2021-10-13 Board of Education Regular Meeting

001Good evening and welcome to St. Graham Valley Schools Board of Education meeting. Please join us in standing for the Pledge of Allegiance Hi Christy Hello, how are you this evening? I am good. How are you doing? I'm great. Thank you. Could you please call the roll? Mr. Aarons absent Mr. Berthold here. Mr. Garcia here. Dr. Martyr Present. Ms. Pierce here. Mrs. Ragland here. Ms. Segrist here Thanks, Christy. Were there any Changes or addendums to the agenda this evening? No, there were not. All right then a couple Items before we get started as the board convenes this evening I'd like to emphasize that the district's mission statement is this board and dr. Haddad's North Star We make all decisions within the context of educating each student in a safe learning environment So that they may develop

002to their highest potential and become contributing citizens We do not take that mission lightly Our focus is on each and every student having access to the very best Opportunities in an environment that is inclusive of every child Before we move on to our visitors I would ask you if you have a cell phone if you could just double check it, please and make sure that it is quiet and Then a reminder that this meeting is being Recorded and it is being televised as well. You can stream it live And access those recording on the recordings on the district website beginning tomorrow morning All right, that brings us to our visitors which is agenda item three And first on the list this evening is 3.1 and Colin. I believe you're here to talk about the mobile

003lab It's nice to see you. It's nice to see you guys it's always a pleasure and Thank you all of you for letting me come and talk tonight about our mobile lab our future ready innovation lab that we have in Our school district. I do have a one-page Infographic for you guys to take a look at so I'm going to pass around this folder for you guys to take a look up so Just a quick thing to get started our vision for our mobile lab it is You know a lighthouse for public education. It's a tool used as Outreach for our community and beyond and so we like to bring a very Unique learning experience that really focuses on design thinking to our schools As I like to tell people it has its own gravity

004when you show up to to an event People want to come and see it and and I really think that it's a it's a fun opportunity for kids and families To see what is going on in our schools schools Classrooms today do not look like they used to and it's a really fun time to be in education And really exciting time to share what we are doing in our classrooms So I did not get to come and check in on the first year 2019 when was the mobile lab was born? We didn't get to come back full circle because 2020 was hard it impacted all of us in a lot of different ways So from March 2020 just as a recap we had to cancel 25 events It was it was from that to the

005end of the fiscal year Where we really had to stop and think about what we were all doing Much like all of us were so we ended up canceling events But we wanted to get creative and how we were using that mobile lab and trying to get out Resources and and still be of value to our community So a recap of 2020 and 2021 is really what we're doing here and and what I'd like to talk about We started with a book distribution It's really fun when your boss dr. Capuchin in this case calls you up and says I want to give away books And I said yes, let's give away books So we ended up giving away 3,500 more than 3,500 books at over 10 sites in July of 2020 It started slow people

006were uncertain about getting out there, but it picked up pace dr. Haddad was at our first event and Weather was a problem and we were moving books in and out and moving tables But it picked up pace and by the end it was a really great event for communities to connect up We ended up going to lunch distribution sites This was simple. This was giving out stem at-home stem resources while students were still at home with their families Giving kids something active using their minds learning hands-on What I really took away from that and going around our district was the amount of support That we all saw right lunch Lunches were handed out breakfasts were handed out at an incredible Volume and so that was pretty special to see across our district Many of you

007know that I have a passion of video creation. And so we took that on being a video creator I was in high demand during our kovat time. So we got creative and trying to create resources for classrooms and Doing that with teachers and for schools for instance we worked with meet high schools energy academy and We instead of doing a field trip, which we were limited on during the time. We were able to do a solar tour and We went around with our partners. We did we worked with United Power We worked with a few different people and we filmed an actual solar tour and talked about those different things and interviewed different industry partners around what solar Looks like in the industry so that me high school students could see that we also filmed

008veterans for Veterans Day and talked about what that means the importance of Veterans Day and and That was a really special one that that ended up going out through our curriculum department Jenny Pettit got that out to teachers across our entire district and we saw quite a few views from that one Going back to the previous teachers Appreciation day and week. We were able to surprise some teachers in their home when we were still working remotely We were able to bring the mobile lab to their home and we were able to get it out there That was a lot of fun to work on and That one saw a lot of success. It got a little bit viral and saw over 300,000 views on that video Then we started with the spring of 2020 and

009we got together the Innovation Center and said how can we bring? Communities together and how can we do something fun around design thinking so Kristen Brougham and myself created the design guild So it was interactive. It was fun. It was outside. It was safe and We showed up to 22 different school sites on elementary school sites We saw over 5,000 people and we created design kits, right just a bag of really fun things that kids could build with prototype with and We supplied them with five different challenges that they could that they could complete so we ended up giving away 3,400 design kits during that time and Saw a lot of success and it was really fun because we also worked with the ed foundation to to give three awards $500 awards that was to

010the schools that for a student at each school that was you know turned in their design prototypes and it was a Really good fun way to engage around those challenges So I'd like to recognize those three students because and those schools because they did a really great job So Travis plaster who was that long amount of states at the time now has moved on to Westview Middle School Gabriella Rumbly from Prairie Ridge Elementary and Maeve Simon from Alpine Elementary all three won $500 for their schools to make upgrades in a health challenge around their office space again, the most important part of that process was seeing Communities come together parents Talking to other parents meeting their friends, you know, their kids friends parents for the first time Teachers interacting and seeing those fun learning experiences

011That was a really important part and something that we intended for but was even greater in the end Once we reflected it back on it Those were the big highlights of what we completed. We've completed 53 events and saw Thousands of people it was For a year of a lot of impact and not knowing how we were going to handle that I felt like was a lot of success and was very proud of that work This cannot happen without our project team our students that are from the Innovation Center They are employees of the St. Brandon Valley School District a very unique opportunity in our district they Do an amazing job Helping run these events plan these events Lead these events and so I brought two of them here today to talk because I I

012can talk all day about what we did But it's fun to hear about firsthand from our students of how this really went. So I have two students with me They're both seniors in the school district Zaina Khan is a senior at Longmont High School and Colton Steadman is a senior with our st. Vrain virtual high school So I'm gonna invite Zaina to come up now and share just a few words Hi, Zaina. Welcome Good evening. It is a pleasure to be here tonight. My name is Zaina Khan and I'm a senior at Longmont High School I'm an honors student involved in the Medical and Bioscience Academy link crew leadership student council and National Honor Society So start off my journey I started working at the Innovation Center back in October of 2019 and it has

013been an incredibly rewarding experience I learned a plethora of new skills under the umbrella of STEM I got an exposure to virtual reality various applications of our technology and first-hand saw the evolution of technology in our district Additionally, it has been incredible time meeting new people in our community and establishing lifelong bonds with my peers the Innovation Center is a place where It broadens a career path You want to pursue opens up a tremendous amount of opportunities and it creates and strengthens your relationships within the community Innovation Center is not just a place to work It's a bridge between you and the community and having that outlook prompts us to be a better member of the set society at large Not only is a bridge for our community, but also an intrinsic opportunity to advance

014in our academia In essence the competitive advantage that I've garnered from the mobile lab has bolstered me for success I now have the skill set to perform excellently in my math and science classes as a mobile lab has given me the knowledge and Biotechnology the underlying aspects of physics and more so critical thinking skills It's like progressing my schooling career I want to head into the medical field as an interest in STEM being part of the mobile lab has provided me with the wisdom of problem-solving and the mathematical and scientific knowledge I Can embark on my college journey confidently with the mindset that I can conquer anything because now I have the exposure to some of the greatest Technological and mathematical skills as medicine is becoming more interconnected with engineering my options with potential career

015paths Feel more reachable and attainable Coupled with academic competitive advantage the mobile lab has gifted me with a successful social skills I have been able to openly communicate and talk in front of huge crowds and coherently explain what the innovation brings to our community For instance my very first event at the village of the peaks was a robotic showcase back in October That event has a special place in my heart as it sparked a new profound interest within me as well as the first mobile lab event I'm surrounded by things. I love most such as science mathematics and the other elements of STEM most importantly I was attuned with the community I got to converse with families and share with them the goals in my life The innovation center unites like-minded students and individuals who

016share the same passion and goals and being able to openly converse about them Is the reason it makes working at the innovation center such a rewarding experience? Thank you Thank you Hi Colton. I thank you for having me speak today this evening So I'm on a couple project teams at the Innovation Center. I am on the mobile lab and Media team project teams. I'm just going to be talking about my experience on the mobile lab tonight, though So I've been working Around the same time as Zena has since 2019 when the lab started and it's been a really rewarding Experience all the way through I've been able to meet so many amazing people whether they be peers or teachers at other schools principals at other schools and I wouldn't have that opportunity without the mobile

017lab and Just seeing our kids interact with some of the awesome STEM stuff We bring to them is really cool Like it is if I had that type of stuff when I was their age in elementary school, my mind would be blown and I think it's great to be able to show both students and parents what the future of STEM education holds Because we're able to bring some cutting-edge new innovative learning tools to kids that schools might not be able to afford yet or might not just want to right now because they don't see the need to and so we're able to bring that to students and and teachers as well to show them what the future for education holds and show parents what that holds as well because schooling today is way different than

018when you guys or my parents or whoever was in school We have a one-to-one iPad ratio in our schools now every Kid elementary school through high school has an iPad and my dad sometimes doesn't know how to adjust the brightness on his phone So it's great to be able to show them, you know, how far we've progressed in education If you're watching dad, I'm sorry that I called you out And Working on the lab too has given me some really amazing career skills that I wouldn't be able to learn in the classroom like Communication with people and Leadership I Colin can vouch for me at some of our summer events. I quite literally stole the microphone out of his hand and helped lead kids in what they were going to be doing on the lab

019and You can't really, you know teach how to do that in a traditional classroom setting So to be able to learn that and to get paid for it in high school is a real great competitive advantage for heading out into the real world into post-secondary education and Into the workforce, so And I'd like to thank Colin for giving me the opportunity to work on the lab and it's been a really great opportunity and I'm very grateful that we have something like that in our district. Thank you Thanks to the both of you guys. I'll Pay you guys later. Okay, so No, really they they are fantastic students and this honestly cannot happen without those students really quick just to Finish up future events coming up this year things that we're thinking about First of all,

020we're working with staff Toyota right now for educator highlights For the teachers that might be watching or part We are showing up once a month to our school buildings and getting to surprise our educators so that one person every month in our school district that mobile lab is showing up and and Debbie's staff and the whole staff family who's phenomenal supporters of our school district We all I think we all know that here, but they are we're heading out and we're getting to highlight those teachers Soon coming up next month I'm getting to go with a small group of these students for a couple nights in Alamosa Or we're going to be able to work with 14 rural school districts We're doing a career fair for hundreds of students down there in that rural area

021And then we're thinking about Our design guild 2.0. So how can we make it better? How can we get out there and connect with schools? Thinking about reaching all schools instead of highlighting just elementary schools Thinking about going around to each feeder system. And so that's something that we're we're aiming to do And then I can't be up here without saying my thank yous I don't want to sound like an award speech here, but I do need to have some thank yous here First of all, our mobile lab is a hundred percent funded by sponsors And so I need to make sure that that's clear for everyone I need to make sure that that's clear for everyone Stapp Toyota Crestone Peak Resources IBM United Power and UC Health are five major sponsors along with others

022Where they have donated funds but also in-kind donations mentorship donations And so that's a really big part of why we're able to be so successful in what we're doing The support of Dr. Haddad and Dr. Capuchin The number of times that they have shown up to events The number of times we've had those conversations and the support I receive from them is incredible Again, our student team for events. I have 23 right now on the team and I am looking for more to come into the mix because I have 11 seniors this year This includes six seniors from last year that graduated all six of them going to four year universities two of them with full ride scholarships one a better scholar And they're just really incredible students that I get to work with on

023this Support from a couple people in the district Dylan Wissman a teacher at Timberline STEM teacher at Timberline K8 and Danny Ford my para educator that works at an innovation center does a lot of great work for me and with me The support of Patty Quinones our assistant superintendent of innovation over at the innovation center And the innovation center team and the incredible work that they are doing over there, but more specifically Kristen Brome and Jay Jackson The team I get to work with which are incredible people Hillary Sontag for one We all know that she does amazing work. I am lucky that I get to work with her Matt Wiggins His partnership as skills is incredible and then our communication team working closely with them and making sure that What we're doing that looks

024You know great every time Our transportation team this does not happen without them They are integral to this the the employees at the east bus terminal the the mechanics Daniel Rios the shop manager does a lot of work But most importantly Tim Dolan. He is there day in and day out. He is You know lugging tables and making sure that that lab is still running and And so I actually brought Tim tonight. So I just like to really recognize him and give him a hand really quick. So thank you And and of course you guys our school board your support I get to see so many of you at our events From Breckenridge. Mr. Garcia to I think I see miss egress almost every single event I'm at and she's out there in the school

025district And i'd be remissed if I didn't talk about dr Martyr who was my chemistry ap chemistry teacher at longline high school. So thank you. Dr. Martyr for your support um, and Thank you for your time. Appreciate it Colin colton and zena. Thank you for a wonderful presentation I do want to give the board an opportunity to ask questions or make comments. Uh, if anybody has one Paula Hi, thanks colin. Um Like a terrific update to hear the significant impact that the mobile lab is having and the thing the thing that struck me I remember when it was launched at the innovation center and At the time like first of all how visionary it was from don and jackie and everybody down the line to kind of take Academics on the road to kind of

026break down the traditional brick and mortar limitations time limitations we That was very visionary and impactful But what I heard tonight was something I really didn't anticipate which was the people skills and the leadership skills and the They call them soft skills. I don't like that term, but the those those kinds of um qualities that our students need to have For the next step for the for the next level of of their lives and so it's just another added bonus like I didn't I didn't see coming and and it's yet again another really critical component of the mobile lab and During the during covid I mean nobody obviously saw that coming But the lifeline that the lab provided during that time is really incredible as far as just I was at one of the meal

027Handouts when the mobile lab was there like giving out the books and just keeping Keeping us out there as safely as possible But to just you know, we didn't give up nobody gave up. We were still trying to make connections with people Um, and we were going to get through this so even symbolically it was excessively critical So thank you so much the the work you've done. I know it's incredible Constantly coming up with new applications and uses for it. It's really exciting and I and I just thank you so much for all that work Thank you Thank you joey colin, I wanted to uh, just express my appreciation for the work that um You and your your volunteer students have done and all of the support you've had it really does take a leader

028to uh realize the vision and to uh um Operate in such a way that draws That results in so much success that success in fact will draw more and more people as you continue to Explore the potentials and implement the things that are are really on the cutting edge. I loved your characterization of The mobile lab is the lighthouse for public education. I think that that Uh captures in a very few words the work that you're doing and the impact That we are having through your program on how public education Can imagine becoming more and more integrated? In the lives of our students and in preparing them for success for generations to come So thank you and congratulations to all you've accomplished thus far I will follow you closely With great interest as as you

029continue to Push back other frontiers. So thank you. Thank you Colin, I also I have a bunch of notes. I also loved how you opened with uh, the innovation lab the mobile lab Being the light a lighthouse for public education and I think woven throughout your entire conversation and or presentation Always at the forefront of courses student achievement always in our district And I love how you tie that so much to community Connection and a sense of belonging and so I know you say a lighthouse But I sort of picture public education as as that hub Right and and and the mobile lab also being in that hub and really connecting people Uh with with the goal always of student achievement, but how cool to showcase what's relevant? What's current and also what's possible in

030the future while providing opportunities for thousands and thousands of children That's cool. Yeah, I love my job I imagine you would love your job and and one plug for your videos because they are Fantastic. I can't let that slide and tem I have seen you drive that mobile lab into locations that i'm telling you if I was behind the wheel I would never be possible Thank you so much For everything that you do to to help student achievement, uh, and to connect our community because that's absolutely Absolutely what you do Yeah Oh, absolutely. Absolutely and and uh colton and zana a best of luck to you in your next endeavor Thank you for for helping make this possible. Uh, chico. Did I see you raise your hand? I just want to add a couple things.

031Um Echo what what has been said here appreciate all the work and the presentation done A couple things I wanted to mention one To the students. I I know when i've had interactions with the mobile lab i've already been so impressed with the the skill and enthusiasm of the students presenting which I think is Equally a part of the program that you mentioned and I just appreciate the work that's happening for the students in our district who are involved I also Appreciate the mobile lab getting to places That maybe need it in different ways than than others might right? So you talked about being across the state and in different places that we don't have access to to resource like this but even um so I definitely want to encourage that to continue to happen

032as well as within our own community just that the places that Can utilize it the most and benefit from that interaction just outside their front door And so appreciate that work and excited to see that continue. Thank you Thank you. Thanks Agenda item 3.2 is the superintendent's excellence in education award And a fantastic segue, right? tim You come on up i'm gonna Read this to you and also actually Colin and joe, would you guys like to come up? joe and I both nominated Tim and I just mentioned this but he really is A Really just an important part of what we do impossible without him. So Tim dolan epitomizes service excellence in addition to performing his assigned duties with rock solid dependability and professionalism Mr. Dolan's impact on the students and greater sanborn community became

033apparent with the introduction of the mobile lab project This is not his main job. This is above and beyond it From the project's onset. Mr Dolan embraced the challenges and nuances of leading a complicated multifaceted and multi-year effort with grit intelligence and creativity His efforts are proactive tim solves problems directly and patiently regardless if they are rooted in technical or human areas for example When tim discovers several issues upon receiving the mobile lab from the manufacturer Tim could be counted on to fix everything from air conditioning challenges on the bus's roof to large monitors on the side He continues to go above and beyond. Mr. Dolan has personally driven the mobile lab for over two years This includes early mornings late nights weekends overnight trips He shows up early and always helps us as much

034as he can to set up for the event This is all in addition to his daily role as our fleet manager Perhaps most impressive is that tim does all this with a smile He is always amicable even in the midst of stressful situations For these reasons, we'd like to nominate. Mr tim dolan for a superintendent's excellence in education award Joe anything you would like to share? Thank you Behind the technology the human aspect the the heart the smiles the the laughter the frustration That spirit of service is really epitomized in tim he tim isn't an amazing human an amazing worker And he's exactly what we want in saint brain and actually everywhere in k-12 everywhere in the world So it's just been a real pleasure to work with tim and colin, but tim you deserve

035this buddy And tim I would echo everything that's been said and just from a personal perspective You do have a way of making everybody around you Feel better and be better and every time I have seen you you always have a smile on your face You always have a kind word and you have really taken ownership And I know it's not your other job. You do multiple jobs in this school district But you have taken ownership of this mobile lab project and you've become the face of it and you really everywhere it is you are and I just I'm so grateful that you are in this school system and that you are and this is not Anything compared to what we we could give you but it's a small token of our appreciation So I

036hope every time you see it you will You will have a smile on your face as well So this is a excellence in education award and and thank you And if you wouldn't mind we'd love to take a picture of The three of you and the two students if you guys would come on up We would love that to take that picture of all of you Thanks, don't Right. That brings us to Agenda item four this evening, which is audience participation Um, I don't see Adrian ramirez, are you here this evening? Okay, adrian if you want to wait one second I just want to find out does anybody else here? I don't see anybody signed up to speak other than adrian on an agenda or Non-agenda item, is that correct? Okay The board of education

037values community perspectives and feedback from our parents teachers staff and community During board of education meetings The board will hear up to 30 minutes of public comment on non-agenda items and 30 minutes of public comment on agenda specific items To allow for the greatest number of community members to participate each person will be limited to three minutes of public comment At the end of three minutes I will thank you for speaking and invite the next speaker to the podium as the length of public comment time is limited It is possible that not everyone will be able to share their public comment Given that that won't be an issue this evening. No worries Adrian you'll have your your three minutes Emailed comments, of course, are considered by the board of education Just one reminder that if

038you're speaking to a non-agenda item this evening to please limit your comments to matters of public concern about The district if you have a concern about a specific individual or personnel matter, please reach out directly to a board member Dr. Haddad or the hr department and will assist you with next steps Adrian if you'd like to come up to the podium, please State your name and address and then you'll have three minutes and thank you for for joining us this evening I know that you've attended several board many several board meetings. Yeah, so thank you. Yeah, thank you Um, so adrian Ramirez, my address is 3600 bomar avenue in loveland So I believe that parents have lost trust in the public school system a couple of years ago between three and five percent of students

039were homeschooled Now that is a little greater than 11 percent and it has no sign of slowing I believe this the school system the public school system is losing its legitimacy And as a parent, you know, I have pulled my kids out of public school as well So I go to the one day a week apex school system, which which is through svv sd as you all know But even that for me is a little bit of a struggle because I don't know what my kids are being taught every day I think that a lot of parents Have concerns that they don't really know what's actually going on in the classroom on a day-to-day basis And then you see articles frequent articles of you know, these highly publicized Events that happen in board meetings and

040in school systems around the country Anything from highly sexualizing children to crt to dei. I know that we You know, this school system is not embracing crt Um But I believe that svv sd needs to restore trust in parents and in their legitimacy um, they don't necessarily have to You know the stigma of the public school system doesn't have to be because of a fault of svv sd This is something that I think is is plaguing the public school system as a whole and so The question then is well, you know, what options do we have? How do we restore legitimacy? How do we ease the concerns of parents? and I think that One of the options for this is is for parents to be able to drop in and what I mean by that

041is Cameras in the classroom And so I know that the you know opponents of this would probably say say something along the lines of you know We need to preserve our children's privacy. We don't want our children broadcast to the public um And that's valid that would be a valid concern for me as well I think that some of the solutions to that would be that we could have parent-only access Um, I think that parents with children in specific classrooms could have access to view video feeds of those specific classrooms that their kids are in Um, I think another option might be to have the camera zoomed in on the teacher We don't necessarily have to have students broadcast over live streaming Um, or maybe the whole thing starts with just audio recordings Maybe if

042teachers can hear what's going on in the classroom, this could put some of the some of their minds at ease I feel like the time for this is now the The schools are well funded right now. They're well populated. There's a lot of students enrolled I mean who knows what's going to happen over the 10 over the next 10 years You know if if the schools continue to be become non-legitimate Um, I mean, I don't I don't know how many how many parents might homeschool their kids over the next 10 years Um, but right now there's funding. There's lots of kids in schools right now is the time to put parents minds at ease So, thank you Thank you adrian enjoy the rest of your evening One more call for audience participation. Thank you Um

043don the superintendent's report is next but I wonder If you wouldn't mind and if the rest of the board is in agreement if we move the eerie high school feeder report up Is that okay with you? All right, brian. Sorry. Just bring that on you I'm a little out of practice with kids being here guys. Sorry. I should have done that very first thing So my apologies to all of you. Hi brian. Good evening surprise. You're next Madam president board of education. Dr. Adad. Thank you for Time this evening to talk about the eerie feeder system. We're very excited to do that Um, but I just want to take the opportunity to thank the people In the back two rows there, which is a lot of times where they like to sit um And those

044are the principles of the eerie feeder system I consider an honor and a privilege to work with them And I would compare them to any any group of administrators anywhere in the nation So i'd like to just recognize each one of them I'd like to recognize. Mr. Tim Garcia at red hawk Mr. Ryan ball who's new to us from highlands and Mr. Matt buckler the principal of eerie high school Um, also dr. Karen music who has been kind enough to cover at grandview elementary for a leave of absence Um, also another new person with us sherry carter from black rock elementary lauren eaker from eerie elementary and kim watchery From eerie middle school and then mr. Weinberger from soaring heights couldn't be here tonight because of a family commitment But I just want to recognize

045them for the work that they do they care deeply not only About the kids and their staff And the the school itself, but also their communities and they really care for each other, too And it's been really great to work with all of you and thank you for the work that you do But what i'd like to do now, we just have a really short presentation that talks about why eerie And I hope that you enjoy that and I hope that you enjoy the students That puts so much work into it But i'd like to bring up liz russell the assistant principal from eerie high school, and she is going she's the one that brought all these Kids together and worked on this and so thank you liz for your work And then if you

046want to have the students come up, that'd be good Absolutely. Thank you. Mr. Krauss for that introduction there and I have been working with these students these past couple of weeks on this project and You know we hand picked this group so we knew they were pretty solid off the bat bringing them in I just can't say enough about how much they took initiative. They took charge They were innovative and they showed their talent so much While getting this project together. They just took the bull by the horns They talked to each one of these principals gathered what was important in each one of their schools And came together to create a wonderful video that we're going to show you here in just a minute About why eerie is so fantastic why the community of

047eerie is booming the way it is and how the schools Make that community continue to grow the way it is So i'm going to invite my students to come up right now and introduce each of themselves and then we will show our video Hi there, i'm uh, jackson pace. I'm a senior at eerie high school Um, i'm involved in mock trial. I was on the debate team I'm a vice president of choir and I really hope you enjoy our presentation tonight Hello, i'm ava welty i'm involved in mock trial I'm a two sport varsity captain and i'm committed to play lacrosse at the university of denver next year Hi, i'm carsten hansen. I'm a football player at eerie high school and then i'm also participate in malta united nations And tigers together peer mentor Uh,

048my name is yana martinez. I'm a senior I'm a part of the varsity volleyball team and I hope to play varsity in college And i'm also a part of the tigers together peer mentoring as well Uh, my name is levi glaze. I'm a part of the varsity men's volleyball team nhs and jazz band Hi, my name is shreya and lumen i'm a junior at eerie high school and i'm currently In the aeronautics program of engineering So as you can tell we have quite the group here of students and I look forward to showing you what they have put together You know Growing at a rate surpassing locales all across the country with a massive influx of new students teaching talent and financial resources Within the st. Vrain valley school district in particular. We've seen a

049considerable increase in student enrollment Particularly within eerie with eerie's enrollment jumping from 5440 in 2019 to over 5921 in 2021 there are a myriad of different communities to choose from within our school district So what makes eerie such an attractive place for education? Well, that's what eerie high school's superintendent's advisory council delegation set out to find the answer to By interviewing administrators students and community members across eerie's eight feeder schools We were able to definitively answer the question of why eerie. Hi, my name is cyrus weinberger. I'm the principal here at soaring heights Today you're going to get to learn about our innovation time that propels kids into the scientific process A bit about our elective offerings As well as lots of different extracurricular activities when you put those things all together You create a

050great learning environment where kids are excited to learn and have fun And that's what attracts everyone to our schools here I think that robotics has just been such an awesome vessel for learning Not really just focusing on engineering and computer science skills But I really see a lot of awesome social skills that the kids get to work on they're working in teams They're trying to problem solve overcome big challenges And uh, it's really just been an incredible experience to see the kids grow over the years the Innovation projects they're pretty unique and they all bridge to things in the real world whether it be like a more simplified version of it Or like maybe just Making a model of something. I like innovation because we get to build stuff and we also do sort of

051like hands-on learning And we constantly like move through what we're doing So every student has innovation at every single grade level every single day to see the progression of of where they start As as early elementary kids and working their way up through the program has been fantastic So curi elementary special because we've been here for a really long time this school has been here for almost 55 years And we love our school and we love the things that happen in our school Um, we're stem school so we get really messy and we do lots of design thinking Um, our school is an og train school. So kids are really getting what they need in phonics and phonemic awareness And we have a lot of fun We do lots of fun projects. Um, we dance

052together we sing together And we have a really good time The teachers here at blackrock many of them have been Here since the school began they helped open the school and they stay and the ability for the teachers To meet the needs of students is unlike any that i've ever experienced in my whole 17 years of being a principal um, they truly know how to differentiate instruction For all of the children, um, they push kids who are Meeting a push that are high level kids and then they also go in and scaffold and um Meet the needs of students in that way They hold students to a very high standard Um, and I think in addition to that they have the parent support to be able to meet the needs of Students, it's a really

053nice partnership I'm tim garcia and I am i'm i'm the person who's blessed to be able to be the principal of red huck Nice, how long have you been? So this is my fifth year here at red huck So for me, it's all about building that community building the family building the relationships and wanting to be here if kids Have fun and they want to be at school The learning experience so that becomes the easy part if we do the relationships Well, if we build the community foundation we do that the right way the learning takes care of itself We love red huck because it's it's our family. It's the people that we love to be around and work And i've never i've i don't want to go anywhere else. I'll probably retire from here

054What do students like about highlands elementary, um, I guess first and foremost, um, we have a great staff here Have some of the best teachers and I think they provide an environment where kids thrive And they're excited about their learning they connect with their teachers. So they're excited to be here and excited to come to school every day We also have you know in our mission statement that we want to empower students to explore their own interests So we do a lot of things In our classrooms that allow kids to go off and explore a question they might have about something they're learning about Or if they have an interest about something else, they're going to be able to Go and work on on something or create something or give a presentation about something that

055they're interested in in their class So we really push that with our staff here and I know they allow Students the opportunity to to do a lot of things around what they're interested in What's special about grand view and about the eerie community is that they're focused on innovation and creating kids that are able to go into the 21st century with life skills that help them to be adaptable because we don't know what the workforce is going to look like by the time my fifth graders graduate and so their ability to be problem solvers to be collaborators to be Um outside of the box thinkers is something that we really focus on at grand view Our focus is to be an innovative and like an innovative school that creates innovative students and we try to

056weave that Thread of innovation through everything we do all day every day And so we opened just only three and a half years ago or not even three and a half just over three years ago And through that we've overcome being a new building and having to create a community with our surrounding You know families and with our surrounding Um Like businesses and stuff to partner with And beyond that then we had the pandemic and so we really haven't had a normal school year as a building and yet our teachers and our educators are at any Change of course or change of path are willing to just jump in and do it. There's no Apprehension or no complaint no anything Other than what is best for students what's best for our community and what can

057we do to better ourselves? And so I think that's what's really special about our teachers and educators is that they're just willing to Do what is best for kids and for our community no matter what? Hi, i'm kim watcher the principal at airy middle school and i'm proud to work with such an incredible community here at airy middle school We are a pre advanced placement focused school and that means preparing every student To take at least one advanced placement class when they travel on to airy high school And a big part of that is preparing students with confidence and and success and strategies to be successful students and a part of The process of supporting kids and those strategies to be successful students is our web program where everyone belongs And it is a program

058that we start out on the first day of sixth grade We pair 10 sixth graders with two of our eighth grade mentors and it is a program that we keep going all year long And the program is really neat because what we do with the eighth graders is when they're in seventh grade they have to apply And we select them and then we actually train them for two days. They take uh their summer off basically and come through a series of program activities on how to work with sixth graders as far as Leadership communication so they dedicate quite a bit of time So we have eighth grade students who are mentors and leaders That work with our web links our our sixth grade students to give them strategies to be successful in school Not only

059that it creates community within the building and relationships for our sixth grade students to know that they have two web leaders That they can turn to and ask advice of and look for in the halls and see them in the halls as they say hi It's such an important part of building community So we are proud of our web program and we hope to continue to build on additional strategies to provide that community of support our feeders are important To build the foundations of success for our students at eerie high school uh, they have a lot of great programs there and I think what's unique here at eerie is A lot of the students in elementary school or even in middle school are able to come to eerie high and participate in programs Hi, my

060name is lucas ali. I'm a sophomore here at eerie high school And what I love about being a student is how involved you can get in within the community Hi, my name is talia cowley and i'm a junior at eerie high school and something that I love about being a student here Is that the community is super welcoming like in choir? and um band or any of the sports that you play you feel like you're in a family and that's really Fun to be able to come to high school every day and know that you always have a place that you belong Hi, i'm alex bolovsky i'm a junior eerie high and I love being part of eerie high and the community here because it's just it's a huge community and It's just full of

061a bunch of people that are here to support you and help you in whatever you want to do And it's just really fun walking in the doors every day knowing that you have a whole support system And that you could do whatever you want to do here. Hi, my name is jayden mccarty I'm a senior at eerie high school and the thing I love most about being a student at eerie is the strong sense of community Hi, i'm ava welty and i'm a senior at eerie high school and for me both the academic rigor and the athletic opportunities has prepared me for my future college experience so both lots of ap classes as well as the Athletic sports I participate in lacrosse and basketball has prepared me for my future college Hi, i'm jackson pace.

062I'm a senior here at eerie high school And eerie high school has really helped me to become a leader in my future Mainly because of the amount of ap classes and like the rigor of the coursework that you're able to have access to here Starting in my freshman year I was able to take ap human geography and it really introduced me to my love of social studies And it's now something that i'm likely going to pursue in college and with other classes like ap ap lang and ap lit I've just found a really great love for the humanities and it's really helped me to prepare for My college and careers in the future So you've heard me say this many times on the announcements or when I tweet things on twitter But I really believe

063we do have the best kids in america and we have i'm gonna also say by extension the best families in america And it's true if you look at how we've grown over the last seven years or so We have people literally from all over the country moving into eerie highs into eerie high but also into the eerie feeder And then even people from all over the world coming here They like the quality of life they like the schools and the quality of education So we've always said there's a lot of excitement here I think our teachers feel that our kids feel that and The other thing I would add is we're still a one high school town So even though we're the biggest high school in st. Vrain We everybody at eerie knows about eerie

064high school and is excited to come up here and do great things and achieve their dreams Thank you You know when I when I watched that video and i've watched it probably 15 times now I always think of dr. Haddad and you say out of the public schools grows the strength of a nation and when I watch those students and I see These kids right here who came up through this feeder and are now Moving on very soon to very big things in their lives I know that that is true and I have a lot of hope for our future So thank you for watching and I guess if you have any questions for our students, they are Ready and willing to answer anything that you may have to ask great. Thank you Uh, I

065oh yes I certainly share that hope for the future You know your feeder report is the first one we've had in over a year And it was the perfect way to kick off This season of feeder reports. So thank you very much. It was outstanding. Uh, do board members have questions or comments this evening paula? um, I I have more of a comment than a question because um As joey said we haven't seen one of these uh reports in over a year and we haven't we we've tried lately to get back out Into the schools more which has been fantastic But it was limited last year. So it's it just warms my heart to get back to this to get back to what really matters um And I just want to share as a board

066member what what? You know, we generally fly at 30 000 feet like we're looking at the big picture And then um looking at the foundation foundational things like are the finances in order, you know, does doctor hadad does he have our support? Has he built a system? um that can Can educate our students do we have the best quality teachers? Do we have the best buildings and safety? We look at those foundational things And the reason we spend so much time on that sort of bedrock work is so communities like eerie Can do what you're doing so so you can have the the second to none staff and leadership in place that is flexible enough to um differentiate instruction to be creative and innovation to get all that bedrock education done to to follow the

067colorado academic standards to bring in the ap classes to have all the Standard required things done, but then to lift it to another level And so I just can't thank you enough for doing What we hoped you would do, you know Like we spend all this time to like to get the foundational work done so that you can go and just make it great and like take it to another level and um I just can't thank the community enough because without their support the buildings don't get built. The teachers don't get hired I can't thank the parents enough for partnering with us every single time We've had to open a building out there and there's always there's always growing pains Every single time we've been able to come together with the eerie community and work

068it out and make it better Every single time it's an incredible track record out there and um, I just want to thank you all and the students are just the proof but I thank you for coming you guys are the proof you make all of this Worthwhile and it just makes my heart happy for the future. So thank you so much and congratulations to you all Thanks paula Wish all of you best of luck as you continue your journey throughout this school year Glad to see that you're back and you're here with us and there was a presentation and it's wonderful to see all of you And to the building leaders, thank you so much for for everything that you do. We appreciate all of you greatly So brian, thank you was a wonderful start

069Wonderful start to our presentations our feeder reports again. So thank you Now you all can go home and do homework study All right, uh, that was agenda item 6.3. I'm going to jump back up to agenda item 5 don Which is the superintendent's report and thank you for being gracious and Allowing the students to go first so they can go home and do some homework. All right Well, they are definitely or have dinner tough act to follow and that was a highlight so My pleasure to defer to them I want to just give you a few things one, you know, we're in the middle of the october count and As you heard from eerie our schools are busting out at the seams We are growing at a pretty rapid pace we have Almost all of

070them accounted for and we have until the first of november to identify the last Group and then we will bring to you the october count. I want to share with you a little bit of information You know, I and I appreciated the comment Because i've always said that public education is the backbone of of america There used to be 90 of our children k through 12 were in public schools That has increased now to 91 percent And so you see the enrollment in public schools continuing to grow and you see You know the economy, you know everything around public safety national security And the values of our homes The quality of our service industry democracy When you have 91 of your students k through 12 enrolled in your public schools and that number is growing

071quickly You realize just how critically important it is and when you see students like this you understand that our future is in good hands And i'm very very proud of our kids I want to also share with you some statistics. I had an opportunity to meet with a pretty successful entrepreneur from down in denver and We talked and he you know, he's a businessman and he shared with me that in the business community, which we all know they look at profit margins and Bottom lines and he said what you know, what's your bottom line for schools? What do you look at because you have a whole host of metrics that we discussed from attendance rates to graduate I said, you know at the end of the day, it's about our graduation rate We've established among

072the highest requirements in the state and the region and perhaps the country Because we want our students to graduate with as you heard several times a strong competitive advantage And they are and they are graduating now at the highest rate in the history of our district Approaching 91 in four years and then when you go to four and a half, etc. It climbs even higher but some of the interesting data I asked hillary sontag to pull together for me because We are a people organization but there is also a a bottom line to it from the business perspective And so i'll share with you some of the data that that she shared with me if you look at a graduate Somebody who does not graduate from high school will earn 331 thousand dollars less over

073their lifetime than somebody with a high school diploma And if you have some college but not a degree You will make about 574 thousand dollars And obviously it's give and take more than someone without And then if you have an associate degree or higher you're looking at making about 754 thousand dollars more a year and then you look at the costs in other ways Someone without a high school diploma is likely to cost About two hundred and ninety two thousand dollars more in medicaid and medicare And so you see that now insane brain this last year I shared with you about 2723 students are returning back and overwhelmingly they're coming back from home school They're coming back from private schools and they are coming back from other school districts So we have seen a surge

074of enrollment in our public schools and i'm very proud of our teachers because I know that they are at the At the at the heart of this and at the and the parents and the students Working to make the system so successful in so many ways We have challenges. There is not an organization on this earth that doesn't have challenges and we are certainly an organization that has our challenges, but you can see the number of of students coming back into our public schools And you know i've been out and about in the communities Presenting to different chambers of commerce presenting to different rotaries and businesses and elected officials And the outpouring of parent support And you all saw some of it at our highlands opening of the elementary school just parent after parent after

075parent Telling us how much their children love to be back in school and I know that covet was hard on everyone But that excitement to come back and that energy and then watching them be so successful And watching them achieve it at higher levels than ever before we saw our sat scores go up again We're excited about that. We you know collin didn't mention this, but we have 170 robotics teams active 170 out of 60 schools And they're doing work not only during school, but after school and in the evenings and on weekends We're partnering continuing to partner with over 90 business and corporate partners who have Expressed extreme trust in our schools and they vet our schools before they commit their time and their energy But what they've said to me places like ibm

076and apple and toyota you heard some of it Is we know your kids are getting a great education and we know The integrity of your organization and that's why we're willing to Commit when you heard about the mobile lab the mobile lab cost $800,000 and was funded fully by our corporate partners and you see that kind of commitment And these are folks who will not commit until they are certain that you are delivering an outstanding education So I was grateful to hear all of that I did share with you guys the the graph that showed the spikes in enrollment coming from home school private school and other school districts And that's always an indicator Because there's so much choice There's so much choice parents can choose where they want their children to go to school

077And the good news is that they are choosing in many many instances The saint brain valley school district, so i'm very proud of our teachers. I'm very proud of our staff our students I'm very proud of our parents and our entire community and our administrators The the dedication the commitment You just saw it and this is one feeder system, but you could take any feeder system from saint brain and you would get something similar The education system has never been stronger ever at any point in time in american history And i'm very very proud of the kids in saint brain I also want to share with you. We had our first leadership saint brain meeting. We had about 150 parents participate And we're still doing that virtually Hopefully we'll get to that place in time

078where we can get back together, but it was a really productive meeting it was great to hear from parents great to uh to see them even though it was on our webex system and uh lots of great questions and so I know there were a few board members that attended and uh you guys might have a comment about what what your perspective was and i'll Wait till after my report and share that I also went to the band night last wednesday What an incredible evening hundreds of students participating in our incredible bands and the the stands were packed with parents Just so proud of their children And our band instructors and our students just knocked it out of the park as they always do and i've been seeing the choir Concerts and the orchestra and

079the debate In the theater all of these things and we're getting ready to go into this weekend The state playoffs and many of our sports programs are just they're ranked in the top 1 of the state And you see many of them are ranked number one number two number three our Our kids are knocking it out of the park competing against other school districts I was at blue mountain today eagle crest and nywad elementary along with nywad high school and silver creek and the energy is just palpable and Again, I I would be remiss if I didn't again say thank you to our teachers and our staff These are heroes that deserve respect from all of us Because again 91 of our children In this country are attending public schools And we have a great

080country and I think in large part it's because of the excellent education They're receiving and they have received over many many years And I also would be remiss if I didn't thank our parents Who have supported? Two mill levy overrides during my tenure here and two bonds we're nearing close to a one billion dollars in extra revenue because of the The goodness of their hearts and their commitment to our schools And I could not be more grateful to them for that and our administrators who are leading these buildings and at the central office And all of our classified staff our bus drivers our custodians our nutrition services Feeding our children transporting our children making sure the buildings are clean and safe Our grounds and maintenance if you go to our buildings, they're they're clean. They're

081safe. They're spotless. They're a source of pride And we have you know, approximately 33 000 students And before you know it, we're going to have to build more schools because we're headed towards 80 000 students And sometimes you wonder, you know, can you keep up pace with all the kids coming into our schools? But you know how I am. I I love having the more the merrier because the more students we have The greater the stories and the excitement and the energy So a big thank you to everyone and I know that some of you were Out in the schools and some of you have were at the leadership st Brain, so if you have any thoughts or comments you'd like to share But again, thank you to everyone in making our schools as strong

082as they are Thanks, don appreciate it. Um, you know you talk about the bottom line and uh raj chetty out of harvard. He's an economist And he's done several different studies one of them Specifically about the quality of kindergarten teachers and at the end Of the day his data comes up with very similar numbers that you come up with which I Really is has nothing to do with anything, but I think it's interesting Yeah, uh, did anybody want to comment? He's fascinating if you ever want to read anything you've read raj chetty. I'm sure fascinating Uh, did anybody want to comment on leadership st brain or? Jim sure Unusual, but i'm going to make comments. Yeah Um I was telling dr marty and i karen you were on that too. I I was amazed at

083the uh At the interest that the parents showed and the quality of the questions that they had They weren't all asking the same question that all those questions were specific and focused They were articulated very well and I had a lot of thought went into it a lot of concern And I thought dying from the blow smoke, but you handled Every one of us is as you normally do very very succinct very Clear very honest and um, I think a lot of them were satisfied and I don't have any idea How many more of those written questions that were showing up at the bottom the screen that you guys had to handle with the staff afterwards? But I know it was a significant workload for the rest of the staff to uh to respond to

084some of the written questions that were there but yeah, I was it was excellent because i've been attending leaderships for Seven years now and uh I just that was one of the more focused uh Ones with with really great questions from the from the parents and a lot of concern So that was really good and I look forward to the next one All right. Thank you jim appreciate that Don't how many parents were involved in this uh session We had about 150 who signed up and you know a lot of them stay for the entire time and some will Not but it was it's a great turnout. It's a great turnout a lot of representation from all of our schools Yeah, I think especially some excellent questions for um, tony and greg Coming from that

085which is such a You know, I have a really hard time personally understanding school finance I just constantly have to study it but the questions that were coming from our community were just so important and so poignant and I just think that our parents and community must be learning from our amazing students in st. Brain because You know what else was something we shared and will continue to share we have so many students now Back to the economics of it all we have so many students That are earning so much college credit Before they leave our school system And they're entering into college as sophomores in college that gives you an indication of how rigorous the coursework is And then we're really seeing large amounts graduate, you know, we added those three p-tech programs when

086I talked to you about The economic impact of an associate degree three p-tech programs one in computer information systems One in cyber security and one in the medical and bio biomedical field and it's at no cost to the student In partnership with some of these corporations that we've discussed and so all of these children earning these associate degrees and then the certifications that they're earning and things like welding and optics and Electronics and machining and all of these Things that they're going in they're getting their two-year certificates and they're going out into jobs making 40 50 000 60 000 a year so you just you've never seen the kind of Preparation for post-secondary that we're seeing right now and it's uh, it's really good news All right. Thanks everyone That brings us to agenda item

087six Which is our reports and 6.1 is our 22 21 22 first quarter gifts to schools Hi, greg. How are you this evening? Can you hear me? Okay, I can yes Thanks for having me tonight. Um, yeah, so first quarter gifts This time this year is about sixty two thousand dollars Last year was about a hundred and fifty three thousand dollars What we did note was there is a timing of a large year over year donation that typically comes in the first quarter That we did not receive the first quarter of this year And so it's still below where we normally are but we're doing we're doing well um couple to to just highlight $4,000 from seagate for robotic support And eight thousand five hundred from micron gives for the mobile app So happy to

088answer any questions I can Thanks greg any questions this evening? Uh, it looks like there are no questions So we'll go ahead and move on to agenda item 6.2, which is the school finance update specifically the total program mill levy update And i'm going to let tony talk about the total program mill levy correction And then I have a couple updates on federal relief funds per audit and s or three proposed Expenditures great. Thanks greg. Hi tony Hi, good evening So I want to make sure everyone can see the slide deck here up on the screen Yes, we can great Great, so i'm here to provide a an update on a a state mandated change to our total program mill levy per recent bill That was passed. Um by our state legislatures house bill 21

08911 64 I want to start out this presentation tonight to give just a little bit of context Around our current mill levies that we charge in in terms of our property taxes Within the district The the district levies for property taxes. The first is the total program mill levy The second is our voter approved mill levy override Our third is the abatement levy and the fourth is the bond redemption fund levy Those are four individual different levies that make up the total amount of property tax that let mill levy that this the The district levies on property tax owners within the district Now with that said this entire Bill and this entire presentation all has to do only with the first one The total program levy all the other ones are not affected by the

090the following slides and the following information i'm going to share tonight Our total program mill levy is actually set that 24.995. It's set per the colorado department of education. We don't Change that we don't adjust if they tell us what that's going to be That levy funds most of the local share portion of saint brain's total program formula funding that that overarching total program formula is funded from three sources and The the state versus the local share that local share portion is almost entirely comprised of this total program the levy That amounts to about 107 million dollars for fy 22 and represents about 40 percent of the total program funding of about 269 million dollars the remainder of total program comes from the state equalization payments Here's a pie chart just just showing that illustration

091there so you can see state equalizations about 157 million that comes from state funds which is funded from things like income taxes and sales taxes The total program mill levy that we're talking about tonight funds that 39.7 percent or almost 40 share of 107 million And then there's a little bit about two percent that comes from local specific ownership taxes, which is like vehicle registration taxes All right. Now with that said, let's go back to 1992 when the state passed the constitutional tabor amendment Among other things the tabor amendment says that as property values rise that unless voters approve otherwise Tabor would require that a mill levy be adjusted downward each year So that it would raise only the amount raised in the previous year plus inflation and growth Again, the key word there is

092unless voters approve otherwise And in 1998 same brain voters did exactly that they approved a ballot measure that exempted the district from this particular tabor requirement At the time for context same brains total program mill levy was 35.552 mills. This is the number that's now 24.995 Over the years many other school districts around the state De-bruced and I think there's only one or two. I think there's two left in the state that haven't De-bruced or exempted themselves from this table requirement now through 2007 As I mentioned previously CDE tells us what our total program mill levy will be and what they did was they told us and As well as many other districts around the state to reduce their total program mill levy and they calculated that levy As if the districts had not de-bruced

093And then finally in 2007 total program mill levies were finally frozen statewide per legislation So we were seeing a tick down of our total program mill levy to where it is today Where it actually could have kept a little bit higher where it was when we de-bruced individual total program mill levies varied Widely from district to district. So some were, you know, similar to where we were around 25 mills Some had dropped below 10 Here's an example of what happened around the state with various Mill levies total program mill levies. So the red line would represent where a mill levy Should have probably stayed without CDE incorrectly decreasing Instructing schools to school districts to decrease that total program mill levy But what happened was they instead instructed school districts to decrease their mill levy As

094if they were still subject to Tabor And so what happened is that in 2007 when mill levies were froze here There was this gap between where mill levies could have been versus where they are now and this gap is Essentially the state contends is tax collections that should be raised locally, but instead is being funded from the state On a macro basis this chart kind of represents A part of what was happening So the black line is the state share of the total program funding k-12 education over the year and the white The white line is the local share so you can see is over time There's this gradual increasing of the state share and the gradual decreasing of local share and this was causing a real big Budget pressure on the state in order

095to consistently make up more and more and more of k-12 funding state share So this brings us to um a few years ago Based on the results of a color colorado supreme court case from 2009 which actually had to do with that 2007 mill levy freeze the legislature based on that supreme court case Felt like they would be able to remedy the incorrect decrease of these total program mill levy reductions And instruct school districts to to correct them upwards and increase those total program mill levies Without going back to the voters and getting the table required voter authorization to increase those And so in 2020 they set the stage By passing a bill that said everyone was supposed to now set their gross mill levy rates to 27 mills And then they would provide property

096taxpayers with a mill levy offset or a credit for the difference To return them to what their prior mill levy was so sink brains mill levy has been 24.995 for many many years But we were instructed to increase that to 27 and then provide a credit for the difference of 2.005 mills And then essentially we were levying the same amount It's just broken into two phases of gross and a credit and so we're still levying 24.995 today however this year Hb 21 11 64 instructed school districts across the state to start eliminating These credits that were set put in place last year We are instructed to decrease these credits at one mill per year until we reach that full 27 mills And so this december st brain's total program mill levy will be set to

09725.995 Instead of the former 24.995 In two years, it will go up one more mill and then the in the third year that last little 0.005 will get tacked on And so after three years, this will be fully implemented for st Brain and we will be at 27 mills instead of the current 24.995 Now anticipating a legal challenge the legislature did submit this plan as an interrogatory to the colorado supreme court Requesting a ruling ahead of time on its constitutionality In may of 2021 the colorado supreme court ruled that hb 21 11 64 is constitutional and does not violate taper All right. So let's talk about the impact on our taxpayers. So with a current assessed valuation of 2020 Assessed valuation of approximately 4.1 billion St brain taxpayers would contribute an additional 4.1 million in

098total for each additional mill that is levied So once fully implemented the additional 2.005 mills would result in about 8.2 million in additional property taxes per year Now that's based on current assessed valuation. So as market values go up this number will go up a little bit as well For an individual homeowner I've got a couple of charts here for year one and then year two and ongoing and so you can see here that for a property tax owner, excuse me a property owner with A home value of approximately five hundred thousand dollars They would see an impact in year one of about three dollars per month or about thirty six dollars per year Year two and ongoing that doubles approximately doubles to about six dollars or seventy two Six dollars per month or seventy

099two dollars per year for a home value of five hundred thousand dollars Now what happens statewide? So we asked the the the state to try and run some numbers of what would happen statewide and what they're anticipating to be collecting Um on a statewide basis They gave an estimate of about 92 million dollars in year one And that ramps up to about 207 million by year five And then once fully implemented way down the road because some districts have a very long way to go before they get their mill levies to 27 They would see about two hundred and fifty three or so million dollars statewide And this again presumes all of other things being equal no increase in market values or anything. It's all using the current assessed valuation rates So, what do they

100do with this money? Well, these additional amounts would relieve the impact to the state side of their budget that funds k-12 education And while the intent for this is that the state would hold its share steady Thus resulting in increased k-12 funding overall. There's nothing saying that that is required In addition these additional monies if they're kept in k-12 funding education may not necessarily flow through our total or our normal Total program funding formula it might pay for changes to the formula or other k-12 funding initiatives that Maybe devised down the road Now one thing I just wanted to emphasize here at this property tax increase Is an externality it's been imposed on st. Rain taxpayers by the color department of education and the state legislature We as a district nor the board of directors

101or any of the administration We do not have discretion on whether to implement this change and we didn't advocate or ask for this increase So next steps so from here What we are doing at the finance office levels providing documentation on de-bursing elections relevant tax certifications and such we have all that Squared away and prepared for them We also want to communicate changes with the board of education thus this this presentation today as well as our former study session on the subject Um, finally community notification and engagement. So we've been working with our communications office and a recent newsletter that went out from superintendents update, uh had a Link to an article on this to provide some information to the community on what's going on We also have an article on sdvst.org on the website

102there. They're featured stories where people can go out and find more information and then finally, um We'll come back to the the board of education in december as we certify our tax mill levies with this appropriate change So with that, that's all I have for my presentation, but I wanted to ask the board if any questions for me All right. Thanks tony any comments by board members this evening or questions. I know that we talked about this in our study session We've we've sent letters to the community Pretty black and white and tony I think the only thing that i'll i'll reiterate that you already covered is that this wasn't our choice and uh, the reality is um that because of That error that happened years ago by cd, uh, colorado department of education. Uh,

103this is where we are today And they did impose this and I think it underscores karen just your statement also that public education finance is complicated And I personally don't view this as any type of a real solution Um, and i'll stop there So thanks tony if community members have questions, um, I know that in the letter We suggested they reach out to you. Have you had anyone reach out to you with questions so far? I haven't yet now at this time But we're ready to to take any questions and explain individual impacts or where this is coming from or who they can provide feedback To the state level they're welcome to to contact the finance office. Okay, great And um, this is a tax increase again not chosen by the board of education But

104uh certainly do want to encourage people if they have questions to reach out and get the answers to those questions So, all right tony, um greg, do you want to I think you said you had a few other things to to bring up this Tony, thank you appreciate it So in terms of federal relief funds, um so far we've been awarded 52.4 million dollars We have spent 34.7 million So that leaves about 17.7 million dollars remaining I think we talked about these numbers before My main purpose for sharing that with you Is that I would like to For those people who haven't watched board meeting before Um, we talked about this earlier I want to show if you go to our website you go about halfway down the page Can you see where i'm at?

105We can yes. Thank you There's this community input on s or three funds and what that shows is where we're planning to spend These dollars and then there's also a place for people to provide community feedback I'm so happy to have that We are getting ready to consolidate all that information And so I would say if people want to do that they need to Do it fairly soon In terms of an audit update just like last year we're going to have to do our single audit separate From our our financial statement audit So crf s or one and s or do Will be done later Um, and that's mainly due to compliance Releases that have not come out yet um We're on a similar timeline as last year Um with a draft to the board

106at the october 27th meeting and a final one in the november board meeting Um charters we had one issue with the charter to begin with We resolved that um their back up to speed with where we expect them to be Currently we're working through data pipeline Um, that is what's slowing us down and that is based off of this decision. I made 15 months ago in terms of how we code things into our accounting system So as to not blow up How many account codes we have in there and so some of the delay is to reverse out Some of the things that we did but again, we're similar to where we were last year I'm happy to answer any questions on any of those Greg or you're not greg your dick. Sorry. I'm one

107of those Greg, uh, just a quick question about the sr3 public comment, um that we have been Accepting and you're accepting through the website. I know that in our meetings with the public we've uh Don has been solicited in impact as well. I just want to confirm that the public and Input that we have received and that we anticipate receiving meets the requirements of sr3 We're still evaluating that some of them do not meet it's because they're not related to the covet 19 pandemic Um, that has to be it has to be directly Attract to the covet 19 pandemic. So there are some things that people are recommending that can't We can't use sr3 funds for But but the public comment process we have in place meets the intent of the sr3 requirement Oh, absolutely.

108I think it I think it supersedes anything that they were looking for as we develop our our lea plan As part of the sr3 application Thank you, uh greg. That was my question. Thanks All right, greg, I don't believe there are any other questions No, thank you so much All right, uh agenda item seven is our consent items. Do board members wish to pull any of those consent items this evening? With that I would entertain a motion for approval, please for seven point one staff termination sleeves seven point two staff appointments Seven point three approval of minutes for the september 8 2021 regular meeting september 15 2021 study session And september 22 2021 regular meeting Seven point four approval of contract award for cooling tower and seven point five approval of amendment to cmgc for

109district-wide hvac Hvac project So moved by jim and a second by karen Mr. Aarons absent. Mr. Berthold. Yes, mr. Garcia. Yes, dr. Martyr. Yes, miss pierce. Aye. Mrs Ragland. Aye. Miss segrest. Aye Our action items this evening begin with eight point one Which is a recommendation for adoption of a resolution proclaiming classified school employees week october 18 through 22 2021 Hello, todd Good evening, and um, thank you president secrest, uh superintendent hadad members of the board of education It's my pleasure tonight to bring forward Uh a recommendation for the approval of the proclamation from the governor's office that um october 18 through 22nd, uh be proclaimed classified, uh school employees week We have approximately uh 1,800. Um, uh employees in the classified group Those include people from bus drivers custodial technicians food and nutrition community

110schools secretaries assistants pair educators maintenance ground coaches to name a few Our classified staff are such a valued part of our school community Uh and and our school district and from even before the start of the school day until sometimes well after Uh that the school day ends our classified employees contribute to the overall success of our students, um and well-being And they support the work of all of our school district and our employees Administrators and teachers and we so appreciate the work that they do on an everyday basis so, um It's my pleasure to introduce a proclamation for this and I I think one of our board members is going to read the proclamation I was just going to ask if you would mind. Um, could a board member volunteer please to read chico.

111That'd be great. Yeah. Thank you Resolution classified school employees week october 18th to the 22nd 2021 Whereas classified school employees are an essential part of the st. Brandon valley school district's educational system And whereas classified employees are dedicated to assisting in the provisions of safe schools for the students of this district And whereas the classified employees of our school district perform the daily cleaning maintenance And delivery of school property safely transport students prepare and serve nourishing meals maintain records and reports Provide maintenance and support in the field of technology assist in the classrooms and school playgrounds and perform a variety of Other tasks on behalf of our students And whereas we recognize The important role of classified school employees and the invaluable services they provide to our students Now therefore it be resolved that the

112st. Brandon valley school district board of education proclaims october 18th through the 22nd 2021 As classified school employee week In the dip in the school district and urges all parents students and staff to join in saluting these dedicated men and women Thank you chico. Appreciate it You know tot I was I was thinking about this resolution while I was driving to the board meeting this evening And I suppose i'm getting older and my mind wanders But I was thinking about my career in as a student in st. Brain and thinking mac I still remember the bus number The the number of the bus that I rode and and my bus driver's name from elementary school. His name was bill was bus 49 Um, but you know, I I think that it's so important to remember

113the contributions of of all of the individuals who make educational opportunities possible In st. Brain and classified employees are vital to that process I know that you know me as as a a parent as a student my children We have so many really remarkable stories about all of those people and how they impact their lives And we couldn't do it without them Yeah, any other comments by board members before we All right, then I would entertain a motion for approval of agenda item 8.1 Second by karen, uh, that was paula chris. I'm Thank you. I don't know why I need to tell you that you're here. Thank you Mr. Aarons absent. Mr. Berthold. Yes, mr. Garcia. Yes, dr. Martyr. Yes, miss pierce. Aye. Mrs. Ragland. Aye Miss secrest. Aye and just one more. Thank you

114to all of those classified employees. We appreciate you Action item 8.2 is a recommendation for approval of accreditation for district schools Hi ann Good evening president severs. Thanks for having me board of education. Dr. Dan. Dr. Christian It's pleasure to be back this evening. Um, we are seeking an approval of the of the accreditation of st Brain valley school district and its schools Currently due to the accountability pause the 2019 school performance frameworks are still in place For the school district and its schools So we're we're seeking that approval this evening we are also seeking the approval of our two priority improvement schools uips The permanent timeline shift is now october 15th from april 15th The we spent um a good time On the study session in december of 2020 Discussing the school plans that

115was not posted april 15th. It's now being posted October 15th Uh that this plan is the same priority performance challenges as well as major improvement strategies So we seek that approval this evening as well and dr profetti dini will speak to The summer programming and what's happening at the school this year, right? Thank you ann Um, I'd just like to provide you the brief update about our district support of these two schools And then as ann said the engagement level of our students and staff at each of those schools for the extended learning opportunities This year our learning services team Strategically selected our learning leaders who would provide teacher level support at each of these schools, and we also invited Support personnel from our english language learner department and our special ed departments to join

116teachers In the really the day-to-day work of instructional planning individual coaching cycles and all of the data team conversations that happen on a weekly basis The process of school support is comprehensive and it truly is in the spirit of partnership with our teachers and our principals We focus on mathematics and english language arts in all of those conversations This past summer rocky mountain had a 127 out of their approximately 300 students attend project launch That's about 42 percent of their school and they had About 82 daily average attendance So we're really proud of james garcia his as this principal and their teaching staff and support staff who Have really rallied around students there in addition rocky has 49 students enrolled in their triple a program, which is The extended school day for our students and

117at all of our elementaries that is up and running and at all of our Elementaries they are focusing on mathematics in this first trimester So that's pretty exciting to have almost 50 students and they keep recruiting more at Timberline we had 227 out of their approximately 460 students at elementary attend project launch. That's about 50 percent of the school And they had an average daily attendance of 92 percent, which is just Incredible all day four days a week for the entire month of june In addition, it was our first year of middle school project launch and we had 33 students attend the middle school program there Which is about 15 percent of their middle school population and we certainly expect that to grow In fact karen mcclure the principal there and her team of teachers

118and support staff have recruited 40 middle school students to begin the triple a extended school day, which I believe begins next week at their school And they have 40 students at their elementary school Attending the after-school program and again those principals and teachers and staff are continue to recruit kids to attend and engage So each of these students I can assure you and can assure you are fully committed to accelerating achievement And they have the full support of our learning services team and our district resources to accomplish their goals Don we really truly want to thank you These resources and support systems are possible because of you the financial Commitment that you have the years of discipline around our finances and and having learning leaders and just such a Systemic group of leaders supporting our

119principals. So we appreciate that And we're proud of the quality of the work of our teachers and our staff And our administrators as well as our students and our parents I mean, I feel like everyone is all in at both of these schools In addition to all of the people who are wrapping their arms around both communities to ensure that we have a really accelerated and joyful school year in terms of achievement and well-being and engagement so And we can open it up to questions that you may have or comments that you may have questions or comments this evening Thank you joey, I just want to acknowledge the system's changes that you're implementing here and recognizing that the underlying challenges we're facing require several years of the For the new system to work its way

120through and for us to see the sustainable results and improvements that we expect i'm tremendously encouraged by the By the work that it is underway has been underway in the plans and also tremendously encouraged that this is a systematic approach that is really going to benefit the whole district in addition to These two target schools And it's exactly what what I believe is needed and I want to just express my appreciation for the hard work of you Your staff and our teachers. All right. Thank you. We'll pass that along to both schools. Thank you All right. If there are no other comments or questions then I would ask for a motion for approval of agenda Pardon me action item 8.2 So moved by dick second and chico Mr. Aarons absent. Mr. Berthold. Yes, mr. Garcia.

121Yes, dr. Martyr. Yes, miss pierce. Aye. Mrs ragland Aye, miss secret. Aye Ann and dina, thank you so much Agenda item 8.3 is a recommendation for adoption of resolution Approving 2122 district employee membership in colorado high school activities association. Hi chase Hi, madam president dr. Dad. Thank you for having us tonight um, i'll be quick here Just again, thanks for for the shout out about our band night last week Um, it was a great night to see to see ever the montgomery so so full um So yes, uh in addition to their their the busyness of their daily jobs. We ask that uh that our athletic directors, um Take any kind of leadership role possible specifically with the state Um, so I want to read off And ask for the adoption of their resolution first

122jenny bird our fine arts coordinator chasa music committee colorado music educators association american choral Directors association colorado all-state band board member Chassa activities advisory committee carmen wright twin peaks charter kato member mile high league president foot foothills league president michael green skyline high school chassa unified bowling committee kato member northern league Colleen ford kato member mile high league volleyball and check track seating rep Joe brown naiwata high school kata executive board chaska executive board chassa tennis committee chassa coaches education committee long's peak vice president And st. Vrain joc board member for uc health Ty gordon frederick high school kato member chassa soccer committee long's peak secretary he's the host of the Final four soccer state championships at frederick high school for both boys and girls St. Vrain joc board member for uc health Chad eisenstrager

123mead high school northern league vice president kato board member uh golf committee chair for chassa Pat d camillus silver creek kato board member northern league wrestling committee As well as uh wrestling state committee member pete sheck longline high school kato board member northern league st Vrain joc board member for uc health Justin carpenter eerie high school kato board member northern league front range league chase mcbride kato member Playoff restructuring committee district athletic director committee chassa equity committee State tournament softball director and st. Vrain joc board member for uc health With that I ask for the adoption of the resolution for employee Membership in colorado high school activities association. All right. Thanks chase. This is something we see every year So I don't anticipate there will be any questions But would ask that you pass along

124our appreciation to everyone who's taking on these extra roles We know that it's uh for the benefit of the students and for creating opportunities, so thank you Thank you. All right. I would entertain a motion for approval then of action action item 8.3 the move Chico and karen. Thank you Mr. Aarons absent. Mr. Berthold. Yes, mr. Garcia. Yes, dr. Martyr. Yes, miss pierce Aye, mrs. Ragland. Aye. Miss secrets. Aye Thanks chase Enjoy your rest of your evening Action item 8.4 is a recommendation for approval of second reading and adoption to board policies jl cd jl cd dash e and jl cd dash r Hi brandon. I don't anticipate there will be any questions or comments. We've seen these policies several times now Um, did you have anything you wanted to to note? No, ma'am Just

125that action item 8.4 as you have already stated versus jl cd jl cd e and jl cd r All of these are related to the administration of medication to students These three policies are being updated as a result of the passages in a bill 56 during the 2021 legislative session Which updates provisions to state law allowing the administration of medical marijuana to students in school With that I would ask for the adoption on second reading Great. All right. I don't see any questions. So I would entertain a motion then for approval of action item 8.4 Uh karen or pardon me your paula paula Second and karen. Thank you Mr. Aarons absent. Mr. Berthold. Yes, mr. Garcia. Yes, dr. Martyr. Yes, miss pierce. Aye Mrs. Ragland. Aye. Miss secrets. Aye Action item 8.5 is a recommendation

126for approval of request to grant an exception to board policy Gbea staff ethics conflict of interest for kimberly taylor. Hi greg Hi So again board policy gbea States that no school district employee or firm owned by a school district employee Shall be allowed to sell to the school district or its schools goods or services without the prior Written consent of the board of education miss taylor has provided spirit wear Uniforms and promotional items to the district for over 10 years. She was recently hired as a guest teacher To help us through some of our substitute issues And we are recommending that the board allow an exception so that she can continue to provide her spirit wear uniforms and promotional items throughout the district Thanks greg questions comments No, all right. I would entertain a motion

127for approval then of action item 8.5 so moved Dick second and jim Mr. Aarons absent. Mr. Berthold. Yes Mr. Garcia. Yes, dr. Martyr. Yes, miss pierce. Aye. Mrs. Ragland. Aye. Miss secrets. Aye Action item 8.6 is a recommendation for approval of requests to grant and exceptions to both annex and exceptions to Exception that's what I thought to board policy gbea staff ethics conflict of interest for ismael reyes Greg Yeah, very similar to the previous one Ismael reyes is the husband of jean avega who's a general music teacher at burlington elementary school He is a musician and flute unit clinician And he would like to provide his services as that through the middle and high school bands throughout the district So again, he is requesting a waiver from that and the administration is in support of

128that exception Thanks greg. All right No questions or comments by the board. So then I would entertain a motion for approval of agenda item 8.6, please so moved music second Yeah, you gem Mr. Aarons absent. Mr. Berthold. Yes, mr. Garcia. Yes, dr. Martyr. Yes, miss pierce Aye, mrs. Ragland. Aye. Miss secrets. Aye We're about five till eight and we're approaching uh agenda item 8.7. I would like to We have to vote at eight right christy to extend the meeting. I would like to go ahead then and just request Uh a motion and a second, please to extend the meeting until 8 15, please By karen and a second by paula Mr. Aarons absent. Mr. Berthold. Yes Mr. Garcia. Yes, dr. Martyr. Yes, miss pierce. Aye. Mrs. Ragland. Aye. Miss secrets. Aye Brandon you can take

129your time making your way to the podium because it's going to take me a while to read all of these Uh action item 8.7 is a recommendation for approval of first reading of board policies ac non-discrimination equal opportunity ac-e-1 non-discrimination equal opportunity sample notice exhibit gba-open hiring equal employment opportunity gce gcf professional staff recruiting hiring gd e gdf support staff recruiting hiring jb Equal education opportunities jf admission and denial of admission jfba jfbb open enrollment jfba jfbb-r open enrollment regulation jicde bullying prevention education jii student concerns complaints and grievances and Lbd relations with district charter schools Thank you, madam president. Yes, welcome Each of the policies referenced in action item 8.7 is being modified as a result of the passage Of house bill 1108 during the 2021 legislative session house bill 1108 adds definitions of

130gender identity And gender expression in anti-discrimination statutes Those new definitions are being incorporated into our policies by these updates additionally board policies jfba jfbbe jfbbe And jfba jfbb-r are being updated due to the passage of house bill 1217 during the 2021 session this bill clarifies open enroll enrollment policies related to children of military members transferring duty stations to colorado Finally since these rev revisions are mandated by changes in the law Board policy bg specifies that they do not require a second reading vote may be adopted upon the majority vote of the board Great. Thanks brendan any comments or questions by the board on any of these policies? No, all right Uh with that I would entertain a motion for approval of action item 8.7 paula second chico Mr. Aarons absent. Mr. Berthold. Yes. Mr. Garcia.

131Yes. Dr. Marder. Yes Miss pierce. Aye Mrs. Ragland. Aye. Miss secrets. Aye Thanks christy brendan. Thank you for keeping those policies current with the statute Yes Our final agenda item this evening is agenda item 9. It is a discussion item 9.1 specifically and it is an update on the fresh frederick high school mascot Change. Hi jackie. Hi. Good evening board president members of the board and dr Haddad senate bill 21 116 was passed during the last legislative session And it prohibits the use of american indian mascots by public schools including charter schools and public institutions of higher education as of june 1st 2022 The act imposes a fine of twenty five thousand dollars per month for each month at a public school Continues to use a mascot after such date payable to the state education

132fund This evening we'd like the board of education to provide feedback to frederick high school Related to the new mascot options that have been generated by the carbon valley community and the mascot committee Comprised of frederick high school students staff community members and administration So at this time i'd like to turn it over to dr Russ fox principal of frederick high school to tell you more about the process and the options For a new mascot at frederick high school Hi, russ. Welcome. Hi. Thank you, madam president and board So This has been a really big important change that we're considering right and it's it's an exciting one It's also a heavy one for our community And so I appreciate you guys taking the time to give me some feedback that I can also Take to

133our committee into our community But before I jump into a little bit of the the process and then ultimately the committee's three suggestions They'd like to propose to you tonight I want to tell you a little bit about a few conversations I've been having the last couple weeks i've been talking to some of my peers around the state who are grappling with the same dilemma right other high school principals superintendents who are navigating this change and The thing that's interesting to me is when I hear them and mostly when I listen I hear panic right panic Amongst them and and I think when I'm listening to these conversations, I think back to at a leadership meeting Dr. Haddad you shared a A clock looks sort of like a gear of like and how to survive

134or navigate a pandemic, right? And all the things that we know are important like strong fine Strong financials having the right people in the right location being able to kind of see around the corner And even though you were talking about the pandemic and the floods I was thinking about the mascot and And it it I think I it I think I knew intellectually that That saint brain was different, right? But didn't know it in my heart until i'm listening to these other superintendents or these other principals Who just don't have the support that we have And so i'm really grateful for for your leadership and for that support and to be able to call Numerous people at 8 30 at night and talk through different things So it's been really you know, it's been

135an interesting process But it's also been one that i'm grateful for that we can do here in saint brain And and selfishly i'm grateful that I am not the principal of a school with With not the level of support that we have because it would be an even bigger daunting task um So thank you and thank you to all of your leadership um Our process has as extended back about six months six months ago The former principal of frederick bryan young sent a letter to our community outlining essentially what dr Confucian has shared with you tonight and the process that we are going to take At that time I worked to form a committee Um in the committee of well represented well-rounded people Um in the summer I sent another letter just kind of reminding

136people keeping this change fresh In people's mind and really spend a lot of the summer having conversations with the community leaders of the community and and people who are You know excited and or frustrated When we convened in august I brought together A committee of people and I want to just quickly thank them And I also want you to hear how well rounded this committee was that has been working with me through this process Uh students quinn mcneil sophia meza kim tarrin and ruby jimenez john wargo from the town of decono Shelly mares teacher And coach mel allen teacher and student council representative angela wilson from the town of frederick lulu buck from st brain kevin brown is both a teacher and on the frederick board Gina luchugo is a community member Bobby cindylar town

137of firestone unis from st. Vrain tracy kreitz from frederick town of frederick Enock miller is a teacher and a coach suzanne robinson and roger dufort are also teachers and coaches and so really robust committee that we've worked with And we worked with that committee and our communications team to develop a survey and we sent that survey out To our students to our parents and with our town partners posted that on their social media page to try to gather as much input As we could about potential Different name suggestions, right? We allowed three different submissions per Form and also a place to put rationale for why they wanted or were proposing that name suggestion And And when I talked to the committee I kept I kept coming back to our our mission is a tough one

138because we Have a town and a community and a school that is prideful and it and and prideful in a warrior mascot Right and to change that is a heavy lift and we need to do that with respect and also With excitement and because our kids deserve that our kids deserve to be excited about Whatever we become next year, and I think we will So when we first look at the the survey results we had over 600 responses to that survey With well over a hundred unique mascot suggestions Starting in august we had bi-weekly meetings with our committee Um to narrow that initial 600 down to 100 Down to 50 and then 20 and then and then really down to 10 When we really started to dig into the pros and cons of what different

139mascots might be And that led to some really fascinating conversations. And of course, like always we all know the most interesting comments came from the students But but yeah, really incredible stuff Um, and then we we ultimately the committee, uh suggested a final three that I bring to you tonight um And our last meeting which happened late last week um We went through our final three suggestions And and I had them make sure that I could represent to you both the really that like the positive points And also the questions or concerns that they had about each and so i'm going to share those with you now um So the committee had three suggestions um I I didn't know if one would come out of the committee like a clear Of a clear preference of

140the committee and you all know trying to get 20 people to agree on one thing is very tough And that wasn't really the goal of the committee, but none of these came out as particularly stronger Than the others each had their champions and each had people with with concerns about them But what i'm convinced of is that all three of these are ones that I can help lead the Frederick and Carbon Valley community Around and all three of these are ones that we can be excited about If you should choose to support one of these so the first was golden eagles The strengths identified by the committee is that golden eagles are prideful They're patriotic Their colors match well with our colors, right? There might be a nice color scheme And that's something that has

141been important the whole time is even though we're changing our mascot Frederick has been and always will be blue and gold and that runs deep in the committee in the community And also there's a nice tie in our athletic logo If you've seen it, there's a an eagle feather as part of that and and a nice tie and a nod to Our our past and our tradition as warriors Um The concerns that were brought up from the committee is that other st. brain valley schools are birds uh, silver creek Uh new meridian and skyline all having bird mascots and and some concerns about is that too many or is that too similar? And that there's some other eagle Schools high schools around our area The next one that came out of committee was mustangs Like

142golden eagles mustangs are strong powerful Prideful, I think capture the the pride and tradition of frederick high school There's also a note that our blue and gold colors would work well with a mustang logo Um, and there's also a tie just like the golden eagles. There's also a nice tie to Horses and native americans and a nice nod to our past as a school and to our future The concerns what so many of the strengths were the same many of the concerns were the same, too Right, even though there are no horse mascots in secondary schools in st. Vrain Mountain range just up the highway just south of us in fort morgan School that we play commonly in athletics are both the mustangs The last one was the hornets the strengths of the hornets was

143that the committee identified Hornets embodies the teamwork nature of frederick high school that no one person is more important than the others That we all work hard and that we work together And the other big strength was as unique. There's no that we could find in our google searching other hornets around the concerns Or things to consider for hornets Were first that the logos that we could find Were either cartoonish or phallic in nature The second the colors don't naturally fit as well as the other two And the hornets are often considered a pest And not sure if that is the most appropriate mascot But those are the three and it and like I said before this is a big change for frederick I've had a lot of conversations and weirdly i'm thankful a little

144bit for the Opportunity that this has provided me to have conversations with tons of people that may have normally taken me years to connect with Just in the in the course of being the principal of frederick high school It kind of expedited a lot of those conversations and they've all been really good and at the end of the day even if people are frustrated or Or saddened by this change They are because they love frederick and they love these kids and they love this school the same way I do and and so We have common ground there and that's really exciting And the good news is we can leverage this kids will be kids are going to be excited. They're already excited the new uniforms and the Just the excitement around a rebranding for next

145year is a is an exciting thing So not unlike covid and the pandemic where we've seen some hardships But also some really positive changes come out of that such as student participation at our supporting events We'll see the same things here, right? Because we'll be able to phrase it in that way that this will be a positive thing So i'm here Really to answer questions to provide you feedback I gave you the very brief summary of something i've been working on very diligently for four months and And also if you have questions about next steps, I can answer any questions that you guys might have And so i'll hang out while while you guys discuss. Thank you Thanks, russ. Um, I appreciate how you're approaching this work. I know it's a lot of work Please

146pass on our appreciation to everyone else who's involved I also agree with you that there's opportunity in every situation. So thank you Um You want feedback from us? So so i'm going to we can't vote or make any decisions But we can certainly give you feedback on what our individual preferences might be for As far as the three options that you've provided us chico I'm going to start with you if you don't mind since you are out in the frederick area and that is in your director district sure, um Thank you russ. Thank you for the process. Thank you for um, what is a heavy decision? I my in my conversations I I think I feel how heavy that is when i'm talking to people who Grew up with warrior as a mascot versus Others

147in the conversation. I think when you have words as mascots different than if it's a bobcat or a bear or something like that There's so much pride in in the imagery of a native american warrior, which makes it hard for folks um and at the same time I understand that the the Um how we got to here, right and so the challenges there I think for so long we've glamorized the consumption of native american traditions and without any accountability for the impacts of that consumption and so I um I understand why it might it's okay to move on at this point My lens is obviously as a as a former graduate of Frederick high school and along with um You know family back to the the 40s of graduates of Frederick high school and and

148current My my son currently obviously as you know at Frederick high school and on all the way in between My family has been involved. So it definitely is heavy. I mean it means a lot. Um A couple of the the things that I think about the the three the three options that you presented um I feel like golden eagle is um Would be a would be a strong choice I appreciate the majestic nature of it the power um its connection to the community there are Eagles are prevalent in the in the triton community And its connection to the indigenous culture I think is that feels good as well I'm not concerned about other schools and things and and their relation to having similar mascots or for for that or for the mustangs, but um, I

149also appreciate The word golden and its connection to our colors and keeping that intact as well as its Connotation with excellence and some cool things that can happen there. I think so With mustangs Um, I have a harder time seeing the color scheme with a mustang. I um When that's come up in conversation, I've Where my brain goes what others have said it quickly goes to dia that The horse that is there and so, um you know that that Um is a bit of an issue for me also I appreciate the the connection to the indigenous indigenous culture, but not so much to the community um, you know for me I've literally seen more wild mooses and Frederick than I have wild mustangs. So so It's weird that that's a that's a real thing and

150then hornets I think hornets is cool. There's lots of cool characteristics with it. But other things as you stated that i've heard is annoying and um pest and small and um Bug and squished and you know things like that that I don't know necessarily has the same sense of Pride and majestic nature that the golden eagle does and so I feel um again with that with that lens that golden eagle is a Would be a strong choice um For those reasons, yeah Thank you Thanks chico Karen I just defer to chico. I think that was so thoughtful of everything that you said and I totally agree with you I I really I love birds so golden eagles Okay, i'm going to do to you what your committee did to you, right? um I agree 100%

151with everything chico said that rationale makes perfect sense to me um But I like the mustangs. It's just For all the same reasons that it does have that still have that tie to um the indigenous people um And it's just it's shorter, you know like it's just shorter and has more like of a punch than it's less of a mouthful than golden eagles and I I want to back up a little bit again as joey said and thank you for the process because this is a very I mean on the one hand It's a symbol nothing is really going to change at the school the foundational work We talked about all the student achievements we talked about that's all still going to be there But on the other hand symbols are really important and um,

152we don't want to overlook that and so I appreciate How seriously you've taken this and how inclusive you've the whole process has been so I certainly don't want to um Overly influence the community in any way, but yeah, you asked for my input and that's that's I kind of like the mustangs. That's That's my My personal choice. Thank you. Thanks paula dick Thank you. I I was I also want to express appreciation for the process you and the community have gone through It's a tremendously Uh can be stressful But also exciting But the process itself It is very important to carefully go through and really listen to the input and and it's clear to me that that's happened During this time I would second what paula has said I could go on and on about

153various aspects, but for me The The golden eagle that rises above You know off the ground above and can soar and is a native to the plains Um, and its connection to indigenous peoples as well um I uh Worked for the national ottoman society for 14 years and there in my view just can't be a better choice than the golden eagle Thank you Okay, again tico really expressed as my mind was going I was right in sync with tico with all the Different things and and the hard work that came out of this. I can't imagine how You got down to three from hundreds um But it's it seems like with all the information you gave us there's been a lot of thought a lot of consideration And not to just regard the opinions of

154the people who support Some of these I i'm with The eagle puts it off above all this issue it Takes it up above the issue that you have to worry about, you know It's the golden eagle to me is a magnificent. I see them out along the out on the foothills and They're just they're phenomenal birds and um, I think you'd be proud if I was a golden eagle Thank you Russ thanks, you know, I um I'm going to go opposite direction At this point I came in chico honestly after listening to russ I came into this conversation Leaning hard on the mustangs but hearing your description of the golden eagles really uh opened my mind So i'm going to say russ. I would be I would embrace golden eagles or mustangs. I feel pretty

155strongly. Um That I wouldn't support hornets I I recognize that there are people who like that. I appreciate that I I uh, you know I respect their perspective But I think there are many reasons to not have have that be the mascot So i'll come at it from that way. Thank you Yeah Uh, did we give you enough feedback direction? Do you feel like you can go back to the committee now and and make a final decision? Yep, I feel like I can great and what are next steps? When will we see you again? Well, that's a good question. I don't know that answer. Um, whatever you want Whatever we'll see tomorrow. What's that? We'll reconvene. I'm sure everybody would love to come back to the boardroom tomorrow night you know, so our next steps

156is is when we you know Right after we have this finalized we will operate on a pretty tight timeline to meet that deadline, right? So we have already for example ordered new football uniforms. We've ordered ones that we can Fix the name to Right, um, and and some of those uniforms are are backordered months and months and months with the supply chain issues around the world. So You know carrie mcdermott has been a great partner throughout this process and and she is um, You know really ready to to dive in. Um that you guys know Frederick is a beautiful school and a lot of the reason why it's beautiful is we have giant Areas that are are really You know intentionally wallpapered around our imagery of excellence and warriors and so we will The next

157step is to rework all of that So that's our next step and and a lot of that work like with the o and m team After the design is done will will happen over spring break and then of course over the summer The big big ticket items like refinishing the gym floor and replacing a lot of the outdoor athletic things I think will happen over the summer great great and um Anticipating you're going to speak. I have great peripheral vision up here. I can tell you what um i'm cost To make all of these changes if you have a ballpark cost that I would love to hear that too Yeah, and my conversations with brian lamar we talked about was seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars for everything, you know give or take So that

158would include The mascots on the gym floors and walls and uniforms and things like that Of which the state they require the change and as chico you you very clearly laid all of that out But not the cost the districts bear the cost of that one thing I would just Share and you don't have to respond to this, but it's just something I thought about given the nature of your comments I'm, not sure if you have the authority. I guess i'd have to ask you to delegate your decision to the administration And then we can make a decision based on what we've heard here and move forward And again, you don't necessarily have to respond because you might have to research that but it's just a thought to expedite the process I do have some

159concerns about the supply chain And I know that you know, we aren't reconvening as a board for another two weeks. We have the study session and things like that So just something to consider Thanks It is a discussion item, so I don't want to make a decision or vote But I do think our feedback was pretty clear Thank you Great. Jackie, did you have anything else you wanted to mention? I will just say that they have run a very thoughtful inclusive process I think in the end With the two that we heard clearly as being brought forward With your feedback that Frederick High School will make either of those Work really really well and the kids are very excited. I've heard them ask Dr. Fox, does that mean we can get new t-shirts and you

160know, they are they are ready to start picking some of those things out So I think we quickly will shift to a lot of excitement and enthusiasm Around this so thank you for your feedback. It was very helpful. Great. I would agree Russ if you don't have anything else then we'll just thank you for being here and being patient you waited a long time Thank you. No, thank you guys. It's a long process, right? All right That is brings us to the end of our meeting We will convene again on Wednesday, October 20th And that's next week at 6 p.m At westview middle school for a study session and look forward to being there and seeing principal spencer And then we'll be back in the boardroom again on Wednesday, October 27th at 6 p.m for

161a regular meeting I would entertain a motion for adjournment, please and a second Karen and chico all in favor. Aye Enjoy your evening. Thanks everyone and thanks for staying late