Yes. >> There's too many people. It was like I think you guys All right, we're going to call our meeting to order. >> All right, we've got new mics tonight,
so we might have some technical things to work through. Please be patient with us. >> Should we try roll call? >> Yeah. >> Here. Davidson >> here. here. Gordon >> here. Green Street
>> here. >> All right. Stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> 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. Please stand for a moment of silence. Okay. So, it's time for a motion to approve. >> Roof. >> Barkley.
>> I >> Davidson. >> Hi. >> Gilgameus. >> Hi. >> Gordon. >> Hi. >> Green Street. >> I agenda has been approved. So, first on the agenda this evening is our community spotlight. Um, and so we are going to be
recognizing Coline Elementary's KIDS club this evening. Um, so we'll have Terry come up and and introduce all the kids and uh tell us what they're all about. >> Well, thank you for inviting us here and
Landis. Thank you for wanting to recognize the kiddos. They're pretty amazing. I am gonna ask Jason Rochek to come on up here. I know absolutely nobody knows him here. If you don't know him, you'll hear him from a mile away. So, >> I do want to thank So, Jason's been the
Kowanas representative for Coline on two two different stints for about 12 years total, maybe more. And I think that's pretty amazing that and his kids, you know, don't go to Coline anymore for a while. And I think it's awesome that he came back and try to bring it back after co. So, I think we could give you a
round of applause. Are you speaking the mic or am I doing the get good dugouts? I feel like I have to speak to them. I'd like to speak to you. >> You're good. >> Okay. Um, so the kids already experienced the Kowanas meeting this morning, which was kind of cool. Uh, so
I got to say the pledge of allegiance three times today. This morning with the Kuanas and then at school and then just now. And they got to see how the meeting would run. Uh, and pretty much that what keeps that alive seems to be Mr. Rochett. But, uh, we got to share all
the different things that K kids is about with the community service. Uh, this year we collected pasta sauce and pasta boxes of pasta for community cupboard. And apparently, according to Landis, we collected the most of any organization this year. So, I thought
that last year we also collected for tea. We got some Dawn dish soap and some uh dog treats and animal treats. They did very well with that. Um something we're about to do in April. We're going to go to Forest Edge and play bingo with the residents there. We played it last year.
I think that was one of the kids some of the kids highlight is going there and playing bingo with them. In fact, I had to bring Sarah's Sarah. She wasn't there this morning, but Mr. Rochek had all the kids write down something that was their favorite thing that they didn't. Hey, kids. And Sarah wrote, "I love to bring
joy to the old people." >> I thought that was very, very sweet. But um we do community service at Coline. We go out and do a lot of trash pickups because there's a lot of trash out on the playground. We're also hoping that we can maybe buy with Kowanas money's
money a >> trash can, >> a bearproof trash can. Talk to Jason back there about that as well. So, we'd like to hopefully be able to do that for our community, too. So, >> and if we're short, we can cut his hair and donate that for money.
>> Maybe while he's doing now, he's >> um so trash pickups, collecting donations for things. We also uh reorganize the lost and found, take jackets and coats off the co off the playground and try to keep it clean like that. Um but no, I'm very proud of them.
I would like all my K kids, if you're a member of Kate call my K kids, would you stand up? We'll give you a Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. >> Thank you guys. Thanks, Jason. >> So then, um, the next thing we have on here is our district volunteer
spotlight. Um, so Coline is is getting recognized here again. Um, so we have the Coline team lift. Um, so I think is going to introduce everybody and and tell us a little bit more about what they do. >> Absolutely.
I hopefully have I don't have a dugout voice, but I think I have a gymnasium voice. So, can you guys hear me? Okay, does that work? Um, first of all, I just want to recognize the kids to you. You guys are amazing. Um, thank you for just demonstrating that mind trauma so well.
Okay, every morning, what do we say after we say the pledge? >> That's right. every morning they talk about how smart they are, how kind they are. Um, we are smart, we are kind, we are Coline. And so, thank you to all of you for being a really good
representation of what it means to be a comment. So, thank you. All righty. So, on to team lift. Um, I know I have several of my core team people here. I'm going to introduce them first and then I'm going to brag about them a little bit because none of them wanted to brag
about themselves. Um, so I have Sierra Whan. I know she's in the room. If you guys will stand up when I say your name, so people can say thank you. So Sierra Whan. Um, I also have Crystal DeFabio not able to be here tonight. Um, Dana
Kramer, Kim Na, >> there you go. Sunny Gory, Candace Rants, Laura Gordon, Julie Lions, Natalie Ross, and Whitney
Carl. And as I said, I'm going to brag about them just a little bit. Um, because they do a lot of work that's behind the scenes. And a lot of times I'm not even sure if our students and staff and all of our team up here understand the impact that you guys have. So, um, so
last spring it all kind of started because one of their points of feedback was it is really hard, you know, to get donations. It's really hard to get people to bring food for meals. It's really hard to keep things stocked. Like why is this so hard? And so they developed a really fun way to do that
and they started a Thursday afternoon snackle box trolley. It's basically a Thursday afternoon concession stand that they run for all kids. And I thought, well, that's kind of cool. Let's see how it goes. And my goodness, did that take off. So, um, Snapple Box is really fun.
Um, everything is less than a dollar. Every single thing that they sell was donated by families. every single penny that they earn goes directly back into Coline students and staff. And so, and they also run it 100% of the time. And
so, because of them, Coline has had five full staff meals provided for our entire staff, which is almost 50 people just since last spring. Um, and they have plans for many more for the rest of this year. Um, Team Lift gifted every person
on Coline staff $50 just before Christmas. Team Lyft supports our family fun nights, our literacy night, our math night with volunteer help. They provide thoughtful and constructive feedback to improve family engagement. And they literally jump in to help with anything.
Yearbook, hearing and visioning, screening, space painting, serving dinner, you name it. If a request goes out, somebody from Team Lyft is going to step up. Um, so most recently, and we're super excited about this, um, Team Lyft has fully funded a mobile planetarium to
come to Coline Elementary as part of our readathon kickoff on May 1st, uh, to the tune of about $1,000. And that was fully donated by our parent network, which is all part of this amazing system that's fun that they came
up with to make it a little easier and more fun to to have that support for staff and students at Colby. So, um, in short, it's just been amazing to have them and to have every grade level represented by the parents who are involved. And I'm just really grateful
that not only do they support our kids, but they extend that to our staff who feels very very loved because of all that you do. So, thank you. >> Can you say how >> can I say what? >> How people can help. >> Absolutely. So, um Sierra and a bunch of
the parents actually have a team reach app that is for all of our call families. Um and you can get our newsletters on the website and there's a little QR code you can get in there. Anything that we need gets posted in there. All of our needs to keep teachers lounges full, to keep things coming in.
All help is welcome. So, yeah. Thank you. I think that's a great way to start a meeting with so much philanthropic attention. I love it. Um, all right. So, I know all these kiddos in the front probably don't want to sit through the
rest of this meeting. It's going to be a lot of talking. So, you guys, if you're you'd like to leave, you can do so now. And keep up all the great work you're doing. Thank you. You're super close. >> I need you to purchase.
>> That's not amazing. That makes sense. >> So yeah, I don't think it likes that. >> It does. >> Maybe. >> I didn't think I was using my voice. >> They all kind of need like that perfect range. I'll do this.
Is that better? >> Does this any better? >> It does. It has like a >> Yeah, but it's like here. >> I found it like in my mouth. >> They might be born. >> Is it?
>> No. All right. Well, we will continue to test out these microphones, but um we'll we'll continue right along. So, um we're up to our administrative reports. So, first up there is the board
of education report. Um, I've got a couple of things to to report on, but does anyone want to go? >> Do we need to agenda first or did we already >> I remember saying that. >> Sorry, there's a lot of information
since then. >> Yes. Um, all right. So, uh, the first thing I had on my reports, um, was that Cassidy and I have been working on our communication plan. So, one of the things we had been discussing uh fairly early on was that
we wanted to make sure that we as a board were communicating uh more readily and and regularly with the with the public, letting them know what we're up to um beyond just what's happening here at the meetings. Um, and so, um, I've
started drafting up a quarterly overview letter, um, that, uh, Cassie is going to help me edit, um, that will go through basically all the things we've done in the last 3 months and all the things we are projecting to complete or going to
be working on in the next three months. Um, I think the hardest part about that, especially this quarter, will be to um keep it to a reasonable length for reading because we've done a lot. I started writing the things out and like, oh my goodness, this is a lot. Um, so
hoping to have a a pretty solid draft out for that. And what was our goal on that one? Yeah, >> I think the goal would be to have something by the end of the week and then we would incorporate any updates based on where we land at the end of this week given our superintendent search and that kind of thing and that
way it would be ready to then go out to the public sometime next week I think would be the goal. Um and so part of that would maybe be have have it posted on the board section of our website. Uh there was some talk of maybe um working with the newspaper to see if we can get
something put in there, but that would have to be even more condensed. So, we'll see if we can get that going for this month. Um but basically, that's what we're trying to do, just be have more information out there um and more
uh line of sight into what we're planning going forward as well. So, that's one thing. Um then the other thing I had and I'll mention it briefly because I think we'll probably get into it more further down in the agenda but
um working with CAXA which is the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers um and we've been chatting with them looking to get some assistance learning about uh best practices um how other
schools in the state are are handling these um relationships. um what their policies look like, contracts look like. Um and so they're they have agreed to help us with that and we'll be coming in um to do a work
session on the 31st. Um so we'll be doing a three-hour work session with them to just kind of go over the basis basics and uh I don't know have a better handle of what good looks like. Um but we'll talk more about that I think later
on. Um, all right. I think that's what I had for right now. Anybody else? Yep. Cross off on this side of the road that you all right. The on wings of eagles eagles proposal
is advancing nicely. That's a reminder for the folks who haven't heard of on wings of eagles. It is a community a proposed community recognition program that we're discussing that recognizes a community member or organization
who rise above and beyond to inspire and uplift our students in their pursuit of academic excellence, personal responsibility and civic duty. I verified with the staff here that there is not a program within district already
that this is not duplicating something else. and Cassie and I met this week to streamline the process that we would use to get submissions and review and and really run the program to simplify it. Um, I'm currently working with Lindseay
Prawl, our excellent communications officer, to create an automated template that we can put on our website for people to make submissions and then be able to manage that digitally so we could review them quickly and and turn those around.
I'll provide a detailed briefing at our next work session on our way ahead with the hope that we make a decision at the work session to actually introduce the program formally at our next board meeting in April and
hopefully even make a presentation if possible and that's a community recognition program. We're also we have also been asked to establish one for the district staff and so I'm working with Lindsay on
that as well to come up with a program that we can we can establish to districtwide recognize our staff members. >> Excellent. So, I would like to work with campus leadership like to figure out
what's already out there so we're not duplicating that, >> but we're just building more on opportunities to recognize excellence when we see it. Um I think just really quickly for me I wanted to um note a couple of other
layers of sort of the communication um plan that that Keegan and I discussed which um I kind of shared with her at draft and I shared that too with the full board. It was something that we kind of kicked around earlier this week. I think um just understanding some of the layers of that like the more frequent part of that is certainly like
the um the higher frequency deliverable so to speak is the recaps that are going out in the district newsletter already. So Lindsay is summarizing those on a regular basis as well as we have our minutes and then um more of a quarterly communication will be something like the community letter that we've talked about
and we're also I think already on track to deliver a presentation to the community which is our state of the district I think that we've been discussing in April. So I think the idea with this letter too might be able to help might be able to help us start in the right direction of organizing the ideas and topics that we're going to
present in that state of the district. um as well as I think be a good opportunity to introduce and solicit the feedback we're looking for on our strategic plan potentially around the same time. Um and then the other things I wanted to share back is I think it was the day before career day last time we
met. So just recapping on some things. Um I was able to participate in the career day. It was a phenomenal success. So big shout out to our CTE program and directors. Um, we also I also attended the um the district concert earlier this week and it was uh a really beautiful
production with representation from all of our schools and um a really uh beautiful performance at the end where all the schools combined to sing together which is exciting to see. Um and also to wanted to note that I think we all had a really uh wonderful time um
at the chamber gala supporting some of our district students receiving some scholarship awards for the um through the through the chamber and um just connecting with different leaders and business people in our community. >> Um I want to add to the chamber piece. I
I I know that that finances are huge and I just want to make sure that the public knows that the board members paid for their own um tickets to that chamber gala. We did not have the district pay for us. Um because I think that's that's
important to our community right now. Even though it's only a few dollars, a few dollars is important. Um, and I I guess I would say also with Cassidy talking about introducing the strategic plan. Uh, at the last session, we really
worked to kind of improve and get it to a point that we were okay to release it out there. And if all of you haven't looked, I believe it's on the district website now. and we would encourage you to let everyone in the community know we'd like feedback on it um to please go
in and there is a way to provide feedback um in that link. Another topic brought up at the work session was a financial oversight committee or audit committee. And so I did some research in the last couple
weeks, talked with David Curitar and had a good conversation of just wanting to be careful to not create the committee and have too many restrictions, but um really be thoughtful in what charge you give to the committee. So David reached
out to Glenn Gustoson and asked for some like asked if it he thought it was a good idea um and also just for any um of his experience having committees. Um my understanding
is that they can be charged with specific like audit or even um if we you know if we pursue a bond or a mill levy override they can help with that. And I
just I loved in talking with David the just the heart of transparency and building trust through this committee. I think it is something that I hope we can discuss further maybe in the the next work session and um go forward with it.
And also um I had the opportunity to attend the community connection in early February I believe it was it's like all meshing together. Uh it was with former district families and it was so good. I knew most all of them. It was so good to
hear that from them and see them and just hear about what the breakdown was that caused them to decide to move away and um also still hear like the things that they love about our district. And
my takeaway was that we still are the things that we lost. It's still there. We just need stability and good leadership to really build again all the things that we love about Len Park and I'm excited to be part of that.
>> Okay, I have some more um was talking um in regard to the uh community connection with families that had moved away. I did have several people reach out to me um who had wanted to be part of that but either didn't have the ability to attend that day or didn't
know about it until later. So I had been talking with some others about scheduling another one perhaps later in the afternoon so that people who are working would be able to attend as well um because we know our parents are working so giving them the opportunity
to provide that feedback. Um, you know, I think we we probably can't have too many of those. Um, and then the last thing, um, I I had forgotten that, um, I was, um, honored to to be asked to be the grand
marshall of the St. Patrick's Day parade this weekend. Um, so I will be in the parade and any of the additional proceeds um, from that, the the grand marshal is allowed to select where that goes. And so I've asked that they come back to the school district uh
specifically to to help some of our our sporting um activities. So uh we'll be doing that as well. So hopefully I'll see a whole bunch of you out there on Saturday and hopefully it'll be a nice day. >> What time? >> I think it starts at noon. >> Yeah, I have to be there at 11, but it
starts at noon. I just wanted to note real quick before we move on to other business that I think we need at some point we need to talk about like our meeting schedule in April because I feel like it's going to like there's a few things that we have to account for if we're going to have our state of the district and another work session. So, I don't know if now is
the right time to do that, but I just want to flag it. As I was reading through minutes and things, I was like making a tally of like, oh, that's another meeting. That's a meeting. And um I know that we've talked that um the proposal has been 20 um Thursday, April 23rd, which is
already the scheduled date of our next work session >> for the state of the district. >> For the state of the district after, sorry, we have another work session on March 18th. >> Yes. And then we have a regular board meeting on April 8th. Yes. And then we have what was a work session scheduled
on April 23rd that has now been proposed to be state of the district. So we may need to identify one or two other touches >> if we need another work session. >> And we'll also have an audit approval coming. Sorry. And our superintendent hire meeting the day.
>> Yes. Monday >> and the work session on the 31st. >> And the 31st. So yes. Anyway, maybe lot still a lot of meetings happening. >> Yeah, you're right. >> Uh we will >> Yes. Okay. We we will be seeing each
other a lot in the near future. >> I just want to make sure we talk through the dates and make sure we're all safe at some point. >> I feel like we needed to add that to our agenda perhaps to have a full discussion on that and we've already approved the agenda and so I don't think we can talk
about it tonight. >> Oh, work session. >> Yeah, work session next Wednesday. Oh. To talk about it all the Okay. Yeah. All right, I think the board is done talking for the moment. So that brings us to our
then I'll start talking. Um, so I'm going to go ahead and start with our updates from each school. So Coline students have been working hard on buildingwide reading and math bingo challenges. From now through April, students are working to complete 50
total math and reading challenges with prizes and celebration celebrations for each completed bingo card. So, that sounds like a lot of fun. And then Friday, March 20th is the annual Coline Community Day. Students will choose a special guest to join um
us here at the school and share all about why they love Coline. There will be refreshments, a slideshow, a musical performance, and classroom activities. So, lots of fun stuff happening at Coline as usual. And then Summit
Elementary School is kicking off their readathon and they are also having their literacy night um bringing families, elementary families from the whole district together to dig into reading. And that
is March 12th, so tomorrow evening from 5:00 to 7:00 at Summit Elementary School. And then I know it's been talked about a little bit and a lot of my things have been talked about a little bit, but I'll just share um a little bit more. Um on Monday evening, March 9th, the junior senior high school hosted the
all district music concert. It was great to hear all the students from Coline Summit and the Junior Senior High School singing and playing their instruments. students and staff have put a lot of effort into that and it's paid off in a form of wonderful performances from all
of our students. And then also at the junior senior high school registration for their students for next year is wrapping up and our student services staff is very busy making sure their class requests are being entered and sorted through. So that's all so many
things happening at the junior senior high school. And I was also going to just highlight, I know spring sports have also started. So, lots of new activities starting up um as the weather continues to be nice outside most of the time.
Um couple other things coming up. March 19th, the second and third grade students at Coline will have a music performance. And then we have spring break coming up March 23rd through the 27th. And then right when we get back
from spring break, we have our fourth quarter DAC meeting on April 2nd. And I just wanted to make sure like at this DAC meeting, we will be talking about budget priorities from each school. And um we haven't had the agenda setting meeting yet, but I know that we were talking about it. So I just wanted to
put that on your radars. >> Well, um I know those meetings tend to get very full, but do you think they'll have a chance to discuss the proposed um action plan at all
>> for the strategic strategic plan. >> Yes. Uh I know Karen and I have a meeting on Friday with Brashe to set the agenda. So I'm sure that will be part of it and I and I know how important that is. So yes. Um moving on to our shared
leadership committees. We have had at least one meeting for each of the committees. Uh yesterday we actually had our second climate and culture meeting and we had a lengthy discussion about what district and school leaders school leaders should start, stop and continue
doing in order to rebuild trust. So really nice dialogue there. And then um we kind of left with a little bit of homework and talked about um what types of activities could we offer for staff to really give them those opportunities
to have some natural bonding time. And um so we're going to come back together at our next meeting and talk about next steps. our teacher advisory council. I actually was unfortunately was not there. Um but
Karen led that meeting and had lots of great feedback from staff who attended that meeting. And the teacher advisory council's first task at hand is really to look at the stamp handbook and the old conditions of employment and find a
happy medium and really hear um concerns from the teachers and um work together to do things better to honor our teachers and our staff. So that was a really great meeting. The next meeting on the schedule is March 31st.
And then last Tuesday, we had our first district safety and security meeting. And thank you to Rob for joining us at that. Um this was a great first step to bring all the schools in the district together. We're continuing to work on
our reunification plan. Um Dan has been working with me almost daily on that. So we are making a lot of progress on that. uh he is creating kits and um we are in the process of reaching out to different
places in the community in case to go tour in case we would have to evacuate and have a reunification. So that is definitely in progress. And then I was very excited about our meeting on Monday, March 9th. We had our first student advisory council. We had about
10 students from the high school attend. Um it was fun to get to meet all the students. We don't have a lot of time because it's during lunch, but um we did get to discuss a few topics. They discussed some positive things about their experiences at the high school.
One that a lot of students had in common was the variety of elective classes that we offer. They were really happy about that. And we also talked a little bit about the schedule for next year. and the students um were so excited about
talking and collaborating that we have decided to move from one meeting a month to two meetings a month for their choice. So that was that was fun to hear that they're excited to talk with us. Um, moving on. I know at the last regular board meeting we talked about
the prom program and I know I sent that to you again in the extremely long sorry uh lengthy board report that I sent but um unless anyone has objectives I feel like moving forward that students should
attend the assembly but the crash scene should be often and I do feel that we should not be using live people for the people injured in the crash that if we're going to have anyone injured, it should be a dummy or mannequin person. Do you have any objections? I know I
sent you the information they sent to me and I'm open for feedback. >> Uh I was just curious if we received or if you received any um feedback from the community. I know we had kind of put that out there and I didn't get anything, but I was curious if >> I had one email um just really thinking
about that and again it aligns with my philosophy. I want to educate, but I'm not here to traumatize children. Yeah. Especially as prom. It's right before prom. And I and I think having my own accident recently, um I completely
understand that. So, um but I'm open to feedback if anyone else has anything. >> Um my only other question was, and I apologize if this was mentioned, it was a little hard to hear from the last meeting. No, not >> okay.
um if the crash scene like where that would be located because it's something that even if we're opting in they would like drive past and see anyway or is it going to be somewhere else that you really have to go to to see? >> They talked about putting it in the gateway like drive
>> Yeah. >> drive through or loop there so that it's it might be you might be able to see it but you're not going to be most likely walking right up to it. I don't I'm not sure what the I'm not sure how fast it'll be to clean it up and so that
might be something we would need to monitor after school for sure. I don't know if it'll be cleaned up by then. So, >> sorry. Did >> it'll it's Yeah, like you said, it's going to be in the parking lot right next to Gateway's um playground. >> Uh and then it'll be right at the end of
the day. So, um, so I I'm not sure how fast they'll be lifting up afterwards, but the the scene that she's referring to would be right after school in that parking lot area. And so, uh, I know that they were going back and forth about the the actors and stuff like
that, but that's all that stuff be right there. They're still talking about potentially bringing in helicopters or not to the field um to kind of simulate that. So, I'm not sure where they're at with that, but Karen Bodin's the one that's running that um for Northeast Ter County Fire. So, but it yeah, it'll be
right there as you're if you were to be driving up, you you'd see it. >> So, my only other thought, and I don't maybe this is just a making sure we get information out to the community kind of a thing. Um because obviously the weather should I'm going to put in quotes should be nice at that point. And
I know a lot of uh families will take the younger kids to the playground after school. It's a really nice playground. I used to do that with my kids when they were little. Um, so we we might just want to give them kind of a heads up so that they're not >> right >> showing up and all these little kids are
then seeing a potentially traumatizing scene. >> Yeah, absolutely. I know we have another meeting that they were trying to line up for the 17th to kind of finalize all the details and I think once I think Jinger, correct me if I'm wrong, but once we get that done then we can we can get all that information out to everybody everybody on from the community,
everybody on the other end, then put it in the website, too. So, yeah. >> Is it possible to move it just a little bit further like behind gateway where we have a parking lot kind of narrow drive?
>> We can definitely ask that. Um, I'm open to whatever suggestions >> because if that would work, maybe it just gives it that much more >> Absolutely. I agree >> because we can do our best to communicate and we'll still >> Yeah. >> reach everyone.
>> Y >> I was also going to suggest as an alternative the if the lot basically right behind this the central office building was available or could be cleared for that day by staff then that could be an alternative spot that's limited for the remove. But
>> yeah, >> I can bring up all of those points to them. And I know I don't know if I put it in the report this time, but they've also talked about possibly flying a helicopter onto Gateway School. So, we'll have to we'll have to get all those details aligned and then I'll
definitely make sure it gets communicated well. >> Um, next I just wanted to talk a little bit more about community and community connections. I was very sad that I didn't get to join the re-engaging with former families. that was really um one
that I wanted to be part of, but I did get a lot of great feedback from people who did attend. So, I just wanted to share a few highlights and I know Lori, you were there and I thank you for being there. Um, so a few highlights that were shared with me uh was that it helped
district leaders met with former families to understand why they left and what might encourage them to return. And I I want to say it wasn't just about trying to recruit people back. It was truly about getting honest feedback from people who left to see how we can
improve in the future. And um many of the of the priorities that were shared are in alignment with steps that we are already underway rebuilding and trying to rebuild that trust and strengthen within the district. And um the families
shared that they do value our strong community and opportunities for involvement and dedicated staff. And then something that Lindsay did after that meeting um because we did hear that there were people who didn't get to attend and we want to open it to anyone.
Um actually one of my priorities that I um that I created at the start of my term here as interim superintendent was to do this once a month with families. And so I'm still very open to that if we can get it on the calendar. But Lindsay
did share a Google form in our district newsletter and on social media to encourage more families to reach out if they are interested in sharing more feedback in the future and possibly attending um a meeting in person. So I think that's a really really great thing
that we're doing. >> Sorry. Do we do we still have uh contact information emails for other people that have left? cuz I'm just thinking if a family has left, they're probably not going to the district website all that often and we might need to be more
proactive with with the outreach. >> We do. Um, and I think it'll just I think we can explore all avenues for communicating for sure, especially if they still live in the area. It's a little more challenging if they away, but if they're in the area, I would love
to hear their feedback. And then last but not least, we had another community connections today with local relisters. And um we had an in-depth conversation regarding re-energizing our families to write positive reviews online because
when the realtor shared with us when families are moving into town, they're often looking at social media and online to decide which schools to choose. And so we really need to um ramp up that positivity online. And then um Lindsay
is also working on a new brochure that she's completing to give realators which highlights the new that will highlight the new strategic plan. So she's in the midst of it, but we're kind of waiting to make sure that we're providing the correct information. And um something that came out of that
meeting or an idea I had was as we were talking about when most families move to the area um it's usually in the summer and so possibly having a few openhouse style days in the summer for families to come talk to us go on tours if they
would like so that we are giving them opportunities in the summer to actually come into the facilities because I know it's really hard if you move in in July and you don't get to choose a school until mid August. Um we want to do our best to be proactive to have those
families feel welcome day one when they're a part of our community. >> Um quick followup question for you on that one. I know that you mentioned that um Lindsay was also developing a more like a broader communications and marketing plan too. I'm wondering if we might be able to find some time to
connect and just align on like our board ideas for that in the districts as well. >> I think that would be wonderful. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Yeah, just put another meeting on. >> Yep. >> All right. Thank you. >> Um, hi. That brings us to facilities
reports. Where is Jason? There he is. >> I am here to deliver good news. >> Y reputation. The climate culture committee told me and I've got to quit delivering bad news at every one of me. Um, so last week in February, we got new
rooftop unit installed on the high school. There it is. So, we got the crane in here, flew the new unit on the roof, and had it all up and running by the end of the day. It's running great. It's fantastic. Want to say thanks to Tori and Michelle for helping us. We had
a couple classrooms that we had to clear out for a whole day. cuz we don't want to set a big unit on the roof with kids right underneath in case something went wrong. Nothing went wrong. >> Uh I want to say thanks to our partners at heating and plumbing engineers for making that project happen. Everything
else is going relatively well in the district. So I have an awesome team. If you're out at the schools and you see any of the building managers, so at the junior senior high, it's Chad. At Summit, it's Amber. At Coline, it's Dimmitri.
say thank you to those guys and gals are doing an awesome job. If you see either of my maintenance guys, Mike or Dwayne, like I could not do what we do around here without those two guys. And then on the transportation side, Teresa and
obviously Candace, my transportation sidekicks, rocking and rolling, making things happen. So I got nothing but great news this week. You got any questions? >> I just also have a good thing. I was talking to a parent the other day and
they were really impressed how well the high school took care of the roads and sidewalks after the snow for the track meet on Saturday. So great job. >> Uh Jason, I had one question for you. Yes. >> I was thinking like as we're heading
into like the spring and the early part of the summer from the original list of the facilities and operations like priorities that you shared with us, I was wondering if there might be an opportunity in the next couple of meetings to identify um maybe a handful of really discreet projects that we could invite the community's
participation on. If there's ways that we could that you might be able to help identify like ways that people can get involved especially as the weather is warming up. Um cuz I know that there's obviously a long list and you identified a few things, but I feel like if we really try to make it more accessible to the community and say we really love
your help doing this one thing and this is how you can get involved would be >> nice to know. So if you could give that some thought. I just thought that might Yeah. >> You want me to put some thoughts together and email you before the next meeting then I can present the meeting or you want me just to present the ideas
at the next meeting and you can talk about them then? What would be better? >> Well, it is your bandwidth. >> I could send you a list tomorrow if you want. Tomorrow >> Carol just suggested to me that the next a future work session would be a good
opportunity if you want to share that to us and I think either do it at the work session depending on your time or share share it in advance. So, >> we have a date for that next work session. It is the one week 18th.
Perfect. Think that. Thank you. >> Anything else? >> Thanks for letting me go first again, David. You're a gentleman. >> At least I'm not following bad news again. >> All right. Want to bring you up to date
on the audit and today spoke with just in the effort of transparency talking to you today. also spoke to uh Glenn up at CDE and uh Chris and I exchanged some emails and talked to my team. So I can
give you the full picture. Um Chris is hoping to jump. He had a as I mentioned before. It's a busy time for him and his firm as other clients are in their tax cycle and he is back in the office and
is hoping to jump into our work again. Our team has probably prepped over close to three dozen journal entries where we've gone through working with Chris identify what Chris was talking about
putting plugs in where there were unknowns. We're actually making those smaller and hopefully eliminating them. So uh but we are definitely headed towards a um disclaimed opinion that is really
everyone CDE holting everyone is telling me that is the direction that we should be going just to secure funding for the school which we're in just to update on that we did receive our February our our
March funding which also included what we typically would have gotten in February but they were having the computer system problem. They delayed some funding. So, we're almost caught up with them. So, we received just over 5 million. Um, is that yesterday? >> Yeah,
>> just that seems like a week ago, but it was yesterday. Uh, so that's good. Basically, with that funding and what we had on hand already and um uh CB sends us some state shares in April, we're
pretty well set into early May. So, I'm This is kind of the way that we had planned it out, mapped it out. Um I think Karen was on the CDE and me a couple weeks ago, and this is just checking off uh like clockwork. So, I
think we're in a good spot there. The grants were one of the areas that Chris had identified were not tied out. And I I'm going to read them off just get them in the minutes. I want Candace to have more work to do. Title one, two, three,
four, read Act, auto enrollment, concurrent enrollment, project lead the way, swap, new month, and some other smaller grants, CTE, preK, they're all tied up. So, answer that. >> Explain what you mean by tied up. >> That basically we have received in
specific grant funds and then we've expended those funds and we need to match the expenses with the grant funding. And uh so if any when we report to the government like entitle money to the pennies they want to know where
those dollars went. >> No it just hadn't been tracked and now you're making sure it's tracked well and the receipts whatever are connected to them. Is that what you mean David? Okay. All right. and the team had largely done
that. But in that race to get the trial balance, we made some adjusting entries which unwound some of the previous work, but it's all caught up now buttoned down every grant balances. So, we're in a good spot there. Um, let's see. The other outstanding
item in the audit uh was the 2025 trueup with Merit Academy. And although we agreed to those numbers back in December, at my recommendation, we tried to persuade them to incentivize them to
participate in COP, which they've elected not to do. So, we're back to the December numbers. Uh, and Holing has those. Uh, they've not objected to them that I'm aware of. So, I think we're good to go on that as well. >> May meaning Holting.
>> No. uh >> let's see can't read my own writing >> it's not done um I do want to I don't know if there's any questions on the
audit that I can feel before I wanted to >> I just was curious in terms of like finish line for the disc opinion and next steps because we have to approve the audit I is what I understand based on the previous minutes. Um, what what would be the date right now that we're tracking towards for the completion of
the audit overall? >> That I need to hear from Chris. >> Okay. >> And he may come back and say there's more work for us to do, but I I need to hear from him. So, I'm not beginning to sweat yet. I mean, we're still tracking,
I think, um, in a good way. So, we're making headway progress and we've have funding on hand. So, >> okay. Hopefully not a special board meeting. >> Yeah.
>> Um kind of related to that, you know, the trope that we get with merit. So now we're gravitating into the fiscal year 26 and um it's public. I mean um the head mistress
over at Merit referenced 421,000 that they believe we owe that. uh CDE verified that they called CDE and and shared that uh I've asked a few weeks ago that they provide me a a detail on
like grants funding where are you coming up with 421 u and I haven't received that. So I'm meeting with their CFO on Wednesday. So our interactions are almost every two weeks now.
but it's a material variance that they have in their books compared to our books. So, we don't have a 421,000 payable to them. So, I want to break that down and figure out where it is.
So, I wanted you to be aware of that and I'm working on that. >> Have they stated where they where they feel that it's missing or where that is due to them? The part of it is they believe that that the PPR
the per pupil revenue that CE is awarding the district that they should receive their exact percentage of that award when in reality uh CDE it's broken down. So there is a
foundational or base level funding to that. We add CDE grants, some additional money for uh cost of living for location. So we add that up. We create a base after that. Then we're talking about sped money at risk ela. They have
some students that qualify and some that don't. So those dollars follow the student. When we do that, it is less for um we're fully funding all the students the way they should be funded funded, but they have less fed students, less at
risk students uh as a percentage of the district. That's one of them. Um she feels that we or I have I should say me since I'm the one who hits the button and delivers the money but has um
not funded them. were holding back funding that they should have. So I think in her last board meeting, the gifted talented is something that she mentioned and that is a reimbursement grant and they haven't provided receipts
for what they've spent. So there's an award, they spend the money, they give us the receipts, we apply for reimbursement. That's the process. So until we get receipts from them on the reimbursement, that's just one example. There's a lot of other examples out
there for what they funded. So I will reiterate to them again. >> Uh although they are the CFOs who I work with really close, she's very well aware of that. So uh the other one and I will say for transportation,
I have been withholding flowth through dollars for transportation back to July 1st. which is our true up in fiscal year 25 included the language. We're not this is a nonrecurring
subsidy uh that the district isn't. So there were some asterisks at the bottom and uh their CFO and I both signed that but the asterisk were going to begin collecting transportation fees at uh July 1st of
2025. So I've been withholding those every month. But even that, I mean, if they feel that that is the receivable that they're holding, that's like a h 100,000. It's not 420. >> So I'm hopefully can work with their CFO
in the next week and really identify where they feel they're owed money because what's happening is they're understating their expenses. And that's a material. I mean, if we're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars, it's a real material variance from our books to
their books and we got to close that. >> We need that. >> Would that affect um future like the next audit if the Yeah, >> David, I have a question about the per pupil funding and the breakdown of that.
Um, do you know if um in the in the past prior to you coming on was merit did those dollars follow the pupil or um had Merit Academy just
um been given their share of the total dollars without the um without looking at where that student is and making sure that sped student dollars goes to that school. Do you know how it was done before you came?
>> Um, I do not. Kind of going back historically, there's a lot of movement from vacasillating between preunding things, funding things that shouldn't have been funded, buying back dollars.
It's it's not really been well managed. And I like I think you said last meeting, there was like eight people in my role over five years. So, I Four four years. >> Four years. Okay. >> No. >> So >> that includes you. >> Yeah. Okay.
>> The uh So I have 20 almost 25% of but we're working on that. So J their CFO and I seem to work pretty well together. We're building out schedules and again on the contracts uh we hope to really dig into that uh this
year. So or this month I should say. >> Yeah. Right. And we'll talk again about contracts here a little bit later down the line. But I think that's again going back to the to the CASKA CA. Um having them come in, right, is to
help make sure we have established contracts so we don't have to go through this process every year. It'll be written down. It'll be documented. Here's what we're paying. Here's what you're paying. And we don't have to do this back and forth. So >> love the picture you're painting. >> Right. Be nice.
That's the >> um do you know and this might be something we learn about with the CAXA but um is an agreement is it typical for there to be agreements surrounding that for people revenue like following the
student um is that do we get agreements to that level? >> Not really. I mean the state is pretty clear that I mean they break down and they tell you your district has x number of students in this classification
here's the dollars for them merit and us we know their population we know ours and then we break those subcategories out those classifications out and that is I mean the state wants those dollars following the student
if we agreed to something that was uh contrary to state law uh or even I feel CD guidance that we'd be not in a good defensible place for how we're spending our dollars and then you're at risk of
losing them >> and future litigation. >> Yeah. and Laura just that that specific thing we discussed briefly on the phone with the um CAXA um uh leaders and they
said that no absolutely that that those dollars should follow the student. So they they agreed with that what David was doing in that >> more stability. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> You're welcome.
>> All right, that brings us now to our public comment time. All right. So, please be aware that any 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 to take place privately in executive session. Individual comments are limited to three minutes or a total of 15 minutes total per for a 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 and take no action on public comment during the meeting. >> Just one, >> can you hear me?
>> All right. All right. First, um I wasn't going to comment on Merit Academy, but man, it it this is it's ridiculous that after this many years, I'm still here flabbergasted at what amounts to what I would say is
theft from the district. Thank you so much for being here and being more diligent. And I really, really hope that shining a light on this will allow the rest of the community who has put blinders on to see what has been happening for so long.
Now, what I really wanted to say is that I want to thank the current board members for their commitment to rebuilding this district. I want to note Director Barkley's continued dedication to transparency and repair since she took office. I can imagine it has felt
like an insurmountable task most of the time. Um, I also want to thank Director Gilgen for advocating for clarity when it came to filling uh the board vacancy recently. Um, I know that one of tonight's actions um is an approval of what is being called a settlement in my
case against the Woodland Park Board of Education. It's not technically a settlement. These are costs and fees. The decision from the Colorado Supreme Court upheld the rights and abilities of citizens to hold small governments accountable and it reinforced the intent
of the Colorado Open Meeting Laws. I did not win this case alone. Far from it. This community rallied together to support public education students and teachers. And I'm grateful to the people who helped advocate, educate, raise money, raise awareness, research, speak publicly, and set examples of strength
for our kids. There are too many people to thank um in this short amount of time, but I wanted to go on record and thank Chris Austin, the former board member, for advocating during very difficult meetings and really making it possible for me to stand up for this law.
Pursuing justice in this case has come at a great personal cost. It has truly felt like the longest four years of my life. And to be clear, this was never about money. The entire settlement is to cover court fees and costs. I do not personally benefit from this and never expected to. In fact, the toll that has
taken was so astronomical that I nearly quit again and again. But I know that the only thing Brad Miller and many former board members wanted was for me to quit. I know they wanted to siphon resources from me and this whole community until we gave up. But we
didn't. And we're still here and I'm still here. And I've stood up here many times over the last four years. And it has never once been easy. It's actually been pretty terrible. Um, but earlier today, I asked myself if I would put
myself through those four years again. And the answer is yes. I plan on continuing to fight for transparency and for public education. And I have one more paragraph. Can I go beyond the time, please?
Did I need to speak tonight? Probably not. To be honest, it all feels kind of anticlimactic after all of the intensity. I've stood up here screaming and crying for years. But standing up for others often does
feel antilimactic because you're not doing it for you. And I do think it's important to show that I will keep advocating even in the quiet. So, thank you. >> Everyone that brings us to the consent agenda. Um, so I'll need a motion to approve
that agenda. >> So moved. >> We have a second. >> Second. Roll call, please. >> Barkley. >> Hi. >> Davidson, >> I >> Gordon. >> I. >> Green Street. >> I
motion carries. >> Um, all right. So that brings us down to our discussion and information section. The first item we have on there is the WPSD Foundation. and Steve Manga is he >> hiding in the front row.
>> Good evening. Uh I'm Steve Bella and I'm here representing the Woodland Park School District Foundation. I'm a parent of two graduates um and have been involved with the foundation since about 2018. Um the Orland Park School District
Foundation is a 501c3 corporation. uh historically governed by a community-based board of directors. Key staff members of the school district also served on the board as exeicio members. Uh so I just wanted to make make sure that we understood sort of where our standing was. Uh the
foundation's sole purpose was to support the school district. It historically raised funds through donations, small fundraisers, and special events. With the proceeds, it provided micro grants to various schools. Um, it also cuts to the prefunded scholarship funds, one of
which still has a balance, that is the the Karen scholarship, which which goes to fund a uh a prospective teacher. Um, and there's there's several thousand dollars in in that fund. Um, after Chris Cosgriff, the former president, stepped
down in 2019, uh, many of the uh, community board members also resigned. I remained on and have been maintaining the found foundation's records over the last several years. Between CO 19 staff turnover and some personal health
challenges, uh recruiting a new slate of board members became problematic. Um it is now my preference to step away myself and to distribute the remaining funds back to the the school district's u funds. Um, I would be amendable to
assist in wrapping up the foundation work uh or to transition it to new leadership. Uh, while the school board likely doesn't have any uh direct standing uh in the foundation, um, I I certainly would appreciate the guidance of the board since I'm sort of by myself
right now. Um, currently the foundation has $5,941 in restricted funds, most of which are in that uh Karen's scholarship and then $22,319 in unrestricted funds. Um, and and those
are available for distribution. Um, I'd be happy to uh answer any questions that you might have that I know how to answer. >> Steve, I just I just want to say thank you. Um, I didn't even recognize you sitting there, but I know that you really tried to get things going and
then, you know, the bottom kind of fell out of a lot of things. Um, but I just want to say thank you a lot. And I'm really hopeful that there is someone in the community that there's um, a parent or someone that really would be willing
to maybe take this over, create a a committee, and kind of kick this off again. That would be my hope. >> Yeah, I think it I don't want to hold you hostage, so I'm not trying to say you have to stay on, but I would really
love if somebody if we had a group that would like to take this over as opposed to dissolving it. I think, you know, everyone can agree that right now getting more funds and having a um a means to do that is important. Um,
so I I see it as an important endeavor. >> Yeah, I also agree that it's important to keep this as a vehicle. But for clarity, if we can go back to your previous slide on your last bullet, you're asking to relieve of your responsibilities. Got that. I respect
your your request and the fact that you've held the fork for so many years. Thank you. >> Yeah. And and then it goes on to say that um you're willing to help with the transition if is deemed appropriate to continue. I think we all would say it is appropriate. Well, I can't say that we
would all say that because we haven't said it yet, but it's my opinion is it is appropriate to keep this as a vehicle for directed and nondirected donations from our community that we should look at the scope of our artisan corporation to make sure we're
updated on what this provides us and that before we vote on transitioning it out of the existence and moving money from one fund to David's that we understand what this vehicle can provide us as a community I think is very
valuable and held held the fort for so long it's like let's not give it away at this point. >> So those are my thoughts. >> Steve, would you be able to tell us what what your current role is, what you're doing to keep it going and what that looks like.
>> Well, really at this point I'm just sort of a holder of the financial records and and some of the you the artifacts, etc. Um but but uh really there's nothing active going on that the the foundation is is dormant.
>> Can you expand a little bit on the activities of the foundation and its like prior heyday so to speak um when it was maybe at its peak when it had a really active and engaged board and the types of things that it would do at that point? >> Well, I I I think active and engaged would be mischaracterizing.
We had a very active and engaged president. Um Chris Cosworth um basically did everything and when she got tired um she asked me to take it over and at that point then I um was sort of um not realizing how much she
really was the the fully driving force of the thing. Um when I asked the other board members to to recommmit to maybe a broader vision or a more ambitious vision that's when when they all decided to move on. So um that that uh that made
it difficult for me to continue um and and then you know there were some staff members that were that were sort of helping me at that time but then they they've since moved on as well. So um again with with staff turnover there was
a point at which I didn't really even know anybody to talk to at the district and Candace was was good enough to reach out to me uh fairly recently. Now to to your question, um basically what was going on is they had um a number of different small fundraisers. Um they
sold u uh gift cards and there was a there was a small um I guess revenue stream from that. We had an annual dinner that was held at the Swiss Chalet. Um, when I looked at the the numbers from that, it seemed like the school district was actually
providing most of the funding by by paying for for uh various staff members and guests to to come. And so that didn't really make any sense to continue that because it was it was a it was a huge proposition um to to have this dinner and and really the community
support was was small and obviously the Swiss Swiss LA was was a was a fairly small uh venue to have something like that. So, so anyway, it ended up being a sort of difficult uh thing to wrap my head around is how how
we were going to increase revenue to a point that that it would be meaningful support to the district, not not just uh you know, a few thousand dollars per year. Um, and then the final thing was uh there were there were some small donations that
were that were given by by certain uh businesses and individuals around town. >> Okay. And we see that in the future and even now today with Team Liyft, we are receiving donations. So if we had a vehicle that was a 501c3 that Team Lyft
could use, that might be beneficial as well. Uh possibly, but the the the tax ramifications of a gift to the foundation or the school district are exactly the same. So there's there's really no benefit to for one one for the
other. So, um, that's that's kind of why we we stopped, um, going out and looking for for public donation at that point because they could just get straight to the to the individual schools. >> Yeah. And Rob, just to clarify too, when we met with Steve a couple months ago,
um we were actually considering whether or not the gift that was being proposed by Park State Bank and Truster though will this the uh WPSDC forward task force would be appropriate to move through the foundation or not and opted ultimately to recommend just to make that gift directly to the district. And
so I think that in the future we'd have to we'd have to think about right like what what it um you know does the foundation then play role in trying to solicit some of those types of major gifts and would the funds need to flow through the foundation in that sense or how that would work but um we did consider that with that recent gift. So
I wanted to ask David at this point then like is since it seems difficult to get people involved in the at least uh managing of of this fund. Does it does it make sense to put our efforts there
um or does it make more sense to just get people involved with like fundraising activities and have the funds go through the school directly? >> Okay, a couple thoughts there. one I mean to form a foundation isn't that easy to do. So even if we transitioned
it and thank you for all you've done I I know from the accounting side it's you've put in some work uh the to at least in the short term maybe keep it going until the board maybe until there's
a time to create a strategy and does it fit into the whole community strategy. The real benefit I think of what we what you have is if we for formed an endowment uh usually you can create those when tides are really good. Right now we need
like every dollar going into the district but to have a foundation with an endowment from which then the earnings could be used for scholarship or to help the district uh would be a wonderful thing. It takes time to build the endowment,
but if that was vision for that foundation, I would say let's keep it. But that's not my decision. But I would say that running small donations through the foundation is extraordinarily
inefficient. >> Inefficient. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Sorry. I was going to say too that maybe in a future work session this is something we could tackle and looking at sort of best practice for like other comparably sized districts and foundations supporting them and see like what would like a best case scenario
look like if the foundation were to continue um and what would we want it to kind of build towards so that might be a worthwhile discussion at some point in the future. >> When was your last recruiting effort to get people? >> Uh quite honestly it was it was uh just
prior to the the co Okay. Lock down. Yeah. Right. And then at that point it just it kind of just became uh sort of sort of maintenance. >> What would you say if um because I I
want to be able to to give you the you know the release right that you can step back but I don't want it to to fall apart yet. So, would you be willing to give us a little bit of time to try and recruit someone to replace you
>> or like what what does that look like for you right now? How much effort am I asking? I don't honestly know and I don't want to ask too much. >> No, I I don't think it would be uh ownorous for me to to hang on and and assist in the transition. uh you know my
my personal situation is such that uh uh I'll be retiring soon um perhaps leaving the area depending on you know what we decide to do and and so you know for that for that reason I think it's time to you know to to start making a
decision and and uh if if someone emerges that would like to take over then I'd be happy to work with them and and work on that transition. And then what would you say would be beneficial qualifications for someone who would want to step into your shoes?
>> Yeah, that's a great question. I think uh you know someone with with some sort of uh nonprofit background would would be good or or working with nonprofits. Um you know there there are some some some things you have to do on on that side. But then you know just depending
on how many people you get, you obviously need somebody you know who can keep the books. um you definitely need, you know, in David's idea, you know, someone who's who's experienced in fundraising and and uh building funds for for the future, not just just pass
through funds because again, that was that was I think the the difficulty that I saw was with basically just taking money from from someone and then passing it straight on to the to the schools and there was really no point in in having money go through the foundation, right?
Just it was made work. would you be willing to assist me in writing maybe like a short job description and then this way we can put a call out just maybe just bulleted points of the of the things that you do and I can >> sure that Sure. Yeah. And some action items that that would need to be done
right away. >> Yeah, that'd be great. Are there any actions that we we would need to take with the IRS right now with the status of the foundation annual reports or >> Yeah, I I I think right now we've we've
lapsed with the IRS and so I'm going to have to pursue that and uh but the secretary of state is up to date. Um, and and so that's that's the one the one impediment right now that I see is is just I've got to get that uh IRS
situation wrapped up. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thanks, Steve. >> Any further discussion on that? >> Right. So that brings us to our first read of P8 supervision. I apologize I
didn't turn that. Um okay so this was something we discussed and I'll just hold this uh in the last work session um as we go through and monitor our um governance
processes and policies um we came across GP8 which is agenda planning and board meetings and we found some um outdated procedural things in there um
and so I've got um the sphere. Do I need to read the entire four pages or should I read the change? >> I would say in this event it's okay just to read the the change. Um, I would say
going forward, what what what I would prefer is that we have a slide that we can put up on the screen for the audience to see because I think it's just more transparent if everyone's able to see the entire changes that we're
recommending. >> Can we pull that up? It was in the board packet, I believe. Would it be easy to to put that up there? >> Maybe just to put you on the spot real quick. I'll talk through it while you're while you're trying to pull it up. Um,
but basically, uh, in the first section under regular meetings, um, item two there, um, had a had a portion that said, um, that, um, that we would do a a district or community spotlight starting at 5:30
in the evening. we have started pulling that into our regular board meeting agenda. so didn't seem necessary to have the meeting start earlier and we're doing a community spotlight um every meeting and and so we
are removing that portion but um and then on page five um it talked about special meetings. Um and in in portion two it talked about the secretary of the board um giving
written notice for any special meeting each board member at least 72 hours in advance. Um it specifically called out handd delivering notices to us and um uh and so we were removing the hand
delivery portion and replacing it with email or text um since since it's 2026 we don't need hand delivered letters. And so those were the two changes we're making um just to to bring it up to
speed and and they are redlined in tiny font. >> Good job guys. >> Yeah. Thank you Speedy work over there. I appreciate that. >> Um so this is just the the first
reading. We are not going to approve anything this evening. We are just letting the community know the proposed changes and that'll be on the agenda for uh next month to actually move forward with those changes. And of course uh you
know if anyone sees anything blaring, let us know. >> Jason, the other one's on page five. Can you get to page? >> Steve has it. >> Oh, Steve. What? I know who he is.
I think you were looking at Jason, too, though. >> Jason, come here. >> Page five. I don't know. I can't tell from >> No, that's the That's the minutes. >> It was the GC.
>> Oh, yeah. >> I don't know why. >> I think it's okay because we'll we'll have it up on anyone here. come look if you'd like. Really just crosses out the word and deliver and
replaces it with text or email. >> And it's on the website, too. So, anyone can take >> Yeah, there it is. >> That's it. >> Hold on. Any other comments on that? >> All right. So that brings us to
discussion section C which is contract renewal discussion there. Um so basically in our last work session uh we were discussing um our need to
have more actual written documentation of our relationship. um between the district and merit um ensuring that you know there's no more of these kind of um handshake deals or uh just verbal
communication between the groups. I mean obviously there's just far too much turnover on either side to rely on that. Um we've seen what happens in the past uh when when that's the main form of
communication and documentation. there's just a lot of confusion and arguing. It's unnecessary. We can do better. Um and so that's uh basically what we're what we're looking to do here. Um so just looking for um kind of a
discussion around timeline for that. Um you know, of course there's a lot of things we need to consider um different aspects, but we'll probably need another meeting to hash this all out. I think um having Casper come in um and talk to us
about how other school districts um operate and and the relationships they have between the district and and um their charters, what that looks like, how other districts handle it and how they recommend we handle it will will help us establish that. So, we'll
discuss that on the 31st. But >> can I elaborate a tiny bit on the CAXA? Um I am uh in search of bringing a community together around um
best practices and state law. Um we we reached out to CAXA which is an uh nonprofit. the CAXA had when we when we first spoke with them, their their whole job is to
help um uh charter school authorizers um have a good relationship with their charter schools and an and a relationship that's built on state law and best practices. uh one of the one of the gentlemen
that's going to help us also works with a national organization on that and his particular goal is is access to good education for all kids. um they are very uh they are they are not they are not um
uh they are pro-charter in that they really want to help establish them but they want to get them established with good relationships and I think that there was a lot of confusion around the way that our started and it seemed like our expert was an attorney um and I
think it's going to be really helpful to bring in someone who uh is wellversed in charter school law and school district law and understands um all of that. They are not mediators and they are not coming to mediate but they are coming to
educate which is where I feel like we need to start before there are any other pieces with a contract is because we want to go forward with best practices. We don't want to just >> um kind of take another shot in the
dark. Uh, and so I I kind of recommend that we get that started. And I think one one thing we didn't talk about in in addition to the board training that they're doing, and I can read just real quick what their
their initial um work session with us is, it's going to be um it's going to be related to roles and responsibilities of the board versus staff as authorizers. And then uh contracting, oversight, and monitoring. And then the next piece is
financial and grant sharing practices aligned with Colorado law and common district authorizing practice. And then the last one is tiered interventions, financial frameworks, and annual reporting expectations.
And their plan is that that will be the first work session and that they are willing to come again. So I'm thinking that we can probably gather questions um just not just from us but from merit's board forward and from the community
that maybe they can answer at the next work session. Additionally, they have a service that is a is a will have a fee attached to it where they can come in and work with uh the uh chief financial
officer, with the interim superintendent, with staff members, with administration in helping them go through the the contracts, the facilities agreement, and and our our school district
administration policy to make sure that it states what we needed to about uh uh our our relationship with charter schools. And I think that that maybe is being explored by um uh Ginger and David right now to
get their help with that process too, which I just I'm I'm pleased. I feel like we we are at a point that having a third party expert come in and help us is where we need to be. >> Yeah. Um, and then just another call out, obviously all work sessions are are
open to the public, but this is one where we really encourage the public to come in. Um, you know, I think Woodland Park as a whole community doesn't really know what this should look like. Um, charter schools are fairly new to most
people in general. Um, and I think it would be really beneficial for the community as a whole to know how this can work, how this can look, how we can move forward together. Um, and you know, and and it's part of the accountability
piece, right? The more the community knows about what good looks like, the easier it is, um, and the better they can can hold, you know, us sitting here now as leaders accountable and and for future leaders as well.
Um I one of the questions that I have when we were discussing this in the work session is um actually wanting to be to get clarification on what agreements we actually have and like make sure that the board has them available and like the most recent version to review and
also to get I would like to get whatever insight is necessary from our council as well to identify the areas that we need to either shore up or account for moving forward. And so I'm just wondering, it sounds like there's going to be a lot of learning that goes into that with the
training that's coming up. I think we probably need to have some degree of legal review or oversight of the contracts that we um that we have andor any of the working I don't know if they're all contracts, but just working agreements or whatever the prior practice had been. I don't know that we
actually other than the facilities use agreement and the actual charter. I don't think there someone on staff correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think there were any additional written agreements. >> Yeah, there's not a transportation agreement in place and I would say the
churner is not really completed because it's missing the heads. >> Right. >> One in particular is the purchase service purchase services. >> Right. >> Potentially correct. And we we haven't been able to find a purchase services. >> I we have not I
>> no one has told me and even seen one. >> Yeah. >> So >> So just to clarify, the two that are existing that we would need to review are the charter agreement and the facility use agreement. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> And then we need to create >> several more for for various things.
>> Well, and that's what I think we should note too like what do we what do we need, right? and that might come from the training that we get, but I just want to make sure that we're kind of preparing in the pre-work for that, those discussions of like this is the information that we need to review. This
is what we need to draft. um and just have clarity around and when we need to have it completed in order to like inform things like budget decisions if >> and I will say um our our new attorney he does have copies of the facilities
use agreement and the charter agreement and in our discussions with uh CASA we also gave them copies of that um so they are reviewing that so that they can tailor the conversation to our specific documents as Okay.
>> And Cassidy, I I've got those documents and I can forward them >> to the board members. >> Okay. >> If you would like that. >> Do a good question. Do we not all the Do the other board members have copies of those? >> I'm not sure the current copies.
>> I I I the what I sent was just to the CAXA to that group. Um and I'll send it to the others tonight when I get home. >> And are those contracts also available online? right now or anywhere in the public to review.
>> I don't know if they're on the website. I know they've been ced many times. >> So, they're in the public. >> Um I don't know what is on the website. >> They're not on the website. >> Thank you. >> Can you tell us what time is?
>> Five. Thank you. >> Yeah, we'll put out notice on that as well, but yeah, five on the 31st. uh location is potentially to be determined. Depending on level of interest we think we're getting, we may
move to a larger location to accommodate people who want to attend. Um, also too, um, outside of just the discussion about Merit Academy, I didn't know if there was, I don't know if you know, Jinger, if you could speak to this statement, if there are any other major
contracts just at the district level that needs to be reviewed or updated prior to budget, >> David, do you think of anything that's >> coming to mind? Most are existing that would just would be renewed.
>> Yeah, they're mostly in good order, I would say. >> Do you know specifically because that the transportation contract with Durham is that like over multiple years? >> David just talked about that, didn't you?
>> Yeah, >> I was going to defer that to Jason. Yeah, I I really need to to read that and I'll have to get back to the board on that. >> Yeah, I would like to know what that what holds. >> What is what is the duration of that? Do
we know that? >> It's okay if you don't know that off the top of your head. >> When when that expires, >> Jason, do you know >> Can you repeat the question? When do you know the date of the when the transportation uh contract with Durham
expires? >> Before I took over transportation, I think it had been it's like a three year. >> Okay. >> So, it be like 28 I think. >> Okay. So, a couple years. >> Thank you.
>> You're welcome. Landis, what I'm reaching here. What about the place contract? >> So, there would be uh the translate contract that um would be a good discussion point or review point. Um and
key parties are aware of that. So, thank you for bringing that up. Um, and then since I have an in, I would just say any of the agreements with City of W Park might be worth reviewing. Yeah, >> that was one of the one that I thought of too.
>> And what is the what is the group? I I apologize. I can see it, but I like it's not pulling up. So, the the one that does the after school um champions. Thank you. >> Yeah. And so both of those are meetings happening over the next week.
>> Okay. >> Um both with very different context translated into meetings. >> And just just to point on that, not all of those contracts are are necessarily board work, >> right?
>> A lot of that is administration. >> Is it that is that based on a certain financial threshold or what is it? There's a I think there's a certain financial threshold where you have to go out and and get bids on things, but
there's it's um um it's more that it's just a little bit considered in the leads and it's more something that it's they that it's easier for the administration to negotiate
>> rather than a group of five board members trying to negotiate contracts. And so that's generally why it's not not a board not a board issue. It's more of a day-to-day operations thing than it is a vision direction thing.
>> Yeah. And and we do have some oversight in that based on us setting um the the strategic plan. Um and we approved the budget. So any contracts that administratively would be signed would be incorporated into the
budget and then we would approve the budget. So that's kind of the level where we would have that. >> Um to call out like a difference right today we'll be talking about the CASBY contract but that's because it's wasn't in the original budget and it it's over
the the threshold for the administration to be able to just approve it. >> Gotcha. Okay. But generally we don't need to do that. We good. All right. So that brings us to the action portion of the evening
page. Uh the first thing on here is the 202627 district calendar which we discussed at the last board meeting and work session that meeting. Uh so I need looking for a
motion to approve the district calendar as is presented here in our B. I'll make a motion to approve the revised calendar for 2627. >> Second, you want to have any discussion on this
before we >> I was just curious if anything has changed materially since we last saw the draft. >> That's the same. Okay. >> Did we receive any additional feedback after the conversations we've had?
>> No. >> Okay. any feedback I've received has been very positive >> from the staff specifically. >> Good. >> The only thing I would say is that in future meetings, that's another thing
that would be good to have up on be able to put it up on the screen so that as we're talking about voting on it, it can be seen by the people that are in the audience. >> We can probably pull that up really quick, too. I'll put Stephen on the in
the hot seat. Again, >> I also just wanted to quickly comment, maybe this is just a really brief note for you, Ginger, or maybe Lindsay, that I personally am not a huge fan of the way that our calendar is formatted. I feel like it's difficult to try to translate it or put it on a personal
calendar. Um, so I just want maybe just something if you guys could look into like if there are alternative ways. It's not a high priority at all, but I think as we're revising future calendars, I feel looking at >> I've seen some great examples of other districts. So, >> thank you. >> Thanks. >> And feel free to share those, too.
>> Okay. >> Okay. >> There we go. Thank you. Being fast now. >> There you go. >> Team effort. Thank you all. >> In the corner. Uh, so red, since you can't quite see the the key there, is
the district close days. Purple is when the new teachers report. Yellow is staff development or work days. Um, blue is K12 a.m. half day for students and PM for staff development and the
teacher conferences. And then green is the K12 no school for students. Uh, but they'll have uh parent teacher conferences in the morning and then um the staff will be there in the afternoon. That's what the colors are.
Okay. All right. No further discussion. >> All right. Roll call end. >> Ison. >> Hi. >> Gildeness. >> I >> Green Street. >> Hi. >> Carris.
All right. So that brings us to action item B which is the CASBY policy manual overhaul project. Um so do you want to give any um background on
that real quick with the recall? >> I think that would be helpful. >> This is really to get all of our policies up to date. These have um not been updated for a few years now and
we think it's really important that we are up to date and in line with state state policies and laws. I know that um the total amount is 16,000 but it is broken down. So we paid the first 40% at
the beginning and then um upon delivery of the draft manual we paid a second 40% and then um the final 20% of the fee is at the very end. And so it is nice that they break it down. I do think it's very
important that we get them up to date as soon as possible. And from what I've heard they're also working with our Boseies and they're doing the same thing. and I um they're having great results. >> If we get a motion, then we can have a
full discussion. So, is there a motion to a motion? >> I would move that we um use CASBY to help come in and update our policy manual as indicated in our board packet. >> You have a second.
>> Second, there. >> Okay. So, now we can have a full discussion here. Um I see that the the timeline for completion is um February of 2028. Is that accurate?
>> I don't think that seems very long. >> I think that's the wrong year. >> I I don't know. I think with Boseies they said it was a two-year process and they just are completing Creek and I believe it's a two-year process. Okay.
And this includes admin and board. No, just >> um CASBY does have um templates or drafts of board policy as well. So if we as a board wanted to go onto their website as members, we can access a lot of that. we could do that
and utilize those resources to help us as we go through each of our board policies. Um, you know, maybe we could think about doing that in the work sessions and and u find a a CASBY suggested counterpart as part of our discussion, but for this it's just the
administrative policy. Okay. Yeah, because there was when I was doing the research on the financial oversight committee, it was recommending the committee provide a policy specifically to that and I was just curious if Casby was going to be doing that, but
it sounds like they just provide templates for it, which I think is great. So, and then I guess in doing due diligence, we have um the funds to do at least the first portion of this that
would be due upon signing. >> Well, today we do >> confidence. >> Yes. Much less expensive than the last. >> Yes, it is. It is much less expensive than the lawsuit. >> Risk management, I would say.
>> Okay. I guess the only question there would be timing. Does it like do we have it in the budget this year? Does it make sense to wait until to put it in the budget for next year so that at least it's accounted for or that that was my question.
>> That was fine. This is we receive most of our revenue from here through June. Okay. >> Um I have I noted on page three about expenses that there are potential
expenses that don't fall into the 16,000 category. So, I was just curious if right now we know if there will be any of those off the back like um transportation, long distance,
telephone, printing costs, >> long distance, too. >> Do we anticipate that um added expenses? they didn't mention any of that in our conversations at all, but I guess if
that occurred, they would love to talk. >> So, if there was if she needed to come up and present that would be, >> but I don't think it was an extreme cost. >> Yeah. California making sure our policies are
legally compliant. So >> another move towards stability. >> Yes. >> All right. Any further discussion? >> We'll go for roll call then. >> I Davidson Iganotion carries.
That brings us to our last action item of the evening. Um, and that is the approval of the output point settlement uh for the Okonnell versus Woodland Park School District Board of Education.
We can have some conversation, but we'll need a motion on that first. Look for a motion. I move to approve the settlement for Okonnell versus Woodland Park School District. >> We have a second.
>> Second. Okay. And then we can open up our discussion. Um obviously we've had some conversation with legal. Um I think we're all pretty well aware of the case. Um, you know, I
I think this case is is a is a reminder of how costly and and disruptive breakdowns in governance truly are. Um, I think that's why all of us are putting in the time and effort to come to all these meetings that we've been planning
to prevent these types of things from happening. Um, you know, it's unfortunate that the individuals who were responsible for this, um, are no longer here. Um, you know, some of them
are no longer even living in the community. Um, you know, and and it's the community that is really dealing with the consequences. Um, you know, and I think it's beyond disappointing that a parent had to put themselves through this um in order to
get the school district to follow the law, to be transparent. Um, you know, and and I think we can all agree that the the only real winners here were the attorneys. Yeah,
>> you know, our district as a whole, our community as a whole paid pretty dearly um with time um with with our resources and with a breakdown of trust. >> I I'd like to speak to it a little bit
as well. um because there's a lot that's been said out there on social media about it and also people keep asking me, you know, where did all of the where did all the reserves go? Um where where are
they? And I think >> right um and so I think it's important to to talk about this and really understand, you know, what's happened here. And I want to speak to it because I was at that same meeting with Aaron
that night. Um when uh when she saw something that was not um open and transparent and even legal in the actions that were that were done, we didn't we didn't speak that night, but our concerns were were very similar. the
previous evening, the night before that meeting, um after seeing that that meeting had been changed from a work session to a special board meeting, I sent an email to the then board president and I asked him in my email why it had been changed to a special
board meeting. And in his response, it was clear he didn't know um why it was changed. She didn't know the significance of the change and he was not the one who had decided to change it to a special board meeting. I
also asked about the agenda item board housekeeping and he said to me in this email um their attorney Brad Miller had directed that change uh that title. He went on to tell me that Mr. Miller and
Dr. Neil would give a presentation to the board about their recommendations on Merit Academy. I responded with my concern that a special board meeting then allows for a vote to be taken and I didn't get another response to my emails
after that. Mr. Miller, who had been the attorney for Merit Academy and then changed to Woodland Park School District's board, was paid to provide the advice to use the non-transparent
agenda item of board housekeeping. He was then paid to represent the district in the court case where it was determined they had violated open meeting laws. He was then paid for the advice not to pay Mrs. Miss Okonnell her
court fees. Then he was paid to fight her, seeking these fees all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court, creating more fees for her. The law can tell us what we should not do, but it does not always tell us what
we should do. I believe most of us agree that she should have been paid those initial court fees four years ago. Had that been done, the cost would have been very small. And the benefit to the district in
course correction regarding transparency expectations still guides us today and I'm appreciative of that. Someone said to me today, the real losers were the kids.
Just to be clear, it's only funding for the districtrun schools that paid for the bad advice that created this lawsuit. They paid to fund the fight of the suit and they're paying the judgment. The only winner is the attorney who provided bad advice and
lost defending his bad advice. Perhaps he should do the right thing, which is reimburse the district, the kids for these costs. And that's what I have to say. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> Anyone else have anything to say? >> Carol. >> All right then. Roll call. >> Hi. >> Davidson. >> Hi. >> Hi.
>> Gordon. >> Hi. Ji agenda. So at this time I'll look for a motion to adjurnn. >> I move we adjourn. Second >> Davidson. I >> Gildeness.
>> I adjourned. >> Look at that. That was a question. I don't know if he beat me, but it was