001Can I start? Good evening. Welcome. Uh, sorry for the delay. A little technical difficulty there. Um, go ahead. Start with ro. >> Director Assad Lucas >> here. Director Batistelli >> here. Director Goldstein >> here. >> Director Marsh Holen >> here. >> Director Potter >> here. >> Thank you. I will entertain a motion to approve the agenda. >> So moved. Second. >> Director Assad Lucas. I >> Director Batistelli. I >> Director Goldstein. I Director Marsh Holshen. I >> Director Potter. >> I. >> Okay. Rise if you are able for the pledge. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, it didn't send. >> All right. Um, first off, administrator administrator introductions.
002I see a few new faces and some of you I've met, some of you I haven't, some of you are in different roles. But go ahead, Chris. >> I'll give some background as Megan and Molly and perhaps Phil Spare uh go over to the podium. The background around this is when I first started in this role, what I heard from board members often is that because of this uh perception that the board's only employee is the superintendent uh and the policy governance model, they didn't know our principles. They didn't know lots of our other leaders in the system. and they often were left uh to craft a mental image about who these people were, what their values were, and what they were doing just often based on what they're hearing from parents or staff or
003others in the community. So, it feels like at minimum it's nice for board members to have a face to attach to new names in our system as leaders. And then one of the other things that we've done since that time, which is coming up soon, is an annual meeting with a subset of our principles where you can get into more depth about how's the work going, what do you need, uh what are the challenges and the successes of the work. So this is the first of those two steps tonight and we're excited to have a lot of new outstanding people who are part of our team and Megan, Molly, and and Phil are going to be happy to introduce them. Miss Kaine. >> All righty. Well, before I get started introducing our new principles, I
004will tell you that of all the hiring that we do in a school to ensure a successful school is the hiring of our principles. They're our lynch pins. Um, and so we do not take that job lightly. Um, and you can ask any of these folks that uh we ran them through the ringer and then some in order for them to obtain uh these positions and these jobs. So just really grateful that they hang in with us throughout that process. Um and we really believe that we nabbed some really great leaders this year. So I'm going to start out with two folks that are not able to uh be here with us tonight. Um first is Liz Russell who is our new uh principal at North Glenn High School. She's a real go-getter. Um and
005she has had quite the last couple of weeks on her campus. And so, um, she has, uh, asked for a pass this evening and we have granted that, um, to her. But she comes to us from Erie High School. Um, and we just got so lucky, um, to get her here and we're very excited about the work that she's already started at North Glenn High School. Secondly, Allison Healthend is our new principal at the Vantage Point High School and Crossroads Middle School campus. She previously served as the AP at uh Crossroads um and has worked herself from instructional coach to AP and now to a principal within our system and she is currently deep in work um about reimagining and um thinking about what's next uh for that campus. So those are the two folks
006that uh didn't have the opportunity to join us tonight. First off, I would like to uh recognize Jason Sheioff. If you want to stand, Jason, just so folks can see who you are. Um Jason comes to us from DPS, I think most recently at Kip. >> Yes, that school. Um this is why they have to be my co-host um in this. And Jason is our new principal at uh Sky View Elementary. um and he has taken the helm there um because we stole their previous principal to be our new executive director of elementary schools which is Amanda Boyy sitting um right behind uh Jason. Um, but Jason has hit the ground running um, working his way through with his staff and was so excited to see him at ILT uh, the other night as he
007was explaining the school's goals aligned to their performance management tool and how they're going to work together to achieve those. So, please join me in welcoming Jason. Next is Mr. Tim Garcia. If you would like to stand, please. Um Tim comes to us from St. Vin as well. I believe we've stolen two from them which makes my heart happy. Um and uh Tim is our new uh principal at um Northstar Elementary and we were so excited um when we had an opportunity to interview Tim um because he had such strong reasons why he wanted to come um to Adams 12. He was serving previously as the principal at a pretty affluent um community in Erie and wanted to have an opportunity to come back to a school that was similar to the community that he
008he himself was a part of growing up um and to really be a role model and make a difference for kids within that community. And he has certainly shook things up um from day one. I think the first couple of weeks he was here in Adams 12, folks kept reaching out and talking to uh Teresa Gilbrush. She's like saying, "What can you tell us about Tim? He's reaching out and he's asking for all these things for his school and his community. Um and he's certainly proving to be a great advocate for that school." So, please welcome Tim. Next is uh Miss Michelle Kerber. talk about a leader with some tenacity and some perseverance. So Michelle's been with us in Adams 12 for a long time. Um she has served as an educator, as an instructional
009coach, as an assistant principal, and now has the honor of serving as the principal at Woodglenn um Elementary. As you all know, we had had a tumultuous few years at Woodlenn. We had to write the ship and get some things um in place there. And Michelle has just stuck with it through um the changes, standing alongside interim principles to help shepherd uh the work forward and really working diligently to hire highquality educators to come into that building and create the change um that we need to have happen there. Michelle knows how to navigate our school district and leverage the people within the system to serve her children well um within that school and has done a lot of really focused work to connect with her community um in that school and bring the community back
010closer um and rebuild that really positive working relationship there. So, please welcome Michelle Kerber. And last, but certainly not least, Miss Susie Odorosio. Did I get it right this time? >> I even practiced like 100 times. >> Just call her Miss O. That's what the kids call her. >> Uh, fair. Fair. I'll get it one of these days. I promise. I promise. So, Susie is our um new principal at Rocky Mountain Elementary. Susie has been a critical um component in partnership with our bond principal liaison Kate Vogle back here um in really helping us start to reimagine Rocky Mountain Elementary. And if you had an opportunity to be in that building many years ago and had an opportunity to be in that building today, it is night and day. And Susie has been a critical
011part of that work as she served as the assistant principal in hiring um new staff alongside Kate um coaching new staff and really setting the vision for what's possible within that school um and has really done an exceptional job as she interviewed. Um, one of the things that I was so humbled by, um, in watching Susie is that she knew from the moment she started that interview process that she wasn't she wasn't entitled to anything, but that it was really important to that community, to the staff, and to the students that she'd be able to talk about how she's going to take those next steps for Rocky Mountain um, moving forward. And she did an absolutely fabulous job. Hands down, number one. Um, and it's it's not easy to follow um your principal and Susie's
012doing a great job um developing her own leadership voice within that school and working alongside um with her educators in that school to really continue the great growth and experience that Rocky Mountain has had. So, please help me um recognize Miss O. All right. Um, I have the pleasure of introducing my team and it's not a surprise that they're in the back of the room and that's because oftentimes in business services we are uh behind the scenes uh supporting teaching and learning and um the four of them as a group they've really uh come into their either new roles or or new to the district and they've helped us bring our work into the forefront show the value um not only hold their teams accountable able but provide the leadership, the communication um and the
013respect our teams deserve. So really honored to work alongside them every day. Um as I talk about each of them um first will be uh Roy Cruz. So Roy Cruz started with the district in January of 22 as our director of custodial. He recently moved into his new role in January um sorry in February uh of last year as the director of of custodial and outside services. So Roy has really brought an energy to that team um where we are trying to create synergy and we are trying to create uh a sense of belonging where everyone on Royy's team whether you serve the inside of the building or the outside of the building are there to serve as a team and then it's our responsibility together to elevate our grounds and our custodial uh department
014so that we can do the best thing for kids. So that Roy has been wonderful in that role and I thank you and I welcome you. Well, you heard uh Megan talk about Kate. So Kate Vogle. Um she has been with us for 22 years in Adams 12. Uh 16 of those years as administrator. She was at I know Arapjo Ridge even during our last bond. um and then most recently at Rocky Mountain Elementary and now she joined us uh as of July 1 of this year in her new role at bond principal liaison and uh it's hard to come into a role that is undefined um but Kate with her um I would say tenacity uh her hard work ethic uh she has found a way to help us see gaps we didn't even
015know existed And we have had this was a I'll say this was a position recommended by many of our principles um coming out of the last bond and I can see why because uh being closer to the bond work in my role this time around uh we had some gaps that we wanted to make sure uh got filled between how we approach work in business services and how uh we impact learning, right? how we refill a building, how we uh go through and make sure that we think about what happens when our principles return in July, what happens when our staff returns in August, when we're still trying to run a project that goes up until potentially the day before school. So, she has been phenomenal in this role, leading a lot of work, and
016we'll be uh talking more about the bond as we go throughout the school year. Welcome, Kate. All right, John Leman. Uh, John is new to our district, new to K12. Um, but he has 23 years experience. He is our director of maintenance, sustainability, and environmental. So, um, he oversees our trades, our environmental manager, and our sustainability manager. And together, uh, they make sure that we are warm, safe, and dry um, every day. He, uh, has brought a sense of leadership. He joined us in April of this year. He's brought a sense of leadership and I would say acknowledgement to the team that has helped them feel valued. And then I can see every day that they come in in a way in which they want to serve more, better, greater than they did the day
017before. And that was something missing from our team for a very long time. So John, thank you for bringing that to our team. Uh he makes the commute every day as well from Highlands Ranch similar to me. Um and I thank him for enduring that because uh we are better with your leadership in this department. So thank you for joining us. And finally, Pat Nimovich. Did I get it? No man. Mr. N. No, that doesn't work. What do you dot in schools? Peter. He does go by Peter and that is very helpful. Um he started with us in March. Also new to K12. He comes from 20 years of experience in the construction industry. Uh where he also helped Windsor High School. Is that correct? Yeah. Uh build Windsor High School. Um and now he's
018here with us leading as our director of construction. He came in the thick of it. Bond was just passed. Um we are kicking off summer uh projects and starting design for the following summer's projects. He picked right up, joined the team seamlessly. He has brought a sense of energy, continuous improvement, um new ideas to the team and new energy that I think we all needed. Uh and he is going to serve very well in this role um as we march into some of our most complex projects of the bond up and coming with Thornon High School Nutrition Services Center and beyond. So, thank you. Welcome. And that is all. >> Thank you, Molly. I'm Phil Spar, general counsel here at Adams 12, and I'm pleased to introduce our new Title 9 non-discrimination coordinator, Michaela Bland.
019Michaela comes to us with a wealth of uh experience with a national company that provided K12 and higher education title 9 non-discrimination services. So she has hit the ground running because she knows what she's doing. And instead of me uh training her, she is reminding me of some of the nuances of Title 9 every day. So welcome aboard. [Applause] Thank you. Um, I just want to backtrack just a tad. I intended on doing this, but I forgot. Um, I think it would behoove us to offer a moment of silence, to think about some of the tragedies that have we experienced the last week or so in this country, and to reflect on how we can do better. So take a moment. Thank you. Oh, now I really did forget something, too. Uh we would like
020to get a picture of all our new administrators with the board members. So we'll come down there. You come up here. We'll meet at the sanctions. All right. One side. Congratulations [Applause] to Nice to see you. Nice to meet you guys. Thanks for taking the time to be here and uh I'm sure we'll be seeing more of you. >> Okay, superintendent update. >> Thank you. So, a few different things I want to just run through here tonight. The first is to publicly acknowledge that we lost one of our employees this week in a fatal automobile accident as this employee, a mechanic in our transportation department was coming uh to work that day. Herardo Campos Luna is the employee who lost his life that day. challenging situation because a number of our staff uh surmised that
021he had been involved in this accident by watching some media reports on the news that morning and the media was reporting that there was a fatality in the accident. But it took us quite a while as you might expect to get confirmation from the coroner and also to take the next step where the coroner can notify next of kin. when we have losses of students or staff, we want to be sensitive uh to not being uh out of line or out of turn in terms of letting people know about the loss. And so um we send our thoughts and prayers to Herardo's family and to the co-workers um who admired him very much. He'd worked for us for not quite a year and had a very strong reputation as a hard worker. So that was
022a difficult loss in our transportation department that people have been wrapping around and supporting this week. Second item that I would highlight is that we had a number of walkouts today um at our high schools for students protesting gun violence. I think one of the areas of focus is gun violence in schools, but some of what I've read in some of your reports is that it's gun violence more broadly, whether it's at a hospital, a school, a church, or other institutions. Our staff made some estimates about how many students participated. The estimate I got was about 200ish or more at Horizon High School, about a 100 students at Legacy and about 30 to 40 students at Mountain Range and Northland High School. It appears that our students all um handled the situation well and they
023didn't encounter any uh confrontations or any threats uh from others as they went about their activity. I think you all know I've shared with you some of the notices that we send to parents when we learn of a protest. Students have uh as a Tinker versus De Mo school district declared back in the late60s still retain their constitutional rights at school and if they choose to leave school to protest they have that right. We'll also uh mark them absent unexcused unless their parent calls in and excuses them. And then our touch with the students is very limited once they exit campus. But while they're on campus, we keep a watchful eye and uh try to make sure that nothing turns into a confrontation or uh a challenging situation. We're pleased that those protests uh and
024the student activity went uh in a peaceful way today. Third item I would note is uh the Evergreen High School shooting that transpired last week. A few different parts of that I would emphasize. One is uh just the sequence of things that goes through my head uh at this juncture of my tenure whenever I hear news reports that there's been a shooting at a school. First thing is I hope that it's a inaccurate report that there's like fireworks in the school or fireworks outside the school because sometimes there are mistakes that people perceive or believe there was gunfire and sometimes it's not. So you start in a place of hoping that then if you uh you move on to and if it's not that I hope that nobody was actually shot. There's times that there
025are shots fired but no individual is shot by that bullet and sometimes that happens and you hope and pray for that and then you go to the spot about I hope no one was seriously injured or or killed in the incident. And as I went through that whole sequence, um, lots of these school shootings, uh, are really a big heavy weight on many of us in the system. And that one was heavier for many of us because the superintendent, the deputy superintendent, and the head of security and Jeff Co are all former Adams 12 administrators that many of us know well. And so we know the challenges that are in front of them the day of and then the days and weeks after. And we also know just the horrific pain that the broader community
026faces and that the ever growing community is in the midst of right now. One of the things that has come my way since that shooting were a couple of inquiries about why didn't you send out any communication to our parents, our staff, our students and community? Are we becoming callous and indifferent to school violence situations? And what I shared with principles last Thursday is that I struggle about what to say at this point. Um, I've communicated about so many school shootings in the state and in this country during my tenure. And in one of the most recent times, I know that I said in there, I'm just tired of sending out messages that talk about our thoughts and prayers are with this community or this high school. I'd like it to change. Um, and I
027know that the change required is really complicated. And I just think there are so many variables that can contribute to school violence situations that even though I hate saying this out loud, I'm certain that we will continue to have uh school shootings of this sort and school violence actions uh that are horrible and disruptive and painful uh for the foreseeable future. Um, so I'm in a place of struggling what to say. What I love principles about is I think the best thing that we can do to help is in our classrooms model the way for our students to have discussions about really intense issues of personal difference and controversial issues and do it with with respect and kindness. Um because obviously my generation and some of the other generations uh of adults have not figured
028out how to do that very well. And if we can equip our young people with the ability to talk about things they really strongly believe and they strongly disagree about in ways uh that are less hurtful than they are now uh might be delivered in ways that are more influential to people with whom uh there might be a disagreement to start with and might move some people's hearts and minds. I have greater hope for our society if we can do that. But right now, we're obviously a pretty broken country in our ability to do that in so many ways. In connection uh with the Charlie Kirk assassination of last week, we we had a couple of staff members who posted things on social media that members of our community found offensive and bothersome and inappropriate.
029And so I received complaints about two staff members who had posted things that people found to be offensive. Um, one of those messages talked a lot about are you going to fire this person or why don't you fire this person in the private sector? There are lots of people who are losing their jobs today for this kind of activity. And so, um, one of the things I'll just say is that I think often times people don't fully understand the implications of the First Amendment and how that can work in the legal arena. The first amendment really strictly speaking starts with language about Congress shall not do various things to abridge freedom of speech, assembly, religion. And so as strictly speaking, it's a limit on Congress and its limits of us in terms of how we
030speak, assemble, worship, and things of that sort. Over time, the courts have broadened that application so that it applies to government at all levels, including school districts, local government, state government, federal government, but it doesn't apply to private employers. And so, as I'm walking in here today, I see that Jimmy Kimmel's been suspended indefinitely by whatever network he works for for comments he's made about uh the Charlie Kirk assassination. I know there are broadcasters who've been fired and employees in other places that have been fired. And if you're employed by a private employer, um the private employer has a lot more latitude to make some judgments about whether you keep your job or face discipline than if you're a public employee. So that's just something that I think is helpful for everyone to know that
031we're governed by a different standard than some of those private employers. also aware in parts of the country that firefighters and some other public officials have been fired for things that they've posted. And um if those cases are litigated, I think more and more you wonder what the outcome's going to be based upon the judge or judges that are hearing the case. What I understand to be the case uh in terms of the legal standards that apply to us as an employer for employees who make comments uh on their personal time outside of the workplace is we have to determine whether they're speaking about a matter of public concern and certainly um things like gun rights, gun control, uh political statements related to Charlie Kirk uh and both the advocacy he made and uh the
032controversy following his assassination are commonly viewed as matters of public concern. And then there's a I count nine different factors I believe that courts have established about determining whether the employer can take disciplinary action when an employee off work hours is speaking about matters of public concern. We've got five attorneys or former attorneys who work in this district right now. Myself, Phil Spar, Kathy Shannon, Michaela Bland, and Aaron Oberg. And my guess is uh if you asked us to apply those nine factors, you might get five different answers uh to the calculus by my count if I were the judge uh given some of the post uh the two posts that were in controversy here. Two to three of the factors would weigh in favor of us taking disciplinary action and six to seven of
033the factors would weigh in favor of the employee not having any uh consequences from us for their speech. Given that analysis uh that we have, the response we've taken is to have principles of the two employees visit with those employees and send uh the message that just like students don't shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate, employees retain their first amendment rights to speak in their personal and private capacities. There are times that people go so far or make uh comments that are so damaging under that nine factor test that there can be discipline that's imposed. We don't believe that's the case here. But we're reminding our staff that even though you have rights to speak uh privately, what you say is often uh viewed through a lens of our parents and our community
034to suggest that you may have biases that you bring into your classroom during the course of the day, that you may um have an agenda that you're trying to advance and how you interact with students during the course of the day. There are people who make judgments about the values of your school and the school district based on your statements as a private employee. uh as an employee during your personal time. And I know there's times that people don't want to hear that and they don't want it to be that way, but we all know that is the truth about how people judge me and you and lots of our employees and the things that they say after hours. So, we've had conversations with those two individuals and we'll continue to message to our staff
035um in appropriate settings about the importance of exercising your first amendment privileges and rights uh in a way that doesn't compromise your ability uh to be a credible educator of kids or a staff member serving the kids of this community. So, I just want to share with you all that's where we stand there. I'll share something that's much less exciting uh but important to talk about which is the significant expense that we've incurred over the last six or so months dealing with sewer blockages and problems. And it almost feels trivial given the other things I've shared, but we've spent over $100,000 in the last 6 months and a lot of money in overtime and use of buildings that we've had uh to discontinue. And most of it is because of inappropriate use of our toilets
036and our restroom facilities. One of the things that we've learned is that flushable wipes in old systems like ours are really not so much flushable and that they can create a real risk for blockages. And so we need to do some messaging about that. And then beyond that, we have students that are flushing huge quantities sometimes of feminine products that have not been open down the toilet. They're flushing their lanyards, pencils, underwear, socks, and other items down, which are creating blockages and sewer backups at probably a half dozen or more schools that have been really significant thus far this school year. But we have in the double digits at all of our high schools, I believe, and most of our middle schools over the last couple of years in terms of incidents that have required
037intervention. So, we'll be doing some messaging in our system to our students in particular uh and asking parents and others to reinforce and support us in the message about toilets are not trash cans. And when you do that, you you it's not just a silly thing like the de devious licks uh trend a few years ago was perceived by students when they were trashing out bathrooms and destroying things. when you do these kinds of things and use toilets as trash cans, it costs money in a system that doesn't have any money to spare to be fixing things that are completely avoidable. So, that's a piece probably in the more small stakes uh category of things that are on my mind right now. Finally, I'll just mention I'll be out of the district the next two
038days in the mountains for the annual superintendent conference. Bo Fert, Megan Kaine will be uh the persons in charge of my absence. I've been asked to serve on a panel about some of the lessons learned and uh things that I felt like I've done well during my career and so look forward to being part of that and working with uh lots of superintendents who are new to the profession and trying to navigate their way. That's it for me for tonight. >> Thank you. Okay. Board of Education comments, recognition, awards, and vision. Start with Courtney. >> Thank you, President Goldstein. Normally I open these meetings with kudos and words of encouragement, but like we already heard tonight after such a tragic week. Um, for multiple reasons, I find myself just at a complete loss of words
039and what to say. All I do know is that kindness and working together matter now more than ever. Even when we face challenges, respect and collaboration are what carry us forward. And I'm grateful for the opportunity to focus on what's best for our students and our community and serve all of you. Thank you, D. Um, Alexis, >> thank you. Um, and I just also want to say, um, I echo a lot of what you said, Superintendent Gowski, around just being tired of this and knowing that it's going to continue to happen. Um, and that is, uh, a great, um, readout of how you guys are handling staff comments, and I really appreciate the thoughtfulness of it. Um because you know most important is is our right to speak and not um be hurt because of
040the words we choose to say. So free speech is um the most important. I uh was able to go to Woodland uh to meet with their PTO um and the new principal. So that was uh really great. And thank you to everyone that came out for the um mill campaign kickoff. Um it's getting on doors is very important. So we will we will all be doing that. Um I was excited. I have not gotten to tour it yet, but um to hear about the green star school program at Centennial that um Ecoy is doing with the the recycling. So I'm very excited to get a time to go see that. Um, and just a reminder, uh, Saturday is Broomfield Days, and I know, um, a number of our schools will have floats in the parade
041and, um, a number of our students will be participating in the the dance and the, um, entertainment. So, we hope to see you there. Thank you, Paula. I was able to attend the five-star um, online academy. Is that the full name? Um, and I I love that school. I adopted that school because I work in online education and I believe that children need options and having this online option through Adams 12 um I think means a lot to a lot of different kids and so I was um really happy to sit with the parents at the cafe. There were about nine of us. I guess I'm sitting way too close to my speaker here. I'll back up a little bit there. Um, and yeah, it was a nice conversation and it was great to hear
042about some of the concerns they've had and I got to meet the family liaison and the um the social worker that they now have over there and it was a good meeting. Uh, the other thing I got to do, it was not in my official capacity, is I toured Horizon High School because my son is 13 and he's about to go into high school. And, um, since he's a kid who's neurologically atypical, as we would politely put it, um, it's important to me that he goes to all of the different schools to see what the options are available to him. Um, because one size doesn't fit all. Uh the last thing I will say is the um evergreen event weighs heavily on me. Um my cousin was at Coline. She luckily was hiding in a
043soccer um shed at the time. But since then it's just this allervasive weight that we have to carry with us. And so I think to myself being numb could be a good thing, but we don't want to become numb. And so I've come to the place where I just have to value that hurt and embrace that hurt and sit with it. And so there's this great poem by Amanda Gorman and she wrote it hours after the UVA day um situation. And I just wanted to share a se segment of it because it it's an invocation I like to keep in mind in moments like this to remind me what we need to focus on and that the hurt is a good thing to feel because it means we're not yet callous and indifferent. And so
044this is her poem from him for the hurting. Um, and it goes, this section goes, "May we not just grieve, but give. May we not just ache, but act. May our signed right to bear arms never blind our sight from shared harm. May we choose our children over chaos. May another innocent never be lost. May maybe everything hurts, our hearts shadowed and strange, but only when everything hurts, may everything change. So hopefully that gives you all something to hang on to as well. So thank you. >> Thank you for sharing that. Mira, >> good evening. Um, thanks everyone for being here and watching online. Um, I just want to say thank you, Chris, for your remarks and uh, sharing. Um, not only Wednesday was Wednesday a really hard day after hearing about Evergreen High School.
045Um, but I think reality kind of set in for me as a parent when um I met my daughter at CU on Friday for lunch and without even blinking an eye, without really showing much emotion, tells me that her class was evacuated early from the library due to a bomb threat. Um, and it just goes to show how desensitized our youth is um with violence that happens in schools. And um uh and not only that, but even like walking into the cafeteria um and running into some of her friends and classmates and them hoping that their classes were cancelceled too or they wouldn't have to do the test um and again just not being phased by a a bomb threat. So, um it it's really sad that we've that we've led our youth to this.
046So, um I did attend the CASBY fall conference and delegation uh delegate assembly a couple weeks ago with uh Lori and um and I served as a delegate for Adam's 12 and I always really appreciate that opportunity just because we have so many great conversations and different opinions and um get to hear different sites especially being in an urban school district and hearing from our rural school districts and um it's just really enlightening. So I will also serve as a delegate during the business meeting at the CASBY annual conference in December. Uh able to attend a parent and uh donuts and coffee meeting at Cherry Drive. Got to meet some of the parents, have conversations, talk about um community stuff. So it was really um that was a great opportunity. Oh, unfortunately I was not
047able to attend the mill um campaign kickoff as I had a prior engagement scheduled. Um but excited to continue the work to get this passed and support our kids and community. Um going to be knocking doors a lot the next couple months. uh or month and a half. Jeez. Um last but not least, attended the I25 bull game uh Friday night. And so, as many of you know, we have a bet that um as a Thornton parent, community member, and Lori as a North Glenn parent and uh fellow employee, educator, that this is always a highstake game, which I don't know why, but um the past couple years they've struggled. Thoren High has struggled, but next year, next year. So that's why I'm in North Glenn gear because Thornton um we'll win next year. >>
048All right. >> I don't know. >> They do. We're going to have hope. We're going to put we're going to put it out there. >> Um I have to tell you the JV game the next day, North Glenn beat Thornton just as bad. >> Oh jeez. Oh man. Yeah. Yeah, I got to a point that they just ran the clock >> like the third quarter. So, um anyway, next year. Next year. All right. Thanks everyone. >> I appreciate your good sportsmanship. >> Um you know, uh I too have had a lot of cause for reflection the last week or so. I mean, I remember exactly what I was doing when Coline happened. I was a dean at North High at the time. and just thinking back on all what we went through before we knew
049what was going on because um technology just wasn't as advanced as it is now. And and I've read a lot of stuff over the last week and this is something I just want to share. Um this is from Governor Spencer Cox of Utah and this is what he said at a news conference on Friday um in which officials announced the arrest of the suspect who who shot um Charlie Kirk. Cox asked for people to lower the political temperature and stay off social media. We can return violence with violence. We can return hate with hate. And that's the problem with political violence. It metastasizes, he said, because we can always point the finger at the other side. And at some point, we have to find an off-ramp or it's going to get much worse. So, that's
050something I think we all need to think about um as far as where we go with this. and you know start thinking about what are we going to do to end some of the things that are happening in this world that shouldn't be happening. Um I've visited a few schools in the last couple weeks. I went to uh North Moore and hung out with um Sarah Roberts Northstar and I got to meet um Mr. Garcia, the new principal there and I hung out I got to meet the new principal at North Klein. Um I also went to the um Casby fall conference. Um it wasn't just a delegate assembly. It was also um trainings and and in and we got some good insights on um how to be better board members. And that's just you
051know what we that's what they do there. Um if you haven't figured it out yet, I've gone to a lot of JV football games, but those are on personal time. Um, I've gone around um talking to um various folks about the mill levy override. Um, city council, Rotary, two city councils, Rotary, and um, thank you to everybody who showed up on Saturday morning for the kickoff. Um, other than that, um, that's about it that I'll talk about now because I also had LR pack. So that has its own agenda item. All right. Thank you. Um we're on to general public comment. >> Good evening. The board welcomes public comment to learn about the preferences and concerns of the Adams 12 fivestar community. Each speaker will have three minutes. Please use the microphone and state your
052name and city of residence before beginning your comments. Please give any handouts or information you would like to share with the board to Lee Koka. A threeminut timer will be set for each speaker. Please keep an eye on that timer and kindly conclude your remarks when your time has expired. Our first speaker is Katie Lewis. Thank you. Hello, my name is Katie Lewis. I'm a licensed professional counselor in Adams County and I work with clients with complex trauma and I have clients that are also from the trans community. I first off want to say thank you to the school board and district for providing the care and support that all kids deserve. You support trans kids. Your support for trans kids allows all students the ability to learn and grow equally and that's an amazing
053thing that you do. I am up here because when I hear about people that come to these board meetings to complain about trans kids, I be being treated with respect at school. I get angry. I get angry because what these people are asking of asking from the school district from my perspective as a therapist is unethical. It is unethical because not supporting trans kids is doing harm. I hear of stories of kids not using bathrooms all day and getting UTI, kids becoming suicidal because they are being bullied, kids not performing well at school, and teachers struggling more to support their students. And the list goes on. When a trans trans kid is not accepted at school, they are experiencing trauma, which is a which is true for any student. And this is why supporting and
054accepting trans kids is an eth ethical thing to do. This school, this school district has provided the space for trans kids to learn safely. Trans kids are able to learn and grow just like every other kid, which is which will also make it easier for other for other kids too. This district has also made it possible for kids to learn empathy and care for one another. I admire and appreciate the school district for doing the ethical thing even though so many people stand against it. So what I'm going to do to support them is continue to come here with one fact about trans people each time so that people can understand why this school district made their choice and why it should be supported. I'm doing this. In doing this, I hope that maybe more
055people can start to learn and understand and accept trans people. Thank you again to the board for all of your amazing work. >> Thank you. >> Our next speaker is John Brown. Oh, thank you. >> Hi, my name is John Brown and I'm a parent and a Thornton resident. First, I want to thank the board members for being stewards in protecting our free speech and taking this mantle of leadership in these hard times as we are fronted by all of these tragedies. During the public comment period of a recent school board meeting, there were a few voices questioning why our school district does not notify parents if a student comes out as trans, queer, or non-binary within our schools. This made me ask, what exactly is this policy that everyone is referencing? And while I
056am paraphrasing what I found, this is what I discovered on the Adams 12 website under guidelines on supporting transgender or gender non-conforming students. The school counselor will partner with the student to encourage and support them to discuss their gender identity with their parent or guardian. But when the school counselor believes that disclosing the student's transgender status will pre present a risk of harm to the student's health or safety, then they must consult with the district's mental health team. This team then must consult with the district's legal department before providing any support for the student without any parental involvement. In other words, the district wants to involve parents whenever possible. But after careful review, if they feel the child will get harmed at home, then they won't notify the parents. Also, they might not even come
057out come up with a support plan for the student. It's important to point out that trans youth who face family rejection will often have a traumatizing experiences at home. It can lead to higher risks of suicide, homelessness, and mental or physical abuse. According to the Trevor Project's 2024 US National Survey, up to 40% of all homeless youth identify as LB LGBTQ plus, and it showed that more than one in 10 of these kids attempted suicide last year. It also showed that only 38% of all transgender and non-binary young people could consider their home an affirming and accepting place. These are all issues that Adams 12 school district is trying to avoid. Their policy put the safety of their students first over anything else. Adams 12's policy is quite sane and forwardinking, especially with all of
058the dangers that trans kids face in this world for simply existing as they truly are. The district wants to thank the this district wants to work with parents over this complex issue. But but as I just read statistically not every home is a safe place for trans kids to express their identity. The school does the right thing here in prioritizing the needs of the student. This way kids can be in a safe environment and are able to focus on their studies and to learn the skills that help them grow and navigate into the complex world of adulthood. Thank you everyone for your time. >> Thank you. >> Our final speaker is Ivy Brooks. >> Hi, I'm Ivy Brooks uh of Thornton. I'm one of the aforementioned trans people. Uh I've been watching these recordings and
059y'all keep talking about us, so I figured I would attend. Uh I'm just going to talk about mathematics today because I have a master's degree in mathematics. So I wanted to come up and give a little bit of encouragement to the mathematics learners out there. So uh got it. Math can be a diff can be difficult and it can sometimes be boring or at the very least less interesting than Tik Tok. We all know how that is these days. Uh and maybe you're struggling to understand the concepts you're going over in class. Maybe you're thinking to yourself, "I can't do this." And if you are, I'm here to tell you to keep trying. Because as I was once told, mathematics is not a spectator sport. You have to sit down and chew over the concepts
060that seem impossible if you want to learn them because mathematics will reward that hard work. That applies to any college folks that might be in attendance as well. Uh I want to say self-improvement is key. Next page. Well, we'll go to the next page. So, I'm just going to continue with what I was going to say. Um, lastly, I just wanted to give a shout out to all the math teachers here in Adams 12 and say that y'all are doing great work. And as I taught statistics as a grad student, I want to say I know how hard it can be, especially when you get learners that might be missing concepts that they can't do without at the level that you're teaching. Y'all are rock stars. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, on to board committee
061liaison reports, DACK, FAC, and LRPAC. So, we'll start with the DAC. So, um, we met, I'm kidding, uh, the DAC, we met and it was largely a meet and greet with all of the the new members. Um, and we are really excited because I think we have 45 members and 53 schools. So, the participation is looking pretty great. I do know just to keep this on the horizon that the DAC leadership might want to meet with us. So, we might need to add it to an agenda. Um, and largely we also were given the whirlwind tour of everything that the DAC does. There's a focus on the school accountability committees and just improving that sort of reciprocal relationship between the two groups of people for the time being. Um, if you are interested, I always
062have to do the obligatory shout out to attend your school accountability committee. They want you there. They want your input. Um, regardless of if you're a parent or not. And the same thing for DAC. We have lots of ways for people to participate. So that's it. >> Thank you. And we will be talking about getting them on the agenda. >> Fact, am I allowed to ask a follow-up question to Sure. >> your update. Um, do you know I know you mentioned that SAC was or DAC was doing a lot of work around school accountability committees. Do you know if they have like a running list of like the schools and like who to contact for school accountability committees? >> They're working on that list. that's a work in progress. Um, and I I think this
063year is our concerted effort to collect who's who and how to get in touch with them, but we've also talked about what to do if they can't get in touch with them because that's been an issue in the past. So, that would be great. I think I I had asked some clarifying questions earlier this week to Superintendent Gdowski about how they are um legally required to be in all of our schools. So, really pretty please, like Paula said, please get involved. Please go to your sack. Um it is a legal requirement for us to have them there. So glad to know that you guys are putting that list together. So thank you. >> I will be attending North Glenn High Sack next week. >> I'll be at Thorens's the week after. >> All right. Uh
064fact. I was very apologetically unable to make back um for their first meeting, but I know it was a um in-person meeting and um welcome to all the new members and I'm very excited to um well no I am not excited because I also know the budget year we're going into but um again to uh work with you all and of course as we always say our finance team um for doing a great job um and look forward to those September supplementals coming out. I heard were under a billion dollars in cuts this year. So score for that. Thank you. Um LRPAC had their first meeting and uh we also have a lot of new members. So we got to meet and we've got a lot of new community members which is really great. Um
065the topic that we spent the most time talking about was whether or not to go forward with getting lead certification for Thornton High. Um I'm married to an engineer. I'm not one, but he is he knows how to do lead certification. It has to do with how environmentally conscious you are in your building. Um you know, as far as the the lighting, all the um the environmental and whatnot. And and if you've ever seen buildings that are lead, there's they can be um silver, gold, and bronze. I believe just depends on the level of lead certification. So, next time you're around some buildings downtown, you'll see some of them are lead certified. It's a lot of hoops to go through and um it does cost a lot of money. And so, the general consensus I
066think that the recommendation that the committee made was just be conscientious about being sustainable and without jumping through the hoops of being lead. um and and build a Thornton High that has um uses resources wisely and and such. That was my takeaway. Molly, did I hit that one? Good. Thanks. Okay, so that was our first meeting. All right, on to board business. We will start with a proclamation. Uh classified employee appreciation week. Um Chris, do you want to comment on it? I'll just say uh beyond the resolution, I think the most important part of this is what we do to operationalize it and let our classified staff know that they're essential parts of the work that we do to serve kids and families every day. And so Tim and Molly um Tim because of his
067work in HR on Molly because so many of the classified staff um are within business services I know we'll huddle up but we want to do uh the best job we can in a environment of limited resources to let our classified staff know that they are essential parts of our team. And that week we will also be meeting with representatives of the different classified employees groups like we do every year um to hear some of their highlights and concerns. All right. Is there any other um comments? >> Just to second what you just said. But I think sometimes um there's uh this perception that maybe if they're working in the office away from the kids, they're not as essential to the work that we do. But I think that is a humongous misnomer because they
068keep us running and they keep us organized and they keep us in legal world and not illegal world, which is even more important. And that goes for our bus maintenance folks. Um, we appreciate all of you and we know that every single one of you are an essential part of helping our district be the most effective district it can be um for our kids and their learning experience. No, I think for um I greatly appreciate everything that our classified staff does and as everyone has said is that they keep our schools, our district functioning. Um and um I think for me too is just how important their roles and relationships with the kids are is the first face that many students see um in the morning is their bus driver. and um or the uh
069the campus security or um you know the custodian or and these are people that are greeting them and welcoming them um and they're starting their day with these with um our staff and they play such a pivot role a pivotal role in our kids education and really building relationships with them. So they are incredibly valued. >> And when we talk about kids being known by name, strength, and need a lot of time, those are the folks that do know our our students because they do get at times they'll have one-on-one time with them and really get to know them and the students get to know them too as staff members. I am so excited to hear so many wonderful supportive things about our classified staff and to see this um proclamation come forward. And to
070Mr. Gdowski's point, I hope that we can put put it into motion because I am a firm believer that whether you are a custodian or a bus driver or a teacher, you have equally as important value in this district. And I think it is more than past time that we review their pay structure and their their whole schedule. Um, oftentimes we see, you know, increases, but they're not always equitable between both the classified and the certified staff. And so here we've heard, like I've said, all these reasons why they are so great. They're the first face we see. They're the first, you know, they're the goodbye at the end of the day. They know the kids by name, strength, and need, and they're an incredibly important piece to that puzzle. Um, and I I hope
071that we can make some real meaningful changes in kind of their pay structure come this next negotiation cycle. I'll just jump in briefly on that and uh Courtney, I just want you to know that um we share your interest in uh doing right by our classified staff. We've had a couple of meetings with CSEA leadership and DTA leadership separately to talk about different schedules that we could adopt if we're successful on election day and how we'd operationalize things to make sure that we're setting money aside and that we're also managing expectations appropriately because even if we pass this thing, we're still going to be below the middle of the curve. We're not going to be moving to the top of the heap in terms of compensation. But I I feel confident in representing that Paul
072Williams and Lisa feel like we've been collaborative, transparent, and we have thoughtful proposals uh that can move classified staff forward and shoring up some gaps against the market if we're successful. >> Yet another reason to support this mill. >> Oh, I need a motion. >> Phil, you're supposed to keep me honest here. Well, sometimes I'm doing that, too. Sorry. >> It's the new format. I'm not used to it yet. Um, okay. I will entertain a motion to adopt the proclamation declaring October 6 through 10, 2025 classified employee appreciation week as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. Now call the vote. >> Director Assad Lucas, I. >> Director Batiselli, I. >> Director Goldstein, I. >> Director Marsh Holen, >> I. >> Director Potter, >> I. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Uh, next is board IBS
073representatives. We will determine the representatives to the IBS team for the 2025 2026 school year. Um, we traditionally have two board members on this team. Um, and it has been air and myself the last several years. Um, it is an open meeting so all of us could be there, not necessarily at the table. that'd be kind of messy, but it is an open meeting and um because of state statute, it it it it's sort of a extension of a board meeting if if I'm not mistaken and it's subject to the sunshine laws. Is that how it works? So anyway, um I guess my question is is are you still interested in being on the team? >> Yes, I am. I mean, if somebody else really wants to step up, um, I'm fine with that, but
074I I would I would like to continue that that work. >> And I will also tell you I would express interest interest in staying on this team. However, um I'm all for having somebody to at least I if somebody else is interested in uh coming on board when I'm no longer here. Um it it does have a learning curve to it, so to speak. So I um I would encourage anybody that would like to step up uh down the road to attend some of the meetings. Um is anybody have an interest in that? I'm on my way out, so it's one of you two. >> I mean, I'd love to, but I think it's been well established my work uh schedule is hectic. >> Does have I just been volunttoled to >> Well, there will
075be one other new board member and that person too will be offered that opportunity. >> I can attend a few meetings. >> I I encourage you regardless if you want to be on the team or not to um come and observe the process. I'm a very big proponent of this process since I was on the I've been on the team for the most part since it started and I do train I do facilitate others in this process and it really is a it's a it's a great process to get somewhere and to come to a consensus. So um and the reason this is being brought up tonight is because I think we have a meeting next week or the week after. So anyway, >> so a question I want to pose. Um, so if we
076had three board members present at an IBS session, I'm wondering if there's prior notice that uh we would need to have that perhaps Paul was going to attend. If there's a different type of notice we'd have to do under the Sunshine Act or if just the general posting that we'd otherwise do about IBS that we already do under the Sunshine Act would be sufficient. So Phil, I don't know if you have an opinion about that in the >> I do have an opinion. uh if the third person attending that meeting, a third board member attending that meeting is there for observation purposes and not there to discuss school district business, I don't see any reason why it would have to be advertised any differently than a standard IBS meeting. >> Yeah. So, as long as
077I sit in the back and keep my mouth shut, we're good. >> That would summarize my thoughts. >> Perfect. The other thing I wanted to share is uh I think you all know that the IBS uh process here from its inception has been facilitated by two individuals. One Dave Musetter uh for a lot of his tenures facilitator was an employee of Cardo Education Association. He's done a lot of work around interested bargaining in that role. He's been retired for a couple of years and from its inception, Jim Loam was the other facilitator and Jim's a retired superintendent and school administrator. Jim's retired uh and won't be uh with us any longer. And so we've been looking to secure a second facilitator. And the the opinion I shared with Tim Griffin uh as he's looked at
078uh working with Steve Lash and others to get the second facilitator is that I don't believe it's best to have someone who's a former district employee be the second facilitator. Um, so we've had some suggestion of a former educator to be the other facilitator and a former principal. And I think they're both regarded uh well and highly in the system. And I believe just knowing those individuals, they'd work very hard to be uh unbiased and neutral and to be objective facilitators. And yet I just think uh perceptions and uh sometimes prior relationships can complicate doing that work. So we're still looking for facilitator number two. Uh but hopefully we have that nailed down soon. >> Thank you. And just because we've evolved from being using a lot of chart paper to just doing um the
079notes on the screen, I do know that sometimes one facilitator works. >> Yeah. And that may be where we land. I think Dave feels like he's most effective and the process is most effective even with that format change when there's another person there. Um but we may not find somebody and if not uh have a lot of trust in Dave being a good facilitator for our team. >> It's a great process. Okay, then I guess we'll go on to the next questions for the September 24th meeting with principal representatives. You have in your notes um the questions that have been recommended by learning services and the questions that we asked in 2024. some of the questions in 2024 might not be necessarily relevant. And these aren't like I mean, if you've ever been to one
080of these meetings, what you realize is that these questions are just to get the conversation going. And once the conversation gets going, it just takes a life of its own. So, we just need to have a few things so that we can stimulate the conversation. Um, you know, when you have, you know, what are you proud of? What are your goals? Um and just to ask a few questions about the new process from learning services on the sprint cycle and um how you navigating the budget reductions and just anything else. So is there any comments to any of these questions or recommending some changes? >> I mean they're not they're not really much different than they're just more relevant, >> right? We don't need to ask about benchmark again. So, um I mean they really
081flow like previous year shared questions just what's relevant now. >> All right. Um this is not an action item. So any more comments? >> Go with the ones that learning services is recommending because they they know what questions to ask to get the conversation going. >> And we'll get you a list of participants soon. Um I don't know where exactly we stand. There's folks that we feel like uh would be good in terms of experience differences, regional differences in the district, obviously elementary, middle, high, and K8s. So once we've got that nailed down, Steph will let you know who's coming. Sometimes that background's helpful. >> Thank you. All right, on to minutes. I will entertain a motion to adopt the minutes of the work study session and regular board meetings of August 20th, 2025 and
082the special board meet of education meeting on August 27th, 2025 as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Director Assad Lucas. >> I. >> Director Batistelli. >> Hi. >> Director Goldstein. >> Hi. >> Director Marsh Holen. >> Hi. >> Director Potter. >> I. >> Okay. Okay. Monitoring report. Internal monitoring report. General operating limitations policy 2.0. I will entertain a motion to acknowledge that the board has received a monitoring report as of September 17th, 2025 for the period July 1st, 2024 through June 30th, 2025 and finds the superintendent's interpretations are reasonable and supported by data that is relevant, justified, and complete. So moved. Second. All right, Mr. Spar. >> Thank you. The 2.0 monitoring report is one of the broadest and most general monitoring reports that you'll receive throughout the year. Uh it
083includes uh interpretation standards and data. I know this is an experienced board that has seen this report in the past and I will report to you that neither the interpretation or the standards have changed. Uh I do not prepare this report by myself. Um, I assist the superintendent in preparing it. And in doing so, I conduct due diligence by checking with many district leaders and department heads to obtain their opinion of whether they've observed any ongoing violations of district policy and I am reporting compliance uh on this report in all areas. Um some of the main uh standards that we look at is whether there are any decisions, judgments, court rulings or final agency action that find us in violation of the law. And for the monitoring per period at issue of July 1, 2024
084through June 30, 2025, I report that we are in compliance. I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. >> Anybody have any questions? >> Thank you everyone. >> Thank you. >> Director Assad Lucas. >> Hi. >> We already did this, huh? Sorry. My bad. >> I'm just going along. I'm just going along with it. So, where do we stand? I thought, didn't we have a motion for that in a second? I thought we did. So, we're doing roll call. Okay. >> Oh, so okay. So, Director Assad Lucas, >> I. >> Director Batistelli, >> I. >> Director Goldstein, >> hi. >> Director Marsh Hen, >> I. >> Director Potter, >> hi. >> Okay. On to external monitoring report. Operating limitations policies 2.4 4 financial conditions and activities 2.5 asset protection 2.6 Six, employment compensation
085and benefits and district policy 4130, staff ethics conflicts of interest nepotism. I will entertain a motion that the board um that to acknowledge that the board has received a monitoring report from the finance and audit committee fact as of September 17th, 2025 for the period July 1st, 2024 through June 30th, 2025 and find the facts, findings, and conclusions are reasonable and supported by data that is relevant, justified, and complete. So move >> second. >> Okay. Gina. >> Good evening board. Um I'm here to introduce Kelly Bergstrom. She has served on the finance and audit committee for seven years. I just asked her how long. I said you've been on it for like three years. And she said no seven. I said oh it's me that I I've been here for three year. This is my
086third year. So um here's Kelly. She will share her the findings of the fact. Good evening board. It's a pleasure to be here again. Uh just wanted to present that as part of the finance and audit committee audit committee, we've reviewed a lot of policies and procedures, met with a lot of folks and interviewed a lot of your staff and we do not have any new major findings to present. The only thing that we pointed out is the deferred maintenance. We're over that threshold which we've pointed out before and we're excited to see what the next bond spending and next year brings on that front. Um, as I mentioned, we interview a lot of your staff and talk to a lot of folks. I want to take take a moment to say thank you to
087Aaron Oberg and Karolina Novara. They keep us organized. They keep us well stocked on an agenda and do a great job of running this committee. They make it easy to be a part of it. So, other than that, just wanted to say thank you very much for being here and looking forward to the next year. >> Well, and thank you for the time that you give to us for this committee. >> It's a pleasure. Anybody have any comments, questions? >> Lori, if I could jump in, I just want to extend my thanks to the committee as well. We started to have in fact do this work I don't recall exactly how long long ago because there are the provisions about nepotism conflicts of interest and my contract and compensation that in the past to avoid
088a situation where I'm either reporting on myself or on ethics or perhaps uh if you're a skeptic it's like Chris could be in cahoots with Gina and others uh to be dishonest about what's going on in this space. We used to have our independent auditors do this part of the report and it would cost us, I would expect now, in the ballpark of $10,000 a year to do it. So, the work that you're doing uh comes with real cost savings for the district and just really grateful for your willingness to do that. >> Happy to do so. It's it's I've learned an ungodly amount of information. So, um it's it's it's been a pleasure to serve and I continue to do it. We'll we'll continue to do so. And you guys always ask such thoughtful,
089thorough, meaningful questions um from staff and just gained so much insight when I sat on it briefly. Um I also learned a lot um from all of you guys. You guys were just so so amazing. And >> the staff are wonderful. They're very um open and collaborative and they they they endure the grilling, so to speak. So they do it very well. Okay, call a vote. Director Assad Lucas, I director Ratastelli, I director Goldstein, I director Marsh Holen, >> I. >> Director Potter, >> I. >> On to consent consent agenda. I will entertain a mo motion to approve the personnel actions as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Director Assad Lucas. >> I. Director Bastelli. >> I. Director Goldstein. >> I, >> Director Marsh Holen, >> I. >> Director Potter, >> I. >> All
090right. Um, we have September 24th special board meeting um with the principal representatives. October 1st is our next regular board meeting and we will be meeting some of the schools that are have UIPs that they want to uh share with us. And uh then at October 7th is our special board of education meeting with CSEA. Um any comments, questions? Well, let's not belabor the