001Good evening and welcome to the same brain Valley Schools Board of Education meeting of March 26 2025 Please stand if you are able and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance Christie would you please call the roll sure mrs. Babs Mr. Berthold present mrs. Gilligan here mrs. Horanek here. Mr. Lechuga here. Mrs. Ragland here mrs. Weiss absent Thank you this this meeting is being oh, I'm sorry Christy. Are you aware of any changes to the agenda? No, I'm not. Okay, great This meeting is being live streamed on our website where a recording will also be available If our live audience would please be sure device notifications are silenced. We greatly appreciate it This meeting is also being translated into Spanish and will be translated at times into English Headsets are available for anyone in our
002audience that would like them I'll begin tonight's meeting by restating our district's mission statement to educate each student in a safe learning environment So that they may develop to their highest potential and become contributing citizens This mission provides clarity of our purpose and our focused leaders make all decisions within its context We will begin our meeting with our visitors and I'd like to invite dr. Diane Lauer to introduce staff For our presentation. Well, thank you so much. Good evening. President Ragland. Dr. Dad members of the board It's my pleasure to bring visitors forth Who will share their experiences? We have two dynamic parent engagement programs that are coming forward tonight PI PIE Padres involucrados en educación and our dyslexia base camp First I'd like to introduce Olga Cordero who is going to introduce our visitors
003from PI and then I'll introduce Carolyn Storrs who will introduce our visitors from dyslexia base camp Bienvenidos Olga. Gracias Good evening president Ragland board members and dr. Haddad Parent engagement and community partnerships have been a critical part of our school district's vision in growing student academic achievement For over a decade our school district has been providing many opportunities Where parents can participate within our schools to learn more about the programs that are available for their children? Ranging from a college associates degree in high school to the joining of arts and theater clubs athletics wrote to robotics and so much more From the Unidos student parent group at Longmont High School to our monthly cafe Citos that are title one family liaisons Liaisons organized our parents and students consistently have an open invitation To come in
004and to learn more about what is offered and how to achieve their families dreams It is an honor for me to be here tonight with one of our long-standing community groups Parents if Padres Imbalogados en la educación parents involved in education or PIE often referred to as PI These parents are committed and leaders are committed and dedicated parents They've been collaborating together for the last several years on a parent task force Which is a little different than what they've been doing before PIE has been together now for over 15 years and they are sharing their perspectives today their work and their learnings And how they have created this and have they implemented this for the success of their students? Christo Rubalcava She is the organizer for PIE also in the audience is Mica Delgado Who
005was one of the original founders of the the group and the organization? Crystal you have led the way by implementing a task force that a parent task force That supports parents in not only learning how to support their student, but also on how to have a voice in their children's education We thank you, and we thank this group and their work and your work We welcome you tonight. I want to also mention that Crystal was a graduate of skyline high school. What year? 2013 Yes, and I happen to be a counselor there, which was so amazing to see her doing this work now So board members dr. Haddad it is with great enthusiasm that I introduced miss Rubalcava and our leaders of the Padres Involucrados And the in la educación group Thank you, Olga Good
006evening, everyone. My name is Crystal Rubalcava and I serve as one of the program coordinators for Padres Involucrados en la Educacion PIE And before introducing our parent task force members, I'd like to give a brief overview of the PIE program PIE was founded 16 years ago with a strong commitment to social justice Aiming to address the lack of Spanish bilingual and bicultural learning sessions for parents in st. Rain Valley in response multiple organizations across Boulder County partnered with SVVSD To develop cohesive educational programming in Spanish leading to the successful launch of PIE The pilot program began in 2008 at Heritage Middle School initially reaching 63 families Since then PIE has expanded to serve over 2,000 families in SVVSD During COVID-19 we transition to a virtual format and continue to offer hybrid sessions with recordings available
007online and on our website PIE remains committed to providing valuable resources in our community's language led by bilingual and bicultural experts We consistently gather feedback to ensure our sessions remain relevant covering topics from mental health to financial literacy Last year PIE introduced an exciting enhancement with the launch of our first parent task force Which has played a key role in supporting program planning and outreach Seven dedicated SVVSD parents join the task force Four of whom will be presenting tonight, and they are now entering their second year of active involvement This year we've also launched a monthly professional development series to further enhance their leadership skills It is my great pleasure to introduce Miguel, Susana, Rocío and Jorge Who will share their experiences as members of our task force? Thank you First off, we will have
008Miguel My name is Miguel Sanchez. I am 37 years old. I am originally from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico And I am approximately 16 years old here in Colorado I am a father of two children, a 16-year-old teenager and an 8-year-old child I first heard about PIE during the pandemic in 2021 That they would have one of their sessions about Special education Which my wife, who is here present, and I am very interested in We have our 8-year-old son diagnosed with autism And we were interested in knowing what SanBrain offered For these families with children with special needs I will open a parenthesis to Transmit or say that we need a little support in this program for children with special education So we decided to go to this PIE session Via Zoom and we liked it
009a lot We were listening to everything they offered and we were so interested That later in the next session We realized that they were going to give a session about how to help our young people, how to guide them So we were a little more interested because our daughter is a teenager and we were also going to hear about how to guide these teenagers And so little by little we were listening to what was going on in the sessions It caught our attention and all the information they gave us In each one of them helped us a lot And so in this time we have been participating in the PIE sessions for approximately 4 years Of parents involved in education In 2023 we received an invitation from Martin, Cristal and Mica To be part of
010the PIE parents team And we loved the idea Because we could help and guide our children and invite more parents To have that experience and opportunity that we have had Because along this path we have learned and received so much information That maybe outside of this PIE group we would never have gotten Because every session we receive is very important in our daily lives With our children and our community And there is a saying that says You are not born having all the knowledge of how to be a good father But thanks to PIE we have at least a guide and tools to be able to do it Thank you very much Thank you very much Good afternoon everyone My name is Susana Barrios Ramirez I am a mother of three children Who are attending
011the Sembrain school district In the schools of Indian Peaks, Sunset and Skyland I started the program of parents involved in education In 2016 I participated in almost all the informative sessions PIE has been the door to knowledge and opportunities But above all, it is a unique opportunity to instruct, inform, support and guide parents To strengthen themselves In this way, it is the bridge of guidance and instruction for our children But above all, the opportunity for young people to graduate As an example, to know the opportunities That the district offers in sports, scholarships that students can get to graduate The importance of bilingual seal The program of talented, super-dotted children The operation of security in schools, among others PIE has benefited my family over the years An example, receiving financial information allowed us to reorganize ourselves
012economically To know monetary concepts To initiate savings plans To visualize our finances for the purchase of housing To make plans for the university of our children To think about retirement plans To consider all these aspects It was thanks to PIE that it knows the needs of our community And it was thanks to PIE that an expert in the field offered the information As a family, we have been so benefited by the immensity of knowledge That experts within the PIE program have given us That now I am part of the PIE parents group I love to be able to help, share and generate connections in the community To transmit the message of PIE so that other families can be instructed for the future of their children I am excited to see the commitment that PIE shows
013to our community Over the years, it integrates new information considering our needs For example, the topic of healthy relationships The prevention of gangs and restorative justice I would like to mention some of them Parents involved in education is a group of culture, education, respect, integration Needs, security, respect for nature, communication But above all, a program completely offered in Spanish with interpretation service PIE is the bridge for our children, young people, adolescents, parents, families and the community to achieve success This is cultivating the hands that will take care of the future of all Thanks to the PIE program for protecting and informing our community Thank you Questions? Mr. Miguel, I have a question for you How did you find this program, PIE and Simbring? Cafesita is an Olga's program too, right? Okay, gotcha, thank you Hello,
014good afternoon, my name is Rocio Ramirez and I am also a father of seven children Three of them are adults now, so I have four adolescents And I joined PIE here at the meetings, I started three years ago So it was also through Cafesito A Cafesito that was given and the explanation of the programs that they offered was given So it became very important to us and we started to go So that was three years ago So I decided to join, to be part of the group two years ago That has been a lot of help for us For the great service to the community that they offer Because as a community sometimes one does not realize when the parents do not involve us So that's how we decided to get involved And know the
015programs that there are for each student, even for the parents In my case, they have offered several classes in PIE I have taken parent classes And the last one I took was an auricular acupuncture technician So that was also through PIE So I have learned that if we have doubts or needs as parents We can be heard at school And that our voice is heard as parents to help our children And thanks to the fact that it is in Spanish Because sometimes one is fearful when it is not bilingual So PIE is important to me, my family, in the aspect that as a large community This is the importance of educating us as parents, as I had said And also to our children And it has helped me a lot to be in PIE for
016many reasons Which I will name two The education, the resources that they offer for the whole family As parents, students And they teach you to be a leader How to be a leader? Not just stay there, but they teach you a lot So that is what I liked and it has helped a lot for my family And thanks I have one question and one comment My comment is that our last presenter You said that you learned that your voice could be heard in the schools It is so important that all voices are heard And so this is just magnificent And thank you for all the time that you give as volunteers And on the task force It is very important My question is how often does Cafecito meet and where is it at? I would
017love to answer that question for you So this is one component of the parent engagement community The Cafecitos that take place are organized through our family liaisons Which are at the elementary, middle school and high school level And so this is one portion of the family engagement component Cafecitos are during the day at the schools They are facilitated by different guests that are invited in to speak So there are different components that we have there The Pi sessions, we have 12 sessions throughout the year So 6 in the fall and 6 in the spring And then we have a celebration at the end Which is coming up And our last celebration we saw more than 300 families and partners So it is a pretty big deal And a lot of planning goes into our celebration
018Because each session just covers different topics So yeah It is a busy year Thank you for being here I appreciate the care that you have taken To be a part of this organization And the other partner organizations that are there One of the things that Ms. Susana said And I honed in on that It is like a bridge Home and school is a bridge And Mr. Miguel, you mentioned gaining those skills and knowledge And what I took from that was You are not only working to educate your student Your child You are also educating yourself so that you can educate your child And that is very important Because sometimes we don't look at it from that perspective But they see you also learning So that is something that again That is that bridge from home
019to school So I think that is very impressive And something to definitely be proud of So thank you all for being here I was just going to also say thank you I love to hear when we have St. Brain graduates coming back So thank you for all the work that you are doing Very very proud of you And secondly, you know one of the most important things For our children is Parental involvement We want our parents involved And so I really appreciate your involvement And any way that we can encourage that And support that we will Because when parents are involved The likelihood of the students and our children Waiting and going on to be successful Skyrockets So thank you very much Señor y señoras Gracias por tu participación Y dedicación a distrito Que rico
020Estos programas Fortalecen A toda nuestra comunidad Strengthening these relationships Between our parents and our schools Really strengthens our entire community I could not be more proud And fortunate, Olga, for your leadership And your participation So thank you How many members are part of this program now? Cuantos personas? So this is our second year with our task force So there's seven parents And then of course all the parents That attend our sessions And I will note that during the sessions The kids go to their programming So there's child care and dinner for the whole family So I thought my speech had to be two minutes Or else I would have added all those details But yeah, there's a lot of components To each night And thanks to our parents They do so much for each of
021our sessions And with outreach events And being at different schools And inviting parents and all of that So I would like to add that as well That's great, thank you Yes, Mica is noting too 13 partner agencies So different partners like Thor Nature El Centro de Amistad Just throughout Boulder County that make this program run So yeah Podemos tomar un foto? Si? It does it on its own Amazing Welcome Carolyn Thank you, hi Karen Hi Good evening President Raglin Members of the board and Dr. Haddad Friends, colleagues, families All members of PIE It's an honor to be here with you all tonight My name is Carolyn Stortz And I work in priority programs I have my crew behind me It is my privilege To have this opportunity To discuss the stakeholder engagement Opportunities we have
022created For families of children with dyslexia This happens with your support And St. Rain So thank you I will begin by sharing some background About the Dyslexia Task Force The Yes Ambassador program And as Dr. Lauer mentioned Dyslexia Base Camp I will do my best to be brief As their stories are the reason we are here today And we are grateful To all of them for joining us In August 2016 A district dyslexia task force Was formed to provide High quality support To students with dyslexic characteristics Task force members Include a variety of stakeholders From across our district This includes parents, administrators Educators, experts, etc All tasked With working together To develop a multi-year District implementation plan Using current research Evidence based interventions And early screeners To develop a tiered model of support For students
023with characteristics Of dyslexia We focused on five areas Dyslexia awareness Universal curriculum Interventions, assessment Family engagement And student agency Today we have invited A key stakeholder to speak About her experience as a member Of the Dyslexia Task Force Parent engagement and student agency Have long been shared goals Of the St. Rain Valley School District They are the cornerstones Of ongoing improvement And sustainability Tonight you will also hear From student ambassadors and parents Of student ambassadors Who are members of our YES program That was born from the work Of the Dyslexia Task Force YES stands for use examples Of self-advocacy These ambassadors are a group Of middle and high school volunteers With dyslexia along with The support with their parents Who speak about their learning differences Self-advocacy And the use of assistive technologies They host events
024across the district Intent on building a community Of support Most recently engaging With the Silver Creek feeder And managing a standing room Only workshop for parents And students Furthermore Dyslexia Base Camp Is a program within Project Launch That invites families To participate in intensive Interventions And self-advocacy skill building In partnership with our YES team This initiative is dedicated To teacher student and Parent engagement And growth in support of students With characteristics of dyslexia So it is now my honor If you'll help me in welcoming Our first parent student team Brandy and Beck Hi My name is Brandy Numadal And I would like to share how the YES Ambassadors program Has significantly influenced my son Beck and myself Beck who is currently a seventh grader At Altona Middle School Had the honor of being invited to
025join the YES Ambassadors Last year as a sixth grader He was the youngest ambassador At the time The program has been instrumental In boosting our confidence And fostering a sense of optimism About Beck's academic journey Being a part of YES Ambassadors Has allowed Beck To look up to older students Who have already navigated their academic paths Acceled in advanced classes Achieved excellent grades And are now pursuing college educations This exposure Has been both inspiring And motivating for him His first mentor In the YES Ambassadors program Was a senior at Silver Creek Varsity starter on the basketball team Preparing to go to CU Boulder Because of kids like this The program has provided Beck A unique opportunity to see himself as a leader Within a community Which has been incredibly empowering Hello everyone, good evening My
026name is DJ Iper And I had written here that I was representing My family because the stage was too big But this one found Some courage Alright, so I'm representing them both as their family But also as St. Brain administrator here Early on Kindergarten first grade, Charlie struggled With reading and writing But through the help of An incredible staff at Central For Ms. Hernandez, Ms. Simon, Ms. Bella Among many others They shepherd us through that identification Charlie is a student Who experiences dyslexia And were able to support a girl Who loved to and wanted to read so badly The dyslexia base camp Was truly a game changer For Charlie and our family She came home telling us how her brain worked differently And what things were difficult for her This medical cognition was good for
027her Although the yes ambassadors And the staff We told the yes ambassadors And the staff she was actually teaching us She literally hugged them When she would leave the camp On many of the days And We see her and she still reaches out To those folks when they Jump, when we go to the other Events as well The dyslexia simulation event Is truly remarkable To see what it looks like When these guys are trying to read And write It was truly incredible And it really helped us To understand and also empathize For Charlie We watched her work with those role models And see that that future was possible And they gave her a feeling of hope In short, this program has been invaluable To Charlie, to my family But I also see the work it
028does With the students with whom I work at Westview Middle School Good evening everyone My name is Rebecca Gonzalez I am the mom of two dyslexic students And I am a member Of the dyslexia task force My daughter Veronica Who is a junior at Silver Creek And Virtual High School And Isabel who is an 8th grade Altona Middle School Are also part of the yes program Being part of the dyslexia task force It has been a great experience I applaud the effort of everyone Teachers, administration And parents In taking interest in learning and understanding About learning differences And applying that knowledge To make the classroom and the school Experience a better one Navigating school as a parent Of a neurodiverse learner Can be a scary situation When you lack knowledge and support As a parent
029It is important to know that the experience Of other parents and students Will be different because of the work That the dyslexia task force Has done and continue doing I feel confident that by educating Ourselves and others We can create a more informed And knowledgeable community To better understand and service Our students Seeing my daughters acquire knowledge And skills to better understand And advocate about their challenges And teach others to do the same Through the yes program Makes me proud of being part Of the yes program Hello, I am Veronica A junior at Silver Creek High School And this is my sister Isabelle I started yes because I wanted to know More about my dyslexia and connect with other kids That had similar challenges And while educating people Through my own experiences And see how
030my own experiences are impacting Teachers, parents, and kids In educating skills and giving me confidence I have needed to talk to my teachers And do other public speaking events Like giving presentations Hello, my name is Kimberly Baker And this is my daughter Emily She's a fifth grader at Red Hawk Elementary In Erie The dyslexia base camp program has impacted our daughter In a very large way She started kindergarten and was really struggling In reading as well as writing In second grade, even writing a thank you note After a birthday party was a huge challenge She was part of the DBC summer program And we saw tremendous growth from her She would come home Talking about the yes ambassadors And even wanted one of them to be her babysitter Having a high schooler As a role
031model was incredible Emily now wants to be A yes ambassador for other children To help them navigate the world of dyslexia One experience that was meaningful To us was the parent simulation All parents who have children With dyslexia should attend this Attending the parent simulation And parent education as part of the DBC Gave us insight as parents On what our child was experiencing In the classroom We now understand why she is so Tired after school Navigating learning on top of friendships Is really hard work We give her time after school to decompress And try to have activities start Later in the evening We also have her do her homework in the morning Before school when she is fresh And has a quiet space to learn Hearing from other students about their challenges And what they
032did to advocate for themselves Has given us tools to implement When meeting with teachers Emily now does an amazing job Of advocating for herself And speaking up when she needs a quiet Space to work, needs more time On assignments, etc We are forever grateful for this program And the support our daughter has received Thank you Well thank you families for sharing your experiences So with us today Thank you board for your support As you know this is a small sample Of the numerous families and educators That have been instrumental in supporting The district's work to recognize And to respond to students With characteristics of dyslexia Please join us at our next Dyslexia simulation on April 1st You heard about that tonight We have some flyers if you have an interest We love talking about our
033work And we invite you to ask Any questions that you might have In particular in regards to The parent perspective or student perspective Carolyn I don't have a question Just a big thank you I have seen your leadership in this area For many years I think it was old Chicago Where we met for lunch And had a conversation That must have been over a decade ago And you have just been a superstar In leading and supporting So thank you for everything both as a parent And as a member of our team I appreciate it a lot So thank you for that One of the things that Mr. Epper Said was we have differences in our brains And we all do And I'd like to applaud your daughter And all of the students here To let
034you know that despite those things And the differences we all have in each of our brains We utilize that to To hone those skills And talents that we have In the way that we have them And it came back to me one day We had a sermon one Sunday And one of the pastors there was talking about His child who had some Similar type of differences In learning in the brain And when they honed in those particular Skills of that child And they focused on that And not on everything else that We typically would focus on The things that don't work well As we would say They found the spark in that child And that child was able to then Be so much more productive in their own way So thank you so much for
035all that you do Mrs. Soltz And to each of the students You are great And what you have I know I'm going to see Great things from each of you so thank you so much Thank you so much Carolyn One of the highlights of my Board visits Are during the summer at your Dyslexia base camp Where you were so passionate And you were able to share so much about the program I just wanted to enroll myself And stick around yeah I'll be back It's just such a wonderful program And you're a fantastic Leader of it Champion for our students in Dyslexia I love that it empowers the students To learn about their learning That's such a tool that we Don't hear a lot about But to know more about yourself And self reflection and self
036knowledge Is such a key to a Successful education and life long learning So thank you students And parents and staff for joining And sharing your stories with us It was very meaningful Keep up the great work Can we get a picture? Next up we have audience participation Is there anybody signed up to address the board This evening? Seeing none we'll move right along to the Superintendent's report Dr. Haddad Alright thank you I appreciate it I wanted to share with you some exciting celebrations One I want to Thank Tony and his team For the second year in a row They earned the meritorious budget Award from the association of school Business officials And this is the most prestigious award It's excellence in presentation of the budget Document and thank you to Tara and Justin and Tony
037and the entire team It's a pretty remarkable Achievement so Congratulations and as you know the financial Stability of our system is Dependent on that outstanding work Also we're going to be hosting Insane Brain we have Well over 100 business and Corporate partners And we have an upcoming event That will take place at our Innovation center where we've invited them all To hear an update And we have close to 90 of them have responded So we will be having that Gathering at the innovation center and we Will present to them one of our student drone shows So it should be something that's very Exciting if any of you would like to attend But we're very grateful to Really truly almost 150 Businesses and corporations that Partner with the St. Brain Valley schools To advance our students
038Another example of Groups of students that are excelling Our career elevations Tech center mock trial team Only in their second year of competition At the state competition Where they were awarded the state professionalism Award it's a prestigious award That's voted on by their peers And recognizes their exceptional sportsmanship And courtroom conduct And as you know we have that first pre-law Program in the state at our career And tech ed program and The feedback that was given I think it was Dina you had shared with me The feedback that was given by the attorneys there Was that this was one of The best presentations in the way In which our students conducted themselves In the courtroom so we're very Very proud of them and it's just another example We have talked about robotics The most recent
039tournament was at Erie high school and you know that we won The state championships at the elementary Middle and high school levels And then we've been world champions twice But We're up to 260 robotics teams Now and at the Most recent championship For the high school level Longmont high school They won the tournament championship For design award and skills Championship qualifying them for the world Championships in texas Silver creeks team they won The tournament champions and amaze award Qualifying them for the world Championships and Erie high School team they won the sportsmanship And the intellectual Team qualified them For the world championships Saint brain had eight teams At the state for the high School out of the 36 Total representing four high schools So it's eight out of 36 and you got to remember We
040have 178 school districts in Colorado so once again A very dominant performance And we'll look forward to seeing How our students compete At the world championships again And then Jeff McMurray from Longmont we may get some more But we were notified we have our First for this year We've had many in years past But our first for this year Anya Wheeler is a better scholarship Winner and you know that's a full ride scholarship To any school in Colorado And there are only 40 that are given out In the entire state and so To have that kind of success You know and we've had them We've got a lot of students but they Really represent Remarkable children So excited About all that a couple of Other dates for your calendar we have As you know A
041lot of states and countries Come to visit St. Brain We have numerous tours We have Puerto Rico will be Coming to visit on the 9th and 10th They're looking to try to Establish an innovation program For their education system And they were referred to us So we'll be hosting them We also have as you know we're at the High school level at the K-12 Level for education We're leading efforts around quantum computing Joe McBreen our assistant Superintendent of innovation Is the only K-12 Representative on the governor's Task force for quantum computing The governor will be here On April 14th at 10 o'clock At the innovation center along With the department of education to launch The world quantum day from St. Brain acknowledging Our leadership in that arena And then also the great possibilities There will
042also be a Documentary That is going to focus on Public education At the national level And St. Brain was selected for that Documentary it will be viewed by approximately 80 million people Over time and It's exciting they'll come out here and they'll Interview people and Videotape our programs and things Like that and it will be highlighted As an outstanding school System across the country As is evidenced by our Results so we're very excited about That the other thing That you know I want to share with you is Broadmoor the Space foundation On the 7th of April It's the largest space Conference in the world There will be over 40 countries there Maybe it's actually 60 I can't remember Represented and it's going to be held in Colorado Springs and our students were selected Because we
043have the only student Drone program in the country And they were selected to Do the drone show At their opening ceremony So that will be another opportunity for our Students on a world stage To demonstrate their coding Skills their teamwork skills their Communication skills and it's another Partnership that's been formed with the space Foundation as we're branching out Into other opportunities for our Students I also We were invited To Cupertino this summer To participate in a Briefing at Apple's Headquarters they are Bringing in over 40 Different countries To talk about how you establish Innovation programs and high quality Academic programs and Through the use of technology and other things And St. Rain was the School district in the United States that Was invited so we'll be going out To Cupertino and interacting with 40 other
044countries Around how you build out innovation Programs for students within The K through 12 space And then the last thing is You know we we really focus on Getting out into the community to communicate As much as we possibly can and We do that all the time we like to say we're Always in a campaign type mode Whether we're campaigning or not And so we're going ready getting ready For another round of communication and it happens All the time but my Superintendents update will be going out to thousands Of people again and that goes out regularly Throughout the year and then we're also Sending out a key influencer letter to About 1200 people that are constantly Engaging in our school system Parents and others just thanking Them and giving them an update on the Recent
045bond that passed And then Got meetings scheduled And now to go to our seven City council and mayor meeting So I will go there And do an update on the St. Brain Valley School system for Lyons, Mead, Firestone, Frederick DeCono, Erie and Longmont To the mayors and to the City council members And you're always welcome to join me Dr. Capuchin will be joining me and will be Teaming on that presentation But it's just that constant steady flow Of information so that everybody Knows what's happening in the St. Brain Valley Schools. We want to make sure That our parents are closely connected To everything that we're doing And that our business community is closely Connected and our corporate sector and our Civic organizations and our elected Officials and the only Way you can do that is
046to Be constantly communicating With them so there's probably Other things that I could share Oh there is one other thing You know the agile program our telecommunications Program you know with the Level of sophistication with technology We have What we're going to expand our Telecommunications program And this is where students from Anywhere throughout Colorado Or any state in the Country or any Other country students Can access coursework In and through our System and the benefit Of it like if you look at it just on a Local scale you have students From skyline high school or Erie high school and they can take classes At nine watt high school Without leaving their own Building and so you have ways Of interacting with all of the Students and consolidating When you need to so that kids don't
047have To get on the road and drive There or drive there in a bus And the technology is so sophisticated You feel like you're right there It's an interactive you can hear You can ask questions to the teacher And so it's a way of expanding Programs and a perfect example is let's Say you had one High-powered quantum Computing class and you had Maybe one teacher that you could find That has the skill set to teach it That teacher could teach it out of one Building but all of our Students could take it simultaneously Out of their own buildings And that's one of the ways we're leveraging And not only students in St. Wayne brain but students in other School districts throughout Colorado and Across the nation and so we've Got a really amazing team That
048That is working on that and we already Have it established here locally but we're Branching out now on a global Scale so again Probably lots of other information that I Could give you but I'll Stop right there and see If you have any questions or not but Things are going well Well I do have one comment and when you Mentioned the agile program thank you for mentioning that I know when I was in D.C. early February at the NSBA Advocacy conference That we have each year for At the state level At the federal level I'm sorry One of the things when I talked to Senator Hickenlooper About what we're looking for For education as we know a lot of things are going on At the federal level but one of the things I Wanted to
049hone in on was this agile program That we have and he Was asking what is one thing We can do we can do a whole bunch of things but I Pointed out that one thing and that was our agile Program because I'm so proud of that that we Not only are working with students within Our district to make sure that they can get The services and the academics that they They need when they can't It's not available at their schools but We're also expanding that To other schools and other students so we're Not only thinking about our students but we're thinking about The education of all students so once again We talk about the all And that's the part that I honed in on so One of the great programs that I think is going
050to be A powerhouse I truly believe In our education system That we haven't seen before so I'm excited to see where we go All right thank you so much Don Next up can I just say oh yeah I just wanted to Express my excitement and congratulations To Anya she's sort Of a local celebrity in our neighborhood and she's Been our babysitter since she was 12 so Big congratulations to her I'm really really excited for her Hopefully she'll join us at a board meeting We can congratulate her in person Yeah Yeah well I'm excited For her so Thank you for the report And we'll move on to 6.1 reports CFO Tony Whiteley Welcome back Thank you good evening members of the board I'm pleased to present the district's Financial statements for the month Ending February of
0512025 The financial statements are Listed or provided in the Board packet and they'll also be Provided on the district's website At svvst.org under The financial transparency Site for the public Consumption Along with the financial statements We also provide a Summary dashboard That gives a quick glance, quick overview Of the Of any alerts or any Concerns that we may Have found in our finances and we're pleased To report that we're all greens In February We did get an opportunity To present these financial statements To our finance and audit committee On Monday and then we also Took a deep dive with the board Tonight at the study session just before This board meeting at 515 Where we were able to answer some questions And delve a little bit deeper At those meetings We were able to Talk
052a little bit about our Current position and performance Through February especially as it compares with This point last year We discussed The accelerated payments from the state For equalization and how That has expanded our current Cash and investments balance We discussed tax collections And anticipated tax levy amounts And how those have gone down For our public a little bit of relief for The community Some geography changes in terms of where Some items are being reported And as well as Our self insurance spend down which we Were anticipating and planned In our budget in order to help alleviate Some of the burden of Health insurance increases on our employees Finally we discussed A little bit about our investment income And the investment returns that we're getting Through our local government investment pool And we're pleased to
053report that We're getting about 4.5% on those Investments and that also Is helping with our revenue situation This year so Happy to answer any further questions However and otherwise that's all I've got For this evening Thank you for spending the time with us During the study session And did you have a question? Yeah yeah Please go ahead Yeah I was just going to say you know Tony Was it last year or the year before Was the lead person out of the Colorado Association of School Executives In the program leading all of the Finance folks throughout the state And then this year Justin who is our executive director Was selected to do that And it really is important to Understand the significance of that That both of them have been identified As the leaders in finance
054And working in schools And their expertise is always Tapped into it to win that meritorious Award along with The awards that they've won over the Last 20 years for their fiscal Reporting and their management I know when somebody does work The way they do it looks simple But school finance is one of the most Complicated things you will ever experience And they both all of them Their entire team and you know Jane And the work that she's done with the Governmental financial officers association And the association of school business officials You just can't Emphasize enough how lucky we are To have that kind of expertise Managing billions Of dollars Tony it is not something we take lightly And congratulations on another Year of the meritorious award that is Not an easy award to just get
055And I know that you I've seen your teams Work toward that award and make changes To your reports and And clearly You've achieved that highest recognition Possible that's just a huge Congratulations and I I'm skipping record when it comes to This but our taxpayer Dollars being stewards of Our taxpayer dollars is something that we take The most seriously right next to What's best for our students and With you at the helm In your first First year really as CFO And doing this work Alongside Greg in the past years And hiring the best team Justin and Tara and Jane and all of them On your finance team It just speaks to your Incredible dedication to our district I could Not be more thankful and more Proud of you. Well thank you so much and I Just
056you know I appreciate Saying that and it is absolutely Imperative that we earn And maintain the trust of the community Accountability transparency and Maintain good fidelity to our system And it is critical Is critical to providing a great Foundation for resource allocation For our students and ultimately leading to That student achievement and global success at The top of our strategic priorities Pyramid we take that very seriously and we Continue to reinforce that in our department meetings And the work that we do in our processes So did want to make sure that I Was appropriately redirecting praise to The members of my team who did So much work on this and so as Don mentioned Jane Frederick Who's been at the helm of our Accounting team for a Very long time now has earned that That
057GFOA award And ASBO award for our ACFER for our annual Financial report for 20 years now And then as you know Justin And Tara. Tara Cowens is our budget director And Justin Patrone is our executive director of budget and Finance. They've been working Just excellently at improving The budget document and the budget function that I was Responsible for previously And moving that up to the next level of excellence And maintaining that award for the Second year in a row and again hopefully we'll Be back here in 18 years heralding The 20 year Streak on the meritorious budget award As well at that point so I've been here I'm working on my 15th year I've been here 14 Years and so yeah While it is my first year CFO I've been working in the department and
058very familiar With operations and very comfortable Maintaining the great work that Greg Feath my predecessor did so Thank you so much for your praise and your confidence And we're looking forward to maintaining that And continuing the trust that Our community has in us Thank you congratulations I know we say I'm just going to make this one little comment I know we say and I was thinking about this as you all Were having the conversation I know we say that the Strong programming that we have for our students And is very Pivotal is a good foundation For our students however The finances that Allows us to have that programming is Really important and the way you All steward and since I've been here The last almost four years the way I sit and hear how you
059all steward The dollars that we have is I would say is It's phenomenal I do listen and hear Different districts talk about their finances From a high level And some of the things that they are struggling With and not to say that we haven't had Or we don't have struggles But I know we take that to heart With our finances so thank you so much For all that your department does for Our district and making sure that we're financially sound Thank you Ms. Peps Thank you again Okay next up we have our consent items Would board members Like to pull any of our consent items? Then I'll ask for a motion to approve All as listed in our agenda So moved By Meosha? Second By Jocelyn? Yes Mrs. Babs? Yes Mrs. Gilligan? Yes Mrs. Horanek?
060Yes Mr. Lechuga? Yes Mrs. Ragland? Hi Mrs. Weiss absent? Thanks Christy We have no action items We have no student advisory Council member with us today Our next meetings in April Are the 9th, the 16th and the 23rd And with that I would ask For a motion to adjourn By Sarah and Meosha All in favor? Aye It's 25 minutes off