WEBVTT

METADATA
Video-Count: 1
Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=wRwW1BRbE5Q

NOTE
MEETING SECTIONS:

Part 1 (Video ID: wRwW1BRbE5Q):
- 00:00:02: Informal Introductions and Anticipation for Superintendent Candidate Forum
- 00:00:34: Call to Order, Roll Call, and Agenda Approval
- 00:02:50: Introduction of Candidates; Opening Remarks from Dave Versteg
- 00:03:25: Candidate Slocum Introduces Background and Vision
- 00:05:54: Candidate Owen Introduces Background and Community Connection
- 00:08:22: Candidate Sully Introduces Experience in Rural Districts
- 00:09:36: Defining Student Success; Candidate Owen Responds First
- 00:12:24: Student Success Definition; Candidate Sully Responds
- 00:14:38: Student Success Definition; Candidate Slocum Responds
- 00:17:03: Vision for Woodland Park; Candidate Sully Responds First
- 00:19:29: Vision for Woodland Park; Candidate Slocum Responds
- 00:21:59: Vision for Woodland Park; Candidate Owen Responds
- 00:25:56: Preparing for College and Workforce; Slocum Responds
- 00:28:23: Preparing for College and Workforce; Owen Responds
- 00:31:13: Preparing for College and Workforce; Sully Responds
- 00:33:57: Leveraging Strengths of a Smaller District; Owen Responds
- 00:36:50: Advantages of a Smaller District; Sully Responds
- 00:38:34: Advantages of a Smaller District; Slocum Responds
- 00:40:26: Visibility and Approachability; Candidate Sully Responds
- 00:42:19: Visibility and Approachability; Candidate Slocum Responds
- 00:44:09: Visibility and Approachability; Candidate Owen Responds
- 00:47:33: Return from First Executive Session; No Final Decisions
- 00:30:56: Motion to Adjourn to Second Executive Session
- 04:30:56: Long Pause During Executive Session, Prioritization Discussed
- 07:07:00: Return from Second Executive Session and Meeting Adjournment


Part: 1

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Did you do that too many today at all? So I've never met George before. Oh, we did this work. We talked we it was really driving around and talking about a little bit about townhouse and I'm not gonna repeat the rest. Alright. He looks at a very drunk. Yeah. But no. It's a good We're very nice to meet him. Nice to meet you. Yeah. You're just like my next door neighbor. Oh, yes. And I had read about like, I didn't realize he was I read about him in the paper, like, a couple weeks ago when they opened their store. Yeah. I'm like, oh, a small town.

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Yeah. So I'm actually saying that it's time. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Call our meetings to order. Always Hold on. I mean, I don't have mic I don't need one. That's okay. Go ahead. Cool. Arica. Here. Davidson? Here. Gilgamesh? Here. Gordon? Here. Main Street? Here. Here. Move on to the approval of the agenda. I have a motion to approve the agenda. No. Second. Okay. Barclays. Aye. Davidson. Aye. Gilvinas. Aye. Gordon. Aye. Greenstreet. Aye. Alright. Agenda is approved. We can proceed. You want to I do. The number from this point.

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Welcome, and thank you all for attending, our public, our candidates, and our board. I have, I'm Dave Versteg from Renmayer Leader Services. We have been assisting the district with selecting the next superintendent. We wanna get to know our candidates better today through this open forum. I have several questions for each of you to answer in round robin fashion. You will have two minutes to answer. And, again, round robin means, Ginger will get first one, and Harris will get second one first and so on. So we'll start with, miss Slocum.

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Please introduce yourself and tell us briefly about your background for this position. So this is my seventh year in North Little Park School District. I began here in 2019 as the principal of Columbine Elementary School. I served as the principal for five years there, and then I moved to the district office as the chief academic officer. And then this is my first year serving as the interim superintendent. And so I wanna talk a little bit about my time as the interim superintendent. First of all, I wanna thank everyone for the opportunity to interview today.

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Serving as the interim superintendent the last eight months has been an honor. When I stepped into this role, I knew that our district was carrying more than financial strain. It was carrying disappointment, frustration, and the loss of trust. I understood that before we could talk about moving forward, we had to talk about we had to focus on healing. So I began my listening. I listened to staff who felt exhausted. I listened to families who felt unheard, and I listened to community members who felt

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ignored. What I've learned is this, beneath the hurt, there is a deep pride in this district. There is commitment. There is hope. There is resilience, and there is a strong desire to move forward together as a community. Over these eight months, my focus has been simple but intentional, to create calm where there is tension, to bring clarity where there is confusion, and to begin rebuilding confidence one conversation at a time. Healing this district is not a slogan.

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It's daily work. It's showing up consistently. It's making transparent decisions. It's being present in our schools and accountable for our finances. I'm not finished yet. I'm just beginning. I've been in this role for eight months. I'm seeking to be the permanent superintendent because I love Woodland Park School District. I love our teachers. I love our staff. I love our students, and I love this community. This is my home, and I am committed to leading the healing, restoring the trust,

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and building a future full of hope and opportunity for all of our children. Thank you. Mister Rowland. My name is Eric Owen, and, I am, at this time, the superintendent of the Hayden School District in Hayden, Colorado. My background for this position, I am a graduate of Woodland Park High School. I raised my children as graduates of Woodland Park High School. My first job, as a as a teacher was at Summit Elementary, as a fourth grade teacher. My first principal position was at Summit Elementary, as their principal for five years.

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And and, and I would agree with what missus Slocum said and that there is great pride in this community. There is a resilience in this community. And and and I think that the school district, needs to return to its place in a central focal point of the community. My background for the position, I I have been an elementary principal for fifteen years, and a superintendent for three.

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I've had the opportunity to participate in the rural superintendent academy cohort, which is a cohort geared toward, preparing, rural superintendents for leadership. One of the things that I hope to, to be able to do is to give back to the community that that really got me started. Got me started as a student, got me started as my career in my career in education. And I feel like being able to come full circle and and not be a first time superintendent. I've been a first time principal and a first time teacher in the district, but

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I have, I have some experience that I believe would be beneficial to, helping to rebuild, trust, communication, and and really respect between the school, the community, and, and our our parents and students. So I appreciate the opportunity, to be able to, to speak to everyone here and, look forward to, returning to home. Mister Sully. My name is Chris Sully. I am currently superintendent in Meeker School District in Northwest Colorado.

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In my eleventh year as superintendent in Meeker and my sixteenth year as superintendent. All of my experience in education has been small rural school districts in Colorado. Hopefully, that makes me qualified for this position as well too. I in addition to having that experience, there's really there's really no substitute for experience. I've done training on the job training as a superintendent, and and I've been on the job for a while now. So, hopefully, I got some skills. But in addition to that, I've I've stepped into some roles in systems that have been through some some tough times.

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And I don't I mean, everybody knows y'all been through some tough times. Right? And I think one of the skills that I've developed through that is helping to stabilize the systems, helping to heal those systems, helping to get them a solid platform to launch into what's next and to ensure that that we're focused on the needs of students in the school district. So, I I would hope that I qualify for this position, and then that my experience would would be an asset in in taking you all into the next phase of where you need to go. Mister Owen will start. How do you define student success beyond standardized test scores, and how will you measure

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it? To me, student success is is the ability for students to pursue whatever actions they have. So standardized test scores, that's that's one audit point on whether or not we're being successful. We'll see certainly see growth of students, from our internal measures, that would, that would indicate whether, students have been successful, whether we're taking students from where they're at, moving it forward, wherever they're moving it forward in their learning. I also I also look to see student engagement.

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So our students feeling as though they are part of the school system as a whole? Are how are our attendance numbers? Are our kids coming to class? Are students feeling as though the time is valuable enough for them to be in the class and and get a benefit from that? Do kids have the opportunity to, to pursue what they want outside of our pool walls? And are we doing what we need to be able to prepare them to do so? So I I think of, you know, what what is our expectation, in the in

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the soft skill side and how can we help to develop that pursuit? How can we help to develop perseverance and and provide them with an opportunity to struggle in their learning and and and show resilience? How can we provide them an opportunity to, to to take the coursework that might be concurrent in enrollment? So you have graduates that might graduate from Woodland Park with an associate's degree already and are are well on track to, to, to success in in the post secondary

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career here. How do we provide them an opportunity to be successful in the workforce? Do we have an opportunity for them to to really earn certifications or or licensure alternatives through our career technical education programs that prepare them if if college isn't where they wanna be, after the time here at Woodland Park High School, where they can be successful in whatever endeavor they they choose. So, as far as measurement, certainly making sure that that, that the number of students

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that are engaging in those post secondary options, is something that's measured and followed up on so that we can direct our resources to to really meet the needs of of our students and give them an opportunity to be successful, whether it's in the classroom, in the in the workforce, in the military, wherever that that success may, wherever they want they want to try to achieve success. Mister Sully. So our our fundamental purpose in education is to promote student learning.

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And student learning in a manner prepares kids for what's next. Whether that's a preschooler going to kindergarten or middle school or go to high school, High schooler pursuing, you know, career goals or more or higher education. That that's really it's it's a broad definition, but that's really what success is about. Are our kids ready for whatever comes their way after they leave our system? I think test scores are a part of that. Right? I think the question was really wrap heavy major beyond test scores, but academic proficiency has to be a part of of that equation to determine if kids are ready

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for what's next. I really like the student center accountability project. If you're not familiar with that, it's a it's a it's a alternative assessment or, excuse me, an accreditation process to what the state uses. And there's, I don't know, 20 or 25 school districts in the state that use it, and it's a much more holistic view about student success. It includes test scores, but it also includes things like participation in extracurricular activities, matriculation rates in into into college, you know, career readiness through through the big three. Right? Those this kind of tricky in in education right now.

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The big three are are concurrent enrollment, work based learning, and industry certificate. Like, how how are kids earning those credentials or those, the college credits to be able to go on to what's next. So that that student center accountability project looks at that on a holistic level, and it gives you a better gauge, of how your students are doing in terms of what they need to go where they need to go next. And, also, it's it provides for better accountability with your community, better interaction with your community than Colorado is assessing an accountability system as well.

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You you just need this. There's there are components to that system that, some of the stakeholders don't have to buy in. And so it works because it's a really simplistic view of student and school success, but we all know that school and student success is really complicated. And so they would expand upon some of the systems that are in the state of Colorado that give more context to what our schools are doing. I think they're a fabulous way to major student success and a real, you know, articulate way that you could communicate to your community. And I think that captures, are we doing what we're supposed to do for our

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kids? So that when they leave our system, they're ready for what's happening. So Yes. So I'm gonna back up a little bit and talk about, beyond student success. We have to start with teacher success. Do our teachers feel valued? Do they feel like they can teach rigorous curriculum and encourage students to use critical thinking skills? When I think as a school leader, we often look at student achievement. I also feel that student growth is just as much or more important, making sure

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the child has what they need to make their full potential in life. Part of student success is students coming to school and having good attendance. But when students feel connected to a teacher or a staff member, they're coming to school. So oftentimes, you can look at success rates, and it might not just be based on their achievement and their standardized test, but are they coming to school even when they're not the best student in the class? Of course, graduation rates are important. Post secondary readiness is important.

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CTE, we're growing the program here, giving students opportunities to earn certifications. Local internships are wonderful for our students here. It gives them a well rounded opportunity to go out into the workforce in the future and to be ready for it. Providing opportunities for college readiness. Are we giving students opportunities to go visit colleges to see beyond their backdoor to, give them a dream to to fulfill joining the military?

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There's many, many opportunities in the military and many, careers that you can go into after retiring from the military. But something we have to do is meet students where they're at and help to help them reach their full potential. We have to provide a safe place for our students to learn and grow so they can excel. And, something else that's really important that I believe defines student success is giving students leadership opportunities within the school, such as joining clubs, being in activities, and playing sports.

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And so there's lots of different ways that you can define student success beyond test scores. And these are some of the the, examples I'm giving, but it's all about how do we give students the well rounded education to leave the doors after they graduate and go out and be successful in the field. Mister Sully, what is your vision for the future of Woodland Park School District over the next five years, and how would you communicate that progress with the community? Well, if you all haven't figured it out yet, I'm the outsider here.

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So I I think it's important for me to start with because it's not true as for me to come in and think I know what your school is. I can figure it out pretty quick. But for for me to come in and say, this is my goal. This is my vision. This is what we need to do. Here's the direction we need to head. And and all of a sudden be this agent of another round of significant upheaval of change is the last thing that's going on. My vision for the school district would be I'm gonna listen. I'm gonna learn. I'm gonna develop relationships that build trust.

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And then as a collective body, we can then come together. And if we need to build a strategic plan that has specific goals and metrics that allow us to measure our success toward those goals, that's the direction we go. If we need to have something that's more like a a strategic vision document where we have, you know, certain tasks that we're gonna fulfill, that's the direction we need to go. At the end of the day, what I do know is however however you move forward, it has to be founded on student learning and student safety. Those two ideals have to be held high in any school district and state.

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But for me to come in and say, this is my vision for what you all need when I don't know you is really, really arrogant on my part. My goal would be in that you know, we're we're taught as superintendents. You're supposed to have, like, a hundred day plan or a thirty, sixty, ninety day plan. We could like, my hundred day plan is to figure out what's going on so we can move forward together this year. That's really, I think, from outside looking in, what you all need is some collaboration with common goals and strategic plans on how you can achieve it. That's welcome. So the current seventh grade class for my first grade students during COVID, in five

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years, they're going to be seniors. Knowing that class and knowing the struggles they went through when they were young, I also understand that that class in particular and the upcoming seventh grade class who were in kindergarten, they still have academic gaps, and we still have the challenge of giving them academic excellence. And I truly believe that we are on track to do that. My vision includes providing a supportive school and a community culture with highly qualified and

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happy teachers and staff. Because when you have teachers and staff who feel valued and who are happy, It also comes down and this and the students feel that as well, and they thrive on that. In five years, I believe that our community will no longer be divided, that we will have overcome that division, and that we will come back together for the sake of our children. I believe that we will be in a stable place financially because we are in the process right now of rebuilding processes and procedures and being accountable and being transparent

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financially. I believe that the work that I've started and the board of education has started with creating a new strategic plan is going to lead us into the future. Part of the strategies I've used since I became the interim superintendent included rebuilding trust with the community through having community connections by being visible in the community, by having listening tours with my teachers and staff, and having surveys, and then following up on

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it. The vision that I have is really almost like having a phoenix rising from the ashes. I believe that this town has a strong foundation, and we've gone through a lot of trauma. But we have the resiliency. We have the love of this small community, and we are starting to make momentum to rebuild that. And I truly believe that we will, and we will build it back better than it was in the past. It'll be different.

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It won't ever be the same, but it will be amazing for our students moving forward. And I truly believe this community is strong. And, yes, they're divided, but there there are a lot of things that we have in common that will bring us back together. Yep. Sean. Well, I'm gonna I hate to echo one of the other colleagues here. It would be present to us. I it's been since 2013 that I've worked in the district. It's been since 2020 that I've lived in the community. And so things have changed.

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So for me to be able to like mister Sally said, for me to be able to come here and say, here are the things that need to be done to fix it. I I don't know what that is. I need to hear what the concerns are. So, my my priority would be reestablishing communication with, stakeholders within the community, whether that's listening tours, whether that's, one of the things that I'm I'm very proud of, in the town of Peyton, is is I have regular meetings with our account manager.

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I have regular meetings with our mayor. Our two our town council and our and our school board, have joint work sessions so that as a community, we can really address issues that are facing the entire community. What role can the school take in addressing those issues or in preparing our students and and communicating with our families? And and how can we be in support of or, take the lead with with other entities within the, within the the Willow Park community or for me, within the

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Hayden community. I got the opportunity to read the strategic plan draft last night. I'm excited about, you know, six components of the draft itself. I wish I could speak more, more intelligently about it. But, it it it sets forth a vision where, you know, community engagement, communication, academic, success, post post, workforce readiness, all of those things, school safety and and security, all of those things are are critical.

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And so I would hope that, that being able to, to to both inherit but also participate in the the final the draft of that plan so that we can the board of directors and and and myself, can can work to establish strategies to to address those concerns. I I really see a priority, as far as I know there has been division, within the community. I know there's been division within the district.

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I think one of the roles, of the superintendent is really to try to work to create that alignment. And so, whether it's it's alignment toward strategic goals, whether it's alignment toward, expectations, from our our our charter school entity, Merit, and and our district, and and how we interact and and communicate. But I I think it's gonna be critical to to really, approach that and from

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this position, make sure that, as a district, we're working towards those schools together, and it's not fragmented anymore. This is this is the Woodland Park School District and it has a number of facets and components. And one of the responsibilities of the superintendent is to make sure that those things are aligned and we're moving blocks that to wherever those strategic goals or initiatives for the district. Miss Locum, how would you ensure students are prepared both for college and the local workforce opportunities after graduation? So first, that starts with recruiting and retaining high highly qualified teachers.

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We need to provide rigorous curriculum to all of our students, but also interventions to fill the gaps. Something that I know has been controversial the last few years in our district, is that I believe we need to go back to our social studies Colorado state standards instead of the birth rate standards to ensure that our students are using critical thinking skills. Our students need to be able to use critical thinking skills in the real world

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to be successful. We also need to provide a wide variety of CTE including local internships, certifications, and I know that our program here is growing and we have strong leadership behind it, backing it. We need to be providing supports for the whole child so that they know how to deal with the stresses of the real world, they know how to deal with anxiety. We returned a lot of grant money a few years ago, and I feel like we have we are starting to see the effects of that, and we truly need

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to be thinking about children and the world that they are going out into and how they are going to succeed as adults. And if we're ignoring some of that need now, it's going to affect them in the future. We also really need to be discussing more about students and phones and social media and giving students, the information they need now, whether it's in small group discussions, by

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educating parents, but we truly need to teach our children how to go out into the real world and be successful without just looking at their phone every twelve seconds. On to me? Alright. I, I believe that, that to make sure that students are prepared for college and workforce communities, first of all, is through, standards aligned instructional programs. So, if if we don't have instructional programs in in the business, don't specifically address

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the academic standards for the state of Colorado. We need to make sure that we're we, put those into place. From as far as student preparedness, I think one of the opportunities that that I have appreciated and and enjoyed seeing evolve is really the the student ownership component, and and how they can take charge of their own learning, whether it's through, collegiate coursework

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through concurrent enrollment that that matches their, their their ICAP plan, whether it's through, the goal of, of that career in tech ed readiness, and and working towards that that industry certification on on on whatever endeavor they're looking at, but also whether it's giving them the opportunity to shape the school system that they're in. And so we've we've had an opportunity this past year.

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We created a leadership class at at, Hayden, in conjunction with a local philanthropic organization. Really just said, what do you need to do as a school district to make students feel safe and as though they belong in our district. What from old old guys, old ladies sitting up at the table, we've done our best in trying to to to put those things in place. But what do you students need to be able to to feel as though you

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have an ownership in in this district? And so, the reason I I feel that that's important is because it really gives them an opportunity to to express that independence, to weigh pros and cons of of, uses of time and resources. And those are gonna be things that can be asked to do outside of the four walls and and the four years of high school. And so once they're, once they've had that opportunity, once they've had to move, priorities and decide if they wanna if they wanna open up this kind of class or a community service, project is going to be this way or they're going to work

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to establish a mentoring program between high school and and elementary. Those are things that they all have to weigh, and we get to give them some guardrails and support in doing so, but it gives them that real life application to be able to connect outside of the school setting. So they can go in, to to whatever profession, whatever, university course or whatever job that they they wish to to do after graduation from Cadence and and be successful. Chris Cassello. Well, I talked earlier about the big three.

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It's it's a kind of a, I don't know, a nickname that has been given to a bill that was passed by the legislature that prioritizes concurrent enrollment, industry certificate, and more workplace experience. And and, really, if you talk about those those three kind of pathways, they capture most of what a student is trying to do that. Right? So if we're talking specifically about how do we ensure that kids are ready for college or workforce, post secondary readiness, we need to make sure that we have strong structures in place that allow student choice, down one of those three pathways.

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Whether they're gonna go to college, they need exposure to concurrent enrollment, college level coursework. If they're gonna go straight into the workforce, we need them to understand what are the expectations an employer has for you. And so you have you have meaningful work based experience. If they're gonna go into maybe like a more like skilled trade than an industry certificate, it helps tremendously for that student when they're coming out of out of your school system. So you have to have those systems in place, first of all, so that kids have a pathway to to pursue whatever they are planning to pursue after graduation. Second to that, you have to have great people working in those in those areas.

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I I talked about this one of the interview groups, probably both of the interview groups. The number one factor on student learning is the question. You have to have wonderful adults that are committed to kids. You have to be able to recruit and retain them because you can have all the programs in the world, but if you don't have the right people managing those programs, they will never be successful. And then in addition to that, those individuals have to be empowered to do their job. They have to know that their that their expertise and their opinions are respected. They have to be the resources allocated by your budget to be successful at that

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job so that they can then provide those pathways for kids. If you back up beyond that then, everything leading up to those different types of pathways has to support student learning. One of one of the stories I told the other interview committee was around the the literacy work that we've done in in Meeker. If kids can't read, it's really hard for them to be successful. Right? And so so you have to make sure that you have foundational building blocks of literacy, of math, of critical thinking, so that when kids get to that point where

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they start to figure out, I wanna kinda go in this direction when I get out of high school, they have the skills that are necessary to pursue one of those big three. So all of that system has to be aligned from, you you know, preschool or kindergarten entry into your into your into your educational environment to the point where they're picking something that's gonna help set them up for success when they walk across your stage or your field or where they want their graduation. Mister Owen, what advantages does a smaller district like Woodland Park have, and how would you leverage those strengths or student success?

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To me, the the biggest advantage that that I have found, in the district that I'm coming from is is smaller than Woodland Park, but but I believe, it would be amplified in in a setting like Woodland Park is is really the connection. In Woodland Park, you your staff had should have the ability to connect with one another, to collaborate with one another. We're small enough to where people are gonna know that teachers in other buildings, they're gonna know, the, the their colleagues.

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But more importantly is the connection with the students. It was it was addressed by by one of the other individuals earlier that, that is critical for each student to have that that connection with an adult in the in the school setting. And I think we're small enough now, here in Woodland Park to be able to to to really leverage that in understanding what student needs are. They should feel safe in coming to, minimally, a adult an adult in in the

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school setting, but multiple adults should know our students. And and when something, when someone's facing a struggle, it gives us the opportunity to, to really gather around and and support that individual. Student success isn't going to happen unless they feel safe in the school setting, unless they feel like they belong, and that connection is what's gonna drive that. I the the seven twelve junior senior high setting up, we've really found value, in Hayden.

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It's a k it's a pre k 12 building. We have different wings, but you can vertically walk from your preschool classroom to your CTT, for your tech ed classrooms on the other end of the building. And so there's really the ability to watch that student as they progress and to be able to collaborate with colleagues that may have worked with a few who've been successful before, but they're right underneath that same that same roof, that same building to

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be able to to to really, there shouldn't be any mysteries on how how we can help that student to be successful. And so to me, that that vertical alignment of support and that connection with students is really the value of the small school. And and I hope it's something that that that I I remember as a priority in Middle Park and and that that we would value moving forward. Mister Cicelli? I would agree with mister Owen. The small communities you have tighter didn't really You know, the the small community, everybody

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knows their quick business. Right? What's the time that's good? Because we're here to support each other. There's times where you don't really want people to know and some stuff. But for the most part, that that's a positive for our rural communities. In addition to that, I I think I think our rural students have more access to opportunities. That sounds strange because you think of, like, our urban counterparts in large schools where there's, you know, there's a cosmetology school inside the high school and, you know, international back of lower day programs. But the reality is in those schools, kinda have to get pigeonholed into a certain

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program or a certain event. I I had a nephew have a nephew who went to Heritage High School. He played football. That's all he did. Because if you're not a school in football heritage, you gotta be really good at football, and that's the only thing you can do. In our rural systems, my daughters, they were involved in athletics. They were in student council. They were in the FFA. They were in the, you know, the all school play. They're in student council. I might sit through council twice. That was important for them. They actually did that. You know, they did everything. And so what happens with a kid like that is they have this wide cross section of experiences that at the end of the day makes them a better human

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being, makes them more equipped to be a productive member of society. That's the magic of rural schools. And we got it right. Our our urban counterparts, if they could figure out how to replicate that, our world would be a better place because we have such great opportunities for kids to have this unique experience with school where they get to do everything. At the end of the day, that makes a better human being, a productive citizen society, trying to pursue what she needs. Miss Lobo. Yes. So I was born and raised in a small town in Illinois, if you didn't

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know that. My husband and I moved to Colorado with the hopes to raise our daughters in a small mountain town. And the reason that we wanted to do that is really the answer to these to this question. We believe in a strong sense of community. Growing up, if you got in trouble at school, but your parents usually knew it before you got home in a small community because people know each other. Small towns take care of each other. I know that we've had challenges in this small town, but I truly believe we

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can bring people back together. Having lived in this small town for seven years and raised my daughters here, and I'm still raising one of them, and the fact that my husband is a teacher at the high school and I was a principal for five years, We have some connection to just about every student who attends the schools here. We know a lot of the families. I've built trusting relationships with many of them. I've built the connections here. When you're living in a small town, you show up to sporting events.

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Even if you're just cheering on the neighbor's kid, you're there because you're a small town. We build we are in the process of rebuilding our partnerships with local organizations. Due to the past few years, we lost some of those relationships, and I'm working very hard to rebuild them and to rebuild them with the police, first responders, local leaders. You name it, I'm going after it because that's what a small town does, and that's how small towns support each other. As far as student success, what does a small town how does that build student

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success? We're giving them a strong foundation and confidence to be successful in the future, and we're showing them true values on how to live your life. Thank you. Last question. Mister Selle, how do you plan to be visible and approachable in the community and throughout the district? You gotta be available. You have to be accessible, you know, during during the workday. People call you. You gotta return from calls. In an email, you gotta an email back. If if there's a request for a meeting, you need to go to the meeting. I I told one of the interview committees, I don't think I've.

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The only times I haven't returned phone calls is when somebody's trying to sell me something. But, you know, you have to respond when people need something from you or desire something from you. So they know that if they reach out, I'm gonna get a response. Like, you have to be present. You have to be at school events. You have to be at community events. You have to carry yourself with a with an air of approachability. And you then you have to be authentic as well too. Right? Nobody wants to nobody wants to talk to somebody if you like they're getting blown off or that they're getting some, you know, used car salesman pitch.

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I don't know what you're supposed to say. Right, you just have to be real, and that builds approachability. It it's not magic. It doesn't happen on day one. It it takes consistent effort to be open, communicate, to to be transparent whether whether it's in the boardroom or whether it's in communication with staff or whether it's in interaction with the community. You just you just have to exhibit those qualities on a consistent basis so that people know, hey. If I got a question, I can go talk to that person, and they're gonna shoot it straight away. That, over time, creates credibility, which also promotes approachability.

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Miss Locum. Hello. My name is Waltwell. Woodland Park is my home. I am in the district office probably a little bit longer every day than I should be, but I do attend many sporting events. Some for my own children, but often for their friends, for the district, for the coaches. I'm here all the time. My husband works at the high school. He's a teacher. I'm at the grocery stores all the time. I see people all the time in the community.

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I'm very approachable. I know that the previous administration was not very approachable, and I know that a lot of people felt ignored. A lot of people felt, hurt by that. And so I've worked really, really hard in the past eight months to make sure that I'm out in the community, that I'm opening the doors, that I'm listening as I have done. And I'm still bringing families in who left to talk to them. And, I am a listener, and I'm a reflector.

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And I take the feedback that I get to heart, and I'm doing everything that I can to, improve the hurt from this community. And, I know that the teachers trust me when I go to their events. I've gotten emails and thanked because it's the first time someone's been to an event in three or four years. And so I do my very, very best to be there, to to listen, and to help.

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And I believe that that visibility is also a way to heal our community and heal our teachers and staff. Mister Owen. They've said all the good stuff. I you know, being being visible, being approachable, you model that, whether it's an athletic event, whether it's at a, a a student celebration, whether it's the Matagirls Stadium, whether it's the Farmers Market on Fridays, whether it wherever that's going to be, I get

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to be the superintendent of the park. And that's a responsibility, when anybody comes up to me. And so oftentimes, people are hesitant to make an appointment, get buzzed into the door, come into the office, sit down. So if they can approach me outside of a basketball game or, at a at a barbecue or at a I really appreciate the the work that's been done on

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reestablishing meetings with the community members, so realtors and the faith based community and the seniors. And they know, hey. I'm gonna get an opportunity to see mister Owen, and I have a question for him, and he's willing to come to me. I think that's part of the part of the part of the the value as well, especially in a small town. I'm a regular attendee at our town council meetings in Hayden. I don't see where city council meetings would be any different here. I wanna know what's taking place in our community so that I can report back

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to these five people things that I'm hearing in other settings. So I wanna I wanna, certainly have formal open opportunities for people to address me, but I wanna be out in the community so they don't have to try to hunt me there. Mister Sally brought up the the importance of returning the phone call and returning the email, and I think that's that's critical as well. But you can't really I mean, I can say that here, but it's gonna be six months, twelve months, two years down the road where people are gonna go, oh, yeah. He said he'd get back to us, and and he has.

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I haven't, you know, one of the one of the most challenging dials that I have found on on my phone sometimes is when you get media call. I wonder exactly what this is about. But, what I found is if if you're open and frank and and willing to engage in conversation with with local media, then oftentimes, they they provide a a valuable service and communicating things about the school. So, I plan to be visible and approachable just as I was when I was

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raising my kids here. I'll be at the fence. I'll be out in the community. And, and and if you can't find me, then I'm not doing a good enough job doing that. And so somebody tell me where I need to go. Thank you all. That concludes our open forum. Mixed room a and b, got a couple minutes, but do you need to be back by four? The board needs to be in their room by four, but we can mingle a little bit if you wanna talk individually to a candidate. They they don't have to be anywhere till you all have to be somewhere. So The world, our plan is to stop getting a full premium football tickets of

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July attending this thing. Yeah. Is that Yeah. Just got a nice shirt show. Oh, wait. Anyway. Thanks for being here. Thank you. So Mike's on. I'm, I guess. Oh, nice. There we got the Yeah. We got that. Yeah. I got it. It's also like a version. It's so sad. For what's It was so hot in that other room.

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It got frigid in here. Yeah. It's big. I like that jacket. You see? You get that. That's, our sidelines. Is it? Yeah. Yeah. That's a good one. Okay. So we are back from executive session where we were interviewing the three finalists for superintendent candidate. No final decisions were made in that executive session. And it was the board and the candidates present. Does anyone have anything to add to that? Alright. So now we get to going to executive session number two.

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So at this time, I need a motion to adjourn to executive session pursuant to c r s 24 dash six dash four zero two four one three executive session executive officer prioritization, particularities. The board of education will prioritize the finalists and instruct personnel and representatives to begin contracts negotiate negotiations with one finalist candidate. So moved. Second. Protocol. Barclays? Aye. Davidson? Aye. Gilgamesh? Aye. Gordon?

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Aye. Green Street? Aye. Alright. You're into executive session. Again. Yeah. This doesn't even look down at names. I know. Final. Final. We're ready to wrap it up. You said that we'd never have to be here later than eight. I heard that. I could either confirm nor deny. What does your system like to sleep in? Yeah. The faithful ones. Alright. So we've come out of executive session. The prioritization among the finalists and the beginning of negotiations with one or more of the finalists does not constitute formal action or adoption by the board.

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Such formal action will occur when the board is in a public session and cast vote on their preferred next chief executive officer. Nor form no formal adoption is deemed to have taken place until the public vote has occurred. No. The CRS 24Dash6Dash402415. No. 4. Sorry. Roman numerals get me every time. So at this time, then I'm looking for a motion to adjourn the meeting. I move we adjourn the meeting.

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Second. Broadwell, please. Barkley. Aye. Davidson. Aye. Gilgamesh. Aye. Gordon. Aye. Greenstein. Aye. Alright. Meeting