--------- Gordon? Here. Green Street? Here. Alright. We're all here. For a motion to approve the agenda on for the first part of our special. Work? Move. Second. Second. Oh, Markney. Hi. Gil Ganesh. Hi. Gordon. Hi. Greenstein. Here. Yeah. Hi. You are here. I suppose. Yeah. Alright. Okay. So at this time, I need a motion for us to adjourn to the executive session pursuant to c r s 24 dash six dash four zero two four g and CRS 24 Dash72 Dash2043 a x I a.
Excited. Remember my grandma's. Thank you. Particular is for consideration of documents protected by the mandatory nondisclosure provision of the Colorado Open Records Act. The board will enter into executive discussion to I'm sorry. Executive session to discuss the protected documents submitted by applicants for the superintendent chief executive position who are not finalist. CRS 24Dash72Dash2043 a seven a.
A. I move we go into executive session for the reasons key decided by Keegan. I'll second. It comes. Arlene? Hi. Gil Ganesh? Hi. Gordon? Hi. Greenstreet? Hi. Alright. We're on to executive session. Is this wiggly thing? Like, what is that? I don't know what I said. Can you guys you probably know this? So it should be read as section, like, CRS section 24. You know what I mean? So It's a problem. Like, I'm kind of searching back to I'll listen to somebody else reading statutes.
No. Really. Actually, same. Not staying. Yeah. Enough. Same thing. Yes. Thank you so much. Yeah. And then I'm not Oh, I don't need to worry about it. This is perfect. You do a marvelous Hey, Candace. Hi, Steve. How are you? Goodly. Goodly. Yeah. Yes, sir. Yes. Goodly. Ran down to the, little forum back then. So, next meeting is he today? Yes. Still Yeah. Although they talked about her nerve. Oh, they didn't? So you know, I just wanna I'll circle back with that.
About this Stack times. Because, the videos in the last three hours. Oh. Six hours. Half off. Till I guess. Okay. And then you're gonna run my house. Yeah. And then some deep things. And then some deep spray the face too. That is part of the inner Okay. I'm trying it. Alright. Yep. Do I need to let you know then what time they decide on? Communication. We're thinking five, but, you're a visual has three hours of interviews to watch. Because the goal is to come out and announce the final survey if any okay.
I wasn't sure if you guys wanted that at a second a a follow-up. Until seven to start the next one. Okay. Guys? Alright. Yeah. Come back from the executive decision the executive position. Sorry. No decisions were made there. We need a motion. To adjourn the first special meeting of the night. I move. We adjourn the first special meeting of the night. Have a second. Second. Roblox.
Hartley? Aye. Phil Van Ness? Aye. Gordon? Aye. Green Street? Aye. Bring my message. Okay. Do you guys need a minute or anything on there? Yeah. Part: 2
Yeah, let's do it. All right, it is 7:00 now, so we'll call the meeting to order. Roll call, please. Park >> here. >> Here. >> Gordon, >> here. >> Green Street, >> here. >> All right. Next on the agenda is the approval of
the agenda. Do we have a motion for that? >> Point order. >> I have submitted a formal notice of a Colorado open meetings law violation that must be addressed before this vote proceeds. If you wish, I
like to be granted two minutes to speak. So this is a special meeting. We don't have public comment usually. >> Some of the things you have listed here. I was planning on speaking to um already.
>> Okay. Well, uh public comment is exactly the time and place for citizens to address the board's adherence to state law. And since the board is taking action tonight based on a private selection process, this is the only opportunity for the
public to voice concerns before a potential legal violation is finalized. I'm again asking just for three minutes. Um I my suggestion would be if there's um a way for us to take a break and to see if
you can call our attorney. >> Who's the attorney right now by the way? >> Ask um and ask their situation. >> The attorney >> it's Mr. >> Okay. I didn't know if you appointed one or not. That would be what I would probably do at this moment.
>> That sounds appropriate. Any other colleagues? >> Yeah. And respectfully, this isn't a personnel matter. It's a procedure and a legal matter regarding the board's compliance to the Colorado Open Meetings Law uh statute 24-642
from 2024. The selection of [clears throat] a public official to fill an agency is explicitly required to be public process under Colorado law. I'm here to address the legality of the board's actions, not the character of any individual.
Whatever you want. [laughter] >> Yeah. No, you're good. You can if you'd like, but you're okay there if you prefer. You will see. something Let me picture [clears throat] on the super committee information. >> [laughter]
>> Are you sure? Sprite. Oh, it's a nice cold [clears throat] peppers. Are people happy? I don't change until >> [laughter]
>> and booster was like [laughter] too. [clears throat] I think that's too short. >> [clears throat] >> There's no >> I mean there helpful to read any of that
after >> I think you should read that. [clears throat] Sorry about like in terms the best practices concerns. [clears throat] Okay. Texas.
Yeah, >> I'm assuming it's because it's >> I know what I'm saying. It points to a page light, but I think it's just because [clears throat] you're >> I think so.
talked about how it's one of those that your camel. So much better. >> Okay. I'd like to get call to action. It was just the contact. Yes.
one. Yes. Anyway, Yeah, I need you to Yes, >> exactly. She has two. So, [laughter] >> it's hard for me to imagine. Yeah. [laughter]
>> Yep. Yeah, it's amazing to me. >> Well, I was like Brazil, >> right? to yourself already. Oh, wow. All right. Thank you all for your
patience. Uh, all right. So, before we move to approve the agenda, I'd like to add a section for public comment. >> I move second.
>> Okay. Let's vote on amending the agenda. >> Barkley. >> IS. >> Gordon. >> I Green Street. >> Hi. >> Okay. So now this public comment section three or 2 a
between two and three. Correct. And so do we have a motion to approve that amended [clears throat] agenda? >> I move to approve the amended agenda. Second >> IS.
Gordon I >> Green Street I >> don't have my thing about public comment because I wasn't planning on doing that today but >> I can you can just use the stopwatch I have
written three minutes >> I need to read that for public comment is that it's >> basically three minutes okay we'll anyone would like three minutes of public comment to have some Thank you. [clears throat]
Big. So, is this on? Hello. Okay. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Nathan Williams. I'm here to formally contest the process used to select candidates for the current board vacancy. Specifically, I'm concerned that the private elimination of three
eligible candidates, including myself, outside of a public forum, is a violation of the Colorado Open Meetings Law. Public trust begins with transparency. This process was opaque from the start. The applications were not readily available on the website and
the board dashboard hasn't been updated since last November. I had to personally track down the board secretary just to find a private Google Drive link link. Furthermore, I was informed that the four finalists were chosen by directors
submitting top three lists individually and privately to the secretary. This is the definition of serial communication. When a core of this board makes a binding decision to exclude applicants
in private, you are circumventing the requirement for a public meeting. Binding decisions regarding a public office cannot be made by private emails or spreadsheets. This is not just a matter of my disappointment.
It is a matter of legal compliance. On February 2nd, Monday this week, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled against this very district in ElConnell v. Woodland Park School District, AOL all for failing to meet transparency requirements. The court specifically
censured the use of subtrifuge to disguise board actions. By contrast, the Woodland Park City Council recently filled the vacancy by allowing all six eligible applicants to speak publicly. That is the ethical standard. By
choosing a private ranked choice style elimination instead, this board has opened up the district to further legal scrutiny at a time when we should be working to regain community trust. I have submitted a formal letter of complaint for the record. I am asking
for a public explanation of the criteria used for these eliminations and if the board consulted legal counsel to ensure that this private voting method ranked voting was Colorado open
meeting law compliant. I urge the board to pause this process and allow all eligible candidates to be heard on bang in the light of day. Thank you. Anyone else like to speak?
[clears throat] Um, okay. So, that brings us to discussion. Um I think at this point it it merits having some discussion around the process. Uh for those of you who have been coming to our meetings lately, uh
you'll know that they have all been quite lengthy. Uh most going well over four hours. Um we did these um guidelines around filling board
vacancies are pretty vague. There isn't really a standard process. Um, the board is not required to take applications. The board is not required to interview anybody. Um, we could have simply appointed someone if we had wished to
take that route. Um, in prior meetings, we did discuss not wanting to make a unanimous kind of unilateral decision that way. We wanted to open it up to the public to see who wanted to sit up here with us. Um, and so we did vote in a
special meeting. Uh, what was the date? >> It was the 16th. >> 16th. Thank you. December 16th to formally open up the board vacancy for applications. It was published in the local paper twice. I believe um the
meeting was a that Friday and it was in the the following publication. Um we also had a application link on the district website on the Facebook page and on the Instagram account. Um it was
not our intention to make it difficult for people to apply and we did have uh seven people apply. going back to all of our meetings being so long. Um, we were trying to not
take quite so much time and wanting to make sure everybody had ample time to answer questions. Um, I did request that Candace email each board member and request that they look at the list that was provided. So looking at the
resumeumés or letters of intent um or you know whatever was sent people people sent different things um and take into consideration the difficult challenges the district is currently facing and assess who we believed would be best
able to assist us in moving the district forward. Those were the criteria we looked at. So in separate emails in no chain with no discussion amongst us, we each sent our top three to Candace that
consisted of four people and that is how we decided who to interview this evening. Uh we did consult with the lawyer because there was no conversation between any of us and because CASBY does not require us to do any of this anyway, he agreed that it was appropriate and
not breaking any of the laws. Madam President, for the record, I'll be serving board secretary with the notice of intent to litigate. Any vote taken now uh could possibly constitute uh legally avoidable action
and I encourage you to consult further with u council. So by subputing this legal grievance uh for the record, the board is declining to hear
the declining to interview all seven applicants. And I understand that you said you didn't have to choose this process, but you did choose this process and it was opaque and possibly illegal. >> It's
Um I um and I also know if I were to be interviewed now obviously you know I've shot myself in the foot but I was very disappointed the way the process happened and I like all you worked very hard to
get you guys I just want to put that out there. >> Well, and I can say right now that um by not interviewing all seven, we've actually not saved any time. >> Not [laughter] at this point. >> This is absolutely true.
>> Um I um I know I I spoke with one of the other applicants that was not chosen to interview today. They were fine with it. They were fine with the process. Um, I understand Nate's um concern and complaint. Um, I definitely do. I also
um know that we are at a point in our district that we are desperately needing a new um board member to join in the incredibly hard work and the hard work of choosing um our next superintendent. We don't want the four of us to do that.
We want five of us to do it. Um, if our legal counsel is comfortable with our process, um, which it sounds like your conversation says he was, I I would like to go forward, um, tonight um, just
because we need to get this done. >> One final point of order then. This could easily be allow me to interview as well. Uh well, >> you know, I know it might be feudal, but >> it might be your own personal complaint, but the other applicants are not here.
So, if we did not personal complaint, it's a formal complaint. >> Okay, understood. I I guess I'd like to comment by saying that like as you mentioned like there really wasn't a lot of structure to the process and I think we all in the in in
terms of just like considering the the asks of reviewing the applications and how to move forward wanted it to be fair and transparent as best we could but I understood also to manage for this constraint of time. That being said, I think given the concerns that we're hearing from the community, I also
believe in wanting to be responsive to those concerns to to the extent that we can and and transparent again to to the extent that we can. And I think that in spite of it needing to take more time like we've also expressed the need that there are going to be some things that
are going to take us more time. This I think would be challenging because you mentioned the time sensitivity of the work that we have in front of us. superintendent selection is ongoing. Um, however, I mean, I do think that the
concern is valid even though it may or may not have been a val like a violation of any laws. So, I do think that we could with with some accommodations on our part seek to reschedu or or add applicants into the process for
interview in the interest of transparency. But I agreed that if that's not something that we feel like we can afford to do given the time and if we feel like we do have the sound advice of legal counsel, then we could go in either direction. But I just think that's something worth
considering. We encouraging the members of the public to come to us with their concerns and questions. And I think this is valid based on the experience of a member of the community. So I would just take that into consideration, but we're in a difficult position either way. But
you do have an inter um based on what you're just saying, is it possible that we could hear from three candidates tonight and schedule another meeting? >> Well, we have four here tonight. So, I wouldn't have the people come back. So, >> yeah, but hear from the four here
tonight and then hear from the remaining three if they still wanted to hear you and just not make the appointment. I mean that's possible. Um we would have to schedule another meeting and we need another at least 24 hours
notice after this whenever we decide that so it can be posted so people have time to come. So we're looking at Friday >> for interviewing the other candidates more candidates, right? >> Yeah. Well, I would say if that's the plan that we choose, we allow Nate to
interview tonight and then we contact the other two and see if they still want to interview. Um, the other piece I would say to that is we could move the action item of voting on the new board member to the
>> next board meeting. >> The next board meeting. And I I and Candace, you may correct me on this. I think it's possible that they could then get sworn in at that board meeting and take their seat at the board meeting.
>> Correct. >> Since the agenda is already approved, we would just go through the motion for the action, but everyone would say no. >> No. >> Yeah. But [clears throat] that would be I'm talking about >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. No, that would work. So then we unless we interview
more people on Fridayish, there would not have to be another >> board meeting, >> right? >> Okay. Is everyone comfortable with that? >> I am. Yeah. And I think like to the principle of things like there's what is
legal and ethical and also there's best practice and I and I appreciate like having new information brought to us and reconsidering decisions in the interest of best practice even if the perfect procedure isn't laid out. So I'm comfortable with that. I think hopefully
it will help put some of our community members minds at ease and it makes sure that we do have a comprehensive process in spite of our our efforts to save time which I think are fair makes sense. Yeah. Oh, >> I there's one other thing just to just
to clarify. Um if if maybe we could get Candace to just say um the methods that she used to put out that were used to put out the notification of the vacancy to the public. Um just so we have that
out there too. >> Yeah. So after the board approved the vacancy resolution, I had the paper run the public notice for two weeks. So it ran, I believe, the
21st and the 28th of January. And then that same day on the 16th after they approved the resolution, the um communications officer put it out on social media and we made it live on the website. And so on our
homepage, there was a board director vacancy um right there on the homepage of the district. And if you clicked on it, it talked about the process that you would you could either submit a letter by mail to me or an email. Email was
preferred just because it was open through the 30th of January. So I wanted to make sure everything was received to me, but you could mail it still. I mean, if it was postmarked before the 30th. Um, and then
after as I received letters, there was a Google Drive that I uploaded them into. There was no communication between the board and a chain of emails. It was just me giving them access to
that shared drive where each letter or resume was uploaded. And and then I reached out to each one asking for their choices, their top three choices, but we ended up with four because one person had a top three
choice that varied from the other three board members. >> Thanks. So then I think what we've decided is that we'll move forward with the applicants that are here if you would like to to interview tonight as well and then we'll contact the other
two see if they would like to participate. If so then we'll schedule an additional meeting. tonight. [laughter] >> Just throw it on there. >> Have your name in here, but I'm going to put one in here. >> And I'm not going to look
>> and shake it up good. >> And I'll shake it up good. >> Yes. >> So, we'll we'll put a tenative for Friday. >> Okay. Afternoon evening first interviewee is Mr. Steve Wolf
on here and so you're welcome to start and I'll create one for You're welcome to sit in the hot seat. Some questions here. We'll just kind of take turns asking them for you. >> Okay. >> Uh so the first one is why do you want
to be a board member? >> You know I uh my whole life has been about education. you know, my experiences. You've written it down and and uh it's I'm passionate about
kids, about teachers. I've got to see what has happened the last few years and uh it's kept me up forever. A lot of nights, it's brought a lot of frankly a lot of tears to see what is
going. And uh and then when you were elected, yes, we have an opportunity. We have an opportunity. And uh so I'm very excited about that. I had had a chance to meet most of you and spend some time with
some of you. And uh very excited about what's going forward. It's it's time to turn it to the positive. And uh my whole career has basically uh been about culture and cheerleading [laughter] and and cheering uh on great things. And
we've got some great things that we have an opportunity to be able to cheer on amazing kids uh our staff. And so it's an opportunity for me uh to be able to come and be a part of that. uh I've served on a school board when I was a
kid, 25-year-old kid in Topeka, Kansas, and I was appointed and then ran and uh and did that. And it was uh it was a great experience. But since then I had 18 years of being a principal and 12 as a superintendent and and uh gained a
little wisdom and uh I think what I could bring to here is not only a great deal of positivity, but I I have a pretty good idea of of school law. I have a pretty good idea of school finance. I I could I just sit and watch what was
happening and and uh really wasn't allowed to say what I I needed to say to be able to help with that, but I'm not that anybody to listen. But it was uh uh I have an, you know, I know people in this room. I know in the
community I'm very involved. And so to get to have an opportunity to come here and be able to uh support our educators, to be able to support our students, to be able to be what I know they they can be, you know, that's
exciting for me. So to be a part of anything like that, I'm in. So, normally I would not I just would not, but this looked like an opportunity for it that would be a great fit for me um
to be able to come and help and uh and that's what I would be a help. I'm excited about that. >> Um Keegan, just a a side point here. um when in my experience and we've done this in the past, we've not had the
other candidates in the room. Um only because then you know Steve gets all the questions and doesn't have time to think about it while everyone else gets to think about it. Um it seems that it might be wise to
ask the other candidates to go into a um I don't know is that conference room maybe available? Karen, thank you. Okay. Is everybody okay? >> You guys can do better than I do. [laughter] >> Yeah. Is that okay with everybody?
>> Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. All right. Nate, that means you too. >> Thank you. >> Um and then also maybe we should tell them that we have seven questions. >> Yeah. And then I was going to say he he did start answering some of the other ones. So if you feel like the question
that comes to you has already been answered, you can feel free to. >> Thank you. Okay, >> jump to the next one. Thanks. >> All right, thank you. >> Um, I'll ask the second question. This is two-part question. How would you get
the feedback from parents, patrons, and employees of the school district? And how would you handle the feedback you receive? >> The nice thing for me is I am extremely involved in the community. Um, I'm out
there. Uh, whether it be Kuanas or Rotary or I'm on the chamber board. Um, I'm uh just came off the F hearts board, but it's uh and and I'm getting around. I'm involved in my uh church and uh and
so so I'm out there and listen, but the important thing is this. Being able to listening is so important. And you guys did that tonight. You heard him. whether you agreed or didn't agree, you treated him with respect. You took care of that. That
hadn't always happened. And and I love that. But uh uh being able to respectfully listen, but but the important thing is to realize you're a board member here. You're not a board member at City Market. Uh you may even
though Yeah, sir. That's your office here. And uh and so a lot of the stuff he [clears throat] comes to you and and you've experienced uh needs to be to that person or or you know maybe it's have you talked to your teacher yet?
Have you talked to the principal yet? doesn't necessarily have to go right to the superintendent, but um an opportunity to be able to uh to to listen is important and and treat people with love and respect. I
reinforce with my wildard teacher things that you know kids want to be seen, heard, and loved. So do educators and but also so do the people in our community. They want to be seen. They want to be heard and they
want to be loved. And tonight was an example of of that what you guys just did. I I know sitting there. I was put myself in that position to go. Yeah. It was a uh
it's a good way to do it. I appreciate you guys doing that. And that that's something I would like to be part of. U Miss Steve, I feel like you've mostly answered my question, but I'm going to give it to you in case you have something else that you don't add to.
What outside interests or experiences would you bring to the board that would be helpful to the group? Please outline your level of community involvement and the relationships you've established within the community. Well, when when I came here and uh I I
had the honor of being superintendent of schools here and I and that allowed me to get to know a lot of people and I and I love that whether it be students or staffing. staff is a word I use that you'll hear hear it over and over you and that
that's everybody that works on the schools and cares whether kids are seen hurt or not and uh that uh you know and so to to be involved in anything that I could to be able to do it. So I started
as a superintendent uh jumped into Kuanas my second year here I was president of that and then uh uh Rotary co-president of that now but I've always always been in it but I stopped being superintendent didn't mean I stopped being involved in the community in fact
I may have up the game a little bit um I was on the chamber board and uh as a superintendent and uh two unit is Wildart teacher my nonprofit and uh was on the board and was chairman of the board of that for three years.
Just coming off of that board, they created a new position for me on that board uh called Exoicio board member where I'm on there I think for life. I I can't tell whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. Uh but but uh I I
stay very involved in the community uh even even to the point where we have former students or we have a former student that's uh frankly in my house right now is her baby was beat
and uh you know so needed a place to be able to be seen her and uh so we we do those things. It's uh part of my emotionality.
That's what we do. They're part of the community. You walk in the room, the room is either a better place or a worse place. You come because you've come in and uh thanks [laughter] that no one else will use me.
But uh I think it's so important that we uh wherever we are that that place is a better place because we've been there and I hope that has been the case in my bowl there even when I was sitting there.
>> Uh Steve the next question that we have for you is uh what is your perspective on public education? uh it is the backbone of society unless everyone has an opportunity to become that so that we have an educated
popul I'm a firm believer in equity and adequacy that we uh everyone has an opportunity to be able to [clears throat] achieve their dreams and and you know a lot of times we talk about well what are you
going to be when you grow with not care so much about what they're going to be as who they're going to be and who matters and and that we go into depth. I had opportunity. I wish I could have been at the presentation uh that that you guys did the other day on on things
that that really focus on building human beings and public education United States is key to that and there are those that would like to get rid of it and maybe get rid of equity. Definitely we struggle with adequacy
as you guys deal with some of the financial issues. But it's uh without it in a democratic society where everybody gets to vote, everybody gets to say, everybody has opportunity to sit where you sit except for you. And uh
[laughter] you know it's uh it's so important that we have an educated pocket to set up. So anyway, I can't imagine a more important job educating our youth.
>> Thank you. >> Um, what would you say you see as the greatest strength of our district? >> The greatest strength of our district? >> I think sense of community. Uh even since we had we had a lot of battles
here lat lately but I just came from a meet the candidate forum before before this we had a lot of people a lot of different opinions there but in general it was bringing people people support people u when someone's
in trouble they go and help and uh you know I can just think of a variety of situations where someone needed help and a bunch of people jumped And uh that's that's what a community is. When I talk to my own kids about uh
being involved in the community, you got to be involved in your community. You know, you can't just be a breather. Uh you've got to go in there and find your niche where you can lift people up, where you can be the place will be a better place because you're there. And
so I really think that uh our strength is is community. Uh I think One of our strengths right now is is you never this is an answer you may not expect but
never waste a good crisis. [laughter] Oh man. Cuz I mean this week amazing things come out of that. Um when I sat there as you guys will know I went through a crisis and uh and out of that came some
beautiful things and so you know we have an opportunity now to be amazing in a whole different way and uh and so who knows what that'll look like but uh to me that we we sit in a pre uh
in a precipice where we have an opportunity with your leadership with some support the community would calm down a little bit and really do some neat things for kids and staff. >> If you could change one thing about our
district, what would it >> Oh. Oh, right now easy financially. There's no doubt about it. And but you know, I think you could ask anybody in the United States and stand in front of the board doing the same thing. Yeah. You know, I see equity and advocacy. I I
really think the advocacy u in Colorado in general is not there. And uh someday there would be need if it if it were but right now it's just financial situation and it's going to
take thinking outside the box and not settling for not good enough in the process. So that's going to take some deep thinking and you know frankly it's going to take some uh risk taking and it'll uh some of those risks may not
work and whether they don't work it's okay to say you know what that didn't work something else. >> Steve what questions do you have of us? Oh, you know, I I really,
you know, I I've had the pleasure of sitting there and there and not there. I could never do that. [laughter] I've seen that shot though. Um, but uh I don't have a lot of, you know, but you
know, I I'm I'm excited. I I keep pretty busy with Wild Heart Teacher. I speak around the nation educators. Uh my ne next thing is I think at the end of February I need to make sure that
some of the stuff is on the schedule. Um I have a speaking to conference of students in Ohio in March and uh but that I kind of move things around and while our teacher I'm pretty busy in summer but as I look at the
dates on that I I'm pretty good. So, you know, just so you understand that that you know, I I keep pretty busy. But you know what that that's the if you want something done, you go find the busy people.
>> You really do. I you guys I know. >> Yeah. >> Been busy busy lately. Cassie >> you know and you guys are doing and so I'm looking forward I'm a busy guy anyway. I don't say.
>> So I I join. That's a fancy way to say power. [laughter] >> Well, that was that was all seven. So, thank you. >> Well, I I appreciate that. Okay. I'm enjoying it. One thing I didn't put on my thing is uh
also unload. I used to load writing for the newspaper. >> [laughter] >> Uh when I was busy [laughter] >> uh but uh you know but just real
positive positive type things and uh I wrote a book hard to heart teaching forgot to put that on there was used across the country a lot of different schools I'm writing two books right now so I said I don't sit still very well >> nice
>> hey thanks for for considering me appreciate it there there's reason to meet people I I'm sorry, frankly, we're Wes couldn't praying for him that his cancer gets there. Um, that he couldn't be a part of this, but uh, looks like you got some good people. So,
>> yeah. >> Thank you. >> Do you want Steve to it? >> Do I get to draw the next person? [laughter] >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. >> You done with me?
>> Yeah. You're welcome to hang out. We're not making a decision. >> You haven't yet, but >> I'm going home. >> Yeah, you're welcome. [laughter] >> Thank you. >> Teresa Miller. Teresa. All right.
>> Teresa Miller. Thank you, parent. >> [laughter] [clears throat] >> I see my water. Sorry. Yep. We don't bite. >> I already know that. [laughter]
>> Well, thank you, Teresa, for your application and for being here this evening. We have seven questions for you. We're going to take turns asking them. >> Okay. And call me Terry. >> Okay. >> One more. One eye. [laughter] >> All right. Terry. So, why do you want to
be a school board member? >> Funny. I just >> I'll say it all again. >> Yeah. >> Um I my second meeting schoolboard meeting I attended last year when we first moved here. I I got up in front and I said I
have 48 years. Well, actually I said 46. And I didn't realize I taught for 48 years until I looked at my CV and I'm like geez 48 years. So I have this background. I have dealt with school boards,
administrators. I was department head for 29 years and I have also taught at the university level. I have dealt with unions and I I have an appreciation for that. I have
the biggest most important appreciation for the teachers because I was a teacher and because I understand how important they are for our students. I am a solid 100% believer in public ed
and the importance of it. And whatever I have that you can use and even if you don't choose me, I will still show up and be here to help in whatever way I can. For the first time ever, I hit the campaign trail, the canvasing, which I
did not want to do. Oh my gosh, I don't think. And I made my poor husband go by himself for the first stretch and he came back. He said, you know, that one. So I said, okay. So then we hit the road and I met so many
wonderful people. I love this town. And I was so excited the conversations we had and I walked a lot of miles and because we just park and I mean it just seemed like up the hills, up the
driveways, up the stairs, but it was it was just fabulous. And the longer I went, the more I believed in the people I was campaigning for. And even standing on the street corners holding signs, I thought I just felt so much a part of
this community. Um, to be in a town this size and have a hospital like you do, a library like you do, and the aquatic center and all the shops and the people, everybody's so friendly. And these kids,
I love seeing all their accomplishments. But truthfully, I'm going on too long. I want to be support. I have mentored new teachers. I can help your teachers. I have counseledled students and I think
that I did more counseling as a teacher um than I would have done as a counselor because I considered getting my masters in counseling. I thought, man, I'm doing more in this classroom. So, um I guess that's that's it. I just um I'm offering
myself. Did you say how many questions? Keegan, [laughter] [laughter] >> how would you get feedback from parents, employees, community members of the school district? And how would you
handle the feedback you receive? >> I love to talk to people and as soon as I moved here, I started I paid attention to the news. I saw what was going on and I talked to everyone I met from people like
who does my hair, the guy who does my hair, my nail girl, anybody, do you have kids in school? You know, how can we do this? How can we talk? And I am I I'm see,
but I'm better at public situations. I'd love to be able to get into school, come to games and things like this. I think that's important. [clears throat] >> Um, Terry, what outside interests or experiences would you bring to the board
that would be helpful to the group? Please outline your level of community involvement and the relationship you've established within the community. >> Number one, I work at the Pet Pantry. I volunteer at the Pet Pantry twice.
twice a month and I have met the most wonderful people who volunteer and it is thrilling to help people who have fallen on hard times and that is important to me. I also participate in
any community thing I do the free concerts except that you guys started putting these board meetings when the free concerts [laughter] so I've had to miss some and um >> just just a point they put the concerts on the nights of the board meeting [laughter]
>> it's their fault pre-exist >> and um I I'm trying to think you know I I served on the Woodland parks forward committee that Tony Perry did and I learned an awful lot talking to people that way and I
found that was a supportive and I'm happy to come into the school. I tutor kids. I would um I'm really good at grammar. I know all the rules. I'm not into semicolon and um just any way
that I can. And uh the library I'm at the library. I go to the library fundraisers. So, I'm going to the help the needy um Valentine's. We we participate that anytime there's an auction or any kind of public thing,
we're there to support any way we can. But other interests, I was an equestrian for most of my life and I'm sure horses all across the um United States and Canada and I don't know that means anything, but I was also a delegate in
the organization of the International Arabian Horse Association. So, I have worked on um lots of bills and um things that we want to get passed, laws and things for all our horses that we
show follow certain rules. I also worked, interestingly enough, with the National Guard with a program called um it was called Youth Challenge at the time and it was for kids who were at the end of the road. It was help them or they're going to jail. And so if they
passed the GED, they allowed them to take a college course which I taught. And so that was an amazing experience for me to work with those kids who sometimes were so brilliant but had such troubled lives.
And so the idea was that it would encourage them to maybe go on to college afterwards. So there were two of us from the university that did this. This was at the University of Montana Western in Montana and it was a fabulous
experience. And I also worked with the Y the YMC had a program that um taught the kids how to write bills for Congress, how to write letters, how it was it was a great experience and I got to work with the state legislators in Montana.
So I've worked with a lot of different I don't know if that answered your question. Is it me? >> Okay. Um, >> Terry, you already you already mentioned this, so you don't need to spend a ton of time on it unless you want to expand, but um, can you tell us what your perspective is on public education?
>> Oh my gosh, I'm an absolute total believer. I'm a product of it and I don't want anything to happen to it. And I I just read an article the other day about persistence. And I think we just persist and we
believe in it. And I have seen it work and I've seen it become the victim of a lot of bad press. And so I read I'm not against charter schools in any way. I believe
there's a purpose for um uh especially if they if a child is interested in music, science, math, technology, theater uh because I also have theater background that you know that that's encouraging but
I believe in public. I really do. And I have there's no greater honor as a teacher. I go back to the high school where I taught for 32 years and one of my former students is now the principal. There's no greater
honor than to see your kids go on and stay in the field. And I worked um at the college level. I taught um the methods class for high school English teachers. So I great fun. And so
I got I got to work with them and encourage them. And then I also got to observe my student teachers out in the floor. And so that was very fun. I believe in it. >> Yeah. >> Um so what would you say is the greatest
strength of our district? >> I think empowering the people and the and the way you feel about these kids. And I watch the support for these kids and the sporting events and and these kind of things. And the teachers that I have talked to are so fabulous.
They're so fabulous. I want to keep them and remind them of just and if you have some that come that are new that are struggling. I'm a pretty good cheerleader. I had to I had to manage the cheerleaders for several years. That was
the worst that was the worst job. [laughter] the worst job. I'm not kidding. I mean, I've sponsored the theater, the National Honor Society, Student Council, all of them, but the cheerleaders. And it wasn't it wasn't the
cheerleaders. It was their mothers. [laughter] >> Oh, they dropped me down. [laughter] >> Okay. Sorry. You can see I'm I'm probably not the right person. [laughter] All right. Sorry. Go ahead. >> On a different note, if you could change
one thing in our district, what would it be? >> Well, because I saw this, because I saw all of the changes, because even with friendships and my
family, I have seen people go this way. I think the one thing I would love to see more than anything is us all work together for these kids, for for our public education, for our students, because they are our future. That's who's going to look out for us when
we're in the nursing home. And I feel that we um I kind of owe it to them. But I think that's the strongest thing. And if I can be part of that to um to bring people together again because we
have so much more in common than we think and if there's a way if it's if it's a retreat I've been on any number of educational retreats and um sometimes you just got to put them in them in a room together and let's let's share
because we do agree. Um, what question? That's this is the end. What questions do you have for us, Terry? Well, my biggest question for you is how has being on the school board changed your life >> because that's what's that's what kind
of scares me is how's it how's it changed who you are? >> I I can personally say I don't know that it's changed a lot of who I am. It's changed um some of my prioritization uh because there are there are a lot of
responsibilities, a lot of things especially right now that we keep talking about that there's so much that feels urgent to us. >> Yes. Um and so my my travel schedule, my work schedule, you know, so many things
um are now now around um uh what what I need to be doing with the board. So that's that's been a big probably the biggest change for me. Do you figure the learning curve has the learning curve been just steep?
>> [laughter] >> Yeah, I think for me it was just because I was already so involved in the schools as a parent that it was still like the number one thing. It hasn't changed. Like our schools and our teachers, our students, but I think it was just
knowing how to do it the right way. We haven't had an example of that. And I really valued from the start. And that's where the steep learning curve of like okay what what is my job as a board and um not micromanaging
the staff and and getting in the way of that but really just learning that that was like the first month or two was all about like I don't want to step on in the wrong direction right so that was big for me
>> yeah uh it's hard to remember when I wasn't on the board at this point even though that was only two years ago. Um I think and maybe this isn't answering your question directly because again right as a as a parent you're involved so it's just involved in a slightly
different way. Um but I think it kind of piggybacking off Laura said it's it's learning how to change because I think everyone up here right we're all doers. Um, and when you're on the board, the biggest change is you're not always the
doer, right? You're you're more of the um planner and and the direction setter as opposed to the person who's actually rolling up their sleeves and getting in there. And that can be a difficult transition and and difficult not to want to roll up your sleeves when you're
like, I can I can just help. Um, and and realize that's not your job. um and you have lots of important jobs to do and to to kind of stay up at the higher level. So, it didn't quite answer your question, but I but I think that's the the change in perspective I suppose is
the biggest change. I guess I'll just add that I think it's interesting to like this position that you're in because there's also a very big difference between like running a campaign and actually doing governance. Like some people are really good at campaigning and some people are really
good at governance and you really have to be pretty skilled at both to like get elected and actually succeed. And I think the learning curve was not high for me on the campaign side ne necessarily because that had been my life at least in a marketing role. But the governance side is different and and
it's hard and it I think like like um to Carol's point like it's changed for me. I mean, I already was a very busy person and a mom of young kids and a lot of other things, but it's changed the like the significance and the weight of it for what it means to the community has
really changed the way that I think about it. And you sprint sprint sprint hoping like hoping hoping hoping like I wish I get to I hope I get to do this. And then when you finally get that opportunity like whoa, [laughter] >> all right, let's let's do it. So, here we are.
I was department chair. I I [clears throat] I had to put out flyers and I had to um delegate and you know I believe all all kids have different learning abilities. They all learn differently. How many of you have read
teaching as a subversive activity? That was the book that made me decide to become a teacher and it's like from a million years ago. I mean I graduated 1971 the first time and that book said you
need to be a teacher and I think we all get these gifts and I'm I'm honored to work with you guys and wonderful afternoon it >> and you're welcome to hang around if you'd [clears throat] like or you can at home if you'd prefer to do that
[clears throat] up to you. I I I love this room. [laughter] We get some artwork back in here soon. Make it a little less probably Hi. >> Yes. Uh, so we're gonna have we have
seven questions for you. We're each going to take turns asking a question. We'll just kind of go around and you answer to your heart's content. >> Um, all right. So, to to get us started, Rob, um,
sorry, Rob Davidson is applicant. Um, why want to be on the board of directors? >> That's a good question. Why? Now, you know, I December of 2021,
I retired after having the privilege of serving 35 years as a civilian in the Air Force. Uh, but after retiring, I I still had that fire within me, protecting America's sons and daughters. It hasn't gone away.
And so for the last several years, uh, as a community volunteer, I've led efforts to improve the internship program up here in Ter County, increasing opportunities by nearly 3,000% for our students to experience mentor relationships with business
champions with our within our community. And establishing those internships for our students have been fulfilling and incredibly rewarding. Then I saw a bigger need. Saw something that was a little scary.
But I saw a need in our community to fill a gap. And I watched you guys fill it. Then I watched another gap come. And so tonight, with much forethought and community engagement
and community encouragement, I request your favorable consideration of my application. field to make a position here park school district board of education with the skills and the abilities I've been entrusted with I will offer my
service to help stabilize relations encourage hope and advance excellence in order to achieve success within the strategic goals of academic excellence safe campuses
operational integrity educator development and community engagement. And if selected, I look forward to working with leadership to stabilize relations through collaboration and
communicating openly, clearly, and honestly. I look forward to working with leadership to encourage hope and gaining trust of our community as we work together to achieve excellence for all.
and securing resources for the protection and academic advancement of our students and faculty in recognizing community members who inspire and uplift our students. And 30 and thirdly, I look forward to
working with the leadership to advance excellence through focusing on the foundations of academic excellence for students and faculty, personal responsibility, civic duty, and career paths for our
students. Um, how would you get feedback from parents, employees, and community members in the school district? And how would you handle the feedback you receive? >> Feedback is incredibly important.
Collaboration is a key to the success of any organization, any effort. But a feedback tool that is is successful is not just creating meetings and forums to go to, but actually becoming engaged with the community that
you're supporting, learning who the people are, learning who the and working with the leaders, learn working with the teachers, working with not just faculty, but also with the folks within the facilities and grounds maintenance out the bus barn and cafeteria, the whole
community as well within our our business community, the stakeholders, getting to know them, understanding their dreams and desires and how they would want to help the school and then helping them provide that support to our educational community.
You can do that face to face, you can do that on Facebook, although I have never been on Facebook and wouldn't even know how to get on it. [laughter] >> Don't stay up. Uh to me face to face meeting for coffee is incredibly important. Getting to know
people and where they're at, what their true motives and intentions are, how they want to help. And then if you get negative feedback, you really want to know what's the motive. What's what is it that we're missing? And much like like uh Cassie, you did tonight. You saw something was a little bit different.
Hey, there was a concern. So, let's address it. And we we changed and that's good. That's okay. But in the process, you probably save yourself six months worth of pain. Good. Getting to know people, understanding
their motiv, and helping to be a part of the team. Um, all right, Rob. This is um about the community. Again, what outside interests or experiences would you bring to the board that would be helpful to the group? And also please
outline your level of community involvement and the relationships you've established within the community. The relationships I have within the community are with longtime close friends that have held me and my family
up um behind a 35 year long career with the Air Force. Um I'm a very private person. So we have some very close friends. That circle is about three or four families if that
we get together and we hold each other up and we support each other as they're raising kids and supporting each other through trials and tribulations. Um, but if you're looking for a formal tie to an organization, I am on on
theus fellowship board as a recent board member and that is uh I was brought on to help organize the administrative side of of of a church
to oversee funds and to help with uh really just being a little tighter in communications amongst ministries. Our pastor here is fantastic. He's done a great job. He has continues to do a great job. He's just asked for some help. So, I'm serving on that board and
I also serve on a philanthropic board in town that supports organizations globally with finances that they they have available. That has led to trips to Thailand where
Kathy and I have been to support organizations that are protecting young women with children who are pulled out of trafficking environment. And we have gone over and able to help them
financially through this organization and also with our skills and capabilities of of teach Kathy was teaching. I was helping with uh physical things on the compound and and working with some security operations that we could help to help their their
facilities be more secure. Uh the next question we have for you is what is your perspective on public education? looking at my career and how public education helped me be successful in the environment that
that I was in. Public education I look at as a holistic opportunity whether it's in a classroom or an opportunity to serve your community. or striving on an athletic field or gaining the courage to stand up on a
stage and do performing arts for the first time. It's an opportunity for teachers and faculty put in a position of trust to inspire our next generation.
Provide them with hope through a set of skills and knowledge and wisdom that whatever career that they end up into is one that they can look back and see a mentor in the educational environment
that they came from and say that person made a difference. We all have we all have a coach or a teacher or a counselor that's that inspired us. Some of them even said you're never going to make it.
[laughter] But when that counselor told that to me, I came back four years after college and said I'm going to the Air Force as a civilian. So I look at publication a little bit different about how does it
challenge our students, how does it inspire them, how can they look at it as a foundation to to work from. um and then become a mentor down the road because they had a mentor. And that's what the internship program uh why it
was so exciting to me is to go out and and connect the mentors in our community with students in our schools and all of the schools and to make sure that they have an opportunity to reach out.
Mentors had this opportunity to help a student and that student would know that somebody believed in them. It was showing them the ropes on how to advance into a career maybe that they didn't know about or didn't know how to get to or maybe just giving them advice on which colleges to go to or trade school
or which military service to to go into and at what point in their their life. So, it's it's more than just a place to go and get taught about the curriculum. It's it's really the
launching path for our next generation. >> Thank you. >> Sorry, just taking notes. Um, hey, when you look at our district here today, what would you say is our greatest strength? just one.
>> Yeah. >> The school district continues to demonstrate valuable accomplishments within our within our community. It's going to be a word on sentence because you said >> more than one sentence. [laughter]
>> We have excellent teachers and and we have continued academic improvement across each of our campuses. The teachers are phenomenal here to go through what they've had to go through to continue to come in every morning, stand up and advocate with our students,
inspire them even though that they may have some concerns of on their backs, but they reach out and they make contact emotionally with our students. They make connections. They let them know that they care for them. They fight and
advocate for them for multitudes of of uh support. We have dedicated outnot coaches and inspiring performing arts directors and skilled trades instructors. And we have post-secary opportunities.
We have adv advanced placement classes. We're we have strong relationships with colleges and universities with our career and college counselors and we have those ties with trade schools and civil air patrol and military recruiters as well. I spoke spoke with a military
recruiter yesterday who wants to come up to and support a career day and and show them not just the path for military but for civilians as well. >> Yeah. >> And we have work-based learning opportunities, the internship program for our students as we partner with our
community businesses and for the internships and we we have a great partnership with charter school in our community. We partnered with the charter school to offer school choice for for families who are looking for that. So it's hard to
say we have one strength. I look at all that and say the strength the best strongest value [clears throat] I see up here in our community is we have people willing to fight for our students. Um, if you could change one thing in our
district, what would that So, I think it would be the partnership with Merit County. Just put it out there, you know, with with nent relationships. Um, even native relationships exhibit growing pains and Woodland Park School
District's partnership with Merida Academy is no different. It's recognized by most that there are opportunities for improvement and the and the potential of this relationship with Merit Academy is yet to be
achieved. There's a lot of potential this relationship. If selected to be a board member, I would work with leadership again to stabilize relations, encourage hope by gaining trust
and recognizing community members who are inspiring and uplifting our students and advance excellence across all campuses. So, it's not much of a it's not a large change. It's just it's that growing
relationship that that has so much potential that I see opportunities for a collective team supporting all students within our community fairly and equitably. >> Rob, thanks so much. Um, last thing,
what questions do you have for us? You know, you've demonstrated the the willingness to to listen to the community and to lead with vision to put together a strategic plan with
goals and priorities. The question I would have for you is How do you intend to be fair and equitable across all campuses in a heated environment? Because I think I can help.
>> I think it starts by [laughter] >> I'm gonna jump in. Um I think it starts by coming to the table and um something another the candidates mentioned was that um what do
we agree on and and establishing the rules of engagement so that there isn't wrong people communicating with wrong people. But yeah, just what do we agree on? We agree that we want an excellent
education for all students in our community. And then how do we move forward on that bottom line? I would like to add too that I think it's it's really hard to rebuild trust unless you offer >> trust. [clears throat] I think that's
really it's really a challenge especially if there's um a history of of challenge and disruption or turmoil like it's really hard to be the first one to extend trust even if it feels risky like there's a lot of vulnerability in that
and I think it's we're in a tough position now where I think we're trying to make things make sure that things are fair and right and equitable and rebuild trust and I think we've got to find the right ways to do that and I think it
starts by extending it and we've got to find ways to meaningfully make gains over time and I think that's in the best interest of the whole community. >> I agree and I see that you're rising above offenses and you're letting them just disappear and you say let's get to
the issue and I appreciate that you've got a lot of good candidates. I feel honored just to be considered. I would not want to be in your chair because you've got some you got a lot of good folks to to consider.
I think no matter what your decision is. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. Appreciate you. >> You welcome to to hang out or [laughter] Nate Williams. Hello.
>> Hello. >> Your application. >> We are going to We have seven questions for you. We'll each take turns asking them and then you answer how you see fit. >> Thank you. >> Great. So the first question for you is
why do you want to be a member of the school board? >> All right. Well, I've been a resident of Wooden Park off and on since 1998 and full-time since 2019, and I don't want to dwell too much on
past board, but it was very disheartening to watch student enrollment decline and teacher turnover skyrocket. And I'm so happy to have the four of you here
moving this place in the right way forward. And what inspired me, I've been a well I could call myself a lifetime student and I've been an educator off and on since 1998. Um, I've taught uh second grade long
term and [clears throat] um anything but middle school. That's been my um philosophy with teaching. And I've um been an advocate for justice and for um
you [clears throat] know uh sorry I wasn't prepared to talk to you. Uh, no. I've been, you know, I've been an advocate for justice and my most important thing is students, their education, having their curriculum
being normalized and having it and their mental health. I mean, the average number of counselors in the typical school districts is 150 per student. I think all the shuffling
around from buildings and the dismantling of the mental health services here and this district has been probably the most detrimental thing to poor students and the teachers haven't gotten it much easier. Um, and it was very disheartening to hear I can't think
of her last name but head Mr. Squint when they said that you know they were going to have to cut teachers or teacher pay to make up a budget shortfall. And to me, that's the last place you should be looking to cut. Teachers are teachers
are his it's historically underpaid. And boyy, I mean, I just want them to have life satisfaction and job satisfaction here. And so, why do I want to be on this board?
I've been advocating for a better direction for the district and the community in general. um since I moved here and especially in the last 5 years um and like I said
before I'm very very pleased in the direction things are going now and [clears throat] after hearing the u after hearing after hanging out with everybody in the back you guys can't make a bad decision and I know that you
know I kind of a rabble rouser but there's a difference between when I'm a concerned and [clears throat] frankly enraged citizen and when I am in a professional situation and you know I
have a totally you know I can I can be board member Nate I've been the international parliamentarian for um a major international organization and so [clears throat] I know Robert's rules of borders and I I'm just so glad that
um things are moving in the right direction and I'd love to be a part of that if possible. >> How would you get feedback from parents, community members, and employees of the district and how would you handle that feedback that you receive?
>> Okay, I guess I'm sorry this is a little maybe the battery is wrong though. Um um so I think you know obviously a kind of a default way is through community
I mean through in um surveys and things like that but that's kind of impersonal and you know that's something that is you can't react immediately so I you
know, think that we could have parent forums or student forums where, you know, even the board could come quarterly or twice a year and just hear what the students had to say and not in not on paper, not in a on a scale of 1
to 10, you know, actually listening and responding. you know, the past board meetings um from years prior, you know, there's public uh [clears throat] public comments,
but then there's no response. And so I honestly think that, you know, after giving someone their three minutes that maybe hearing direct feedback immediately might be another way to increase communication with the
community instead of just nodding your head or shaking your head. Um, and you know, and then it's for, you know, it's for poster saved for posterity for for people to watch later or at their convenience. they don't have
to um decode minutes that you know so I think number one face toface interfaces whether that is um with parents groups I mean I know there's a wonderful I think it's like the accountability board that has one community member and then it's
got educators and staff and teachers and parents um so I think that's a good thing but I think it should also be more open to where more than just selected individuals can provide feedback. So, um
obviously I know the we're moving in a much better direction towards transparency and I think that not per say a one-on-one, but I think a face toface um a face toface method is probably the best way forward to regain
community trust. Nate, what outside interests or experiences would you bring to the board that would be helpful to the group? And please outline your level of community involvement and the relationships you've established within the community.
>> I'm part of here. Can you repeat just the first part? >> Yes. What outside interests or experiences would you bring to the board that would be helpful? >> Okay. So my outside experience um
uh first of all um it would be with financial oversight. I have made uh manage 7 figure budgets on large and complicated interior design and construction projects. I was actually um the official interior designer for the
Stanley Hotel and totally designed um a a an expanded a brand new building that was a fitness uh focused expansion. So, I got to design eight suites and 48
rooms and that was a 2hour I mean it was 2 hour 2-year process where you know the eventuality was um the largest sale in the I don't know if you you've heard of restoration hardware they're their
competitor is an American company called our house a r h a s and this end instead of me think I was thinking out of the box Instead of just dealing with people who are walking through the door, I looked at a bigger picture and said,
"What can I do that nobody's done before here?" And the the day when the caravan of 13 semi trucks arrived in Estus Park was I mean just magical to your endeavor. And at other jobs,
I've also done things that were thinking outside of the box. At the Four Seasons, I developed I was a the head concierge and the concierge trainer and I developed with a friend that's an app developer. We developed an app where
guests could text the concierge desk and the concierge in real time could respond to them. That ended up getting adopted worldwide at all the four seasons. the interface that I developed and that I envisioned and I you know I didn't write
the software but it was my idea and so for me having looking beyond the regular routine and the regular um you know trying to come up dream big basically.
Um uh so that also involves you know a lot of uh strategic planning and um collaborative communication. And then as far as in the education sector I've um uh well I've already told
you guys that. And then I also um uh worked privately um for free as a math tutor for all ages for um algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and highle calculus. I have I'm dead.
Um and then as far as community involvement here, uh [clears throat] well, not just here. Um, I have served as a courtappointed uh advocate through CASA, which is where minor children that are affected with
familial hardships and custody issues need an outside observer and just someone who is listening to them specifically instead of the scary court setting or our parents that are trying to turn it,
you know, against each other. So, I've been a CASA volunteer since uh 1991. And I've also worked with elementary age students um through Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America. But I did another
outofthe- box thing. Instead of getting paired one-on-one, what I did was I developed a literacy program for disadvantaged students to build reading comprehension. And so I would go to um
elementary schools and uh we would go um be I would read a the class had their group books and so I would read aloud to the class and then we'd go to recess and then we'd come
back and each day a different student would go out in the hall with me and would work one-on-one with you know pronunciation and grammar and things like that um [clears throat and cough] um here in Woodman Park, I've also
collected signatures for some things that uh um and beyond education, I've actually helped with restoration projects for the Haymon fire uh and the Waldo Canyon fire burn scars where I
worked with the Coalition for the Upper South Plat to reforest that area as well as doing flood abate by reforesting with uh conifers and doing flood abatement um
on riverways by planting willows and things that also when I worked at the four seasons I actually got a group of 40 volunteers together and we came down in the bus to work on that as well. So that's always been um one of my passions
is the environment. Um, and then, uh, my mom's still in town, so you probably realize my dog's not here tonight. Um, Maisie, uh, we ran, she she ran I was her campaign manager for the mayor of Divide, where you have to be alive, a
resident of Teller County, not a human. And through that campaign for mayor of Divide, uh, she we we raised over $9,000. And then through uh making appearances at subsequent events, uh in total we've
raised almost $12,000 for teass, the teller county regional animal shelter. And then I've also just had other volunteer ventures I won't go through along but I've um at the Denver Botanic Gardens at Goodwill Industries and one of the most rewarding was the what they
call the same cafe and I can't remember the acronym off the top of my head but it was where um unhoused individuals could come and get a hot meal. And so I was more than happy to do the dishes there. Um has that
>> Yep. That's good. Okay. >> Yeah. >> Uh Nate, can you please tell us your what is your perspective on public education? >> My public my say it one more time. >> What is your perspective on public education?
my perspective on public education and I don't want this to sound you know but I definitely believe with what we've been through it should be secular public education
when we talk about parents rights that's a [clears throat] code word I think we should trust teachers who have been to college who have been experienced educators some of them for decades. One of your previous candidates
that I've interviewed before me has been in the education system for over 40 years. These are the people that we should be trusting with our students, with their children. I mean,
teachers do this for a living. Parents might be reacting to things they've seen on social media or whatnot. Obviously, we need parents input and [clears throat] involvement, but we should be listening to our teachers
first and doing what's in the best interest of the students. And so, tell me the question. >> What is your perspective on public education? Yeah. >> So, my perspective is that it should be
well-rounded. One of the worst things that I think happens in the public education system is that we teach to [snorts] standardized testing and we need to forget about that. We need to
teach kids about the core subjects. Um, and one of the wonderful things that's going on here in Woodland Park is also preparing for people, you know, we want students to not be doing
um, I can't the name of it, but uh, birth American birthright. We need we need students that are learning real skills and real education that's going to prepare them for higher education. I want our students to be prepared for
college. If they want to go into trade school, be prepared for trade school. If they don't want to prefer to pursue anything further, I want them to have a well-rounded education here in the Woodland Park School District K through
12 where we're giving them the tools for success. So, we're not just teaching them reading, writing, arithmetic, this and that, and the other. We're also focusing on extracurriculars about not just sports but you know music program
music enrichment is so important. I have a minor in music in both performance and [clears throat and cough] you know all these other I was you know I did one I don't need to go into my like student resume but I was in you
know future farmers of America and um uh and [clears throat] you know different things like that where we're having student organizations and there's grants that we that really could have been providing a better experience for the students here.
So I think a well-rounded education um involving the core subjects and wonderful electives and you know also after school opportunities and you know bottom line is preparing them for success when we
hand them their diploma. Right. >> And then what would you say is the district's greatest strength? I think the district's greatest strength is the amount of community involvement that it has. Um, you know, there's
places where there's a lot of apathy and here is quite the opposite. Um, and so I think the amount of community involvement is one of the greatest strengths of the district. And I know there's been some struggles, but like I
said before, how I'm not gonna kiss egg, but I think we're looking at one of the greatest assets is the next step forward. doing a 180 from what the
direction we had having, you know, no matter who which candidate you go with the board I see before me and whoever is in the next chair, we can't go wrong. We're and it's time to just look towards to the future and a brighter a brighter
future where [clears throat] excuse me, a brighter future where students feel included and welcome. And not only that, I mean, we have a diverse school district with
underutilized buildings and buildings that are possibly in disrepair or they I say a wish list, but and a charter school and that has great success with their environment.
But I think what we need overall for the district is equity and equality for every student so that we don't have one school that's the crown jewel so that every kid has the same opportunity not
just budget-wise but attentionwise and just being included. So, you know, like I I think the the way the community's been very involved, you know, there's a lot of familiar faces here that have been here to almost every
meeting and um so I think the level of community involvement is very strong in this community and even though there's some disagreements at times um I think it the outcome in general has been a positive.
I think you kind of started to answer this, but if you have anything um that you would change in this district, what would it be? Well, I think first of all it would be to for student achievement to advocate
for datadriven instructional practices and targeted interventions to close achievement gaps and you know ensure that all students meet their full potential. uh focusing on a modern and well-rounded
curriculum would well prepare wooden bar graduates for success beyond graduation and like I said in pursuit of higher education or technical training or trade professions um the next thing you know in student well-being enhancing student success and
well-being isn't just test scores it isn't just grades it's restoring a normalized balance of counseling and support for the students and the teachers. I mean, burnout is the worst enemy right now of
this district. And we need teachers to be able to relax and know that they're back in a place that's a safe place. and the staff, you know, and restoring extracurricular programs in the arts, sciences, you know, sports, leadership,
and basic skills training, you know, I mean, I guess it's no longer necessary to learn how to balance checkbook, but um and then fiscal responsibility is one of the biggest problems this district
has had. um losing the sales tax was devastating and not dwelling on the past, but um I don't I don't even want to talk about that. Um losing the sales tax was
devastating. What is that? Three almost $4 million that we have to make up somewhere else. and having a charter school that has be been a financial drain since it began. We've been sub the regular district has been subsidizing
them and um so you know right now that's what $650 plus thousand that they're in a deficit that they owe back to the regular district. Plus, their students are getting I don't know these figures,
but like over 11,000 per student and the rest of the district's only getting 9,000 per student in tax allocation. That's got to stop, you know, and god forbid the old middle school need a new roof. That's $11 million. I don't know
if this community is going to approve [clears throat] a bond for that. And I'd love for a sales tax to be back on the on the board and back on the table. Um, you know, we need to be carefully
reviewing the budget to prioritize spending that directly impacts student success while maintaining transparency and accountability to the taxpayers. Uh we need to bring equity and equality like I said to per pupil spending across
the entire district and develop a roadmap for maintaining and repairing district facilities and assets by making a prioritized and clear plan um for the future by being proactive rather than reactive. Don't
wait until the roof caves in. Um and like with community engagement, we need to work on strengthening partnerships between the schools and the broader community involving parents, local residents, community
organizations, and just taxpayers. I mean, they're the they're the reason this roof is above our heads right now. And I think we're on the right track towards reputation building, working towards regaining the trust and respect of the Woodland Park and Teller Park
County communities by using positive messaging, ethical policym and having an open line of communication with all stakeholders. And finally, um, funding for the future. You know,
returning to a mindset where grants are actively pursued whenever possible and proving to the stakeholders and taxpayers that the direction of the new board that we'll be good stewards of the district and working toward like the
local sales tax and things like that so that you know I'd love for the charter school to be successful but they have to also be financially solvent and the district in general. It was a huge hit to lose that, you know, and we're making cuts
when, you know, we should be paying teachers more. We should have there's been not just a high turnover, but there's been entire programs that have been cut and that is so detrimental to these to these kids. I mean, you know, what if they
want to go on and play college football or well, you know, whatever. I think that um not just relying on tax revenue, finding funding wherever possible, wherever we
can get it, and you know, just restoring what the greatness of this district used to be a decade ago. >> Hey, Nate. Um closing out, do you have any questions for us?
Surprisingly, I don't I would I would um I I was I put a lot of effort into my um application and I put effort into campaigning and
it's very near and dear to me um the success of the district and returning to I hate when I get on my news app and it's like Wenberg School and I click on it and it's national NBC News. It's like
how did this happen? What did we how did how did how did we let it get that low? And so I mean I like I said I I'm very appreciative that you gave me the
opportunity to speak tonight and um I'd like to um formally resend my notice. No, I mean my I think my formal complaint was valid and I'm very glad that it says a lot
about you that you took it into consideration and it means a lot to me that you went ahead and gave me the opportunity. So, I really thank you for listening and I thank you for your time and your wonderful questions
and I'm so excited about what the future holds for this school district. >> Thanks. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> That's why there's Kleenex here. [laughter] >> Oh, the first one.
>> Oh, really? Oh, boy. Heavy. Rebecca Parrot there. Hello, Rebecca. Um, so we're going to go through, we have seven questions for you. We'll each take turns asking a question
how you see fit. So, to kick us off, um, why do you want to be on the board of education? I I very much care for our school district as far as Can you just pull on
the mic? So, it's Sorry, these mics don't picked up unless you're like way into. [laughter] >> So, I I care deeply about our school district as a community member, as a parent, and I believe that I can use my
skills to ensure its long-term success. So uh professionally I have public sector experience. I work for the state right now and have experience with governance, financial expertise,
um uh committees, boards and overseeing large public programs, complex budgets. Uh and I I believe that these skills translate to the needs of the board at this time. Um as well as the goals of
the board um ensuring student success and community trust and um financial sustainability which is a reality for this board in in the future. How would you get feedback from parents,
community members, and employees of the school district? And when you receive that feedback, well, how would you handle it? >> Yes. So, there is a fine line between operational
management and uh governance, which is what this board is for. Um, with that, um, I think it's very easy, uh, to blur those lines unless you have a personal policy in place. My personal
policy would be, uh, listen to the parent, the staff member, absorb that, really listen to, understand, not to respond, um, not to dismiss. Um, very interested in learning from everybody here. Um
after that I'll direct this parent staff member um to direct the concern to the appropriate leadership uh most likely the superintendent or the the school.
Um, if there is a opportunity to improve policy based on that, I would bring that forward uh that that policy gap forward to the board uh in a scheduled discussion and
um see what what opportunities there might be from from that personal experience. Personal experiences are just import as important as any metric out there. You can really learn a lot. Um so uh I believe that um
I can bring this skill set this personal policy uh to ensure that that line between governance and operations is preserved. That's great. Um, what outside interests
or experiences, which you've touched on a bit, would you bring to the board that would be helpful to the group? And please outline your level of community involvement and the relationships you have established within the community.
Uh so outside interest experience work for the state of Colorado department of healthcare policy and financing the um the Medicaid program. The reason why u the state funding is all drying up um
and um my experience um within that role uh I'm a program manager at this time. I was a specializing uh deputy uh division director. Uh in that role, I got to do a lot of cool stuff. Um implemented a lot
of policy as well as drafting policy. Two of my favorite policies that were implemented included the words transparency and accountability in the title of the program. Um and uh yes, I got to organize um and
um help execute a steering committee of various stakeholders all over the of Colorado uh hospital representatives, community advocates. Um and we worked really hard to put together a unified
report from that and that was a really great learning experience on on stakeholdering. Um, another experience that's very relevant, I served on the long line transportation advisory board. Um, and that experience really helped me
understand uh that complex systems uh communicating them properly. You you can get great insight from those if um and you need that insight to make effective decisions. Uh level of community involvement. Um,
I've been in the uh Woodland Park for four years. I've probably got one of the the younger set of kids um in here, got a preker, uh, and a kindergartener. Um, so I'm just joining this community and
all these folks. I'm really excited to learn from them. Um but uh you know as you can imagine I'm just getting to that cusp of being able to do more for um my interests and and what I think I can do um with my skill
set. >> Uh what is your perspective on public education? My perspective of public education is that it is the most essential thing that you can possibly do to ensure the future of the world. [laughter]
So um that's the perspective um and successful public education I guess is is is um more important there and with that I believe a success um is it comes with student outcomes and that's student
success not just in terms of academic achievement but well-being feelings of safety and um being ready to join the world after school. Those skills are really important. And uh I also uh think that
um you know public education and and its success that perspective of meeting success within public education not just um public education itself uh you know that community trust is is very important. Um you know that helps
support our student outcomes um as well. Uh and then I I mentioned it before um but you know financial sustainability um students do not succeed if there is no school district because there is no finances. So um ensuring that public
education and exists uh in the future is is another important perspective I I believe. >> Thank you. Sorry. Um, all right. When you look at our
district here, what would you say is its greatest strength? >> Thanks. >> The district's greatest strength, I think, is passion. Passion by the teachers, the students, uh, and, uh, community members. There are a lot of
people here who care deeply about this district and its future um and uh as well as um just uh justice and and ensuring that there's there's equity and opportunity
for everyone. Uh so you know in some I think the greatest strength is the people behind you um as as well as all those passionate people who um want to do the best and so they're striving to do the best.
>> Sorry [laughter] I was like highlighting the people Anyway, um if you could change one thing in our district, what would it be? >> Uh is there a magic bank? But
I mean it while that uh that financial stability is really important uh I think change is really about creative thinking uh on how to do this finances appropriately
looking at our at our budget in creative ways. There's been a lot of change lately and um with change comes great opportunity as well. So >> [clears throat] >> um you know the the um
since there is no magic bank uh I think really depending on the people to figure out how to work together build that community trust to find a solution for for the financial situation because you
know our northstar is students and student outcomes and um how can we support everybody involved staff teachers teachers um uh in our schools um is is a really important predicament.
So uh I think that's the biggest change I could just Rebecca boy thank you for hanging in here tonight and that being our last one. Um the last question is what questions do you have for us?
Have you found value as board members? Has your experience been? So, I'll speak because I was on the board um before. So, this is my second goound and I find it to be an incredibly
valu valuable use of our time. Um I think um our future. I don't want to sound like I'm singing a a happy peace song, but [laughter] um I just think I think children are so
important for the future of everybody. And when when I looked at my kids going to school, I recognized that my kids' future was not just dependent on my children and their education, but their peers's education as well. Um, and I
think that that's valuable and important and this is a great way to be involved in that. >> Yeah. Um, I would say there is always value in working towards and fighting for more
opportunities for our students. Even when that progress feels slow, even when you don't feel like you're making any progress at all, um the work we do here matters. The things we say matter. The
conversations we have with the community and and our teachers and our students and our parents matter. Um you know, we don't have the the magic bank or a money tree. Um but we are we are making positive changes and I and I do find
value in it. I just have been really humbled by the opportunity that our community chose me to support our schools in this way to lead our schools in this way. But I think what has been even more humbling
has been re just getting to know our staff and our admin so much better and realizing, wow, we have an amazing team and and that's to be able to support them and the work that they're doing. That is so valuable.
I just like to add a lot of calendar invites to my calendar. That's value I've gained from this experience so far. No, but truly I mean it's so important I think that the like the responsibility that the community has placed on us like I said this in an earlier um response to
a similar question but the weight of that I think is significant and I think we all feel that that weight now especially knowing kind of the size of the task ahead of us but um I think knowing that the community has placed their trust in in this board and is
hopeful for the future and so much of what we've heard has been optimism for the future, what we can accomplish together, relationships that we can rebuild, people that we can bring together, um has been the biggest thing for me. And to know that that that lies ahead of us gives me peace and it it
also energizes me for the future. >> Thank you very much for that. All right. Um so that is the last of our um applicants who are here this evening. Um we do have an action item on the agenda.
um that we can move to not take action if we sort of choose so that we can give the other candidates an opportunity to interview as well. >> I just want to clarify is there would we is it appropriate for us to have any discussion tonight or should we wait to
have discussion until all the interviews are completed? That would be my assumption. I just want to clarify. >> Yeah, I think we'll wait >> wait until all the interviews. Yeah. >> Are we allowed to adjust that part of the agenda? I mean, but no, so we have
an action item. So, we would need to make a motion not to vote this even to Yeah. to wait until we've interviewed everybody. >> Yeah. I was just wondering about on number the discussion information
>> B. So, review and discuss. >> I mean, we can do some review and discussion now if we'd like. I think it's easier once we have all of the information. I mean this is part of the discussion right now
we can probably simply state that we have a exceptionally wellqualified group of candidates. It seems like people are very interested and passionate for the position. I think that speaks volumes to the community and its engagement in this entire undertaking by our district and I
look forward to hearing from the other candidates. >> Yeah discussion. >> I appreciate that. um while the candidates didn't hear each other's answers, um almost I think all of them uh listed our our community or our
people as our our biggest strength. Um I love >> I also appreciated that I think almost everybody said this and I just kind of believe those that didn't say it would have said it if they thought of it. Um, but that there's a strong desire by
everybody who applied to be a help to the um the the school board and the schools whether or not they're chosen to be um another board member and I really appreciate that because I think that's the important part to come into this
with. So we can make a motion to table discuss further discussion and action until after. >> Yeah. Until all candidates have been given the opportunity to enter the option opportunity to interview.
>> Opportunity. >> Okay. I'll go ahead and make that motion. I'd like to make a motion to table the action that was previously approved on our agenda for this evening to uh appoint a new board director in favor of hearing from the remaining
candidates within our pool, giving them the opportunity to speak um engage in further discussion with the board and then uh designating an action at a future date um to appoint a new board director. Did >> you get that?
>> [laughter] >> I'll second. >> All right. Any further discussion on that? >> Bley. >> Hi. >> I Gordon >> I. >> Green Street. >> I
motion carries. >> That was the last item on our agenda for the evening. Um so look for an motion to end the meeting. I move we adjourn this meeting. >> I'll second roll call.
>> Barkley >> I. >> Gildeness I >> Gordon >> I street >> I >> meeting is adjourned.