001Laura, you can call roll. Garcia, we're going to begin our meeting with Land Acknowledgment. With pleasure, the Bolo Valley School District resides and operates on lands that are the ancestral homeland and territory unjustly and illegally taken from tribal peoples and nations historically tied to this land, who have called this land home since this time. In recognition of the atrocities committed here, including the painful history of genocide, forced assimilation, and efforts to fill the Indigenous inhabitants of their homeland with the support of United States government policies, you must be aware of the many Indigenous peoples, past and present, and their dignified nations and cultures that nurture the composite fibers of resilience. You must recognize the stories of the land in Colorado and the survival of the many nations that carry their oral traditions into the present.
002It is our responsibility to educate ourselves, our communities, and our students so that we can embrace the wisdom and knowledge of Indigenous peoples and actively unite to address and do justice to this land. We affirm and honor the history, wisdom, oral traditions, and references of Indigenous peoples and recognize our responsibility to care for and Valuing this land together, I would like to remind everyone that it is the mission of the Powder Valley School District to create challenging, meaningful, and engaging learning opportunities so that all children thrive and are prepared for success. Surely, good night everyone, and thank you for joining us electronically. Through babies watching and participating, there is excitement to test the agenda for tonight. To see, and secondly, for the time, you can call it the vote or the excitement to test that
003Garcia does pass. We will know, as always, with the superintendent's report. Good night. Thank you all. Today is a very exciting day for people who like math all around the county, all of Colorado. As I was a teacher before, I thought it would be fun to wish everyone a happy International Math Day. I do n't know if anyone wants to share, or maybe we can serve ourselves a piece of... Happy Father's Day to everyone. Well, speaking of a person who definitely knows how to spell, there is a student who participated in a spelling bee. She is the champion, and now she is going to the state level competition. Congratulations, Sofia! While on Saturday, sir, it is a competition where high school students research different topics. Various... You have served as judges in several schools and
004represent each SERVIU middle and high school. You won the high school award and went on to the state competition. Last week was a very exciting week. We had an opportunity because we opened the Community Leadership Academy. We held a workshop with parents from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. We had many applicants, but we accepted about 45 participants. They spent the day with us. During the first session, they learned about the district's operations, security, bonding, and more. We closed with the district's finances. Thank you to all the participants. The Community Academy is something you are interested in. Don't worry, we will have it again next year. I think it's a very good effort on our part to get the community involved and learn more about babies. Finally, members' information articles 6. You will hear about our
005recommendations for adopting literacy materials. We are very excited about that. We are moving on to what we will be recommending in reading, which is more about the science of reading. Members and community members, you know I spend a lot During my time in schools, I've been to 19 elementary schools this semester. We've had many conversations around literacy materials. I want to alleviate some of the concerns from the teachers and the community surrounding Foundation members. For those who have been part of these conversations, you know how they go. When I go to the schools, the teachers are excited about the new materials but don't know if they want the Foundations program to be maintained. It's a very good program. That's my expectation as we implement it—that Foundations will be maintained. All the great effort and implementation
006we've put into it. Foundations isn't disappearing with the adoption of these materials. I want to clarify that for the community. It's our job, our team's job, to make sure those programs are integrated so that students receive the best. And finally, the last item is the moment for student members to win the award. And now they're going to Nationals. It's a very exciting opportunity. Their teacher is here and will help introduce this exceptional group. Thank you so much for having us here this afternoon. I want to say what I know you want to hear more from them than from me, but the fact that they've done all this work outside the classroom is really their curiosity and desire to To make a difference and be people who act for change, I mean, as a teacher, I
007do n't know how to do what they want to do, so I have to learn with them, and it's an extraordinary journey. Thank you for listening to these great students. I give you the time. Hello everyone, it's a pleasure to be here so we can talk about our project on a water contamination test. My name is Amanda. I am Chanista. I am Alex. I am Joseph, and I am Penal. Next, well, a problem that people started noticing after fires and accidents is that water lines were contaminated with pollutants like pencil after the March fire that was in California, and people realized that this happened because the pipes were damaged during the fires, and the pipes sucked in the smoke from the fire. Next, please, who has been affected? We were all possibly affected, and because
008we live in the BBC area, we want to make water tests more equitable for people in the community because they cost a lot and take a lot of time. Next, please, so our project is about cancer in the community. We created a website to reach members of our community, making it easy to access and for them to have access to it. We've also been working on reaching out to the people we want to work with in the future to help develop our idea. For example, we went to a diagnostics lab and they gave us ideas to move our project forward. We've also been working with experts at Deezer who are helping us develop our project. So, the solution is a detector that uses ultraviolet light. If you don't know what that is, using ultraviolet light
009in water is very dangerous, so we 're using ultraviolet light. Next, the science concept comes from a publication in Colombia. The concept uses ultraviolet rays. Traditionally, these rays have higher levels than normal light. So, when they interact with the chemicals inside the pencil, the electrons jump an energy level and discharge, and the photon level allows us to see if there are more contaminants present in the water. Next, the path to our final prototype: what we've been doing is creating proof of concept. This involves looking for a noun, or a contaminant, that acts as a contaminant. We've been looking for something aromatic, similar, for example. We see how much these substances absorb and if they align with the ultraviolet light we've been using. Using paint, we've been looking at the effects of the interaction of paint
010with ultraviolet light in water, and also with other contaminants in the water. In the first two images, you can see that the water glows because the paint is reacting with the ultraviolet light. In the third, you can see that the water and other contaminants are not reacting with the ultraviolet light. This tells us that when we're doing our tests with ultraviolet light, the presence of water and other contaminants does n't change the results. For our final prototype, what we envision is a handheld device that measures whether or not there is a level of contamination in the water. Eventually, this will let us know if our water is safe to drink. Next slide, please. Well, thank you for listening to our presentation. We would all appreciate your advice and suggestions. If you have any questions, this
011is the second time tonight I'm going to say, "Wow, you guys are doing an amazing job!" My advice would be to make sure you get a patent. Seriously, fantastic work! We wish you the best of luck in your competition. I'd like to give you more suggestions, but I don't have any. Happily ever after. And thank you. Another round of applause for the student board members. Closing my comments Council members, one question: would you like to give details about the upcoming Leadership Academy on April 7th? I believe so, it is April 7th. We are excited that our group will be joining us that day. Who will be in charge of the meeting for the community presentation? Thank you. OK. Let's begin with public participation. Members of the public who wish to speak at the meeting and
012who registered before noon today, please submit an application to speak during public participation, which can be found on the PVC website or by contacting the board secretary. Public participants have the option to attend, meet in person, join, or submit comments via Google. The board respects the public's right to speak on matters related to the operation of schools. The board does not endorse comments from any computer. And remember, everyone who speaks is responsible for their own speech. Please note that this listening opportunity for the board does not involve engaging in dialogue or answering questions as part of the public participation. To ensure that this meeting is conducted in an orderly manner, we ask that you limit your comments to school-related matters. We recognize that students often view our meetings and comments accordingly. The speaker's materials should
013therefore be appropriate for infants. Students up to grade 12. The board president will interrupt and end the presentation. Limit your presentation to two minutes. If you run out of time and would like to share more information, you can email the board. However, it's a yellow card when you have 30 seconds remaining. When you have seconds left, you will see a red card. At the end of the two minutes, your microphone will be muted. We have a presenter, and after that, we will go in order. First speakers: Mr. Good evening, board members. Doctor, I am a parent. For all students and a member, we support students. First, it wasn't designed from the beginning to the end. We know this because previous versions of the program tell children how to guess, how to enjoy words. It's very
014mediocre at teaching reading skills. Thank you. The district has foundations, which is a program that teaches fundamental tools about universal reading. The materials were designed to be adopted. The committee wasn't directed to look at the implications of replacing them, and they didn't consider the central, but not the tester. Go outside and interventions. Specific instructions from staff of the Franco regime must be taken into account for how to implement it within the classroom. We respectfully ask for your advice. A formal statement affirming as required for monolingual students. Thank you very much. Excuse me, next we have Franchesca Huayna. Excuse me, I'm here to speak in favor of counseling programs within the school. From my point of view, counseling is very important. Safe places to talk about real things when they happen. We've had three suicides related
015to threats. None of these situations were discussed in a good way, and that's not right. Many students chose to act as if it didn't happen. We can't allow this to become normalized. We have to create reverse communities within the school. There are many communities in my school, but for the most part, these communities are segregated. I want more opportunities to meet people from different cultural backgrounds. I have seven periods during the day, and in each one of them, I'm being evaluated. That's not right. We are creating spaces. Students can be themselves. Right now, I ca n't imagine having a real conversation about who I truly am within the school because how am I going to trust someone in school if they don't know me? But a long-term counseling program allows students to work with an
016adult and build that trust. These spaces will allow conversations to open up and relationships to form. They wouldn't have done it any other way. Every child has the right to build a trusting relationship with an adult. Right now, I have to work really hard to build a relationship with my teacher. This means raising my hand, asking questions, staying after school, and many other things. It shouldn't be so difficult. Many students are afraid to do this, and that's why they fall behind. A mentoring program would allow more students to get to know each other and their teachers better. Teachers will be able to identify the students who are struggling the most and give them the support they need. Mentoring is a program that addresses a lack of safety. Most students, including myself, won't say they want
017an extra class, but when we look at the trauma, the community that never speaks out, the cultural groups that isolate themselves in exchange for codes, and the hundreds of students who are afraid and don't want to be seen, we need safe spaces. Please establish this pilot program and let's see what we can build as students and teachers. Thank you. I forgot to mention that Sebastián gave us two more minutes in case anyone was wondering why we gave you the floor. Thank you, and I am Francesco's father. Very proud. Good evening, Doctor. I've been working with parents on counseling and the need for a program like this in high school. The petition already has 11,000 signatures. That's a regular time when they meet in small groups with a counselor they trust. Most private schools have counseling
018programs, and many public schools include them. This program increases academic performance and confidence. The results of the counseling program tell us that suicide cases have decreased. I'm sure that if we implement this program, it will save at least one life. I want to talk about the fundamentals of how to develop this program. I've spoken with members, and the principal and other members are looking at this as a program that lasts a whole semester, and another one in the second semester. The meetings would be one hour once a week. The school would have to find a time; for example, they have a block on Thursdays that we would work on. The schools are already working on the agenda and schedule for next year. It's very important to start thinking about this. This would affect the students'
019transcripts, and the teachers would receive additional pay. We would like twenty-five teachers to be involved with two students each, which would be 375 students in the first semester. And we can definitely train More teachers there, I'll explain how it was going to happen. First, we're going to explain the idea to the high school teachers and invite them to participate. We believe that the principals, in my experience, have to be committed for the program to be successful, and they have to find time during the week. Second, we would put together a team of experts to pilot the program, apart from Joan, who can be a leader of this effort and is interested in doing it. We have experts at BBC, where consulting already exists, for example. We have all the ideas to implement it. We do
020n't need outside experts. I can help, but it would be through pro bono work. They would work for at least two weeks during the summer until the fall: curriculum design, teacher training, and evaluations. In other words, how we define success and how we're going to experience it. And then we're going to have staff training. We're going to talk about essential things, for example, development, building trust, and how to conduct a successful meeting. We'll continue that training with virtual calls every two weeks, and finally, we would implement it in the fall of this year and start meetings with facilitators and check how things are going. We would have one of the team members work as someone from the group and give surveys afterward. From the program, I think I've run out of time. If there's a
021lot of content, you can send it all to us and then we'll read it. Next, we have... There's Laura Collins. Laura has been given two minutes, is that correct? Yes, that's correct. I 'm Laura Collins. I'm a survivor of the March fire, and I continue to advocate that the district ensures the affected schools are free of the toxins. The presentation on benzene was interesting because it's related. To remind you, it was cars, batteries, things like that—toxic substances that cause cancer. We want to request that they take samples from vacuum cleaners and tape. We want a specialist trained with the indicated toxins, not just those who have experience with mold. We don't want them to be the ones who have worked with the district before. We would like to have a check-up. We do n't want
022them congratulating themselves for having done a great job. I think we are making some progress with the district, but there is still resistance. The point that has been made is that schools have been designed differently than a house. It took me 10 months to remediate my house. That's going to be different. But I want to point out that the hospital, which is more like a school, spent many weeks there. They had an industrial hygienist and did a cleaning afterward. The specialist who inspected the fire and returned a second time to ensure the toxic products had been removed indicated that the air system had been shut down before the smoke arrived. That's interesting because most of us didn't receive an evacuation notice before seeing the flames. The expert, their industrial hygienist, supposedly consulted, said that if
023they shut down the air system, the school should be safe. The same person has done training that specifically says the opposite, that it can be contamination. We are asking—and it's not just me—there's a community. We have a petition with over 250 signatures requesting that the district do another inspection. Type of samples that go beyond simply demonstrating the air. I'm curious about the samples that have been done previously, who has done them, and to give context, it took ten months to repair my house. That includes the furniture, curtains, carpets, every book—250 books, 800 games. We have lab evidence that a sealed plastic container tested positive for toxic microorganisms. These are old beliefs, and sealed is safe. It's not true that we have challenged the district to do its best. We are definitely in front of all
024of that, and our children deserve it. Thank you. Who has given you two minutes? Good evening. I am returning to the meeting tonight to reiterate the need for further sampling after the March fire. The district has indicated that it is not necessary because there are no standards indicating that it is safe after a fire. The fact that there is no established standard about particulate matter after a fire does not mean that the district should hide in ignorance. One of the reasons I am proud that my children are students in the district is that the district is very progressive in many matters. Why does the district after fires have to be different? I mentioned a box after the fire that had ash. An industrial hygienist approved the ash and there are high levels of particulate matter
025after the fire. So I have evidence that goes beyond simple samples. It's worthwhile to do those samplings to determine if the schools are safe for our children. That's a modest request. They need to do those tests and share the results with the public. I appreciate your consideration. Thank you. Thank you. Last speaker. You have virtual. I think. Hello, yes, can you hear me? Yes, we can't hear you. Excellent. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you tonight. I wanted to speak directly to the board to remind each of you of the example you give, as the student spoke earlier who talked about the episodes. The students had an extraordinary week. There was a false alarm incident, and there was a shooting within two blocks of the school, which resulted in the police being
026at the school all day. The next day, I couldn't believe that not one of you acknowledged any of the events, the effect they can have on the students and your staff at the school. There's an example you give of empathy, recognizing the signs, and you missed the opportunity. And I'm concerned about the message you 're sending by not acknowledging it on your agenda. Or if the school alone... This moment again is surrounded by encampments. They've been reported, but they've been there for over a week. I'm asking you to use your voice, speak out on behalf of the students, families, and your own staff, to ask the city to do its part. Ask the city what it's doing. Look at the mess they've made. I'm calling on the city, but I 'm asking the board to
027use their voice to advocate for the staff and students, to make positive changes around the school, to ensure everyone's safety. Thank you. That concludes. Excuse me, community participation tonight. Oh, I'm throwing things away. Thank you, Mom. Let's continue with board communication. Who wants to start? Board members, there's no communication. I want to thank those who spoke tonight for expressing their concerns about your systems. Thank you for being here, and that's all I have to say. I want to thank those who spoke. Thank you, Richard. Anyone else? I want to echo what Richard said. Thank you to those who spoke, particularly the students. The student who spoke: I love it when students come to the board meeting. It's a little scary to talk to the board members. She's not here now, but the I congratulate you.
028I was deeply affected by the fire, and several weeks ago I found more ashes. I understand; I didn't have the same difficulties as you, but I do understand your position. I hope we can do everything possible to ensure the safety of our students. I attended the inaugural district leadership meeting. You must have seen Rap greeting everyone. He was greeting each person who came in. He did a great job, as did all the staff. It's a great job. I want to acknowledge Jair. He was nervous speaking in public, but he overcame his fears and did a good job. Thank you to the community members who showed up. I'm grateful for your commitment to giving four hours of your day to work together with us. Should I talk now about the conversation I had with the GOES
029representatives, or should I put it later? I won't address it when we talk about the legislative update. And thank you for everything you presented. We always want to hear from the public; it's one of the ways we connect with the community, even though it may not seem like it because we don't respond. But we appreciate those who want to share their opinions. Now, let's talk about the next item. We have four informational items. The first is the GOES materials provision. Thank you, Doctor. Good evening, Mr. President. I believe we have several staff members. The doctor has the computer. She will guide the discussion regarding the materials we are recommending for literacy from kindergarten through fifth grade and high school math. Good evening, Mr. President. Today we are here to share with you the process for
030the elementary e-writing materials. I will present on literacy. She did a great job along with her team. She is here to share the process with you. Our goal, as always, is to continue supporting our strategic plan by adapting a new e-writing program. Specifically, we want to address challenging and relevant instruction. I will allow her to speak. Thank you, Doctor. Good evening, Mr. President. Thank you for the opportunity to present to you the work and recommendations of the group, the Elementary Reading Materials Adaptation Committee, when Fondas and Pinel were adopted in 2018. This is about adopting materials after having no materials. Now we are going to align the instruction with the body of evidence called the Literacy Sciences in 2018. On the 21st, the state told us we were out of compliance with the reading law,
031and the materials were not on the state-approved list. The materials we needed for bilingual schools were approved, but they are no longer. We want to use reading science to teach students to read. We want to take the opportunity to choose a set of materials for both bilingual and monolingual schools so that all students receive the best instruction. At the beginning of 2022, we brought together teachers from all the schools and administrators to review the materials. That's a committee composition. At the first meeting, the members went through a process to identify what was important in the district for teaching students to read. That collaborative work informed the next process. The state had done significant studies to ensure that all the materials on its list met the standards. Then we focused on how the materials teach reading.
032The vendors presented their materials, and in January, they invited the Student Equity Council and parents from diverse backgrounds to review the materials. Their feedback was shared at the January 31st meeting, and finally, the The committee made recommendations in October. We asked schools if their teachers were ready to adopt the new materials a year earlier. The bilingual schools decided to adopt the materials. There are many resources on the state-approved list, but what we wanted to see were three options that needed to be on the approved list, available in both Spanish and English, and meet the expectations. Everyports is an independent organization that reviews materials across all subjects to provide comprehensive information about standards and other indicators. Favorable materials include instruction that teaches all the components of writing. These three companies you see here meet the committee's
033requirements. As you can see above, Interreading is the committee's first choice. Maravillas is the second choice, and Caminos Cornerales Language is not the committee's recommendation; it is the recommendation for the adoption of elementary exo-writing materials. They adopt Interreading as the reading materials for elementary reading instruction. Thank you for the opportunity to share this information, and I am happy to answer your questions. Board members ask: I am very happy when we can use the Equity Committee. They were the first group to review the materials and then passed them on to the community. The committee first met to review everything and how the state had already studied it all. We could change the process of requesting or asking for proposals. We asked the vendors to submit their proposals and then sent the information to the three vendors.
034After that, while we had posted the request for proposals, we invited teachers to provide information even though they weren't part of the committee. We invited the members to come back and look at the materials in more detail. We also asked the student equity council and parents from diverse backgrounds. They had sent the request but hadn't received responses. They had been reviewing the materials themselves. On slide eight, there are the percentages. Did the two groups have the same opinion or a different opinion? We took their comments into account, and basically, they were at the same percentages. They definitely preferred Inter Reading, the reading above, and difficult reading. They definitely wouldn't prefer Secal Pathways. Thank you, Nicole. Thank you for the presentation and also for your time. When I reviewed the materials with you for two hours,
035you answered my questions at that time. Since then, I have other questions. You mentioned that bilingual schools decided to adopt the materials early, and those that aren't bilingual, how was that determined? By self-selection, another process for the Bilingual schools: I work with them individually each month to do their language reviews, and based on their implementation, if the staff is ready— many of their staff members were on our committee—they wanted to implement it together. The three schools, to do it as a team, we asked the principals to think about their staff. We had a lot of people who wanted to say, "Yes, I am," so we asked the staff if they were ready to start the following year. What I like about the above is the reading; the English and Spanish versions are very aligned and
036include social studies and science topics, and also a strong writing component. I was thinking, "Bravo! We don't have to make any more photocopies!" So they include a version of a composition notebook. There's a portion of consumables— which parts they're going to use and which they're not. We've worked a lot with the purchasing department to see what can be added to the contracts or not. We look at whether the materials will benefit the students or if it's something extra that can be handled differently. For example, a book. That's how we review. I think we're going to talk about contracts soon, and you'll see how we divide the important things. There are parts of the consumables that are very necessary, so we advocate Thank you, Dr. Anderson, for reserving my question about the total cost. Is it
037part of the next meeting, or this meeting? I believe that follows. In the next meeting, you will receive the information and it will be ready for immediate action or for review. The agenda includes all the prices. I want to add another thing: being able to participate in the roundtables in the schools. The teachers who were able to participate in that are positively anticipating the new program. There are other questions regarding that part. We will continue with mathematics. Doctor, would you like to give the introductory presentation? Good evening, President. We need to get down to business. Dr. Anderson, board members, what is the link, Director of Academic Services? Facilitating the adoption or adaptation process of mathematics materials, we had a similar process. For the order, it was a little different. The first meeting was about making
038a consensus among the schools on what we were looking for in high-quality materials for secondary mathematics. We looked at material criteria for the request for proposal, and then at tonight's meeting, we worked with representatives from all departments to make appropriate criteria about what we were looking for in materials. We received eight proposals that met our needs. We narrowed the options down to four, and the four finalists represent a variety of teaching styles, from conventional to We received examples from each program to provide feedback. The committee included high school math, fifth graders who teach more sixth grade math, members of our purchasing departments, and students. We had two weeks of community review. 26 community members reviewed the materials, and students reviewed the materials and said things like, "I like the colors." That looks very young. The
039selection. The majority of students who preferred it was Midland Up Math. It supports math pathways by providing high-quality materials in both Spanish and English. It includes intervention and advanced materials. It is the math committee's recommendation for sixth through eighth grades to adopt Hardcore Up Math for high school level. I would love to hear your questions. Board members have questions. Dr. Anderson has questions. You didn't stop us from asking questions. I wanted to make a comment. How exciting! I am excited that the new high school teaching materials, like a new study from when I was a new student, and the data support the benchmark scores of past years in high school math, are looking to see additional growth in our students because national data suggests that our students are falling behind in that subject of math,
040and these processes. We want to give the necessary training and materials for our Teachers who have them in accordance with the teaching and improve our students in the best way to face the world. A question, rather a comment on this material, is asking for the students' opinion. During my experience as a high school student, it's nothing that compares to having the book in hand. It's a very good experience compared to online classes, and it's great that teachers can differentiate the level of each of their students. They work very well with our pathways material, and I want to see how you're going to work with this math material. As Dr. Anderson said, it's an area where we should be very proud, and thank you for your work. I have a question: when did we adopt what
041we're currently using? I think it was nine years ago, Nico. A general question: the process used for the adoption... I don't love this process. The process wasn't as complete as it could have been. Without knowing the past, for example, when the method... For future... And that's one of our priorities: to verify this on our priority list. We're going to have a working session on this topic. Yes, April 22. I think what we're going to do now is... we're going to look at high school or fifth grade next fall. In the fall, we're going to do high school math. And then we're going to bring in the eighth-grade teachers who will be part of the program and will work on the math teaching program. And then we have our elementary teachers [Music]. We've worked a lot
042with math expressions, which is our annual elementary program, and our teachers are very comfortable. It's going to make a very good transition. So this implementation will be in the 2023-2024 school year. Any other questions? Very good work, thank you. Our next item to address... I see you're getting at your computer in the long-range advisor. Good evening, President. Members of the Council, tonight my committee members will be giving a report on our work. And we hope, President of the Committee, that we have the enrollment changes in the district. That is, a topic of discussion at our meetings to update how we're going to respond to the changes in our communities. The purpose of this April is to take something for decision-making that would affect those that go in accordance with the standards of the strategic plan.
043The information books the Council could use in decision-making. The related issues have an answer for the finals. The first meeting will have presentations on enrollment data and other information, precisely from working on analyzing the rates, the changes that are... See links, number of enrollments, the guides presented for your consideration. Data to encourage discussions, relevant data was. Well, at the committee's request, it is located here where new housing developments are planned in the orange area. These developments are in the yellow part, or a residential zone, but there are no permits yet for the development of these constructions. They are rural areas where housing development is not foreseen in the future. Essentially, they show existing developments in existing houses, not such large developments. Potentially, there is an orange color; they are very small areas. There are other
044residential developments, potentially elementary school children. In some cases, in existing residential areas, enrollments are decreasing, and how does it look in terms of numbers? During the next five years, going down from elementary school is where the sharpest decline occurs, and smaller kindergarten classes with impacts from the pandemic and more recently a decline in immigration to the district. And in terms of schools over time [Music] the schedule is, as we can see, see by grades, we have five schools outside the mountains that have less than two rounds. The cases of two rounds, we see, possibly it is going to Doubling and some possibly 1.5 rounds and Dr. de la Cruz can explain more about this. We want to share with you information about problematic issues that impact the memories and how this affects our programs. Key
045comparisons that are problematic for our programs: three rounds, two rounds, one round, and several grades. And this could make it difficult to have educators at the primary level follow the equitable ratio. Minutes can rain, taking into account two teachers per grade, and this represents complexity. Limitation, but the round is simple, it represents even more limited collaboration from teachers, the programming of extracurricular activities, such as the Imagination mission, the Imagination program is the destination, and these types of after-school programs, such as robotics, can reach the required number of students without having to ask students to choose between music classes and band classes, but they can't take both. We can't fill a round; we have to change the multi-grade model, including annual changes. In the middle of the school year, we have to adjust our staffing levels.
046Financial support becomes more complicated as groups get smaller. We have financial impacts as discussions decrease. When we have fewer students, the benefits of economies of scale are lost. Then, enrollment resources are lost. They also decrease as enrollment decreases. Resources are disproportionate, and fixed administrative expenses like custodians and maintenance, as well as other budget items like libraries, require more resources. Even though the number of students is lower, the most recent committee meeting made recommendations and developed the recommendations for the indices. We have upcoming meetings [Music] the meeting on March 14th. I will be present, but I will be at that meeting And Jeff won't be at the April 17th meeting. But I will be there. That's all. If you have questions, on the map they presented, what part of the die, or where is it located?
047I see in this darker area that part has already been approved. The lighter parts are for the future. It's interesting that I'm confused about the orientation of the map. This arrow is hard to see. Is it north of Central? Is it northeast of Central? I'm confused about the orientation. Is it identified as being in the area of...? Another question I have is about the rounds. I do n't know which slide number it is. It's from 2025. 10 rounds of schools, and right now we have rounds of two or two and a half rounds. Our schools, the one with a single rule, I think... It seems that in 2025 we have to make decisions according to this graph. It's good that I won't be on the council. Whoever is here to make that decision, to clarify
048the comments first, we always have more difficult decisions, or when listening to the team talk about what happened. If the schools are being reduced, it's a series of decisions. We have a process that includes community participation as we make our decisions. It's important, and our community has done a great job asking our staff the tough questions. I want to thank the board and everyone who does this work. We have many decisions we have to make with our community. Something more, Richter? No, thank you, but okay. This scares me a lot. I understand. These are just recommendations that the board is making. But my question is, is the committee considering or evaluating neighborhood schools changing attendance limits? No, it's not part of our job. We're looking at the indicators that allow us to take action, and
049staff to take action, but we're not looking for solutions. I understand that. For me, that's part of the problem with neighborhood schools. Where do they come from? Part of it is n't like, it's like a walking exercise for you. A great advantage, and this advantage is planning ahead about what might follow. It's a very complex issue, but we have to realize that we have to consult with everyone in the community, take their time, analyze the indicators, the data. Once this is established, we're going to have to establish a process with more guidelines, or just the process itself. We're going to get there, but it's not something that's going to happen this year. I 'm more like, what I want to see are the trends that we've heard time and time again about the house of
050the Birth rates are declining, especially in this area, and well, these are very difficult decisions that will undoubtedly have to be made. They've been here in the district for many, many years, and when Rapa Jose Elementary School closed, all the problems that came with that are going to be difficult. Let's see, he began by saying that it's not easy to say, the housing crisis... housing needs to be affordable for everyone, but families can live in the county, they want to attend different schools. I've spoken with families, and they're aware that it's rising a lot, and the cost of living is... I want to thank the governor for the call to action to increase density, to make housing affordable for everyone, and to establish solutions for families who can... I have a family very grateful for
051that house made possible by increasing the options to 1,000 square feet, but the cost is one of the obstacles. And I say this is good to tell you, it's not a situation that any of us should have to face. None of our teachers, none of our families, bilingual teachers, can't, they do n't have the means to pay the cost of living. These decisions are going to be made very quickly, and well, they are only part of the Board of Education, where everyone... and thank you for your work. It has been excellent. I would like to respond about... Well, I was a victim of the March fires. I had to live in... for a while. I'm going to change now. We are part of a Facebook group. It's the superior one. It's the only one that
052has an area designated as affordable housing. It's not part of this... But there are members who are working... Thank you very much, and if there is any way I can support you, please let me know. I want to express my gratitude for the work you did. [Music] About the indices used, and these... What kind do other districts use? Well, they are measurement indices. They lead directly to school consolidation, to school closures. Very specific about how close one school is to another, well, students have enrolled, etc., etc. But it is based on the educational experience of our students. It is important to understand the number of students per class, as Dr. de la Cruz just explained. Two weeks ago, I was in a meeting about parental involvement in education, and our parent representatives were asking how
053we were dealing with this problem. Not when this type of approach... If a couple of questions: what do you do with a half- round... there are several ways to approach this. We subsidize one school to create another. It depends. So what is the number of students in relation to the contracts, and we can provide a teacher's aide? It has happened before. We have had classes with grades, and we don't have a grade that is extremely large. There are a variety of approaches that can be taken. Next question about the map. Let's see, for those areas, they are marked as if they are going to have a development. A type of house is going to be built there, and the file I'm using, where I get referrals from local governments, I update it. That's what I'm
054doing. I have different types of housing. You should know what percentage of all this is more likely to appeal to a family, like a wealthy family with small children. It's very difficult to say right now. If we look at most of the students or children in Duke Access, this type of housing... Generally, I can say that in more of the West, which is the fair, they would qualify under that area where we look at those small points. Those are parts like eight or nine houses. They are looking at roughly a third in those categories. I looked at it, I was looking at it, and I said how much of that is reconstruction, but look, it doesn't include reconstruction. And another thing, talking about higher than the city, I would be very happy to encourage and
055promote affordable housing. Thank you very much. Speaking of housing, these aren't places where everyone will be able to live. I'm seeing that even the elderly won't be able to live there, and families with young children will likely find it difficult. A couple of questions I have regarding the decline in enrollment: are you following up on how difficult it has been to fill positions— sometimes principals covering three schools, librarians, special education teachers—we're having more difficulty filling those positions. Maybe they don't want to travel so far. We're looking at filling those vacancies as well, and we're looking at a particular impact on teachers who need to work a short time at one school and then travel to another. They're moving to another school where they don't have to do that. I wouldn't necessarily say you're looking at
056that in people applying for jobs or leadership concerns, but I will say that we've heard from special education teachers and instrumental teachers that traveling and having part-time off are making different decisions. A follow-up question: many of the presentations you gave about lower enrollment in elementary schools are moving to secondary schools. I'm seeing that there are some options for special education classes. Are you following up on that, and I heard that you're going to expand those options? How are you considering changing collective special education courses? And how are we following up on that? How are the educational experiences of students changing? Now we're looking at not only delinquency but also the opportunity to offer different adjustments and sports in schools. Of course, we're trying to put together a very difficult puzzle, as we said today, when
057you step aside and remove yourself from other opportunities. Thank you for talking about that. We don't have money lying around, so you're going to see more timely opportunities for you to share the impacts we're seeing in the high schools and how they're impacting a lot, as you presented the impact in the elementary schools. This is information that we can definitely present later. Thank you for following up. I just wanted to talk about the decline in enrollment and get more follow-up information on that to make sure the community understands that we've been trying to talk about this. I like the phrase " we're trading one thing for another," and what obstacles do we have to overcome and how can we accommodate or modify other things within the program? Thank you very much. Any other questions, Board
058Member Ram? Nothing. Okay, thank you very much. Excellent as always. Change of guard. Next, we have the annual special education update. You're going to see If you want to introduce, yes, I do. I think Dr. [Name] will be guiding us as the Director of Special Education, also introducing board members. As you know, it was about eighteen months ago when we received the results of the Special Education audit. We've given multiple organizations information about the work we're doing around Special Education. There was interest in receiving more updates, and we tried to include that. And Dr. [Name] will talk more about that today. Hello again. Good evening, Mr. President. To provide you with an update on special education, since the spring of this year, the work in special education falls under each category. Our team works implementing
059with the Special Education review. Today, we're going to be giving an update on the special education department. With this, I'll hand it over to our executive director. Thank you, Doctor. Good evening. And to talk a little bit about my work in special education and all the strategic qualification areas, we're going to talk a little bit more about the explorations with students, families, and teachers. First, I want to share with you some numbers in education. Currently, we have [number]—that's since the December count— that's an increase of 130 students. When you talk about the enrollment dependency, you can see that the need for special education is going to [be] The increase also shows an impact on the percentages. Last year we shared that we were at 12% of students; now it has increased to 13%. The largest
060category of insecurity is that of a specific learning ability, and 31% of our students have a primary disability. That is a decline compared to last year. We serve students from ages three to twenty-one. We assess students at all these ages. We have a program; a team assessed children from three to five years old. These children have been assessed. This group has assessed 280 children, and 94% of the students are eligible in terms of programs and staff. We support students at the resource level. We also offer special programs. We have 20 autism programs in our schools, fourteen I CAN programs, 15 very intensive programs, and one treatment program. We have 375 licensed staff and 275 educators who support students. That number is very important when we talk about communication. We had a program that was done
061in December 2020. That review of the program had four topics. Of the recommendations we're going to talk about today, point nine, I'm very happy to say that we've made 78 of those recommendations in two years. We have 72% completed of the combinations. We have eight areas we're working on for this spring and 23 that we're going to start next year. We're making very good progress. I'd say our first topic is the area of communication, sharing updates on each topic. Last year in communication, we focused on updating our system and communicating with special education staff and others around us. This year was really about refining and expanding. We worked a lot with the special education committee. They're giving us messages that come from our community, messages that we need to change. We also held many community
062meetings. We get feedback from groups. We met with the Colorado Coalition. We joined forces with our student advocates and other groups. They also give us a lot of notes and feedback that went well with communication. We need to change things. We've also continued with meetings with our service providers, the teachers, and what other things we need to adjust around communication. We have monthly communications that go to educators and staff. We celebrate things that are going very well in the school. Things that are being done well are very important, not only to share the information but to celebrate them. The highest recommendation of the program was that the executive director of special education participate in the team, and this has continued and has been incredibly successful in making good collaborations, working proactively and ensuring that special
063education is always at the table. Collaborations, for example, with students, we continue these collaborations to work practically, and we are no longer alone in the next steps in communication. We are working on updating the parents' page. This school year it was very good. We have also been working on universal education, which is a very important issue. I have been working on volume, and well, we are also focused on communication so that it is very good next year. What do we have to do to communicate with the parent community so that our students receive the appropriate services next year? Our next topic was the area of systems. Several things to share here were our system recommendations. Around that, this year in particular we focused on the preschool entity, aligning with the system and how those transitions
064look at the preschool level and how they work together with the categories. We will talk more about this next school year. At the university level, we also reviewed that we implemented the SA rules, which are regulations. We worked on the regulations governing special education within the State of Colorado, and we updated them. I think the most important issue regarding these regulations was open enrollment. We spoke a lot with the schools to find out what these updates were and how to implement them. This open enrollment, which came from the systems area, was around specific learning disabilities and assessments. We found that [Music] assessments had been done, but we weren't in the depth to answer the questions that the communities were asking us in the schools. We investigated, updated assessments, and created protocols for the schools. We
065started in August, and we've seen very good progress. And lastly, I want to share that the Alliance program and our 18-to-21 transition program have gone beyond their goals for this year. I'll tell you more about that. In terms of terms, there were many recommendations within the review. The contract had 120 students; within those contracts, we are currently serving 154 students. It's the first time in many years that we were able to fill and exceed that goal. It's a success. I also want to share that the services are in line with many recommendations and have changed over the years. Now they have moved away from job placement, and we are focusing on employment. Well, they have moved away from placement. of work and have focused that more on career development, hoping that students will have jobs.
066Before, we only focused on children; now we support students from 15 to 21. Big changes in this area in terms of our broadcast program. We currently have 72 community work sites, which is a huge success. These are work sites where students get to use and learn new tools. Besides that, we have 152 work sites available in our database thanks to the community. Our collaborators and students are interested, and we can explore these community jobs. Now, about the next steps in systems, we are focusing on hiring and retaining special education teachers. We are in a special education hiring crisis, not only at the infant level but also at the state level, and we have felt it for the first time here. We are focused on how we can promote the hiring of special education positions and
067fill those positions for next year. Okay, I have one from systems, and I put it in another one. I am very happy to say that we are no longer identified as significantly understaffed. I'm going to talk to you more about that, and let's gather data to see if there is understaffing based on In terms of race and ethnicity, they look at the areas of student identification, the least receptive place, and discipline. Then, in the 2020-2021 school year, these students were identified more than other school students. I am very happy to leave you with this information. In May, we no longer have this provided support. We had to do a lot of work working with many sectors and groups. The work is not finished. We will continue working, but we have made very good progress, and
068as of December, we will receive the same designation next year. Our third topic is resources. I am going to start talking about... We've had several years of fires, so we haven't had much time with Special Education staff. This child had three days of professional development with 45 certified staff. We can align with that and talk more about Specific Learning Assessments. We 've also worked with para- educators. We did a survey and realized that professional development is what they want from us, which is what we're offering. We also found in the survey that they did n't know how to access it, what path to take. This first spring, we're going to talk to principals and staff to put them on the right track. For example, we're going to guide them on what classes to take in
069first, second, and third year, and what the options are when you have several. We also negotiated last spring what are known as negotiations. We came to an agreement to have five percent funding so that any para-educator could take these 40-hour courses on behavior intervention. We had 30 para-educators take this course. This is impressive in terms of recognizing para- educators financially, with a boost for taking that. Another thing is to make sure there was transparency in the placement process. We worked very hard to share how we let them know what they should expect when they look at where they're placed on that committee, and how math works. Depending on the recommendations we receive at the state level, we also have a resource committee for educators. Their recommendations in the program review are quite complex. We had
070many interested parties making recommendations on how these resources will work. In the latest update, we're going back to paying for these learned resources. We're also working on expanding full-time mentoring. We're also going to work on and expand peer tutoring. We previously had eight schools offering this tutoring, and now we're growing, and we want to increase that from 15 to 2,500. We want to ensure that this program is available in all high schools. As you heard, there's also growth in special education. We're working to plan around this growth. And what does that mean for our staff? The last part is structural updates in this area. The first is math literacy. One recommendation is special education literacy and math literacy to ensure that our program aligns with what was requested. We also clearly heard that Spanish-speaking families
071wanted to be more significantly involved in this process. We started training days on the process for staff and how to better include Spanish-speaking families, for example, how to use an interpreter, for example, how you have the Access to oral translation so that your only connection with the family isn't through working with families and staff to better engage them. We're going to have a collaboration in the representative community. It's going to be... and the focus will be on parental rights within the process and also how to participate as a parent in the process of the next math intervention. Next fall, we're going to give more training on those interventions. One more thing for the last night of this big part: we want to give it its own space. Another very big update is that we are
072now providing drafts of the IP in Spanish. The draft IP is provided in Spanish by bilingual schools and in the community. We hope to have this expansion to all our schools around this year. We are facing some obstacles, but we do plan to do this in all schools. That means all the documents in the area are translated. At least five days of requests have been made for translation. We have had 69 drafts of the document, and in terms of productions, they were oral, and 30 oral translations that were in languages other than Spanish. A final moment to appreciate and thank our special education staff. We've had teachers and educators be incredibly flexible, and schools and last-minute staff working one point two or sometimes more. Educators have revamped their programs, doing incredible things to ensure students
073are receiving what they need. I want to thank the teachers and educators because they are making this possible. It's incredible. We have the best special education staff. Thank you all for allowing me to present, and I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you for sharing, for all the work your team has done to support students. One question not exactly related: there was a slide that was talking about both the Individualized Education Plan and a 504 plan in college before graduation. It made me think that the work we 're talking about today is for a student with an Individualized Education Plan because there are different requirements for a 504 plan. We're doing a review of 504 plans in the district right now. I think the focus has been on the special education program and how you've
074looked at all the hard work our team has done. Pro leadership, Michael—I'm so proud to have Michelle as part of our district, and it's amazing. But it could be a next step if we 're thinking about that kind of... Regarding the 504 plans, the number of students who qualify for that type of plan process can have limitations. Thank you. I want to thank your entire team for their work. There's a lot that resonated with me. My heart will always be in special education. Many of my questions are very detailed; I'll save them for later. That's a higher-level question. Certainly, the staffing crisis... I notice it all over the state. There are ideas you have about how you're going to address that and what the district can do to support you in that crisis of hiring
075specialized special education staff, thinking ahead to next year. We're starting the process early, earlier than usual. We're also... we're giving information to prospective teachers about what we can do for you, what you need. Sometimes you don't understand the job. I want to teach in the transitions program. I'm waiting for that position, but we don't have openings and we don't have options. So we can give you other recommendations. We're addressing problems. We've had part-time issues that we couldn't fill. Many teachers are saying, "Well, there are only two or three of us in the building. We're going to give up our planning time to fill that position." We have new systems in the community. [Music] So we've talked to agencies to fill these short-term positions we have for educators who know these classes. I have a license
076that can be done. We're always meeting the needs. We've tried that. We've tried the other follow-up question. Possibly, I'll talk about that. There are pathways, for example, for educators to receive an alternative license to fulfill the roles to grow within our organization. The Katimales office is working on that. We don't have final plans yet. She's developing that this year. We're also working with human resources on what can be done. What can we do early on? Also, peer mentoring is a pathway. We're developing those people as the next teachers for educators in our system. There's more we can talk about, but those are the initial things. Richard, I want to thank La for the presentation, for the update, and I notice the work she's doing. Regarding the translation of Individualized Education Plans, it's a pilot in
077Lafayette schools. There are others. Hopefully, it's not a pilot. We're not trying to. We're doing this plan very well. I understood it was a pilot, but you corrected me. Thank you. Yes, the intention is that it will have those translation services for all schools. Yes, absolutely. Thank you. I'm in Preparing for the April meeting with the Latino community, I share a concern that I don't want to be too detailed about, but a few questions. As you heard earlier, there was a presentation with Grand Plus. How does that fit with special education students? And thinking about that, the basic transitions experience—how do you work with that to ensure those students have the same opportunities to participate in Grand Plus as other students? We possibly want to follow up on that. I haven't been in those conversations
078at a very detailed level. We are working with Arley Tech Transitions to participate in that expansion, but I don't have all the details. Another place for more information: What are the special education services we provide to Tec? Because that's different from traditional schools. What are we providing for teachers and professionals at Tech schools in the Tech program? As a program, we have students attend part of the day at their neighborhood school, and that's where they receive their specialized services or instruction. What courses do they take at Tec? When we go to Tec, we have support for educators to access services. In this part of the program, the plans are transferred to Tec, and the teachers know it's within the plan to implement it. We are doing a lot of collaboration. We have a A very
079good system that we've developed in recent years so that they know what the student's plan is to reach both environments, and they're collaborating through the counselor and paraeducator with the case managers at the neighborhood high school. I got confused with the numbers. It seems to me that they've expanded the age range, which contributes to the students. Yes, that's a major part. There are several reasons. We've focused on communicating with certain groups of educators, but we've expanded from working only with kids in their senior year of high school to working with kids ages 15 to 21. And you coordinate all the services with the State Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. If it's under the Vocational Rehabilitation division, we distribute the goals, and they have to give a report about the goals every month. When the improvement of
080Swap is set, is it only the numbers, or are you working on the goals? What we're looking for are the results of the Swap program, and we 're in the early years, and we do n't have the results yet. We do n't want students in low-level jobs; we want them to have careers when they graduate from high school. That data comes in; we don't have it yet. The next one In about two years, we should have the data for the children who have left Swap because the vocational rehabilitation division is monitoring those children for at least a year after they leave the program—it's a requirement. Beyond that, I need to get the details regarding the standardized test results. There's an idea of the improvements based on the study we've done. What are the results, or
081is it too early? I know we have the SISA state exam, and we have the pandemic, which has affected the results. I would say we can get that information for you regarding the disproportion between children in special education and children in general education. I don't know if the dashboard metrics are on the website. I do n't know if I should mention it. During the consent agenda, we're going to talk about a grant that covers 120 students in Swap now. My question is, how do we cover the difference? Is the money enough to cover 120 students, and for the other 34, we're looking for funding elsewhere? How does this grant fit with the students we're serving? The grant says 120 students; that's the goal. From our contract, we have three teachers, three case managers—that's the best
082way to put it—and they serve different regions of our districts. They are in charge of the 154 students. They are doing more with the dollars, and within the next few years, we are going to expand. The goal next year will be 145, and then 150. Currently, we are at 120, but we will be expanding the program, and we can apply for other grant funds if we can maintain or demonstrate that we are stable or expand the program. It's not known yet, but I think so. Thanks. A portion of the Swap funds comes from the vocational rehabilitation division. They contribute 55% of the staff, and 50% of them. We are half, and they give half. And the results have to be reported to the state. Since we receive half of the state funds, we can receive
083the data. There is a requirement for updated data. I don't have that data; they don't send it to me. So, I'm going to talk to Vez about the details. Yes, go ahead. I was thinking about the disproportion. I don't know if people understand that this is extremely important. It's a big thing. The reporting, the work—we're not going to talk about work that It had to be done, but congratulations, we'll continue. It comes with an action plan. Thank you. I want to thank you for recognizing that. Many districts that have significant disproportion give up on correcting the situation. They don't have the talent, the capacity, the systemic changes that need to be made, and guide the state in that idea of making draft Individualized Education Plans more accessible to families to support their children's education. That's
084very important to highlight in tonight's presentation. To tie that presentation to the previous one, students in special education can access it; they wo n't be denied. Of the 44 who have responded, I don't know the division. Any student with a plan can access the Advanced Placement Writing program. It's good that you can see that this influences the special education path for students. Board members, other questions? We're going to take a five-minute break. Call for motion for this meeting. The next item on the agenda is legislative authorization. Thank you, members of the Council. President, Doctor, I'm very excited because, as my team and I have discussed, this accountability law that is being worked on, this legislation, this bill, calls for study. The Education Accountability Committee's interim report is due March 1st, and the next one is
085due November 15, 2024. This is a draft. How will the committee meet to participate? The committee agrees with what we stopped. We endorse many of the superintendents in the metropolitan area of affairs. For greater participation in this project, to be able to shape it and make things go faster, and that public educators, the main source of ideas for potential changes, is a very important part that I would like to mention in the legislative organizations council. So we are going to continue to participate and fight and explain our case. Two years is more than what I am focusing on, specialist practitioners taking the leadership and that, well, continue more opportunities for students. It will remain to be determined and will keep us informed. Yes, under the topic of legislative [Music] area and American rescue in these
086places that were granted but that have not been used, and we have the exact numbers, but we are going to call again about these dollars. It is carried out in many of the school districts that he represents. We are also going to talk about this, the president's law, the instrument in the Budget [Music] Other matters of concern: the Parental Rights Act was brought out by the House of Representatives, but it was a bill that will probably go to a vote. We do n't know if it will pass the Senate. We have to pay close attention to this. It made me very nervous. This is called the attempt to protect women and girls in the supports that you can already imagine what it's about. He thinks this bill won't pass the House of Representatives, but we
087have to pay attention. This kind of attention. We have conversations with other superintendents of large districts and across the country. We have to pay attention to one of these bills because they are gaining momentum, not only in Colorado, and we have to pay attention. And I am in communication with representatives and other senators of the United States so that they know and understand the danger and that it can represent harm to our children. See the details, jokes in the details. We have a sense of how much is going to be spent. A quarter is left for us, especially, and they want to take that risk away from us. These dollars so that the basics [Music] are transparent in how that money has been spent and has not been spent on learning and teaching, and when
088we present the budget to the The advice of this council will find this very useful. Well, it's been a long time, but is there any interest in holding calls via Zoom? I can see if we can put these types of meetings with legislative representatives on the calendar because if it's online, it's easier and we can put it on everyone's agenda. And as the representative said, the issue of education was a problematic matter, too much attention on these types of laws and nothing else in terms of research. We'll see, I don't sponsor those bills. And matters of approval of the minutes, February 28, 23, approval of the February minutes, acceptance of the donation for institutional services and equity, acceptance of the donation for sustainable operations and energy, 7.6, special education. Is there any item you want
089to withdraw from the consent? Is there anyone I'd like to thank the bookstore for the donation of books, and also thank Si Typographic for donating yoga mats? Our question or comment on the consent of the agendas, could I take the roll? The motion is approved. Continuing matters to take action, we have the grant for health services, and Estefani Ty from the computer. Good evening. Tonight, the director of health services and the director of student support will be... Let's talk about this grant. Thank you all, President, Board Members. Thank you for accepting us to speak about these funds. A little background: This grant was established in 2014 with the specific law that marijuana taxes from marijuana sales would be distributed among schools and the Professional Health program. These are certified professionals who provide services in schools
090to students with community organizations and mental health services. The School District has been a recipient; they have awarded us the funds, which will end in June. We have six and a half nurses in our schools, as well as substance abuse assessments and programs that help our nurses and staff provide these types of services. Our secondary services have strengthened these types of programs in our schools. These funds are also for three-hole counselor services. That scholarship should be delivered today. It will begin on June 1, 2021, for three years, and we are going to request more nurses. We hope to continue our work through the health program and expand health support in nurse training at the secondary level. As background, before the pandemic, in February 2020, I was in the Carolinas, very well established there through the
091university. We were very interested in bringing the services to the district. A long time ago, I had a program that we were hoping to work with through the service providers in our area. Many talks with them. At this moment, we are not at the point where we can continue working with them, and that's what I wanted to talk to you about. The legislator is the largest program in the nation. They are already working in districts like Aurora and also very large districts. [Music] California also provides services for all students. There is no cost they have to pay for visits to doctors for physical health in the homes. It is fully integrated. With our systems, our protocols, everything we have already established here, regardless of the State of Mexico's immigration status, and they don't have to
092pay out of pocket to resist, all students are integrated into the program. This is combined with the physical services provided in collaboration with the schools. They understand what happens in the schools, as I mentioned before. The program, within our structural guidelines, has staff trained on how to detect issues from the beginning, but they focus on a second layer that can provide these types of services. Unfortunately, these types of services are greatly lacking in our community. There is a huge need. We don't have the seven service providers in the area of service delivery and collaboration with other health and case management organizations, as well as live student mental health services. We can see the computerized services and the data of the families working with us. Communication is very good with the families and the staff. Technical
093support is provided by the organization. They focus on finding students where they are. They can also provide services after school or during school hours for stomach aches, headaches, and mental health issues. They can refer families to another specialist. Because maybe it's happening there, it's a bigger issue, which is spectacular. They are committed to providing quality service. They also offer [Music] services, and many, based on experience with communities and with pediatricians and other qualified people, can access mental health services. Initially, they made it onto the list. But the student is referred through the family to help them enroll in the Mental Health program with an evaluation, and this usually leads to them participating in therapy institutions. And that indicates the maximum it takes to make an appointment and receive services. If they have the right health
094insurance and have people connecting them with other organizations, it can take up to six months. So this is incredibly good support for our students, and the student receives even more care, more therapies, for six months afterward to make sure and see how things are going and that they are connected with that care. The health services at school or at home are like six minutes on average. Someone initiates a call, they're sick, they come to the nurse's office and have to go home, or they complain about something. They went to the nurse's office, and we can make the call, notify the parent, and they can have a virtual appointment with the doctor. Provider. And in six minutes the service provider is already on the screen and will have an exam on the student, and then any
095information or recommendations that were discussed during a visit are shared with our medical service. They have it, and after the chart, the doctor continues with the family. They can also do this once the child arrives home. In summary, the component of a service, as I mentioned, this data collection, which we are currently working on, and we feel the benefit, and before, in school, ready to learn, and providing with this type, let's say, the best opportunity for them to be to learn and participate. For our families, to reduce losses at their jobs, and it is extraordinary, and they don't have to pay immediately for this service. Questions for your friend, for me: Thank you for your presentation. I see that this is going to benefit many of our students. In this presentation, parents require knowledge of
096the services they are seeing so that it would be referred for students twelve years of age or older. Second question: This around data collection, records, can they choose not to give that data, for example, a mental health situation, information for the District? Can you explain something about this, how it works? I can't because we haven't We've spoken in detail about the database, and what I understand is that I don't know. It's not just the information provided. What are the common themes? I would love more clarification on the information to identify why some families would prefer this information not be shared publicly. The negotiation is over, but we'll pay attention to these details and how this applies. But she talked about that, and I would be very concerned. And also, parents have been trained in a
097situation with a study, with the age for treatment on their own, and if the student is in a way that the parents are not notified, or if a student and a referral seeks mental health help, they have been allowed to say that they don't want this information shared. Written and delivered information, insurance, and billing are completely confidential by law. Well, you talked about giving it to primary care in the community, and a family is holding a referral, for example, to a clinic or another provider within the community. It would be based in Mexico. If they don't have health insurance, they have no means. We also have funding through school medication. Practically, then, these are people with low economic resources. You don't see it when we talk about it. It's all around. Some families, especially around
098mental health, know that they can't find services anywhere else; it's an option. So that they can support their children immediately, we have to worry about health insurance, and for other families who can't afford to take time off work, emergencies are extremely expensive. All families use it. If you have a family that has the money to pay their medical bills, can they be referred to a provider in the community? Yes, if they don't have a primary provider, which they probably do. The only other question I have is the use of the terms "mental health" and " behavioral health." Does those terms make a difference? No, they don't. I don't really like that term " behavioral health"; it's sometimes very offensive. I know you 're not in charge of that vocabulary, but if we use "mental health"
099and " behavioral health," and your comment appears, I will take it into consideration. Thank you very much. I agree that trying to find mental health information is very good. I liked the slides about competition on WhatsApp, specifically in the LGBT community. I would like to hear a little more about how confident we are here in this group. Can you navigate around all these topics when you're not comfortable with your identity? Do you know that if we talk about these things specifically with this group, your trauma talks, not just with detox groups and families, will help? Battling with their identity, they assured us that their providers are properly trained and appreciate those people. Again, we haven't gone into too much detail with specifics because we've been given funding. Anything you'd like to add about that? Oh,
100well, we spoke with several of the districts that are using Facebook, and every single one of them said that it has served a great need for their students and that it has provided a level of support they have n't had before, even when they didn't need it. Thank you very much, and I think we're at a time when, in particular, our transgender students have what they need, and we want to emphasize a little more the trust we have around this group. But for what we have right now, thank you very much. Follow-up: How are we going to know if the services are meeting the needs of the community? How are we going to know? Well, as you can see in the impact summary, these are just some of the data they collect. They do extensive
101evaluations with families about the services they provide. We're going to hear from families and students as well. We also have other surveys that we do internally through the school, and ultimately, what we hope to see when we're implementing... Our intervention services aim to observe change in these areas over time. I know it will take time, and I understand that, but perhaps they don't feel comfortable complaining to you. So we have a responsibility to follow up with the families. We still don't know what the cost will be for us because I see we'll have to pay for five. The cost is $10 per student per year. We haven't submitted an application for a grant to cover students in grades 6-12. What is physical health? For that, you have this consent when parents don't provide sexual or
102reproductive health services. And you will send a referral to students who are seeking sexual or reproductive health information without parental consent. For example, if a child comes in with discharge, give them a test to the club to see if they are sick, or they see you and say, " You look very bad," and make a referral to a doctor. Well, typically with something like the flu. If there are mechanisms for them to listen to how you are breathing, if there are tools they can use, and it's also based on a formula of how long you've had it, if you have a fever, and if you have pain. In the body, but in the throat, it's probably the flu, or it could be cough. And they're going to recommend that you go to a doctor. For
103example, if your throat hurts but it's not red and you don't have a fever, they send you somewhere else and give you another recommendation. Typically, those tests would n't recommend that parents take their children to the primary provider or another place, and they can't send enrollments. All of that is part of the enrollment process when parents are enrolling. And the provider would also do this: if the parent is present during the exam, our prescription would be sent to the local pharmacy they have in their training. It would be like a service we 're using now through Kaiser or any insurance with my doctor. She knows what my allergies are. So I'm wondering if pharmacies would have the allergy information again. I remember when a parent is enrolling, writing their children in. They have to do
104it. Another question: if there's a child who has mental health services that are going to be for a long time, are they going to commit to attending those children? Because, for example, a year— typically, yes, it's typically going to be six months, but if it's a year— I have a question: does the district have youth testing? So if They suspect it might be cover, it works for us, we can give the parent a test and have them do the test at home. We would n't do it at school. So the ten dollars per student would be for people who sign up, not for everyone. Yes, it would be for everyone. If a family decides not to sign up, a student arrives in the nurse's office. Then they would receive the treatment they've been receiving up
105to that point. I mean, how does that work? I don't understand. If a family doesn't want their child to participate because they don't have the opportunity to know what's happening with a student and they arrive, there are two different paths. For example, they always said absolutely they do n't want them to ever participate in this, then we continue at home based on fever, diarrhea. It's a family that just isn't signed up and hasn't said, " I'm sure I don't want to participate." We couldn't contact the family and say, "We have the option for your child to be seen through Facebook. Are you interested?" Then Facebook connects with the parent. That consent before a provider sees the child. During the consent process, they make it clear that services require parental consent. It's not that I'm worried
106we might fall into a not-so-safe place. So, if they're giving consent for their child to be seen for light... Physically, it would be very clear. We talked to other districts, for example, Aurora, which are already implementing health services, and the idea that students can seek that help themselves. They've had virtually no struggles with parents; the parents are very happy that their children can seek that help. And how does mandatory reporting fit in? If they have to report by mandate, is there a mechanism? And it's not very clear right now because we're not in contact with it, but we talked to others around crisis intervention, or if they see a student during a mental health visit and the student says something, is there a mechanism for how they report to us? And our director or counselor
107determines that. That stops, it ends up with us. How do we want it to come through? Because there's also the follow-up part. Obviously, this organization works around the country, and each state has its own mandatory reporting laws. In Colorado, you don't report to someone other than social services or the police. Well, yes, you should let them know. I'm not worried that you're telling them where to report. Well, I 'm talking in terms of, "Hey, your student is maybe going through a difficult time. They're going to want to connect with them or have said something, but legally..." Do those they report to follow the mandates of the law, or are the people promoting services licensed in Colorado? And surprisingly, reporters don't report and have no idea what it means to report. A quick question: who else
108is responsible for letting the community know about this program? I do n't know if it would be a joint effort, and we as a district... They have a media outlet that was developed in several languages. They worked with us to make it available for PVP. I assume we'll go to CONANDI, the community liaisons, and all the people we think can pass this information on to parents. Thank you. One hopes to hear about the one they applied for. The timeline says April, but it's not open. If we hear from them in May, it's going to be amazing. So hopefully, that would be enough time to implement it. They say it takes eight weeks between signing and starting the process. Yes. So, if the grant is approved, someone has to approve the contract. That fits with the
109board's schedule. One question is about how that contract will be given. If the board approves this grant, we have... well, they have this similar contract. We can hopefully draw from those. Those districts to advance the process a little bit more. Any other questions? Thank you very much for giving us this presentation. So, I think all of that is exciting because it's in action. We're going to start again. I have an emotion. I wanted to ask, second, about any other discussion there. Excuse me about that. Now, can you call List Garcia? So, emotion is happening. We have requests for the future agenda. Is there anything you want? Yes, I think I requested this before, but I would like us to look at the use of language when speaking in reference to Latinos and be intentional. What
110language do we use? Because these terms are not universally supported. People who are part of those groups are offended. I would like to talk about that and what is the most respectful way or language to use. How would that look? One thing I should know is that only three percent of Latinos use the term "latitude." I've heard it written as, with the same linguistic construction, it determines a word with x doesn't fit in the Spanish language. Terms that are not universally accepted. So, if we're going to use it, we have to know why we're going to do it. I'm not saying I'm against it. I've heard the same thing about the term. So, I don't know if that's... I'm not sure if you want people to come and talk about it, or how it would
111look. I'm thinking more about using it, not directly at the board meeting. I would like to talk about it, but that would only be for formal communications from the district. It wouldn't be for individual staff to decide. They say in conversations or at the board meeting, but we've listened to our clients to know that some people are quietly offended. And that's our intention. We're never going to make a note of that for a potential article for the future of the community about counseling and guidance, but a better understanding of what kinds of similar programs are doing. My cycle could be a seminar. I'm curious to see about the survey data. How many trusted adults are there, like, doing students who belong in the community? It's been a while since we've seen results in this area.
112I'm thinking more about this counseling program and mental health support in the community, and wanting stronger communities. I'm curious to see how we're doing as a district and how it feels in the current environment at the school. Are you thinking about an RFI and using that information to decide? I'm thinking, we don't need to evaluate this data. I 'm looking Regarding advice on how to proceed around these questions and reviewing the information cycles, I can bring the cabinet tomorrow. I know some data is used within the measurement indices to understand analysis presentations based on those analyses. I'm going to talk to the team about how they're using it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have a mentoring program in some classes and not in others, and see how it's working. Maybe it's not called
113mentoring, but it's like mentoring— taking a deeper look at what's good. I'll say that some schools are deciding to have it, and others are n't. It's been left to the local civil schools if they want to take this school time instead of other things they feel they want to prioritize. So, I would be a referee to see which schools have made those decisions, who can do a mentoring program, and how it's working, and do an analysis of how it's working and which schools are doing what, and what we can. What I'm doing is clashing with the team on using the data from student surveys and how they don't use systematic systems to make decisions, and how some schools do what's called a seminar, which is similar. So I want to see what the necessary schools
114are doing. Thanks for the advice. Anything else before the closure? Well, we'll see each other next week. Most of us... I'm moving that we close second. We close