001Motion for the agenda of the Bolder Valley School District Council meeting of August 26, 2025. Members may participate remotely as provided by law. Laora could take attendance. Chávez present. Metler present. Risnick present. Quinlanda, present. Rushpresente Surge presente. Hunger, present. Thank you. Let's pay attention to the screen for land recognition. The Bolder Valley School District resides on ancestral lands unjustly taken from the Ute, Puebloan, Arapaho, Shayen, Apache, Navajo and 48 other nations associated with these lands who have called them home since time immemorial. We acknowledge the atrocities committed here, including the painful history of genocide, the forced assimilation to alienate indigenous inhabitants from their lands with the support of the United States government . The BBSD is aware of the many indigenous peoples and dignified cultures that care for the land with strength and resilience. The
002Bolde Valley School District recognizes the stories of the Land in Colorado and the survival of the many nations that have carried their oral traditions into the present. It is the responsibility of BBSD to educate our students so that they can celebrate and respect the wisdom and knowledge of indigenous peoples and that all together we can actively address injustices. By offering this recognition of the land, we affirm and honor the history, wisdom, oral traditions, and resilience of indigenous peoples. And we also recognize the responsibility to care for and cherish this land together. I would like to remind you that the district's mission is to create challenging, meaningful, and engaging learning opportunities so that all children can thrive and be prepared for a life of success and civic engagement. Good evening everyone. Thank you for being with
003us in person and to those participating remotely. I hereby submit the motion to approve the agenda. Could you take the vote? Chávez. Yes. Metler, yes. Nick, yes. Quinlanda, yes. Rushp. Yes. It arises, yes. Hunger. Yes, the motion is approved. I now give the floor to Dr. Anderson for the superintendent's report. Council members, it's a pleasure to see you today. I have some things with updates. First, it's back to school. A couple of weeks ago we have a video to highlight how much fun we had with our students and teachers. [Music] I had the opportunity to be at Netherland Elementary and I rang the bell with the students. That bell is actually an original from many years ago. I was very happy to see the students and their parents. It feels like it was months ago,
004but it was just a week ago. The school year is progressing rapidly. Speaking of school visits, most of you accompanied me to the staff meeting. We went to three schools and for our monthly meeting Crix, Centennial, Cresview, we were able to communicate with the school leaders for this is what makes our schools grow. Thank you for taking the time to come last Tuesday. Council members, on Tuesday the Colorado Department of Education released the results of the state's achievement and progress tests. Uh, we had and will get more results on our students' performance in the coming days. I will make sure to share these results with you. We have many things to be proud of here in the Bolder Valley School District, and things just keep getting better. In fourth grade, on the C test, the
005largest number of students are reaching and even exceeding the goals in English and mathematics. It is the highest in both areas that we have performed in recent years. I will keep you updated once the Department of Education releases more results. We have many things to celebrate and I want to thank the educators, the educational leaders, and the families for all their support. It's so exciting for me, and I'm sure it is for our team and the school staff as well. When you put in place and implement a strategic plan and it works out well, it's something we have to celebrate. Next week, the report on the best schools in Colorado came out. Most of our high schools are ranked within the top 20 in the state of Colorado. And congratulations to all these high schools
006for their good performance. We did n't have a student moment, but I'm going to make sure we have one at the next meetings. I know this is something to highlight in these meetings. Is my time up already? No, well, that 's all from me. Thank you very much, Dr. Anderson. Council members, do you have any questions? Okay, and continuing, let's move on to the next topic: audience participation. The council respects the public's right to speak about matters concerning the operation of schools. The council does not endorse the comments of any speaker. Each speaker has 2 minutes. You will see a yellow card when you have 30 seconds left and an orange card when you have 10 seconds left. If you are running out of time or have more information, you can email the council. Our
007first speaker tonight is Amy Frankie, virtually. Hello, can you see and hear me? Yes. My name is Amy Frankie. I'm talking about the proposal to locate students from the Gunber area. I am the father of a Boulder High School student and a sixth-grade student. All of his elementary school years were spent at Cresview. Our family has been involved with the schools for the past 11 years and we are very grateful for the amazing teachers and education at Centennial. The proposal claims that it will balance enrollments, but this does not solve the problem; it simply puts a band-aid solution in place and adds students to other schools. Instead of moving families and students around, we should ask the toughest questions. Why are families enrolling us in the Heatherwood area, or how can we attract students from
008outside the district? Because if every time this problem arises we're just going to move students, that's not really a solution to this problem. Our community has grown up around these schools. Changing the only school they know simply separates them from their community. The actions proposed by BBSD will cause anxiety and will alienate other families outside the district. We don't need to add changes to these already tumultuous times that directly affect families. Thank you. Thank you. Our next participant is Michael. Good afternoon, council. Let's look at the artificial intelligence policy. Uh, I spoke with you last week, at the previous meeting, now my children are here . This problem is only going to get worse. It is important that BBSD establish a policy on this matter. We need to emphasize the educational values of the district.
009If we value fairness and opportunity. If you value community, we must include parents. We just finished the back-to- school nights, but many schools don't allow, for example, the use of Google Translate to translate from English to Spanish. An English teacher says, "The mission of my class is for you to find your true voice." And I respect that. At least it's based on a philosophy. And now what I'm asking the council is that you carry out these discussions with all the teachers, that you don't see it as a technological challenge or leave it to the decision of each teacher. Our next speaker is participating virtually . We did n't hear him. Please turn on your microphone. Good night. My name is Betler. I am here as a parent and community member to express my concerns about
010the expansion that has an impact on the school. Horizons and other uh uh students from the school. We have 638 parking spaces, which is taking up the Park Medows building; it's going to take up this one on the corner exactly where Horizons is located. The main entrance will be right after the area where the students are taken, dropped off, and picked up. Currently, Horizons School uses the parking area and the area on Pony Street, but this creates a bottleneck and will cause years of disruption due to construction. This expansion not only brings residents, but also workers, suppliers, and dramatically increases traffic and activity. This dramatically disrupts the routine of Horizons school and the surrounding neighborhoods. close together, and that endangers students crossing the street. I ask you to defend and speak on behalf of the
011students against this expansion. Please oppose this project and advocate for the safety of our students. Thank you for putting them in the foreground. This concludes the public participation. I want to thank both those who participated in person and those who participated virtually. The next topic is communication among the members of the Lelania council. Yes. And then Kiri. I am very excited about the results of the school performance. We want to celebrate more when we know more. And secondly, it broke my heart when we were told that we're having trouble faithfully implementing our cell phone policy. When it's a policy, it's not an option. And I want to encourage everyone listening to understand this policy. A policy is not optional; it is based on the beliefs of this council, on what is the right thing to
012do, whether you agree or disagree. We want this policy to be implemented faithfully. That was my disappointment, Kiri. First of all, thank you to the people who participated in the public comments. I'm really excited for the flag football team. The only bone I've ever broken was playing flag football. I looked like I was making a very rude gesture. I want to congratulate Franky on the recognition the district has received; it is one of only four organizations worldwide to have won this award. Many congratulations to Franky and his team. The school safety coordinator will be part of the leadership committee, and I hope we can make our students safer when crossing the streets. Jason, I want to thank Dr. Anderson and the entire team, the staff of the schools we visited. Ah, my children go, my
013high school son did n't find out I was there because he would have been very mortified. On the second day back to school, people were very busy and we saw how the students are participating. We saw a kindergarten class that was very close to my heart. Because my children go there and we saw how the teachers are so involved and how I saw a second-grade boy talking and participating very actively with the teachers. It was a wonderful thing to see. Congratulations to all the staff who make this happen, and to the administration. to school leaders. We did tours for the first time in the spring and that allows us to connect the work we do here. And well, I think next year I won't do it on the second day of classes, and now I
014also want to comment on politics after the last meeting. We added, and prioritized having a more general conversation, about the platforms we use and how we can better integrate this into the teaching and learning process. It's something new and interesting, but at the same time it can be worrying or scary. And thanks to Lelania for mentioning the cell phone policy. Uh, we are at different levels of implementation of this policy. I do n't want to end on a low note, but we'll discuss this later. Okay, I'm going to start with a negative note and then move on to a positive one. But well, this is a frustration about my email being 98 a2 that we adopt this policy and the job of the policy administrators is to implement this policy. I live in South Boulder.
015What I heard in Fairview is that this isn't happening as quickly as it should be, and it's not being followed up by the adults at school either. So, this disappoints me because I championed this policy and we adopted it very quickly, and we implemented it in the winter and spring. It was very fast, but it was approved and a very clear message was sent, and I was ready for all the adults— and I don't want to read any more articles in the newspaper about adults not being clear on how to implement this policy. Uh, this was discussed a lot before. I think cell phones aren't essential for students, and on a positive note, flag football is an excellent sport. We were wondering if there would be interest in this sport, and the answer is definitely
016yes. Every time we visit and tour the schools, we see wonderful things happening there, and we want parents to see it more in person. It's excellent to see the evidence and proof that the strategic plan is working, that we are following the educational structures, and we see how everyone is progressing thanks to this. I was very pleased to see the plans in action, and not everyone has the opportunity to witness this. I want to see more data on the district's performance in the state's results, and we've been working on this for years, and now the benefits are starting to show. Thank you, Beth. I wish I had been able to speak first. I want to say the same thing to everyone. As Alex said. Well, I was very discouraged about the implementation of the cell
017phone policy, as Alex says, it's our way of implementing major changes in the district through the policies we establish. And it's great that you mentioned flag football too. I don't have any personal connection, but if I am planning to go and attend a game, it could be a lot of fun. I also want to thank Dr. Anderson for allowing us to accompany him on a tour of the school. We are filled with energy and it's incredible to see what the schools are doing. And just like you said, I support it. Jorge, thanks to the schools we visited, it was a great experience. I mean, I loved seeing the students participating and ready to learn. And as Alex said, we want to see the Cmax scores, and this is the result of many years of work,
018and we also want to continue seeing more data. It's a central part of our strategic plan, part of this new school year, and all the work we've done with the bonds, the playgrounds, very good. And well, my kids say, "But how come these playgrounds weren't finished before we graduated from elementary school?" But well, we see the difference in the buildings and the improvements that have been made. I want to thank you for getting them ready. Um, it's very exciting to see where our students are now, and for everything, thank you, Jorge. I also hear from my kids that the investment work is finished when they have to leave and can no longer see the result. So, when I go to the schools on the first day of school, we see the work, and it 's
019incredible what you can see with the paint in a school. Boulder High, with new paint and new lights, looks completely different in a good way. There's a lot of work going on there, and that's what I observed that day. And we went to Netherland to celebrate the John Irwin Award and ring the bell. This was also a growth award that they were receiving there. At that moment, board members also attended Isaac and DAC's first training session. These were the school accountability committees, where we discussed their responsibilities, purpose, and the work of the board and the school district as a whole. It was very interesting to play with the boards, and the direction, layers of responsibility, and planning they have and will present to the board at the next meeting were interesting. This is one of
020the things I'm anticipating: ensuring that all schools have a well-functioning school accountability committee because that's where we need to address these issues. Dr. de la Cruz and I had a conversation about how, five years ago, the strategic plan had many themes, including the enhanced or unified improvement plan . The work is coherent and consistent. We're focusing on specific areas, and we're seeing results and achievements in the classrooms. Sometimes change feels very slow when you're doing the work, but if you think about it or look back, we've accomplished a lot. I was on the district accountability committee eight years ago, and the changes are 100%. Now they're focusing... Improvement, and the cycle continues. I wanted to mention that because sometimes people think there was no work being done, but we have done quite a bit of
021work. With that, council members, we're now going to move on to the information items. The first information item is the Healthy Meals for All program and an update. Dr. Anderson would like to make the introductions. Thank you, Chairwoman Rashpa. We have R. Price and Carol Villa here with us to talk about the Healthy Meals for All program and share with the council and the community the potential impacts if the two measures on the ballot this year are not approved for our school districts. With that, I'll introduce Price, the assistant principal. Thank you, Anderson, for the introduction. This is an issue that the council prioritized over the summer. They wanted to know more about it. So, our director of food services is going to give us an update on the program, as the superintendent mentioned. These
022are the ballot measures, LL and MM. Good afternoon. As you said, I'm here to talk about Healthy Meals for All. HSMA, how has it been working in The district? We're going to look at the challenges we're facing with the project, and I'm going to explain what we need to do to prepare for a possible future. This Healthy School Meals for All program is at a crossroads right now. It's free for students in Colorado. It's been a great success. Participation has gone up, more kids are eating school meals, and families are saving money. But the challenge is that there isn't enough funding for the program. So we're going to have measures on the ballot in November. There's a timeline here on the slide to see the context. Before the program, before HSMA, students had to pay
023unless they qualified for free meals. In 2022, they passed this Healthy School Meals for All program. The program started in August and continues to this day, and we're going to continue it from August until the ballot. If the measures on the ballot fail, we're going to have to change the program in January 2026. I want to give a little background about school meals before the law. Only students who qualified for free or low-cost meals Those who received the SNAP program qualified directly, while other families had to fill out an application. This was a challenge for the schools, but our district has always had the idea of supporting all students. Meals were always provided to students who needed them, but the meals weren't free for all students. School meals were stigmatized as being only for children
024in need. Families at that time also allowed students to choose their favorite meals twice a week. For example, the inconsistency made it very difficult to predict participation, and staff had to spend time tracking payments and managing school meal accounts . But in November 2022, Colorado voters passed Proposition FF, which created a healthy school meals program for everyone. And all children statewide receive a free breakfast and lunch, and 100% of public and charter schools in Colorado opted to participate, but growth has outpaced projections, so there's a funding shortfall on the ballot. So, we're going to have Propositions LL and MM. to change the funding. Here in the district, since the program began, lunch participation has increased by 40%. Breakfast participation has increased by 90%. With that increased participation, we've expanded the menu and made it more
025inclusive for children. For many years, we've had a vegetarian entree, and we noted it on the printed menus, but now, due to demand, we have gluten-free and dairy-free options every day, and we also have vegan options for all students. The dairy-free option was an equity decision because students of color have more difficulty with dairy. Sometimes families can save up to $1,100 per student per year, and research has shown that school meals are healthier than home-cooked meals. So, students are eating better, particularly here in our district, I like to think, but we've also noticed that the stigma we talked about has decreased, it 's disappeared dramatically. The program is also valuable for families who earn just a little more than the income threshold to qualify for free meals. It's the same level across the country. So,
026no adjustment depending on the county. That means many families may have had difficulty paying for meals, and it's a support for families who might not feel confident filling out an application. School meals increase confidence, decrease stress, and removing that monetary transaction between the family and the school improves all of that. As for the operational benefits, participation is more predictable, more children eat more consistently, we've decreased food waste, the kitchens are running more efficiently, and before, we had 15 schools in the district that didn't have breakfast, but now every school in the district offers breakfast. Notably, in Table B here, the debts were around $100,000 a year, but last year it was approximately $1,000. So, a diversion to maximize federal funding to the state. HSMA is mandated to operate under something called CEP, the Community Eligibility
027Provision . Students receiving SNAP or Medicaid are directly certified. If a school has 25% of its students identified that way, they can offer breakfast to all the students. Students under the CEP provision. We have 37 schools operating under this federal program. These schools continue to qualify to provide free meals to all students through the 2027-2028 school year. But the program is very confusing because schools can be grouped together to reach the 25% threshold. It's not obvious which schools qualify under that criterion. So, if we're going back to a situation where some schools pay and others don't, parents are going to be confused. Why do some students have to pay at certain schools and not at others? No. At the federal level, they're talking about the threshold to raise the bar. If they possibly change the
028percentage from 25% to 60%, then all 60% of our schools will be disqualified. The program's success has led to a funding shortfall. Voters are going to make the long-term decision with the ballot measures. The first is Proposition LL. It's a withholding measure; it allows the state to retain surplus revenue. Notably, it doesn't impact the future of the free school meals program. The second measure is... Increase. This is the most important measure; it creates an increase in funding by adjusting deductions for high- income earners. So, with that, if it passes, we have the free meals program . If it fails, only CEP schools will offer free meals to students. If the measures don't pass, the free school meals program ends for everyone. Only CEP schools will offer free meals. The other schools revert to the system
029where some children pay and some don't. Families are more likely to have difficulty paying. That could increase food insecurity, particularly for vulnerable families who will have to make choices. Operationally, we may experience changes in staffing, meal options, and, how can we predict, the food we cook. Kitty, thank you, Chef Carl, for the presentation. I have a question about why there was debt after the program was passed. Why is there a meal debt? That's because the debt follows the student for a certain amount of time. Those are students who are no longer in the district, and the debt is canceled. And the CEP, The Community Eligibility Provision is different funding than school meals. It's free for everyone. It's a variable reimbursement from the federal government. CEP comes from the federal government, not the state. The state
030makes up the difference to maximize federal funding. Schools that meet this Community Eligibility Provision then pay for the others. How so? Since it does n't impact the future, how would it help and for how long? To clarify, Ll is—sorry, I wrote mm. Ll covers the costs that the legislature has redesignated for this quarter, and MM L is only for this quarter. Thank you so much for this. It's super helpful for us when we talk to the community and advocate for these measures on the ballot. I also appreciate the comments about equity for our students and taking into account reducing stigma. $ 58,000 for a family of four is an overwhelming number. Can you talk a little more about the federal government changing the threshold from 25% to 60%? What if we see that, when will
031it be, and how will it be implemented? Right now There are more questions than answers, so they 're proposing it at the federal level. There's no clear understanding of how it's going to proceed, or when, and what the outcome will be. There's an option, if they change it at the federal level, to stop the program immediately in the states, or they can honor their commitment for a window of time, a fixed period of time, but it's really unknown. Q: Thank you so much for the presentation and for sharing that very critical information. I want to say that I'm very grateful for the benefits of food services in the district. It's a point of pride in our district. Thank you. I'm looking forward to the meals. My son enjoys the school meals. I also have a
032question about a scenario where LL passes and MM doesn't. What will the implications of that be? Vice versa, and possibly we can improve how we advocate for them to pass. If LL passes, that's the short-term measure, and MM... The state basically won't provide the Taber reimbursements. If MM passes and LL doesn't, citizens receive their Taber reimbursements, but the program is funded going forward. The most important thing is for MM to... Our students, I believe. And I believe that most of the groups that are advocating for the measure are pushing for it. Mm. Alex, I do have some questions about the budget. What is the spending on federal and local services? I need to get back to you with the exact numbers. How much are we spending per child or per student? I have an interest
033in the budget funding; I need to get back to you about these numbers. Jason, and then Kitty, I do n't have a question; I want to echo the comments. It's a great presentation, and I'm hoping there's equivalent across the country in that kind of advocacy for the measure. I believe there's support in this community to pass the measures, but there are communities across the state, and 100% opted in to participate, but I'm hoping that kind of work is happening across the state so that they know what can happen. Meals are important; reducing the stigma and the concept of food debt is overwhelming. So, hopefully, you can guide that, or hopefully, there's someone else who's doing that. I I think it's important for us to let the community know what might happen, but it's critical in
034some places. In other places, they don't support this measure, but all children benefit from it when they participate. I do n't know if this is a question, but this type of education needs to be happening in all school boards in the state. It needs clarification. If LL passes, but MM doesn't , you said the state wouldn't use it, right? If LL passes and MM doesn't, the state retains the surplus funds under the taber, but it wouldn't have any impact, it would n't have a future impact, it would have an impact here in the district. The money would be used for this quarter, even though nothing happens, they're going to use it for this. The state has a commitment to fund this quarter, no matter what. Is that okay? So, they want to retain it to
035use it for what the measure on the LL ballot says? The LL proposal. I have two questions, let's see if you can answer them later if you don't have the answer. Now, if there's debt because people want to buy a second lunch, how are they designated? Savings per student per calendar year? A second lunch doesn't count toward this. The money. Students have to have money in their account to buy a second lunch. As for, sorry, can you repeat the second question? You had a number that calculated savings per student per calendar year. It's the cost of breakfast and lunch each day. I'd like to understand the answers to Alex's questions as well when we talk about advocating for the measure. So, this bill passed for SNAP benefits, and that wasn't there before. There was a
036change in MM that's part of advocating in our community. I'm listening. I think if we want to advocate for the measure, for those who can't afford food, there's no mechanism. We need points to talk about regarding benefits for everyone. So, those who can pay also receive a benefit. So, there's an amendment, a bill, there are things to consider as we consider how we're going to promote all of that. Alex, I was going to say after what I looked up on the computer, I think we receive $5.6 million from the state, and if we don't receive it, the Parents have to pay for it, or there's no food, or it's something we're going to pay for out of our budget. There are many resources that the community must continue to defend; it's a lot of money.
037Doctor, to be very clear, if the measures don't pass, we're not going to pay from general funds. We don't have those resources. Do you have any other questions, council members? One more question. School schedules have changed in high school, and there's less time for lunch, and I've heard the lines are very long. With this program, how are you going to accommodate the changes in participation and the volume of students eating at the schools? Because we have more enrollment at certain schools. I do n't know the schedule, but the first few weeks of school, the lines are longer. The kids settle in , adapt, and learn, and they move faster afterward. So we have strategies to make the lines move faster. We plan how many items need to be put on the trays to serve efficiently.
038And there are some schools that don't have a cashier, which ultimately helps speed things up . There are different strategies. I can give you more details about these. Points. I think it's good that, as board members, if we hear complaints about the lines, we can say, well, when the students settle in, when the lines are adjusted to be faster. Every year the lines get slower and then they get faster. After about six weeks, everyone settles in. Jason, Dr. Anderson's comment about there being no plans to pay for meals from the school budget. We're going to do our best to advocate for that, but we're going to keep our fingers crossed and hope this continues, but if we're thinking about the elections, by January we have to have a new program or reinvent the system quickly.
039What are the contingency plans for that infrastructure if it doesn't happen? We've been working on the plans; we have documentation to be able to start with free meals. How are we going to do it in the impacted schools? There are operational plans and communication plans, and a lot of that is going to start after today. We 've posted information for the community; some messages have been sent out, and the schools have sent them to families as well. The language of the measures on the ballot has been changing. I believe the governor signed today to accept the additional revenue for Snap. The state will be coordinating, and we will too, to make a quick change. Thank you for everything you do. Council members, second point of information is advocacy work. And I'll give Kath Salven time
040for that update. Thank you very much. Oh, my microphone is definitely working. This is the point of the year where we talk a little bit about advocacy and points that might possibly come up in the measures. election days. We can start tonight as a reminder of what those rules are. The board, the superintendent, all of us who work for BBSD, we do have restrictions through Colorado's fair campaign practices on what we can do when we are working, involved in the job. The fundamental theory behind this law is a reminder that public funds and public resources are not to be spent on advocacy for electoral measures. That belongs to, I remember when my children were in Denver public schools, on Amendment 66, it was on the ballot and we got an email from the superintendent encouraging
041families to vote yes on Amendment 66 like any lawyer. My first thought was, uh, um, that's a violation of fair campaign practice . Sometimes it's so obvious that these are important measures for our students, but we must remember the way we advocate for them. And as the council, I believe I sent them a link or a memo and I will make sure it is available as an attachment to this point. The next thing I wanted to mention are the guiding principles and standards. The last time we talked about this was 2 years ago and it was the way the board wants to communicate and we know that of course you can act as individuals on issues outside of your role as board members to make that very clear and we ask that if you do
042so, please stay in communication with Dr. Anderson and the Chair of the Board to be clear in what role or position you are serving. The advice, oh, sorry, that, my computer, not yours. This campaign fair practice act makes it very clear how they can advocate, how to pass a resolution, and how to take an official position. And in doing this, the council is permitted to ask the staff and prepare to prepare those resolutions or investigations. And we can also share the council's resolution and specifically how the council has acted in the past. act on a resolution to support an election measure and we can share that information with the community and also if like other things such as their statement of support around immigration and other more recent resolutions that we have adopted. The council
043process involves considering which issues or points the council will consider as a resolution or take action on. This was discussed at the Council meeting in August 2024 and I cut the language a bit here, but really the process begins with a request from the Council Chair to the Council members to identify those electoral measures that might be appropriate for the Council to consider. At the meeting where we discuss these points, the Council member who proposed this point will initiate the discussion by providing a summary of why this issue will be relevant to the district and what action the Council member should take will be appropriate for the Council, and the Council will have an opportunity to discuss the issue at that time and give direction to the staff so that we know those points on
044which the Council wants a resolution, including an agenda for the Council. After that discussion, we'll have some time for the staff to do some work. We return the resolutions and they are voted on by the council at a meeting in the future. If it's the time of year when we do this type of work, the election dates, for the Secretary of State it will be August 4th for the initiatives to be submitted. September 3rd will be the last day for the Secretary of State to determine whether they are sufficient or insufficient to be included on the ballot. And October 10th will be the first date for when the ballots will be delivered by mail. When I reviewed the board's actions last year, we were right on schedule. We're planning for the August meeting, and in
045September I have the opportunity to identify opportunities and discuss the issues, and then make sure the board takes action on these points, either at the meeting on September 23rd or at the meeting on, sorry, I think September 23rd is going to be around then, and we want to make sure the board takes action before they're sent out. The ballots can be sent by mail, but of course, there's no deadline. The council can take action when they see that it is okay. And maybe I'll stop there for a moment and see if you have any questions or discussions that the council would like to have about the process of considering resolutions. I just wanted to share that in the past, although it hasn't been ideal, we have passed resolutions on dates after the ballots have been
046passed, because if we are between that date of September 3rd and we are not going to meet until September 9th. Therefore, a very short window to acquire information. It might be a very short window; we don't have to be tied to that date, the 10th. So, when it's September 3rd, we'll start, and I just wanted to clarify that. Questions you may have for Kathle about the process. Historically, we have also taken a position on things that impact students at BBD in general, not necessarily on a specific point at BBD. This has been the norm. I imagine that many electoral measures will fall under that category as well. Very good. The next point that was part of this is to look at the advocacy platform, the material that we used as a council last year. Sorry
047Randy, I'm the one who put this presentation like this, sorry Jade, I'm sorry. And to the council, obviously, I apologize. These are the four main priorities of the legislation. I don't know if you remember, last year we went into a folder format and had parts that we added, but really thank you very much member Quenoiro. I believe it provided a professional product for board members to use for advocacy. It was an improvement on what was previously a very long list on very specific topics, and this allowed the council and our leadership group to be precise on the issues that are considered by state legislation. At this time last year, the board talked a little bit about that because we are making that big change to that very long platform to this format. When the sessions
048begin, we are finishing the special session. Now we're going to go back to this material, identify the key points we want to add, and review any revisions you think are important for current materials, who we are as a district. A two-page introduction and this central documentary that provides the four principles of our platform. Just a quick comment: I wanted to reiterate what you said, Kathlen, that it has been a change up to our time here, mine and Nicole's. And of course I also remember that very long list, page after page of legal notes, and I think I remember that in January when we met with the delegates they had very positive comments about our lovely folder. Thank you so much for your work on that. I think it has helped the communications team a lot
049as well. Alex, I would be interested to hear from Superintendent Anderson about how the BBC fits into the front-range assistance at Casby and how we're doing with Casby these days. Thank you very much for that question. Know? Baler Valley has always been a leader. I believe that in the councils I've had the opportunity to work with in my seven, almost eight years as a super suitor, they have embraced this , and have acted early by adopting resolutions that are in line with our council values and our community. And the way we can magnify advocacy is by acting early. So, if the board wants to direct a person when passing a resolution, for example, in what we recently shared with you in terms of mm, they can work on that. We can create a draft, start
050the process. I agree with Case. You share it with Casby and we share it with all the FR range superintendents and maybe you don't see it exactly like that, but it will be easier to know and understand it if there is one that already exists. And it also raises the question for people who might not be as productive and are going to say, "Oh, um, Bolder Valley passed this relationship. Are you going to start a resolution, yes or no? And why, yes or no?" And so taking early action is a good strategy in terms of getting ahead of what we already know today, which could be a potential problem, and what we shared with you in the previous presentation, you can take action today. And if we have an item on the agenda, if we
051have an item on the agenda where we talk about legislative updates, I think that's an appropriate point, a moment within our agendas to have conversations. Typically, I share, Neco shares, council members can share things that are happening around the legal profession. Now, historically, as a council, we put this item on the agenda as an annual item for the council to consider. I do n't know if three or four years ago there was an item that some council members thought would be a great idea to support other council members, and it was difficult to get to this point to the agenda. So, at this meeting, if any council member says, "Oh, no, I think we should advocate on this point as a council, it's a good time to do it, but if you don't do it
052now, other councils have said, if you don't do it now as a collective, ah, we're not going to do it or we're not going to consider it, unless something happens or a story comes out about it." I think this has been effective and we have had the opportunity. I'm not assuming the board is going to take action to create a process or system for anything, but it was a long answer. Your short question is, act early, convincingly, and seize the opportunity to share your influence and make it grow. Alex, I'd like to take action on that and plan, and I'd also like to ask for an update on what we can expect in the legislative session and how it aligns with the strategic plan and our priorities, because we had talked about that and that
053will prepare us in terms of how we have more influence on the delegates. I want to recommend that we do this as soon as possible. I think we heard from the council members about the presentation, about healthy meals for everyone, and there has been great support for everyone. I think buying, starting early is a good idea, and we 've talked about changing these studies and fully implementing that, and following the School Funding Act and how we calculate those numbers, and that's still a big issue. It's a big problem, and I think it's important to think about that. These one-page brochures we have can sometimes be a little confusing about how the preschool program works. And while we continue to advocate for the preschool program, that's fine. If we don't have to continue advocating for preschool
054changes, we do n't have to. But I think we can make some adjustments there, and that can be included. Jason, yes, I'm glad you asked that. I wasn't here for the long list of advocacy points. I'm glad we had that change last year and that we have some suggestions on how to improve this for this next session. And I think this question is for Nicole and others, how do we provide that feedback during this meeting today? If that's specifically named, I think I'll paraphrase my question. Board members, Dr. Anderson, is there a reason to continue advocating for changes to the preschool program given all the other things we might want to advocate for right now? At this point, I would say that if we want to do that, we would have to change it. That
055was last year's material . We added those materials as a reminder of what we did. I don't know if we were going to choose four or five preschool topics. Right now, like many other people, we are monitoring the special session and what comes out of it . If for some reason this goes well, and I think that's what we all hope for, and there's potential for it to go well, it's going to highlight some very strong points about how we count students, how the funds should be allocated, and being very specific about the things that were part of the last legislative session that just ended, where they came out with the proposals. The governor's budget is going to be released on November 1st. So, I think that would be appropriate in terms of funding. Now,
056accountability, this accountability bill passed. We'll be monitoring that. If something isn't working, or if a change isn't working, we're going to keep an eye on that. And as a suggestion, we have an interest in perhaps investigating or finding out the impacts if they hear anything. I'm happy to do that now or later, thinking ahead to the legislative update. And if there are any recommendations on how we can improve on what we did last year, I think this would be a great time to receive that feedback. We want to be as effective as possible for this session and receive your valuable feedback. Yes, I think it's fantastic, and I think my general recommendation is that we go to these meetings, people come in and out, they're given folders, they're coming out of another meeting where they
057were doing the same thing. So, compared to other things, I would recommend a maximum of two sheets to present our district, explaining who we are here at BBD, who the students are, what challenges we want to face, four or five priorities, and if we want to draw attention to these sheets we are giving out, we should reduce the number of sheets we are giving out—one about the district and one about our priorities. And if people are interested and say, "Hey, I want to learn a little bit more about your point of view, about, I don't know, the study of this," let's have it ready. My suggestion is to be prepared to be able to distribute these brochures, these sheets, in a universal way that can be applied at all levels to the people who are
058in legislation. Alex, yes, likewise Jen, to reiterate what you just said, this infographic way is very good for communicating with the general public, but I think the people who create policies need short, clear points and points that we can use because the less we put, the more beneficial it will be. We can't predict what might come of it later. I like this infographic way, the way we're providing information, and I support your idea of providing these short, clear points. And I want to add that I like our legislative principles; I think they're general enough to fit all the work we're trying to do here in the district. So, retaining that makes a lot of sense to me. And maybe within those advocacy points, we can... Make some small changes. Other things we can keep separate
059are resolutions that we have to go through, like CC advocacy. So, yes, that requires a little more comment and advocacy, and its process is a little longer, and this session doesn't start for a couple of months. That's my comment. Legislative principles remain relevant. If we can adjust the information a little , we can continue to think about those additional details for the legislative session and around the election measures. I'd like to get an update on what you think is going to come out. I think I'm hearing a little more about exemptions and a little bit around that, and some bills around certain charters, different language. I'm a little curious about that. I'm hearing there's going to be a little bit of possible change to the language about that, which could conflict with our legislative principles.
060I think we're going to keep an eye on that. This is the beautiful thing, council members. We can do this, create it the way we want to create it, and be able to prepare for our big delegation meeting, but we can also prepare To go to the Capitol in the capital, and this may require more things, and we can delve into other topics that the delegation might be interested in, or we can prepare differently for our meeting at the Capitol. Typically, we've done this right before the session starts or as soon as it begins, to get more support. Jason, to your point, some people come in and out. I think that's been very typical. When I first arrived here, we invited everyone here in the district to dinner, and I think the first year nobody
061came, and we never did that again, and then we said, "Okay, why don't we go to them?" It's not going to be a big dinner party. And that's what I'm hearing, council members, and you can tell me yes or no, if we're on the right track. You like legislative principles, delegation of new members, you know what we stand for, we need to be clear and concise, uh, with rich information, but not too long. To be clear, which is why we're advocating for one page about the district, one page about legislative principles, focusing on three or four things and saying this is important to us. And if you need more information, we have another folder with two sheets on each point. Am I hearing that right? Is that what you want? We can create that draft,
062just like Nico said, we have enough time and we have the framework already developed. I think it wouldn't take us long on this and I'm very excited to start that work with you. Siri, I'd like us to make one of these sheets about the $40 million deficit available to the public and update them for this year and put it out there , because the way schools are funded is extremely complicated. Very Few members of the public understand how it works, and we hear from people who are already thinking about how the budget works and what we should be spending on and what we shouldn't. I think this would be a great way to educate the public about how we are and what we would like , because ultimately, if this impacts too much, if the
063state can't fund us adequately, we can raise property taxes on milevist properties, and that supports us so much in education, and we are so grateful to our community because our students benefit directly. This could be a conversation that could possibly happen depending specifically on the school funding act. Yes, there are going to be two items on the ballot around that, one around mental health services and behavioral health services, and it talks about the needs that are not being met in families with teenagers, and I feel a little protective of those government agencies that are providing them. I'm curious what those services are going to do, and if this tax passes, if they are going to ask BBSD for support in providing those resolutions that are going to be on the ballot measures for the Bolder
064told me. And lastly, this last point I mentioned, it's the Casby delegation, and I said if they had specific comments on the resolutions, to contact me or Jason. There's a very interesting resolution, a proposed resolution, that talks about forcing the State Board of Education to move, and what they're trying to accomplish. And I had a lot of questions about what they want to accomplish or not accomplish, what the positives and negatives are, what the Colorado State Board of Schools is thinking. For one, Jason, I talked to you, and we really didn't have a good sense of what support we were going to get from the Colorado State Board of Education. And if you have a question, whether they're trying to move this from partisan or non-bipartisan, and the unknowns. So I wanted to be a
065little bit about that. Council members, Jen, I don't know if you're getting a lot of confusion around this. We can bring this back for discussion at the council. Well, it's going to be my first time as a CAS delegate. I'm learning a little bit about it. I don't know exactly my I'm in the running there, but I'll look into it . Uh, yeah, I think up to five or six. I have colleagues, and they have some ideas about these resolutions. Some are random, and honestly, they don't make sense. I think Casby has some important things they need to focus on, and some other things that are more general issues. So, wish me luck. And I'll say with Casby, we haven't put forward any resolutions. We've had mixed feelings about the effectiveness of Casby and the
066advocacy of the council members. So we can go back to this issue, to the legislative updates, to see if we want to add anything to the Casby document. And also, when we're at Proudmore, there's an opportunity to have resolutions. If we want to plan ahead, that can also be a good opportunity, Alex. Yeah, when we talk about having to do things to help Casby not go off track. And I think school board policies can be a little confusing. So, thank you, Jason, thank you, Kitty, for your service. In this area, to know what they're doing, that they have it well managed, and part of this is knowing that in advance to see if we need to figure this out. Thank you so much for doing that. I think there we can play defense and offense.
067So, what do we want Casby to do? I think it's a good idea to know what we don't want Casby to do, because they can make an incredible voice for the rest of the legislative session and they can get in our way. I also want to say that we have our lobbying on contracts, and we do n't want to add any more work to the PBD team, and I want to continue monitoring the early childhood education discussion because with the budget cuts, it's possibly not going to look like kindergarten through year 12, and the accountability team did a very good job with this. The superintendent also did a lot of work last year, and we had to do a lot of research in the budget to figure this out, and I think a lot is
068going to come out of this. And I also wanted to add that I think it's fair to give Rob and Neco updates on other ballot measures that may be coming in or are in the petition process And we don't know what's going to happen yet. Any other opinions, comments on these issues, council members? Well, it's going to be a very exciting session. Okay , now we'll move on to the next item on the agenda tonight. It's legislative information, additional SNAP benefits, and there are some minor changes to these items. Yes, Superintendent. Well, we're waiting for the outcome of the special session. The plan is not to touch grades K-12. They're going to remove tax-deductible benefits and also cut spending. We're waiting to hear about the first set of bills being issued. I think they came
069out today or are in the process of coming out. We'll have a better opinion and I'll give you an update when they come out. And I really hope they keep their promise because public education is taking a big hit and there's a lot to discuss. Now let's go to group consent: 7.1 Personnel, 7.2 Minutes approved, 7.3 Broom Hill High School donation accepted, 7.4 Brunfield High School donation accepted, 7.5 Careers Techniques and education. Um, are there any items you'd like to remove from the approved agendas? I see there aren't any. So, a motion to approve, seconded by Kiri and Alex. Council members, any discussion on these matters? It's great that we're still having scholarships coming in. It doesn't matter where they're from . If there's no further discussion, please take a vote. Chavez, yes. Metler, yes.
070Snake, yes. Queen Agera, yes. Rushp. Sentí. Her. Yes. The motion is approved. Next, we have policy review. The first one— I retract. We'll have a 10-minute break, resuming with policy review. We resume this meeting under the topic of policy review. Our first policy item is Council meetings, yielding the floor to Kathy Sullivan. As the Council recalls, at our previous first meeting, we adopted a number of policies for media implementation. The purpose of this is to ensure that schools have a set of policies that we are following each year. Um, the Council policy On adopting policies, and well, it goes back to the Council on the policy adoption cycle . Tonight we're bringing two policies back to the Council as part of this cycle. You'll see these two policies again in the next two or three
071meetings. We're breaking them down to present them to the teachers and principals. We're making small updates. We're going to put in place a new code to ensure that all public meetings are considered public meetings so that you can vote properly and amend agendas without advance notice . And we also made a technical correction to the order of the topics because, speaking of the level of detail we wanted to include, we're making sure this amendment is as intended. Thank you very much for this. Council members, any questions or comments on this policy review? Yes, the comment I have is n't exactly about the policy, but it makes me think about our meetings and retreats, like the ones we've had in Colorado Springs. I can't imagine any members of the public coming to Colorado Springs to participate
072in or observe our retreats, and we don't have them—we don't post them, we don't broadcast them. to the public. I mean , let's know that the council can meet within the district area without having to come to the Colorado Springs area. Yes, Alex. Well, I would speak in favor of the retreats really being retreats for us to meet as council members for an extended period of time. Well, I don't have a push, but the reason is so that we can spend more time together discussing, so that we can talk, right? I'm preventing the public from attending, but if we want to have more time for discussions and open dialogue, I'd like to respond to that. I'm not suggesting that the council shouldn't hold a full day as a retreat, but the official retreats we have
073in Colorado Springs haven't been three days. It's always been a specific time of day, but I'm saying they shouldn't be within the boundaries of the school district facilities. Well, my comment on that is, is there any statute that mandates that our meetings have to be within the boundaries of the district facilities, since the retreats very frequently take place outside the district building? Do we have Any guidelines on that topic? No, none. So, I agree with Alex, and well, it depends, like other council members. Retreats tend to be held off- site to have broader discussions. Um, well, retreats don't have to be governed any differently. What I would like to change is that special meetings are for special purposes. My concern is about canceling the meetings and using "must." When we say "must," we mean it
074has to be the second Tuesday, but we also have holidays, let's say, if we're very successful as a district and we don't have anything to talk about at one of these regular meetings, we can maintain the ability to not have that meeting. That was easily accomplished without having to have special meetings. Well, um, this council always wants to meet, but in previous administrations, they tended not to meet on the third Tuesday of the month. Well, we have a mechanism to cancel meetings. We do it at least once a year. So, the word "must" could be removed. Yes, Alex, reiterating for the public the red lines regarding Earth recognition, in case anyone hasn't heard that. This aligns with the student moment, and another reading of the mission falls within the same arc of council procedures. Any
075feedback on this? Council members, I see there isn't any. Let's move on to the next policy item, Jo, student records. Okay, the previous policy— well, this is the first reading since it was adopted. It gave us the opportunity between the first meeting and today to review the content of the state law that pertains to immigration protection. There are a number of red lines that have been included today that were not part of the original law. For example, on page two, it relates to immigration, and it's very important to make this significant change to the law clear to the public and all our employees, so we understand clearly that we are not able to collect or share this type of information. We also see additional clarifications on page three regarding opting out of being able to
076implement this policy. Randy Barber and I had the opportunity before classes started with the journalists and the yearbook people to get some clarifications. In this section, on page 3. There's a correction to this policy. Between the publication of our agenda on Friday and yesterday, one of our executive directors, Neil Anderson, was reading through all these red lines and realized that I had inadvertently included a non-existent policy stating that, well, the ratings can't be there. This is a policy that has been in place for a long time. So I want to thank the other Anderson, Neil Anderson, for noticing this error. These are the additional amendments for your consideration. Katlin, I want to thank you for including this information about migration, about the upcoming policy. We've actually maintained these practices, and now they're being codified into
077a council policy. If you're wondering, why did it have to happen last night? Well, they've already been in place and are now in policy. Any questions? Yes, Kiri. Well, there's a difference between " we can" and "we must," and it's significant, particularly regarding migration. The first paragraph says, "The district will not collect information." And it continues in the second paragraph. It says, "The district should not, uh, should not publish information." Well, Council Member SGEN, I was afraid we were going to have this discussion someday, and it came. Well, should and could—could—is a matter of semantics. You can say would, but if you don't say could, then it's no longer a matter for your consideration. But if you feel we could add to a style guide of your preference, no, no, I don't have a preference,
078but I do want to see something consistent. And I have two more questions, and this is n't a suggestion I'm making. I want to understand why I'm voting, why a council member needs access to a student's records when they're not their own students. That section, that policy, is a provision of state law that has been incorporated. But anticipating the next question, even the council members—none of the members of this council—but hypothetically, it could be an inappropriate request for access. In such a case, my legal advice would be, no, but if there's a question about that council member's request, then... I would refer it to the council for them to make a decision, including the language used. Uh, that would be an unequivocal answer, and it's simply state law. Yes, that makes perfect sense to me.
079The next question is about the Comptroller General of the United States. Why does this person need access? It has to do with student loans, something financial, right? Because that's what a comptroller does. Well, let me review that language again before the council reviews it, but what was between the red lines, between the previous meeting and this meeting, is Colorado law. The language you see here. Well, I didn't write " comptroller." I would never have thought to put that word, but it comes from the state of Colorado. It seems like a distraction, but I can review it to use better language. Okay, thank you. Now that we have more time, in the consent section, there's a very large amount because it seems confusing. Is it required by law, or can we leave it as is? But
080we could clean this up now that we have time, and I would appreciate your input. Well, they are all included in the Ferpa law. Federal, but we don't have to include federal law in the council policies. Some of these we've never used; it's not something we expect our schools to use daily, so we can trim them down to the ones that are used more frequently, but definitely shorten them. Yes, I like the idea. And regarding the comptroller and the secretary of agriculture, there are some interesting points, some opinions on this. Council members, I see there aren't any. Let's go to the last policy study. Request for access by federal or state officials. Policy K I-R2. This policy is based on the new Colorado law that doesn't require us to have a policy. For that reason,
081we're not basing it on the existing policy. Here we're talking about access, and instead of having too large a policy , we propose to do a regulation within the council policy, and it refers to the schools. We want to keep it at the school level. This allows us flexibility in case we need to update it. For example, to identify designated employees and obtain their contact information. We didn't include names, but we do have phone numbers. This is A regulation that we can update very quickly without notifying the board. And this is a regulation for visitors to the existing policy. It's been a practice to remove this, so from what I hear, and I would like to ask for phone numbers. So, no matter who is in the office, their phone number will remain there. Well,
082we use the security dispatch number as legal counsel. I am an identifiable person. My phone number is on all the cards we share with official agencies, and they can take a point of privilege, but we use the security dispatch number. It's the best number. When there's an urgent matter that needs attention, then in case of an emergency, we can go through a tree of phone numbers to make calls. That's very good. And in the previous paragraph about requiring the information, well, the phone number listed is the 24-hour security number, so there needs to be consistency. This information goes to the same place. Alex, well, because of the environment we're in , the people who are watching us and looking at the policies, the policy review, it's the The way we adhere to the law and
083want to keep our students safe and everyone feeling welcome. And this doesn't change. Everyone is welcome, and this policy isn't going to affect that. Any other thoughts on this resolution? Thank you very much for the work you 've done on this, and that concludes the policy study topic. We're now on to the agenda item for the future. We're very familiar with this topic. Anyone can propose items for consideration at our next meeting in the winter. Jason, in ref In reference to our comments on the cell phone policy, we approved that policy in November. At some point I would like to have an update on the implementation. We've already heard about some high schools and it was very positive. I would like to hear about the other schools to see how they are doing with the
084implementation of the cell phone policy. And with this I would like to emphasize that all schools are required to comply with the policies; these policies are pre-established to ensure that we are including everything in this policy. We could be talking about this. I've heard conversations in schools about the pledge of allegiance and this year's changes and complying with state and federal law. Perhaps we would like to review this policy. Alex, well, there's a topic I'd like us to discuss here. I don't know how to describe it, but maybe we could give a summary. We do a great job of offering several pathways to our high school students, especially those who fall off the regular paths, such as Arapa Rich, a credit recovery program and an alternative high school operated by the district. And I would
085like to present some resources to some students so that before the student falls into that crisis and panic, we can present all these resources. perhaps they are not so well known. In particular, removing the incentive that there is no incentive for our students to leave a regular high school to go to an alternative high school . If we implement a system, for example, if they could go to school more days , if they wish, and that they clearly understand all the alternatives we offer them. So, I would like to have an update on what these options are and for them to have a set of strategies to solve the problems, whatever they may be. And I don't think this is the case for everyone. Let's start the year off on the right foot. That concludes
086regular business for tonight. Council members, we're going to have an executive session. There is a motion, Kitty Joe Kitty Surgeant, any motion under CRS24-6-4024F to agree in executive session to talk about personnel matters, about the superintendent and his evaluation process specifically setting goals for the school year 526 seconded by PE Laura may call roll. Chávez, yes. Medler, yes. Nisnick, yes. Quina, yes, Rushp, yes, Sergeant, yes, Hunger, the motion passes. Members, we will meet in the Glercier Room and as I said before, that concludes our regular business.