Shane, your sign has been terminated. Okay. So the consent agenda is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? Sure. Consent agenda as is. As is. Alright. Is there a second? I will second. K. Any discussions? Hearing none seeing things the same bingo? Missus Fisher? Aye. Mister Don? Aye. Mister Fisher? Aye. Missus Welch? Aye. Missus West? Aye. Okay. And we received an epilogue correspondence, sir. Yes, sir. You have received it all. Okay. Miss Briggs. Hi. Good evening. We have a lot to celebrate tonight, which is why we have a full house.
So I would like to start by noting, missus Patty Joshua up here from Webster Elementary. She is going to give a recap on the district speech competition, and we have our winners here to do speeches tonight. Good evening. We have I'd like to say so much to celebrate. First up, we have the winners from the district speech competition that took place in October. Students in third, fourth, and fifth grades competed for elementary schools. This year's theme was all in strong together, where students focus their speeches on the value and importance of teamwork. The third and fourth grade students were allowed to use poems and speeches that reflected
the theme, and fifth grade students had to give an original speech reflecting the theme. I'd like to thank the building representatives and district facilitators for making this a successful, competition. Thank you for the use of Moose Ridge High School as well. Now I'd like to invite our winners. We'll start with our third grade grand champion, Jonathan Rapp from elementary. Hi. My name is Jonathan Wapp, and I'm from Elementary School. And today, we reciting a poem called Together us all together in ways that show we care. Whether bathed in victory or defeat unwelcome tears,
each will make us stronger as we overcome our fears. So share with me this moment. Join me in the dream. Together, we are stronger because there's no I in team. Right. Alrighty. Our next fourth grade is Catalia Portillo Torres from Talbot steam innovation school. An end needs a beginning and a beginning needs an end. Hello needs goodbye and we all need a friend. Good morning judges, friends, and special guests. Imagine one piece of string. It's strong, but imagine a twisting ticket.
Well Okay. Okay. Okay. An n needs a beginning, and a beginning needs an end. Hello needs goodbye, and we all need a friend. Good morning, judges, friends, and special guests. Imagine one piece of string, it's strong, but if we twist it together with other strings, it makes a super tough rope that cannot break. That's what all in and stronger together means to me. When we join hands and work as a team, we can turn big dreams into real things. Let's talk about how teamwork makes us unstoppable. My name is Katalaya Torres. I'm in fourth grade at Abbott Steam Innovation School.
First meets last, last meets first. Worst meets best, best meets worst. Old needs young, young needs old. The brave needs the shy, and the shy needs the bold. Sweet needs sour, sour needs sweet. Heat needs gold. Cool needs heat. We're all together, all together, all together now. All together, all together, all together now. A speaker needs a listener, and a listener needs to look. A book needs a reader, and a reader needs a book. Welcome. We're all together, all together, all together now. All together, all together, all together now.
Thank you. Some tough competition out there. All right. Last but not least our fifth grade grand champion, Lindley Axelson from Webster Elementary School. Team teaming up with teamwork together as a team. This is the quote from the PBS Kids TV show Odd Squad. It reminds me of how I had to team up with teamwork together as a team with my coding team. Good evening, everyone. My name is Linley Axelson.
I'm in fifth grade at Webster Elementary. Today, I will be talking about teamwork. Teamwork is where we collaborate and share ideas with each other. Teamwork is included in a large amount of things we just don't realize. Coding, choir, school projects, and even speech competition. Coding is all about teamwork. Teamwork includes the five c's, communication, camaraderie, commitment, confidence, and coachability. Co communication, the way we share ideas with each other.
Communication is important with my coding team because we need to discuss everyone's ideas to pick the best one to complete the mission. My partner, Sadie, and I use communication to get through a tricky maze. It looks like Sadie and I are talking over each other at the same time. But we totally know what the other one is saying. We communicate loud and proud. Camaraderie. The relationships between members of a team.
Having a good relationship with your team is important because you know how to talk to each other without being mean. Because we have great camaraderie on my team, we're able to talk to each other quickly and efficiently. We don't have to be best friends, but we are. Commitment. Being dedicated to a cause or an activity. It's important because the whole team has to be committed to our goal. Everyone on my team has to show up,
be on task, and do their best for us to win. We are committed for being the best for each other. Confidence. The belief that I can rely on my teammates. Confidence is important to my coaching team because we need to have confidence in our team. If we have great teamwork before the competition, I can be confident that my partner will do their best for us to win. We have so much confidence in each other that we could do trust balls, maybe. Coachability. Being willing to listen to feedback and act on the best group decision.
It's important because when either missus McDonald or doctor Lowman tells us to be faster, more precise when precise when driving the drone, or to find the pieces of the code? We need to listen, not argue. They only want the best for us. And if we listen, we will be our best. When we work together, we go farther than we would alone. When we work together, the work is easier and the load is lighter. When teamwork is great, people accomplish amazing things.
So remember, to have the best team, you need communication, camaraderie, commitment, confidence, and coachability. As they say, teamwork makes the dream work. Well, thank you guys for giving us an opportunity to have these speech competitions. You can see our kids do really great at it. So thank you very much. Can we give them one round of applause? Thank you. I just found our convocation speaker for next year. I'm so excited. Okay. Well, now I'd like to bring up, Terry Brungardt, our district media specialist, and Carlos Lopez, director of technology, to talk about our first Lego League challenge,
and we have our winning team with us here tonight too. Thank you, Sam. I also want to thank just, ladies and gentlemen of the board. This is not my first time speaking to you. In the past few years I've had the opportunity to come and speak to you many times to celebrate a lot of the great works that are going on across this district and I'm pleased to say that FLL Challenge is one of those that really completes this fantastic story arc that we have in Whitefield that begins in elementary and takes us all the way through the secondary regarding our coding and robotics opportunities that we have for students. So tonight, we're here to talk to you about our first Lego League challenge event,
which if you're unaware, we have been doing this in Whitefield for many, many years. This is one of the largest that we've ever hosted, and I want Terry to be able to speak to that. But I think it's also worth noting that while it's not only one of the largest events we've ever had and one of the largest in the state, that even in Whitefield, we had the opportunity to host not just the qualifier, but state back in 2017 as well. So I wanna make sure that while that is, that is, actually, we've been doing it since 2017. My apologies. We hosted the state back during our COVID years when Denver when was unable to
host the event. This year, as there's always a fantastic theme, this year, the theme is based on archaeology, and it was called Unearthed. And Terry's gonna talk to you a little bit about not only our district's participation, but of course the the teams throughout our school district. So without any further ado, let me turn it over to Terry Braungard. It is worth noting that she has hosted and been the tournament director for this event for a number of years, and she brings a wealth of experience to it. So thank you, Terry. Thank you, miss Stevens. I'm so excited to be here because we I really am so proud of Whitefield
and our history with this event because it really is significantly larger than most events. And we've talked about the fact that we had 38 teams which was even larger than we had anticipated because up until two weeks before the competition, it was supposed to be 35 and then suddenly we blossomed to 38. We really are the second largest tournament in the state of Colorado for this event, which I'm very proud of. Widefield does that, you know, and we are the school that has the largest one here in this region.
And, the only qualifier that's larger than this is not a Denver qualifier. It's Grand Junction of all places because they they end up grabbing all of the Western Slope teams. So they're very proud of them. This tournament is intended for fourth through eighth grade students. Now, Whitefield tends to only have elementary age students, but we compete against junior high level students. And you're gonna see in just a moment that we do very well, you know, and so so proud of them. Whitefield, school district three Harrison and Academy District twenty really represented the bulk of all the
schools, but we also tend to have some, homeschool teams and charter school teams that participate. They're very proud of all of our participation. We had such tremendous support this year from the community, and I'm so proud of that because sometimes that's the part that makes you nervous. You know, are you gonna have enough? Because to have something this large, it takes a lot of people to do it. We had 73 volunteers and at least half of those are volunteers from the community. That's a huge number. That's the largest number we've ever had, and so I was very proud of that.
And we were able to host eight judge rooms, which doesn't sound like much, but eight judge rooms tends to be the largest number of judge rooms in the state, so very excited about that. We had at least 60 coaches that participated, and we had two fifty participants for this day. And then we had over 800 people in attendance, so it was very large. It was just absolutely wonderful. But as you can imagine, something like this doesn't happen just on one person's shoulders. I do wanna give a big shout out to the FLL Challenge core team.
They do an amazing job. It really is a tremendous amount of work. So I'd like to just briefly recognize Brenna Long, Audra Canale, Haley Lewis, who is actually a senior this year at Mesa Ridge High School, and she's been our head rep for three years, which is very impressive. Jason Buckley, t Overstreet, who is a math teacher at Whiteville High School, and of course, the amazing Carlos Lopez who emcees. And it's always the only day out of the year that he ever says, I don't wanna talk anymore.
So but he he really is incredible if you've not had a chance to listen to him. But I did wanna give kudos to the coaches. This takes a lot of time. They start in August and they don't finish until November. And if they get to go to state, they don't finish until December. So kudos to them for doing all the amazing things that they do with students. And then kudos to the security team. We had amazing presence there just to help and support everybody. And Megan Nellis, of course, was there to support just in case we needed something. And a huge thank you to Parks and Rec for always supporting school sites with
their STEM funding so that programs like this are possible. So it takes a true team. Growth and improvement this year, we're always trying to do something new and different. And one of the things that we did do, we actually brought in a team of junior high new students, and they did photography for us for the entire day. And they did an amazing job. And they also, we also live streamed the awards ceremony for the first time. So that was an exciting perk for all of them. So excited about that. But the most important thing is the level of success.
So I wanna just talk about the three teams that really stood out from Whitefield. So the Webster Relic Retrievers were led by Shelley Toombs and, Marie Sierraletta, and they received second place Innovation Project Award. That's excellent. And then we had the KES King Excavators led by Jackie Crablin and Kathy Morales, and they received the second place robot design award, and they were the sixth team chosen to go to state competition this year.
And that's a repeat for them. They actually attended last year. And then our top performing team was Pandazon, and they were led by Amber Ortman and Danielle Campos, and you're gonna get a chance to hear from them. They received the first place Innovation Project Award, and they were the fourth team chosen to go to the state competition, which is huge. And they also attended state last year. This year, they will be going to state on December 6, and that's another long day. They'll be going from 07:00 in the morning to about 05:00 at night,
just doing their best. It's a great event, but the best thing is that you get to hear from them. So Amber and Danielle and all of the amazing members of Pandazon, if you could come up and share all of the great things that that you did. First about meeting our scientists. And then we have Freya who's gonna speak about our innovation projects. After that, you'll have a little blurb from Eliason who's gonna talk about our robot along with Brooklyn. And then Mel will just give a little bit of how we do our coding. Because it's a lot that goes into it.
There's quite a few different parts. So we're just going to give you the part where we did a pretty decent job with innovation project. So you guys wanna turn around, face the door, and then, Jackson, if you wanna start sharing, what research do you did? We have a slow Oh, yeah. You can keep going. That's probably good. That's okay. We won't worry about the sides. So when we present, there is a lot that goes into it. Like, we have different sides. They have different pieces. So we sniffed it down quite a bit. So this is the abbreviated version.
So we met with two different scientists. One from Poland and one who is right now working in Utah. And we for the Poland one, we had to come to school at, like, eight in the morning to to talk to her because for her, that was four. And then the Utah one is his name was Jay Tyler Pace. He's he asked for the usual works in Colorado,
just doesn't just right now is in Utah. And he helped us with our our model. And with our model, this is what we have so far. We're still working on getting it to be automatic, but he really likes the idea of a portable sifter. As you can see, that just folds up. Very nice. And if we were really making this, it would be more serve sturdy, and it would be a lot better because this is just,
like, the prototype. Mhmm. Alright. There you go. Mhmm. So then after we created the prototype, the team had an opportunity to speak with our scientist again. We met with doctor Tyler Faith, and then we're meeting with our scientist, doctor Eberly, tomorrow, actually. But, again, it has to be early in the morning, late in the afternoon for her. And then this is what Tyler had to say about our presentation. Presentation. So it was pretty exciting what we created had not been created before, and he's actually really invested. He wants to know what we do next because it has some potential in the
real world in archaeology. Mhmm. And then, Liza, do you wanna share with, what we did for our robot design? We need the Is it remote control? Or is a button on it? Oh, it's a button. Okay. And then Brooklyn, if you wouldn't mind just speaking a little bit because I know you guys haven't had a chance to see the mat, but it's this very large mat and there's different things that we need to do. And how you were asking is it remote controlled, it cannot be. Everything has to be downloaded into the robot. So it is once you're on the board,
whatever is in the robot is what we have. Okay. So what are some of the missions we have going on? Some of the missions we have And so you talked about the missions, but can you explain because I know we broke into team two teams. So you guys are part of TV. What is one mission that you really liked? And then, Noel, do you wanna talk just briefly about how do we put everything into the robot? What does our code look like? Cool. Very cool. Thank you. And then I would say if you guys have any questions, hopefully, our team can answer it enough, and we will find out for you.
First, I'm gonna say I love your outfit. I love this awesome. Mhmm. Yes. So I was asking was that remote control? You said no. What is it all made out of? It's made out of Lego Technic. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Very good, you guys. Thank you very much. Thank you. And congratulations. Yeah. First place. Great job. Alright. And our last special guest we have here tonight come to us from Whitefield High School. Mister Nick Leonard has been named coach of the year for the second year in a row by the Colorado Springs Metro League South Conference.
And Nick is the Whitefield High School's, softball coach. He's also a teacher, and he is here tonight with a few of his softball players to talk about his award and, of course, their successful season. Come on up. And before I let you talk, I'm gonna make you take a picture with your award. You wanna do with your students? Okay. You don't wanna be the. Alright. One, two, three. You wanna start a vomit? Wherever you guys want. Alright. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and be recognized this evening. Coaching is an incredibly difficult job, but when you're blessed with a group of athletes like I have been blessed with,
it makes it the best and most rewarding job in the world. This season for us was incredibly special. We had a ton of expectations placed on us coming into the year because people in the area recognized the talent that we had, and so they really thought we were gonna do some damage this year, and these girls more than exceeded expectations. They finished the year with a school record, 23 wins. They were undefeated in the league play for the first time in over a decade. They're back to back league champions, and we clinched our first state birth in over a decade. These girls have made wide field history and really put us on the map in
the state this year and for many years to come because lots of them are still coming back. One of the major turning points in our season and where I really think we started to become ourselves was at a game down in Pueblo against a really strong pitcher. It was a back and forth game that we were able to win in the end, and we didn't know it at the time, or I did. I didn't want them to know it. This game was being televised in Pueblo. So we went back and rewatched the broadcast. And the hometown commentator, who is obviously a Pueblo fan, he said, this wide field team is very tough. They're scrappy. They won't go away,
and they just compete so hard. And he was almost a little annoyed by it. And to me, that was a massive compliment. And I think it's the perfect identity for our team. Some coaches want their program to be known as one that's perfect or the most talented, doesn't make any mistakes, but I'd much rather have the reputation, of the team that never quits and that competes for every moment. And that's the reputation these girls have earned for themselves. I just think I'm lucky to be a part of it. One of the focuses for us has always been not only to find success on the field, but to also progress as people. And one thing I like to tell the girls is to try to be the
player that their younger selves would look up to when she needed a role model. And we have so many outstanding role models on this team. Four of them right here. These girls mean a lot to me. I'm trying not to choke up. Sorry. One of the players who's up here with me, I didn't ask her if I could do this, so I'm not gonna name her because I don't I don't wanna embarrass her. But she wrote a letter to me last week that said, you made me a better person and athlete. I'm so thankful to have you in my life as a teacher, coach, and as family. You get me so well, and I don't know if any coach has ever believed in me more than you
do. And that just means the world to me. Our athletic director, mister Blumen, always says, you guys have four years as coaches to impact the next forty years for these kids. And I don't know if I've changed their next forty years, but they've definitely changed mine. And in forty years, I'll be 70 in a rocking chair still talking about this team. They're very special, but I wanna recognize the ones who are with us tonight. So first is Susie Salvijes. Susie works really hard to get better every single day. And last year, she went from getting no recognition at our league meeting,
all the way to skipping honorable mention, skipping second team, and she's a first team all conference player now, and she's only a sophomore. Susie's our cleanup hitter. She has the most infectious laugh on the team, and we can't wait to see what she does the next two years because she's just growing exponentially. Next up, next to me right here is Evelyn Ibarra. Evelyn's another all conference player who constantly keeps our team up, and she's always, always, always talking. She's gonna talk in a second here. She's incredibly loved and involved at Whitefield High School, and I know for a fact,
I can say with complete confidence that there's more than one little girl in our community who wants to grow up and play second base for Whitefield High School because of her. Bella Monk is one of our captains, And I'm so happy Bella's up here because Bella had a crazy thought that she was so nervous at the beginning of the season that she wasn't gonna get any recognition for things, and she's just earned so many different ones. This year, she received first team all conference honors for the third year in a row. She's the Colorado Springs Metro League defensive player of the year for the whole league, and she became the first player in the history of Whitefield High School to have
a thousand points on the basketball court and a 100 hits in her softball career. She still has another basketball season left that hasn't even started. She's the definition of a complete athlete who knows, how to do everything right. There's never been anyone like her, and I think that's pretty special. Last is our pitcher, Olivia McEwen. Liv led our league this year in pretty much everything. Strikeouts as a pitcher, she beat her own school record this year. She was number one in the league in earned run average. She was number one in the league in hits, highest batting average in the league,
and she led the league in home runs. She's first team all conference for the second time. She's the CSML offensive player of the year, and she's, for back to back years now, the league MVP, the CSML player of the year, and she's only a sophomore. I've had other players yeah. I've had other players in our program or around the city ask how they can get to that level and what she does, and I just tell them there's no secret. There's no shortcuts. You just have to work hard every single day. And I've seen her push herself to the point of exhaustion time and time again, and I'm just really proud of this group.
I'm so lucky a week out from Thanksgiving, so thankful to be their coach, and Evelyn and maybe Bella. I don't know. I was gonna say a few words, but Evelyn for sure. As Leonard mentioned, our lady glass softball program enjoyed a very successful season. We surpassed the school's previous record with of 19 wins, adding four more and finishing with a total of 23. We started off the season with great momentum by collecting nine consecutive wins. From the very first practice, we committed ourselves to building one another up. We supported each other in every challenge and celebrated every achievement. Though that commitment,
through that commitment, we developed strong bonds and meaningful connections. Connections that brought us closer and brought us the satisfaction of personal growth. But we also shared the joy and pride in our team's collective success. Throughout the season, we focused on four main core traits, grit, courage, purpose, and character, known by our team as GCPC. These traits shaped us into stronger individuals and demonstrated our dedication to the sport we love. I firmly believe that the trust and unity we established and continue to strengthen as the season progressed played a vital role in our improvement as a team. Combined with our athletic skill,
that foundation ultimately helped carry us to state. With just over half of our varsity team returning next year, I'm incredibly excited to see the growth, progress, and accomplishments that lie ahead. Nice. Hi. I'm Bella. I'm just gonna talk from the heart. We do a thing called bucket talk and mental Mondays every Monday and bucket talk before practices. And it's kinda just to remember we're not just athletes. We're also people and we're students. We have a lot going on in our lives. And I think from a athlete perspective, especially from softball, it's a very mental sport. And this is to Leonard.
You make it not as mental. A lot of people expected so much from us, and that's a lot of pressure for us. But when we have two great coaches, that just means a lot more. It's a lot lot less stress. And I think without him, we wouldn't be the team we are today. And Stop looking at me. And I think he knows he's a great person and a great coach. And I think a lot of you guys know that too. So thank you, Leonard. Thank you. Congratulations, ladies. Congratulations. Hold it. Don't forget your today. Oh, Okay. And just one final note,
our annual tow drop toy drive, not tow, toys, hosted by our positive action team kicks off December 1 and runs through December 15. We are asking for new unwrapped toys and gift cards to be donated to any of our schools, the Fountain Valley Senior Center, the Security Public Library, Whitefield Parks and Recreation, and the Security Fire Department. All of those gifts that we collect, Santa and his helpers go out on Tuesday, December 16 to all of those locations, takes the toys to the Security Fire Department, and then they are given back to families in our community.
Thank you. And thank you. Thank you. Yes. Before we leave, the superintendent's report, just wanted to, say a few things. Tonight is the last board meeting for a few of our board members that are sitting up here. So tonight I'd like to take a moment to express my gratitude personally, to our outgoing board members which are Mrs. Donna Walsh, Mr. Greg Fisher and Mr. David Dock. Serving on the school board requires a significant commitment of time and energy that often goes unseen by the public. Thank you for your dedication over the last four years and for celebrating with us during all of our triumphs.
Personally, I know I've appreciated spending the last two years getting to know, all of you better as the superintendent, whether it's through supporting the school district with our strategic plan, providing fiscal stewardship, serving as a bridge to the community, helping to pass our bond and MLO, supporting our academic initiatives, visiting schools and other departments throughout the district, or attending staff roundtable meetings, we appreciate the perspective that you've shared along the way and the work you put into ensuring that our school district continues to move forward. On behalf of the administration, staff and students, thank you for your service to Whitefield School District three,
and we wish you nothing but the best in your future endeavors. If you don't mind, the three of you guys, would you come down to the front and we'll get a picture? Oh, no. Why not? Okay. Here we go. I'm about for three. Alright. Thank you. Is this what you wanted to Yes. You guys can, yeah, jump into the David, we'll just go downward. Did you have anything you wanted to say? Are we at our point of, we are, sir. Committee board? No. Oh. Did you have anything for your yeah. How much time do I Two minutes thirty seconds. Yeah. Very much rewarding with the,
commitment and, respect and everything I see from all of our staff. I mean, our, admin staff, our cabinet, those who are on staff at each of the schools. I mean, the day in and day out, you you made the job for the board quite easy because you've led us down the right path. I truly believe, there's so many good things going on. There's always issues. There's always problems. There's a lot of good things going on. And, and I I I told several, even this evening, I wouldn't wanna serve on a board anywhere else but here. It's been good. And we've had our hiccups.
You know, I will say, I appreciate so much, mister Hoffman. He's, kinda led the way with re I think his biggest thing is that gratitude that he shows. You can't beat it. You can't beat showing gratitude. And I'm appreciative of that. Obviously working with mister Durham before that was wonderful too. Appreciate your time and getting to know you. And I can't say enough about missus Tammy Medina. She, kinda keeps us between the ditches. I mean, we go down those guardrails that she kinda points out. And I'm surprised she hasn't jumped up and screamed and hollered sometimes. Like, don't you guys understand? And we we have to learn every every board meeting kinda how things really need
to function. But thank you so much, Tammy. Couldn't do it without you. All of our cabinet support staff. We've had, a couple of things that I've been really thrilled with, besides the fact that the the bond in Mill I mean, that's been crucial, of course, as we all know. We got to participate and be part of of seeing the upcoming housing for, district employees. That thing's starting to blossom. We'll see how that goes forward, and that's that's a good thing. But early on, when I visited with, mister Duran, one of the things, what was it?
Four years ago, we came on. We started talking about enhancing our safety and security, and I've been really thrilled to be a part of what we've done. Hasn't been cheap. We know. We had to dedicate a lot of budget dollars to that. And I'm thankful for Terry Kimber for finding dollars where he could to to make things happen. Help us out. But, the safety and security has been crucial. So glad for that. The other big thing in my mind, and I got to be part of this, I think I think in helping to boost this, the organization called Johnny's Ambassadors, which,
Mrs. Howell has taken and taken them all and run with. Creating all that informative, guidance regarding, especially the marijuana, the THC, and other drugs, helping us land a program that really helps, our students and, you know, get back on track. And I appreciate you just really, putting that out there and getting that training where it needed to be with all of our schools and and helping our students. I think the long run results are gonna be gonna be great. Obviously, we know the student achievement emphasis that's going on right now,
Megan, and so much that we're thrilled to see, that go forward. It's been my privilege, and I'll talk in a minute about meeting with Mr. Gish. But I've learned so much from, from Dave over the years, last couple years on, basically how, how we direct our projects, how funding is directed in that respect on on buildings and operations. Seeing that I don't feel like we're wasting a penny. I mean, yeah, there's always questions and priorities. Why can't we do this or that? And we have limited budget, budgeted funds. And I think he and our staff has made the most of what we've had
to work with. So thrilled with all of that. One last thing, sorry to go on and on. Piece of advice, for our board going forward. As you know, when it comes time for public comment, we read the rules and the rules say the board members do not respond to individual statements and questions during the public comment portion of the meeting. We understand why, because the meeting could go all night if we have a back and forth, response. A lot of people don't understand that the policy has been that the board doesn't respond during a public comment. We need to fix that. I don't know if it's a separate town hall meeting as the need arises or
what it is, but we need to have a back and forth, a more, communicated back and forth meeting, it it going forward. I I don't I challenge the future board to try to fix that somehow. We could have saved a lot of of, misinformation, false accusations, and really hurt, and really hurt, grievances, nearly a couple years ago when things got just out of hand. And I think a lot of that could have been solved right up front had we had an opportunity to to sit down on a a back and forth type type of a meeting. So if you understand what I'm saying, if you guys can figure out something to help that situation going forward,
I think it would really help everyone in our in our district. So thank you for listening. Thank you, Dan. Thank you, Dan. Miss Walsh. So I don't have anything written out. I just wrote out make sure I didn't forget any of the building people. I just wanna say thank you. It's been my pleasure to do this. We worked as a board and, you know, we don't always agree on everything, and that's okay because we have different personalities. So that's okay. But I wanna start with the school staff. I wanna thank all of the teachers, the EA, secretary,
Sykes, social workers, counselors, nurses, our principals that run the schools. Thank you for everything that you do. I wanna thank our custodians, our nutrition services, and our nurses, and our security that's in the schools there. I wanna thank the bus drivers. Day in and day out, you're picking up our kids. Thank you for what you do, and you take them home safely. All of our support staff, nutrition care facilities, parking rec, the mill, security public library, which I had the pleasure to serve with them on their board. Our central admin, all of you, for Rachel,
your staff, Megan, your staff, Carlos, your staff, TLRS, all of you guys, thank you for everything. Central admin, guys, this was family for many years for me, and you're still family when I worked here. And my family finance family back there, you know, so and then Erin and Tammy, thank you guys for making this a pleasure. Tammy knows I've called her. So Tammy, what do I do about this? She has been our backbone for our board, and I appreciate you all, and I love you all. Believe it or not, I said I wasn't gonna write anything because,
my actions speak. But, I did actually write it because if I don't, I I will start to, get emotional on it. So I I to everyone that they thanked is is was on the list. I mean, the three of us came into this together. We're going out. We gained two more, lost two. All of the administrators, Mr. Hoffman, Tammy, I would not have been able to survive two years without Tammy. She's been my eyes, my brain, my ears, everything. I just get back to this. Without the staff, without all of the families and all of the members of our community,
there's no purpose for us. So thank you to each and every one of you because we are here to serve each and every one of you. And I look back and as I prepare to step back into a normal life and not be in a position like this, thank you, Lord. I also look at it and go, this has been four years that have been a true honor serving the community and serving each and every one of you, going through and dealing with the hard things, dealing with the easy things, supporting the community. It is a rich history that's resilient, has a lot of military ties,
and the community itself has an unwavering commitment to our children. And it has shaped me as much as I hope I've helped shape it. When I look at the last four years, I'm struck at how much we, this board, along with the other board, have accomplished together through each and every one of the challenges, who could have predicted the triumphs that we've been through and why we do the work. And I'm even though I have this written, I'm not gonna read the whole thing, because it'd be in anyway. But we did navigate lingering effects of COVID. So that's what we the three of us started with, was the after effects of COVID. Trying to prioritize social,
emotional and mental health. I am so proud of the social emotional wellness group. That is one of the top three, four things that that this board has done. The fiscal responsibility that we've accomplished started under Kevin Duran's leadership and it transitioned to Aaron Hoffman's. We now have a true wide field gladiator homegrown leader, who has worked his way through. We've prioritized competitive compensation, professional development, staff wellness to attract and retain the very best educators and professionals. As Dave said, we strengthen safety and security. That is too not in numeric order,
but the second, that I look back that we've added the armed security personnel and upgraded the protocol so that we can have a safe place for each and every one of the students and staff. We champion championed innovation and career readiness, expanding the robotics coding as you saw tonight. I mean, that was just amazing. CTE, partnerships like our groundbreaking in the careers construction, the Pikes Peak Habitat. You think of all the students that are going to be affected. They're going to build the houses for people that could be living in those houses. That is number three. And then, number four is the bond and mill levy. That will have far reaching implications going forward.
So those four things are pillars that I think lead to the number one pillar student achievement. And if you look at what this board has put in place, the foundation for the next few boards to take what Megan has put in place, her and the team. And this is not I'm naming people. This is teams. And it is many, many people, many sleepless nights. And putting that priority in place is something that I can go home and I can sleep well at night going this this team, we did it. Now the next team gets to take on, take the baton and lead. Just last to the students,
you're the reason that we're here. And as we heard, I love the speeches. Keep dreaming big, working hard and remembering that Whitefield believes in you and the Whitefield way is true, and it is very heartfelt. To the incoming board, your foundation strong. Keep listening, keep innovating, and keep putting students first. Thank you for the privilege of serving. It has been an honor and a pleasure, and I appreciate everyone. And if I didn't name you personally, but the you we wouldn't be where we are, who we are without each and every one of you. So thank you. And I don't want to end it on that, but thank you.
Now we get to some more unfeeling. We went out of order last time and, I think miss Walsh, you were the only one who at a board meeting has not started the I did last week. Last you want me to start? Did you was it last month? Last week. I know the luncheon. Yeah. But I mean in the board meeting. Oh, okay. I'm good. You go. Come on. Security Public Library. So there will not be a December meeting. A lot of you may know Susan is retiring. So her last day will be December 31 with Security Park Library. I'm not sure when her little going away is just yet.
They said they'll let us know. But, before the month of October, they, you know, they had the book sale. They did really great for the book sale, but they also had, makerspace family night where They had 55 people attend. The staff went to Grand Mountain to make makerspace experience with 155 students. The Glowforge classes that they're doing, they're making helicopter models, LED candle holders for the holidays, and mushroom shelf sitters, which I don't know what that is. It's a mushroom on a shelf, and it sits there.
Not the elf on the shelf, but Yeah. You know, it's a mushroom. So the cricket classes are doing sweatshirts, hoodies, and pumpkin lanterns. The three d classes, they're doing aluminum leaf bowls, dragging key chains, fall coasters, and they're doing Thanksgiving dinner snap out. Workshops, hours are Monday and Wednesday from 10:30 to 12:30 and Saturday, two to four. So I will be having a little time, so I'm gonna sign up for a few classes. Thank you, ma'am. Mhmm. Miss West. Oh,
alright. I am, going to bring you an update for the DAC committee, which if people don't know, that means the district accountability advisory committee. We had our last meeting on November 6 at 6PM in the Mason Ridge Library. We had Kathleen Mena come in and give us, a presentation on the mill. That is our, manufacturing industry learning lab, for those who don't know because I didn't actually know because all those acronyms. She gave a a great presentation on the mill and, all the extraordinary the extraordinary aspects of that program.
And that is a, four year learning pathway program in cabinet manufacturing, construction technology, and welding technology. These these classes are are great for these kids. They, they offer career connected learning in, high demand trades and technical fields. And students who go all the way through the four year pathway leave with industry certification upon graduation. So these are great programs that, certification upon graduation. So these are great programs that, have enormous influence on our graduation rates and attendance rates. And I encourage anyone who wants to get that full presentation to,
go online to our site under the DAC page to see it in its entirety because it really is an extraordinary place that, our kids have as an option for, for, you know, getting straight into the workplace. She did also mention that, I think she said 100% of the kids who take those those pathways end up going to either a two or four year college. So it's a great opportunity for for kids to get real world experience then go straight into the job market. We also had Sam Briggs come and discuss a new survey that she's set to roll out to students,
parents, and the community, that focuses on basically the Whitefield School District's culture and, all all experiences, had by those, constituency groups. This should happen in January with these results being finalized, you said, in early spring? Okay. And, our next meeting will be we won't be having one in December, but our next meeting will be January 8, 6PM at King Elementary. Thank you, man. Dave, we'll go ahead and hit you and end with, week ago today it was. Yeah. Thursday before board meeting. I I meet, every month with, mister Dave Gish regarding our,
gosh, our operations, all the things that are happening around our buildings, our facilities. And, now the big the big pressure is on that that we have the bond and mill levy, monies being voted in. Mister mister Gish has the huge priority list, which, they are ready to roll with so many projects that we're gonna be able to go forward and do for many, many of our locations. And everything I've seen looks, so promising. And, the future is gonna be great for many of our buildings. Many of our students, atmospheric or environments for learning are gonna be improved so much.
One of the things we wanna that we talked about is from that priority list that mister Gish has, and I know we are our admin has that list of what's happening now. I mean, we wanna create that voter confidence or maintain and improve that voter confidence as time goes on. You know, the the bond and mill, the vote was pretty close, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. There's not, there are some people that did did not see the need. So we wanna keep creating the visual of why we had the need,
and here are the results of of of how we're functioning and moving forward. So we've talked about ideas of what we can put on our website or other ways we can communicate communicate to our community, an update list that is a progress list of projects, maybe anticipated completion dates and status from month to month or quarter to quarter. These all these things as mister Gish and I talked about, these things take time. Can't get all the projects done right away because, many of them have to many of them have to happen when we don't have
students in the buildings. So there you go. We have, certain, break times and summer times to accomplish a lot of these things and dealing with contractors is no easy feat. So, Mr Gish, thank you so much for heading up that side of it. Again, let's just move forward and and keep our community informed and create that voter confidence. Thanks. Thank you, sir. Miss Kucher, bring us home. Okay. Whitefield Park and Rec. So first thing is that the Whitefield Park and Rec app is no longer gonna be in use. So if you want anything or any know anything about park and rec,
you're going to the website. Okay? We have some really great upcoming projects. We have a tennis and pickleball court resurface that's planned for next summer. Awesome. We also, believe it or not, are repairing our parking lots, the speed bumps. Have you ever been over one of those? Okay. We're repairing those. We're not lowering them. We're just repairing them. And we're gonna paint them so you'll be able to see them coming up. Okay. So, yes. One of the things that's really awesome at the park and rec meetings is that
they have a department head that comes in and tells us all about their department of any particular month. And this year, Lane talked to us about the park and rec's cultural and arts department, which is really amazing. And she does things like movies in the park. I mean, it's it's just a whenever if Lane touches it, it's absolutely amazing. So one of the things I wanna just just because I don't wanna belabor anything, One of the things that she is putting on as long as well as the entire park and rec department is our tree lighting ceremony.
And my all of my, technology is frozen. So that will be on a Tuesday. December 9. December 9. December 9. And I do know it's at 05:30. Now I wanna tell you a little bit about the parking. Last year, we had 4,000 people that came. It was absolutely amazing. And there was a little bit of a parking issue. So they have created parking. But in order to see kind of where it is, you'll have to go to the website and kind of figure out how we've created trails and parking that would help in addition.
One of the things that I wanna tell you, I'm so excited, is we're gonna have reindeer there. Now I did ask if I could ride it, and they said no. Oh, no. Do they But you can feed it. Yes. Very excited about that. Our next meeting, we we do have a a meeting in December, and it's going to be on Thursday, December 11 at 06:00. And I wanna tell you something. This is this is an extraordinary place. If you've never visited it or went to go look at it or just check
it out, It is really a gem, and I do spend a lot of time there. And I wanna say hello to those swim ladies like I normally do. But thank you so much for the joy and the spirit that you give me when I go there. So thank you. Thank you, ma'am. We will move on to public comment. Any resident or employee of Whitefield School District three is welcome to address the Board of Education at this time on items pertaining to education and or the operation of the district. Any person wishing to address the board is requested to come to the microphone and on being recognized, give their name and comment.
Public comments shall be directed to the board, not members of the audience. Comments directed to members of the audience shall be this, all right, directed to members of the audience shall be considered out of order. Board members will not respond to individual statements or questions during public comment portion. Questions relating to employees of the district will not be permitted. Such questions should be referred to the superintendent at another time. Total time will be thirty minutes, and it requested that each person limit their comments to no more than five minutes. This is a professional meeting in which district business is conducted. Board policy KFA, public conduct on school property prohibits profanity or verbally abusive language.
Behavior in and outside the boardroom and on all district property is a model for all students served in the Whitefield School District three. We have one signee, Corey Applegate. Evening board. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. For those of you that don't know me or, you know, just not as well. My name's Corey Applegate. I'm the commissioner from, for county commission for district four. So if you live in Whitefield security area, any unincorporated areas outside of a city, so please ask me any questions, anything you may have, any complaints. So I just wanted to come up tonight and I just wanted to thank, I wanted to thank Gregory Fisher.
I wanted to thank Donna Walsh and wanted to thank David Dock for your work on the board. So I know being as being an elected and being someone in that position, there's moments where this job has its perks and it's like, you're like, Hey, I get all this cool stuff and I get to see all these neat things. And then there's moments where positions like this can be pretty thankless. So I'm telling you, thank you. Thank you for your work you put in. I hope we look back, you know, years from now in whatever future endeavors you guys and gals have, and you realize years from now, you go, students are better off. The teachers are better off. The administration in general in school is better off.
So I really truly I just thank you guys for everything. So I know I don't know if this is out of turn or not, but do you guys have any questions for me, you as the board? So. Okay. That's all right. Maybe no maybe no news is good news, so I like those. Okay. It's all good. You know those potholes out there? Jack Ladley is the director of DPW. Trust me. I have him on speed dial on my phone. He bugged. I bug him like once a week. So there's always a question. There's always something that comes up. So thank you, Corey. Okay. With that being said, I have some duckies for the ones that retired and I have business cards for the board if you guys wanna feel everyone to reach out.
So thank you for your service as well. Thank you. Thank you. Coming. Thanks. Thank you. Appreciate you. Thank you, sir. I will get intimidated, though. Thank you, sir. Take care. Which one? Thank you very much. Last Tuesday or this current current Tuesday, I presented the audit to the board at the luncheon, and we have with us tonight, Tom Sesteri. He's, one of the partners at Holt taking company. This year we were had, Chris Banta had come back to be the lead auditor as he's done the past few years. We had two new staff, Zach and, Shaney. I think I said I've been said that one right.
Shaney, did that. And then we also have Melissa on the periphery who helps work with all of our Paris stuff. And so for that, I'm gonna turn it over to Tom to walk through the audit from his perspective. Thank you. Thank you. Well, board, thank you for having me here tonight. It's it's always, a thrill to give good news, to give a good presentation here. Welcome. And, that's exactly what we'll do. So, so our team was on-site for about, three days in the summer, testing internal controls, wrapping our arms around your your processes, seeing if anything's, changed, making sure things are working as they should,
performing walkthrough procedures. We designed our audit plan, based on those tests with field work, performed over about four days in September. Overall financial condition of the district is strong and the financial statements are presented fairly in all material respects. So we issued an unmodified or clean opinion as you've received in past years. You have two different presentations within your financial statements. You have the government wide and the fund financial statements. So the fund statements reflect,
how the district keeps its books on a day to day basis. Reports that you receive at your board meetings are based on this fund presentation. The government wide statements, combine all funds together and present them on the accrual basis. So government wide statements, bring in capital assets, debt and other long term liabilities that are not included in the funds. So the first statement I wanna look at with you is the statement of net position. That's essentially the balance sheet for the entire district. And I'll hit a few highlights here. Cash and investments, were down about $5,100,000
compared to last year. Other current assets, were down about $1,100,000 primarily due to, less receivables this year compared to last year. Capital assets were down $458,000 as depreciation exceeded, capital assets, or capital outlays during the year. Liabilities stood at about $264,000,000 at year end. Of those bond and COPs, comprised, dollars 65,000,000 and para liabilities, stood at $178,000,000
a $23,000,000 decrease from the previous year. So again, the in PERA liabilities are affected by actuarial changes and district and state contributions. Net position overall, was down about $2,900,000 compared to last year. Getting into more familiar territory and looking at the general fund. So your general fund is your it's a governmental fund. It's your main operating fund. And we see that, the number of days, covered by, about forty five days. And that is,
unassigned fund balance as related to expenditures. So all other reserves are accounted for, so that forty five days is, is a pretty reasonable number for unaccounted, unrestricted or assigned, dollars there. Long term debt, no changes is this year, as far as there was no adding. You, you didn't add any new debt this year, that'll be coming with the new middle Evie's or the middle Evie override. Debt service was paid on schedule this year. Highlighting just a couple of changes in the, in, in the various funds.
General fund revenues increased about 2.5% while overall expenditures, increased about 7%. This resulted in a $3,900,000 decrease in fund balance. That's very close close to a budgeted $4,000,000 decrease in fund balance. So that was, that was purposeful. And so when I talked earlier about cash being down, many that that cash decrease was budgeted, budgeted and planned for. Grants were down about $1,900,000 compared to the prior year.
Again, very close to budgeted numbers for overall grant expenditures and revenues. And then capital projects fund balance was down, dollars 2,000,000 as, as were as dollars were spent on planned projects, internal controls. So I mentioned that at the beginning that that part of our, part of our process and testing is looking at as well as testing internal controls. We also test internal controls specifically over grants. We found that the, controls are well designed and operating effectively.
We didn't identify any deficiencies in internal controls, either for the financial side or over grants. Federal awards, SPED and Title II were tested as part of our grant testing or single audit testing this year. No compliance findings, grant controls. And again, aim compliance were well done this year should note that the single audit for grants this year will be issued separately, because we're still waiting for this year's compliance supplement to come out. So that's been that's usually issued in May and we are required to do our
work based on the on that. When it's been delayed in the past, it's usually been issued in September. Well, here we're well past that. We're we're through the government shutdown, but, well, we still don't see that. So we have done probably 99% of the work. We just have to have the right document there to sign, seal, and deliver. So you'll see that when we see as soon as it's ready. And just our appreciation again to working with, the school district again this year, really appreciate the work that the finance team,
puts in in preparation, having everything ready for us that we ask for. We send a rather horrifically, you know, kind of a horrifically long list, but it's kinda everything. You know, it it's, you know, at 98% of everything we're gonna be asked for is on our early list. And then we're, we're, we're testing things. So not only do they have that stuff ready for us, but a big part of things going smoothly is doing the good work, doing the during the year. And they absolutely do that because it's hard to,
you know, fake it and do it all at the end. And plus we'll figure it out and rat them out. And that's not the case. Thanks Terry and Olivia for another job well done getting everything to us and done on time couldn't be done without you all and the staff that does the work for you as well. Thank you. Tom. And I I just have to echo, Tom's, sentiments about, our staff. I I you heard me sing the praises on Tuesday, and I I could sing for another hour, but I think people wanna go home. Olivia and and especially Denise this in this past year,
Denise Atlas did an amazing job of keeping these guys in paper. And in actually not in paper this year. Most of it was, produced and stuck in a new new system system they have that they were able to look at it all online. So we were saving trees. We say significant trees this year. And Amy's department, again, was very instrumental in making sure that we, number one, pulled the information, fast enough for these guys. But number two, the information in there is correct. And and we have we have the the data that's behind that, and that's a testament to her staff as well. Again, hats off to to Rachel,
and, it's and and to Trish. But, that's a lot of work, especially on the SPED side because they have to go through IEPs and verify all the different pieces and and all kinds of data. It was a lot easier on the title two side because we basically have our our staff that's doing our, a lot of our curriculum work and working with all of our people, getting them trained up and doing that. So it was a lot easier there. But over here on this side, her staff, being shorthanded on top of that, really contributed a lot to making sure that these guys had what they needed all the time. And again, Tom, your your your team is is, really great.
And I love how we we are able to rotate through some good people. It's always fun to train new auditors. That's right. So thank you. Thanks. Sorry, guys. I know. I don't get as much applause as the kids do I? Till I'm leaving But does anybody have any questions? I'll throw one out. All right on the, cache. Yes. Hold on. Let me I broke it down there. I just want to confirm what my suspicion was, and based on what Terry said. What what we were down 5,000,000 on the, did the property taxes that got deferred until I think last month, did that have an effect?
I generally don't think so. I think, you know, because that would have been reflected to receivables so receivables actually went down so that will you know reflect on cash as well but a lot of it was planned spend downs of monies and and I I seem to remember over recent years there were other planned spend downs downs, but unplanned revenues, which, gosh, there's there's worse things in the world, right? Unplanned revenues. But trying to get those spend downs, and this year, you you you kind of hit that,
which was which was great because you plan to go down 4,000,000, went down 3.9, that's a win. Yep. It was. We did we did have a lot larger, deferred revenue with with the property taxes, which is what's what's is what's is what's is what's is what's is what's is what's is what's is what's is what's is what's is what's is what's is what's is what's is what's is what's is referring to. Okay. Gotcha. The company which was small. Yes. But we've been Deferred revenue until after the till after that we were leaving the sixty days. Right? Yeah. So so it was it's in the deferred revenues which doesn't show this way. Yeah. That's a great point. Thank you, Terry. So is that what Yes. Okay. That would be part of it too. Okay. You know,
be because you you have your your timing differences, which are receivables and then the deferred revenues. And that's one of them. Yes. So I thank you. I think Terry had given you the answer probably on Tuesday, and then I blew it. But I wanted you to confirm it. That's right. So thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Tom, thanks for all you do. Yes. My first thought was too bad we kept you so late in the in the meeting. But then my second thought was it's really great that you got to sit here and see some of the rewards of all of our wonderful students that came in. That's right. They'll be taking our jobs with that,
quality public speaking there. Yes. So thanks for sitting through and and your appreciation for what we do here. Thank you. It beats dibbles. I rather I rather listen to kids in the next dibbles presentation. So Sorry, Trish. Thank you. Thank you. Tom. Thank you. Thank you. Good to see you, Don. Thank you. That's how long he's been here. He was here for Suzanne Royer's long Oh. He has. This is hopefully, this is not too off. But I used to, do cycling classes with with Suzanne and Jill. Yeah. Right? And, early in the but we we'd be cycling at five in the morning. That's what cycling at five in the morning.
And I come in here for a war meeting, and, she said, she looks so different with your clothes on. Unless you, Are we moving on to It is you. Unless you're not doing the BOCES membership. I am doing that. I'm usually the last person. I know. This is out of order. They put me out of order. Mhmm. So last month at the board meeting, you received the BOCES contract for our membership in the the Board of Cooperative Education Services. And, part of that contract was also for audiology services for the district. So if you have no questions, it is recommended that the board approve the contract as received.
Is there a motion? I'll make a motion to approve that contract. Is there a second? Why not? Second. Thank you, Dave. Who's Medina? Missus Krutcher? Aye. Mister Dawg? Aye. Mister Fisher? Aye. Missus Walsh? Aye. Missus West? Aye. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Back again. It's recommended that the board of education, accept the audit as presented. Is there a motion? I'll make that motion. Thank you, babe. Is there a second? I will second the motion. Miss Medina. Mrs. Kutcher. Aye. Mr. Dock. Aye. Mr. Fisher. Aye. Missus Walsh. Aye. Missus West. Aye. Thank you.
My next, thing is a is a resolution, but first, I would like to, notice that we have another distinguished, member of the finance staff, mister Nate Ekloff. You guys remember him from coming, in July and and walking you through the pieces, there. He, his team in, has been instrumental, in getting us to where we are in getting ready to sell the bonds. They we met yesterday, mister Hoffman, Olivia, and I with the s and p board, put together with a presentation from him and his staff, that really supported the district's position and pushed us forward. And it's gonna help us,
number one, it's gonna it's gonna help our bonds sell much quicker, I believe because they're gonna have a, that behind them, and and possibly reduce the rate as well to help the the taxpayers of our district. I don't know if you'd have anything you need to say, Nate, or Can we just speak for a couple seconds? Sure. That'd be great. Okay. We didn't come all this way to not hear you. Oh, gosh. Oh, board of education, Aaron, Terry, thank you again for the opportunity to serve wide field schools. I've had the, just so you know, I've had the opportunity to work here since the early 1990s. And so this school district means a lot to me professionally and in my career.
I feel like, I'm part of the team, if you will. So you've always made me feel very good. I want to say, first of all, congratulations on passing the bond issue in the Mill Levy Override. I think that speaks volumes in these times where it's maybe economically difficult to be able to get those things passed. It says a lot about the school district. It says a lot about your leadership. It says a lot about the community, people in the community who work so hard that we don't necessarily see here who help get these things passed that make the schools what it is. I would say yesterday with the presentation with from Erin,
Terry, and Olivia, it was one of the better rating presentations I've been involved with in the thirty years. I've been in the business over thirty years I've been in the business. I think it went very well. School district who showed exceptionally well. The fact that the Financial House is well in order, it's well recognized by the rating agency, by Standard and Poor's, and I think it'll be reflected in a strong rating that you get. We're expecting still to be in the AA category, which as Terry said will be reflected in a low interest rate for the bonds. So again, congratulations to all of you for all the work that you do to make the
district what it is. So we're expecting rates just, you know, we're looking to sell district what it is. So we're expecting rates just, you know, we're looking to sell bonds December 9, expecting to close before Christmas. Currently, rates have hung in there. And so, you're already part of the best program. Those bonds sold, they sold yesterday, no, two days ago. And so they recognized very, very strong interest rate there. And so that's very beneficial to the district because obviously you have to match the money you receive from BEST and so that went very, very well. So the first part of this leg of this financing went well. Looking to close,
like I said, on the December 18, currently we're expecting interest rates to be probably in the high 4s. So we're looking at a thirty year financing. And so since it's thirty years, it's out a little longer. So interest rates will be just a little bit higher because the further out you have maturity, the slightly higher the rates. But nonetheless, the district we expect to sell very, very, very well. And so we'll be getting that set up and you have the opportunity through IPRO to see the sale of the bonds online. But again, thank you for the opportunity and congratulations to all of you, to the entire community.
It's been a very, very good experience. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Nate also let us know, yesterday that we do have a, in a couple years have another set of bonds that will be coming available to be refinanced, if appropriately, again, to hopefully save the taxpayers again another chunk of money. You remember the last time we did that, it was over $2,200,000 that has saved the taxpayers over the life of those bonds. So thanks, Nate, for that information. Tonight, I have a resolution, please adopt and include in full in the minutes a resolution, declaring its official intent to reimburse itself with the proceeds of the issuance of tax
exempt financing for certain capital expenditures undertaken or to be undertaken by the district generally identifying the capital expenditures and providing certain other matters and connections therewith. And what that really means, guys, is is that, Dave has been out there spending our money on our projects because we knew we were gonna pass, and we've been working hard, and we are able to re recoup some of those bills that we've already paid. And that's what we're asking for here. Is there a motion? I'll make the motion. I'll second. Sure. I'll second. I will second. Miss Medina. Missus Kutcher. Aye. Mister Doc.
Aye. Mister Fisher. Aye. Missus Walsh. Aye. Missus West. Aye. Thank you guys so much, and thanks again for all your support and and and Donna, I love you. I love you too. Terry, just a general comment and and and Nate, I know we talked about this in months past, but it meant a whole lot to me what nearly four years ago when we did go through that refinancing piece, saved our voters a a a lot of money as you just mentioned. And I remember just as a a community member back in 2017, I think it was, when Sam or Sam's department put and all of you put out the piece of
mail that came to me as to why we needed a bond to be passed. And, I read it. It made sense and I voted for it. And and then when I got on the board, wasn't too long after that we were able to refinance and it was just really a great piece of news. And so I hope our future board gets to go through that process once interest rates become to a point where where that's feasible, we'll we'll hopefully see that happen again. I failed to mention we're planning on selling the bonds with a nine to ten year call provision. So not only will we be able to refinance the bonds in a couple of
years that were issued in 2018, but we'll also the remaining bonds, we'll be able to refinance the bonds that are sold this year as well. So Okay. You'll have an opportunity, should interest rates continue on a good low path, to be able to refinance and recognize that for your taxpayers. So I'm sorry I failed to mention that. That's good. It's been good. Good word for our community. Doctor. Bidding. You gotta bring us around the base and touch home plate. Your spot is to close it, Rachel. I am here to request approval for 32 students from the Whitefield High Orchestra to travel to the American String Teachers National Association Orchestra Festival in San Francisco,
California from February 2026. We have 32 students, four adults attending the competition. The students and chaperones will be flying to San Francisco through an entire board meeting in case you had questions for them. Thank you. Thanks. So these are three of the students that are playing attend, and then miss Sarah Miller is in the back who is their director will be going along with them. Do you have any questions about their trip to golf course? What instruments are you playing? I play viola. I play the cello. I play violin. Awesome. Yeah. How do you do that without the frets? Sorry, I'm a tubist. So I don't understand those strings.
Then I, they officially request approval for these students to attend the ASTA National Orchestra Festival in San Francisco. I will make a motion to approve that. And Ms. Walsh, she said you're not saying anything. So is there someone else who's gonna second that? Please do. I know you don't. I could second that easily. Thank you. Ms. Medina. Mrs. Kutcher. Aye. Mr. Dock. Aye. Mr. Fisher. Aye. Mrs. Walsh. Aye. Mrs. West. Aye. Go get them. Bye. Thank you for sitting through the whole meeting. So to take us home, and I don't know who won, but we do. Board of Education has,
scheduled meetings on the following days. The munching meeting will be 12/16/2025 at noon, and then the follow on evening meeting will be December 18 at 6PM. All meetings are held here. 1820 Main Street, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80911. My last one. Do it. I'll make a motion that we adjourn. You're gonna cut Dave on there for his Dave, did you want? This could be your final second day. We need to discuss whether or not No. No. No. Miss Medina. We don't need that. Missus Kutcher? Aye. Mister Donk? Aye. Mister Fisher? Aye. Missus Walsh?
Aye. Missus West? Aye. Meeting's adjourned. Alright.