001meeting of April 16th, 2025. Christy, would you please call the roll? Sure, Mrs. Babs? Present. Mr. Berthold? Present. Mrs. Gilligan? Present. Mrs. Horanek? Here. Mr. LeChuga? Here. Mrs. Ragland? Here. Mrs. Weiss? Here. Thanks, Christy. And we'll open up tonight's meeting with discussion. Item 2.1 is the superintendent retirement. At this time, we'll recognize our superintendent's retirement announcement of last week, discuss the value of his contributions over the past 16 years, and launch a discussion of the proposed retirement agreement with performance payment. To begin with recognizing those contributions, Dr. Haddad joined the district during a time it was still reeling from a financial emergency, and was forced to make tough financial decisions to uphold the most responsible financial stewardship in his first few years as our superintendent. At which time he took a reduced salary for a
002couple of years, and enacted full transparency of the district's finances to the community. He provided stability for staff and teachers through compassionate leadership and building intrinsic value in the teaching profession by modeling the highest level of professionalism as a public school teacher and educator and leader. He soundly navigated several profoundly challenging times, including the Great Recession, the Hundred Year Flood, multiple fires and disease outbreaks, including the COVID-19 pandemic. He built trust with our community through tireless and expansive communication efforts, resulting in passing bonds for the first, passing multiple bonds, and the first mill levy override in the history of the district. Most recently, a $739 million bond passage with 74% of the community support for this continued investment in our schools. Almost unheard of. His commitment to attract and retain the most qualified teachers and
003administrators during his tenure made St. Brain Schools one of the highest paying districts in the state and a destination district for the best candidates. He brought in a $16.6 million grant in 2010 that served as the catalyst for the Innovation Center and the transformation of STEM learning across St. Brain, a foundation which influenced legislature and inspired innovation and technological advancements in public education throughout the state, most recently becoming a key member in the K through 12 Elevate Quantum Tech Hub Consortium. He's delivered multiple keynotes and presentations for Apple, Cisco, RTM, ERDI, the Colorado Association of School Boards, the Colorado Association of School Executives, the Reagan Institute, and many, many more leading educational organizations and businesses. Further cultivating these relationships, he's had led the district to receiving competitive grants of over $75 million and being part
004of multiple state and national initiatives to advance opportunities for all students. He received the 2024 Colbert Cushing Award that is the highest recognition in Colorado for a superintendent for his outstanding professional contributions to the field of education. The purpose of the performance payment is to recognize Dr. Haddad's unwavering commitment to the district's mission, his tireless efforts to increase student achievement and global success, which we again were reminded about in the district achievement report just before this meeting in our study session. Dr. Haddad's unwavering focus on advancing public education at the state and national levels has been built on his deep commitment to ensuring that St. Frame Valley Schools is one of the strongest public education systems in Colorado and beyond. He's dedicated the past 16 years to ensuring the district's sound financial position, increasing the
005quality of educational programming by providing a vast array of opportunities and innovation to provide our students with a strong competitive advantage and setting the district on course for continued success. The performance payment amount is drawn from the language in the existing superintendent contract and these funds are already allotted for payment and earmarked as identified expense within the district's general fund so they are not being drawn from any other source. At this time, I would invite board members to comment on this agreement. Gino. Yeah, you know, I've sat next to Don. We've had great conversations about a lot of basketball and a lot of life stuff and it's been a pleasure just working with you, alongside you, sir, and just know you always have friends right here at St. Frame. I just wanted to say, I
006think your dedication and leadership will just have a lasting impact on this community and from the bottom of my heart, I just thank you so much for all that you've done for this community and this district. Yeah, you'll be missed. You know, many of us start our lives out, at least I did, always wanting to learn and sometimes people stray and go different ways and do different things but in and of itself, it's the leaders, it's the people who teach us that allow us to become the people who we are in essence and I think the dedication you've given over the years, over the 40 years, not just as a superintendent for our district but in education in and of itself, I wasn't there at the beginning, of course, but I can more than likely
007guarantee that the students that you did teach, you touched their lives and from that, that level of education and that level mindset that you've instilled in your students and your staff and your administration has gone way far and beyond what we could ever imagine. As a superintendent, I've gotten to know you over the last, not only four years, a couple years before that, just as a community member and initially, you know, I was like, well, who's this guy? He's always out there doing things and what are the things that he's doing within the community and someone new to Colorado at the time, I wondered what was in store for my children because they were young and I wanted to make sure they had the best education and over the years, you've shown to this community
008that you are providing, along with your staff and the teachers and administrative staff, you've shown that you are doing just that for our students, you've put in place programs, not only for just general learning but programs like we just talked about in a previous session where students can excel in the areas in which they love, not only post-grad but things that they love outside of school as well. So I wanna say to you to shorten just a little bit, thank you for your dedication, thank you for giving back to this community where most people sometimes will take from a community, you gave so much of your time, your talents and your efforts to this community and not only the community, the students in this community and I can guarantee you, anybody that you've touched or
009has seen what you've done, that they'll come back along the way and they'll say, I knew him and he was a great teacher, a great man, a great superintendent, so thank you for your time and thank you for your talent, you will truly be missed but we truly appreciate you. It's I think a unique thing for teachers in the classroom to know that their superintendent knows what they're going through and has lived it and that's something that is not lost on and will never, that aspect of your career as a superintendent I think is a really important one and I also think that keeping our students always in the foreground is a legacy that will continue on for St. Brain and something that will keep us, it'll be a guiding light for us in the
010future and I know that, you know I don't like public praise, I know you don't like it either, so I won't belabor the point but thank you, I guess I'll speak on behalf of the teachers of St. Brain for always being relatable and all the stories you have from your teaching career. So to Chico's point, I'm gonna miss the basketball and wrestling talk over here. I've learned a lot. I only know, like my realm is volleyball so this has been very exciting but on a serious note, I know that you've really strike home the importance of leadership and before I stepped into this role, I had no idea what that meant and you have not only shown it and been an exemplary example of what it means to be a leader but I finally understand
011it and you show it day in and day out. Every interaction, it's amazing and to the thousands of students that have come through here, the opportunities they have are from your vision and I know your vision isn't today, it's years out and we can see that. I mean, I was a student in this district and I can tell you that the opportunities I had don't hold a candle to what they have now. It's amazing, thank you so much. All right, not to be last but and to reiterate everything everybody else always says like I do but I've known you for over 20 years now, work with you in many different levels. My experiences are quite unique from where I've been and what I've done. I've been associated with many, many high level really good leaders
012but I've always told everybody, you're at the top. You're well beyond anybody that I ever had to associate with in the military and federal government and Congress because you're consistent and you're stable and because of that, this district is consistent and stable so that everybody from within the organization, within the community, when all these corporations that come here to see us, they know that we're gonna get a consistent and a very stable approach to educating students and taking care of people. So my life has been like that and I feel like I fit in here like this place was just an old shoe and I wanna thank you for all the time you've given us and the time you've given to me and my questions and my concerns and never discounted anything that anybody brings
013to you. You're always looking for the answers and you always find them. Yeah, so you've been a great help to me and my life and we're gonna miss you. Sir Isaac Newton said a body in motion stays in motion and a body at rest stays at rest. While retirement might mean rest for some, for this man who never rests, I know that there's another lifetime of opportunity where you're gonna inspire so many people, so many more people and contribute greatness to this world. I'm especially eager to witness how you will continue to impact public education in particular and our district as a highly honored role of Superintendent Emeritus. Well, I tell you and you are right, I don't do well with public praise but I do want to thank all of you. I wanna thank
014this board for your leadership. Your dedication and commitment is unparalleled. The hours that you put in and every single one of you have always made it perfectly clear. We do what's best for our students, we do what's best for our teachers and our staff and our community and our entire team is not here this evening but I will tell you they are second to none. We have so much talent on this team, so much talent and so much commitment that you cannot even believe the level of conversation that takes place between and among them and it's always focused on doing what's best for our children and their pride and their sense of commitment and their sacrifice. They have been there, we've been there together and that's the beauty of who we are, we're a team
015and all of you are a big part of that team and our community, our families. So I love St. Brain and I will always be supportive of this amazing place. So Karen, thank you for your opening comments and thank each of you for your comments and to our team that's here, thank you and I'll continue to say thank you to the rest of them for quite some time. Thanks a lot. Okay, so we'll move on to discussion 2.2, the superintendent search process. Under district board policy CBB, the appointment of a superintendent is a function of the board and we are charged to find the person we as a board believe can most effectively translate into action our board policies as well as the aspirations of the community and the professional staff. Given the stability that
016Dr. Haddad's leadership has provided and the systems and processes that he's developed and put into place these last 16 years as well as acknowledging the incredible leadership team and staff he has developed over that time. The board will conduct an internal search to determine whether there is a qualified internal candidate for the superintendent position that the board can consider. Performing an internal search ensures that we have applicants with knowledge of the district, the community and its constituents, the business partners and other stakeholders, as well as with the culture and systems of the processes that have been performing so well. If at the end of an internal search, we do not find a qualified internal candidate, we can determine if a wider search needs to be conducted and under that policy, we may seek to create
017an advisory committee or employee consultant to assist in the search or we can determine an external search is not necessary where there is a qualified internal candidate. The board has adopted as policy CBA CBC, a job description for the superintendent's position, which is available on the district website or if the board members have any requirements they would like to add or alter, we can discuss that now. Board member? I had a question about the job description. I imagine it's been a while since we wrote this and I imagine that I know we start all of our meetings with our mission and vision statement as well as we often refer to our strategic priorities and I didn't see that reflected in the job description and I thought that might be something we consider highlighting or changing
018or adding in some way just to make sure that it's really clear that a candidate should understand and really embody those. Great suggestion, so would I suggest language and we could add it to the website in that policy? We can certainly do that if the board and the action item section of the meeting would like to make a motion to modify the job description based on board member Gilligan's comments, we can do that. Okay, great, any other comments on the job description? Okay, the salary range for the position would be in the range of $275,000 to $375,000 annually. The position will be posted April 17th, which is tomorrow, to internal candidates with a closing date of May 1st, 2025. The board will set interviews of qualified candidates during the week of May 5th. The board
019anticipates announcing finalists for the position on May 14th with the hope of selecting the new superintendent on May 28th, 2025 at the regular meeting of the board. The start date for the new superintendent will be July 1st, 2025. Internal applicants will be asked to submit a resume, cover letter, and a document setting out the candidate's vision for the district as its new superintendent, together with any letters of reference. Applications can be submitted directly to the board president, either by mail or to the district's address. Karen Ragland, 395 South Pratt Parkway, Longmont, Colorado, 80501, or preferably electronically via email, ragland underscore karen at svvst.org. All records submitted by the applicant shall be confidential until the candidate is designated as a finalist. Do board members have any questions regarding the superintendent's search? Okay. Well, then we can
020move on to action items. I would entertain a motion to approve 4.1, the superintendent's retirement agreement, as presented. So moved. Second. Mrs. Babs? Yes. Mr. Berthold? Yes. Mrs. Gilligan? Yes. Mrs. Horanek? Yes. Mr. LeChuga? Yes. Mrs. Ragland? Aye. Mrs. Weiss? Yes. Thanks, Christy. And then I'm going to have Tim just help me out with this one a little bit. I think the board would first consider a motion regarding the job description as modified by board member Gilligan's comments. Should I ask for a motion? Or am I not allowed to ask? You could move for that. I move for a motion to make an amendment based on my comments earlier. Second. Mrs. Babs? Yes. Mr. Berthold? Yes. Mrs. Gilligan? Yes. Mrs. Horanek? Yes. Mr. LeChuga? Yes. Mrs. Ragland? Aye. Mrs. Weiss? Yes. Okay, so then the
021job description will be amended to include the mission statement and the vision of the district. And the strategic priorities. And the strategic priorities. Okay, great. Do we need to draft that now or we can do that? We will ensure it gets drafted for the search. Okay, great. So then at this time, I would entertain a motion to approve the superintendent's search process discussed earlier in the meeting, specifically that the board of education conduct an internal search for qualified internal candidates consistent with board policy. That we use the superintendent job description as set forth in board policy, CBA, CBC, as modified in our discussion. That the salary range be set at $275,000 to $375,000 per year. That the position be posted April 17th, 2025 to internal candidates with a closing date of May 1st, 2025. Interviews
022of qualified candidates if necessary to be conducted the week of May 5th, 2025. Finalist candidates to be announced by May 14th, 2025. So moved. Second. Mrs. Babs? Yes. Mr. Berthold? Yes. Mrs. Gilligan? Yes. Mrs. Horanek? Yes. Mr. LeChuga? Yes. Mrs. Ragland? Aye. Mrs. Weiss? Yes. Thank you. That leaves no further business in this special meeting, so I would ask for a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye.