in case you're on >> changing. I'm sitting in the crowd again. Well, no. Moving forward. >> I know. It just feels nice being in this house. You probably [music]
>> Hello everyone. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Um, Candace, roll call, please. >> I don't think she wants to speak. >> Oh, here we go. >> All right. >> Yes, we can hear you. >> Sparkley >> here.
>> Davidson >> here. >> Gilgness >> here. >> Here. >> Green Street >> here. Um, please rise for pledge of allegiance and then followed by a moment of silence. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Just um just to clarify for everyone um
uh Miss Barkley is out of town on a work assignment and so I'll be leading the meeting in her absence. She is here as a board member but kind of challenging to lead over the phone. Um >> yes, thank you for taking that over.
>> Yes. Um I need to ask for a motion to amend the agenda to remove um item six administrative report C facilities with Mr. Ferris. Um he is uh not able to be here tonight.
So moved. >> Second. Roll call. Campus. >> Hi. >> Davidson. >> Hi. >> Gildeness. >> I >> Gordon. >> Hi. >> Green Street. >> Hi. >> Now I need a motion to approve the amended agenda.
>> So move. >> Second. >> Arley. Second. Oh >> Davidson. >> Gilgeness. >> I Gordon. I >> Green Street. >> Hi. >> Tonight I'm really excited to start off
our meeting with a community spotlight with Summit Elementary news crew. Um, and we have the media specialist, Mr. I should have checked your Mr. Shrag. >> Shrag. >> Yep.
>> Mr. Tim Shrag and podium is yours, sir. >> All right. Yeah. So, I'm Mr. Shrag. I am a library media tech. Um, I do the yearbook and also the news uh crew. Uh, these two students have been a crucial part of it. Bailey is kind of like the
head student head of the news team and Amelia has been one of our most solid anchors. Um, yeah, if we could like roll the whole thing and if you guys want to ask the students some questions about it. Yeah, I'll let it speak for itself. >> Good morning.
Today is Tuesday, January 20th. This is Amelia and Lily. Guess what, Lily? What? This week we only have four days. Oh, cool. Why? Well, Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so we have this school day off. >> Oh, but let's get down to business.
Thursday, January 22nd, there's a sack meeting at 5:00. Then on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, there's an antique antique playing at the high school. So, make sure to see it. Hey, do you want to hear a joke, Willie? Yeah. Well, the other day a book
fell on my head. Oh, but I only have my shelf to blame. [laughter] >> But we are ending here. We are going to have an interview with Miss Barnes and I'm going to be asking her some questions. Are you ready? You bet. >> Okay. First, what is your favorite thing
about teaching? My favorite thing about teaching is that we have a great profession that gets to start over every single year. So, I like that best about teaching is that we see this growth and progress and send them on their way at the end of the year and then start over
fresh the next year. Okay, that's amazing. What is your least favorite thing about teaching? My least favorite thing about teaching is paperwork. [laughter] And >> well, I worked in the daycare in preschool and
so it just kind of came naturally. Dogs were cats and why is which one better? >> Both some of them are great, but I'm a cat person. >> Okay. What is your favorite book? >> I have lots of favorite books, but my favorite um picture book is Little Bunny
Sleepless Night. Okay. What's your favorite thing about your class? This class this year is really compassionate. They care about one another and so if somebody's having a bad day, they check in with each other and I like that. >> Okay. What's the funniest thing you
heard from one of your students? >> It's been a long time ago that when I taught kindergarten, I had students that would always go like, "What is going on? Why are you doing that?" and the child was backing up like walking backwards and said,
"This my warning signal." >> That was Miss Barnes from second grade. Back to our news team. >> This is sixth grade signing off. >> Do you guys have any questions for the students?
>> I have a question. Um, how is when when and how is that aired? Who gets to see that? >> Um, well, the teachers will um get emailed that so they show their classes so the classes know what and what's
happening that week. It's like edit it and then we have Mr. Shrag send it to all the teachers and then they play it on Monday morning or whenever we send it out. Yes. >> Yes. So, do you record it during your media
class or when does it get recorded? >> We record it usually on Fridays so then it gets posted on Monday and um we'll do it in that class because we have the class on Mondays and Fridays. So, we'll do it on Friday so that it's posted on
Monday. >> How do you come up with all of your stories? >> A that one's a hard one. What's what's the first thing I ask you guys to do? >> We check in with the office. So, they check their schedule. Oh, Luke got this
on that thing and that that's it. >> And then we come up with a joke just to make it cheery and entertain students. >> And then we just added this little interview teacher so that it's longer and more informing and entertaining.
>> They get to know the different teachers inside the school. Like if I don't know Miss Bonds because she's a second grade teacher, then if we do these interviews, other teachers get to know her better. So welcoming environment, I guess. Um we do a lot of stuff with like
yearbook. Um take pictures for it and we do different teacher interviews. We'll have individual teams where we'll send it out on Monday and we kind of set the whole thing up on Monday and then record on Friday. Send it out next.
>> Have you guys ever visited an actual news station? >> No. >> Mr. Shrine, that would be a fun filter. [laughter] >> When you guys walk down the hall at some elementary now, are you celebrities? Do students go, "Hey, hey, that's that girl I saw on the
>> That's never happened to me." [laughter] Happens to be um well, not by any students. By um our gym teacher. >> Yeah. Mainly the teacher. >> Yeah. He he always makes jokes with us and like always mentions that he likes the jokes or something. So, it's kind of
sometimes. Yeah. >> Yeah. Sort of sort of. >> Yeah. Kind of get a little more attention for that, I guess. >> [laughter] >> Summit celebrities right here in our midst. >> Any more questions? >> Right. Um tonight we also have district
volunteer spotlight. Um, and Katie, I'm gonna ask you to come up and talk about your volunteers and introduce them, please. >> And it's so much fun as we're kind of highlighting all the fabulous things that are happening. And I think nothing
could happen without the fabulous people that we have. So like the news crew that all came together because Mr. Shre is talented with video production. He brought in all of his own equipment and he won't like highlight that for himself, but he created like a actual
newsroom in the back of our library with a green screen and created all that editing for the kids. And part of the team that we have doesn't stop at our teachers, but it extends to our parents and our volunteers. And so when I was
asked, can we highlight some of our volunteers? It's like, I can't narrow it down to a volunteer. It really is our SOS and I thought that that was a known term everywhere. Um, but SOS stands for supporters of Summit. So that's our PTA,
PTO, boosters club, whatever you want to call it. But it's anyone who wants to support Summit and all that we do. and Danny Fischer was willing to come up and share and speak on behalf of all the supporters of Summit and the fabulous volunteers that we have at our school
because nothing could happen without all the lifting work that goes on from this team and beyond. So you can see that was our meeting on Monday and there's even a computer there because we have people who join us from afar. So Jenny, do you want to come on up and share about
quarters of summit? Hi, I am Jenny Fischer. I am a mom of Summit uh students. I have a third grader, a kindergarter who's in the SSN program, a preker, and a future Eagle. Um so, and I have been on the Summit SOS
for four years now. We meet on the second Monday of the month uh at 4M and we have opportunities to to meet remotely as well as if you wanted to uh have an opinion or suggestion inputed. We have a virtual box that anyone can
also add that to uh to our meeting. Our agenda starts with introductions. Then we go over our financial update. Uh then we go over past events which includes Katie asking us questions like how did that feel? What do you think about it?
Is there any way we can improve that? Um, uh, what can we do better? And we, as a group, we have that conversation. And then we'll move on to upcoming events. And that's where we do a lot of our brainstorming and ideas. Uh, right now we're focusing on our readathon. Uh,
some of the things that we talk about there is like what's the theme going to be? Uh, how are we going to kick it off? What are we going to do to get the kids excited about it? Um, how do we get participation with our our students and our families? Um we and then we discuss things that we need like we're going to
be needing to tally minutes after the end of the readathon. Uh discuss the wrap-up assembly as well as um how are we going to reward those that participated? What what is that going to look like? And so this group is very successful at
completing these tasks as far as coming to futition the events that we plan. And one of the reasons why is because we are a diverse group with different backgrounds, interest uh and that helps us have multiple ideas, different
things. And the real highlight I think is one of the reasons we're able to communicate so well is we have such a great rhetoric because Katie Rexford and Janelle Royan, our principal, as well as our building secretary. Um it is very
obvious on how they are uh being sincere with our interest and our opinions and ideas. When you're there um they're so welcoming for and open for discussions that you feel that you want to be heard from them. So that helps to really just open up that conversation and feel like
maybe I have a good idea and you can just have that conversation for those. That's what we're about. And um we're excited for It seems like it always builds. I've been doing this for four years and it seems like it just keeps getting better and better and you think this was the best one yet and then we
get more team members in. We keep having these conversations and it just builds. We love it. >> Great. Um what do you what do you find has been your most successful way to get families and parents involved in coming into the school? Because I think I mean
we all know that families are important for the success of kids education. >> Word of mouth. I mean that's we just get super excited. This group right here if we could all we have we have at least eight to 10 of us and if we can each talk to two people and get them involved
and get them included in the conversation get them excited like we are. It's it's very um infectious. You might have mentioned this, but you once a week or once a month. >> Once a month. The second Monday of the month. Four o'clock. More than welcome
to come. [laughter] Any other questions, comments? Thank you so much. Um, we're about to start the less exciting um part of the agenda. I'm
sorry, David, but [laughter] hey, you all you all are welcome to stay. You are welcome to leave. It's um up to you. I know it could be a late night for kiddos. All right, on to administrative reports.
>> You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you. Um, we're going to start with board of education reports. Anybody want to jump in? I know everybody's been really busy. So, I'll start. I think um just a couple
quick things to share. This week, we started um what will be a series of uh board listening tours at different buildings um within the district. and we started Lauren and I and then Carol later um had some great discussions at the junior and senior high. Um I think
each of us are hoping to make at least one other stop um around the district talking to hearing from teachers and staff at each school and um trying to understand their priorities and concerns and um thought that was great. And I also got to stop by the Panther Cafe, uh, which is a fabulous endeavor by our
culinary program and our CTE. Um, and enjoyed some some lunch over there yesterday, too. So, um, I feel like I have one more thing, but I might have to come back to it. So, go ahead. >> Yeah. You guys have >> anything else? >> Yeah, I have a lot. Go ahead. Martha,
Carol and I got to attend our first official Boseies meeting, the UPASS Boseies meeting on January 20th. And a couple one big thing that happened in that meeting was that we voted to move the
SSPs or special service providers back fully under um BOSEIS because right now they're shared or the district is um what's that providing services kind of and so we um that was great to vote
for that and um Katie also provided her executive limitations monitoring report and I was just really impressed by all that she's doing in that program in the Boseies program and really grateful for for stepping into that position this
year. Um, we also, I think it was Carol and Keegan and I got to attend the capturing kids hearts um se or like >> culture culture japers meeting with Dak and Sack and it was I was really
impressed with the presentation. He said it was his first to parents and it was kind of like the trial run to see how that went and I we really hope that he will they will continue to offer that because then it's not just something that can be applied at the schools, it
can be applied at home too. Um uh I also have a legal council update towards the end of January. We chose to um hire I gota get the name right. Orton
Kavanaaugh Homes and Hunt as our legal council moving forward. And um a big appeal for them is that they were among the more affordable legal council and they're closer so they can come up here
from the springs pretty easily. and yeah, we're looking forward to having them as our legal counsel. [clears throat] Uh I also attended the junior senior high showcase and coline showcase as as a parent uh in the
groups that are at each school. And at the junior senior high, it was really great to see sixth grade kids and families come and be excited for the next year. And then Coline just was buzzing with families, excited to be there. So, it was really fun to see all
of us. And that's all. I um am aiss I should have said this at the beginning. Welcome Rob. Um for those that that don't know, we um um appointed Rob to the vacancy. And Rob has been a
board member for about uh 30 hours maybe. and we put him immediately to work. Um, and uh, uh, we really appreciate that he's jumping in with both feet and joining us in the in the work of being a board member.
>> Thanks, Carl. And it's it's an honor to be part of this board and to serve our community. Um, looking forward to a team approach, team USA. And uh really um one of the things I wanted to correct right off the bat because there's a
newspaper newspaper article out there that says I was with the United States Air Force Academy for 35 years and I am getting so many calls from my friends down in spring saying you did not work at the Air Force Academy [laughter] and I didn't. So small correction I'm
looking forward to working with the press with uh the team there. I worked at Space Command with the Air Force, but I did not work at the Air Force Academy. And I did not work for Pikes Peak Business and Education Alliance. I
worked with them volunteering to connect our local businesses with our students for internships. So, didn't want anybody to think that I snuck in here saying I worked at the academy and therefore I had this extra degrees of wisdom.
Great team up here. I got to spend some time with Carol at the Panther Cafe and great food is it was phenomenal. Uh Miss Lambert and Miss Woods, their teams there are leading just an excellent cafe
for for our campus and uh for collab with Chef Matthews. Uh we're creating a talent pipeline for him. So he needs to plug in and keep an eye on some of our students. And uh had the honor of meeting Mrs. Kelly case over lunch at
Panther Cafe. We're able to have a discussion just introducing uh you know myself and what I'm bringing forward and just my commitment to be strong partner with the city and being part of this team here. And we also got to Carol and
I got to spend some time at summit today at the uh listening tour there um and meeting with with Katie and her phenomenal team. and they have got a ton of creative ideas that we're really excited about that we want to look into
and be a part of into the future. >> Um I think everybody's pretty well covered what the things that I've been involved in. Oh, we did we did have a board retreat. I guess that's been since the regular board meeting on the 24th of January. Um and that's where we got to
know Rob. We had asked him to be the facilitator of that meeting. Uh and he did he did a great job. We worked hard on um mission, vision, values and sort of a framework for strategic plan. Want
everybody to know our intent is to pull um community and staff um input into that as we go forward. um not quite ready to roll those out yet, but want you to know that we we have heard from the staff that we need a good sense of
direction and we're working hard on that. Um also, we are down to um I guess it's actually five finalists or not finalists, five people in our superintendent search and the next piece
of that will be next Wednesday night. It will um be a meeting that will not be open yet because those candidates have not released um their names to the to their their communities. And so we will be talking
about that privately with a hope to get down to two to three um finalist candidates. And after those have been determined, um, we'll probably wait a couple of days to announce that because
we want to give them an opportunity to let their current employers, etc. know. And then that will be released to the public. So, we're we're moving ahead with our superintendent search as well. And I think is that all that you guys
can think of that we've been >> um can we just add to sorry if you could >> Oh no go ahead. >> Uh big space head right now. Um I just wanted to say you know we are still looking for people to join our uh
interview committees for that superintendent. Um we've had people signing up but we're still looking for some more uh people. If you are interested in participating in that um you know being being part of the selection process, we encourage you to
sign up for that and I believe there's a link on the website. Is that correct? >> Yes. Yeah. Okay, that all right. We're going to move on to superintendent report. Just welcome. >> All right,
I have a lot. Sorry, but it's all great. Um, so starting off with reports from each school, Coline and Summit are both hosting and really the junior senior high school are all hosting parent teacher conferences this Friday. Um,
going back specifically to Coline, next Thursday, the 26th, they are hosting their district math and family fun night from 5 to 7 with math activities and games and a scavenger hunt and dinner provided. And uh last but not least for Coline,
this year their sixth grade students are taking a new leadership class. And this quarter students from leadership class are supporting second grade with partner reading. And our place special education students as well as helping our youngest
students have success in art and PE. and it's been a great new addition uh to their offerings for sixth grade from Summit Elementary. Their sixth graders, everyone's sixth graders are busy right now, um are
preparing for their overnight camping trip that will be doing a lot of outdoor science, tubing, broom ball, and bonding as they approach their final quarter of elementary school. And hopefully, was it last year, Katie, that you guys got to have a snow day in the middle of it? day
on the last bit. This is we'll stay. And I was like, [laughter] >> Katie did some creative uh thinking on how to get the kids back. >> Yes. And then uh summit fifth graders are gearing up for their e planetarium.
And then moving on to the junior senior high school on February 12th from 1:30 to 3:30. uh they are excited to collaborate with local community members as they put on their career day with over 30 individual presenters coming to discuss their
particular industries with the with all the students. So very excited about that. Um and moving on to some sporting events. Last Friday the girls wrestling team competed in the girls Tri Peaks League wrestling tournament in Wilsonburg and they had five girls place
in the top three in the league. So that's exciting. And [clears throat] excuse me, last Saturday the high school hosted the boys Tri Peaks League wrestling tournament. And the boys placed third as a team and several boys placed individually.
And both boys and girls basketball will have senior night in the gym next Wednesday, February 18th. and student services have been holding grade level assemblies during advisory time honoring students that had a 3.5 GPA or higher in
the first semester celebrating their great efforts academically. And then I have one more thing that was just hot off the press that I got told about today for the junior senior high school. Uh the knowledge bowl is heading to state. So that's exciting as well.
>> And now I'm going to continue with a few more pages. [laughter] Um, we have a very exciting visitor coming to the Woodland Park Junior Senior High School on February 19th. We have our very own astronaut and alumni Nicole Ayes will be
visiting the junior senior high school staff and students from 7:45 to 9:30 a.m. And um we feel really blessed that she's going to visit because she's actually going to be in the area on military orders and she's graciously
chosen to spend her morning visiting our schools. So that's really wonderful and exciting for all of our students and it's coming at no cost which is also very exciting. [laughter] Yesterday, Katie Rexford and I attended an annual
breakfast at UCCCs um with the Department of Teaching and Learning and it's their annual partnership breakfast and the keynote speaker was Amy Lopez and she presented about teacher burnout which is really important um in our district but also across the country and
um also supports that they have for staff and she shared information about setting up a workshop for teachers which I'm planning to do sometime this semester. I just need to get in touch with her and find out how long the workshop is and if it's during the day or in the evening. But I was really
excited to learn about that. Um, another exciting update is that I have been invited and awarded to join a research a school research conference um on a scholarship. I was invited from the
school research nex Nexus group um and this is a selective opportunity um and it's pro it's limited to 50 superintendents from around the country and um the conference is designed to provide advanced leadership development
for superintendent who've demonstrated a strong trajectory of success within their district. In addition, I would also join a national cohort of superintendent allowing an ongoing collaboration of professional learning beyond the conference itself. And
they've awarded uh me a total of $3,500 to pay for travel, hotel expenses, and to pay for the conference. So, I'm very excited to >> um next I just wanted to give the board an update about our CASBY policies. Um,
I know we've talked a lot about getting our policies um, audited by CASBY and so Candace and I met with the CASBY representative today and she is sending us a contract for your approval um, so that we can get uh, that started very
soon. So I will be sharing that with you as soon as we get it. And then I wanted to talk a little bit about the shared leadership committees that um, we are starting at the district level. So last night we had our first district climate
and culture committee. It was really an amazing night and we had teachers from every school attend. We also have another uh staff member who wasn't able to attend but works for the uh the district. And so I'm excited to have uh
different perspectives. We had some really healthy dialogue about um what staff need right now to feel safe, respected, and supported at schools. And we also discuss the climate at each building. And so I'm going to share that information with our principles at our
next leadership meeting. And then today I met with the prom program. I don't know if anyone knows what this is. You may or may not know. Um I think we had something similar to this when I was growing up in Illinois, but it was called something different.
Um but basically I met with and also Dr. Richie, uh, Rebecca Lambert and Cat Becker also met. So, it was kind of like the the high school staff and myself. So, we met with local first responders to discuss a prevention program that they would like to bring to the Woodland
Park Junior Senior High School for students in grades 9th through 12th grade. So, it's only for our high school students. The proposed date is April 30th, um, just prior to prom on May 2nd. The program is designed to raise
awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving, but also distracted driving. So, looking at your phone, which we didn't have that when I was in high school. Um, students will watch an a video um and then observe a simulated
crash scene. And we talked about using the gateway parking loop for the crash scene. >> [clears throat] >> Uh the simulation would include actors and or uh mannequins to realistically portray the impact of impaired or
distracted driving. There's also a possibility that a helicopter may land [clears throat] if they're available in Gateways Field as part of the demonstration. And then also that day during lunches. So this would be before the the crash
simulation, students would have the opportunity to visit various first responder stations and to learn more about their roles and responsibilities. Students who visit each station uh will get a little punch card that they would take to prom and submit and they'd get
some type of incentive. I think student council is coming up with the incentives, but I think it's going to be about food because you know high schoolers love food. And um last but not least, participation in the crash crash scene portion of the
program will be opt in. I'm very cognizant of the fact that there could be students that experience trauma and I don't want to have it be a an, you know, a program that's going to upset anyone. And so parents would have to opt into that portion. and I just wanted your
feedback. Um because they had talked about um at first having our students as the actors and I said no thank you. I just think that's a little it's too close to home. Um but I did say that we could have actors or mannequins that I just
would like your feedback like any thoughts about that because I I believe in educating. I don't believe in traumatizing. That's what I would say. in box. So I have a well a 15year-old going on
16 and I know she and other I know it's kind of a newer thing that student or teenagers are more reluctant to drive because >> they're they're they've been well exposed to
>> the dangers of it and so I I I don't know I think maybe a mannequin would be >> less That's what that was what I had actually expressed in our meeting. I think um they might have an actor who's
the driver of the car that gets out and gets to deal with the police portion, but the mannequin would be the one that would go in the helicopter or the ambulance. That's what I felt comfortable with as well. >> Go ahead, Kegan. Well, I just get like
again um when I was in high school, they did a similar program uh the week of of prom and like graduation week, but they just had um they would just put like kind of a um a car on the school grounds
that had been in a car accident. So, it was an actual car. >> Yeah. >> That had been involved in a crash, but there was no simulation. Um, so it wasn't, you know, you got to see the aftermath and I think it was, you know, as a student I found it a
powerful image, but it wasn't traumatizing because there was no like acting it out. It was just like, hey, this was this car was involved in a crash because of, you know, impaired driving. So, I don't know if that would that be
easier. Do we think that's as effective or is that even an option? >> I think anything's an option and I think they were really excited to come and meet with me um to have the opportunity to bring this to our school. Um and I
just told them very specifically that I was going to bring this to the board and ask um for your opinions before I proceeded. I think you have good intimacy. [laughter] >> I've been involved with assimilated
exercises where injuries to to people are very realistic. Probably don't need to go over that line. Follow your instincts. Maybe with the law enforcement engagement or interaction, but a real life simulated injury, you don't you don't want you
don't want to go there. >> Nope, I don't. >> You're not you're not exercising that portion of the right of the topic. So, okay. And I agree that the opt-in is the right approach, giving parents the opportunity to let their kids choose whether they want to participate rather than um the
other way around. Um and I think that I think that this type of like education and training is is important for teenagers especially to make sure they understand the dangers of what's involved in talking to first responders and people who are actually going to be there responding to those incidents. But I I do agree that like it could be taken
a step too far and simulations might be a bit much. Yeah. And so am I good to proceed with a mannequin as the covered up person that gets taken away? Does that feel
>> or would you rather >> fine with that? >> Okay. >> Can they give us any more information about it? I don't know how much time you have, but I mean I feel like we know a lot about what to expect. they have a full presentation and they're sharing it with me. So, I'm happy to share it with
you as well. Um, and we can continue the the dialogue after you've seen it because I haven't seen it all either. I just I know they had already met with the junior senior high school staff and then they wanted to meet with me and I let them know that I was going to talk to you tonight about it. I think that would be helpful just to be really clear
about what it is that they're proposing so that we're not all coming up with a different idea of what that might look like in our heads because that could be pretty basic or very I think extreme. So, I don't know. I I have no idea what to expect, but I think having the information would be helpful to inform any opinions we have to help with.
>> I'll share it with you as soon as they send it to me. And again, I absolutely want it to be optin. I think that if this if the students went and saw the video, I asked about the video, so they're going to share that with me as well. They said that they're just it
ends before the crash happens and then you go outside and see the crash. Um, so I was thinking the opt-in would be the crash portion, but it could be the video in the crash. I would love to let all of the students walk around to the stations and get to know different first
responders and programs if that feels okay. Okay, let's learn more about it. Y absolutely. >> Sorry, I'm not finished. I'm just taking notes. Um, next, I just wanted I know that you've all talked about listening
tours, so I'm not going to go over that again, but I'm I'm going to tell you I'm very happy that you are doing the listening tours. I think it's really valuable for our staff and improving our climate and culture for them to have you come and visit the schools and listen
and just wanted to make sure I I feel like I've talked to a few of you here or there, but the central office staff also would really like to have a listening tour and Candace put a few dates on the calendar um this Friday, February 13th
and next Tuesday, February 17th. So, I just wanted to make sure that you were all aware that that's on there. Um, I want to talk a little bit about our community connections meetings. So, it's been a few weeks ago, but we had an absolutely amazing community connections
meeting with our local leaders and um I know that it's been on our social media and um it's I think it was in the chambers grapevine. Um, but I just wanted to share how much I appreciated
our local leaders coming back together. I'm working really hard right now to bring people back together in this community. So, at this meeting, we had our three county commissioners. We had our mayor. Um, we had um Debbie Miller
in charge of the chamber. We had uh Jason Rochek was there in charge of Kuwanis. We had community partnership there. and I'm probably forgetting someone. Um, but what I really want to say is what an
amazing opportunity to start bringing people back together and to just have these really great conversations about um how we can do wonderful things and promote our district again and get that out into the
public. Um, we have more community connections coming up. The next one will be February 25th and this one is re-engaging with former district families. I really want to invite our families back who left. It's not about
recruiting. I would love to have them come back, but it really is more about healing and listening and just making sure that they feel comfortable if they ever did want to come back that we're here for them. Um, so that is the one coming up in March. We're going to meet
with our local realators. In April, we'll be meeting with local business leaders. And then in May, we'll be meeting with local pastors and religious leaders. So, that's what I have on the uh calendars coming up.
And then I have just one more safety update uh to share with you. I met with Daniel Jordan um one of our safety and security team today and um something he's been working on are looking into grants for the
future because we really need we would really like to write some grants for safety and security and um he was able to recover our district account for our current radios because that was going to be a big ticket item. And so
with his diligence and effort of figuring that out, buying some cables, buying some batteries, he's basically saving us about $141,000 plus. So, I think that's really wonderful and I appreciate how proactive
he's being. Um, and I I appreciate both of our team members. Um, but he just happened to be working on this one. And then last but not least, I just wanted to share a little bit about our charter school partnership updates. So
Karen and I met with Gwyn today. It's been a busy week. I'm just saying like writing like 20 pages, but we met with Gwyn today to review and update the title comparables um for the state. Uh we're still in process. It's going to take a little bit
more time, but we did find a few errors. we are working collaboratively together and we're hoping that the corrections will allow us to complete the process without needing to develop a formal action plan. And then knowing after we get finished with last year's then Karen
and I need to work on this year's to make sure that we don't get put in the same position and to make sure if we need to do a mid-year correction we can do that as soon as possible um to staff Coline. And um I also just wanted to
share that um we shared a spreadsheet with Gwen today outlining the grants that the district has received and written so far this year. And so um basically we are trying to be really thoughtful of the processes and
procedures and we have it all in a spreadsheet. We're sharing exactly what each grant is, how much they're receiving, and then um we will be I believe Brad Paige will be giving us the guidelines very soon to share with merit
um for the process for reimbursement. And so um the total amount of grants that have been awarded for merit from the district this year so far is $43,5529. Right.
Any other questions? I thought of one thing that I meant to say and I was waiting to see if you were going to say it too, but I also just wanted to give everybody a heads up that there's going to be a I think it's tomorrow career day. Yes. Right. Hosted by our CTE program. Um I was asked to participate in that from a professional perspective
and I'm really excited about it. I think from what I understand there's going to be a number of uh professions like professionals from all different industries and jobs and that the interest has been like overwhelming from the students. So um that'll be really exciting and maybe we'll have more
report on that the next meeting. So >> yeah, >> very good. All right, we have Mr. Curatar giving a financial report. Thank you. >> Three minute countdown for me.
>> It's because I took too long. >> Always apolog There you go. [laughter] >> Right. >> I want to give you all an update. So I've been working really hard to keep people informed. So, I've been talking to uh CDER
County uh state auditor's office and new now in the public meeting of this meeting as well. Uh [clears throat] just to bring you up to date on where we stand. So fiscal year 2024, uh I think it was a tough year for the
district and that audit uh to have those uh have that data pulled together and reported on and that yielded you know 16 findings which I'm sure is disappointing for everyone and uh
especially for the community. So where do we stand for 2025? What I can tell you last year is that the books and how they were uh kept made 2024 looked like a gold star
unfortunately. So our team's really been working hard through the last uh seven eight months to uh fix them, correct them, complete them. Uh but I want to let you know where we stood and kind of let the community know uh some of the
challenges that we had. Uh so we're working I guess Holy is our auditor that I also have been keeping informed uh trying to just keep everyone on the same page and let everyone be informed where we're headed. So the next step is
providing halting and company a trial balance and uh we promised that we would get them something last week. We did just we knew it was not in a good position and we're still working to clean up uh some of those items in the
trial balance but um we made a commitment to Chris Holting and we wanted to abide by that. We did that but we are still working on it. I think maybe once we get that clean trial balance um we'll maybe leave that to the sixth grade news crew and [laughter]
stuff already like my main goal as CFO I mean got a lot of responsibilities one is to get audit to you all but even higher than that is keep the funds coming to the school so there is a March one deadline with
filing an audit the report with the date. So, as I mentioned, they're in the loop where we're at. Uh they communicate with Teller County about property tax dispersements to the district. So, we are pretty much all on the same page. We
don't want to risk that. Uh and when I talk about risk, my goal, and any of you that really have had any conversation with me know I want to provide the standard clean annual audit uh to this group. So that takes
more time uh to perform. We're in this time frame of that's getting shortened by the minute and the fall back to that if we run out of time and and we are now infringing on holing uh as they're now
getting into their busy tax season as well. And I am 100% confident they're going to do absolutely everything they can do to help us get this over the finish line. But there is a disclaimer opinion uh that they can issue in lie of
this full audit and that window of doing the full audits closing pretty quick and the disclaimer opinion is really focused on the balance sheet. So it will give us a good start into this current fiscal year where all the fund balances are
cash on hand and all of that. What they wouldn't be uh really commenting on would be on the income statement. So, the income, the expenses that went through in fiscal year 25, uh, there's like almost no one around here that was
part of that. Uh, but I will say from being in those books, I don't see anything like nefarious that went on. It was more of a lack of people here working to get the data in. So, u I feel
like since I wasn't part of that, I could comment on it, but I haven't seen anything that would be a concern to me. So, I want to share the kind of the state of accounting, what's the team been doing and how is that going to set
us up for success in this coming year. So, uh some of the key challenges that we've had um is really um you know, Mrs. Jefferson is the sole person in that whole finance team that is still here and I'm glad she
is. She's a survivor. She's worked hard and I look back and it's like I think she single-handedly kept the lights on in this district uh to be here and pay the bills. So fortunately the deposits for the state are automatic as they are from the county and she was there to pay
the bills. Um so I'm glad she's here. everyone else is pretty much knew and bringing them on, acclimating them to the system and processes uh is labor intensive. So you lose a lot of
efficiency when you're bringing on new staff. the what when we all got here what were we faced with so there hadn't been any bank reconciliations done in fiscal year 25 uh back um we started July was done so
we had to pick up from July forward 15 accounts uh so we're talking about 180 months worth of bank wrecks that we are bringing to current so posting and reconciling revenue that
hadn't been done. And so we've basically caught all of that up as well. Currently operating in two systems down from three and hopefully next year we'll be down to one. And the efficiency of being in one system is extraordinary.
The inefficiency of converting from two to one is also extraordinary. So, and that if I could turn back the clock and if I was here, I would not have chosen that moment in time to say, "Let's get a new system and uh and fire
that up." So, I can't do that. We don't have that luxury, but I am looking forward. It's a decent system and I think it will serve the district well uh next year. We have come across a number of [clears throat] system setup errors that
occurred and literally there was no CFO here. I mean it's like who do you blame? Well, you can blame nobody because no one was here. But we have come across those. We've been working with Skyward all along. Uh they've been pretty responsive when we raised that red flag
to them. So this week we've come across a number of other errors in the payroll side that were getting corrected in some of the banking side uh with 15 bank bank accounts that was getting pretty complicated that
it was kind of a hold over from the old system in alio and we are simplifying that now as we move into the skyward but they had brought forward uh I think the wrong way to do things and so we've now corrected that as So
um [clears throat] also on the team and this has hit you know Mr. Paige and myself as well uh as our payroll team but we picked up you pass Boseis we had two springs pulled out of you passes. So we transferred all of those
responsibilities onto this team um starting in July and made that transition. So that in and of itself is a challenge that we've worked through. Um some of
the other maybe missteps. Hindsight is so 2020 so I hate to throw anything out there but the decision to go with K12 I think that was signed on one of my former um
former CFO on the very last day I think that contract got signed. So, um, K12 just didn't work out for us. And I got here in June and realized pretty quick that that was not going to be a long-term partner, uh, for us. So, we
ended up unraveling that. Uh, ended up negotiating our way out of a longerterm contract. Uh, so we ended up having to pay them just through September as they wrapped up the payroll process for us. But I can tell you the team here worked
significant hours to get every payroll through which hurt because one we're all busy already but paying a third party uh that just created a problem for us was uh difficult to swallow. So through all
of those challenges uh so Kate so the processing is in house. We got a great person doing it. Boseies were up and running uh taking over their books and their payroll that's running smooth. So I anticipate these things will run smoothly into next year. We've uh we'll
be on that one system on Skyward will be our new ERP system. There are some things that will slow us down as we continue to build out the use of that. So it's going to help us with uh compliance and enforcing policy for
example in the credit card usage will be going through that system from the card holder receipt gathering through the finance team and approval things like that. So there's a few things that will be expanding on the schools right now
operated uh they have their own uh school funds software and we'll be rolling them on to Skyward as well. So, at the end of next year, it's I think it's going to be a really welloiled machine. I'm really excited for our team
to make it through these last couple hurdles to get there. So, looking ahead to uh the 2026 audit. So, you know, talking to Chris Holting, talked to CDE, and I'm an internal optimist, so they always try to set me
straight a little bit. um that there is overhang and so coming in this year, cleaning up last year, there are still going to be some things that we need to address for the current year that we're in, which makes complete sense. Uh so with CASBY and
other policies that we'll be able to have you guys adopt and then administratively we can adopt some additional ones as well and and clarify bring those up to date. Some of them are aren't updated, need to be updated. So, but I really do feel we we're going to
have stronger systems in place with Skyward. Uh we've got better processes already. So, we're already using Skyward to a capacity that it's improving things. And then the people um on this team know what they're doing and
probably be part of that team. >> That's it. Um my um um when I when I've looked at this, I've thought about my father who was a very wise man and when I needed advice, I would go to him and I would
tell him the issues and he would look at me and he would say, "Carol, I can't tell you what you should do, but I'll be able to tell you what you should have done." Um and I'm like, "Thanks, Dad. Me, too." You know, and I know that that's a
little bit of of where you are. Um, and as a as a board member, um, I um, and this is for the rest of the board and the the community, I I watched last year the audit get kicked the can get kicked down the road and it wasn't always
crystal clear as to why and what was happening. And I appreciate the fact that you have come forward and kept us in the loop about what was going on with the audit, what the obstacles are, what to expect, and that it is going to be
late. Um, but I also felt the burden of being an elected official um for our community. And so today, I just want to let everybody know that today um I reached out to uh Holy to Chris, who is
our um auditor, because I felt like I needed to be able to say to the community that what David is saying is exactly what Chris was saying as well. Um, and so Ginger and Rob and I and
David met with Chris, the auditor, um, that that is working, you know, really hard to support us. And and he confirmed that what David is telling us is true, that there's that that it appears to him that nobody's trying to hide anything,
nobody is negligent in getting their job done. And um I just felt like it was important to to do that double check and let everybody know that. >> Rob, do you have anything to add from that conversation?
>> No, not at this time. I think well actually there is there's there's a commitment from the board to to help oversee the the processes and the systems that are in place. I mean, listening to your description of systems being taken out without a delta change
test or a back to normal procedure and you don't even know if it's going to work and then now you're left with trying to replace and reconcile records and people turning over. What a nightmare. What a nightmare. But yeah, we're we're in here to to to
help you get this back to normal. >> Yeah. And I'll I'll also say I I went back and I looked um over time and in the last four years I can I can say that there have been eight people um that have either worked as CFO or held the
job of CFO within our district. Um that lack of stability in the finance area um is tough and I'm I'm grateful that David is here and he apparently enjoys the challenge. [laughter] is what the trend of being
>> and and it also seems to me that he prefers to work hard rather than spend money because he would rather work hard to get it done himself than to pay somebody else to do it. Um I appreciate that. I care about burnout.
So, >> I just wanted to ask a little bit more about the disclaimer opinion if if that's what we end up getting from Holy, does it put us on probationary with the
CDE or any sort of like alert? >> Great question. And thankfully, it does not. um it should the report and I've always everywhere I've gone I've always inherited a pretty good set of books. So
this is kind of a unique position for me to come in but it should look from what I've heard at this point opinion look and feel very much like the traditional audit. They're just not going to give their state of
approval on the income statement side. But it but it doesn't put us in any there's no flights that go out. >> So for that remaining portion then what does that look like then David and when would we expect that then to be
completed at a later time or not at all? >> Um now you're thinking like me because I really want to get this full audit done and I've talked to Chris and Holing. if we continue to move forward with a full audit, they would be there to earn
additional income. And I've talked to CBE and I said, I want to throw this idea by and they're like, that's crazy. You do your disclaimer opinion, you move on to next year. And well, I didn't tell them what, oh, I heard this from CDE.
What do you think? I just let them tell me. Uh, and both of them came back with that. Just move on. And I don't like that answer, but that people I trust. Uh that's what they're telling us to
basically get that posted. You get you confirm with the state you're on it and the money continues to flow and you focus on making sure next year is a great year. >> So just to confirm that the bottom line is that we're going to work with them to work through that. I can't remember the
what was it called that you just called disclaimed >> disclaimed opinion and then at that point the audit would be cons considered complete for this year when we move forward correct >> that is acceptable by the state auditor's office >> okay thank you >> again David express our appreciation to
your team for the incredible hard work and dedication to this Yeah, we will continue to get that. >> Um, now we have committee reports and I'm excited about this. We have DAC co-chair Bridget Curran to give us a
report on the DAC. So, please. So, good evening. I'm here on behalf of the district accountability committee to share a quick update on what we've been working on. I serve as the co-chair of the DAC and since our chair is almost
always there, I don't usually get much air time. So, this is me finally earning my keep. Um, before I talk about what we're focused on now, I think it's important to pause and recognize how far the district has come thus far. Um, not
that long ago, we were facing record staff and student turnover, school closures and consolidations, and the loss of sales tax revenue. There was a lot of uncertainty and our community was navigating some really tough situations. Um, the tone definitely feels different
now. Um, Dak approved the unified improvement plan after thoughtful conversation and real collaboration. Um, we got to meet with Mr. Curtar and hear him take on the enormous task of stabilizing our finances. Not a small
job. Um the amount of grant writing happening right now is honestly really impressive. Um the district heard the concerns from the community and leaned in and y'all informed committees focused on safety and security, culture and
climate, teacher advisory and student advisory work. There's a clear effort to strengthen SIS systems, increase preparedness, and stay connected to community voices. We're also continuing to pursue opportunities that bring in new
resources and innovation. The shift says a lot. It shows resilience and it shows commitment. In recent DAC meetings, we've also talked about the importance of maintaining at least 95% participation in state assessments at each school.
That's not just a box to check. Participation uh directly impacts accreditation and funding which supports real programs and services for students. When families, schools, and the district work together to keep participation strong, we protect resources and
reinforce that shared commitment to student success. that um another ongoing focus for DAC has been curriculum implementation and meeting state standards. We know that strong implementation doesn't happen
from a one-time training or a video. It requires continued support. Um teachers need structured collaboration time, meaningful professional development, inperson workshops, practical coaching to bring standards to life in their
classrooms. And that connects directly to the conversations around teacher burnout. As expectations rise, support systems have to rise with them. Thoughtful scheduling, meaningful professional learning, adequate PD time, and
proactive inter intervention systems aren't extras, they're investments. When we support educators well, student outcomes improve and school culture stabilizes and progress becomes sustainable. The work over the past few months shows
that the district is capable of growth and transformation. Now the goal is building stability that lasts. DAC remains committed to supporting consistent academic achievement, strong standard implementation, meaningful professional
development, and systems that serve both students and staff well. Our next meeting is April 2nd at 5:00 PM. We'll each bring insights from our individual SAC meetings and continue working towards solutions that strengthen our schools because we're all in this
together. >> Thank you. Any questions for Bridget? >> Oh, please. No. [laughter] >> That we're still We only have one D member from the board. Is that correct? Just you? >> Yes. Yeah. Well, Keegan is but she's not here to make yet.
>> Keegan's going to do it. The second Oh, no. Keegan's the current deck member. >> We have two. >> Perfect. Okay, that's all we need. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> All right, now it's time for public comment. Do we have public comment? We
have one. All right. Please be aware that personnel or individual student matters are considered confidential under Colorado law and it is out of respect of the law and our employees and students that we require those discussions take place
privately in executive session. Individual comments are limited to 3 minutes or a total of 15 minutes per particular topic. The intent of public comment is to give the board of education the opportunity to hear your comments. However, the board will make
no decision or take no action on public comment during the meeting. >> Perry, >> good evening. I'm Perry. I'm president CEO of Park State Trust. First, I'd like to say to the CFO, Mr.
Um, thank you for a sober report. As you know, you just found out you're going to have to put your head down and just plow ahead. It's going to be very difficult. You know, the opinion that the auditors gave, you can expect that maybe even next year because until he gets the systems calmed down, until the reports
are in place, till the end is validated, they cannot give a full opinion. >> Yeah. Um, so but I'm here for u good news. So, um, tonight, uh, the W the Wood Park WPSD
hospitals inspired, uh, Park State Bank to, uh, contemplate a grant to the school district. And um with that inspiration uh that group with the the with the WPSD forward task force uh was
a group of very divergent opinions across the board that represented I think our community pretty well. Um and actually one of the things that we delved into was the finances and we we saw exactly what you found out that it
was going to be a mess. It's going to take a lot of work annually. But that being said, um, uh, this is kind of a call from the business community. Sounds like you have a business meeting in April. Um, to get
out of this, it's going to require a lot of creative solutions. Uh, and the business community is always asked to help as much as possible. I think it's going to take the entire community stepping up. And so, uh, this Park State Bank and Trust on behalf of the WPSD
forward task force is pleased to give you a $30,000 unrestricted grant. And what that means is we're putting no conditions on it. The reality of it is there's so many places. This is like a drop in a bucket uh to solve all the problems you have, but it at least is a
start and maybe will inspire some other businesses down the line to step up and participate. I'll give it to Mr. [laughter] [applause] We really appreciate the commitment of Park State Bank and you in particular um
to the school district and your concern for some of the issues that you saw and a desire to take that on. Um and thank you so much for the grant. It I'm sure will be well used. All right. I need a motion to approve
the consent agenda. >> Second roll call. >> Um I have a comment real quick or just a correction to make on the February 4th minutes. Um, the call to order time needs to be corrected to PM instead of
AM. >> Thank you, Barbara. [laughter] >> All right, with that correction in mind, >> roll call. >> Barkley, >> Davidson, >> I. >> Gilganess, >> I. >> Gordon, >> I. >> Green Street,
>> hi. >> All right. Discussion and information items. We have Miss Hamllo up for three separate pieces of that. Perfect. Going to start out with graduation requirements. So, state of Colorado um has a new house
bill and um the number is in your packet there. House Bill 251192. the financial literacy requirement. And we knew this was coming. We've been preparing for it for quite a few years. And um so we actually have several classes um six classes that already meet
the standards. Um we're going to tweak a couple of things just to reinforce them a little bit. But what I'm proposing tonight is changing the graduation requirements to include a semesterl long financial literacy class that meets those state standards.
So, the six classes we have currently are financial literacy. Just straight out of this is a social studies credit. Um, personal finance math A is a math credit. Actually, the rest of these are math credit opportunities. And so it's
the idea that students could choose from the menu of options one of the six classes to take or they might take several personal finance B online personal finance because we do have several online students that don't come into the building of course or some
students really enjoy this learning opportunity. um online establishing financial independence and online consumer in the world of finance. You have any questions? I just have a comment. I think it's great that it can be applied either to
math or social studies because if we have kids on a advanced track in math but don't want to miss out on those courses or have room for an additional math, they can then get the credit through social studies. >> Absolutely. Yeah.
>> I I support the state requiring the financial literacy piece. I think it's really valuable. Um, my own children have told us that we didn't do a great job as parents in that area. Um, so I I I suspect there may be more like me that
will benefit from having some of that in school. Um, I have a question today. and the listening tours that I've done, teachers have talked about um the importance of their opinion being valued
>> in um uh curriculum choice and etc. And if you could just talk a little bit about any way that you um that that staff members have been involved in some of this decision making and planning or
have these just been existing for long enough that you can just talk to that. >> Absolutely. Um the first three classes, the in-person classes, we just start there. Um financial literacy has been developed by several teachers over the course of several years. We started with
the Dave Ramsey curriculum. Um gosh boy. >> A long time ago. Yeah. And um we were teaching financial literacy components in advisory classes. And so we broke up the curriculum and taught it over four years. But that left kind of a disconnected experience for students.
And so we decided to especially when the house bill or when the proposed legislation came out, we thought let's make this an actual course that students would take for a semester long. Um over the time we've taken the Ramsey curriculum and really adopted and changed um we were a standardsbased system and so we brought in different
resources and tools and teachers are in a room together creating this curriculum that aligns to standards and so every teacher has been able to build it to be a better course and um more responsive to the student questions and the desires
that come up in class. So, and the same thing with MA our math classes as well. The um personal finance math A and B have been developed collaboratively with teachers. >> Very good. Thank you. >> I have a question that will probably
segue into the next topic, but um the uh it's interesting to me because finance is one of those classes that's also generally within kind of um a general business education type of framework as well. I know that this is really intended to give kids as and and uh the
tools as individuals and consumers to manage finances, but I'm just curious if that is part part of a broader curriculum of more general business offerings or or if that's something we could pathway. >> Yeah. Well, actually that's where the
online classes come in. Um these online classes are progressively difficult. Um, in fact, some of them definitely better in the stats realm and um even early calculus realm. And so they're they
would be very appropriate for a business major. We don't at the time a couple years ago we didn't have enough students that would be interested in that pathway. Um we're always ref looking at that list and getting student input to decide on what classes come next which
yes leads into the next topic. >> Okay. Thank you. So student interest >> Mrs. example there's a I have a question on the online establishing financial independence it's the first course of of the three um in here it talks about making
connections and sections engaging with project based learning >> for the student uh is there an opportunity there where our internship community could tie this class to a business in the community like insurance
statistics or probabilities uh uh banking, you know, finance, mortgages. Is there is that is there a tie that we could >> possibly? So, um and I would say even in the in-person classes, there are nice ties that could be made there that would
really benefit our students. The online classes are canned courses, if you will. They're they're precurated. But the student wanted to go out and and get some experience in our community. >> Oh, yeah.
>> Volunteers can go out and work with our community to establish those relations. So, >> yes, absolutely. >> Rob, I'm just going to give a little reminder. The microphones don't pick up that great. So, when you talk, you kind of have to lean in a bit. Um, I know
that people that listen online complain about not being able to hear sometimes. >> Thank you. Uh Karen, one more question. Is as this is being considered as a graduation requirement, is it going to impact our graduation in any way, shape, or form,
do you suspect that this might impact graduation rates or anything like that or is it anything any negative impacts? I suppose I don't at all. Um really students have the opportunity for 10 academic electives and this is just
taking a five of that. So they still have many more opportunities. students actually have a chance for 29 credits to graduate from high school. So, they have opportunities. So, technically a student could fail an entire semester of classes and still graduate on time.
>> Okay. Thank [clears throat] you. >> The next topic is the new course proposals at the high school and we know lots the history behind this. We know lots of conversation usually happens in the community about what classes the high school's offering
and so we just like to bring them in front of the board and the community just to hear what new courses potentially could um students potentially could take next semester. I do have a caveat there. Um the course descriptions here are still in draft form. Um they haven't been fully built
out. They oftentimes rebuild them in the summer with teacher collaboration. And so, you know, stay tuned on those. And we align them to standards and um there's a lot of work that goes into creating a new course. Um and also the actual courses, they might not we call it run or they might not make. And so
depending on the number of students that sign up for a class, sometimes it's necessary for us to even though we'd like to offer a class, we can't end up offering a class because of enrollment and student interest. So they're not guaranteed to rent. All that to say. So
um the first one there is a returning course. It's a philosophy and the second um that's for 11th and 12th graders semester long course. And this is really important to know that our students are the ones that wanted this course. They actually pursued
teachers and um started asking questions. they started emailing me asking um if if we've had the class in the past and um so there's a real desire from them to see this type of course taught and it's a social studies credit.
Um the second course is for seventh and eighth graders. It's a social studies course as well. American history through culture. Pretty cool ideas. Um this would be a new elective course offering for junior high students. CTE um grades 9 through 12 um there's a
short films offering um we have experienced um a desire in from our students as well to start pursuing film opportunities um I talked to several students especially standing outside the theater which I usually do after all the productions and it's been amazing how
many are going to film school and that's something new that I had not heard previously and so in response to that um there's an opportunity for a short films class where they actually get an opportunity to make some film little shorts. Um that would be an elective
course. CTE again for this is the project lead the way. We have project lead the way all the way through high school. There are currently is it five classes I think project lead the way. >> Yeah. But he >> they alternate. Yeah. They alternate in
different years. And so this would be expanding that program a little bit and doing introductory work for the middle school level or the junior high level up into the high school programs. So it would give them a chance to explore before they really commit. Um because these courses are rigorous and um it not
that long ago students would take a Project Lead the Way course and they'd say, "Oh, I didn't realize it was I was going to have to do math and science. Like I just want to build stuff." Yeah, that's so they get an experience before they jump into that.
Next one is CTE again for the junior high offering. It's an elective course called destination imagination. This one has had a lot of excitement around it. um our DAC committee that met um last week. Just so many p so much positive
feedback. Um very exploratory, very exciting for um students that really want to be creative in their thinking and come up with some real world problems, real world solutions to real world problems and um it really offers opportunities but then think outside the
box as opposed to following a prescriptive crisis. Although there are elements, there's lots of resources to help it to help teachers teach this class. There's also competition opportunities, which is pretty cool. >> Um, we're going to, uh, actually, it's a
returning course. The P, oh, I'm sorry, new course. Um, introduction. This is a PE course, introduction to strength and conditioning. Um, we just found that some of the students have been in the advanced or more advanced strength and conditioning program, but they don't necessarily know how to do the lifts
properly with correct form to avoid injury. Yeah, I see you shaking your head. As a physical therapist, it's a real thing. And um, so that is to really slow down and make it less com competitive. I mean, it's not we can get competitive, let's face it. and um just
an opportunity for students to really learn how to do the moves before they're in that big group setting where they feel pressure from their peers. And so um an opportunity there and then a returning course just general PE and so just bringing back the ability for a PE
teacher to be able to decide um what he or she is going to do during the day um for the in response to the students as opposed to um being directed to have to do a certain program. Okay. So, it kind of encompassed all
Sorry, it's crazy. All the different disciplines within one class. >> Any questions? Um Karen, I have a question about um short films, which is a fantastic offering. Um my question is around budget because my experience, I've had
to manage um photography and videography budgets, and I know there's a >> can be a significant upfront cost on production equipment and that kind of thing. Um, do we know like if there will be, and this is kind of a question for all of them, but I was thinking about it specifically with this one, if there are
uh particular budget impacts with these types of courses that we should be considering before we approve them or before you guys decide to move forward. >> Um, yes, I will say with the short film, there are grant opportunities, especially in the project lead the way as well. Lots of grant opportunities. In fact, we've received many grants through
project lead the way in the past. Um so yes then that's that is a piece of a decision that we'd have to make if the course makes or not. So, >> okay. >> Um, I just note that six out of these
seven courses are electives. And I know it's great to offer variety and it's part of the appeal of having a junior, senior high school, having our um, middle school students with more opportunities, but I think it also then draws away from our core electives like
art and music. So, I'm just wondering um how many electives do we offer at the junior high level currently and the senior high? >> So, it's it's complicated. It's more complicated than that. Um let me look at graduation requirements real quick here.
Notice mathematics for instance, students need to take three years of mathematics. But within mathematics, we go to the course description guide. there are many elective choices that they could take there uh that would count for mathematics credit. So you're
not required to take integrated one and pass it to graduate of high school. So you could take integrated two, integrated three and consumer math and p and graduate high school. So when we call it elective, sometimes we get into this
complex category if you will. So if just take a look at this catalog for a second, these are all the course offerings. So seventh and eighth grade, it's not about reading them, it's just about seeing that. Then we get to high school. So these are all the classes
that kids could possibly take. Now, not everyone runs every year, but it's amazing. It keeps on going. Yep.
Yeah. Well, it's a lot to manage. Um, oh, I did not do a count on it this year. It used to be 146 courses two years ago. Um, I don't know what it's at right now. Um, but it's a sizable number. And so, the reality is students have so many opportunity. They could
take 29 credits um within their high school experience. We only require 25 and we require this breakdown. Um, but they still have lots of other opportunities. And so, does it take away from music? We're not forcing them to
take a music or a very specific class, but there's a lot of choices. I love that. >> Yeah, I think I that's amazing that we offer so much. I know um yesterday at the listening tour, I was talking with our academic adviserss. I think that's
their >> Yep. >> what they're called. Um, and they were just saying by the time we our seniors get to their senior year, then they're like looking for something new and and yet even with all of that, they're
struggling to have enough options. And so I do love that these options. I just also want to be mindful of our budget and our teachers and also wanting our core programs to also still be robust.
Yeah. And you will see a condensing I mean especially as we get to be a smaller system um conversation around like collapsing taking two elective English classes and bringing them back into one. And so I mean that's an ongoing conversation. And so even with
PE um we've had six different PE classes um over the last couple of years and now we're coming back to that one PE option. Um not the other ones won't be there in the schedule, but we need a place that um it is not so complex. We don't want a
PE teacher running for six different preps every day. That's a lot. And so sometimes we need to simplify things. And the students want to experience a variety of things. They don't just want to be pigeon hole into one thing adventure rip and get old for some students even though it's a wonderful
class. >> And what is generally the process for introducing new course offerings and how do you filter that? You mentioned that some student like students will bring you ideas or that teachers will raise ideas. Is there a formal process for the way that new courses are considered? Um
usually around December or so the principal will ask teachers what new courses are they considering and we'll start talking with students and or students sometimes come in the case of philosophy they went to Mr. Brown specifically um and started talking
about him and so the teachers get to submit courses to a course proposal to the principal and the admin team talks about like is this even possible to fit in the schedule. Um, we look at things like does it fit into a track or um are
there is there interest in information about students? Like on the SAT students have to bubble in like what future careers they're interested in. And when we see if there's very little interest in something, usually we won't bring the course
forward. Any questions? >> All right. All right, Karen. Um calendar. Calendar. >> All right. Um there is a calendar. There's lots of different calendars. Um one is online right now. We recognize
that there is some challenges with it and um specifically through the DAC um we've have been having lots of conversations around that teacher burnout piece. And so something we identified pretty early on was there there is no break. And we really experienced it this fall. Um staff was
exhausted by um October. And the other thing we found at Coline specifically um our kids got sick and they didn't have a chance to recover. And so we had this situation where staff was really tired getting sick and students were sick and
not recovering. And that loss of that fall break we've experienced over the last two years. um really the cry became like let's get a fall break back into the system again. Um parents also families missed being able to go to do things. October is a prime time for
families to do college visits and that has been t that was taken away and so the desire to bring back the fall break was a definitely a motivator in creating this new calendar. So up on the on the board here this is the proposed
calendar. We did bring this in front of the DAC and got feedback and we actually made some we made some changes based on the information that they shared with us. Um you'll notice in August um we're gonna we the calendar that's currently online has school starting on the 26th
which is late started for a lot of years. Um we would put it back to where where we've been for many years um of starting school for students on August 19th. Um September is fairly unchanged.
October gets the break in there. Um let me point something out about October. This is really um what we would like to do is parent teacher conferences are another big concern. Um we want to have parent we want parents in the school. We want them talking to
teachers. We want that connection like we're better together. And um in the current calendar, it does not allow for excuse me, we have to change it every year for the senior high teachers to be able to meet with parents. And we want
to get rid of that um concept and have senior high teachers always be able to meet with parents twice a year. And so in October, we and the other request was to have an evening time for parents to be able to come in and um do parent teacher conferences.
>> Do you need to switch? Yeah, we don't have any spare mics. >> Oh, that's okay. Well, we have a share mic. [clears throat] Just so you know, you lost your mic for a minute. [laughter] >> Yeah, a really good one. >> I was wondering what was happening.
[laughter] >> Sorry, we don't need spare mics. >> All right, you're back. >> Okay, so um parent the request for parents to be able to come in the evening to be able to sit with their teacher. I mean, we had been solving it with some video conference, but it's
really not the same for families to video conference in um as opposed to walking to school and seeing student work on the hall and all that. And so, the idea with the October and February calendar is that we would have a half day for students and we would bust them
home midday. Then teachers would have some professional development time to get ready for parent teacher conferences. Um this is the end of the marking period at like for October. So they'd be able to grade some papers and update grades and making sure they're ready, print test scores, whatever it might be for the conferences and then
have them the conferences in the evening. So parents would have evenings block then. So it's a very long day for teachers, but then the next day they have morning conferences and then teachers would release and be able to go on their fall break at noon or whatever
the time might be and uh enjoy that time. So that's a compensation half day for a half day. So hard work on that Wednesday night and then be able to release early on Thursday. So we did the same pattern for February. I know there's concern about having a short week there and would students really
come. We actually looked at the data for Coline Elementary and um it's it's almost identical to um a regular full 5day week when we have short weeks because we currently in our calendar have five 3-day weeks. So it it doesn't
experience we don't experience much many students choosing to leave early. Um I will say though that's the reason we do not put the entire week out and have a parent teacher conference like on a Monday or a Friday and because we would definitely experience everyone who'd just be gone. Yeah. Staff and families
would not attend. So that's the reason it straddles the two straddles the two weeks and just has one week at there. Uh we bumped back December 18th would be the end of first semester. January is pretty much the same. Uh March and April, I guess April, we moved the days
off out of the testing window. This was really important because um we are given three weeks that we can test students in April. And currently in our calendar, two of those days are non- studentent contact days. And so they have to take all of their tests in 13 days. and
whether it forces students, especially if they've been absent, to have to take two or three tests in a day. And that's exhausting. We don't get good scores. They're so frustrated and burned out. And so, we wanted to bump the April days to after the testing window and have a
celebration. We're done with testing. Take two days off, everyone. And that will be a joy. Um the last change was in May we gave an extra professional development day so that teachers could close out the year and attend graduation because right now um it's very hard to
do that in one day. Just a lot of grading and a lot of circumstance. Well, I just want to comment. I can tell a lot of careful thought was put into this of the teachers and of families and I really appreciate that.
>> Yeah. Um the voice here also um this the conversation around this calendar in the last DAC meeting was very extensive and it was really great
to see uh parents and teachers all talking together about you know what made sense for from their perspective and then to hear the difference in um you know what the calendar does from the
perspective of, you know, a senior high school teacher as opposed to an elementary school teacher. Um, and everyone just kind of working together to to refine this to something that would work for everybody. Um, I think it's a real testament to, you know, what
that um collaboration can do and and the fact that, you know, how much care our community has to to spend so much time on the calendar. Um, it was it was an exciting meeting to be a part of.
>> I agree. We had some good ideas back and that are reflected here now. I just want to clarify that um this is just on our agenda tonight as a discussion item. Does it have to be voted on as an action item or anything like that or what's the >> the calendar is the one thing that has
to be voted on. Okay. >> So, [clears throat] we'll have to come back next month. >> Okay. >> Which I like that you brought it forward this month so that we have opportunity for community to provide input to board members um prior to a vote. So, thank you for being proactive on this.
Absolutely. Okay. All right. Thank you, Karen. >> Thank you. >> All right. >> Um, we're at the point of our forensic audit update and I know that he is joining us, I don't know, remotely
somehow. So, Stephen, I guess you're on. >> Yeah, we're trying something new, so it'll go well. >> [laughter] >> Yes. Okay. All right, let's see. I think we can hear you, too.
>> Okay, you hear me? >> Y >> again. >> Okay, great. Do people see the presentation by chance? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> All right, that's good. >> Okay. Well, good evening everybody. Um,
as most of you probably know, my name is Brandon Waldron. I'm the senior manager with I Bailey's fraud and fridge practice and I have been the main engagement leader uh throughout this project and this process. Uh we are coming back together to discuss part two
of the project. Um I'm going to go over a recap here shortly regarding the results of part one just to remind everybody since it's been two months since the last presentation. Um before I do that, I do need to obviously give the uh once over full disclaimer that I do
not have esquire after my name. So any advice I give is based on experience and based on accounting broad and forensic knowledge not based on legal uh advice as was stated um engagement leader. So
now let's get to the more important stuff. So here's some general reminders of the first presentation. So when it came to the first presentation, we discussed that the time frame for our project was from
July 1st of 2023 through June 30th of 2024. We were asked to analyze the books and records to perform sample testing to perform voluntary interviews and to look over the audit findings and verify which
are potentially still active in the coming year. Now when we came to the first presentation, we provided our results and there were some questionable results in regards to the merit academy. Uh we had found the uh invoices and
those invoice had about $1.4 million worth of revenues that was provided to them that we could not explain or could not uh validate ourselves. And so we had requested the district to allow us to
reach out to Merit Academy directly and to talk with the personnel and review their support documentation in order for us to feel more comfortable with those invoices and the amounts that were paid. And so uh the district had approved
that. We received the approval um engagement letter in mid January. Um we had uh our interviews with the merit academy personnel very shortly after that. I recall it was like a week later. Um we received the support documentation
we requested two days before the interview. So they were very on top of it and gave us what we needed and now we are here to discuss the results of those of that conversation and in addition go over the final results of the whole
entire project. just now that we have completed the report that has been handed to the board of directors tonight. So when it came to the merit academy information that we reviewed again the first thing we did was we interviewed the personnel. We asked them the
questions that we had asked the district that the district could not provide. And in addition we asked them for just their general feeling as far as how the uh relationship is between the district and Barrett Academy. um what the past was as
far as conversations he had had with district personnel that were no longer there, things of that sort. At the end of the day, we ended up reviewing 98.9% of the invoices paid to Woodland Park um paid from Woodland Park to Merit
Academy. Um we also reviewed emails uh that discussed the reason for the method of the invoicing support documentation for the transactions related to those funds obtained and of course the calculating calculation showing how amounts were decided. Now, that's just
the full presentation slide, but I would like to go over this in way more detail, and I have my notes here that I want to kind of break down and specifically explain. Um, when it came to the agreement between Merit Academy and
Woodland Park, there were very specific items listed in that agreement. the idea funds, the mill funds, the sales revenue uh funds, the bond funds, federal funds,
state funds. The majority of these funds that were broken out do say that they the funds were to be provided to them via a proportionate share. The only two that weren't a report this year was the bond funds which specifically said that
they were not going that Merit Academy was not going to receive any bond funds unless it was directly requested and improve and approved in writing by the district. And then for the federal funds which was one of the issues that we had
was that it needed to be on the reimbursement basis. When we talked to the district, they had said that they had not received any reimbursement information. All they had was a invoice that showed everything, including the federal funds being broken out into a
proportionate share. After talking to Merit Academy and looking over the information, it does appear that the the district Merit Academy and the Colorado Department of Education had a meeting
where it was discussed on how to best provide funds between the two entities, Woodland Park and Merit Academy. In that meeting, the CDE representative had proposed this proportionate share
aortionment invoicing and that was why that started happening instead of the federal reimbursement. I did ask Merit Academy if they were aware if the CDE had obtained a copy of the actual agreement between Merit and Woodland
Park. They said to their knowledge they never as the CDE representative never did. And I could believe that um if if it would have been provided, I'm sure the CDE would have worked with them more into avoiding this u aortionate
proportionate share for the federal funds. But just because that happened didn't mean that anything was wrong. So we then started diving in into more specific areas and we definitely wanted
to focus on the federal cutting out a little bit. Can you hear me? We can't hear you. It's on mute the camera off. most needed.
>> Should we order pizza? [laughter] might be dead. >> Okay. Can you hear me now? >> Okay. Do you know when I cut out? >> You tell me so I can pick it up before I left off. >> Oh.
CD meeting with CD and merit and federal funds. >> Yeah. >> Federal funding part. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, I was just jumping into the federal funds and what I was about and what we tested. So, that's that's where
it all jumped in. >> So, um we started looking at the uh total amount of federal funds that were given to Merit Academy in regards to IDEA. the title one and title two and we
specifically requested how those calculations were made and in addition um what the money was used for and support to show us that uh the money was used appropriately. Merit Academy was able to give us all three of those
requests. They were able to show us the calculation which primarily consisted of the num the forecasted number of students for merit divided by the forecasted number of students for the entire district. Again, their
proportionate share. When that happened, uh they then build the district with that amount, divided that amount by 12 and got that on a monthly basis. They then showed me specifically where the money went, meaning showed me within the
general ledger all the payments that were made using those funds and in addition provided support showing us how those funds were indeed spent for valid reasons. After that, we then moved over to the ESSER funds where specifically we had
discussed, okay, originally esser was not part of the federal um contract. you know, who agreed to give you the ESER funds? Um, how was that agreement made? Um, you know, could you please explain
to me more details why those funds uh should be valid and reasonable? In doing so, they had showed me emails specifically with Merit Academy and the district where there was communication between them showing that it was agreed
by the district that the remaining ESSER funds would be forwarded to Merit Academy. We then looked over the account that showed the ESSER funds and specifically what those payments were used for and how they were in compliance
with the ESSER funding. And again, uh we did not see any uh issues with regards to the spending or the compliance with the ESSER funds. So, in in in total or in summary, when we
had the interview with Merit Academy, when we looked over the support documentation, the $1.4 4 million that was sent to them specifically in those monthly payments that we deemed as questionable originally seemed reasonable and valid uh to us based on
the information that we reviewed in the uh the the information we reviewed and the interviews that we conducted. Next slide. Um, can I >> would now be an okay time to ask a
question on that topic or should I wait till you're done presenting? >> You know what? I I I roll with the flow. So, if you have a question, by all means, ask a question. >> Okay. Just um real quick about the ESSER funds in particular. In your report to
us, it uh specifically noted that the amount of $275,12523 were paid to the merit academy and were spent on grant appropriate expenditures of a reading interventionist. And so I'm just >> wondering
>> I left I left something out there. I promise you they did not spend $275,000 on a uh a read reader inter uh intervention specialist. They also the way that that looks the way the funds
have broken out and for some reason that must have been missed and I apologize in the report which is why we keep the report as a draft just in case things like this are found we can fix them and then issue the final report. Uh when it comes to the answer funds uh $99,000
was spent for a salary for the intervention specialist. um 143,000 was spent was spent on salaries for three um special education um individuals and then 12,000 was spent
on clubs. So my apologies on that confusion. >> Thank you for that clarification. >> Yeah. No, and I'll make sure to edit the report to break that out more. I'm sure that was just a typo on my part. This is where I generally remind people I'm an
English major. I'm an accountant. Um, [clears throat] okay. So, um, >> can I ask >> Can I ask a quick question? >> Everybody can ask any questions they like. >> Could you speak a little bit more? You you mentioned title one. Can you tell me
a little bit more about that? >> Uh, so when I saw specifically the um title one because we did see some funds that originally were not part of the invoice. So, for example, title one specifically, we
looked over all the monthly invoices for all the 28 payments that were made. And in looking over that, we did not see any title one or title three or title four funds within our scope. Period. I would
like to believe that those funds were leftovers that were spent from the prior year. That's outside of our scope. >> Thank you. Um, and then I wanted to ask a question about the emails where it it the
district agreed to pay or to make those payments uh for the er funds. Um, are we able to to have access to those as well? Will that be part of the the final report?
>> Uh, I could give you those. Yes, I can make them part of the final report if that's what you wish. Um, but also I can give those to the district directly if necessary. So, both of those are available. >> Okay. Yeah. I mean, whatever makes the
most sense. I think that would be good to Here's what I'm going to say. If I put it in the final report, which I have no problem doing that, then what ends up happening is is that if in short summary, it's the district's decision
and the district's responsibility to uh redact names or other personal information if it's in if it's included in there, not ours. So, that's just the one reason I say that. >> Okay. Thanks, J. >> All right. And then I also wanted to
give a more conclusive update on the actual results for Woodland Park School District. So when I gave you guys the results originally, they were based on where we were at that time. And I had said specifically nothing is final until the report is final. So now the report
is final. I wanted to give more specific concrete results for all the different areas that we tested. Uh 60 transactions were tested for bank payment accounts. 28 of those did not have a check request
form which is required by the district. And on this check request form, it specifically states why is this payment being made. It shows the requesttor. It shows the approver and it shows the code the fund code as to where these funds
are being spent from. So when we looked at 60 transactions, 28 of them did not have a check request form and four additional uh transactions did not have an approver even though they had a request form. So there was 31
I'm sorry three sorry three additional ones that did not have the approval signatures. So in total the 31 28 of them are because we didn't have the check request form and then additional three add 31 two were missing support
entirely and when you look at the report in the workpapers it specifically shows which two were missing the support. When it comes to the credit card testing, we tested 58 transactions. I, the requesttor, was the approver of
that invoice. It's supposed to be one person requests and either a department head or the CBO or the superintendent. Someone else above them makes the approval in order saying that this is a valid um credit card transaction. So,
five of those, the requesttor was the approver. They didn't go to the person above them to get it. five events noted to have no participation lists. So in looking at the events as a whole, it does seem that
these were valid business events. However, since there's no list showing the participation who actually showed up for these events, there's two issues that potentially be. first is no one was there that was workrelated and it was
just a party thrown by the district for whoever wanted to show up which is not something that would be reasonable or valid. Um or worse the payment was made for a party that was not for business purposes that would the district paid
for. Through the information that I reviewed it was clear to me that it definitely looked like a business or a school district event. However, we would recommend that a list of participants be included in the support documentation in order to validate that no one from
outside the district unless specifically invited is included in the event. Uh, seven transactions were missing um support documentation. Of the seven, four of those were parking related, so
that kind of didn't surprise me. And then three of them specifically were related to um transactions that were later turned around and claimed as fraud from the district. Meaning the district found them to be fraud, said to the
bank, hey, you know, these are fraudulent. They shouldn't have happened. And then they were properly reversed. Uh four, he did not have any purchase requisition forms. The credit cards are required to have those just as the bank accounts are. And three, again,
there were evidence of three transactions that appear to be for personal food purchases. Now, the reason that we say that is because of three reasons. One, listed on those. Two, the amount is on the lower side, leading us to believe
that again, they were doing it themselves. And third, some of the places were very close to the district. So it leads us to believe that they went out to lunch or went out to dinner by themselves, not specifically for a school district meeting for school
district business. For [clears throat] payroll, 25 personnel files were tested. Four personnel files were missing information that we needed. Five had dates that were missing. And this was kind of common with your payroll that dates were missing. We saw this in journal entries.
We saw this in payroll. Dates are very important. They show specifically when things were were were done and also validates that they were done in time. Um if you if you don't have dates listed, there is the risk that the
information was forged upon someone's arrival. I don't think that was the case here just based on my experience and based on the information that XB, but we would like to avoid that. So I definitely stress to the district, please put please put dates on every
document that you can. 10 of uh of the personnel files that we looked at primarily for PAS personnel action forms. 10 of them were missing employee signatures. With the journal entries, 22 journal entries were tested. 12 had missing
dates as I mentioned before. Three had no approval but support was provided and then five had no prepared or approved signatures on it. So we do not know specifically who was the requesttor or the preparer of those journal entries
and subsequently who actually reviewed them. [cough and clears throat] >> So in our report we specifically summarized 20 internal control recommendations provided to the district. Some of these recommendations have already been put into practice by management and that was because while we
were specifically doing the engagement, these were brought to management's attention right of May and some of them they had said they had already changed and some of them they would change and they said they would change right away. So some of these recommendations that were provided the district has already
implemented. Now, when it comes to the Merit Academy and the district recommendation, I strongly believe that the best thing for Merit Academy and for the district is to
redo or add an addendum to the current agreement that is in place. I believe certain things need to be readjusted, redised, and then therefore after that the contract could be updated. Um, in
addition, I recommend that it definitely be discussed and agreed upon whether going forward the federal funding will be done as the aortionment method, which is what they've been doing, or if they wish to keep it reimbursement and now
will be actually implemented even though in previous years it has not. So, that is the end for me. Anyone have any questions? Again, uh for the directors, you guys have my report. So,
if there's a specific um question about the report, not just my presentation, please feel free to ask. >> I have another one regarding the sampling. um when you chose the
transactions to sample, for example, with the PE cards or credit card purchases, um it said you found 24 out of 58 of your samples had findings. And so I'm just curious, is that an accurate representative representation of the all
the purchases that they would have 40% would have findings or did you specifically choose samples that would have more likely have mistakes? >> That that that's a fantastic question. Uh what you're talking about is a
concept used by auditors called extrapolation where they will take a sample they will determine the amount of findings for that sample and then apply it to the whole population. And the reason that they're doing that is because they are
trying to show okay if these mistakes are happening um if this sample is a true representation if we apply it to the whole population will the difference be material or not. That's why they sometimes do that. Again
it's called extrapolation. As far as the sample size for us, we specifically did targeted sample selection. Meaning that we looked at we got all the transactions. We saw all the vendors and we specifically knowing uh the types of
frauds that could occur selected these specific transactions just to see if there was systemic fraud, systemic waste or systemic internal control issues. And that's kind of what we look for specifically when we find fraud. We
start with with a small population. We see that there's a pattern and then from there we branch out that pattern and that's how we determine the full extent of the fraud. Um if there is fraud present or patterns of fraud. Um in this
particular circumstance the uh 58 that we selected were targeted sample samples that we selected to see okay how are things looking within this district. Are there patterns of waste patterns of
fraud or patterns of um control deficiencies? And based on our report and based on what we looked at, there were definitely some patterns of uh significant internal control deficiencies, which is why we have the recommendations at the end of our
report. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? [clears throat] >> I don't I don't think so. I think um the board is good. I we really appreciate your work on this and I think that that
your suggestions kind of align a little bit with what what David has found in terms of um information just from the audit last year and what he's seeing. And I think that they're hard at work at um already changing some of those um
procedures. >> Okay. Well, that's great to hear. I greatly appreciated working with this district including Merit Academy. Um, everyone was uh was uh very helpful when when requested. So uh again the next
steps for me is going to be I'm going to make that slight uh change in the report to make that a little bit more clear as far as the SRs are concerned. Um, outside of that, if the board uh feels comfortable with the report, they just
need to let me know and we'll finalize it right away. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Wish everybody good night. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I just have a question of the board.
like because there were a good you know 20 recommendations and I think it would be great for the community to see the work that the district is doing to address those. Is there whether we need to discuss this in the work session of
how to um make that known to the community and also just the report in general. Do we have a plan to present that to the community? I think that's a good addition to our work session to have discussion around
that and how we release that. >> My only request possibly can we do that work session after David's done with the audit so that David could be >> sure would that be I just want to be thoughtful.
All right, we're down to final item and operations report. Is that do we have one? It's >> just information only for the board, >> right? Yeah. >> Is it Lindsay? Is that who who is doing
the operations report? >> Um, it's just I think it's just >> Yeah, it's just for the board. Don't >> No, it's okay. >> Okay. Yeah. All right, then we're done. I need a
motion to adjourn the meeting. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll. >> I >> Davidson. >> Hi. >> Gildeness. >> Hi. >> Gordon. >> Hi. >> Green Street. >> Hi.
>> Thank you all very much for hanging in there for the