He was in what's district? Go ahead and call the meeting to order. It is 6PM on the I'm so gone on days. Nineteen. On the June 19. Can we get a roll call, miss McGeeter? Missus Kutcher? Here. Mister Doc? Here. Mister Fisher? Here. Missus Walsh? Here. Missus West? Here. Well, can't hear you. Your microphone is Here. There we go. It's not better. Can we stand for the pledge of allegiance, please? Oh, sorry. Mhmm. We are just having a charge. This is a Juneteenth celebration. Where oh, that is
I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, So we have a consent agenda. Is there anything anyone would like to pull out and or discuss? As they say in bingo, hearing none, seeing none, we will move on. Can we get a motion to approve the consent agenda? I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda. Is there a second? Second. Missus Fisher? Aye. Mister Doc? Aye. Mister Fisher? Aye. Missus Walsh?
Aye. Missus West? Aye. Okay. Looks like miss Roden gets to have some fun. Yeah. So in item three a, it is recommended the board of education approve the appointment of mister Kyle Rudd as principal of the Haven School. Is there a motion? I'll make a motion that we approve. Okay. Yep. That's right. I second. Okay. Alright. Kyle Rudd. Mister Rudd was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He enlisted in the army in 1998 driven by a desire for a brighter future for his family. That journey brought him to Colorado Springs in 2002 where he has been a proud
resident of the Whitefield community ever since. Kyle's passion for education began in 2006 as a teaching assistant, leading him to teach various elementary grades, kindergarten, second, fourth, and fifth grade for seven years. After getting his bachelor's degree from CSU Pueblo in 2008 and his master's degree from the University of Phoenix in 2015 along with his principal licensure, Kyle transitioned into leadership serving as an elementary assistant principal from 2015 to 2019 before stepping into a principal role in August 2019. Kyle's four children graduated from Whitefield School District.
They all attended King Elementary, Janetel Junior High School, and Mesa Ridge High School. It's my pleasure to recommend Kyle Rudd as principal at the Haven School. Miss Medina, can we have a vote? Missus Kutcher. Aye. Mister Dock. Aye. Mister Fisher. Aye. Missus Walsh. Aye. Missus West. Aye. I was gonna come up front. Alright. Camera will follow. Will it? No. Alright. So I I wrote some things down because I have the tendency of, being long winded. So I wanna make sure I get straight to the point because my time is limited. So, good evening,
everyone. I wanna thank you, from the heart. This is an awesome opportunity, and I'm, proud to have this opportunity to serve as the next principal at the Haven School. I'm truly honored and grateful, for your trust, to lead this innovative and student centered, learning community. I wanna thank the Board of Education, mister Hoffman, miss Kraft, and everyone that was on the hiring committee, that saw, my leadership potential. And thank you for your thoughtful conversations and the care you put into the process. To the staff, I am looking forward to working alongside you as we continue,
to build a safe, connected, and empowering learning environment for every student. Your passion and dedication are already clear, and I'm excited to join such a committed and talented team. On a personal note, I'm a proud veteran, as you heard, husband, father, and grandfather. I'd like to thank my wife. I didn't put that in here, but I think that's very important. That is. Yes. It is. Yes. I wouldn't be here. I don't know where I'd be without her. Holy smokes. I'm surprised she's still tagging along, but thank you very much. My wife and I, like you heard,
we've raised our four children here in District 3, with them all graduating from Mesa Ridge High School. And we have our our grand niece who will be starting at King Elementary and kindergarten, you know, this coming fall. So we've experienced firsthand the incredible impact of the district, the caring educators, the strong community, and we truly believe that, children are first in this district. So again, it's an honor, for me to be a part of this. As a veteran educator, a parent, I believe in leading with integrity, collaboration,
and heart. I'm excited to begin this journey and to build on an amazing on the amazing work that you guys are already doing at the Haven School. Alright? Together, I know we will continue to fulfill the mission of Whitefield School District three to learn, grow, achieve every child, every classroom, every day. Thanks again for this incredible opportunity. I really appreciate it. I can't say that enough. Thank you very much. Alright. Next, it is recommended the board of education approve the appointment of miss Samantha Keyes as
assistant principal at Whitefield at Janatel Junior High. Is there a motion? I'll make that motion. Is there a second? Second time. Alright. Samantha Keyes. Samantha is a Wisconsin native who brought her sunny disposition and her wonderful husband, Daryl, a dedicated armed security guard at Whitefield High School, to colorful Colorado a decade ago. Samantha's journey into education started with a bachelor's degree in sociology and criminal justice from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse. She initially worked in juvenile corrections, but it wasn't long before her true calling to teach blossomed.
She spent her career teaching sixth and seventh grade language arts in both District 2 and District 49. Her passion for education did not stop there. Samantha went on to earn her master's degree in administration and served as the dean of students at Lewis Palmer. When she's not empowering students, Samantha is enjoying precious family time with Daryl, their four year old daughter McKenna, their beloved dog, a playful cat, and even a fish. You might also spot her out on the water embracing the Colorado sunshine on her paddle board. I'm happy to recommend Samantha Keyes as assistant principal at Janitell Junior High School.
Miss Medina. Mister Doc. Miss Kucher. Oh, I'm sorry. I missed that. I am so sorry. Missus Kucher. My apologies. Aye. Mister Doc. Aye. Mister Fisher. Aye. Missus Walsh. Aye. Missus West. Aye. And now we Good evening. I'd like to begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to the Board of Education, mister Hoffman, mister Scala, miss Felice, and the outstanding Janitell Junior High School interview committee for selecting me to serve this community as your next assistant principal. Thank you for your confidence in me to uphold the strong traditions and culture you have established, while also trusting me to help our school continue to grow and thrive.
I am truly honored and inspired by this opportunity, and I look forward to meeting and exceeding the high expectations set before me. Me. I would also like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the individuals who have helped shape my journey. The administration team at Lewis Palmer Middle School, Courtney Harrell, Chris Kintz, and Shanna Moren have been instrumental in my growth as a professional. Their leadership, guidance, and willingness to challenge me have been pivotal in shaping the leader that I am today. A special thank you also to an ongoing mentor of mine, Dustin Horace, who has been a guiding light throughout my teaching career and remains a source of support as I continue to grow as an educational leader.
Most importantly, I want to express my deep gratitude to my husband, Daryl, and my daughter, McKenna. Their unwavering support and belief in me have been a constant source of strength throughout my journey. They have never stopped believing in what I'm capable of, and their encouragement has meant the world to me. I'm especially thankful to Daryl for his continued encouragement over the years to join the Whitefield School District three community. Because of his confidence in this path in this path, I am proud to now be part of this wonderful community, and I look forward to proving myself worthy of this incredible opportunity. Thank you. Mister Hoffman, have we, received direct ad on all correspondence?
Yes, sir. You you sure have. Thank you, sir. Get to move on to the superintendent's report. Is that me? Yes, ma'am. You don't wanna go down? No. I'm just We've as a board, we would like okay. As a board, can you hear me? As a board, we would like to take a few minutes to express our gratitude and to acknowledge Assistant Superintendent, Kirk Zateca, who is sitting right over here. If we could zoom in on him. Do we zoom? Okay. So Kirk is retiring from our district, and I personally have known him at least thirty years,
at least three decades. And I have to tell you, as a classroom teacher, as Kirk is a classroom teacher, made a significant impact with his students. The students were heard. They were respected. And his sense of humor was always second to none. As a coach at the high school level, he was passionate and he had a generous spirit that encompassed all of the kids. I remember personally watching him chip in or pay for letter jackets, basketball shoes,
and one division one female athlete who needed a pair of glasses. He was there for her. As an administrator, he knew that as a teacher, he had to invest in our community's children. But as an administrator, specifically HR, he knew the importance of investing and hiring the very best staff he could to work with our precious children. Kirk is known for his visibility in this district. And I would say in modern history, meaning in the last thirty years because our district is a 150 years old,
he is by far hands down hands down over the last thirty years been the most visible administrator thus far to this day. Kirk led with foresight, promoted innovation and growth, nurturing a culture of responsibility and ownership. He always moved with intention and purpose under situational demands in dynamic environments. Kirk has always been a champion of the district in every way, but one of the ways that we don't always see is how he cultivated and
championed activities and athletics in this district. He saw to it that our children had the very best opportunities afforded and created schedules and contacts and resources to keep that momentum going. He has a work ethic beyond beyond reproach. He's gonna be missed, and he is definitely a legend. We wanna wish you the very best. Many people in our community call you a friend, and we hope that you're we're gonna see a little bit about or little bit of you
often. Maybe tomorrow. Mhmm. No. I'm just kidding. Okay. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your service and your dedication and your love of our children. We really appreciate it. Mhmm. Oh, this? This is for you. I'm gonna bring all of us. Come on. All of us. This is the whole force that I can see. Good job. So, Kirk, you can take some lemonade home to go with the bauble. In the month of June? Dave. There's been Dave and Donna. And I did. Okay. So so 50%. Yeah. You have it. Always a pleasure.
The second Thursday usually of every month, meeting with mister Dave Gish on our director of operations and, just getting lots and lots of information as he kinda goes down the list each time of what's what's in the works and what's going on, what the future holds. So, I think we're gonna forego July's meeting since we won't have a board meeting, but after that, we'll get back into it. Just real briefly, as brief as I can, I mean, we talked about, and, Dave, if there's things I missed or you wanna chime in, feel free? I know that we've talked about some school zone signs and so forth going up
around Grand Mountain School, and it's gonna involve, some flashing beacon beacons, a crosswalk, striping, some red curbing, which will be no parking. There'll be a little bit different this year. Again, some flashing beacons. He actually gave me a map of where all the school zone sign signs are gonna be. It's gonna be really a help to the, safety is any safety issues out there. So it's gonna look good. Hopefully, all of that by the start of school. And, except maybe some, some of the lights will be coming according to whatever the contract is. Mesa Ridge, similar thing with regard to,
upcoming changes we've heard about regarding school zone. If I recall correctly, the speed limit is gonna drop down to, like, thirty five thirty five miles per hour. Does that sound right? Thirty five and thirty five in the school zone. 35 in the school zone during certain times of the day. Right? Flashing lights and all all the above. So that's gonna happen, supposedly by the start of school. Colorado Department of Transportation is, has basically promised to get that done in the month of July. So we'll we'll look forward to seeing that done by the July. Gosh. We went on and on regarding, now the best grant.
Best grant that was applied for regarding North Preschool. The best grant folks, have, given initial approval. We landed number nine out of 14 on their list of these top 14 grants they're giving out, and it's a long list. So we were very fortunate to get, yet some conditional. There's it's pending a couple of little things, but we should hear within the next two or three weeks that that's official, the the grant for the partnership they're gonna have with regard to North Preschool. And and again, that as we all know is pending the passage of the of the bond in
November. So pretty crucial. The, unfortunately, the the boiler and HVAC grant that was submitted for the best grant, didn't land in the top of the list, so we did not get that. So we are in process, as always, of replacing those, HVAC units, as they as they are needed. We know that Mesa Ridge has been an issue. I believe there's three at least units on order that takes some lead time. As we discussed the other day, twelve to fifteen, sixteen weeks sometimes. I think we ordered those back in late April if I recall.
And so, hopefully, we're hoping to get that done by the start of school. Gosh, there's capital project and, again, unlimited funds as we know, but, I know mister Gish tries to get something off that priority list for every principal, every building. So we went through at least a dozen projects that are in the works this summer. I probably don't need to go through each one, but it involves playground upgrades, carpeting upgrades, lighting upgrades, some remodeling, some roof roof areas. I believe even transportation is getting,
some new roofing, and so that's gonna be a a real good thing. And some paintings, some sound equipment, some concrete, some pathways on certain parts of, around the school. I could go on and on, but a lot of good work being done this summer. And what we don't see, of course, behind the scenes is when school's out and nobody's around. That's when the the his crew or the facilities crew and and and all the contracted folks that do it are really, really busy. So they're pushing to get all these things done by the end of, school summer. So I think that's it at the moment unless there's anything to add.
So Thank you, mister Gish for everything you do. Thank you. Yep. So security pub globary. So you guys see that I finally remember to bring in my book book code again. Book ins. That they they made for us. But this they're doing these and you can do this yourself if you wanna use their three d printer. Little I lost a little figurine on that one. But also, they made the name tags for all of the board members over there. This is made out of wood and then this one is acrylic and I just pulled the paper off the back after they did that so that it looks three
d when it's in there. So those are nice things that are you know, you want to go ahead and learn some new crafts, you can. Also, they have color your world all summer long and it's from, it started the May and it's through August and they have an adult one that wants you to step outside your normal reading things and read something that you haven't read before and then you just write down the name of the books and then you have a list back here for adults to put theirs for the students. They have the QR codes that that you can scan here.
They have out store preschool story times is on Wednesdays at 10:30, Wednesdays and Fridays. Take and make crafts will be June 20 June 16 through the twenty first. The bookmobile is on route now, so Betty is making her rounds throughout. She was down in Grand Mountain the other day. What's your date? Oh, okay. Yep. And six staff members will be attending the ALA conference in Philadelphia. So, I was like telling them different things. Make sure you go see this.
Make sure you see this, this. You know, don't say hi to my family but make sure you go see this. Yeah. But also, they have the normal things like the Dungeons and Dragons competitions that they do. They have also they're doing a small business fair at Security Credit Union. Right, Kelly? Did you know that? Okay. Yes. I did. I will be there tomorrow at 10AM. Tomorrow. Yes. So a small business fair that they'll be doing. And then Glowforge Slate Coasters. So if you need extra coasters, they are doing some on the twenty fifth.
And that's about it. So When is your next meeting? So I won't be there, but it'll be July July or August? July. I'll be in August. No. We go all summer. Oh, okay. Yeah. The library is open all summer except for today. Okay. They were closed. Gotcha. Tenth. So the second Thursday of the month of July. Is that the tenth? Okay. I would not be at that one, but invest your day too. Right? Except we're skipping July. Oh, okay. Back in August. Mhmm. And your next deck meeting, miss West?
It will be September 4 at SA Wilson. Awesome. Mhmm. We're having a retreat, and I love retreats, July 7. There you go. That park and right. Awesome. Okay. 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 considered out of order. Board members shall not respond to individual statements or questions during the public comment portion of the meeting. Questions relating to employees of the district will not be permitted. Such questions should be referred to the superintendent at another time. Total time allowed for public comment will be limited to thirty minutes and it's requested 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 the students served in Whitefield School District three. So we had one person sign up, Autumn Reel. As they say on The Price is Right, come on down. She's probably too young for that show. I don't know if Drew Carey's doing it. With recent events that have shifted our education system financially, it is important now more than ever that we take a closer look at what we as students take away from the material. In the effort to prepare young adults for their future, there should always be room for improvement within the educators, which is why the outdated teachings of health classes,
and more particularly women's reproductive health, diminish young people's resources, but most of all knowledge. According to Colorado state law, it is not required for schools to provide sex or HIV instruction. However, it is referred to as a right of youth. To strengthen that point, it is a right of young people to have access of information about their bodies. This as well as the 165 female Americans ranging from ages 18 to 37, recalling their desire for more information on topics such as menstrual accidents, period cramps, and sanitary product options. It is the abandonment of fully covering these topics in schools that cause women later
in life to face the consequences. Period disorders such as endometriosis, Anna Maria, and premenstrual disorder profoundly affect women, yet are silenced from the medical industry and further in schooling. I can only speak for myself, but I have firsthand experience with anemia and premenstrual dysphoric disorder, also known as PMDD. And the thing that I learned from this experience was I wasn't alone. Many of my peers surrounding me experienced similar issues, but never spoke about it outwardly. Having that said, what we do cover in these classes rarely reach the stretch of what having a period entails. We are taught a very cookie cutter version of what truly happens.
From the fluctuating duration of the cycle, the complexities of anatomy, what pain is normal, and the specifics of fertility, these topics for women are crucial to know. The embarrassment of discussing sex and reproductive organs is simply not worth the risk of seventy percent of reproductive health issues leading to death because of unsafe menstrual practices. Many girls who grow up in The US feel unprepared for topics such as these. The lack of societal and education support are statistically proven to cause higher risk of poor body image.
In the effort to grant wide field students these classes, we still neglect spreading awareness to topics that growing adults need. As a strong advocate for both women's health and our education system, it is a necessity that I speak to you about these topics today. Necessity that I speak to you about these topics today. We have barely scratched the surface of what health looks like for a community who isn't afraid to guide young people out of the dark. After all, it is a right of youth to know the complexities of health. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Transportation. Yes. Yes. Yes. Transportation. You get a The key to get every everyone to school. Palm. Right? Everyone to school. Yes. Alright.
So, good evening, president Fisher, superintendent Hoffman, members of the board, fellow staff members. I have to read off notes. If not, I go out in left field. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. I'm Jason Schwartz, the transportation operation, officer for Whitefield School District three. I'm proud to share how our department continues to support the district mission through safe, efficient, and student centered transportation. We understand that transportation is often the first and last part of the student school day and that we have we take that responsibility seriously. Despite challenges,
like staffing shortage, rising costs, and growing demand, we've continued to move forward and maximize resources, improving safety, and strengthen our services. Thank you again for your time and ongoing support. I'm excited to show you how our team continues to meet the moment and move wide field forward. I'd like to start with a quick little plug. We're hiring. We're looking for committed individuals who take who want to make a real difference in Whitefield. Starting pay for a bus driver is $22.50. I wanna thank, Terry Kimber and Amy Roden for for supporting that and getting that increase that market
increase. Whether it's driving a bus, working in the shop, or supporting dispatch transportation is a team effort. We're we ready to welcome new team members who share that mission. If you know someone who is dependable, team oriented, and wants meaningful work with great people, send them our way. I hear that Kirk is gonna be looking. Kirk is better than that. Why not? Here's a quick quick snapshot of what Whitefield Transportation has accomplished this year. We manage a fleet of 72 buses covering 3,500 students or transporting 3,500
students a a day and 1,600 route miles each and every single day. To date, we've logged more than 580,000 miles this school year, the equivalent of circling the globe nearly 23 times. Oh, okay. We've also supported 1,300 activity trips, adding another 66,000 miles for athletics, field trips, and events. None of this happens without our team. 98 dedicated staff across driving, maintenance, training, and supporting roles. That's 98 out of a 106 positions filled and working hard.
The numbers are impressive, but the people behind them who keep our students moving every day is even more impressive. What sets us apart isn't just what we do. It's how we do it. We've earned the district spirit award two years in a row. Thanks to a strong supportive culture that we were trying to build. Despite staffing challenges, our team continues to deliver safe, consistent service with commitment and resilience. We've created space for real communication through monthly roundtables and our transportation advisory committee, which was a recommendation from Kurt. So thank you again.
Every voice has a place in the shaping of our operations. We're not just moving buses. We're building a culture that works together and always puts students first. Oops. A little bit of our team spirit here. New Jersey day, we have, ornament exchange day. We do a lot with, Guy does a lot with the, Christmas time. We do the community parade, throwing out candy. Every aspect we try to be involved in. You can move across to the toilet area. Oh, well, I had different notes, though. Safety isn't just a priority. It's the foundation of everything we do.
We follow all federal hours of service regulations to prevent fatigue and keep drivers alert. No more than ten hours driving in a fourteen hour day with at least eight hours off and no more than seventy hours in eight out in eight days. Ongoing safety and defensive driving training reinforces best practices behind the wheel. We also work with local law enforcement to address red light violations and promote broader community safety. The result and the results speak for themselves. Our fleet continues to meet or exceed CDE recommendation standard inspection standards.
We don't compromise on safety, and we're always working to stay ahead of the curve. This is an older picture, but we do, have, like, we've brought in the mail. Comes around, talks to, they come and look at what we have going on and get an idea. Our safety commitment goes beyond the driver's seat. It's built into every part of our operation. We earned a 100% pass of the CDE triennial star inspection, a rigorous multi day review of our fleet and procedures. Every bus is equipped with the real time GPS tracking and video recording, give us constant visibility and accountability.
Our preventive maintenance program goes beyond state standards, keeping buses road ready, and avoiding costly breakdowns. From data to diagnostics, we're setting a high bar for school transportation in Colorado. Strong transportation programs are built on communication, inclusion, and culture. We hold monthly safety meetings and round tables so staff can speak openly and help drive improvements. Our transportation advisory committee gives us gives every role from mechanic to a monitor a voice in shaping our department. But more than operations,
we focus on student centered mindsets and a positive workplace culture. Because when our team feels supported, our students benefit. The culture of is intentional and is what keeps us growing with student success at the center. Every mile we drive is backed by a team of skilled commitment committed professionals. We have 73 certified drivers and mechanics, all trained to do the highest safety and reliability standards. With an average tenure of six point five years, our team brings stability, pride, and purpose to their work. What sets them apart is a strong culture of collaboration through staff led initiatives and
training and operations. Our team helps shape the department's success. We're not just building a team, we're building professional community that takes pride in what they're doing. This is a picture of everybody in in our department during a in service that we do. Evacuation drills. A quick look at our fleet's health is and sustainability. Our 72 buses range from one to 25 years old. The average bus age is 12 years old, a 134,000 miles. Preventative maintenance keeps them rolling, but we follow CDE guidelines guide guidance to retire anything past twenty five years.
Current age makes nine buses less than five years, 24 buses, six to ten years, 19 buses sixteen to twenty years, and nine buses twenty one plus years. Hence, our strategic replacement plan phases out older units, cuts cost per mile, and stays ahead of maintenance. Bottom line, we're not just keeping buses running. We're building a safer, more efficient fleet for the future. I should just stay on the floor. Looking ahead, we prepare for the future of student transportation. We're building a stronger partnership to enhance our driver's training, recruitment pipeline,
ensuring we attack attack, attract, and support the right people for the job. We're also piloting new technology to increase both efficiency and trans and transparency for families and staff. It includes turn by turn navigation for our drivers, student attendant tracking so parents know when their child boards and gets off, and improves parent communication tools and alerts with updates. Every one of these efforts reflects ongoing commitment to safety, innovation, and continuous improvement. We're here to support.
Almost done. I promise you. Before we wrap up, I would like to recognize the people and partnerships that truly keep us moving. This year, we celebrated eight staff members with perfect attendance, a a remarkable achievement in a role where consistency means everything. We also build strong community partnership from local law enforcement to school teams because transportation is more more than buses and routes, it's relationships and trust. We've successfully supported hundreds of extra curricular and athletic events often outside regular hours making
sure students get there safely and on time. None of this would be wouldn't be possible without people behind the wheel, under the hood, on the radio, in the office. We keep moving forward with pride. This photo was taken at transportation. It says everything about who we are. That's real lightning in the background. No filters, no edits, just our buses parked and ready to roll. This image captures what we call an all weather commitment to service. Whether it's snow, lightning, wind, or early mornings, we're out there doing the job. It's more than a picture.
It's a reminder of the dedication and grit of our team brings every single day. As we close, I just wanted to say how proud I am of this team and the work we've done together. We don't just move buses. We move opportunities. Every route, every field trip, every ride makes a difference. Thank you to the board and district leadership for believing in us and investing in what we do. We're proud to drive Whitefield forward. Mister Schwartz, please take back our appreciation Yes. Absolutely. All of the members of the staff. And it it is absolutely apparent that the morale has improved over the years and
the pride in in their jobs and in our district. Truly appreciate it. Yeah. Bye. Right on. Ready to be riveted? Riveting. Oh. Gonna be. Buses have rivets. So, I am doing our annual workman's comp, kind of year end review presentation for you. This was created in conjunction with our broker agency, and then the individual that created it had a meeting with Terry, myself, Stacy, and Cindy to kinda go over the numbers and and explain things.
So here we go. Giddy up. Yep. So this, this is our our year of total or our total claims. As you can see, we are down total claims this year. And anything our deductible is $10,000 and so we have a reserve set aside. The company has a reserve set aside for those deductibles, and anything that we need to to go above and beyond that. So our claim count per year, so this is we we've explained this the last couple years, but I just wanna reiterate. It is state law that we report all claims whether the employee is going to
get help or not or going to be seen or not. We started reporting all claims obviously in '22. That's why that increased there. But we did see a decrease in the number of total claims this year. Only the only the claims that, go above the deductible or above what we have in reserve, are ones that are reported to the state, and we only had one this year. So that was 2020, if you remember there was something went on in 2020? No. No. That's another reason why it would be three three What happened?
We weren't working together. It happened. Why didn't a lot of 2020? So these are our types of injuries. Again, not all of these. The majority of these weren't seen, but they're injuries that we're required to report. What what this tells us is that our, we need to work on our safety for strike strikes and, for suit for staff getting struck. However, the majority of our claims, the largest number of money we paid out on claims were for slips, trips, and falls. So those were our bigger claims that cost us more money,
each year. September and May were the months that we saw the most reports for workman's comp claims. And one of the things we're gonna start doing next year is, tracking by department just to see if, you know, if there's something we need to do. I would I would guess that the burns come from our nutrition service staff, you know, and so is there something we need to do to help in cuts? Is there something we need to do to help with that? So that's what we're gonna start tracking as well just in a different way. Nice. So, the main reason for our cost per claim going down is the increased amount of
report only claims, and that's a good thing because that means we're following the law. And, that we report all injuries that are reported to us. The report only claims do not, go under our deductible, and they do not affect our mod rating negatively. So they don't have any impact on our mod rating. They're not even reported to the same agency that does and creates our mod rating. So our mod rating is what we get from the state that kind of tells us where where we're at in terms of,
being good. I don't know how else to say it. Anything under one is good is not good, but, like, beyond good. So the the broker was beyond complimentary at our level. She said that she's never seen a school district this consistently have this good of a rating. And she said mainly it's because that we work hard to get our employees back to work. We don't we don't have them chilling at home. We want them with our kids. And so she said that's really the main reason that we see this.
The reason that it went up a little bit is because of our payroll, and Terry will be able to explain that better. You bet. So our our mod is actually is the what is basically a discount since we're under one, which really helps support our, our cost keep keeping down. And and Amy's right. For a school district to be in in the average of around a point seven is is incredible. And so we're extremely lucky because that's not that cost isn't putting pressure on our budget, which is great. The the reason our premium is going up in this next year is is over
half of it is because our our salaries went up and, because it oh, this is tied to salaries. We actually got some really nice discounts to some other areas, in workers' comp to help keep that down. So overall, basically, in in my opinion, and Amy, correct me if if you don't agree with me, but our our premium this year is going up because our salaries went up. Not not because we have had issues or because of anything else in our salary. But, basically, it is a flat year for us, which is incredible in the workers' comp world. Yep. They were beyond complimentary.
It was cool. I was like, you could just come talk to the board and tell them everything, but she didn't. So, yes, Terry's right. These are our premium costs, and the reason that they're going up is because of our payroll increase. We are on track as things, stay as they are. We are on track to get a very large refund because of our our mod factor and all all the things. And so that's something that they'll be tracking for us, but we're on track to get a really big refund as well. So that's a good thing too. I mean, we've signed up for a dividend program over the few years,
and it cost you money in your in your program to to do that. But and we've had a couple years where we didn't meet it. But overall, we've come out well ahead of what that is. And this year, she had $6,070,000 dollars coming back already. So we'll get back. Program that we paid, like, $10,000. So Well, we're busy. Yep. Very much. What questions does anyone have? No. Amy, just you you talked about tracking, information by claim type of claim, but do we do any tracking, like, between schools or locations? That's what we're gonna start doing next year.
We're gonna track by department and by, obviously, we're gonna see a little bit more of those types of things for students or for schools that have center based. Yeah. We're gonna see that. We know that, and we expect that. So, yes, we we track all of that, but we're going to get the hard data to put into this next year. That'll be good. If something just really looks out of line, then you can Correct. Dial in on it. So that Exactly. Yep. And you got complimented by your claims person on how low we were, but is there a comparison that we see with other local districts?
Do we have any of that information? What she has what she's continuously telling us is no other school districts are even close to us. Right on. Yes. Yeah. Great. Great. School districts are one or above a lot of our 1.25. Wow. We're at point eight seven. And as you can see over the over time, we've even gotten as low as point six two. And and and the the issue is to get a point eight seven and now it's down to point eight two for this next year. It it just takes a couple bad claims to to cause that to play. So it's it's just like, Megan says the student achievement in some of the schools have very small end numbers.
You know, one kid can make a huge difference in that same thing here. Two two injuries is what is what is causing this problem for us right now. Two huge ones. Slips, trip, and falls that are causing this issue for us. And, again, we we can't help that. That's not I mean, I I guess we can. We can look at Do everything we can to help it. But In in these cases, they were big accidents that happened while they were on on work time. And so we're very we're very happy with where we're at considering everything that's going on. But the reason it's at point eight two even is because, again, we had two major,
act, issues that are still lingering and still have reserves and those types of things. Yeah. Yeah. No. My confluence is No. No. I appreciate it. So yeah. Thank you, and thank you to the team and to Terry and to everybody for their help and support. Thank you. Thank you. And we'll see you in a moment. Wasn't that riveting? That was. Miss Bentley. Hello. Hello. Alright. I get to talk to you about the Every Student Succeeds Act, which is our federal funding consolidated application grant that is filled out every year, with several assurances that we agree to follow in order to keep the funds here
in Whitefield School District three. However, this year I'm coming to you with only one of our titles. We have title one, title two, title three, and title four. Currently, we have been given monies for title one that we have been able to allocate and decide what to you how to use them. We, just this week, received our title four funding, but have not had time to decide how to use that money. I will tell you it will be very similar to in years past, and I'll kinda explain that as we go. And our title two and title three, we have no idea about that funding yet.
So we are told we will be getting it, but that cuts may be coming. So, that's kind of where we are. So I'm going to ask you to act on this even though it is not fully, given to us. But, again, just know that the assurances will be followed, and that's the way we get our money. So for title one, we were giving we were given $1,418,884 and, that was a decrease of about $45,000 over the last two years. We were expecting a 20% decrease,
but that did not happen. So we are very, thankful that we get to continue to most of the money, over a million dollars of this money, will be spent on teachers in the elementary school classrooms as title teachers. So of our nine elementaries, eight of them will be served. Grand Mountain will not be served because they do not meet the criteria, and which is free and reduced lunch. Nice. So that would be the only one that would be not served through title funds. We also, placed two literacy coaches in our district with that money.
With our Solution Tree work, we have allotted a lot of money towards Solution Tree to continue the work. It will help salaries for our teachers who are doing some of that groundwork, the essential standards, upcoming for common assessments, and things like that. So, we are blessed to be able to pay them for all of their work, and they've been coming in in the summer to do that, and, we will continue that process. We are also 1% of that money, so $14,000 ish, will be put aside for parental
rights for parental activities. Every school has to engage their families. That's part of our assurances. And, that money can only be spent for parent engagement activities. And just so you know, those monies don't go away. If a a school does not use them this year, they carry over to the next year. So currently, every school, Title I school will be getting about $2,200 this upcoming year to spend on parental activities, which could also be resources and have helped their students read. And, our focus is reading and math. Nice. Alright.
So that's spent I just now spent $1,418,000 Title II and Title III. Title II are funds that are given to us for teacher improvement. So our professional learning and items like that will go towards that. But, again, I do not have any allocation given to me, so I can't give you the specifics of what that will be spent on. Title three is for our multilingual learners. And, again, I do not have any money, given to me, so I cannot speak to that quite yet.
And title four, we were given $104,000 $104,962 and those monies were very similar to last year. So no cuts on on the Title IV money. And this is to serve well rounded education, safe and healthy education, and, technology for personalized learning. And every each of those categories has to have a certain amount of money that is devoted to that. With Title four, we serve all of our elementary schools, Discovery, The Mill, JMCA. We are also obligated to serve any private schools in our district.
So Fountain Valley School, gets a portion, and Valley Christian also gets a portion of our Title IV and Christian also gets a portion of our Title IV and Title II dollars. Okay. So, if you well, do you have any questions about that? Nope. Okay. So it is recommended that the Board of Education approve the Every Student Succeeds Act consolidated federal programs application. Is there a motion? I'll make that motion. I'll second that. Miss Medina? Mrs. Kutcher? Aye. Mr. Dock? Aye. Mister Fisher? Aye. Missus Walsh? Aye. Missus West? Aye. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I told you you'd be back. Me again. In item four a, the board members have a workers the workers' compensation contract for the twenty five, twenty six school year in their packets this evening. If there are no questions regarding the contract, it is recommended the board of education ratify the contract as presented. I'll make a motion to ratify that. Sorry. Second? Second. Miss Medina. Missus Kutcher? Aye. Mister Doc? Aye. Mister Fisher? Aye. Missus Walsh? Aye. Missus West? Aye. Thank you. In item four five b,
included in the board packet is the resolution authorizing the superintendent to hire new employees on behalf of the district. If there are no questions from the board members, it is recommended the board adopt the resolution as presented. I'll make that motion. Is there a second? Second. Miss Medina? Missus Kutcher? Aye. Mister Dock? Aye. Mister Fisher? Aye. Missus Walsh? Aye. Missus West? Aye. Thank you. How do we Okay. I'd like to move to adopt and include within the minutes the regular Banyule School District election procedures resolution for 11/04/2025.
Is there a second? I'll second that. Okay. Missus Kutcher? Aye. Mister Dock? Aye. Mister Fisher? Aye. Missus Walsh? Aye. Missus West? Aye. I'll make a motion to designate the lobby bulletin board of the District Administration Building 1820 Main Street and the diligent community website as posting place for meeting agendas. Is there a second? I'll second that. Miss Medina. Missus Kutcher. Aye. Mister Doc. Aye. Mister Fisher. Aye. Missus Walsh. Aye. Missus West. Aye. Mister Kimber.
Thank you. Last month, at this board meeting, I went through 49 slides presenting the proposed budget. Tonight, it's recommended the Board of Education approve the twenty twenty five, twenty twenty six budget and adopt the following resolution. Be resolved by the Board of Education of School District three in El Paso County that the amount shown be appropriated to each fund for the assuring fiscal year beginning 07/01/2025 and ending 06/30/2026. Is there a motion? I'll make a motion. So miss West made the motion? I did. Okay. And I'll second it.
Okay. Thank you, miss Walsh. Miss Medina? Missus Kutcher? Aye. Mister Doc? Aye. Mister Fisher? Aye. Missus Walsh? Excuse me. Aye. Missus West? Aye. Sorry. Sorry. Thank you. Tonight, we'd also like to, adopt the resolution to use fund balance for the 2526 adopted budget. Be resolved by the Board of Education Whitefield School District three in El Paso County. The district will budget to use beginning fund balance for the listed funds for 2526 school year. The use of fund balance is necessary to continue district's efforts to increase student achievement to achieve board of education goals for the twenty twenty five,
twenty twenty six school year. The board of education is aware that the use of these funds will reduce the listed funds fund balance and will evaluate the use of fund balance annually during the budgetary process and not allow the fund balance to result in an ongoing deficit. I'll make that motion. I'll second. Miss Medina. Missus Kutcher. Aye. Mister Doc. Aye. Mister Fisher. Aye. Missus Walsh. Aye. Missus West. Aye. I mentioned to you, at the last meeting that we would have an additional for 2425, from the grants fund. Please adopt and include in full in the minutes the resolution to appropriate the additional
DoDEA grant funds in the 2425 budget. I'll make a motion. I'll second. Missus. Missus Kutcher? Aye. Mister Doc? Aye. Mister Fisher? Aye. Missus Walsh? Aye. Missus West? Aye. Mister Duck, I didn't like that hesitation. No. Just kidding. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Mister Soteka? There's been contracts tonight, so I guess I'm last. You are last tonight. First and last for this meeting. Oh, there you go. So if I may, I'm gonna take all the items in, five v I or five I, excuse me,
which include the revisions to the following policies. DJE bidding procedures, adding the background check approval requirement. E cabb r, use of surveillance equipment, adding audio to the existing video component. E. G. A. D. Use of copyrighted materials updating to current technology language. E. G. A. D. R. Use of copyrighted materials procedure updating to the current technology language. E. G. Aea. These are always fun ones, the e section. Electronic communication updating the policy title, e. G.
Aea dash r monitoring public electronic mail records procedure updating the email retention time period that's actually being lengthened. FAA, facilities development priority objectives updating the airport influence criteria. If you don't know about that, that's actually a big thing. FBD R Land Use Impact Statement Considerations adding the facility capacity language. FEE Site Acquisition adding and updating the fee language. FEER Site Selection and Acquisition Criteria updating the acreage code.
FJ, Temporary School Facilities adding facility capacity language. FL, Retirement of Facilities removing the question language. GBB Employee Input Process EIP adding the necessary support personnel references. GBBRA employee input process term of agreement clarifying the date range. And GBEE staff use of technology aligning the content to the CASB model policy. All the aforementioned policies are receive items until August, for your review. Also as discussed at the luncheon on Tuesday, there were multiple other policies reviewed,
but no changes were needed, and they were noted accordingly in the diligent policy system. Special thanks to Tammy. I know how much she loves policy work. Thank you. And she does a fantabulous job. So, again, you have a couple months to review these. Thank you, sir, and enjoy the tongue twisters. Absolutely. Thank you, guys. So let's see how slow we can roll it. Not gonna happen. Future meetings, Board of Education is scheduled the following meetings. Luncheon meeting will be 08/19/2025, and the evening meeting, Board of Education will be August 21.
All meetings are held here at 1820 Main Street, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80911. Is there a motion to adjourn? I'll make a motion to adjourn. Is there a second? Why not? Mister Doak. Miss Medina. Missus Kutcher. Aye. Mister Doak. Aye. Mister Fisher. Aye. Missus Walsh. Aye. Missus West. Aye. Meeting is adjourned.