001Good evening and welcome to the St. Varenne Valley Schools Board of Education meeting. Please join us in standing for the Pledge of Allegiance Hello everyone and happy first day of fall John, can you please take the role? I'd be glad to Mr. Aronson myself here. Mr. Berthold present. Mr. Garcia here. Dr. Marder present. Ms. Pierce here Here and Ms. Seakress here all present. Thank you. Thank you. And thanks Dick Perfect and John were there any addendums or changes to the agenda this evening? There are none that I'm aware of Perfect. Thank you 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
002develop to 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 Few housekeeping items this evening if you could just check your cell phones for us and make sure those are Turned off that would be appreciated and then just a reminder that this meeting is live streamed So people are watching in real time and you can also access all of our meetings on the district website There are video recordings of all regular meetings and audio recordings of all of our study sessions so Chase with that that very rapidly brings us to our visitors this evening And we are I believe I can speak on behalf of the
003board and dr. Haddad We are super excited to have kids here this evening. We are super excited to be here madam president dr. Dad board Thank you for thank you for having us. It's It's it's it's such a fun evening to bring home or to bring students here to celebrate their accomplishments Especially, you know after last year's having such a challenging year and these kids here that are here tonight and the coaches I'm sure you're gonna hear from them, but you know part of their challenges they they went all the way to July 1st, so they they were a part of our district for a long time For starters first Brian. Thank you to you and your team for what you've done for our facilities this year and last year We we've certainly put a
004lot of stress on them. So thank you for your free year and your team's efforts This year just to touch on a few celebrations to start. I don't know if you've had the opportunity to attend any of our events, but They are there. The excitement is is over the top. We are we are seeing crowds of Record amounts Especially for for games that aren't even crosstown rivals There's there's hardly a seat to be found at at our football games and in our volleyball matches It's really exciting time we can tell that that people were dying to watch kids perform and To see what to see our communities We had our first outdoor theater production this last week at Erie High School, so we were Transitioning with the times a little bit and moving outside so
005we don't have to wear a mask and we'll continue to do that Throughout the fall as the weather allows We have October 6th, if you can put it on your calendars at 6 o'clock at the Everly Montgomery is our St. Vrain band night We have every one of our high schools will be there participating We're having a little little competition amongst the schools to see who can bring the most sports teams to come support their their band programs So we should we should have a full house And then the last announcement before we get to Frederick is our unified bowling league has started as well That goes on Mondays from about 2 30 to about 4 o'clock at Centennial Lanes And we have all of our schools plus Main Street that participate there So I
006encourage you to stop by and and watch and it's it's certainly a great time I'd like to call Frederick and tie Gordon up to the microphone, please ties are our newest athletic director at Frederick High School, and he's he's certainly been a blessing for us. He's really Provided some leadership to that department and really excelled their their program So we are certainly glad he's on board and we're excited to see what he can continue to do With his leadership capacity, but at this point, I'll turn it over to tie to introduce his kids Hi, Ty welcome and parents here. Well, you're welcome to come a little closer if you want to get a different angle to you, please Take pictures. We're all proud of our kids Thank you. Thank you chase Madam president members of
007the board and dr. Haddad Thank you for giving us an opportunity to be here to honor our students student athletes tonight And especially our track program at Frederick High School Thank you for giving us an opportunity to have sports in our schools as well as activities Thank you to dr. Dad, dr. Capuchin chase McBride and Brian Lamar for your help and support for our schools and programs Now I'd like to introduce our head track coach at Frederick High School. Miss Shelley Morris Shelly's been our head track coach at Frederick High School for the past three years And it's done an outstanding job with the program We're truly honored to have Shelley not only as our track coach, but also as a health and PE teacher at Frederick High School So coach Morris Good evening. Thank
008you Frederick High School had four athletes return with five medals first-place medals from the state meet last June Ryan to cone One the 200 meter dash as an individual Ryan is not with us tonight. He's at Butler Community College in Kansas Hopefully watching this evening The other four medals were won collectively as a 1600 meter relay team and the members of that team are Garrett Colvin a senior at Frederick High School this year Alex Carrillo a senior at Frederick High School this year Wyatt Schroeth who is at the University of Pittsburgh right now And Ryan Chacon again helping us with that relay It's a very special experience for a coach to work with athletes who have the physical and the mental drive to Be able to compete at the level that these young men were
009competing at three of them competed in 2019 at the state meet and The relays didn't make it to the finals So there's a year of mental and physical preparation to get back and do it better the next time and These guys really lit a fire numbers were up in 2020. There was excitement there were new athletes there were athletes who had left track and were coming back and Then in the middle of March the season ended So these young men took another year and did a lot on their own both mentally and physically to Keep themselves going to stay engaged in athletics and in academics and they came back in 2021 and they really did an amazing job. I'm very proud of them and It's very special to to have been coaching with them. So
010these two Alex and Garrett would like to say a few words Thank you Yes I would just like to say I would like to thank the coaches and parents that helped our relay team take the state football for Championship to Frederick it took a lot of dedication and perseverance to win this championship and our teamwork the the hardest out of all of them Ryan Wyatt Garrett and I grew as teammates, but also as a family and I wouldn't want to win it with any other team It's a great feeling with all the ups and downs of the season to come out with the win And hopefully we can do it again next year. Thank you I'd want to thank our coaches for making this possible as well as Ryan Wyatt and Alex Through each other
011we were able to win at state something that never seemed possible at the beginning of the season Through all our setbacks. We stayed together Every individual loss we felt as a team and winning the state four by four hundred meter relay is something we'll always remember through each other Alex and Garrett, thank you so much for being here. You clearly have some people who are very proud of you In the audience and so to those people, thank you for all of your support of Alex and Garrett's and st. Rain Valley schools. We appreciate that I'm sorry if I missed it. What year are you guys in school? You're both seniors Do you have a desire to share with us? Do you have an idea of plans for next year and to be honest with you
012if you say no, that is perfectly understandable Sure, if you if there's anything else you'd like to share with us That would be great and don't feel like you have to and again, no pressure whatsoever Yeah, it is a different level not everybody right yeah Yeah Right now I'm in the process of applying to the military academies, which is the military Academy at West Point The Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland as well as the Coast Guard Academy right now I'm looking at running track at the Coast Guard Academy Right. Well best of luck to both of you as you finish up your high school and st. Rain Career and we wish you all the best in the future. Thank you for being here. Thank you so much Enjoy your evening. All right next I'd like
013to call it Pat Deke Millison in Silver Creek's boys swim program This is as I'm sure they'll tell you it's a special program for us we have a few of these around the district, but we have two boys swim teams, so they're they're comprised of more than than one school, but Pat Deke Millis continues to do a great job for us at Silver Creek and I'd like to bring him to the mic to introduce his school Hi Pat Hi, thanks for being here Thanks for having me. I'm gonna put my glasses on and I'm gonna read so I apologize a little bit here I want to make sure they get this right so Madam President, members of the Board of Education, Dr. Haddad Thank you for the opportunity to celebrate these student-athletes and their fantastic
014accomplishments It's great to be able to come before you again. It's been a while since we've been able to be here with you It's been a tough couple years for everyone. The start to the school year has been amazing, however I'm so grateful to have students back in in the building full-time I'm grateful to have parents and friends watching their student-athletes compete on the field To have full stands at the at the events has been an absolute joy. It's been a logistical I don't want to say nightmare, but it's been tougher logistically than the 50 last year, but man it's been fun to have them there So I appreciate the hard work that Dr. Haddad and Mr. McBride I appreciate the hard work that you guys have done to help facilitate this and thank you
015so The Silver Creek Swim and Dive team. This is a prime example of What is good about St. Brandon Valley School District? We have members from five different high schools. We have Meade, we have Nywhat, Erie, Twin Peaks and Silver Creek They all help comprise this team. They came together as one in June to win the 4A state championship Each state participant contributed to the winning point total and while we had no individual state champions It goes to show the power of a team is greater than that of one individual We're so proud of the way this team conducted themselves as students as athletes and leaders In a minute, I'm going to turn this over to coach Stewart and let her talk about her team more in more detail But first I want to I
016want to make sure that I that I talk about Debbie Coach Stewart is the ultimate competitor as well as the ultimate educator She wants to win. She wants her swimmers to swim fast and her divers to dive pretty She also wants her kids to persevere win or lose She wants him to keep fighting and keep working hard. That is exactly what this team did. They fought hard and they persevered Debbie is a great example of what a coach should be. She is humble. She is caring She cares equally about her kids from the fast to the not so fast She treats him all like champions and as a result they perform for her other people saw Debbie's greatness as a coach this year as she was recognized at the Northern Colorado Athletic Conference coach of
017the year and Was also recognized as a Chassa for a coach of the year Congratulations coach Stewart and thank you. You and your team are outstanding examples of What is so great about st. Brayne School District I'm proud to be able to work with you. Hi coach Stewart Congratulations on both of your coach of the year awards. Thank you first I'd like to say thank you to dr. Haddad Don had dad and the school board for Approving the building of the long overdue district swimming and diving pool With all the st. Brayne Valley now having their own pool Here's to hoping we have many more state champions coming out of the st. Brayne Valley schools This has been a roller coaster of a ride over the past two years, but these boys rose to the
018challenge of it all challenges like having their season cut short in 2020 and having an abnormal season in 221 Challenges like sacrifices while others were starting their family vacations and summer fun These boys sacrificed those things and were continuing their daily training Well past the school year and into the summer This commitment and dedication paid off and led them to becoming the 4a state champions the boys Silver Creek swim and dive team this year consisted of 35 members that represented mead eerie Niwot Twin Peaks and Silver Creek these boys bonded together and represented Silver Creek soundly We had 20 teammates represent Silver Creek at the 4a state championship meet this past June It was just one It wasn't just one or two talented boys that won the title It was the whole team and this
019includes everyone on the team even those that didn't make it to the state meet But we're still rooting for us all from home and these boys did it the hard way We didn't have a single top three at state But we did have at least two to three boys that scored in all 12 of these events The drive and determination is how we as a team won state This was a fun ride and I am glad that I was able to be a part of that a part of it with these boys At this time I'd like to introduce my two seniors Jake and Brayden To tell their side of the state championship Hello, it's very nice to meet all of you The fact that I'm here with you today on behalf of the Silver
020Creek swim team is something of a miracle Considering what led up to this season after swimming year-round for most of my memorable life and never taking a break longer than a few Weeks at a time. I stopped practicing for three months before the start of this season I didn't it didn't feel real when I felt myself gearing up for the 2021 season Getting back in the water was very very tough after such a long hiatus but when I walked through the doors of Centennial again assured that our season would actually continue and I was able to see my teammates again I remembered why I'd missed the sport so much The camaraderie and the competition with one another all of us striving to do our best for each other and for the team That was what
021made it all worth it Unfortunately, our season was so short and we never really got to play the name game So I know a lot of teammates had a hard time adjusting to working with a bunch of brand-new sophomores and freshmen But almost immediately they proved vital to our team in no time flat We were working hard and dropping time as a whole not separated by circumstance Having gone from not swimming at all to swimming five days a week was a bit of a shock for all of us But it was the preserving dedication of our lower classmen That kept us all up and the leadership and strength of our upperclassmen that kept us moving forward Finally by the end of the season after practicing hard during a time when we would normally be relaxing
022for the summer State came around Everyone was ready If not a real a little bit riled up from all the craziness in the world and they knew just where to direct it Our team united forged in uncertain times and hardened by the toughest training schedule I've ever endured walked into that pool with victory on our minds Thanks to every single member of our team every point scored every hard-fought race We were able to take that lofty goal and turn it into a plaque that every member has a right to be proud of I could never express to you all how much this season meant to me and I will surely never forget it. Thank you My name is Brian listen one of the seniors I'm a club swimmer like many of the other summers on
023the team May I say that we are so thankful for this opportunity to have swim within the middle of cove it I'm thankful for everyone who even stood behind the block to officiate the staff and Everyone behind chasa as part of the club team and the Silver Creek team I've seen just amazing difference in the Silver Creek team. No matter what happens in the pool Everyone gets out and cheers for each other. It's never a competition. It's always about family and the team so I incredibly I appreciate the chance to get to be a part of this team for Another year even with the struggles of putting a mask on after this races things like that And so I hope to Bring another state championship this year and for all good fortune to come. Thank
024you Thank you. We hope that for all of you is as well and thank you for sharing the story It was very very expressed very well With the other team members like to come up and introduce yourself. No pressure. You're welcome to say no Won't be the first time No, no worries all good all good. Thank you to all of you for being here this evening Let you get home and start studying Yes, congratulations. I should have said this before they left but Before the I beams were put into the the new pool we had the The boys swim team that won the state championship all come write their names on the on I beam so there will be the first to sign the the Their signatures on our on our new pool. So that's
025fun I'm gonna bring a familiar face up here next with Joe Brown the athletic director at Niwata he continues to Him and mr. Rochko continue to push the building forward with great success I I don't I don't know the exact number but they they had something like five state championship teams and around 20 state champion individuals that for a school last year, so they're certainly on on top of the athletic world and in the state of Colorado and Glad we get to watch them. So here's Joe. Hi Joe. Welcome. Welcome. Thanks for having us guys Madam president members of the board doctor of dad Thank you guys again for giving us the opportunity to honor the great things that our young people do and continue to do it And I want high school huge. Thanks
026to chase last year I think by this point where we're not really remembering how Crazy it was at this point in time for for athletics just a year ago So huge kudos to him and Melissa and all the wonderful things that they do and to Brian and his crew I think he's sometimes is one of the unsung heroes that Often hears from me and not the nicest ways but always gets the job done. So, thank you But I wonder before I talk about our track Teams and the wonderful things that they did. I also wanted to mention We had an individual girls tennis state champion last year, Emily Creek at the three singles She's at Northern Michigan University now, so she's not able to be with us here today But she was a part of
027a state championship at the three singles and the team finished third So we're looking forward to seeing them perform in the next year as well And then just and also a huge congratulations chase mentioned that we could hear him outside of the number of people from other schools that are a part of That Silver Creek team so Stephen Ian Justin Tyler Hudson Jack Thomas even Evan excuse me, Vincent and Sean they were a part of that Silver Creek State Championship that are from my one high school So we're so proud to have those guys as a part of us as well Our track team and I want high school if you don't know is a pretty special thing we just have about 150 kids that usually come out every year year after year and People
028that come from all over to want to be a part of it and the hours that our kids and our coaches put In a second to none This last year we were blessed to win two state championships again And they would have been three in a row so they won in 2019 2020 obviously we didn't have a season and then in 2021 both the boys and girls won again So we we look forward to that opportunity for this upcoming spring as well Well it makes the boys team really unique is that none of the team members that won in 2019 or even ran at the state meet ran in 2021 it was a completely new team there was no carryover which is just simply incredible of what our coaching staff does with these incredible kids
029and To put it into perspective of how incredible our girls team is they literally tripled up second place Which is very impressive and the highest scoring at state ever recorded so but what's most important is the things that they do off the track and The culture that they said and the message that they give and the words that they use with our young people and to lift them Up and make them better people so I can't say enough great things about coach Moe and the staff and the wonderful things that he does so it's an honor and a privilege to get to work with them And so I'll bring up coach Moe here in a second And just want to again thank you guys for the opportunity and thank Eric our principal at Nia Watt
030as well For his continued support, so thank you. Hi coach. Hey, how you doing? Thanks for having us to have the opportunity to be in front of you again. It's been a while I can't remember the last time I was here. I skipped the last couple of Board meetings. Um, I just want to just and I wanted to be clear of Our team we met When this pandemic hit and we were like we knew we were gonna lose our season and we met with the kids and we're like, okay We're gonna be ready When we get that opportunity again, we don't know when but when we get that opportunity again, we're gonna be ready and It was unbelievable What the kids were able to accomplish With all that hard work And there's no substitute, you
031know being a father and having kids you tell your kids work hard work hard work hard Make sure you're ready These kids trusted in the process. They worked hard. They love each other One of the things that we do Towards the end of the season. We do a green chair ceremony where the seniors get up they sit in a chair and Their teammates get the pouring into and just talk about the experience and Kid after kid was just talking about how much Track team being a part of this team meant to them that got them through those tough times and I want you to know that these kids experienced a lot of tough times because I Got those phone calls To talk about the state meet It was day two and I'm gonna get the
032chills talking about we she's not here today But her mom died of pancreatic cancer And I got that phone call Friday morning It was day two and I remember getting to the track and we had a great day one and Reporter asked me so so what do you think? And I remember responded like, you know, he seems like you scored a lot of points and I was just like I don't care You know, we're gonna run for Margaret and her mom Because one of our girls just lost their mom and so There was nothing gonna stop us. I mean it was lights out With the kids Just having that on the back of these t-shirts. It says goody Perspective and I don't know if you remember the last time I was here. I talked about
033goody Because she was another girl that passed away tragically in Longmont and But she was so good and we just talked about having that perspective No matter what all the restrictions that we were gonna have throughout the season We have an unbelievable coaching staff that Put in a lot of hours. I Have my team mom here Miss Carol, you just waved to him She's been a part of us for how many years now, Miss Carol eight years, okay You know, you only get four years, but she's had a daughter after daughter On the team and we're running out of kids. So I'm gonna have to Find a new team mom, but you know, it's it's a it's a family approach and it's it's these kids Mean everything the way they work the way they love
034each other To talk about like I don't want to leave anybody out So I'm gonna have a couple of kids come and talk because there was a lot It's never been done on the girl side winning every relay. We won every relay At the state meet it's never been done in 4a or 5a so that's pretty impressive because that's the closest you're gonna get the team is running relays and so we make a big emphasis on relays And how many kids that we get everybody's name gets on the trophy One thing that I when we won our first day title, I was like it's important that every kid has value and it's it's it's Something that I lost my teammate Rashaan Salam in 2016 And a part of it is because he felt like he
035didn't have any more value anymore and so as a coach I'm like every kid matters and so It doesn't matter if they score a point or don't score a point or get the run state They're on the trophy they get to celebrate too. So I'm gonna have Zane Bergen come up and talk about the boys team and then we'll have Nick stable also help them out to come up here Nick and then our girls will have Katie Carol Yeah, they don't get to be prepared So, thank you again Thanks for honoring these kids for all the hard work that they put in this last year. Yeah Like coach Mo just said thank you guys again for recognizing all the hard work that we've put in I mean I'm a long-distance runner. He's a sprinter, but
036I'm kind of coming from the longest inside of running You're basically you're out almost every single day. I mean you're putting in work day in and day out and I mean it's um, it's it's really special when you get to go out and just show how hard you've been working and I mean Unfortunately, we didn't get that opportunity in 2020 But I mean we we definitely made the most of it in in 2021 and I was I was really really excited with how we all performed and Went after that team title and got it. So yeah, it was it was really good Okay, and I'm gonna start off by saying that a year ago about a year ago. I wasn't even on a track team I wasn't doing any sports or athletics and after having
037been on the team and seeing these kids work I can tell you that my while winning both sides by that margin with no accident that was gonna happen from the day that that all these boys and all these girls stepped out and made the choice to do the work that they did and You know Zane was talking about he's a distance runner I'm a sprinter and I think at a lot of places there's a big divide between sprinters distance runners There's often a gender divide but um, I think at Niwot It's such a tight-knit community that everyone is friends with everyone and that's one of the biggest things that gets us through As a community and as a family and that's what really brings us together and I think you know, we We run fast
038because we work hard But we don't we work hard to run fast not to win state winning state is something that That is just gonna happen if you work hard, right and we worked hard So I think it's no accident, you know seeing these kids work is really no accident, especially the distance runners You know every single day you can see that I'll see Zane come back from a really hard workout something that I don't think I could ever do and he still has the energy to pat his teammates on the back and say good job And that's what this team is about. So I'm Katie. I'm Eileen. We're both jumpers I've been as my mom's the team mom So I've known Mo for eight years and even though I've been part of the team
039for eight years only four I can say that the year of 2021 that team was hands-down the best team I've been part of athletically they were amazing, but it was just like just to be around them like that energy was so amazing like Just to have kids transfer just because they want to be around us not particularly for track just to be in that environment it's something like truly amazing that I don't think I could have gone anywhere else and We have a joke like easy coach Mo and because he always says it's gonna be really easy and then It's just a 300 Yeah, like Katie said The team's really special I think because if I was just coming and I want a track just to do the workouts You wouldn't see me there What
040really brings me back is? the environment Just being with everybody Being a family basically. It's like my family outside of my like home family And I probably spend more time here than at home And like what Nick said there was like a really big divide for a long time like distance and track They we didn't talk to each other like at all and this year. It's like it really it's an actual team this year it's not it's not like distance and sprinters and like I'm just I'm gonna start jumping around to like a whole bunch of different things The until our season of 2020 got cut off We had been going for a year and then most of us took about a month off to try to turn like Recruit Bray like figure out what
041happened and then from I'd say end of May to early July. It was just non-stop and there were a lot of rough patches definitely But like just to see us come out that way It was just so amazing like not only at state but at nationals and just like even like the smaller meets watching these kids who? had never run track before Who just like we're like hey good for me an eight and just like watch them like actually enjoy it was something though Like I don't think we could have seen anywhere else Yeah And another thing that really shows that we're a family is that we ran in state not for winning not for Getting that first place trophy, but we really pushed hard When we heard about Margaret's situation, and that's what really
042led us to Push even harder and strive for even more so we can run for her You guys are incredible athletes individually and just remarkable as a team and as a family and it's just so Amazing to see you taking difficult situations that you went through personally and as a team But also you took the pandemic and you turned it into this story of perseverance and success And it's just so wonderful. I'm a little teary I can't I see you guys running because I you know live in Niwata and see you guys running all the time And you're just pushing through you're just sweaty on the hottest days and bundled and working off the coldest days and You're amazing so congratulations, and I hope to see you in the future Olympics Thank you. Have a
043great night you guys don't forget to study Yes Chase thank you again for everything that you do and I know that you've you've been recognized. I know last year was Really hard, and I know that there are some challenges again this year, but thank you for everything you do It's really fun to see the students, and it's clear from them sharing their experiences that it truly adds value And opportunity to their well-being their success and just their overall experience, so thank you Okay agenda item six Pardon me. Sorry out of order agenda item four is audience participation The Board of Education values 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
044of 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 in These cases community members can add their name to the public comment list for the next scheduled Board of Education meeting or Email their comments to Board of Education at SV of the SV V SD org Which will be included in the public record as part of the minutes for the meeting? Emailed comments will only be included in the meeting minutes if a person had
045registered to provide public comment But was unable to do so due to time limitations if you are speaking to a non-agenda item this evening 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 we will assist you with next steps It has been the long-standing practice of the board to not address or respond during the public comment section of this agenda But please know that we are listening and greatly appreciate and value the perspectives of our community I think all of you who are here this evening a Couple housekeeping items again is Anybody here to speak on an agenda item? I don't see anybody signed up
046to speak on an agenda item correct Okay, and is there anyone in the audience who did not sign up online? But would like to speak this evening and has not signed up on the sign-up sheet All right great Then we will go ahead and begin with our first speaker. I have Brittany Jones is Brittany here this evening Alright, then I'm going to Hikaru Jonasson no All right, Marissa Tafara Marissa did I say your last name correctly great? Thank you Marissa if you could state your name and address please and then when you begin speaking Brian will start timing you have three minutes And then Brian are you checking the 30-minute mark also great? Thank you all right Marissa you may begin. Thank you I live in Longmont, Colorado I'm a parent of two children who
047were enrolled in st. Vrain Our family has made the difficult decision But necessary decision to homeschool our two kids in order to provide an education that affirms their self-worth as black children As an adult I can see that my education now I can see that it robbed me of an accurate understanding of the world and gave me a warped sense of Superiority as a white person I can think of countless examples for my kids education in st. Vrain that are very similar to mine I want to emphasize that all of the st. Vrain teachers and staff were loving caring and well-intentioned towards my children, but those things are not enough I Personally know that many st. Vrain educators will tell you that st. Vrain's professional development on race and racism is inadequate That they relied
048upon the expertise of a queer endeavor to help create a safe and affirming classroom For LGBTQ plus students and that recent actions of the district have them doubting whether they can safely speak about these things in their classrooms One of my children showed deep signs of distress every day after school so significant that we were consulting professionals Then school closed due to kovat and we saw a drastic shift in his behavior We realized that despite good intentions of the staff and the teachers St. Vrain was an environment that was toxic to his development as a black child who could be confident and thriving. I Asked the st. Vrain undergo the free Federally funded equity audit that dr. Haddad and equity staff know is available through the Western Educational Equity Assistance Center the district needs external
049accountability like many of us do in our lives in our professional spaces and In order to truly serve all children. Thank you Thank You Marissa Martha Wilson is Martha Wilson here. Hi Martha. Welcome Please state your name and address and then we'll begin timing It's 2021 and I'm very much in my feelings that critical race theory is even up for a debate but Not so much that I'm distracted from action and most definitely not enough that I am Repressed into silence or numbed into remaining complicit in allowing lies to continue to masquerade as education In fact, call it whatever else you want as long as we work together To align the present with historical realities. I am less invested in knowing if your staff Once took a diversity training to check it off their list
050and I'm unmoved By the results of their implicit bias tests because those tests are a preschool level racial consciousness and our families need and deserve more I want to know about the diligent efforts being done to make sure that our students comprehend the class material before they matriculate Up to the next grade. I want to know how the IEPs and 504 plans are being exercised in the classroom to Individualized learning plans so kids remain caught up It should not be significant to hear from the teachers while there's still time to do something about failing grades. I want to understand how professionals are deciding to handle discipline in and outside of their classrooms and if a Child has done something to warrant an investigation by an administrator Parent consent needs to come before anyone interrogates them
051What I'm proposing is a space for truth and reconciliation Because tic-tac and discord should not be providing more accurate historical information to students than their textbooks period We must have ongoing and regular conversations and we cannot continue to Put them off for a better or more convenient time because there is no such thing Ruffled feathers and fragility cannot hold more weight or power in the attempt to rectify the situation Acknowledging race racism and the perseverance of white supremacy Will not corrupt the children and turn them into radicals They are not dumb and if they have any plausible solutions to fix this Let's listen because they see it and feel it when kids of different races have different consequences for the same infraction They see it and feel it when it's the same kids getting awards
052solos are casted in plays They see it and feel it when a large portion of their class is on an out state out-of-state trip without them They see it and feel it when professionals opt to send child protective services or law enforcement Knocking on their doors instead of picking up the phone or sending an email to outreach to the family They see it and feel it when they are so far behind academically that they don't know how to catch up So they just stop going to class at all We need more than a compelling vision mission statement or nice words Intergenerational pains and traumas need to end with us by intentionally fostering collaboration Between these divided lines and facilitating the creation of a shared future Thank You Martha Melissa Davis is Melissa Davis here. I
053don't see Jen Picaric either All right, Sadie Roberts Hi Sadie and Sadie you've been here before I believe, you know The routine thank you. Welcome. Thank you. My name is Sadie Roberts. I live in Longmont, Colorado I'm here again to speak about a queer endeavor at our last meeting on the 9th I gave a more direct less personal statement Today I would like to go the opposite direction and share some personal stories of my time in the district in eighth grade I came out to everyone that I knew I was very lucky to have parents that gave me unconditional love and support However, the vast majority of the staff at my school were not so kind I faced bullying from the students and upon bringing this to staff. Nothing was done. In fact, I was
054often blamed for my experiences Slurs and vile language were used towards me in front of teachers. It was like they didn't even care I spent that entire year desperately trying to create some sort of safe space at the school while having to explain everything about myself to everyone around me Nothing concrete happened until the end of that year when the valedictorian at my school was banned from giving his speech because he refused to remove his coming out statement Which was only a sentence Within a much longer piece. That was my first brush at the school board. I spoke back then as well It is my belief that had a queer endeavor been educating at that time or had the staff at my school in this district received better Education on minority students that both of
055those situations could have been avoided These instances are only two of many that I have experienced in my years in the district I consider myself extremely lucky that I haven't had worse given what I know other students face every day Even now I am still suffering from trauma because of these events years later It is impossible to be a well-adjusted adult or focus on my education when I spent my younger years Not being able to fully focus on my education because I was forced to worry about my safety Which was in my hands instead of in the teachers and the staff Had I not had a safe home to return to I wouldn't be standing here today So, please do not continue to let events like these happen adults in this district need organizations like
056a queer endeavors They know how to support the children in their care How to make those children feel seen and heard and how to recognize harmful language The helpful adults in the district are unfortunately very few and far between Stretched very thin they can't possibly use their own personal experiences to help every student in the school So that's what I have to say for today. Thank you very much. Have a good day. Thank you, Sadie Next is Nicole Roberts Hi, Nicole. I'm sure at this point you've heard already so Longmont Colorado or Miss Nikki as I'm known in the district. I have addressed the board before as a parent I'm addressing you as a staff member today. I have recently started in a new school in the district and my first week we had a
057Sub come into our classroom, which was really wonderful. We're down a full SSN para. It's a it's a big space We were really really excited to have them They use they them their pronouns. They use mix as their Formal address that day in the lunchroom in the staff lunchroom The conversation around the staff member was disgusting I used my 30 minutes to do the best I could to educate and not Not come at it the way I wanted to because it was disgusting and as the parent of a transgender child To have to spend my 30-minute lunch break doing that answering questions that are pitched From a really derogatory sort of sarcastic tone Not okay. So in the week since this has continued to happen The last two days those conversations have been around students
058and around our students of differing abilities Including my own students in my classroom My point today is that we are very far from work around equity It isn't just about gender or sexuality or color or background or Abilities or any of it. It is literally all of it. I Had staff members say to me today When I was speaking with someone else saying I'm going to the school board tonight to talk about this. What is equity in that tone? What do you mean? What is equity? No, really? What is equity? Square one. I'll explain it right. We should not as staff in this district be asking. What is equity? That is step Hey, we should be much further And as a staff member, I should not have to spend my 30-minute lunch breaks Or or
059feel forced to not share them in that space and go alone Because the conversations are that disgusting I have had staff say to me, why is that student here? I have had staff say to me Why do we need to worry about our trans kids? I have had staff say to me. Why do we need training? Around those conversations. I am disgusted By the end of today. I have scheduled a meeting with my principal to bring these concerns Without naming names but bringing that forward Without naming names but bringing that forward Four weeks in one school in this district Is a cross-section of what is going on in other schools across this district Thank you. Thank you All right, natalie abshire. Are you here natalie? Hi Welcome natalie and you know, I know the drill
060you do I do all right um, I want to just start off by saying that uh, It was so refreshing to to hear the high school kids talk about their accomplishments and how they all came together and how in each team whether it was swimming or track or or whichever it was how they felt like a family and regardless of their differences of Gender or whatever they they just felt like a family and in some ways I think one of the students said they felt more like a a family uh At school than even even at home at times and uh that made me think about in a couple weeks My son's getting married this kind of off topic. Sorry about that. But uh, we're having this wedding and He's having this huge wedding party,
061which i'm like joe. Why is there such a large wedding party? It's because it's all of his high school friends. They've stuck together for what 15 years now and they're still together So those bonds that you make As as a teenager in high school stick with you for a long long time Probably some of you still talk to people you went to high school with And that brings me to my second point and i'm going to try to make this quick is over the past week Or so my name's ended up in the paper for various things and of course everybody knows Running for school board. So there you go. It's politics But one of the things that I wanted to bring up was that uh, I received an anonymous letter in the mail From
062somebody and I have no idea who they are. They could be sitting in this room for all I know But what they wanted to talk about was the queer endeavor and how st. Vrain The st. Vrain district pulled their funding from that and how they were in agreement with that And it isn't about That they're against transgender or gay Uh, you know homosexuality or anything like that in the schools. It's that the focus has gone from education of all students to very political agendas that that have come into the the schools themselves And I think that's where people have have the objection with it Parents are angry because their tax dollars are being used to support Things that aren't necessarily education so Um, and I I don't want to read the whole letter It's kind
063of long But but basically what I when I spoke last time and I think that was missing Is that I really wanted to talk about unity and how people need to come together. We're all different. We all have different uh differences in gender and sexuality and whatever but But there's either a my way or the highway mentality here and and I think that that's just wrong I'm not saying that one side's right and one side's wrong I'm saying that nobody's coming together here and I think that needs to happen and I think I stated that before and Nobody came and talked to me after that and then I read a bunch of stuff and I was like nobody believed that either So that's all I had to say my time's about up and have a
064good evening and thank you. Thank you natalie All right Is there anyone else in the audience who's here to speak this evening? All right, thank you to everyone who was here We appreciate your input And your feedback and thank you for making time to come and and share your thoughts with the board of education and dr. Haddad Don uh, our agenda item five is up next and that is the superintendent's report All right. Thank you very much. I appreciate it I too enjoyed the uh Seeing the students. I I had a chance to go to the state track meet And it was pretty incredible to watch all of those records just shattered and all of the uh camaraderie around one of our students who had lost a loved one and You know the way in
065which their coaches have Not only helped them to become outstanding track athletes, but just to become just incredible people And uh, I'm just really proud of all of them. So the other thing that uh Is coming up is the october count and we have done a number of counts, I think four or five maybe even more, uh, they've Yielded pretty good. Uh a steady increase In the numbers up until this last one where it kind of plateaued and stabilized But we will start that two-week window and we've got hundreds of additional students this year as opposed to last year so i've i've always been a believer that uh The more the better, you know I just assume have a hundred thousand students because when you have that many kids You have that much excitement going
066on everywhere. So the other thing that uh And so we'll get you those exact numbers and greg and tony and amber muir and the learning services and everybody's done a great job The principals in in managing that process We have completed four town hall meetings and they've been really really positive. We had uh Four of them in the last several Maybe last two weeks and it's been wonderful meeting parents talking about all of the things that are happening in the district hearing about their you know, their dreams for their children and their concerns and their Challenges and their successes and and that's always good and I appreciate everybody who attended both parents and then also teachers and staff and Administrators and our board of education. So Thank you to everyone who participated Covid update we
067are continuing to move forward we have This last week. I saw the first time in a while that the numbers started to drop in terms of positivity rate and also in terms of The incident rates, so i'm hopeful that that trend will Start and continue. We'll see what happens But uh, I appreciate our teachers and I appreciate our staff and our parents and our students I and I think a lot of other people were hoping when we were in the middle of the summer we We've heard that you know things were really declining in turn in a positive way that things were getting better and the numbers were declining And so we had a lot of optimism around starting the new school year Without some of the same guidelines and restrictions, but unfortunately It took
068a turn and if you all remember the year before it did the same thing and so We are in the midst of our third school year of dealing with this and I think that that just has to to be recognized That that brings with it just a heavy heavy load for our teachers and our staff And our principals and our students and our parents and everybody involved and so i'm very proud of them and i'm also Very understanding of the difficulties that come with that We're trying to do things on many fronts to help our students get additional time We're also Trying to work with not only the academic side of things but also the the social and emotional side of things And a lot of good news, but there's also a lot of work
069to be done and we'll keep moving forward in that direction I'll continue to give you updates with covid our Our mask exemptions still are hovering around two plus percent so we have You know 98 percent of our students Are wearing masks and the two percent that aren't some of them continue to wear masks in parts of the day So we've had really good compliance there and Overall, we are in that first month. We've got a couple weeks here The quarantines are maintaining themselves. We haven't seen the massive quarantines like we have in the last year and a half But they're still you know when you have one it's disruptive So we're trying to do everything that we can and wearing masks does Prevent the quarantining process from taking place if both parties are wearing that
070mask and they're asymptomatic So we've been encouraging everybody to be very diligent Met with the teachers association yesterday and reminded them of how important it is that they Continue to remind students and it's not easy to wear masks But we need to do that as best we can To continue to protect one another and then also to protect each other from being quarantined And then the last thing I wanted to talk about was s or three And I am going to ask tony to talk about it a little bit. We've got this is the fourth iteration of our stimulus package The first one was corona relief funds and the second was s or one and the third was s or two And this one s or three Requires input from our community And we have
071been doing such meetings In several venues the rotaries the chambers our town hall meetings our teacher association meetings our principal meetings Business meetings that we've been having our website is set up in order to gather some of that input and And these board meetings and so I would just like to remind our public who's watching again to Log into our website provide feedback most of the money that we've been spending has centered itself around things like project launch extra time for students our triple a program Also protective gear masks hand sanitizers thermometers things along those lines Additional custodial staff to help with some of the cleaning and things like that We've added a number of additional teachers. We've allocated recently a couple million dollars to Hold schools harmless so that we can continue to provide
072as much social distancing as we can So a lot of moving parts, but i'm going to ask tony just to say a couple of words And also to remind our public that we really really want your input related to how these dollars are spent. So, thank you Sure. Thanks don. So yeah, i'll just give a quick recap. So our s or three allocation is one of the four major COVID relief funds that we've received CRF s or one s or two and now we're on s or three S or three allocation was about 20.9 million dollars for st. Frank Valley schools And we have a window through about 2024 september of 2024 to spend those dollars There's a plan that is required to be submitted by our district to the state in late december mid
073december and part of this plan includes Feedback that we want to solicit from the public And so as don mentioned, there's quite a few different ways that the public can Get engaged and provide feedback 20 of this allocation does need to be allocated to toward learning loss And must ensure those interventions i'm just going to read from the website because this is also published for the public to see Must ensure those interventions respond to students social emotional and academic needs To address the disproportionate impact of covet 19 on underrepresented students subgroups um, so Again, the the public can go out to the website. There's actually a form there where they can submit feedback Through that means and then there's a description of the current plan that we have out there and any feedback that the
074public would like to provide And then finally there's a list of different events board meetings our finance and audit committee the town hall meetings that Don mentioned previously took place Amongst some other events that the public can can participate in Provide feedback on the the proposed usage of these esser funds. So, uh, can I answer any questions? Thank you. Thanks tony Don did you have anything else? I'm good. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Appreciate your report Agenda item six is also a report. It is uh, 6.1 to be specific It is the 2021 c mass an sat suite of assessments Hi, ann It's nice to see you again. Oh, likewise. Um president seagrass board of education. Dr. Herdad, dr Caputian It's great to be here this evening and I appreciate your the discussion. Um in-depth
075discussion of The achievement data as well as our summer programming outcomes And our initiatives for the 20 21 22 school year Um, it was great discussions and comments and i'd like to open it up for further comments and questions Uh, great. Thanks ann and we did that just to clarify a little bit for the public. We had an in-depth discussion last week at our study session um over an hour Where you presented a lot of data and talked about summer initiatives? Ongoing what you're thinking about in the future lessons learned Um, it c mass sat. I know i'm keeping everything very high level, but it was very comprehensive Absolutely um I know I have uh, Just a couple brief comments to board members have anything that they want to come comment on after Um about
076the board session, um dick Go ahead dick I'm up first. You are up first. You're gonna bat first evening. Well, thank you. I I just wanted to express my uh, appreciation for the in-depth um And comprehensive nature of the briefing we had in the discussion we had I guess my take my take home messages from from your presentation was It was the next in iteration of the development we've done to progressively establish a systems approach to dealing with The fundamental learning challenges of our student population and the thing that was Really encouraging to me was the longer term status and trends of our graduation rates I believe that that focus on graduation rates is a fundamentally a more Important measure of the kind of Um Opportunities we're providing for our students to equip them for
077future success the Because it it depends on a whole range of factors in addition to the number of credits for Requiring our students to take and the rigorous courses we're offering It also includes An engagement piece It includes a measure of the variety of challenging programs that we are continually adding to and it also Reflects the work that we're doing in the elementary grades to ensure that Move toward the point where we're ensuring that each and every student is At or above grading reading level by third grade and for their math proficiencies as well those fundamental changes we're making through the Leadership of your department and throughout the district Are establishing a foundation that will enable us to progressively close the existing Achievement gaps in our among our Hispanic population with the overall population as
078well as our free and reduced lunch populations I think that the Accomplishments certainly in the last over the last 10 years. You can see it very clearly those status and trends say to me that the improvements were we're seeing are not a reflection of random variations in and test scores or Outcomes That will be there one day and gone the next What they show is The system that we've been working to and are implementing Is is identifying the next most important focus and through that and then incorporating solutions to address those items that are The next most important things for us to address in order to provide Well, I I guess I would say in order to ensure that our students are prepared for whatever Whatever future path they choose beyond 12th grade So I
079know that we we had that long discussion And very productive discussion But as we have done each year, we are seeing the progress and the fruits of that work the focus on systems to be Really successful in Year after year narrowing that achievement gap that gap between our graduation rates for our various demographics Well the various student groups that we have in our district so I just wanted to in a somewhat long way Acknowledge the excellent work That you and our teachers are doing To make sure that we're leaving no stone unturned and as we discover new new stones To move them out of the way so that our students are Equipped to succeed at a level but no At a level but also progressively better year after year, so thank you ann. Thank you
080very much Thanks dick And I just want to let the public know if they have a desire to hear our conversation that they can access that on the district Website there is a recording of it And in that there is a comprehensive review of all of those programs You know something that we've talked about as a board of education and and dr Haddad has spoke about this also is a desire to extend the school year and that has been done in st brain Any student who who wanted had the opportunity to participate in programs this year? In june And august and i'm sure there were camps in july, but so I just want to want to say thank you for that And you know there was a there was a quote that that you mentioned
081I'm looking at my notes from last week and you said demonstration of commitment to positive outcomes for students And I just want to thank you for making that your focus I know that things just like I said to chase earlier last year the year before that last year things your department There's been so much for you to do and every school year has looked different And I so I want to thank you for your commitment to positive student outcomes I know that this data is so important. It's not simple to administer tests To thousands upon thousands of students particularly during a pandemic and when some of them are at home So thank you for all of that and I know that you all will make the best use of this data Possible and you also
082look at a lot of other data as well. So thank you for that My pleasure and thanks to dr lauer and kyle charles and dr caputian for our leadership in learning services and assistant superintendents Of course, dr headdad and all the teachers and staff Absolutely, everybody's worked so hard and aren't we we're so fortunate in st. Rain that you know, we have such a strong foundation You know financially curriculum, you know teachers That you can build those programs and and create those opportunities Yeah, thanks ann take care That brings us to our consent items this evening. Do board members wish to pull any of those consent items? All right with that then I would entertain a motion for approval of agenda item 7.1 first reading adoption board exhibit cc-e st. Rain administrative organizational chart 7.2
083approval of joint use agreement with the town of mead 7.3 approval of amendment to construction manager general contractor contract for the additional parking project at erie high school 7.4 approval of update of vendors providing purchase goods over $100,000 and 7.5 approval to adopt a resolution of the board of education of the st. Rain Valley school district re1j regarding the legal defense and Indemnification of its directors and employees So moved by jim and a second by karen Yes, please Um, mr. Ahrens. Aye. Mr. Berthold. Yes, mr. Garcia. Yes, dr. Marder. Yes, miss piers. Aye. Mr. Aglin Aye, sorry. Aye. Ms. Seacrest. Aye 8.1 agenda item 8.1 is a recommendation. It is this for approval It is a second reading Adoption and approval to board policy ij in dab instruction through online programs um Hey, you're here
084to talk about policies again Hi brandon. Good evening, madam president and members of the board. Dr. Haddad. Dr. Capuchin Thank you for having me back to talk about policies again action item 8.1 addresses board policy ij and dab asterisk Instruction through online programs. We are updating this policy because of our online options have changed Instead of global online the district is now offering launch dead in st Vrain virtual high school a policy is out of date It needs to be updated to address the current online options available to students in our district Now madam president, I do need to mention We are going to ask you to make a minor amendment to the Policy the draft policy that's in front of you on on second reading We caught something as we were proofreading this basically
085the It was a carryover from the online global policy That was only available to high school students and there was a bullet point that said to be qualified for the current online options launch dead and St. Vrain virtual high school you had to be of high school age. Well, that isn't exactly true That isn't true at all for launch dead. In fact, that's available k312. So Before you vote Ask that you amend the policy the draft in your packet is correct that that correction has been made But put that on record So that when you vote you vote for it correctly Is what we're asking you to do Thanks brendan. We appreciate that paula Yeah, so in that um, if there's No further discussion. Um, oh and i'm sorry. Did anybody have anything discussion wise
086apologies. Thanks paul um, so i'll just uh clarify for the record what uh brandon has Explained to us that under um policy ijndab The It's the first bullet point on page two of five Will read Be younger than 21 years of age Um, so that is the update and I move that we adapt. Um, i'm going to read The uh, the second reading adoption and approval, um to board policy ijndab Instruction through online programs as amended second Mr. Arons. Yes. Mr. Berthold. Yes. Mr. Garcia. Yes. Dr. Martyr. Yes. Ms. Pierce. Aye. Mr. Raglan Aye. Ms. Segrist. Aye And brandon, uh, you're up again 8.2 is a recommendation this time. It's a first reading of board policies jlcd jlcd-e And jlcd-r pertaining to administering medication to students And we did have a lengthy discussion at last
087week's study session about this policy as well So if any any committee members would like to go online and listen to that they certainly can that's available on the district website Well, thank you, madam president action item 8.2 contains Uh as you've already indicated jlcd jlcd-e And jlcd-r all related to the administration of medication to students These three policies are being updated as a result of the passage of senate bill 21056 so senate bill 56 during the 2021 legislative session They update provisions in the state law allowing for the administration of medical marijuana to students in schools revisions to jlcd jlcd-e And jlcd-r bring our board policies into alignment with the new state mandates Thank you Any board comments or or questions this evening? No, oh, sorry paula. Go ahead um, I Would like to
088recommend a very minor wordsmithing or tweaking of specifically jlcd-e there are two References in that document to campus And we just thought there would it would be a a nice clarification to replace campus with district property um, so specifically it would be on page one of jlcd-e I believe it's towards the bottom if anybody wants to look at it And this is the first reading so we can certainly edit this for the second reading And then also on page 32 of our packet the bottom of page three of four We would replace campus with district property so i'd like to make a motion to approve first reading board policies jlcd jlcd-e And jlcd-r pertaining to administering medication to students as amended second Thanks. So a motion by paula and a second by dick brandon any
089concerns, uh with making that Minor adjustment from campus to district property. No, no concerns. Great. Thank you john. Can you call for the vote, please? Yes, mr. Arons. Yes, mr. Berthold. Yes, mr. Garcia. Yes, dr. Marder. Yes, miss piers. Aye And miss seekers. Aye. Thanks john. So brandon. We'll see you back at the october 13th, uh with these three One policy one regulation and one exhibit For final reading and approval at that time. Yes, ma'am. Can't wait can't wait We appreciate it and it's always nice to see you. So thank you very much So that brings us to the end of our meeting meeting this evening as I just mentioned, uh to Brandon schaefer Our next board of education meeting will be wednesday october 13th from 6 to 8 pm That will be a regular
090meeting here in the board of education room We have a study session on wednesday october 20th. That is also 6 to 8 pm That'll be at westview middle school And then we'll be back in the board room on october 27th from 6 to 8 pm for another regular meeting Again, everyone happy first day of fall drive safe and I would entertain a motion for adjournment, please By karen seconds and a second by john all in favor. Aye Good night. Thank you