Yes. Mark Emery? Yes. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susie Carnes? Yes. Motion carries? Thank you. Item number four, four point o one and four point o two, we have gifts. Brian Delco is gonna present. Good evening. How's everybody doing tonight? Good. Good. Good. It's a pleasure to be here. We have two gifts tonight to present to you from Pueblo County High School. The first is a gift, totaling $1,000 to our arts academy, Pueblo County High School, specifically our drama department from Rosina Sonntag. Rosina is a great contributor and, aficionado of the arts in the greater Pueblo community.
Her specific donation went to help us purchase, new microphones for our spring musical, Chicago, that happened, in March. Our second donation is $550 to our GRTC program for the Pikes Peak Chapter of Military Officers Association. And that, donation was specifically to our rifle team to offset some of their expenses. So Thank you. Thank you. Next item, donation of a thousand dollars to my high school, David or or Dave Russell. Yeah. We have received a donation of a thousand from the Nomad group, which is a
business down our way, and it's for the technology student association for our planned trip to the national conference in late June. It's in, Washington DC. We're fundraising from, sponsors in the Valley and, Pueblo. And, we'd like to request the board to accept that donation. We also have another check on the way, in the mail, I guess, from Pueblo bank and trust another thousand dollars and we are expecting several other donations on that order from other businesses.
We just haven't gotten them in yet. Thank you. Great. We had, we had, three students who placed top three at state. Two of them were in structural design and engineering and the other was in, they took first in the state and, one of our students took third in music production. Because we want to get them to the national conference in Washington. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. Thank you. Next, April Vigil donation delivery point. Hi. How's everybody doing? Hi. Was the video able to be shown? Or It was just a moment.
Okay. Sorry. Oh, we're good. Thank you. Congratulations, Liberty Point. You've been selected for a 2026 NLGA STEM scholarship. This award will help expand your rocketry program and build an exciting mock mission to Mars. Your STEM program is giving you real skills that you'll need the rest of your life, and you're learning these skills at a great time. Colorado has one of the the best aerospace industries in the world. Right here in our state, companies played a key role in NASA's Artemis two mission, and they need students like you to help grow space exploration.
With your rocketry program, you're not just building rockets, and you're building careers, and that that can change the world. I can't wait to see what you accomplish. I'm planning on making a trip to visit your school probably in the fall to see your party work in person. So congratulations again, and thank you for being a part Thank you. Thank you. So we're one of, 12 schools that were selected out of the country, so I'm
so excited for that. I'm excited for, to use the money to, start the mock mission tomorrow, so that's gonna be good for CTE. Awesome for our students have this opportunity, so hope you guys accept that. Thank you. Yeah. Absolutely. Do I have a motion to accept the gifts of appropriate acknowledgment? So I'll second. AJ Wilson? Yes. Anne Bennett? Yes. Mark Emery? Yes. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susie Carnes? Yes. Motion carried. Okay. Thank you. Item five point o one, PCEA spotlight, k paycheck.
Oh, lord. We have two, spotlight for this week. First, one of our ESPs is Deborah Sierra. Deb has spent more than twenty years showing up for district seventy, and she has never stopped raising the bar. What began began as a substitute position has grown into two decades of dedicated leadership, and our journey from sub to kitchen manager is a testament to her work, ethic, her reliability, and her genuine love for this community.
Deb runs a tight, safe, and high quality kitchen while simultaneously creating a welcoming environment where students feel cared for the moment they walk through the door. Her positive attitude is a constant, and her colleagues know they can count on her, not just to do her job well, but to show up for them when it matters. As a satellite kitchen manager, Deb's responsibility extends far beyond the students she sees every day. She is feeding and supporting multiple schools across the district, coordinating meals with the kind of precision and care that most people never see and everyone depends on.
That scope of work requires exceptional organization, leadership, and a commitment to quality that she brings every single day. Tomorrow, she also told me when, I let her know she won, she will receive the district her twenty years in district seventy, her service award. So she was really happy. She said a milestone that reflects not just her longevity, but the lasting impact she made on every school. So Deborah Snell. Not now. Sierra. Sierra. Deborah Snell. Sorry.
I said it right the first time. Right? Sierra. Yeah. Okay. That was not I worked with somewhere else. That name just popped in. Sorry. And then we have Justin Mikolic. He's at South Mesa. He's a teacher. Justin leads with HEART, and everyone in South at South Mesa Elementary knows it. He approaches his students and colleagues with genuine respect, compassion, and a quiet consistency that makes the people around him feel seen and valued. Justin has taken on multiple grade levels through his time at South Mesa, stepping up where multiple grade levels through his time at South Mesa, stepping up wherever the school needs him without complaint and without hesitation.
He volunteers readily, listens fully, and is the kind of colleague and educator who makes a building stronger simply by being present in it. What makes Justin truly stand out is not any single accomplishment. It is the sustained intentional growth he has shown as both an educator and a person. He stretched across grade levels, taken on challenges, and continuously invests in becoming better for his students. His willingness to go above and beyond in the classroom and the community and in the lives of those around him speaks to a character that is defined by putting
others first. His colleagues are proud of the educator he is, and the confidence and joy he brings to his work each day is a reflection of someone who is exactly where he is supposed to be. Thank you. I know. Okay. Item six point o one information from the board and superintendents. We'll start with Bob. Not much to report tonight. I did attend the, PACOG meeting last Thursday, previous Thursday. They we did vote on the long range, plan for the county.
So that will it's a twenty five year plan, but it's reevaluated every five years. And so that plan was approved. So that, again, allows, this region to, be able to secure federal transportation dollars. Projects in the area, as you know, the the big project is the 50. That's still on schedule to be completed, but it's I think it's a year and a half still before full completion. They are starting the new planning phase for, Exit 108, which is, the Pueblo West exit, up north, and that will, incorporate, of course, a new off and on, ramp,
bridge, etcetera, and, I believe the rest stop, is in the works there as well. So that's that's the only thing we can port out of that. And outside of that, we're in we're in springtime, nice spring storm, gonna dump some good moisture, but, I think it does impact our sports teams that are still trying to finish our seasons and get ready for state and districts and all of that. So I just just wanna say we're not gonna have a snow day. Yes. I mean, we did give the day back to kids.
We do have we do have days still built into the schedule, but, it's I'm hopeful it's not gonna be a snow day. I I don't have anything else to report. I was gonna say something about Highway 50 in 108. Oh, hopefully, they don't have to close that rest up down in 108. If they if they don't wanna do it, they have all the other ones. Oh, right. Sometimes those are necessary. Yeah. I get to go to another award ceremony tomorrow with the the staff, and I'm looking forward to it. Those are always fun for me. I like I like seeing the consistency in our district and, just the the loyalty
that people have to our district, and it's really cool to see. Mhmm. Nothing for me to think of in for you. Well, congratulations, Susan. I'm looking forward to attending some graduations in the coming weeks, also some award ceremonies. I was so excited to go to the, Craver Greenhouse ribbon cutting, and I showed up Thursday and it had been canceled. Yeah. It was so long. I know. So I'm still anxious to get to check that up. I did go. Yeah. But but, yeah.
No. They didn't have it. That's all. K. Well, this time of year is very taxing band season, which I enjoy a lot. Most recently, the Blossom Festival was three days four days last week, and our our high schools, Rye, Pueblo West, and County all did great things. There's one of our Pueblo West trombone players right there. And, I had the privilege of I wasn't judging.
I was the chief judge at the jazz festival, and so I worked with all the bands when they finished their performances. And, it was a pleasure working with our district seventy kids, and I gave them a little extra love. K. Very nice. Thank you, Mark. A few things I wanna share. I was really excited. We received an invitation to, the board had received an invitation, and I had, the opportunity to attend the Kaiser Thriving Schools showcase last Tuesday, and I thought it was
amazing. We have district seventy has received two grants, three years in length each, and focusing on health, of our staff and our students, and I just thought it was really exciting. I met teachers and leaders in our district that I didn't know, and I just really appreciated the opportunity to be there and to hear not only what's going on in district seventy, but in other districts as well. So I was really grateful for the opportunity, to hear about what's happening with kids and with staff and all the positive, so many positive presentations.
We attended presentations. So our our district put on a presentation as well as the other two districts that were in attendance, and so it was really exciting. So thank you for the opportunity. Really enjoyed that. And, I also went to, last week, I know that we had also received an invitation, and I went to Prairie Winds Elementary, and they had a CTE day with the high school students, and so it was really awesome. And the high school students, of course, because Prairie Winds is in Pueblo West. I mean, I would love to be out here in the, you know, on the Mesa doing that or in Rye, but, it's really exciting to see kids present what
they're learning, and working with elementary kids. I mean, gosh. How cute. Right? I mean, these little kiddos, kindergartners, and and all the different grades. The teachers were wonderful. The, presenters were wonderful, and and just it was a great experience, so I really enjoyed that. And I also went over to Sierra Vista, and presented the, with, missus Russell. We presented the, record of the years anniversary. Sorry. I was gonna say years of service, but, and that's always really exciting to see.
I mean, the just the collective, the the collective of of knowledge and dedication to our district, it was really exciting to be there, and I, thank you for that. And then finally, last Friday, I just had a great week last week. It was really exciting, and and really doing things for, you know, just getting to know district seventy in a different way. So that was was really fun. And, I also went to the golden tortilla, event put on by the ARC, and
that was really exciting. And, I'm on the prayer board also for District 70 in Lovett, and I went to a board meeting last week. So it's a busy week and, lots of good stuff for District 70. So thank you. Alright. Thank you. Discussion items, presentation from the director of district map reapportionment, Shannon Bingham. Shannon Bingham. Good evening, everyone. My name is Shannon Bingham. I own a company called Western Demographics. I do political reapportionments and, school boundaries and new school activations, bond election packaging, all
over the West. This may be the third time I've done our reapportionment here. I've done probably a 175 reapportionments since 1985. So, I've done quite a few of these. I've been an expert witness for the fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on this topic. We grew by about 4,900 people since our last, count that was for a reapportionment. The mid decade census is not very good. So we had a census in 2020.
We'll have another in 2030. The estimates in the mid decade is is not all that great. The state requires us to reapportion every four years. And so what I do is I use housing counts from Pueblo County to estimate based on average household size, for houses, townhouses, apartments, what our actual population growth is. So we work very closely with, Pueblo County to collect that data. We were off by five and a half percent in some of our districts.
The standards are 3% variance preferred. So we were trying to get this as close as possible. I try to provide Pueblo County with a voter list that's linked to the director districts, and that's part of my service as well and the legal description. And they tend to be, fairly exacting on how we do this. So we've been able to establish a standard satisfactorily to plan. We have a, pattern of re of apportionment that has been with us for about
twenty years. So we are in the state, the only donut shaped district. So, so everybody's got a run the Krispy cream after this, but we have a donut shaped district. So, districts, one, three, and five are kinda pizza shaped, and Districts two and four are kind of croissant shaped. And they've been that way for almost twenty years. And what I do in order to, make the growth work out right is I
shave off pieces of Pueblo West as we go along. And, so that's what we've been able to do at least one more time. There are two directors residing in the in the Glen Vineland area. No one has been displaced. Everyone is still seated as they are, so we were able to make that happen. I was able to use the the map that you see on your screen there, reapportion the district to within about 43 people variance in the districts.
So we were able to pull that off one more time. What the census in 2030 is going to do to us, I have no idea. There's a lot of growth happening in Pueblo West, and so we may have to scratch our heads hard about how we look when, 2030 rolls around. But for now, we've been able to preserve this pattern of representation in Pueblo 70 and not displace any directors. So as I mentioned, part of my service is to, redevelop the voter list, provide those to Pueblo County, write a legal description, and this mapping is high resolution mapping.
So if you wanna zoom in on this PDF as you continue to consider this recommendation, you can zoom right in on it on your phone or on your, computer and see the street names, allegedly, so that you know where everything is. Is. There are four areas that are shown as what are called shift areas, where in most cases, I was able to clean up in three of the shift areas. They're in your packet as well. Three of those are in Pueblo West, and one is kind of in the transition
area between Blend and Vineland, which was an area that I needed to do to balance population between, District 2 and District 4. But for the most part, we're able to kinda keep more or less what we have, but we have shifted those four areas. No seated directors have been displaced. So I'm delighted to answer any questions to finish your term. Yeah. How would it work? I know we had talked in the past about having, like, a representative from Pueblo West area, the county area, and then the Reypeula area, and then two at large.
It doesn't I know we had run into issues with that. Does this affect that as well, or is it just based off like, how does something like this work with that large positions, So, this continues to be five seats. And so I've had some conversations with some attorneys associated with other districts who have told me that, five districts and two at large is questionable from a legal standpoint.
So I would suggest that you confer with your legal counsel. But, that could in fact be an option if you wanted to do that. But, again, I'm not a lawyer. I'm a demographer, but I've had some conversations with another district circumstances, and the attorney in that circumstance preferred to have at least five seats. Now if you had seven directors, you would have an opportunity to have two at large. But, that attorney's advice to me as I and I'm recollecting this now is that
she said that we needed to have, in this other district circumstance, five seats, and then we could have that large seats beyond that. But her reading of state statute indicated that there needed to be five seated, districts. Now, again, that's that attorney. That's her interpretation of statute, and I'm not a lawyer. I believe it would have to be something you would put on the, to be voted upon. Like, you can't just change it. It has to be voted upon by everybody to even change that large or the
five or the seven. Yeah. I just didn't know if you had any input on that based off population and stuff. I I I don't. I generally, do the reapportionments and the the updates based upon the existing structures without proposing a restructuring. I will say that there's there's very little restructuring happening in the state for the most part. In fact, having having done this for almost forty five years, I can count on one hand the number of times when there's been a restructuring of the fundamentals of
representation. Cool. Thank you. Mhmm. Alright. Any other questions? Alright. Thank you. Interesting. Appreciate it. Getting us talking. Next will be Holly Corcentino, presentation of the adoption of the ready math program. Good evening, madam president, board members. I am here this evening to, discuss the recommendation of the ready math curriculum to you for adoption in our elementary schools and to review with you just a little bit of how we got to this point. I think Kimberly is gonna drive for me. Sorry. You're fine. So the timeline back in September at our fall professional development, we did give all
of our elementary teachers the opportunity to review three math curriculums, Savas, Desmos, and ReadyMath. From those three, they provided feedback to us, and we, decided to pilot two of them, Desmos math and ReadyMath. We still We're still on we're still on slide one. It looks like I'm looking for it. There we go. Right there. In October, we, presented the materials to our soups council. We also presented to our elementary principals and asked them for volunteers to participate on
October 8. And then on October 21 to the twenty third, we put the materials out for a review by the public. The actual pilot took place from December 1 to April 23. So eighteen weeks, and every teacher piloted both programs. So they spent nine weeks in yeah. They spent nine weeks in one program and nine weeks in the other program. And then, we go ahead and flip. We did ask for participants from all 11 elementary schools and all grade levels.
So kindergarten through fifth grade participated in the pilot. We, looked for feedback from students and from teachers. So some of the things that our students told us about ready math were that they thought it was easy to understand, they thought it was more colorful than bridges, they thought it was helpful because it showed multiple strategies and models, and they could also relate to it. They felt like it had real life story problems, and we sought that feedback through survey student surveys. Some feedback from the staff, they felt like those lessons were structured.
They felt like the data tools were strong. They did feel like it gave us a has balanced instruction. They mentioned the small group support that it provided, and they felt like it did have an easy teaching flow, that would be, easy for substitutes or anyone to be able to come in and pick up the program. At the conclusion, we met for a vote on April 23. Next one. Next one. So if they were present at the meeting so 28 of our 31 pilot teachers were present at the meeting, and they did vote, as you can see, 70 to
30 for the ready math program over the, amplified desmos desmos math program. Therefore, it is the recommendation of the staff and the, Department of Instruction that the Board of Education adopt the ready math curriculum. And I would be happy to answer any further questions that you have. Can we give those good. It also aligns with our current, assessments, our our immediate assessment. It doesn't because I wouldn't have to change assessments, and it also, it it flows
into sixth, seventh, and eighth grade because we're already testing on I Ready for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade both reading and English language arts. So, it's it it provides some continuity. So do we have any sense of how effective it was? I mean, I we probably haven't had testing sufficient to but do we have any sense of that? So we don't have any testing. We haven't been utilizing it. Yeah. We do there would in nine weeks, there wouldn't be enough data to really Yeah. Compare those students to other students. I did go searching just for some comparison.
Douglas County does is a school district here in Colorado that does use ready math. Mhmm. I I sent you an email. Obviously, there are so many factors when you're comparing Pueblo 70 to them, but it appears by the data that they're having success with the program. Mhmm. Our elementary schools hover, you know, anywhere from 24 to 29% proficient. Their elementary schools hover from 52 to 58% proficient in math. Again, many factors are gonna go into that, but I just wanted to see if they were having success, and it appears that they are. Mhmm.
Okay. And our current curriculum was something that our teachers have, said for several years was not something that it was difficult to teach, that it was very time consuming to put the lessons together. And we heard that for, several years, and Holly was a a principal who encountered that and and and was also someone someone who would say, hey. When are we gonna get a new math curriculum? So but that's why I thought it was very important, not just because of our scores, but because our teachers have also said that they wanted a new math curriculum.
Mhmm. And what is the current curriculum? Bridges. Bridges. Bridges. And my wife is a math teacher. And, she she was not one of the test people, but she certainly did talk to Laurie and, really listened to the results they got. And so she's all in favor as well. And one of our goals was to make sure that we included every school so that every school would have a voice at this decision, which I think is going to go a long way once we do adopt as far as buy in from
teachers, like you said, and, just them wanting to participate in the training and the things that go along with adopting a new math program. Yeah. There's a lot Yep. When it comes to that. I was just gonna say, can we give those teachers, like, something special? Because that is not easy. Teach two different curriculums and nine weeks a piece. So that's really awesome that they were willing to step up and do that I agree. And manage that. That's really awesome. I agree. Yeah. I have I have experience with I Ready and ReadyMath. I think it's a good program.
I do like the delivery method. I think the status supports that, and the structure of the lessons. Questions? Any other questions? Alright. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Logan Gogarty. Okay. Hi. Presentation of the homeschool enrichment program at Villa Bella Charter School. Good evening. My name is Logan Gogarty. I'm the executive director and founder of Villa Bella Expeditionary. We're a k charter authorized by d seventy, and we're located near CSU Pueblo. This is something we've been exploring for a long time, so we're or I'm here
to just share a little information on what that's gonna look like. There are some pieces that are being developed as we go. But, Peyton Stack, our athletic coordinator, and Dylan Ortiz, dean of the middle school. They're the two that are helping kind of spearhead and get this started. They'll be the ones that run it initially until we recruit and hire other teachers to operate it for us. Right now, we're looking at some kind of sporadic and random Fridays for the first semester and the second semester. One of the things we're having to work around is our, once a month Friday
PD professional development that we have for all staff. So we're trying to build this schedule. The requirement is for the homeschool component is ninety hours each semester. So this schedule, fulfills that. And the idea is that we'll recruit homeschool families that are looking for a Friday enrichment program that we're gonna offer at, Villa Bella Expeditionary. In addition to homeschool families, we're also gonna recruit the Villa Bella current Villa Bella
families that are just looking for Friday care as well. These are there's a lot of words up there, but these are some of the course descriptions, and we don't need to dive into, the nitty gritty with it. But we're looking at offering those types of courses that are either difficult to offer for homeschool families or work better in larger groups. So physical education, art, and then utilizing a lot of the resources that we already have at BB, LEGO robotics, our, Glowforge, laser engraver, three d printers, etcetera.
We have pianos as well, keyboards that connect with the software Piano Marvel. And, yeah, that's that's perfect. And the other piece of this is we're we're taking what we already do on Monday through Thursday in regard to expeditionary learning, both the curriculum philosophical approach to learning and transferring that in offering it for students that need VB students that need a place to go on Fridays, but also homeschool families who are maybe interested in this type of learning style and model.
This is kind of a a mock draft schedule that lays out some of those courses that, I described. We start every day with crew, which is not on here. That's the social emotional learning component. And then depending on how many students are registering and what ages they are will determine which classes and how we break up the schedule. So that piece is, we'll be figuring some of it out as as we go. This is just going over some of the pricing. Homeschool families that choose to attend and are only attending our program, it will be
free because there are state funding available for us for those families. And then DBE families we're looking at, but may adjust after some surveying and data collection, $100 per Friday, nine to four on those Fridays. And that is it. Any questions for me? Yeah. Logan, have you had any kids sign up yet? We haven't. We've had two informational nights just to more fact finding and figuring out is there
are there enough families and who's interested? We haven't enrolled anyone yet. What my plan is is to offer a free sample, one of these days in May or June, and then start enrollment after that for August. So we'll just invite everyone to come experience what we're what we're offering. And then, if there's interest and so on, we'll we'll then recruit and enroll. We don't we don't need a ton of students to make it viable because we're, you know, using our space that's empty anyway on Friday.
But we're we're shooting for 30 students, and it should be a mix. We have probably 10 homeschool families show up with a student or two per family and then, for our Villa Bella families, we had another probably 10, students. So those were very preliminary, just in the last week or two, but no one's actually enrolled yet. We haven't even opened it up for official enrollment yet. And the teachers, are they coming directly from your school or you're hiring out or
what's that look like? Yeah. So to start, Payton Stack and Dylan Ortiz will get us launched and running. Wanna make sure that we're offering quality programming and and working through any of the new, things that come. Mhmm. And then once we're, up and running, then we might look to recruit so that we can offer more Fridays without interrupting our professional development schedule for our teachers. But I do think it's a great opportunity for all of our teachers, to make some extra money on the side when we don't have professional development.
So we can bring in the art teacher, bring in the PE teacher, and then kind of take turns and supplement their their income a little bit by them coming to help. Yeah. Any other questions? So I was just curious. You mentioned that there's a social emotional component that wasn't on the schedule. Why is that? Well, the the real reason is because our Google drives had a lot of trouble in the last two weeks. So the things that we had originally made and we can't find, and I'm doing data export and putting it into a new domain.
So that's really the main reason, but, it's how we start every day. Crew is always starts with some sort of greeting where everyone's voice is heard, then there's a reading, which could be a video, an activity, an article, and then an initiative where you're setting some sort of social emotional goal for the day. And we do that specific to our values of cooperation, respect, endurance, wonder, and we will continue that. It's a great way to start the day. We even sometimes circle up at the end of the day and like, okay, we
are working on respect today. We had just learned x y z. You set this, you know, goal to do x y z and how how did that go? Or who needs to apologize because they weren't showing respect? But that's kind of the model of Yeah. From this full circle. Okay. So Thank you. Mhmm. Any other questions? I have one question. What will you continue to offer this if the state does not under your home schooling? That's a good question. Yeah. That is being decided right now if the the for the homeschool families, if the revenue will decrease Actually, they're looking at halfing it, I think.
So it'd be a quarter of your your for the people revenue. And I think it'll really depend on I don't have a clear enough number because I haven't gotten official enrolled yet, but how many families of our own are willing and ready to private pay versus how many homeschool families we have. So it'll really just come down to those numbers. So we'll we'll see. I think if we have enough families, DBE families that are just wanting to pay out of pocket and then it's enough to pay the teachers that are doing the work there during the day, then we'll be fine.
I'm hoping to also have some home school families and so that piece is less, important if it's being supplemented by private pay. But so no real answer party there. Sorry. Yeah. That's okay. I understand. Okay. Alright. Anything else? No. Thank you. I appreciate it. Presentation of the photography request for proposal, Kimberly. Alright. So I was asked to do an RFP for photography. We had five vendors, and we created a committee of different people, principals, different from
rye, from Pueblo West, all over. And they narrowed it down to the top two finalists, and we come up with some other questions for them. And the top person that they chose that works best with our system, like, implementing with our power school and our data and along with affordable packages for students because that's a big deal. Mhmm. To I mean, as a single parent, it it was a big deal to me. And so interstate was our number one choice out of the five.
They're working on a contract right now with us. We did send them that they they were our top finalist, and so they should be working with us to get a contract to start for the next, and I will present that at the next meeting for approval. Alright. Thank you. Any questions? Is that athletics and school pictures or So we asked that so a lot of the high schools wanna do their own athletics. A lot of parents want the smoke and the flames and all that extra. So we asked that they would be available if the school chose for them to,
but that it wasn't part of the contract to where we had to use them. So they they are available, like, especially our middle schools if they want to reach out to interstate. And interstate works with some of our yearbooks, I believe, at some of the schools. They will release, like, the digital files for, our other yearbooks if they go with, like, Jostens or whatever the school uses. So we did make sure with that. And we also asked that for, like, every 200 or 250 students that they sent an extra photographer because I know our last one sent, like, one photographer, and it
would take all day, especially, like, Cobalt County High School or so we did ask that they had so many photographers per so many number of students, etcetera. That's good. Yeah. So Good. Any other questions? I don't know that I have the answers. I just put it together. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you. Next item, board discussion of policy BDG school attorney legal services, provide input on choice of legal counsel. So, Rhonda issued an RFP for legal services. The administration made the decision to terminate Brad Miller's firm and to hire Kaplan and
Ernest. I strongly oppose that decision. According to Colorado revised statute section twenty two thirty two two one zero three, the school board has, I'm gonna read it here. Such board of education shall possess all powers delegated to a board of education. And then on our policy as well, it says that the board has the right to select legal counsel. I recognize that it's been typical to allow the superintendent to make that decision, but
it is a power that's delegated by the board. And so in light of that, I would just like to have a discussion regarding why I'm opposed and also, if other people are in support. I would like to discuss the issue. I think Susie has, prepared some some statements on it. Excuse me. Yep. Mhmm. So I am opposed to the choice of Kaplan. Here's why. So it's important that parents and stakeholders understand clearly what has occurred and what's now
at risk. The administration has taken unilateral action to remove district current legal counsel and impose new representation without Ford, full board approval. But this is not a procedural matter. It's a misuse of authority to set legal direction of the district without the governing body entrusted to make that decision. The selection of counsel determines how this district will interpret law, shape policy, and exercise authority over students and families. Based on the legal direction associated with the proposed firm, Kaplan and Ernest, this change
is not neutral. It represents a shift towards policy frameworks that contain parental rights, limit parental involvement in critical decisions, and transfer authority away from families and towards institutional control. That is a fundamental change in how this district operates, and it is a change that stands in direct tension with the expectation of the families we serve. If this direction is allowed to stand, the consequences are not speculative. They are already being seen in districts across the street. Increased claims that schools are overriding or excluding parents from key decisions, rising legal challenges
grounded in constitutional parental rights, escalating litigation costs and district wide disruption, policy inconsistency that creates confusion for staff, students, and families. And beyond that, we expose the district to federal enforcement risk. Title nine compliance is actively enforced. Complaints can trigger investigations by the office for civil rights leading to findings of noncompliance, mandatory corrective action, ongoing federal oversight, and if unresolved, risk to critical federal funding.
Even short of funding loss, the cost and legal fees, compliance burdens, and administrative strain is substantial. This is not about politics. This is about whether authority is being exercised properly and whether the policies that follow will protect or constrain the role of parents. This board exists to represent parents and stakeholders, not to bypass them, not to impose legal direction that conflicts with their values and expectations. Parents and stakeholders must be aware. This is a defining moment for the district. I'm calling for this decision to be immediately brought before the full board, a halt
to the imposed appointment until proper governance is exercised, full transparency regarding the legal direction being introduced, and strong consistent parent and stakeholder engagement moving forward. I also encourage families and community members to simply Google Kaplan and Ernest to find out what potential consequences would be to our district and email me directly for more in-depth information. I have a list of lawsuits ready to go. I encourage you to attend upcoming board meetings, stay informed, participate respectfully but clearly in
this process. Contact district administrators and board members directly to request that the current legal counsel be retained pending full board review. Communicate clearly that this decision of this magnitude must reflect stakeholder values, not unilateral administrative action. Decisions of this magnitude should not happen without the knowledge, involvement, and voice of the community, which I represent. Thank you. I appreciate that. I'll, just weigh in on some of my concerns. I I have concerns about Kaplan, itself and the lawsuits that they're involved with, the
risk that it would create for our district. But also just practically, I wasn't able to find a single district in State that retains one, attorney for the board and another one for the district. And to me, it just seems like it would create such a so much confusion and lack of coordination that it would be hugely inefficient. I'm just imagining I guess, maybe an appropriate analogy would be if you have parents
that are on the same page on an issue and the child, which one do they listen to? Because I think think it's fair to assume that Kaplan on some issues would advise one way, and Brad Miller and his firm would advise another way. Another reason that I think that it's inefficient is how is Brad Miller and his firm supposed to advise the board if he's not regularly interacting with Bob, with Stephanie, with the administrative team? He's gonna be completely out of the loop.
He's gonna be completely in the dark while at the same time trying to provide us with with, valid and valuable counsel. So, I agree with with your assessment at Kaplan, but even beyond that, just logistically, I think it creates a huge, a huge conflict. I would also say that in my attempt to research this issue, it seems that this has been tried and find a situation where it's been super effective.
So those are my concerns. Any I'm sure you guys have something to say. Well, it's interesting we got to this point. We've been trying to get an RFP where we could have an attorney that maybe we could all agree on, but my colleagues said we couldn't do that. And now once a decision has been made, which was completely a a decision made by all our all our directors, everyone, the superintendents, everyone who knows education, who knows
the needs of the operation of the school district. As soon as we find this, oh, it's a big uproar. It's an uproar that we're losing Brad Miller. Well, we still have Brad as our, legal counsel for our board, whether he wants to stay making a pittance as compared to the massive, charges he's put forth. I I think this this whole discussion could have been avoided had we just agreed
as a board to do an RFP. And I I think all our directors I mean, this is a meeting. I I trust every single one of them. They're all good at their own area. Everyone here represents a different department, a different expertise. And the loyalty to Brad Miller, I don't understand. It it didn't have to be Kaplan and Ernest. It didn't have to be Brad Miller. If we just looked around, maybe we could find someone, but that was a no,
and that was a hard no. So what is our love affair with Brad Miller? What is that? I mean, he I I don't get it. I he's been nice to me. That's all I can say. But we A lot has been made of the cost associated with retaining Brad Miller. Rhonda provided this just this afternoon, realized that it was a quick, overview. But it's interesting to me when I look at the it's a legal or a financial breakdown of legal fees. 18% of Brad's fees are, attributed to board work, including core requests, which have ran
our cost up substantially as I understand it. And 81.99%, of the legal fees have nothing to do with the board. They have nothing to do with with any perceived, controversy surrounding, Brad Miller's firm. It has to do with truancy, contracts, employee issues, student issues, and state complaints. And so you reference the exorbitant fees or whatever that Brad charges.
I don't I think that's misrepresenting. I asked for this because constituents have contacted me and said, Anne, people wanna talk about the legal fees at board meetings that they nobody ever step get provides a breakdown. We don't even understand, you know, what's district, what's board, what's truancy, what are things that we can control or not control. Well, we can need to not in our Hey. Don't cut me off. No. You're cutting me off. Yeah. So I think that's an important piece of data to consider, Michelle.
So I think that the question then is, if 81% of the legal fees are legal fees that are correlated with truancy, with personnel, with those things, I think that the people that are dealing with truancy and personnel, our directors would know best how to choose an attorney that's going to a a law firm that is going to, represent maybe more frugally, some other comments that were made.
So I I do think I don't know that that's really a good comparison. Our legal fees, period, are more expensive, and we did receive that as a board. Our legal fees have increased dramatically over the past several years. So if that is a Miller, Farmer, Carlson issue or if that is a sign of the times issue, it is more expensive, period. It's been more expensive. So I think that's something to take into consideration. And regarding the policy itself, I do have some questions that I'd like to address later because, I think that we as in a public meeting, discuss the fact that
a school district could choose to have one law firm for the board and one law firm for the district. We discussed it in public. I think it is possible, but that doesn't mean we have to agree that it's best. I well, I I think that it is the prerogative of our leaders that are running the district on a daily basis to do what they think is best for the district. And our job as a board of directors is, you know, I mean, I I think what they've done is to make sure that they are able to move forward
with good counsel, with counsel that is there regularly. And, as far as as far as, how they did it, I mean, they had a rubric. They went through. They looked at what are the merits of each of these different firms. I think that that is a, I mean, it was a measured it was it was concise. It was all of the things that I would expect to happen when looking for counsel or other things. You know, an RFP for a photographer. I mean, they all looked at all of the proposals and chose the studio, the,
photographer that's best for the district based on these criteria, and the same thing happened with And now it's been put before the board to decide if that decision should stand. Right? So she'd still had to present it. So I think what you're ignoring here possibly is I don't disagree at all. I think when choosing district council, you should absolutely include include all of our district administrative team in that discussion. My issue is that the the the board was bypassed, and here's why. What's the purpose of the board? These are elected individuals who are not paid to be here, who are here to
keep certain things in check, and to represent the views of their district. And so directors don't always, you know, administrators don't always have a grasp on what's happening to strict white. That is the purpose of the board. Right. And I don't disagree with you, but I will ask once again. I asked earlier tonight, please bring bring bring statistics to me Because if you're getting one email or two mail emails or 10 or however you're communicating with these constituents that are telling you you want they want something, I wanna know how many people.
Because if it's somebody calling me on the phone, that's a lot different than, holding a town hall meeting. In fact, I've been researching. How do we do this? How do we make policy? How do we make decisions like this? And it takes time, and it takes conversation with lots of people. It is not a matter of just a couple of people calling me with their concern or saying it's I I I feel like I feel frustrated because I feel like when people tell me that I don't know if it is, again, one five
Exactly. What is it? And who is it? And do they even live in our district? Do they live in District 70? I just watched, a very, a a good presentation about the fact that our district looks like a donut. And I'm thinking about who is calling us? Who's talking to us? Where are they talking to us? Do you live in my district? Are you you know, are what is your concern? I mean, I I I I I'm holding myself accountable to this, and I'm just asking, asking, like, as we're making these decisions, we really need to take that into
consideration because, I mean, I I you know, obviously, they went through the process of issuing an RFP, and we knew what they were doing it. And we did not Yes. But then the board was bypassed. That's what I'm that's the whole point I was making with my speeches. The governance process, the board was bypassed. And I don't I'm not okay with that. And our, board powers and responsibilities in our guidelines, toward the bottom, it says the board's responsible to select legal counsel and an auditor. So I don't think that us, weighing in on the selection of legal counsel from
the board is is inappropriate in any way. In fact, it's part of our responsibilities. If the decision is made that we disagree with, we have a responsibility to review it. Well, I have a issue that I would like to address in the third paragraph. It says, a decision to seek legal advice or assistance on behalf of the school district normally shall be made by the superintendent. Yes. We need to contact our superintendent so that our superintendent is in the loop when we're contacting attorneys, when we're contacting firms. And when when we're doing that, if we're contacting if I called miss Ryan and
I said, I'd like to contact Brad Miller and ask about legal counsel, I would want that legal counsel information shared with everybody. Say that again. I'm not sure what you're getting. I'm getting at the fact that are we following are we following our policy? Are we picking it? We're picking and choosing. No. Normally, means that and if you read the paragraph before, it says that the board has, the board of education shall retain an attorney for legal counsel and services in
affairs of the district. That is the paragraph, two paragraphs before the one that you just shared. I understand. A decision to seek legal advice or the assistance on behalf of the school district normally shall be made by the super attendants or person specific specifically authorized. Normally, does not mean that is a power that is delegated and that that is it doesn't say shall be made by the superintendent. It says normally shall be made. So when is it not normal then? Carry suit against. K. Do I have a chance now?
Yes. You may. Will you cut me off? Mark, you cut me off. Okay. Let let me talk. It's my turn. I'll decide. No. You will not decide. Yes. I will. It's my prerogative. We are equal board members. It's my prerogative. We are equal board members. Okay. We are equal board members. Mark, please. It is my prerogative To cut me off? To decide who can speak when. I would like to hear from you, but I don't you cut me off first. So please please continue and say what you need to do. For cutting you off. Thank you. Let me speak as long as I wanna speak, please. I'll let you speak as long as I I trust our directors.
I trust our superintendent. Our job is to supervise our superintendent, not to run the district. Our our only employee is the superintendent. In my opinion, she has done a fantastic job business like running this school district. She knows what it takes. She knows the the problems that mister Miller has caused being in this district. I once had a principal that said, Mark, I need to talk to you.
Come to my office. And he'd say, parents have called me, And there it is. Parents, constituent constituents have called me. Who called you? It was one parent. And that's a favorite line by principals to say, parents have called me. And we're using it here on our board now. I'll let you know who's talked to me. Every person who has stood up at that, podium, every teacher I mean, the brave teachers that didn't feel retribution.
This fellow right here. And and that's who we've heard from. I haven't heard one person up there say Brad Miller is great. Not one. And and I continue to say, maybe the choice isn't what we like. Maybe and Brad Miller isn't what we like. But why why didn't we do an RFP? Why are we so committed to mister Miller? Why is that? There are so many attorneys out there, local attorneys, who have offered their services.
Why? Well, we think we know the reason and and it's former relationships with mister Miller through ER BOCES. It it it's complete well, it completely know mister Miller. It completely is when you worked for him. No. I certainly did not. Really? Really. Quit saying that a few months. Alright. I will. But, all I have you know, I I admire the conviction and the nerve it
took to go against what for all our directors here to go against what they knew certain board members would say. And they did what it they thought was best for the district. And I want you to look at every single one of these people. Why do we not trust them? Why is mister Miller the saint of above all saints that we can't trust every single one of these people in this room? Are we gonna say, sorry. Your voice doesn't matter. Is that what we're gonna say?
Are we gonna say I I don't know. I'm just frustrated. An earlier conversation was asking for an RFP. We were voted down, and and now we have this. And as I say, there's my tremor. I, I completely admire our staff for taking this step, which they knew the board president wouldn't like. I I admire that. So thank you for letting me speak. You're welcome. No. Anything to add, Susie?
I think you're getting hung up on one thing and not addressing the issues that I've brought up. No. That's not what I'm saying, Mark. Okay. What I'm saying is my issue here is twofold. One, the board was bypassed. Was that decision because they thought Anne wouldn't like it? I don't know, as you stated. Or maybe it was a conscious decision. I don't know. To say we don't trust them is ridiculous. I said I would love them to be involved in that conversation. All we wanted was a, a chance for the proper channels to be, used and
for proper governance to occur. As is required by the district and by the oath that we took and by the bylaws that are written. That is all I am saying. In addition to that, we talk about couple things. The exorbitant fees. Did you look at the proposal from Curtis and Kaplan? I'm talking about your dedication to mister Miller. Right. You talked about Could you just Maybe it was Michelle who talked about. That up. Why are we so dedicated to him? Okay. I'm talking about why I'm opposed to Kaplan.
This is nothing. That's fine. Go ahead. Do an RFP. Look at everyone else. I was utterly shocked when Kaplan was the choice, and it was because people say Miller's controversial. Kaplan is equally or not more so on the opposite side. Can I ask what's your evidence? I mean, where what where are you could you share us share with us? Yes. I will email you this. Yes. I will. Well, I don't No. This is where we're at session here. Like, 50% of the school districts in the state of Colorado are represented by them. They are clearly you're aware of the current federal lawsuit we discussed with that.
And I understand too that they, are not they are not, proposing policy. They're representing a school district. I mean, they didn't they didn't they didn't go into this lawsuit proposing policy, which, I have a problem with. I want, like, I want a counselor. I want counsel that is going to tell me what the law is and explain to me how to implement or how it would affect me as a as a school board member, as a school district. And so I'm a little concerned with the, suggesting that this law firm or any
law firm for that matter is political. Because if that is what what what what was brought up and I don't how is Kaplan political? In the same way that you that you say Miller Farmer's political. It's just opposite ends of the spectrum. So what I'm trying to say is that education in by large is inherently political. We deal with that every day in in every there's so many things that come up because everyone tries to say, we know what's best for the child. It is my opinion that nobody knows what's best for the child outside of the
parent. K? From the moment of conception and Michelle, I discussed this with you, right? From the moment moment of conception, you are immediately confronted with what's best for my child. Bottle fed, breastfed, this doctor, that doctor, this hospital, this that hospital, midwife, home birth, and then it's this school, that school, and then it's, if any other things come up, it's immediate who knows best for the child. I am always on and will always unapologetically be on the side of, increased parental choice, parental involvement, and not bypassing, that whatsoever.
What I've seen from Kaplan time and time again is that they work to constrain parental rights. That is I will happily share with you. I have a laundry list. I have I have, several of the lawsuits and outcomes and what the parents sued over and what the policy and what the council was in those situations. This is not something that happened overnight. Kaplan's been on my radar for a long time as parental rights was a big issue for me. As I started getting my kids into school, so for those reasons, the fact that
the board was bypassed, really, it's just that. What it comes down to is that the board was bypassed. I don't, I'm not going to condone that, and I'm not going to just sign off on it because I don't think that's right. We can do it. Bring it before the board, and you can vote to support it. That's fine. Right? But I don't think it was okay for the board's position to be bypassed. That's all I'll say. Do I get to speak? Yes. Am I able to speak? So first of all, I wanna address, Susie's speech because what what you said is
fiction. It's it's looking to the future of something that we're not supportive of. We're not asking for an attorney. We didn't put out an attorney to do an RFP for, policy or board governance. That is your job. Board governance is your job, and, district operations is my job. And that is outlined in twenty two thirty two one zero nine Colorado revised statute. Just three weeks ago, Brad Miller actually made the statement and asked me, why didn't you just why don't you just choose the attorney for the board?
It's within your right. That was your attorney's, advice because according to policy DJE, professional services do not require a bid. I don't have to put something out to bid. I put it out to bid because I thought it was the right thing to do so that you guys could get an opportunity to see, what law firms were available. It's not our intent to ever take parent rights away that the board makes policy. The board has full authority to do to make policy.
What we are asking is for an attorney to look at employee issues and truancy. Because truancy, as you saw, was around 20% of the costs for for legal representation, and it doesn't need to be that high. There doesn't always have to be an attorney present at truancy court. The other reason that we wanted somebody other than Brad Miller is you talked about how mom and dad, you know, going against each other. And if you have two different, law firms, they get different advice. Well, Brad Miller's firm has given that same advice even within his law firm.
There's been conflicting statements from two of his lawyers. One saying to handle title nine in this way. One saying, oh, yeah. Well, we don't agree. You should handle title nine in this way. That puts us at risk. When we look at our employee issues, I won't go in-depth to those employee issues, but we we call the attorney when we have an employee issue, and we have not been given good advice, which is why we have such a high percentage of our employee issues as a cost for the district.
We have exorbitant employee issue costs through our attorneys because of bad advice. Rhonda, Susie and I sat in a meeting with you a couple of weeks ago and asked you specifically about your leaning toward, firing Brad, and you never once brought that. That is untrue. We did say that in the meeting. We did not say that. Did they, Susie? You said that that Bryce was hard to get a hold of. I'm happy to hear that. Say that you had received more advice. Well, we've just received some, outcomes.
So, yes, we have received more advice. Okay. But you had already you were already lending to that decision prior to that when we had that meeting. So if you just received the the outcomes since subsequent to that meeting, that wasn't informing your decision at that point. And that was not what we do specifically. And you didn't respond. It was also because Bryce has been stretched. I said that too. Bryce has been stretched thin. Yeah. That's true. And he's very hard to get a hold of. Yeah. And he which delays our processes for employee issues.
Yeah. And I think of my response I'm not done talking and you are cutting me off. And I I asked to talk. So Thank you. I I would appreciate that if you just allow me to speak on my part of it. I did mention the reasons why we were looking for a different attorney. I don't wanna argue those issues about employee issues in front of god and everybody. I don't think that's appropriate. I don't have to put out things for an RFP, and that was, something that Brad mentioned to you guys. I can choose an attorney. You are in charge of governance. I'm not we're not looking to ever take parent rights away. So that's to me a fiction statement about, just suddenly we're gonna just magically change
our district into something that, our constituents would not want. And I'm insulted that you would say that we're out of touch with what our constituents want because we did a strategic plan where we met with all of the different constituents throughout the communities. Mister Kelson was a part of that. We certainly listened to our constituents. You were all invited to be a part of that, and not all of you attended. So we hear every day from our constituents. We talk to parents. We talk to teachers. We talk to principals. We talk to members of the community.
So to say that we're out of touch with our constituents is insulting. And you're gonna take the advice of someone you've known for four months, over a hundred and fifty years of combined of experience in this district. Very simple. Mean taking the advice. I'm just Brad Miller to be your attorney, and our administrative team does not. Right. You don't care? Let him direct your policy. Let him direct your policy, but let us take care of our operations. Right. And we don't want Brad Miller as our attorney.
Run your school district. That is not at all that is not at all what I was saying. That is exactly what you were saying. When it comes to this law firm with Kaplan, it is Kaplan. Okay? This is not a In conversations with Kaplan, I asked them, you know, what what advice would you give us on this policy? They said, we don't give advice on policy. We don't direct policy. We mitigate risks. And so what we would do is we would tell you what the risks are. The board adopts the policy. So if you adopt a policy, they don't try to direct you and say, I
asked. Are you gonna say, hey. You should or you should not adopt this policy? No. Because they said they're not getting into the politics of it. They're simply going to tell us what the risks are on either side of it. It's the board who adopts policy. If I could just jump in, I I don't wanna make it in more contentious. My piece is I I'm not I'm not looking for the political side. I'm the attorney. I'm just trying to find like, our piece is trying to find somebody that could do the job, do the job well, and and meet our needs, and and we
haven't had that at times. And and and I'm not you know, mister Miller's not here and his group's not here to defend themselves. So I'm not I I I've worked well with Brad. I've worked well with all of his people at times, and then there's been other times where we've been very frustrated. You know, I'll point towards miss Russell because we don't get timely. We don't get quick responses. We're waiting on documents. We're waiting on things. We're waiting on answers, and it becomes frustrating because we're under the gun for for employee issues and other issues and and student issues. And so that that was one of the pieces.
It wasn't simply a I I board governance, we kinda read policy that you guys do choose to retain that attorney for that, the district affairs and that governance. But but our piece was, you know, we we could look at trying to secure services for our other needs. And and that's kind of the direction we went. And I I asked the attorney from Kaplan yesterday. I talked to them. They were looking at this policy, the fairness in in girl sports, and we we talked I asked a question, like, I know a lot of districts are thinking about
that. Only some have adopted, very few. You know, how do you as an attorney group balance out if you got one client that's on this side of the things and one client's on this side and she very she simply said, we'll give you legal advice on either one and she said then we'll depending on which direction you go and if there's something that comes up, we'll prepare a defense in in your for for your case, like, so that was that was something we talked about, like, you know, those those types of pieces. So my piece is simply the service that we've gotten at times has just not
been good. I I don't know how else to say it. It's just it hasn't been good. And I I remember having the conversation when we were talking budget. I thought we had talked about, like, that that there was some bad advice, but maybe maybe that didn't happen. But Ron is not wrong. I mean, miss Russell could certainly chime in if she so chooses, but I'll I know I've been working alongside her on all of them, and and we've I've been on the other end of the phone calls when the advice before we moved forward with something was given, and then another advice after it went down the road on
on giving totally different, well, you probably should do this now. Like, that that's my piece. So, again, not a not a power struggle, not a trying to bypass, not certainly trying to control anything. It's just simply trying to operate our district in a more efficient manner, in a manner that's that meets our needs. That's my piece. So I've got something else. Yeah. I had a great role model as a board president. His name was, Ted Ordovis, and he was fantastic.
He ran the board very well, not to say anything to Nate here. But his constant comment was, this is the superintendent's district to run. We don't get in the way in that unless the superintendent is having a problem. And so far, we see, and I've said it before, our superintendent has run one of the top districts in the state through her leadership and her selection of her, let's call it, cabinet.
Mhmm. And how dare we have the audacity to challenge their decisions? I I just or being offended that we weren't asked. I I take no offense, and I trust my directors here. And it's not my job to get into Trish Labodnick's job or Jamie's or any of them. The only one is Rhonda. And Rhonda consulted.
It wasn't unilateral. She didn't make the decision all by herself. There was a rubric. They've we followed the rubric. Right? Yes. We did. Yes. There was a rubric, so not a unilateral decision. Rubric is followed, consulted with everyone it it applied to, everyone it applied to, and were mad because they didn't talk to mommy or daddy. Come on. Yeah. I don't really think that's the the main point. And to your point that it's a superintendent's district to run, I agree with that,
but we were elected to oversee, and that's what we're attempting to do here. Not everybody was elected. Well, at the very least, I think I owe it to the public to say and I'll just happily say I'll go on record being against the choice of Catholic. I don't think they're right for the district. I agree. For the reasons I I outlined, and there's plenty more. So I'm what what's done is done or what's going to be done will be done. I'm happy to be on record publicly saying I do not agree with this choice,
and, I think that decision is going to prove to be well as if we move forward with Caplan. And they're not cheaper at all. They were the same. I thought the move was to be save money, as and maybe get someone local. So both of those were also out. So I I also didn't understand that, the piece. Could I say one more? Yeah. We're not we're not in contract. It's it's an engagement letter.
Down the road, we choose we decide that, again, this this isn't working for us, and we There's no retainer. Changes, no retainer. There's no so I think contract. Stone on in regards to if we decide, again, it's not working for us, then we can make decisions to to seek other counsel, seek other just like right now, I mean, we've we've got different counsel handling different things. We have some some can't handle them all, sometimes you have to do that. And so I think this would this would be no There's actually been times where
Brad Miller has recommended that we get a different attorney. So for instance, we had to get a different attorney. Not every attorney has all of the expertise to do everything that a school district requires. And that's why we couldn't go local because the individuals who applied that were local did not one, did not have enough individuals in their firm to handle everything that would would come in a district of this size or all of the knowledge that it would take. The other local did not have a ton of experience with a public education. And then we wanted solid advice. You said, is the goal to reduce costs?
Yes. And if we can get solid advice on employee issues, we certainly will reduce costs because we will not have to constantly be fighting in arbitration or fighting in, Department of Labor or whatever the case may be. If we have solid advice, then we are not going to be paying attorney fees as much as we are currently. I'd like to go on where I say, I have no intention of taking away parental choice or or trying to enact more policy that takes away choice with protocols.
I I think we showed that with our name change policy and the different things that we adopted and say, this is what you have to do, and it does include the parents. It does include this, agenda support plans, all the things that we do. And and that's choosing Kaplan has not that's not on my agenda. Certainly not, I think, in our leadership group. We feel like where we're at right now is we're pretty solid. And, again, we're we're not looking to do anything like that.
So No. And I I'm I'm not saying that that is your goal at all. I'm saying that I could never support a law firm that historically, I've been following them for many, many years. If if you have been as well, then you would know, historically, they are on the side of defending districts that constrain frontal rights. I will not support that. In good conscience, I can't. But the districts chose them as their they are their client. So an attorney represents their client.
It it's the district themselves that made the poor decision, and they're representing them as their attorneys, the client. I I don't understand. Politics are not supposed to be driven by the attorney. Oh, it's not it's not just educational law. I'm talking about Kaplan as a whole. Their law firm as a whole. The the lawsuits that they've been that they've taken on. And I guess on the other side of that fence, we should look at all of the lawsuits that Brad is involved in as well. I mean, his are also politically charged for lawsuits.
We certainly have listened to our constituents. Whenever we did our, strategic planning and listening to the community, it was often brought up as feedback that they wanted us to get a different return. That was a lot of the feedback. We've received email after email about it. We We've had people stand up here at the podium continuously and talk about they want a different attorney. I've never ever received an email or had somebody stand up here or had somebody come and tell me, please keep Brad Miller. I don't dislike dislike Brad Miller as a person.
What I dislike is that we're constantly in the media in a negative light, and it doesn't need to be that way because we are a great district. We're constantly constantly being scrutinized by Chalkbeat because of Brad Mueller, the things that he is involved in. And they wrap us all up into one lump sum. They intertwine us, and I feel like it's time to get un unintertwined. We've said it before. The public has said it, and I just don't understand why we're, like, dead set on Brad Miller. Why are we dead set on Brad Miller?
I get that maybe he aligns with some of you pill politically, but you still have him as your attorney to look at policy. We're not trying to change policy. We're just trying to look at truancy issues and employee issues. Student issues. And student issues. And, Rhonda, how many of the CORA charges are related to mister Miller? So the large cores that we get, almost every single one of them is anything
that that takes time and effort is almost every single one of them is Brad Miller. We only get a few things to ask ask for, like purchase orders or, things that are finance and accounting. And those only take a few minutes because you can pull it directly from, the finance reports. But his, you have to go through every single email, find out what pertains to them, and then you have to redact everything. And it takes a lot of time. And then the attorney has to review it to make sure that everything is redacted.
So a lot. It takes a lot, and it takes a lot of my time. I could be actually doing things that are good for kids, but instead, I'm doing things that are pertinent to court. Okay. So let's with that, let's move on to open forum. Just a second. So I apologize if I take this extra second. Good evening. I'm Chris Sutton. I wanna respond real fast. February 24, Brad Miller actually ordered Anne Bennett to adjourn the meeting and walked out and abandoned administration. The entire district was abandoned when your attorney, yeah, ordered you to adjourn the meeting
and leave. So I think admin wanting their own attorney for this district and everybody else kinda makes sense. Sense. Moving on. I'm Chris Sutton speaking tonight regarding the proposed JBA policy. This policy pushed forward by Brad Miller is a profound waste of district time resources. Rather than solving real problems that threatens to drain public funds, starving our actual educational services to pay for private legal fees, and bringing nothing but division to our community and taxpayers. As history has shown, this policy is neither enforceable or easily managed. When District 49 adopted is the the policy, they followed up by suing the state. They ultimately settled, but d forty nine still ended up paying $60,000 for the state's
legal fees, plus whatever Miller charged the district to file the suit in the first place. Furthermore, it has been noted that there are currently no students in this district whom this policy would even impact. It is entirely unnecessary. Crucially, this policy would violate the Colorado anti discrimination act, a state law that the or this district is required to follow. Contrary to what miss Carnes might believe, executive orders are not laws and the federal government does not automatically override state legislation. This is exactly why we have the tenth amendment. Historically, when the federal government steps into a state's jurisdiction, it is to ensure the
preservation of civil rights, not to micromanage how a state operates at schools. In fact, isn't returning decision date, decision making to the states the entire logic, behind the current administration's goal of dismantling the Department of Education As noted, like, 94% of the funding comes from the state, not from feds. It is also worth noting that this topic will be on the ballot this year. The voters will cyber Colorado stands. I encourage the district not to waste another dime or minute on this until then. Lastly, the policy is contradictory in its own logic.
The only way to strictly adhere to it is ensure safety would be to forfeit any match against a team with a possible transgender athlete or frankly any athlete with a natural, with a natural size advantage for their safety. Those forfeits would directly harm the stats and scores of our own athletes, sabotaging their hard earned scholarship potential, opportunities. Additionally, are you guys trying to dictate what universities or who universities decide to give scholarships to? Were the like, and our trans students not students, do they not deserve opportunities as
well? Because this policy addresses no actual issue, mentioned it doesn't solve the bathroom issues or any of those others, violate state laws and harms the students it claims to protect, I urge the board to abandon this culture word of structure, distraction and table that policy. Again, Brad Miller sucks. He's the reason we have to quarter stuff, and you guys really should just get an RFP for a new attorney. Thank you. Next, we have Brian Kelsey Kelson. And now for something completely different. Good. Good. I wanna tell you about my father-in-law.
My father-in-law has raised four children who graduated from district seventy schools. He has a wife who spent thirty years as an employee of district seventy. He has eight grandchildren who by 2028 will all have graduated from district seventy. I have a vested interest in district seventy. I pastor Christ Church, Pueblo West, and I am very much into kids rights, parents rights, being a part of the local district. And it matters. It absolutely matters.
Safety of kids matters. You guys know exactly what that looks like. I know you do. Now, I wanna share something with you because we are in a week that we'll see the National Day of Prayer coming about. The National Day of Prayer is important. And let me tell you, my my father-in-law often said to his children and to my grand my his grandchildren, have you prayed about it? And so today, I'm going to ask you the same question. All of the things we decide and talk about, have we prayed about them? Philippians four six and seven says, don't worry about anything, instead pray about everything.
Tell God what you need and thank him for all he's already done. Then you will experience God's peace which exceeds anything we can understand and his peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Guys, you wanna know the solution. Here it is. And so right now, I whether whether you are a praying person or not, I'm gonna take us there. Lord, we are grateful for the way that you love us. We are grateful for the way that you pour into us. We ask your hand upon this community. We ask your hand upon this district. Lord, I pray that you give wisdom, understanding, compassion to those in leadership.
I pray that we get along well. I pray that we we are a family that cares about this district. I pray your hand upon all teachers that you keep them safe, that you draw them close, and that your hand would be upon them keeping them safe and close and giving them the wisdom and the compassion for the students that they teach so well. Lord, we pray your hand upon every single staff person, bus driver, custodian, lunch person. Lord, may they all be drawn to you and have your strength and power poured in them. And last but certainly not least, may your hand be upon every family, every student,
every parent. Lord, may they be lifted up and encouraged and protected by your hedge of protection. May this district grow in strength and stature and bring glory to your name. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you for your time. Moving on to action items. Item nine point o one, approval of the MOU between PCEA and Pueblo County School District seventy regarding movement of positions in and out of the bargaining unit. So do I have a motion to approve the MOU? So moved. I'll second. AJ Wilson? Yes. Anne Bennett?
Yes. Mark Emery? Yes. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susie Carnes? Yes. Motion carried. Okay. Item nine point o two, approval of the MOU between PCEA and Pueblo County School District seventy regarding mentoring for student success. Do I have a motion to approve the MOU? So moved. Second. AJ Wilson? Yes. Anne Bennett? Yes. Mark Emery? Yes. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susie Carnes? Yes. Motion carried. Item nine point o three, approval of the adoption of the ready math program grades k through five.
Did I have a motion to approve? So moved. I'll second. She's got it. Okay. I'm I'm writing as fast as I can. Hurry. Hurry. AJ Wilson? Yes. Anne Bennett? I'm gonna say no only because I haven't reviewed it. Okay. Mark Emery? Yes. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susie Carnes? Yes. Motion carried. Carried. Item number 10, consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented having been reviewed by the board? So moved. Second. You're so quiet. Sorry. Second agent Wilson? Yes.
Anne Bennett? Yes. Mark Emery? Yes. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susan Garnett? Yes. Rose and Carrie? Yes. Rose and Carrie? K. Item number 11. The next board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 05/26/2026 at the educational services center. 24951 East Highway 50 Pueblo, Colorado beginning at 6PM. And before we wrap up, Rhonda is gonna introduce or introduce or announce two principals. I am going to do that, but I also wanna make one other announcement because sometimes we get so caught up in business that we forget.
And it is teacher appreciation week and so let's appreciate our teachers. We're very, very appreciative of all the work that our teachers do, throughout our district. And I apologize for not, mentioning that earlier. Just was a little bit caught up in all of the business of of things. But now I would like to introduce to you, first, our newest principal at Pueblo County High School, Aaron Lewin. Thank thank you. Thank you. So I just wanna take a second to tell you all how truly honored and grateful I am for being selected as the next principal at Pueblo County High School.
This school is more than just a place of learning. It's a cornerstone of the community. It's rich in history and tradition and pride, and to step into this role is both humbling and deeply meaningful. I wanna recognize the incredible leaders who came before me. These individuals who dedicated themselves to building a strong foundation, fostering a culture of excellence, and always putting students first. Their work has shaped the school into what it is today, and I am committed
to honoring and continuing that legacy. Thank you for the trust and support. It is going to be a privilege to be able to continue to serve this incredible school and its community. Next, I would like to announce our principal of Skyview Middle School, Sandra Laney. What she said. Okay. I did not prepare anything formally tonight. But I I do want to just genuinely express my gratitude for Skyview. I've worked there for the past five years as an AP. I'm looking around this room and, you know, lots of good relationships that I have
formed, are are due to that role. But now as I move forward, my number one priority is supporting my teachers so they can support their kids. That's my job. And by the way, partnering with with parents. So there's a lot of levels there that get us to the the end goal, which is our kiddos. And I was gonna stand up here, and my first thing was gonna say happy teacher appreciation. So because I didn't hear it. But thank you, Rhonda, for for hanging that out. I've worked in district seventy for eighteen years.
I mean, maybe a lot of people haven't heard of me, but I kinda lay low. I'm not a huge, you know, bright light maybe as a teacher. I worked at I see Rhonda's face over there. You are a bright light. Okay. But I I worked at, LPI for nine years, and then I worked at the high school for five year or for four years, and now I've been at Skyview for five. I live in Pueblo West. I intentionally built a home in Pueblo West very close to Skyview because I wanna
finish at Skyview. I love middle school. I do. The transition that takes place in just a couple years with a middle school kid, it's incredible. And so I am so thankful to be doing what I'm doing and to have this job. So thank you very much. Do I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? So moved. Second. AJ Wilson? Yes. Anne Bennett? Yes. Mark Emery? Yes. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susan Karn? Yes. Motion carried. So it's 40. We may adjourn.