Reunión del Consejo de Educación del BVSD -22 de abril

001I would like to declare the regular meeting of the Poer Valley School District Board of Education open for Tuesday, April 22, 2025. Board members may attend and participate in board meetings electronically in accordance with BMA policy, BBSD policy, and state law. Laura, could you take attendance? Yes. Chávez, present. Metler, present. Present. Bpal present. Sergeant present. Hunger, present. Thank you. I would like everyone to pay attention to the screens for land recognition. The Boulder Valley School District resides and operates on lands that are ancestral homelands unjustly and illegally taken from the territory of the Ute, Puebloan, Arapaho, Shayan, Apache, Navajo, and 48 other tribal nations historically associated with these lands and who have called these lands home since time immemorial. We acknowledge the atrocities committed here, including the painful history of genocide, forced assimilation, and efforts

002to alienate Indigenous people from their lands with the support of U.S. government policies. The BBC is aware of the many indigenous peoples in the past and present and their dignified nations and cultures that care for the land with strength and resilience. The MBD recognizes the stories of the Land in Colorado and the survival of the many nations that have carried their oral traditions into the present. The baby's responsibility is to educate our communities and our students so that we can celebrate and respect the wisdom and knowledge of indigenous peoples and actively unite to 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 recognize the responsibility to care for and cherish that land together. I would like to remind everyone

003that the mission of the Bolders Valley School District is to create stimulating, meaningful, and effective learning opportunities so that all children thrive and are prepared for a life of success and civic engagement. Good evening everyone. Thank you for joining us both in person and remotely. We are pleased to have your presence and participation in our meeting at this time. I would like to make a motion to approve our agenda for tonight. Driven by Kitty, second by Bet. Laura, can you take attendance? Chávez, yes. Mler, yes. Nesnick, yes. With Noira, yes. Rashpa. Yes. Sergent, yes. Hunger, yes. The motion passes. The first item on our agenda is the student moment. I am happy to hand this portion of the meeting over to Dr. de la Cruz, who will be on the podium. Good evening, President Rash

004Paul, board members, Dr. Anderson. We are delighted to highlight the student cabinet. We have some, but not all, of the cabinet members. Here are some who want to share their experiences with you. Let's see if I can get this done. We want to let you know how this student cabinet is developing. We have a youth equity council whose voice and experiences are very valuable to us. A few years ago, Dr. Andersen, Dr. Gallegos, and I asked ourselves how we could expand the voice and representation of students and how we could get those voices to reach us to interact with leadership and create an advisory group. and we believe in this notion of student leadership at the district level. And right at that time, a Boulder high school student wrote an essay that was published in

005the Daily Camera, expressing that BBZ should be thinking about how to involve the student voice when they are making decisions, and it was the perfect time, so we contacted her. Dr. Gigos went and joined her. We did a code design and started this amazing group. And during the spring semester, 2 years ago, we sent out a nomination and self-nomination form so that students could nominate principals and teachers could also nominate students. And from there an opportunity opened up to get to know the students, to involve them. We invited the students who at that time were known as the district-level student counseling group, which is a very big name. During our first year, outside of a smaller group, we got together, you can see them here on the screen, and they said they wanted to get

006more involved and provide us with guidance and advice. It was an incredible experience to see new things after that school year. We sent out the forms of interest and the group grew and now we have 20 members in this group and some, not all, are here tonight and we are very happy. Their families are with them and we are very proud of them. I know your families feel the same, and I know you will too. Something I want you to know about this group is that I can't make this thing work. Well, we have really focused our work on the ideology of culture in a collective one. We have certain sayings here that say you are my other self because we are subama. I see you and by seeing you I believe you exist. And

007we know, and the students have reminded us, that they not only want to be seen and heard, they want to be part of the decisions and advising the BBC leadership. We've had opportunities to bring leadership from around the institute together to share the work we 're doing with this group. And also to ask them what we need to change in the way we work, and they have in fact determined the topics we have worked on, and Dr. Gallego will share more about that, but I wanted to introduce you because it has been a great pleasure. It's the biggest rescue of the month and I'm going to let Dr. Gallegos share more about them with you. Thank you, Dr. de la Cruz. Good evening everyone. It is a pleasure to be here and as you can

008see, these are the topics that the cabinet leaders have chosen. The year before we had about eight different themes that everyone was very excited to participate in. This year, the cabinet leaders have decided to delve deeper into the issues and focus on them two months at a time so that they can really understand the topics in depth and also have feedback and cycles with BBSD leaders. As you can see here, these are the topics. We have focused on mental health, safety, Title Nine, curriculum, and diversity curriculum. These are all topics that came from the students, and they were able to go through a process where they found things at the beginning of the year and were able to decide which topics they wanted to focus on, and they have also been able to co-facilitate some

009of the meetings. Okay, now that that's said, the best part is hearing from the cabinet leaders. We're going to have each of you come up and share a saying that focuses on your experience as student cabinet leaders. Hello, my name is Gustavo Aguilosa Castillo. I am a senior at Boulder High School and my motto is, for me leadership is about taking initiative and not waiting for others. Hello, my name is Anthony Reyes. I am a senior at Boulder High School and my motto is leadership, it is the ability to make those in need dependable on us. Hello, my name is Neme and my statement for the student cabinet is that it allowed me to expand my views on leadership with my own experiences and I have learned to open my eyes to many different and

010unique perspectives that have been vital to my role as a leader and as a person. Hello, my Brandbook lions. I am a junior at Monarch High School, and my saying is that I have always believed it is crucial to bridge the gap between student experiences and administrators' understandings, but I didn't know until I joined this student cabinet that it was possible. Now, I am confident that our cabinet can properly express its concerns and praise those to whom we direct these experiences that we are all sharing together. Hi, I just wanted to say first of all that I am very grateful for this opportunity to be part of the student cabinet and thank you. And my saying is, leadership is the ability to guide and inspire others by being an example. And this is one of

011my favorite sayings by Warren Venes, who says, " Leadership is the ability to translate a vision or turn a vision into reality." Thank you. Hello, my name is Jasmine Salamera and my experience as the student cabinet has helped me to have a more open point of view on the different policies and how they affect different schools with new district policies or implementations on discrimination. Hi, my name is Nat and I attend Monar High School. I feel honored and moved to be able to be here. It is not just a moment to recognize the student cabinet, it is an effort and a call to celebrate leadership and amplify student voice to create systemic change. For me, leadership is not just a position; it is a responsibility towards truth, equity, and the role that is often unseen

012and unheard in changing our schools. I believe this change begins with the community listening and learning. Some of you may know me because I have served on the Equity Council and the Student Cabinet. I have worked very closely with Polder and we have focused our efforts on bullying prevention, grant distribution, Title Nine, planning, and we have connected youth equity with a focus on transformation. Leadership in this space is an act of care in communion, an act of justice, and an act of possibility. Beb's commitment is to unite us all for the students, something I believe in. But coming together means that we will listen and grow together and take steps towards the future. We have to come in every day and commit to sustainable change. Thank you for this moment, and I hope it's not

013just a moment, because everything is possible. That was her last participant, but as Dr. de la Cruz said, these 20 student leaders were incredible and we are grateful for their service and leadership. We also want to thank your families for their support, because we know it takes a whole town to unite and create an impact in our community. Thank you so much. I hope everyone has a very good night. Thank you students for being here tonight. Laura, can you turn off that microphone? Now that there isn't so much echo, thank you all for being here tonight and for being part of this very important committee. We value what our students feel and perceive about the curriculum and policies, and it was very nice to be able to sit down with you and talk during this

014month. Ah, council members, questions for the students this afternoon, Dr. Anderson, before everyone leaves, I want to say thank you. We are proud of you and proud that I work in a district where the student's voice is valued. Thanks to Dr. de la Cruz and Dr. Gallegos for organizing and connecting these student ideas in all the work we are doing. Thank you very much. This was an amazing student moment. Thank you. Now we will continue to the working session on the agenda for this afternoon. Cabinet members, while you're out, I'm going to give Dr. Anderson time for some interactions. Thank you, President Baspo, board members, I am very excited to be able to work on the academic calendar policy and this development process this afternoon. Joining us tonight are Kathine Sulvin and Robin Fernandez. We're

015going to be talking a bit about how it's developed in the past and why it's developed this way, and get feedback from this board to see how it works in the future. And with that said, let's begin. And to make it clear to the public, tonight is not about changing the schedules that have already been approved. We have approved the timetables for two years, 2025-2026 and 2026-2027. Tonight is for receiving feedback on how this process will look going forward and how we can codify this in a way that is clear and transparent for everyone who wants to know what we do and why we do it. So, we're going to get feedback from the council, there will be an opportunity for them to share, and we're going to talk about the process that has been

016working, depending on who you talk to, for 10 or 20 years now. And we're going to share a little bit about the history of why it's like this, and we're going to talk about all the things we aspire to do when we develop the calendar. And as you can see on this slide, board members, these are all the entities that come together and influence our calendar through our existing practices, whether it's coordinating with large employers, where people live, CDE, or some language from our negotiated agreements. Uh, there are many things we try to do to get together. Board members, good news, you have a policy that can directly guide how we develop the IC and ICA policy timeline. We are going to talk about these guiding principles that we have followed for a long time,

017but the origin and placement of these principles outside of the process that people have been waiting for has been a little unclear, not very clear. Let's talk a little more about that. Robin is going to do it and we're also going to look at the board's policy and model, the academic calendar, and make sure that we 've integrated the policy language and instructional time requirements . We have worked on this and members, as you may remember, members of the community at the high school, have worked a lot, we did a MU with BBEA and made decisions about norms and flexibility around schedules. Our high schools and comprehensible high schools have adopted new schedules. For many of these schools, it will increase the instructional minutes that students can receive, which is beneficial for the children and

018ensures that we are in compliance with the requirements of the Colorado Department of Education. And with that, we're going to give Kathly time to talk about current policy, board members, ideas, comments that they think they should share. I know we have a team in the audience, Laura will be taking notes, and we'll be able to review this working session so we can come back and understand the feedback you provide. Because we'll probably start with everyone sharing individual thoughts, and then we'll take all of that, try to make some changes and suggestions, and come back to this and try to finalize it before we implement a policy regulation. My hope is that we not only have a policy with the elements, but also a regulation and how these guiding principles are implemented, which are set out

019in a regulation and what needs to be involved in this process. Does that sound good to you? It seems so. Okay, I'll give Katlin some time. Thank you. Looking at the current board policy, it was last updated in 2001. It's definitely one we should review together. Current policy establishes some things. This is mostly the majority of the text, word by word, word by word. Omit the middle section where we identified 9 holidays. Currently, the policy establishes a timeline by which the board must act and must make certain commitments. Ah, yes, commitments around vacation days, holidays, instruction, national holidays. And if you look at the CASY sample that we provided to the board as part of their agenda, you'll see that it's very different from our current sample or current policy. Casby's sample really focuses on

020state definitions around instructional time and also puts in place that it says a calendar must be adopted by the end of the year. This is one of the elements within the policy that is within the discretion of the board. The other thing the sample does is that it requires consultation with the school districts around us and also requires input from parents and teachers and also brings a law such that it requires that our calendar includes the dates for staff service programs and this is where Colorado has a state law that has that requirement and we make sure that it is within policy so that we can consistently comply with it. It's not really that the Casby sample does things differently from our current policy, they just talk about different aspects. And if we're looking for

021an update, I think it makes a lot of sense to incorporate those elements around instructional time. And what are those requirements? Now, the state law and what is required regarding instructional time. Again, we have put the current times and the very specific language of the law inside the slide so that the board can see it. What we're trying to do with this presentation is to separate what could be an understanding of how things have worked around these principles and have the board capture that with the work we're doing. You will see that there is a minimum number of instructional hours per day with an acknowledgment that those hours may be reduced to accommodate parent -teacher conferences and other services, programs, and emergencies. That is really what the law has to say, that it has to

022be addressed in the calendar policy. The next slide shows the elements that we traditionally have that come out of negotiated agreements. Once again, we enter directly into the language of the agreement. The teachers' contract agreement with BBEA identifies 186 full work days and 176 instructional days. It's the number we have in the BBEA contract. Looking below that, five and a half days are set aside for working days for teachers and four days are set aside for professional development. And these specific requirements or requirements come from the negotiated agreement. And obviously I'm avoiding that information by waiting. These are the holidays. These are distributed around our various negotiated agreements. We don't have the same language, for example, our teachers' agreement and the BBCAN agreement that applies to transportation workers. We have included all references to the

023negotiated agreements here. These are holidays that must be considered by the board in accordance with those agreements. The last part is one that definitely came up last time when we talked to the board. Our practice of having these four conference days is a practice; it doesn't come in the negotiated agreement nor in current policy. We just wanted to highlight this for you to make sure that it's clear what the requirements are and what they say. When we look at this topic, we can pause there and talk a little bit about negotiated agreements, laws, the CASY sample before getting into the principles and making clear what is mandated by the State and the things we have developed over time as a district. Board members, comments or questions about what Kath has presented. Sasenia Kathle, you said

024that conference days are not about politics. They should be there . Very good question. I think I would really like to hear the board's discussion. I think there's a danger in putting so much into politics that we don't leave room for negotiations, and I think there's a danger in having several negotiated agreements that use different language on the same issue. I definitely know that our team is spending time doing the negotiations right now to align ourselves, to improve the ability to do the things that our students and educators need. It's a balance that we're trying to create. I was curious about the instructional days before and that they were set aside like the days to exchange them in the conferences of parents and teachers. Do we have any idea about that? Well, I can say

025that I remember when I returned to the district in 2003 as a teacher, I think I remember that they already existed at that time. Dr. Anderson, I'm going to say that there are several aspects to this. At some point they were implemented, it was something we reached an agreement on, but they were not enshrined in policy or negotiated in the agreement for reasons that are beyond my understanding. I think we want to make those commitments, right? To make them clear, to put them in a negotiated agreement, right? Because last fall we were going through the calendar and we were saying, "Okay, where's the language about what happened? Why did it happen? What was the intention?" Because that can create a difference in why we put those days on the calendar and why we swapped them

026with others. And there was nothing we could find in our documents. I think it's an ongoing practice that was established a little over 20 years ago. Beth, you're saying a lot of the things I was already thinking, and I think we have good connective energy here. Oh, yes, I was preparing some questions before coming to our meeting today. There are a lot of inconsistencies, and our policy is very dense; nothing is codified for the protection of community staff, and I think we need to work on making our policy reflect our priorities. And I know we're going to get into the guiding principles next, but I think that's pretty much our priorities, but I want to encourage us to think about what our priorities are , what the purpose of this policy is, and I think

027that's what we can really change. Right now. I'm happy to have this conversation. For perspective, in the days I've been teaching , I started in 1977, and nowhere I've worked have I not had that. So, that's a long time across districts. I started teaching when I was 12. Kathle, I agree 100% that we really need to have consistency across all the policies, state law, and negotiated agreements and differences in language. This opened my eyes, and I think that clarity is very important in allowing for flexibility, but there are places in our current policy. I'd like to know if there's flexibility, and we can expand on that. The policy doesn't talk about November 30th as a deadline . That deadline for adopting the calendar. We're talking about kindergarten through 12th grade. It doesn't talk about preschool

028children. So, we can vote on a preschool calendar, because we are educating preschool children. The CASPI policy example talks about different schools; they can have different... Calendars or schedules, that's our principle, but that creates confusion and misunderstanding. So, there are some charter schools that have different calendars than the district, because that's an area of ​​flexibility we have. And there are some things I noticed early on, and I think having consistency around the 10 holidays is important. Which are the holidays that we have to observe in the state of Colorado, or that the state requires us to observe? And this flexibility is important because it can have an impact on staffing. So, I think it's important to consider both consistency and flexibility for students and staff. First, those are the things I thought were worth highlighting.

029Jason, thank you. In addition to the things you already mentioned, I wanted to second what Bet indicated. I read the policy, and it's more or less here. And that's what the law says and what it requires, but obviously, it's important to have more discussion about an additional paragraph, the things we value in the calendar, what we decide. You know, in addition to my colleagues' recommendations, I think it would be best to have a suggestion of what the point is Of all that, what's the goal? We need a calendar for that date; those are the holidays we're going to observe, and I think having one— putting it on the table for that conversation—is important. Alex, Nicole also made me think about Paul Universal and what happens in schools that aren't in- person in terms of that,

030and that 's important. Is the policy around remote learning opportunities included in that policy, or is it under another policy, considering this timeline more related to a pandemic? Where does that live in the future? If we need to return to remote learning in the future, that's more of a question. Do we have a policy around that? Is it somewhere else? Thank you for the question. During the pandemic, the Colorado Department of Education ( CDE) adopted flexibility for districts to accommodate remote instruction for the long term. That flexibility doesn't exist; it wasn't made permanent with CDE. In the district, we adopted those definitions under a resolution to capture them at that time—a pandemic-specific resolution— but I think this policy is the place to address it if it weren't separate in a resolution. So, I think it

031would be good to reclaim The flexibility that exists under state law to address emergencies. Council members, I know we're going to have more questions and comments as we continue with the presentation, but one more question before the next slides. Dr. Anderson, not a question, but a point of agreement for us when we talk about the guiding principles—they're not going to be these guiding principles, they're going to be policy. The trick in my time here in the district going through this process is balancing the competing interests of stakeholders and knowing and understanding that all stakeholders matter . We have to create that balance. I think when I first started, or rather, when Robert started that process, my first year, if I remember correctly, people told me, "That 's the process." That leads us to a schedule

032that we can then approve. And people believe that the development of that which schedules the endpoints, the anxiety between competing interests. I want to take into account that we can prioritize things in a different way, but there is that balance between employees, students, community, parents. Different community groups, employers, districts, east, neighbors, where people live, there are many competing interests and they raise their interests one at a time , their interests instead of the whole. I want to mention that before allowing Robin to make his presentation. She's going to talk about the ways we've done things. She's going to do the first slides and then I'll continue. Robin, before you speak, one more question. In Casby's example, he talks about what he counts as instructional minutes, and then there is a box that talks about where

033there is discretion. With high school, we spent a lot of time setting those options in the calendar options for changing classes, for example. So, I would like to rely on the expertise of the staff who developed those calendars. Does this count as instructional minutes, this being the lunch break period? Because we had that high school conversation and you guys have focused a lot on that. Therefore, his expertise would be very useful to us and to the public. We need to change the school day schedule so that instructional minutes count. So, having clarity there would be useful. Thank you, Roben. Good evening everyone. This slide talks about the guiding principles we mentioned. These were developed before I inherited the process and were developed on a different date depending on who you ask. Council members, as we

034know, as Dr. Anderson mentioned, are outside the policy regulations, but each principle is based on priorities raised by stakeholder groups. And at a different time in the district, many of our practices were guided by legacy and undocumented agreements . So we evolved to have a consistent review of regulatory policy. So, my goal is to share the story, as we know it, how we came to have those principles. So, I'm talking about decades. We have worked to create an academic calendar that focuses on the needs of students, families, and staff. All of these principles are the results of a collaborative workforce. We have heard from the students and a group of children in high school came forward to the council. Please, almost in tears, we could have the end of the first term in December because

035they talked about the stress of spending the winter holidays studying and finishing assignments, and the parents talked about the difficulty for families to enjoy the winter holidays as a family, and mainly that was for high school, but also for middle school, that the children were dedicated to school instead of vacation. It was then decided that the first quarter would end in December and not in January as before. We have had a lot of collaboration up to Lágrimas, who came into the creation of the fundamental values ​​of our academic calendar, which are factors that we use as a reference point in creating the draft calendars. At this time, as we move forward, we are going to incorporate these into policy, and if so, all of those guiding principles will carry equal weight in the future. And

036while they are thinking about those questions, there are other considerations that are taken into account with the realities that the district exists in a larger ecosystem, the metropolitan district across the entire state of Colorado. Our process to date for drafting the calendar also takes into account the factors you see on screen. For example, different districts in the metropolitan area have different schedules, more or less starting in August and ending around Memorial Day. And it is relevant to the next point. There are other organizations like Chaza, the High School Athletic Activities Association, which determines the seasons for contests and games. In addition, we know that 63% of our employees live within the district, but 18% of our employees, licensed and classified staff live in the St. Brain district, and the next largest group is Westminster Public

037Schools with 4.5% of our employees living there. So, we aligned with the Saint Frin calendar. It has been important for our staff members because it is difficult for our employees to come to work if their children are away or if their children have a different schedule. And since the district and the University of Colorado are the largest employers in Boulder County, it's important to align our calendar with it, with the university's calendar. It has traditionally been important, and we take into account these professional learning days because we know that having these high-quality professional practices is very important. Now, we group those days before school starts, but it's also important to have professional learning opportunities during the school year to understand the use of curriculum materials. Furthermore, and focusing on the final point of other considerations

038we took into account, the first quarter is a little shorter than the second. We are working to balance the two semesters. This is another factor we've discussed. So, we focus our development primarily on what is best for the students, but we want to take into account the needs of all stakeholders, as Dr. Anderson said, to consider and incorporate to the best of our ability. It's like a jigsaw puzzle; at the end of the day, we have to put together a coherent schedule for everyone. A question that sometimes arises, mainly from adults who grew up in other areas where the school year starts and ends later, is: why does our calendar start in August and end in May? In May, like others in the state of Colorado, we conducted surveys with families about the start and

039end of the school year and their preference to keep those dates or a preference to start later in August, September and finish in June. As you can see here in the 2022 and 2024 surveys, those who responded in the third part supported the current schedule. See the timeline here, the process we have used that serves as a reference point for the discussion about changes to the process. How do they know, because of community participation, that review processes take time? We generally develop the calendar two years at a time. It is important for families and their planning because they are considering that for themselves and their families. Traditionally, we begin in January when I present to the board and submit the draft calendar, which is the current agreement aligned with the dates that change in future

040years. We tried to incorporate the information we received during the 2-year gap. The best example I can think of is in the calendars for the 25th to 26th, 26th to 27th, we incorporated a holiday in the fall because of the information we received from staff and parents about that need. In February we normally develop the process with the council, followed by the presentation to the representative groups and these groups are given the opportunity to give their comments, offer suggestions after receiving this many opinions. The calendar working group reviews the information and thinks about the information and looks at whether it aligns with negotiated agreements, with state law, or with our core values, which at that time we call these guiding principles. And our task force, calendar task force, is made up of union members, parent

041groups, ah, district leaders, human resources and professionals. This is a multiple group and when you pull on one thread it causes a reaction in other threads. So, what the working group does speaks to the positive or negative effects of the changes for students, staff, or families at the end of the review process. We have a final draft ready for final review and approval . And with that very simplified summary of a very complex process of interposed factors, I will allow Dr. Anderson to speak. Before we go any further, Robin, I'm thinking you have n't noticed who's part of the working group. It's something we 've always done since sometime in the 2000s. Actually, the working group is a new structure for developing those guiding principles, because previously there wasn't a structure to evaluate public information

042to see if it was aligned with the documents, principles, and values ​​I've mentioned. I know that the three rounds of calendar development, that has been true, but I do n't know when it happened in history, but it does give it balance after trying to consider all stakeholders, representative groups, they can consider it in this way as a group before presenting it to the council. Yes, absolutely, because you need, you need a deep understanding of those factors and everything else to take the time to really study the side effects and the positive or negative impacts on students, staff, and families, because if you change one thing, a lot more change. That provides a variety of viewpoints, the opportunity to meet and have discussions in order to create the most coherent schedule that addresses the greatest number

043of those competing priorities we mentioned. Speaking of Dr. Anderson's point about being very transparent and setting up the whole process and clarifying who is on that committee. That's going to be an important part to consider. When people have questions, we can say, those are the people who make the decisions. It's something to consider. It's a good time to ask clarifying questions. While we're thinking about this public opinion, there are like four buckets. The timeline makes sense or the council feels neutral about the timeline. You can, the staff can sort out the schedule and that can be information. The guiding principles, we want to have similar principles, which are in order. First he does this, then the other. Those are the most important things, the three most important ones. They all carry the same weight because

044that changes the way we use the working group or contribute opinions and the process, right? We start with staff based on what we have and present it to the board. We gather feedback from the public every two to three years to ensure that the calendar is still aligned with the community. There is a survey. What's it going to be like ? It still makes sense to align with the university and the St. district in a year this SIU had not set its spring break and because of schedules the university had its break in a different week than the district and we heard about the negative impacts for a long time. We're still listening. I think we could stop and listen to your opinions, this one, if it can be put in one of the buckets

045and if the rest is fine, this one can be kept or if you can recommend something better. Those are the important things. I believe we will be in a good position to provide that information, make a draft, and bring it back for review. I'm going to change the process. Council members, I would like you to talk about a timeline. So, I'd like to create the timeline, then the guiding principles, and then align them to make it clearer. So, are there any questions or thoughts about the timeline? The line, if you can say it on the microphone, is, I trust the staff, as you said, let them do the job, so I'm willing to follow their guidance. Jorge, I have a general question, not so much about the schedule, but in general. I had the opportunity

046to serve in that working group several years ago as a parent, and how it is, we need to change this, we need to change that, and what it covered, and they were surprised by the process that involves the different parts that develop and when and what happens when you move a piece. So, that's a general comment. We need to align it, to keep it clear. I don't know if it's a policy or a regulation or something else when we talk about this information process, but I want to assure you that we have the flexibility, but the information must be available to everyone. You can set out in the policy that this policy is clearly stated on our website, accessible to all members of the community. That would be one way you could act to ensure

047that both things happen. Alex, I don't have much of an opinion about the timeline, but in terms of the most recent process timeline, it's apparent to me that other members have strong feelings and that it would be good if the timeline included an opportunity for feedback early on so that other stakeholders would know what the concept was thinking or feeling . Well, because there was a lot of time constraints and it was a difficult process. I don't know to what degree he can do it. I agree that the staff should create the schedule, but we need to have time to make our opinions and then discuss the topics publicly. You can fix it and leave it. Those are the priorities. We're going to fix it. And future councils would have to amend the policy. Another

048way, as part of the timeline and process, is to have a council session about the principles, or whatever they want to call them, review, re-approve, or revise the policy before starting the cycle to ensure that everything is okay and a future council can talk about it as we are doing now. They can do it one way or the other. From a historical point of view, my children were in school when we finished the first term in January and the other part that wasn't mentioned was stressful for the children and for education. It doesn't make sense to take a break of more than a week and then have two weeks to finish the semester. It's not a good policy. We almost always had spring break the last week of March, and it was nice as a

049parent to know that we were always going to do this, but it didn't always work out, and frequently didn't work out, with the university, which is a big problem. But if there is a way to work with the University of Colorado, the Strin district, and fix this week, it will always be spring break week for all of us. We can't force anyone to do anything, but it's more predictable for families. That would be a good thing to have because the feedback we received when we changed spring break at the last minute was that people weren't happy. And I want to congratulate the staff on the amount of work they have done to develop the timeline, the process, the groups, or the public opinions. I believe the district is doing its best to listen to the

050opinions of as many stakeholders as possible. I am in favor of having those principles. Those are the people we work with, and that's that. It's not helpful to have one or two people on the board say, 'I'd prefer we start after the workday and talk when we know what the opportunity wants.' And if we go against the majority knowing what the community wants, we are causing problems for ourselves and the community. I understand that people have opinions, but it's important to acknowledge the process, the work that has already been done, and allow that to guide us. 100% of parents will never be happy that we have that day off, not the other one. But overall we do something that works. In case anyone wants to comment on this, any of the comments regarding the timeline.

051Ah, if we can't continue. I want to ask everyone here, from the board of directors to the staff, you know that the timeline is something that has to be done in the report, and I would be a little more in favor of some less strict rules. So we can look at the University of CU calendar and we can balance which deadlines are firm and which ones we want to change at some point, and which policies will be a little longer, which ones will take more time, and how long it will take for the interested parties, all these stakeholders , to make these decisions, and for us to decide what the policies are and what we are going to do. So we're here , I agree that we do need to refer to your experience, Pet.

052Yes, I wanted us to continue with the directors here. Yes. Well, the two things that can help us a little, to have some feedback, are, uh, you're part of the process to give these values, one with the board, well, this works for you board, and the other is if we reflect on the community data and see what are the elements that we need to continue our discussion. This is how we can do it as a type of survey. If we do that, we can survey the community first to see what people are thinking, and then we can do it together in the future, so they can process that information and we can see that what we are doing is in sync with the community. So you want to do that, those two things, you can

053do it and forget about it, and rather in the future the board can make the kind of policies it wants to make, right? In the future, they can either leave it to future boards to establish these policies as they see fit, and have some checkpoints that address those issues. So you can see a little bit, we can talk a little bit about these things if you can help us understand how we can do these things. Yes. Well, something that 's interesting to me is that it ends up being between these policies, how I would like to proceed with these options, because if the policy is too flexible or too rigid, it might make me take a different path in the future. And that's what I think about setting it and forgetting it, mm, I think

054this doesn't really work. This process, the schedule, has never been easy and nobody is ever completely happy. So if we do it every two years and we create governing principles again every two years, then we have a much longer path to check. Uh, yes, if we have other timelines for other kinds of things, for example, JC is every 5 years, if we have a rhythm that makes sense, we can establish it and see what the best practices are for this kind of work and we can help answer Dr. Anderson's questions . Yes, I think I have the same concerns, and I think this is something that brings us back to the last question, which is about what we're trying to do because right now it's about priorities and how we make the process just continue

055and take its own course. If we have a couple of cycles in 5 years, well, we can go back to that later. Yes. What's your preference? So, what do you have? Well, yes, uh, maybe we'll come back to this point. Thank you. Board members, we are looking at the principles that govern us. Okay, who's next? Jorge, right? If it's such a complex conversation, I appreciate you all and want to support what you're saying, Kitty. Yes, just because. We have both hands completely full because this is truly incredible. This is a process. Jorge shared with me in the past what it was like to be in this advancement group that was establishing these principles. Yes. And I want to talk about the guiding principles, and yes, we have a bucket here with all the principles, and

056I think my goal is for us to move towards policies that clarify our priorities. Perhaps we do n't have this document of governing principles and I don't want to offend anyone or hurt anyone's feelings, but I think it's something we can... stop for a moment within our policies, but if we can balance the different ideas of the boards and if you ask me what I think, I say it's wrong. So we need to think that our goal with the calendar has to be more student-oriented. So I'm interested in seeing how we write policies. I don't know the answer, I'll leave that to the experts, but I think the policy is broad enough to reflect the values, but not broad enough to give us the flexibility to accommodate all the values ​​of the community and the

057students. So this is a great, uh, painting of what's going on here. I like the document of the governing principles. That's neither for one side nor the other. So I don't know how it will end up in terms of the documents. So my 17 cents regarding the governing principles, the first thing I could say is that I'm never going to be a fanatic about doing things the way we've always done them, because we've always done them that way. We need to do things in a way that makes sense for our times and our students, our families, our teachers, and our district. So now that I've said that , I would also say that I really, really think that part-time school weeks are very difficult for students and for families. And I understand that the narrative

058is that most parents may not be the ones most impacted. But I'm really going to challenge that because I think the parents who are most impacted are the parents who are, well, not those who think their voices don't count. Maybe they're working two jobs, they're too tired to get anything done, what am I going to think? What am I going to do with my son on Friday and Monday? Perhaps they are those for whom Spanish and English are not their first languages. I really worry a lot about these partial weeks. I think that professional development days should have a lot of attendance from teachers, and it's something that should happen. This is part of being a professional, and I'm not going to back down from this because I care a lot about teachers, and I

059have been a professional in other circumstances. Uh, not only this one, but in other places where I was supposed to go to meetings and I did. The third thing I want to say is that I don't think what the community wants is when school starts and when school ends. Alex, maybe you can tell me about this survey, but I continue to listen to Jason's point of view and we send students to school when it's very, very hot. So this is very important for elementary school children because they can't go to the playground because they'll get burned. And well, I grew up here, being here through the Christmas break and having to study for the finals, and I think this can be done because it's what we can do about our climate. So I will be

060one of those people who really cares about these issues, and again I'll say it clearly because the reason they did it one way is not the reason it should be done another way. So you or we can be leaders, and if we have to change when the school year starts, we will; let's be leaders. Yes, I have Jorge, then Jason, and then Kitty. Yes, thank you very much. Yes , I like the guiding principles, and I think the priorities we're establishing are something I'd like to start talking about; it's something we need to focus on. And to be clear, what I like here is the aspect of having the response from the communities through different groups, and we can do that through a survey in this process to have those comments front and center ,

061to have them at the forefront, and then be able to follow up once they are establishing some of the guiding principles of the calendar. This is what we should do. I don't have much more to add to the points here because I really agree with what you're saying. I'm one of those people who didn't grow up here in Colorado, and I came here to Colorado, and well, I have some kids who are in elementary school and pre-kindergarten, and well, I know that August wasn't regulated in the 90s and now, well, it's in the 100s, so there's a weather impact, especially for our younger students. And if we're thinking about the future, well, it's really obvious that the temperature isn't going down. So for me, when I 'm thinking about these guiding principles and I see

062the questions, then I think, when are we going to do the semester? When is it going to start? And I'm trying to understand and be in tune with the students, what they're thinking and what they want. So, what is driving the calendar decisions? But if we're considering a different kind of calendar that doesn't really align with our semester and winter break, then we have to choose between our governing principles. So, what I think is that the governing principles are really what should guide the entire calendar. And I do have a lot of sympathy for all those things that are being thought about and decided, but in practice that's really what should guide the decisions of our calendar and if we give priority to that, yes, fantastic, if it works, but we also have to think

063if the finals are in January and they are the college ones and well, we are thinking our kids are going to be fine, they are going to adjust, but yes, I also have a lot of sympathy for these ideas. I agree because, well, that's not a small number, but if we're talking about 30,000 families, this is really a very small percentage of those who have responded. So even though we can consider it, it is not enough to make the decisions. So I think the goal, I don't remember how I said it, is to benefit all students, because when we have a policy that is directed by one of our highest- level grades and it's about how we're going to see the kids being impacted, for example, how hot it is in August or September, then

064we have to find a balance between those two and have a guiding principle and we have to take into account the factors of climate change as we develop the calendar. So yes, this is something we are considering, whether we will lean more towards benefiting some students and not all of them. So I really appreciate that Robin was giving some details on the whole process and well, the groups that have given feedback and how this is being done, but I'm also very much in line with what's been said, which is that just because it's been done a certain way doesn't mean it has to be done that way, or because it's difficult, it can't be done. We really need to think about other things, besides the things that are a priority, but which are currently in

065effect . When we talked about this about a year ago, I really asked myself these questions and received so many emails from people regarding this, but I also had some emails from very angry people, uh, many people who said, I really feel, I have some very strong ideas about this and some strong feelings about professionalism and professional development days. And part-time weeks are really difficult for working families in our district. So they are really trying to do the best job they can to support our students. And I'll stop there, but I believe this is the point where we can find a balance among all our students. Okay, Kitty, and then I'll say something . Well, I have a couple of questions, Rob. Is there any reason to think that these polls that were done in

0662022 and 2024 are not valid? No, no, I don't think they're invalid. They simply didn't have a large enough sample population. So, the way we've given out our surveys, those who want to take them do so, and those who don't want to take them don't. So we need something that is more statistically accurate. Uh, yes, we see some studies that some students have given us feedback on regarding climate change and how it has affected us, and we have the ability to do this, and we see that the feedback comes from a balanced group of different interested people. But the way the survey was conducted, many of these surveys were given out, and well, some answered them, others didn't , some tried to answer them several times, and well, really, this is giving out those surveys,

067right? That's why we don't have this more suitable option. So we could have much more information . Well, one thing I could assume is that voluntary surveys mean that the people who are concerned about these issues are the ones who will participate. It's 100%. No, but it's possible that some who are interested forgot to do it, but to the point of knowing what our community wants, we would be foolish if we thought it was 2 thirds to 1 thirds and did what two-thirds want. But yes, some of the things we've been thinking about—finishing later and starting later—are things we're seeing got damaged, and now we're trying to undo them. So yes, I was a mother in the district when this was happening. So regarding the part about part-time weeks, I think it's possible to have

068zero part-time weeks, because I remember, looking back, in February it was all part-time weeks, so I know the district has improved on that. Now, can we have less? No, I don't know. I would leave this to the staff to decide, but if we can have the smallest number of part-time weeks , because that's very difficult for the weeks, especially if they have to go to the same place and need to be looked after. There was another point I was going to make, but I don't remember it anymore . Ah, I was going to ask Delen, do you think these community preferences are out of sync? No, I don't think the endpoint is giving us the information; they 're not really giving us the information we need. Alex, I think you can answer better. Well, who

069knows. Yes, Rob too. He has a lot of experience in this. Well, that's what I would share. This is a board policy. So to the point that the people who have been elected by the community and have the responsibility and a certain authority, so you can choose to have comments or you can say this is what we want to do because the board's policies say so. And if we want to try to do this, I mean, Jason, are you okay with that? If you need to have all these holidays free by this date or this other date . And well, it really is wash and repeat, wash and repeat. And if you have priorities because the schedule is 95% set, would you say that, Robin? And well, that's true because as long as it's given

070equal priority, well, again, you can ask people what they think, you can bring your own points of view, but what you establish as the priorities is what will drive the work that gets done. But when we start to get involved, then we're not going to ask about policy, we're going to implement it. So, you hire me, you set the policy, I delegate it to the staff to continue it, I check it and then give it back to you and we continue. So that's how the machinery of this works, the background. So I think it can be much more accurate statistically. Yes, I think so . But the community will pay more attention if they think this is a survey that has some pretty definitive points of view . I don't know, maybe they are interested.

071I really couldn't tell you if it 's true, but if you ask people, they'll tell you what they think. Well, that depends on what you want to do. You ask them, and well, that's the question, and that's what they do. Yes, it was the weather, the weather I wanted to talk about. Well, having grown up, or at least the second part of my childhood, in Phoenix, yes, in October it would drop below 90 and we don't have shade on the playgrounds and well, uh, I know and no, we didn't have to go to Via Nieve, no, of course not. It's a different perspective, different points of view, so we have to do everything we can to ensure that children are comfortable and safe depending on the weather in structures, in buildings that are safe. Well,

072now we have bottled water, in my generation we didn't have that. Well, I have a better perspective here. A friend who lives in Phoenix and whose daughter starts school at the beginning of August is trying to alert schools that aren't in the mountains because that's a concern; it's very difficult to learn when the temperature is very high. But there are ways we can mitigate this in terms of providing more shade for the kids to be outside during the hottest months of the year. I believe this shouldn't prevent us from finishing the semester in December, because in terms of education that's a better option. Yes of course. We survived, we survived many things, not having car seats, but Nar is going to say, "Ah, let's go back to that." No, so I 'm not trying to

073say that the semester and car seats are the same thing, but if we think better we can do better. But we do think that more significantly we have some feedback from the community and we have seven members of the school boards and if we have the same results in terms of what the community wants, when we start, when we finish and if we go against that. If I were a member of the community, I would be very angry and say, "This is what we want to do." But the board says, "No, that's not it, this is what I want." Yes. Um, I think this is a survey, and having a fairly accurate survey is very important, and that's what the Board wants to see these results of. If this is the case, let's continue what

074John says: as the mother of a high school student, I know they don't want to finish the semester before winter break. Yes, I know they didn't get their grades before winter break and he was totally stressed. So this can sometimes create some difficulties. What I would say is that we need to keep in mind what our districts are doing , what our neighbors are doing, who is doing what was done in August, what was done in May. The organization of the sports season starts in August and there are some kind of funny rules about when you can start baseball, when you can do things at the end of the summer and you can have more practices. So if you have some significant changes later on, then the students can be in August, able to do

075some games at the beginning of August. So it's not just us and the end of exams, but we also need to think about the schools in our neighboring districts. And well, with respect to the governing principles, uh if I look at them, we are seeing, uh we are thinking that if the Memorial Day break uh can be at the end of May, because it's not on the 27th, when it is, why can't we create some flexibility. Now, our staff who don't live at BBCD in Sarain might live in Westm in 10 years, and language says yes, so why don't they coordinate and synchronize the calendar with the University of Colorado in Bolter? Yes. And most of our staff are working, which means we can be more flexible. So these are the things that are different.

076These are some of the things I'm considering for the governing principles. So we have an evaluation window, almost everyone does it in April, and if we do it earlier because we're thinking about why they do it. So, when? And if we have to qualify that this is done, this is quite large. And well, regarding high school, the evaluations are done after the spring break, and you take the SATLP, and how is this structure done against the calendar days, and how does that affect our future policies? So this is a question for you. Well, I think one thing we can do is, as we're thinking about how we're going to increase instructional time, this is a big change. And well, if we think about it, schools have structured themselves in such a way that they only

077have to distribute all their staff across all the students who are taking the assessments, and the others can give instruction to the students who are not taking assessments. So if you want to have good evaluations, the evaluation conditions, so this can impact each other. This is something we should look at and, well, talk about. Uh, based on the feedback we didn't really adjust this much. I'm not entirely sure where we stand at the moment, but so yes, this is something we could adjust in the future. So what I think is that we need the flexibility to be able to make this work with the minutes and hours we have of instruction. and have all the resources so that we can evaluate thousands of students. Yes, I hear that, and maybe this amplifies this, the issue

078that we don't want two things that are competing with each other, and yes, I hear what you're saying. So these are some of the big things, and I mentioned preschool and some schools with respect to these guiding principles. I don't know . Um, regarding the professional development conversation, I don't know if we can, we have to make a new resume and well, I don't know the rules we have about PD days, if we have any flexibility or not. So we have to articulate that, no, we have to divide it into two. I would like to see some flexibility after we have these discussions, but I don't know if there's anything that gets in the way of this and trying to make this damage-proof in our schedule for the future. We can do the reviews, we

079have them scheduled, and we can reflect that this is the point of creating the pathways, to create the best pathways for the success of the students. And this is what we can do to Dr.on and then to Alex. Yes, I would say that when we limit it to part-time weeks, you force personal development to be on exchange days and not at the beginning and end of the year, because when you have PD in October or February it's a part-time week, the children aren't going to school, the professionals are doing their learning. I think it depends on what you want to develop the professional in. Sometimes it makes sense to take that time during the course of the year. It's like, a, something that they can review, implement, I don't know, a new implementation on a

080new curriculum, teachers who have been addressing different challenges or topics and come and say, "Ah, well, yes, I can do it this way." So, I think those two things can be sources of tension between the two priorities. This is what we can include within the budget. We have adopted budgets that limit part-time weeks and we'll see what happens. We feel that attendance will increase because it's at the beginning of the year because if there are two weeks of planning, we probably wo n't have the attention of the people. I don't know, I've been a leader in the school before and I recognize those challenges. We will have to take all this information into consideration because this is what has happened in these schedules that we have adopted . Alex and then Beth. Yes, I just

081want to step back a little and reiterate my support for Elenia's response regarding the governmental role of the council and the council members. I want to congratulate us for taking those difficult conversations and sharing information that we disagree on . I think it's a good sign of functional liberation and we're in a good place to deal with certain things. Congratulations to everyone who has spoken out for sharing what they are facing. I don't really have many strong emotions surrounding these issues, but I am sympathetic. I feel what the high school students are feeling about addressing this climate change issue , but I think the council is an appropriate place to have conversations, because if we don't, I think if council means we have to accept all the advice, well, we won't be like a stamp

082and everything will be the same. I think it's good, it's healthy to voice our disagreement without someone telling us that's not the role of the council. And I think that's going to come out again . If we have intense discussions about intense topics, I think we all want the priority to be on the children, and I hear that in all the different suggestions that come in about mental health, families, family challenges, raising your children, and I sense the depth of that discussion and I'm happy to see it. In terms of substance, I only have a PhD in political science and studies in ferential studies. A lot, but I'd say 4000 people is a lot, and only having them has a half-range of variety . Uh, it indicates that there are many people who feel this

083way, it's probably not going to change, but at the point of the millennium we won't do anything with time, but I would like to have more information of different kinds from the families and they are going to ask for samples that are a sample that fully represents and reflects the community. We can typically identify this because we're good at this; demographics, the children's ages, those things would help us know to get a sense of whether part-time days are helpful or not. But other than that, I don't think we can know any more. Many people also really like the current opening. Ah. I am sympathetic to different systems, different policies, and I also encourage future councils to have deliberate discussions about this. That's why we want to have this conversation early in the process, so that

084the other interested parties know what we're thinking and don't feel that we're being disrespectful about this discussion. I don't want to be in a corner again. I don't have strong feelings about this, but I don't want you to be cornered and not feel respected about the things you want. I agree, Alex. This is a good conversation and I like your word "curos". It's a very good word. And I also want to talk about Caspy's politics. It says that professional development days should be planned or added to the calendar, but our policy says nothing about that, nor the importance of professional development days. Al mentions something that I've had on my mind for a long time, as long as the part-time weeks and professional development days. I would like our policy to reflect that priority, having

085heard clearly from the council that we value professional development for teachers. We want it to be useful for that purpose, meaningful, and translate into supporting our children. Correct. I know that's the value of the council and I see that as an opportunity to reflect that value and I believe it should be there. Council members, any other ideas on guiding principles? Yes, I am excited for the day we can refer to council policy and not guiding principles. Congratulations, years encode our values ​​in and the values ​​of the community in the calendar. Something else we haven't talked about, which isn't on the list of guiding principles worth considering based on community feedback. Well, I'll say that every year we have students who advocate for the Friday after Halloween as a day off. Halloween should fall on a

086Thursday, shouldn't it? I know it's not a state holiday. Perhaps not if we weren't in contact with the partial weeks. If we hear from the students, I welcome their feedback. Some registered members do, but they just wanted to point that out. Okay, going back to what I think is coming up, a question about the importance of equality. I think we have enough conversation to get started on this. I think this has been very good. I agree with the council members and I agree with Alex. This idea of ​​a council that feels confident enough in the relationship with each other, that we can all disagree about something and not be, that is, we don't have to be unpleasant for disagreeing with certain things. We all want the same thing in different ways. I think we have

087enough information. This has been very helpful and we will continue with a policy and regulation that is clear and reflects the council's values. And if we are articulating the process for those comments and the group of interested parties and how this process will be . I think it can help us to know which groups are conducting surveys or not. And if they are surveys, start talking well in advance so that people don't feel like they are advocating for a specific situation or a specific time, but rather the best interest of the community and everything that happens within the timeframe of this discussion. Dr. Andersen, you do mean that when we are silent about these issues, that's where we're going to be making adjustments. We talked about this for 90 minutes, so we're clearly passionate about

088this topic. We're going to get our team together and schedule a time to come back to you. One more question, Alex, and I know that the list of holidays no longer reflects. I added all the holidays, including this one, like Veterans Day, and celebrated it . Not all districts celebrate this day. Ah, but we do think it's good to clarify this, a law, ah, because one can celebrate Veterans Day by observing it in class during class hours. I think that's a conflict between our different priorities. And in terms of the national and state definitions of 10 holidays, there is a statute in the section of the law that identifies them as national holidays, but there is no law that requires the board to incorporate all of those into a school calendar. I could not find

089any state law that requires schools to be closed on Veterans Day. Thank you for clarifying that, and yes, because very often this day falls on a Wednesday and a Thursday and disrupts classes, and I think it's important to notify our community about potential changes . Alex and I look at being online with other areas, sensitive topics, and I look at the bands that are in the fields in August. I'm curious, are there other districts in Colorado that have or are considering taking action on days when school starts earlier? My question is, has anyone else done this? Um, which districts? What were the discussions about? What did they consider? Or if we were a group of districts, that is, we want to fundamentally change the state to address climate change collectively and not just be the

090only ones forcing children to do this six weeks of sports instead of three or four. I think we would look for districts that don't have air conditioning, because from what I understand , nobody starts after September, maybe a week, another, but there are many districts that have to be canceling schools because of the hot days. What I will say is that in our schools the gyms, for example, Conchaza's sports schedules, are hot during the afternoons, especially during volleyball season. I can get in touch with Casy to see if they're interested. Jason, at that point, Dr. Anderson. And hopefully, no, I'm not asking for anything huge, but potentially, ah, look at the savings from not conditioning your building for two weeks in August and an additional two weeks in May. I don't know if there are

091any cost savings there. We would obviously start later, but I'm curious to see what it would be like . If we maintain this very good data, everyone has seen our sustainability team. And I think we could give a good estimate of the heating costs given the average temperatures of those times . We can return to that question. Jim, so one more thing about the temperature. It would be interesting to know what schools in school districts where things are really bad are doing. I know that people who live here say, "Oh, it gets really hot." But I, as a formal or former resident of the state of Arizona, am going to tell you that it's not hot here, it's not 100 degrees, but it's still hot. What question do you have about what happens in other

092states like Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas where it actually goes up to 110, 115? Those are them, and we'll see what they're doing and we can incorporate that. I think we could spray water, put in more shade, air conditioners in schools, Beth and then Jason. I 'm just thinking out loud . I hear a lot about elementary school students being negatively affected by hot weather and high school students being impacted by winter break. Would it be a good idea to consider starting primary school later? No, if you have children in different schools it's a nightmare if you think about it, one student in a charter school and another in a regular school. Yes, I think this is n't going to make many people happy, and it would also change our transportation schedules. Regarding Keri's point, I

093worked a lot in the schools of the vegues there and I think the answer is that they don't come out, they don't come out until October. And I don't think that's the situation we want for our children. People who have to live in Las Vegas or Phix, that's their reality, but it does n't have to be our reality. And I think that's my point. And yes, we're not Fenex, we're not Las Vegas, and realistically, students in Las Vegas don't leave until October, and many people live in Colorado for these reasons. I know what they do in Vegas and it's not something I want to do here in the district. Alex, and I'm always happy to embrace this reputation of someone who hugs trees, but I think this is a good opportunity to talk about centers.

094I believe we are not replacing trees quickly enough, our long- term investment for our children in the face of climate change. We need to find ways to replace the trees that provide a lot of shade. And I also want to say that I grew up in Oregon and our school calendar was developed around planting and harvesting and not what was in the best interest of the children. And I think we can figure that out in the long term, and whether it's a calendar issue or not, that our schools are a place where children feel comfortable playing outside. That's very valuable to me, although yes, even if not everything goes as well as we'd like, or I don't know if schools start in September, because it's also hot in September. I am in favor of spraying

095with water, planting more trees, creating these playgrounds for children where they want to be. And yes, I would be interested to see data related to health problems by calendar and see what illnesses are affecting students due to the very hot weather, the very hot climate. Council members, I believe that closes our comments and questions on this matter. Many thanks to me personally for developing this, considering the different challenges and how we negotiate state statutes, negotiated agreements, and our existing practices to codify all our work with our current and future policies. And we're going to hear the recommendations from DAC and the recommendations from the district accountability committee, and with that, Council members, we're going to take a short break to change the council room. Ah. Welcome everyone. The next topic is the report from Superintendent

096Dr. Anderson. Forward. Good evening, Chairwoman Raj Paul, members of the Council. I am very happy to speak with you on this first, this happy Earth Day to everyone. As we know, the district is very proud of its tradition as a leader in sustainability. As you heard from an update from our team, we are making a lot of progress towards our sustainability goals. Anyone who wants to learn more can visit our website. We are focusing on creating environmental environments, experiences that equip students and staff with the knowledge and skills to create more sustainable communities. that last week at Emerald Elementary and Broomfield High School they spoke with the Broomfield City Council about having a hate-free place on April 17th . is part of the Anti-Scarification League. This is where they have anti-racism programs. As you can

097see here, the students from Emerald Elementary School signed this "No Place for Hate" sign and left messages on the sidewalks. That aligns perfectly with the culture of respect. This is our advisory to the Student Advisory Board that encourages schools through the Institute to celebrate empathy. We thank all the students who participate in all events. Last week, Charter Peak to Peak celebrated the opening of its new arts center, an auditorium converted from a 600-seat auditorium. The project was made possible by the generous support of contributors. We had a Ribbon Cutting event, they had a play of Mamma Mia and they're still going to have that play between April 24th and 26th and there are still tickets available and students are invited to bike to school. We have celebrations that take place throughout the district. It's a

098great time to put on your sneakers and travel to school by bike or skateboard. We have information on our website pbsd.org. That's all my comments tonight. Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Council members. There are some questions for Dr. Anderson. We will continue with public participation. We respect the public's right to speak about district issues. We do not value or endorse the comments of any speaker. We agree that you are responsible for everything you say. They have 2 minutes to see a yellow card when there are 30 seconds left and an orange card when there are 10 seconds left. If time runs out, they can send an email. We have two speakers. We have Mayor Billy Giblen. Hi everyone, how are you? Thank you for your time. Sorry, I was there, but I had to do some

099chores. I have to put the children to bed. So, I sent them an email. Today I want to follow up. I am Billy Kiblin, the father of a child in first grade and fifth grade at Netherland Elementary. I am also the coach of the Nordic ski team and the mayor of the Netherlands. And I want to invite or have this public meeting in the Netherlands. We're going to be the host and make it easy for you. I had a good chat with Alex just before the meeting and we had some good ideas about how that could happen. I want to move forward, to participate with you in supporting the final decision. from the district with our director and I think Caleb, you know, could be a good choice. It is a good option with proper

100guidance and support. This is for us, we have two assistant directors and a dean, they are important, and I want to continue the decision and work with the district and the community so that our children can live life to the fullest. And I think that's it, because one of our community members said it's a time for healing. There is an opportunity to heal and move forward. Thank you for your time and for the opportunity, and I will invite you to the Netherlands. I came in person last time, but today I had to do it in the Netherlands. Thank you for your time. Thank you. The next speaker tonight is Emily Stapes. Hello good evening. I am the father of a girl in Manar High School and I am advocating for this women's flag football to

101be a varsity sport. It has been designated an Olympic sport and deserves a place as a diversity sport in schools. This is already a chaza sport in 62 other schools in Colorado. There is currently a path to having it as a club sport. It requires students to regain interest and they need a coach. Therefore, the path is too complex to consider it in one or two teams for the entire district. I believe we can overcome those barriers if we can identify a champion within the district. We've identified these 15 athletes by spreading the word and we have enough players to have a team. The cost of turning chaza into a sport is $0,000. The cost can be covered through grants from other organizations that have an interest in flag football and have space on the

102fields. It would be good to add that sport to your cycle. There is a lot of interest in the girls. If we had a champion within the district, we could overcome the challenges and offer flag football to girls as a diversity sport by 2025. And thank you to the other parents who were participating in the meeting as well. Thank you so much. Yes, they 're still here. Perfect, that concludes our public participation. The next topic is communication between board members. Who wants to start? Alex, I have two things. I want to continue monitoring through observation. I had the pleasure of attending the unified basketball tournament and I have said that it is very excellent and we should attend unified sports. They are very cool and it's something we need to see: the creation and the

103intentional aspect of creating joy. We need to do it more often. But what I wanted to share tonight, I left a little early, it was time for lunch. I saw about 70 children outside the school. None of them had their cell phones. They were in large circles talking to each other, making eye contact and speaking. And I had to park at a distance because there were a lot of people present. I passed about 50 children who were going to the mall for lunch. I didn't see any cell phones at all. They weren't using their cell phones during the school day, but many people had said, "No, they're going to be in the skies." They were having their new way of interacting with other young people, and this time they were talking, looking at each other's

104faces. And I want to, I would like to observe other high schools during lunch and I am interested in really observing and seeing and talking to the kids, but my confirmation of what interests me is that they are talking to each other. I spoke with Mayor Giblin and I want to reiterate that I support the district's decision. I believe I couldn't attend the meetings earlier, but I am interested in a new stage of discussion for Netherland. What I suggested, Mayor, is that we talk with other leaders from other mountain communities—superintendents, mayors of other similar towns—not to discuss what's happening in the other schools in the district that Netherland may have, but what the other mountain communities are doing and what they're doing to encourage people to attend their schools. We can make a connection to

105the Netherland community, to the political center of Kingston, which are exploring how school districts are funding housing for their staff. I think we can be very innovative in that regard, and we can possibly guide the discussion by focusing on what things communities do that make their schools good, and how we're going to focus on how other similar communities have overcome their challenges and utilize the resources that a small town has. If you have a home study center or if you have affordable housing to support more staff, we are here for the long term and we also need to figure out how we are going to have a constructive future. So I'm looking forward to working in partnership with the people there. Thanks, Alex. Let's move on to the next topic, which is information, a recommendation

106for dismissal. Kathlen, council members, we received information on Monday that a court action had been taken on Friday. That information follows the new information as the council has done previously. It is an informational matter at this time that puts the statutory timeline in place and allows us to move forward. Thanks for the update, Kathl. The following is the JKA-E1 Board Policy, Student Restraint or Physical Intervention Incident Report Form. It is an addition to an existing policy. We recently reviewed and updated the policy. Therefore, the update is intended to clarify and highlight the essential requirements of the policy. We will ensure that we have data that is responsive to the data from the civil rights office. These recommendations came from a special education department working group and are supported by our dedicated district coaches. Council members,

107do you have any comments or questions on this topic? Well, none. We have the following withdrawal from Annex E of the board's policy, relations with military recruiters. We are removing this example. We are providing notification consistent with your policy process. We could have withdrawn it at the last meeting, but this one is related to the student record. Let's move on to the next topic, which is the legislative update. Dr. Anderson, would you like to begin? Thank you, Mr. President. Rashwal, council members. The session is beginning to end. The school finance bill is moving forward. Our last chance to give opinions. We were in a position to make amends. We are waiting for it to be finished. There is a way to track the dollars that are not given to the districts. similar to the budget

108stabilization factor. I'm going to say, moving forward, the districts are experiencing the new law in ways that are forcing them to make decisions. Those of us who saw the article in the Denver Post previously discussed with other districts the new formula, which means one thing that I shared that wasn't published in the article. Unfortunately, I believe that when one looks at the impacts across the State, in many ways the new law is neither adequate nor equitable. So at Sheriden School, the Sheriden school district, remember Johnny Thompson, who has served there, is doing a great job, they have high needs, but because they are small in a kind of rural district, but they are in an urban environment, they are not considered to be rural. So, District 14 and District 60 have high needs. So one

109would think that an equitable formula would take care of them first and not forget them as is happening. We had our first negotiation session with the BBEA union. We are looking forward to working together with them in partnership as we go through the negotiation process. But the school finance is going to end up pretty quickly in a place that's not as good as we would have hoped, but not as bad either. This tax note is a barrier to compliance with the liability law, and we're trying to figure out how we're going to make those changes without money. We are working on that, and we were also going to have some final adjustments that we need to consider, but those are the important issues that we are monitoring as a district. And Nicole, I'd love to

110hear what you have to say. I want to update you regarding the other legislation we are discussing, this bill 25076, intoxicating substances that would limit the potency of marijuana and mushroom products. That failed. Bill 9 , a regulation concerning marijuana, was postponed, but it will move forward; it is weaker than before, but it will probably pass the legislature. They are counting the votes for Bill 86, the social media protection bill . It's unclear whether they have enough votes, or if they know people. I believe the governor will not sign it, even though it passed both houses. And the last one was bill 1287, social media tools for children and parents, it's not currently scheduled, so it's not good news, but that's where we are. Any questions, Alex, I'd like to reiterate regarding the liability law.

111I want us to continue reviewing in these final moments. I believe that the way it has been written with the amendments, there is an over-politicization about the accountability system and that it sets a dangerous precedent. So this means that the legislature dictates and we have to negotiate to get there instead of doing it in a transparent way. So I think it's important to encourage continued tracking of that to ensure it's accurate. There aren't many people who do n't understand the current calculations, and that's going to hurt him. So, it's important to keep an eye on that. I also want to take a moment and I'm very pleased that Bill 1135 is in front of the governor. That requires. Both districts are developing plans regarding cell phones. It is very weak. So, I think it's going

112to change in the short term, but it's a good time to have a lot of information about how the implementation of our policy is going very well because once the law is signed , many other districts are going to have the same discussion that we had last year, and I think they have the courage and understand the benefits of the policy we have. And I want to share that with them so they do n't think of it as a mandate and not make any changes, because the law, or the bill, doesn't force them to do anything, but it's an opportunity for them to think about it. Questions or comments, board members, viewing none. We will continue. Consent group, action group 8.1 personal matters 8.2 2 for approval of the minutes April 8 8.3 approval of

113the minutes April 15 8.4 benefit agreements 8.5 acceptance of the donation Brunfield Preparatory School Mesa Elementary School, Southern Hills High School. 8.8 Change of date for the ordinary board meeting to June 17. 8.9 Infinite Campus Renewal for Fiscal Year 2026 8.10 Luisfield Elementary School Construction Modification Order 8.11 Resolution 25-10 Contract Renewal 8.12 Resolution 2511 Acceptance of the Results of the Gifted and Talented Children Recognition Election 8.13 Service Now Renewal. 8.14 Academic grant for climate justice, literature assessment tool and substance education. Is there any discussion, motion to approve Kiri seconded by Jorge? discussion within the consent group. I have a comment; it's interesting that we have to vote for people to quit their jobs. Jason wanted to acknowledge, I know I included Dr. Euphemia from Creekside Elementary. She is retiring, so I want to thank her

114publicly. My youngest son is going to be there, I have two children who were there and my youngest will be there soon. It's an amazing community. We are very sad that she is going to retire. I saw the news and I wanted to acknowledge her for all the hard work she dedicated to education for the past 10 years in Creekside. Thanks for that, Jason. Board members, is there another discussion? Laura can take attendance. Chávez, yes. Medler, yes. Nisnck, yes, Quinida. Yes, RP, yes, Sergeant, yes, her, yes. The motion passes. Council Members. The next topic is the grouping of consent policies . Sorry, I'm checking. Yes, that's correct. 10.1 SAAA Board Policy. Access to the facilities. FM Board Policy 10.3 KDB Board Policy. Public access to information 10.4 Withdrawal of EEA policy, land acquisition 10.5 Withdrawal

115of FFR policy naming of new facilities. 10.6 withdrawal of the FL policy withdrawal of facilities 10.7 withdrawal of the regulation concerning the public request for open records. Is there a discussion? Listening to none. We need a motion to pass. Alex, seconded by Kitty. Discussion. Members of the Lelinia Council. Thanks to Kathine and her team for their work on that, and a special thanks for access to school grounds and businesses and the welcoming language so people can use the playgrounds and courts. And I liked hearing that we'll put up signs if we need them for certain facilities or areas, but we're sending our kids out to play. So, thanks Alex. I also want to thank Kathine for developing this policy regarding facilities and to reiterate the second part about people who are eager to improve access

116to the playing fields, the playgrounds, so that people can come and play before and after school. They are welcome and don't need someone to supervise them all the time. It's excellent. Another discussion. Listening to none. Laura can take attendance regarding the policy consent grouping. Travis. Yes. Met. Yes. Nick. Yes. Quindeda. Yes. Rp. Yes. Sergeant, yes. Hunger. Yes. The motion passes. Council members, we have three policies to study tonight. We'll start with LMA, relationships with military recruiters, post-secondary and prospective employers in high schools. Kathle, the first policy that is before you for your review, we have already adopted the exhibit that ensures that we notify families of federal requirements that we share certain student information with military recruiters and also share information from post-secondary schools and employers. Then you can see the cross-references across policy and

117we're also clarifying and updating the language so it's nothing beyond that. Honestly, updates to comply with the law and to make it clear. Thanks for the update. Council members, questions or comments. watching none. We will continue with the JO policy. student files. We have policies and regulations regarding student records. We had already talked about that when we cleaned up the permit withdrawal forms. We intend to modernize and reflect on what we do with student archives. Use electronic means. We include language that we know is important when there are concerns about child custody for divorced or separated families. that parents retain rights regarding information about their children and we removed very technical or detailed things for policy and have regulatory language to make it clear about the disclosures that are made with the consent of the

118parents, students or families and the obligations of the law. In this case we will still have regulation, but we feel that this proposal is to move these rights into a more visible location in policy and we reserve the regulation itself for the two types of requests that we deal with most. When a family wants to see their student's file and the related procedure and the procedure to implement the federal law requirement, that parents and families can challenge the contents of the student's records and there is a hearing process for that. Thank you so much for that review. Does anyone have any questions for Katina? Yes, thank you so much for all your work on this, Kathlen. And well, I'm saying that maybe you copied and edited it, so you don't have to bring this up

119again, but under the section where it talks about written consent, section one, part one, section A. Well, I'm really curious why a board member would want access to student information. Well, I think this is a very important question, and this is really where we're trying to bring in federal and state laws, because as we know through the council, there is a law in the state that says people can access these files by incorporating this language. Here we are incorporating the part of the legislation that says whether or not someone has an interest in a student's files . And if there are some times when a constituent might want to talk to a council member about a student, well, they have to see how this is going to be resolved, and I can have a conversation

120with someone where I'm going to refer to a student's information. This doesn't really happen very often, but if we didn't have that identification policy, we wouldn't have any problem complying with this state law. I understand. Yes. The other thing is this part where you speak in the same section where you share information with other students who are part of a committee, let's say, the disciplinary committee. Well, I think I need more information. I have some concerns about sharing one student's information with another student. Thank you very much for that question. Well, that language actually comes directly from the Gasby sample. And when I read it, it really made me wonder about some things, and what I really think is that in higher education we might be seeing, we might be seeing something like colleagues who

121are on a disciplinary committee, well, maybe in the leadership part of the school district or the board, that we want to create a law or a rule where it is suggested that this type of decision be removed. Well, we're assuming that perhaps there isn't a very good reason for a student to be in that position to receive it. Alenia, well, the only time I would think that something like that could happen is in the restorative process. Uh, I think I can put it in a language that can protect that process. Language is the important thing in how it is determined here. Thank you for that question. Oh, sorry, I have to go to a different page. Ah, okay. Okay, can we talk about Jor or wait? Well, they're both here on the table, we can

122check them both. When I realized that in J there is a place that says that the assigned person should be able to have the contacts and notify the parents by certified mail, but in another section that certified mail notification had been deleted. Do we have to do that or not? And I think it should be consistent, don't you? We really don't have to do that by registered mail, and that 's correct, and registered mail needs to be eliminated if the pandemic wasn't really a problem. Ah, well, if all the regular mail practices are over and our families prefer email, Alex. Yes, in paragraph one, lowercase 'e', we have that a person to whom the district has provided some functions or activities. I would like to add to this list the analysts or the researchers or

123analysts and oh and/or researchers. For example, if it's something we're working on with our mental health partners who might have better data to make an assessment, we could do it. On what page is that? It's on page cco after paragraph one, lowercase e and it's the part that talks about how to share other people's information. I have a question, going back to Kitty's comment, about letting and sharing the information with the Council members. Well, I really wouldn't want the Council members to be part of the lobbyists who are asking them for information or to have access to that information, which is going to give them a bit of an edge that isn't really related to the work we do with the staff. But I would like to be clear that someone from the community requested

124access; it does n't mean we are going to give it and provide it, but rather that it is with the idea that they have to take action. But I would n't want to think that the community believes they can gain access to that information when the student is not part of that process. Thank you very much for that clarification, because that example I gave you is really very narrow and it's not sharing the information of the files themselves, but if I am sharing information of the files, that language needs to be there. And another example could be when the board, when the council is asked to study a complaint, really considering the complaint, or look at a matter of expulsion, or some specific council functions; that's really what determines whether the council receives that information.

125Well, a couple of things I noticed, and it's regarding the standardized use of language. At the bottom of page 2 of J, it talks about the parents and says that we have inconsistent application of the standards in J O and J O and it is not consistent with the practices we have had, and that is a part of the language that does not match. Yes, I think this issue, when parents or someone talks to us about a specific issue concerning a student, and we members can have a conversation with district staff, legal staff, and if that information isn't part of the student's file but is to give us information, this has actually come up a couple of times, and this is the part where I want to say, the part where I'm excited, that the

126district can make some progress in these situations. These are definitely complex situations, and I'm letting you know so I can add them to the agenda later. I don't know if this is a matter of policy, but at least a guide on how we can appropriately handle these situations. And when they explain to us what we should do in a situation and if we have that conversation, I prefer to know beforehand and rescind this type of communication instead of being followed by one of the parties who wants to ask and know more or who want to have access to this information. And one thing that can be done is, I prefer that we do this with careful consideration of the legal terms in terms of what we can or should not do. So I believe I'm

127not the only one here on the council who thinks the details of this need to be explained much better, and a policy that allows us to be responsible and appropriate parents. I 'm not really talking about a change in policy, but rather that it be clearer. Ah, council members, any questions or comments? Since there's nothing, we'll move on to the last item on our agenda, which is what we want to discuss at the next meeting. And well, Alex, yes, I already did it prematurely, but well, I do n't know if this is the appropriate context for this, but it's really about being able to give a summary of our roles and responsibilities and how to handle these complex situations carefully. Ah, council members, anything else? Well, that concludes our meeting . The session is closed.

128How wonderful. Thank you. Good night. Thank you to all three of you. Good night. Until next time. Many, take care. See you later. See you later. [Music]