001Good evening and welcome to St. Rain Valley Schools Board of Education meeting. Please stand and join us in saying the Pledge of Allegiance Hi everyone Christy, can you please call the roll you bet? Mr. Aarons. Hi, mr. Berthold here. Mr. Garcia here. Dr Martyr present. Ms. Pierce here. Mrs. Ragland here. Ms. Segrist here Thanks, Christy any addendums or changes to the agenda this evening? No, all righty then That brings us actually to to visitors but before we before we dive into any more of the agenda, I do want to share and Emphasize that the district's mission statement is this board and dr Haddad's North star that we make all decisions within the context of educating each student in a safe learning Environment so that they may develop to their highest potential and become contributing citizens
002We 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 before we move on to the meat of our agenda this evening if everybody could just take a quick look at your cell phone and And make sure those are nice and quiet, please Do you want to remind you that our meeting is recorded this evening? It is also live-streamed, but you may access it on the district website I don't know if it's there this evening, but it will be there for tomorrow for sure and Then one additional reminder the Boulder County Public Health has recently passed a mandate that masks are required in all public spaces We don't have any visitors this
003evening. So that brings us very quickly to agenda item number four, which is our audience participation Thanks, Brian. Thank you dick and if you'll just bear with me one second while I take a look here okay, so Before we move on to non agenda items public participation I just want to confirm that there's nobody here this evening to speak on an agenda item. Is that correct? All right. Thank you also Want to look how many of you? Signed up to sign to speak on the district website and also signed up on this sheet Anybody who did not take sorry I'm clearly am NOT a teacher am I okay. Let's start this over again. Did you Arrive at the evening at the meeting this evening sign up to speak and you did not sign up on
004the district website Jen Okay, and Natalie. Okay, great. Good for me to know. All right Okay, so The Board of Education values Please know we value your community the community perspectives and feedback from parents teachers staff and community during Board of Education meetings the board will hear up to 30 minutes of public comments 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 public Comment time is limited. It is possible that not everyone will be able to share their public comments in these cases community
005members 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 SVV SD org We will include in the public record as part of the minutes those comments for individuals who did not speak But did sign up Emailed comments. I just said that if you're 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 of Education member Dr. Haddad or the HR department and we will be happy to assist you with next steps I do also want to let you know Given that we have so many speakers signed up this evening
006if there is somebody who has spoken at the podium and you agree with their comments you are able to simply say, you know, I agree with speaker X and To allow more opportunity for additional speakers. You certainly don't have to do that, but please know it is an option All right, Brian. Are you ready with the timer there? Do you have 30 minutes also Great. I won't do that tonight then All right one one last thing before we start I do want you all to know that it's been a long-standing practice of the board not to address or Address or respond during public comment of the agenda But please do know that we are listening and we do greatly value and appreciate your perspectives All right And I'm gonna apologize in advance for for names
007and if you could please let me know how to correctly pronounce your name I would appreciate it. The first speaker this evening is Mandy Blumreich How'd I write? success right out of the gate Mandy if you could please state your name for the record and your address Okay, and your address and then Brian will start timing after thank you Brian after you complete your address So my name is Mandy Blumreich. I live at 2212 Mariner Drive here in Longmont 80503 I'm here to really voice support Today and I'm gonna keep it short because there's a lot of people behind me who are gonna be more eloquent and I want To give time to the youth I've been doing work advocacy work with the district for over 10 years. Some of you have seen me before
008I work with the st. Rain Valley safe schools coalition a lot of work and the first thing I wanted to do was give the district credit Over the 10 years that I've done this work We've seen our kids Specifically LGBTQ kids Feel safer be more authentic My kids are now in high school and middle school and the differences I see in in just their ability to express their authentic selves is amazing And some of that is bringing in Professional development for our teachers and our staff that gave them the language to speak to this To understand what the experiences and issues were I Don't I don't even know how to express how important it's been and to that the district no matter what voices they're hearing Know that this is how we keep all students
009safe is give them the space to be themselves Our equity department is amazing. I've worked with them personally If they're going to be doing all of this training for all these schools, we have a huge district We need to increase their funding We need to increase their personnel and we need to make sure that they continue to be trained by people who have the lived experience of being LGBTQ of being black of being Latino of being Asian Pacific indigenous right of disabilities our kiddos with disabilities all of that I can't speak for any of those people but I know that they need their voices heard so just continue to prioritize that and I just wanted it on record because I know this summer there's been a lot of voices Who have said some stuff that
010could be incredibly damaging to our kids and I know you're gonna do the right thing But I just we need that support. You need to know we're here and that we value these kids and I'm gonna stop there and Yield the floor to some of the other people who are going to be much more eloquent than myself. Thank you. Thank you, Mandy. Appreciate it Next up this evening we have Bethy Linaherty Hi, Bethy. I Think you probably heard me say to Mandy name address and then we'll start timing. Yeah, my name is Bethy Linaherty 426 Judson 80501 I'm co-director of a queer endeavor professor at CU and parent of a soon-to-be st. Frane Valley student For the past seven years our organization has worked in partnership With the district in an effort to support nearly
011a thousand educators To create safer more affirming schools for LGBTQ students This effort is ongoing in part because data even in this district continued to suggest that these students often suffer tremendously in schools This summer queer endeavor hosted an equity Institute at Longmont High School The Institute was first framed by the district as a collaborative endeavor then as an endeavor the district needed to separate themselves from and finally as an endeavor the district outright refused to support by pulling nearly $15,000 of funding for teacher attendees just hours before the event in a follow-up news article our organization learned that we were no longer Partners that equity work would be handled internally misguided constituents continue to mischaracterize the work of a queer endeavor and with no response from the district a partner of seven years who
012just weeks before collaboratively developed our 2021-22 scope of work with multiple stakeholders in that span the year if you know me and us It's no surprise that this move really hurt We are educators and as an organization committed to partnership with districts doing equity work We know that this road is long and we also know that having integrity and moments of pushback is hard in our view this move Or this reaction by the district and district leadership was not grounded in equity But instead in fear and in the lack of understanding of what this work is all about Moving forward we have questions We want to know what the district plans to do to support educators with high quality professional learning around LGBTQ topics We want to know who will deliver the content We want
013to know the district's plan to implement HB 19 1192 the curriculum bill that demands the inclusion of minoritized identities And we want to know how the district will respond when constituents push back on that inclusion Also from the board. I want to know is this business as usual if valuable partnerships that have positively impacted the district can be terminated so hastily and without consideration of the impact of community teachers students and families Last in this polarized and dysfunctional political climate I want to know what the district's commitments are to proactively doing right by its most vulnerable students These are our students of color our undocumented students our students for whom English is not their home language Our queer and trans students and our queer students of color and to be clear queer is a label
014that many youth in this district used to identify themselves How will the district prioritize not only their safety but their joy their beautiful identities that they bring Because right now all I know is that the most misinformed voices continue to keep those populations From accessing equal educational opportunities that are promised by public education Thank You, Bethy Marin Galden. Hi Marin. I think you heard me about name and address, please Thank you. Welcome. Um, I'm Going to try not to cry. I'm Marin Galden. My address is one two five zero. Can it can it court here in Longmont? I am the parent of two children in the district the one of whom is Identifies as queer I'm so moved by these speech and also her work in the district and I also I wrote something down
015But I can't read it now because I'm the truth is I'm I feel the same way I feel pretty heartbroken by the district's choice to end of that partnership I was relieved and in part chose same brain because I felt like this district was taking a stand To protect children like mine. I know you all know the statistics on suicide for kids in that category and For me the protection in the community of learning is of the utmost important for kids mental health and well-being and joy So I have the same questions that Beth he has I want to know why I want to know what your plan is I want to know why on earth you would make that decision to So kind of callously cut off a partnership that has invested so much.
016I also recently Discovered that the phrase anti-racism had been taken out of the equity statement. I want to understand why I don't understand District that has the beautiful ideals that you've professed and that I've honestly experienced so much effort on why that phrase would be taken out unless it's a response to to a type of Energy, like I just don't understand how anybody in this district could could not stand behind the concept of anti-racism So I also am happy to defer the rest of my time to anybody who also wants to speak on this topic But I just want it to be known that although many of us have just been Quietly at home grateful for the work that you're doing or doing our ally work in partnership with you It appears that the the
017louder screaming voices are getting hurt And I want to make sure that the many many of us that are actually just here to support the most vulnerable are also getting hurt So thank you for listening and thank you for the work you're doing in this difficult time. Thank you, Marin Sadie Roberts Hi Sadie My name is Sadie Roberts. My address is 2400 Sherman Street, Monmouth, Colorado 80501 So to start off I'm a graduate from Skyline High School as of 2019 For years, I've been working within the district to improve conditions for queer students For context when I was in high school I was president of my school's GSA and regularly attended and spoke on panels at the GSA socials Those were usually Biannual I was also a member of my school's sources of strength program
018So I spoke to a lot of students and also had a lot of experiences myself I really have a lot to say but I'll keep it as short and sweet as I can Funding should never have been pulled the way that it was for a queer endeavors conference Taking away that resource puts students in this district into direct and palpable danger I am glad that something was able to be done by the community. Thank you out Boulder But this action by the district is quite frankly unacceptable Withdrawing support for in queer endeavor shows that their message of acceptance and education on the issues of minority students is being directly opposed And the SVV SD has a contradicting message of its own which I know is not true because I've heard your things I've seen your
019progress This district was hard when I was in school before the pandemic and I can't imagine that kovat has done it any favors Students who are queer disabled mentally ill or of color are already at such high risk with statistics of suicide self-harm and Violence by other students being far higher than that of others We need as much help as we can get and taking away such a valuable resource is dangerous The education of adults in this district should not be left up to the children who have enough on their plate as it is I'm calling today for the district to reverse the decision in the future Men to their relationship with a queer endeavor and take further steps to ensure that these students have support. Thank you Thank you, Sadie Aaron Dodge Aaron Dodge
020Is Aaron not here? All right, so I'm gonna move on to Paige Regan Are you here? Did I say that correctly? Great. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. My name is Paige Regan. I live at 3432 East 14th Ave Thank you for that too in Denver, Colorado 80206 I'm echoing the sentiment of other speakers thus far. I come here as a teacher I'm a doctoral student in education research and I'm also someone invested in public education across my home state of Colorado Similarly to others I speak to you today regarding the district's response to pushback against the recent Educator Institute for Equity and Justice Directed under the leadership of the community trusted organization a queer endeavor Recently, I keep thinking of the wisdom of therapist Margaret Paul wisdom I shared at this Institute that seemed to
021resonate with participants as her invitation is so familiar Paul invites us to consider how in each moment We have the important decision of whether to choose love or to choose to avoid pain I honor and recognize the tensions born of serving in leadership positions over a school district the fear of the pain incurred by disappointing community members and The potential presumed pain born of the discomfort of challenging the status quo an unwavering commitment to equity and justice however Depends on decisions rooted in love rather than avoidance or fear in My experience working in classrooms out of school spaces and leading professional development for teachers I've never witnessed the kind of integrity and intentionality exhibited by the organization a queer endeavor Every single thing this organization organization does is deliberate never haphazard The stakes are too
022high the commitment and allegiance to teachers and students dr. Sarah staley dr. Bethy leonardi and britney lara hernandez exemplify and their work is unparalleled truly and it's heart work The students of st. Vrain Valley School District and the committed teachers and staff members deserve unwavering support and vision on behalf of equity and justice and For these invaluable members of the district to learn that such a vision wavered based on the fear of a few Does not send the message that I believe you value and your own commitment to this district So I appreciate the time and thank you so much for your service Thank You page Kelly Taylor Russell It's Kelly here. Hi Kelly. My name is Kelly. I live at 838 4th Avenue in Lyons My pronouns are she hers and I have two
023kids in st. Vrain Valley School District I have two concerns one is the split from queer endeavors other folks have mentioned Teaching the experience of queer folks and their history is not a controversial issue. It's also not a religious issue Persecution the name of religion is nothing new and is taught throughout our curriculum The mother of a trans child shared with me that as a parent of a trans child her existence is not optional Without this fact woven into the curriculum. She is left to explain herself to her peers and her teachers This is not helpful to her identity or to her mental health Or to her confidence if the curriculum included identities of all kids woven in children would get an education that included my child Just like cisgender children get It's as simple
024as understanding that identity is not a preference. It is a birthright I know that each of you have probably had an experience of belonging belonging to this board to your schools to your families to your community you've seen yourself or maybe you haven't seen yourself reflected in history books and in your health classes and Either way, you know that something is missing and we will hold you accountable to that knowing You also have stellar credentials. You lead powerful organizations You know what it means to have the support of your community So let's give that support to the LGBTQ community in the classrooms the kids in the desks The teachers at the front of the class the queer parents grandparents community staff That that you are really willing to risk your significance to save lives We've
025heard about the suicide risks 42% of queer kids last year considered suicide Let's educate all students all teachers all administrators to be unabashedly claiming the worth and value of our queer friends If you could invite the LGBTQ community to the table to help Create this whatever new curriculum is going to happen through the equity equity department How will teachers be educated? What's the curriculum who's qualified to deliver this? My next point is about GSA's In From what I know and I could be wrong GSA's are not allowed to advertise on the website of schools on the main website They're also not allowed to post on any bulletin board that's available They also do not have guaranteed access to make announcements on the mornings And this is a policy that you could change you could create
026a whole policy just for GSA's So that these kids know exactly where they can go to have belonging To have their peers I know you're concerned about the mental health of our students This has been a topic of great discussion in the last several board meetings right about masks or no masks This is serious. We have reams of data about kids and the risk of suicide and it would be really simple I think to create this policy to make GSA school-sponsored make them public Get those those meetings on the thank you Kelly Thank you so much. Thank you Melissa Marder My name is Melissa Marder and I live in Firestone. I Think it's great that we have so many concerned community members and parents here tonight. I Know that I've speaking about a queer endeavor
027before My personal stance is that to queer a classroom and turn teachers against parents is completely unacceptable I'm going to read some titles from a queer endeavor just so that everyone understands one of them says queer that class Another one says silencing in classroom libraries. Another one says teacher leadership team of equity a two-year implementation plan for diversity equity and inclusion at Eagle Crest Elementary Teaching the canon through the equity and justice lens the impact of sex and sexuality education on a LGBTQ individuals Humanitizing writing practices LGBTQ plus and imagined community Teachers as resistors bringing our lessons to our classrooms This one I actually sat in one because I wanted to find out exactly what this event was telling our educators Classrooms should only be the Colorado academic standards There is a line anything below
028that and anything above that completely unacceptable I've heard that from the board's mouth that is on the website should not be anything but that Anything below or above is completely unacceptable. I'll say it again while I agree that students do need support LGBTQ plus That should be a parent's choice And that should be a household discussion and I understand that some children cannot have these discussions with their parents I completely understand that and I've been hearing that for months But when you're meeting with a group of students in a school or a district or a library And you're telling children on your website and in person That what happens here stays here and that you're supposed to keep things secret from your parents is also completely unacceptable I agree that they need support, but it
029does not happen in the classrooms and I say this with no phobia Whatsoever. I also say this with love that it does not belong in our classrooms This teachers as resistors class With literally teaching our Educators some in this district to resist the parents input on what their children learn in school To come in and clear the lessons that their children are getting and to come in and clear the classroom That is not a Colorado academic standard and there is so many on here I won't even go through all of them because y'all already know everything y'all already know all of these events. Y'all have all the documentation It does not belong in our classrooms and that is the stance of for my children in a school in this district and for a lot of
030parents and I Support them and I appreciate you guys being here tonight whether you believe me or not, but it does not belong in the classrooms Thank You Melissa. Thank you Eric Clusick Hi, Eric My name is Eric Clusick 2213 Jules Street 80501 in Longmont I'm an a community member and a proud parent of three adult children Two of whom are graduates of st. Vrain Valley School District I'm also a board member of PFLAG and an active member of my church and on their board of elders I Come to ask you to reinstate funding for queer endeavor and they're vitally important work of helping to ensure that LGBT kids Have a place in this school district as a Christian with a transgender child it's critically important that both Christian kids and LGBT kids are welcome
031and safe in the district Cutting funding has told parents that LGBT kids are neither welcome Nor safe in the school district I Considered myself politically independent, but I grew up as a conservative Lutheran in even more conservative, Utah And married my sweet conservative LDS wife of 30 years Because of our Christian conservative Christian convictions in the past. We were nervous about LGBT people When we moved to Colorado from Utah, we picked st. Vrain Because it's more conservative than liberal Boulder where I work And I have to admit until we found out we had a transgender child. I Would not have supported queer endeavors work but I also didn't have an answer to how LGBTQ kids and conservative Christian kids can both live in the same district and That's the imperative that you have as a
032board and it's what I heard you state Josie as the president that that is what you intend to do We knew Christian and LDS LGBT people had honest struggles, but we totally didn't get transgender people We had thought that transgender people simply had crazy liberal parents who wanted the opposite gender child But when our child came out as transgender we had to admit we were wrong We also found that st. Vrain school district was not a district that would allow our youngest to thrive much less survive So I started driving my transgender daughter to Boulder Valley. I Think st. Vrain has made progress since then but the recent action tells me that we have not I Asked that funding be restored and if not Funding for similar work be reinstated. I Also asked that you
033reach out to LGBTQ children's and families in the district and let them know How you intend to repair the damage that has been done? There's withdrawal of funding Affects queer endeavor directly, but it also has informed both parents Thank You Eric, okay Clint Carol Clint is Clint Carol here this evening No, I'm gonna give one more opportunity for Aaron Dodge All right Then I am going to move on next Jen Picaric Hi, Jen, my name is Jen Picaric Henderson 806 per zero Look, I know we're almost out of time. So I'm just I'm just gonna say just a couple of things, right? Y'all know I agree with Melissa, okay The district and the teachers in this district are not co-parents. They are there to teach my kids academic excellence not morals Teach the golden rule
034teach acceptance. I'm sure that everybody in their households are teaching that I know that's what I teach mine, right? Teaching morals though. That's a whole different. That's a whole different subject That is not something that belongs in the schools. It's not something that belongs at anywhere you and I have had conversations, right? I don't expect anybody to you know start hanging up crosses and you know Bible thumping all over the place, right? But I do expect my kids to be able to go into an environment that is teaching them To The the same things that I'm teaching them or I guess in other words is teaching is to is not teaching them to Not believe the morals and the values that I'm teaching my kids. I don't know if I'm making any sense, but there
035it is You know, I I do agree I think that if there is needs to be funding to the counselors that can have better educating if that can be better educated in Some of the things that lgtbq stuff right because the reality of it is is there are kids in our district That do identify with that With with with that community, right? So there does need to be some type of outreach that they can go to But it needs to be something that is sought out by that child and by that child's parents, right? Not something that's shoved down my kids throats and I guess that's all that I've got. Thank you guys for listening Thanks, Jen Gabby Clark Gabby are you here? Hi Gabby? Hi, I'm Gabby Clark my address is 3577 likes per
036Drive and 805 a thing longmont colorado. I am a student at Niwak High School who Admittedly has a good GSA program. I was part of a meeting today and They're pretty accepting but funding taking back funding for the queer Endeavor Organization is Definitely not ideal from a queer student like me. I've yet to personally experience Hardcore homophobia at any school I've attended but I have friends who have faced Threats from other kids with guns and been verbally abused in the hallways and I think GSA's are a Place where my friends and other kids who have faced that or even homophobia at home can feel safe. So right-wing People or people who are should targeting GSA's now really are threatening the safety or the feeling of safety and the comfort of children at school I think
037LGBTQ issues and Curriculum should be taught at schools So kids can feel safe and kids know that they can go to their teachers with correct pronouns Correct gender and they don't have to be scared to correct gender during attendance at the beginning of the year Or correct names that they know that they are accepted in that classroom and they are accepted by their peers During their times at school when most definitely when they don't have support at home because when you don't have support at home and Don't have support at school. You can feel out of place in the world and that is very very horrible feeling as I Personally, I do personally know being scared to come out to my own parents about certain things Thank you. That's really all I have to say.
038Thank you, Gabby Natalie Abshire Natalie, are we good Brian on time? I forgot to check with you. Where are we? Okay after this one though, it'll be 30 minutes Great. Thank you very much. Hi, Natalie. Hello I'm Natalie Abshire. I live in Mead and And What I want to talk about tonight is is really based around everything everybody else is talking about and one of the things I notice here is number one Nobody is recognizing that parents are part of the equation in raising their own Children as much as the school is involved the parents are involved more and when we talk about the queer endeavor workshops A lot of that was about keeping the parents away or out or silenced and you can't do that We all have children. I've raised my children. They
039all went to st. Vrain. They've graduated now I have grandchildren here parents have to be involved. The other thing I notice is that there's no unity between Different opposing views much like there's no unity in our country today, you know, I don't see anybody from you know So far I've noticed right-wing I've noticed Christian I've noticed Conservatives kind of used in a derogatory way here today, but I don't see any unity We clapped when when you guys all spoke nobody clapped when we spoke So if you want to solve this problem of diversity equity inclusion LGBTQ in the in the schools, why don't you try including parents in the equation instead of trying to push them away? Parents have a right to know what their children are going and doing at school If my child
040was going to school and going out on Smoker's Hill and smoking pot every day I think somebody would tell me that at a parent-teacher conference if my child is going to school and Changing their clothes from one gender to another I would want this school to tell me that and I don't think it should be a secret it's a Think about it this way. We all graduate from high school But we don't graduate from our families and our families have a right to to know and our families will be part of our lives Forever teachers are only there for 12 years. So that's really all I had to say I'm a little bit worked up. I don't know. I'm not usually worked up, but I am tonight because Come together people We're not saying we're
041transphobic or homophobic or any any phobic, but no one talks to us No one talks to the parents No one talks to the adults that that raised the children. Why don't you try that? That's all I have to say Thank You, Natalie And I see somebody raising their hands Thank you. All right, Brian. That was 30 minutes, correct? Great. Thank you That brings us to the end of our public comment this evening. I want to thank everybody who attended. We appreciate your perspectives Thank you very much Don that brings us on to agenda item 5 with this which is the superintendent's report all right Thanks, Joey. I just want to start out with a COVID update we have we get our website is up and so you can follow it and Carrie's done a great
042job of putting that dashboard up Right now we have about we only have one Staff member who is quarantined and then we have less slightly less than 1% of our students are quarantined right now and that's kind of a it's a dynamic process because some will come back in and others will get quarantined and many students that are quarantined are in those early years primarily kindergarten years preschool and Community schools not all of them. We do have some secondary schools or students, but that's where students have not yet had access to a vaccine and That's where we're seeing now. They do quarantine kindergartners and preschoolers and Community school students in a little bit different way process than they do other students first grade on through 12 The other update that I want to give you
043is with our health insurance plan and Greg you might Where I don't know I thought Greg yeah, Greg and his team gave us a report does not look like we're gonna experience Increases in our health insurance plan I mean when I say that it could be a little just a tiny bit But really nothing of any substance which is really good because that'll make the second year in a row and it's always Good to know that the the increase in salary isn't countered by an increase in Health insurance, and we all know how you know how much health insurance costs, so that was a really good thing so Greg Thank you for your team's work and For everybody that's involved and then the last thing well second to last thing the ESS ER dollars that
044we have received we you know we first received the CRF funds and Then we received ESSER 1 and then we received ESSER 2 and we've recently had ESSER 3 approved ESSER 3 requires That we receive community input and so we're doing that in a variety of different ways our reports will be due in December and Greg correct me if I'm misstating that but my understanding is it's due in December and Yesterday I spoke at the Rotary and we talked to them among other things about this Be speaking to the chambers and we'll speak to them mentioning at the board that anybody who wants to provide input can log into our website and Go to the place where they log in or they can call our finance department Speak to Greg Feath We'll also be talking
045with the leadership of the teachers association and that means the president and the vice president and then all of the teacher ARS when I attend their meetings We've talked to all the principals and we'll continue to do that at our leadership council and the directors and the assistant Superintendents and so on we'll be talking about it and gather when I say talking about it I mean gathering input when giving people information as to where they can get their input and So we'll be doing that at leadership st. Rain with a whole host of parents And then you know I also have a series of town hall meetings that are scheduled and we will be bringing the topic up there And we've also will be asking the newspaper when they put out a story to invite
046the public To log into our website or to contact our district to give input Essar 3 has some restrictions and we will follow them to the T and Overwhelmingly the majority of our money from Essar and all of these as our funds is going into Increasing student time in the classroom increasing instructional time after school time school in the month of June and a whole host of other things so We look forward to getting that and then the last thing this is the last thing I had a chance to help very very briefly serve lunch at Central Elementary and the kids there today had fresh peach they had a scoop of hot vegetables carrots broccoli and tomatoes and they had a scoop of corn and scoop of mashed potatoes and some chicken nuggets and then
047juice or milk or water and You know, it was really It's really heartwarming to see the kindergartners walking through the line Getting their food saying one, you know instance. Can I have a little more and absolutely you can so that was the highlight of my day and We'll continue to do those kinds of things to get as close to the to the students and the teachers and the staff as we Can I really want to commend the the nutrition services department? They were really welcoming and warm and kind-hearted to our children and that was That was really nice Nice time well spent so a lot of other things I could share but but I'll stop there Thanks, Don. Dr. Haddad. Can I also share just a few updates? Yes out of learning services. Is that
048okay? That would be great. Thank you. Great So our schools are off to a great start. Many of us have been in schools for the last several weeks Later this month you're going to hear our latest achievement data related to our state testing last spring but also the results of some of our summer programming and You'll hear a little bit more about our triple a strategy to extend learning time for our students this year. We're excited about that work In addition to a really strong focus on literacy and math this year We're asking our principals to refocus on and utilize our wellness curriculums To help our students adjust and recalibrate to being back in school with full classrooms of children And so we are we are focused on that in terms of enrollment and FTE
049since the beginning of August we've monitored our enrollment trends and Allocated additional staff to schools and have in that have increased enrollment or have hot spots in their class class sizes We've made 63 adjustments to school staffing in the last month and we've added almost two million dollars in resources Directly to our classrooms in that time. We've started to see our Enrollment kind of stabilized here and we think our schools are in really really good shape in terms of staffing at this point And then just because equity work is has been the topic of conversation this evening I want to update you just a little bit on where we are with that We continue to have a deep and consistent commitment to our diversity equity and inclusion work here in st. Bray and we call
050that our DEI work in June we train teams from all 60 of our district schools on creating a foundation for equity which included a review of our vision our vision and commitment to our DEI work an understanding of the federal and state Anti-discrimination laws and how they pertain to schools in classrooms and instruction We did some norm setting and agreements that serve as a conduit for meaningful dialogues related to DEI and We explored the levels of cultural responsiveness and the effective practices in a school setting Principals and school teams were given resources to continue this work during late starts Throughout the remainder of the school year our in-house DEI trainer and our Department of Equity and Inclusion One of our trainers who previously worked for the Colorado Department of Education provided Continues to provide equity
051training across our district and to develop and support our district training sessions and has also identified some professional services outside of the district should we need additional expertise in any of our areas and then finally our Community Diversity Committee meetings have been scheduled and we look forward to collaborating with parents and members of our community and understanding the needs of all of our children and Developing strategies to continue to support their success in St. Mary's So thank you for allowing me to do those updates as well. Thank you, Jackie. That's helpful and Don Thank you, and I couldn't agree with you more It's so important to get close to the reason why you do the work and so being in the in the lunch room with the kids And serving food. Honestly, I think that
052sounds like a blast It is good stuff. I agree. All right, that brings us to agenda item 6.1, which is a report on the 2016 bond activity Yeah, very good Brian. Hey Yeah, and Brian swizzlers gonna set up for the for the presentation but as Brian and I were going through the bond work that's been done to date and and I read 250 classrooms and I took a step back and said 250 classrooms we've added to our district and As you know, the bond program was voted into Voted by the vote or voted into existence by the voters in November of 2016 it was for 160 million as we've always done we leverage different funding sources Best grant opportunities as well as interest dollars and we've added about 50 a little over 50 million dollars
053to that program. So presently we've spent 298 million we have about I want to say 18 million left in the bond program to spend out and so So as Brian and I were talking and I realized that it's hard to put into words What we've actually done in the last four years, so So I'll just refresh if that's okay if you recall in What was it early 2016? the board allowed us to spend some 2008 interest dollars and begin designing schools for This program those two schools were Grandview and the Soaring Heights So we opened those schools Soaring Heights opened in fall of 2018 and And frankly, it was a huge success and I believe Grandview opened in 2018 as well and Yeah, what a huge success that that we jumped into that we immediately
054launched into building the additions to the high schools and And again, what a tremendous success We and we continued marching along if you will and so 2017 2018 we opened schools 2019 we opened some large additions to our high schools Spring of 2020 we were hit with Kovac and and I remember sitting down with our with our construction team and We said, you know, how do we play this out first off? What are other school districts doing? Well construction is shutting down people are holding back and as we talked with we said, you know let's move forward in a safe fashion and Keep everybody safe, but we understand the need to to complete the work that we've been assigned And so we continued forward we asked our contractors to maintain the highest quality of safety
055and security they they did temperature checks and Frankly, we were very successful and I remember when when other Construction projects were shutting down Those companies were sending their people to us. And so we continued To march forward through the bond program Today COVID is hitting us in a different way and we're seeing shortages really across across the district, but With that I'm going to hand it off to Brian Who really has been instrumental in running the program and so Brian saw yours? Hi Brian hello, thanks for being here. Yes, ladies and gentlemen the board madam president dr. Adad Thank you for the opportunity this evening to speak with you and present a construction update on the 2016 bond I am Brian Swiss. I'm the construction manager for the district in this presentation We'll go through
056each feeder touch upon previous projects that have been completed We'll talk about what has been done over this past year and what is coming up So as I go through please feel free to jump in with any questions any comments So with that I'll get started and just roll into Erie and much like Brian had spoke about before So far over the course of the bond In Erie, Soren Heights PK Grandview Elementary schools have opened The addition at Erie High has been complete as well as security improvements at Black Rock Elementary and building preservation at Erie Middle last year when we spoke at this time actually construction was underway at Highlands and very much in the thick of COVID but We had a great team out there to keep pushing through in a safe manner
057And since then it has completed and it's open for students to start this school year Highlands Elementary just to recap is a 70,000 square foot Four round elementary school in the Erie Highlands community and while we're excited about this, you know being a new beautiful building We are really excited about the educational value it brings with it As a construction department We strive to keep pace with the direction of education and work outside of the construction department to deliver spaces Like the STEM lab and learning pods that you see here and really add value to our schools By creating spaces that allow for innovative thinking to take place every day We believe this project shows that and are excited to see how it impacts student education down the road also complete in Erie This summer
058was the bond project at Erie Elementary school This project was mostly geared towards building preservation and those are items such as plumbing fixtures and plumbing equipment upgrades site drainage improvements and floor replacement and While building preservation isn't as glamorous as say a new building like Highlands It is an essential aspect of the bond program It helps us function at a high level so we can continue to operate and maintain the district's facilities for the years ahead Moving on to the Silver Creek feeder Previous projects complete have been the security improvements and classroom additions at Blue Mountain and Eagle Crest elementary schools The classroom addition and remodel at Silver Creek High School and the building preservation and remodel at Eltona Currently under construction is the Aquatic Center of st. Bram Valley schools This addition at Silver
059Creek is an eight lane training and competition pool With the diving well all the associated pool equipment and mechanical rooms public restrooms and team rooms I'm in this side you can see the The construction of the precast pool box and currently site work is progressing Mechanical electrical plumbing ruffin is progressing as well in the pool area With the goal of opening in mid-november With the plan to open in mid-november This next slide shows the construction in the pool box With the pool slab on the left before the pool deck before the pool deck was poured and then on the right it shows The construction with the dance floor to progress all the work above the pool And in that picture on the right you can also see solar tubes and the amount of daylight in
060it Introduces to that area which will be exciting to see when that is open and then here's a rendering of the pool showing the diving well and the starting blocks on the east deck as well as the Spectator area on the north the north deck of the pool this spectator the spectator area will seat 124 people moving to Lions Previously complete was the Lions elementary school remodel the preschool classroom addition and site accessibility improvements Currently under construction is the performing arts addition at Lions middle senior This project consists of a 16,000 square foot addition That provides an auditorium with the seating capacity of 424 people a stage scene shop storage area and dressing rooms also in this project They have performed upgrades to the existing HVAC system controls and fire suppression within the existing building
061Um and getting back to the Brian's comments again about the impacts to Colbert this project Unfortunately has been hit by those impacts on material and labor resources We also had challenging weather pattern challenging weather patterns in the late winter and early spring We missed our target to have this addition open for the start of school But the team is rallying and continue to push forward to open in mid-october again, this slide shows the progress in the auditorium as well as the sandstone accent wall Which showcases a prominent feature of the Lions community and it's a really nice feature of the job that the design and construction team Incorporated into the project This is a rendering of what it will look like at completion and just shows us How beautiful it's gonna look and we're excited
062to have it open and as well as see the impact it has on the school and the community We'll go all the way out to Frederick from Lions Previously complete were the secure entrance improvements at legacy elementary school and Prairie Ridge elementary school Complete this last May was the Frederick high school addition This project delivered a nine classroom addition added parking improved site drainage and address settlement of interior concrete While this addition has general classrooms and science labs The this project also focused on providing a functional space for p-tech for the p-tech program by providing collaboration spaces for students and Flexible spaces for p-tech events and meeting and meetings with industry partners. So as you can see in these pictures Between those three classrooms or operable walls to open it up for large gatherings as
063well as the operable wall in the collaboration room to facilitate those meetings with industry partners and student events for p-tech Moving on to the mead feeder previous accomplishments Have been the additions at mead high and mead middle as well as the new elementary school Pictured here which opened up last year Complete this summer is the security improvement project that centennial elementary this project involved discussions with our safety and security team and school staff to create a Sorry to create an effective and functional secure point of entry with the waiting area that has a direct connection with the admin office All the while controlling access to the rest of the building also part of this project was converting the old admin area to an innovation lab and Replacement of the countertops and flooring at the bathroom
064pods in the 9 watt feeder previous accomplishments to date the secure entrance and bus And bus loop parent drop-off reconfiguration has been complete at 9 what elementary the bond project at Burlington to address site drainage and ADA improvements has been complete and The 9 high school learning commons improvements and building invigoration project has been complete But in the next this slide we built off of phases one and two at 9 what high school And this summer the building rebranding and wayfinding project was complete This project provided a new entrance structure identifying the entrance For visitors new building signage and new wayfinding amount new wayfinding monuments and these wayfinding monuments are Niall high schools is the first location that has them So it's really been interesting over the past few weeks to see how visitors use
065them to navigate the campus In the skyline feeder to date the secure entrances and classroom additions have been complete at Alpine and Fall River elementary schools The classroom addition at skyline is complete As well as the completion of building preservation at Trail Ridge middle school Another security improvements project complete this summer was that Columbine elementary much like Centennial Elementary this project enhanced the main entrance with a secure waiting area that has a direct connection With the admin office that controls access to the rest of the building in this project the front office area Also under with a small remodel new LED lighting was installed Improvements were made the site concrete and site drainage Exterior masonry was repaired as well as added graphics and branding in the Longmont feeder The projects have been completed to date
066are the remodel and building preservation at Long's Peak middle school At Sanborn Elementary the pre ground pre-k playground roofing and parking lot expansion project field lighting upgrades at Everly field The admin addition commons remodel and building envelope improvements at Longmont High School This year the bond project at Longmont Estates was a another building preservation project that included items such as painting of the exterior metal panels site fencing and site concrete improvements Media Center improvements and an additional bottle filler Another building preservation project complete this summer was at Westview middle school The items complete at Westview include site lighting improvements floor replacement and all student and staff restrooms a Computer lab remodel which is shown here. That's something we have seen complete at other schools to really Transform classrooms with fixed seating the more flexible usable
067space also parts of this project were the running track drainage and surfacing improvements Installing bottle fillers roller shades and replacing the metal roof At Mountain View Elementary This project provided ADA access at the stage and improved playground access Performed site drainage improvements improvements and provided additional music room storage Kind of just a touch on the the lift at the stage This lift is backstage So which allows those who need to use the lift to use it readily and discreetly and have access to the stage Lastly we'll cover the alternative District wide and Academy schools at the beginning of the bond. There was a large focus on the charter schools And that focus would have been items such as the new gym and cafeteria at Aspen Ridge interior remodels at Twin Peaks and Flagstaff HVAC upgrades
068interior classroom finishes and security improvements at Carbon Valley and Then in addition to the charters the new Innovation Center opened in 2018 The security and security cameras were installed throughout the elementary schools CDC and Svoga Iroh was formerly CDC and Svoga those underwent remodel projects and the Main Street in the Main Street school underwent a major educational suitability and functional improvements project Complete this summer was phase two a spark So similar to phase one phase two expanded on educational suitability Improvements that provided better site control with direct classroom access Added restrooms and classrooms and upgraded classroom projector systems There was also upgrades to the electrical service for the building and mechanical systems And really it's kind of difficult with pictures to show what it has been done at spark But the value of this project,
069I believe is really Really how to help the day-to-day functionality to provide the the best education experience for our preschool students Not having to interrupt for bathroom breaks and being able to focus on education So that kind of that wraps up where we have been. I just like to touch base on where we're going Over the next year. We'll have projects to complete at Central Rocky Mountain and Indian Peaks Elementary School for security improvements As well as well as building preservation projects at Red Hawk Sunset hygiene Northridge Thunder Valley and Timberline So I guess in closing I'd just like to thank the board and dr. Adan for their time this evening Brian Lamar and Rick Raffino for their guidance and leadership our construction project managers coordinating architect design and construction partners for all the hard
070work over this last year and previous and Schools and staff are supporting the process and work alongside of us because it's not always easy Are there any questions? Thanks Brian. I have I took notes furiously I will give the board an opportunity to comment first and maybe I'll cross a few things off of that list I won't take up quite as much of your time. So any board member comments or questions this evening? Karen So I was the co-chair of the community task force on the bond in 2015 before it passed and I remember just looking over these Millions of dollars of Improvements and so many of them are not shiny objects like we're seeing today And I know that many of them were just absolutely necessary for Maintenance, but I just am always blown
071away. I've said this at a meeting before but I'm just blown away at the amount of Efficiency that that your department Runs with so thank you so much and thanks for the nice presentation pretty pictures Yeah, I just also want to say thank you for the presentation and kind of pulling it all together You know seeing so much of this in person at different points but to have it all in one place is really helpful and a great reminder of of all the work that has been done and It's all just excellent great work and I appreciate Everything that's went into it just on this note. I'm looking at spark. It's You know how big of a deal that is right for a teacher not to have to leave a three-year-old leave a classroom and
072to stay in that space and and Be able to like as you said stay in the in the learning environment is a is a huge deal in learning and Yeah, I don't know we'll always see you know what that really looks like but it's great to go through the spaces with educators Have them tell what that what that means to them and and spark is when it really sticks out to me So I'm sure every single one of the things that you presented today has that kind of impact What it means to have a refresh track all those kinds of things are a really big deal And even more so when you see people are using them on a day-to-day basis See their appreciation for the work that's been done. So I've heard some of
073that and seen some of that and so I just want to let you all know that as well You know one thing if I could share just a second, you know Brian mentioned something at the beginning and both of you actually mentioned it but it it's really noteworthy because our bond I think was for two hundred and sixty point three million, right and They budget in that to protect us from inflation But because of the work that the team did their team They were able to build an entire new elementary school out in Mead Which was never in the plans and they were able to build the brand-new swimming pool which was never you know in the plans and We're gonna be putting you know some turf out at some football fields I guess my
074point is what I have seen across the state from other districts is COVID did catch them and it's not just COVID. It's been traditional that other districts get caught by inflation but when I think about the history and I think about things like You know eerie middle school all that entire renovation was done by outperforming the bond project and the list goes on and on and on so when our gracious taxpayers Gave us the money for the bond We were able to not only deliver on that but also more and we were having a conversation yesterday I'm a member of the Rotary and we were having a conversation there and talking about how our bond ratings years ago We're at the very bottom after our bankruptcy and now we're one of just a few districts
075that has the highest bond ratings in the state and We've been able to refinance since 2010 several times saving our taxpayers about 36 million dollars and I want to make sure because Brian and his team make this look so easy But it is incredibly difficult Incredibly difficult to manage the winter months COVID you name it and It's just stellar. So thank you And thank you for an excellent report. Thank you I'm actually gonna piggyback a little just a little bit on what Don and Chico said because I was exactly gonna say that Don that This and also what Karen said about from the beginning watching this from six years ago to now It has become so much more Because of the the financial responsibility and the management I even someone mentioned about I think you
076did About using the interest money to develop the plans just in case it got passed, you know, sort of those like really Positive anticipating moves so that we could move really really quickly and get so much done and there The work that is done is absolutely beautiful like aesthetically beautiful the learning environment to me As is so foundational like we where those kids sit where they stand where they move where they interact Where they listen where they see like that is so foundational to me I mean because there was a time 20 years ago not just in this district but everywhere where you'd get it you get an architectural plan and it was a cookie cutter and you would you would spot it out and We live with some of those today because that was
077Financially cheap that was inexpensive. That's what we had had to get done But now like we still with the same financial responsibility We look at each site we look at each community and they're just they're incredible like those kids want to be there They want to go to school the teachers want to be there the aesthetics matter so much and it's just so impressive that we keep pushing the envelope on the educational standards and The flow of the classroom and the acoustics in the classroom and you name it, you know all those kind of details But it's really it's so impressive. It's it's incredible I I can't thank you enough on behalf of the that the taxpayers and the families in this community what we've been able to provide For all of our children. So,
078thank you, you know actually along those lines Paula and Main Street school Boy, if you haven't been in there what would it change? But one of the comments the principal said was the change that was made and And we see these sorry here I am with my phone Before we made the changes they have runners at the school and kids You know, they they run from the school frankly. She said that has dramatically decreased after our addition and our remodel has been complete and Her only conclusion was they like being here so they don't want to leave So kind of along the same lines. Yeah, we see an impact Across across it's a critical piece, you know, Joey You'll remember this and others too, but in 2013 when we got slammed by that flood It
079shut down the whole town of lions and at one o'clock in the morning we were all called to come out because button rock dam had been breached and The roads were all wiped out. We had to turn Main Street school Into a full-blown K through 12 pre K through 12 school in five days And I remember your team came in and did that and really it was a phenomenal turnaround But when you see the school now It's like an incredible Facility with state-of-the-art buildings state-of-the-art playground facilities the whole nine yards and it all started You know you talk about I hate to say it never waste a good crisis We had a crisis in that devastating flood that turned into something beautiful for our children with special needs and our children with special needs have
080the among the best facilities and the best programming that you'll find anywhere in the state and That's again a tribute to all of you and our teachers Thank you, John Dr. Dad started the ball rolling and that's exactly where I was going to go to You guys have really shown how organization and pre-planning Not only gets the project done But gets it done under budget and and on time and and I'm looking at the projects an eerie Mostly the most often but I had one story. I'll share with you and that was I was meeting with one of the Gentlemen that was giving me a tour of Soaring Heights And he said that this was his fifth or sixth school that he had worked on and he had never seen a project So well managed
081and run and and what that does is it gets us our product first It gets us our good workers first and it makes the project just flow so much easier And he was whistling Dixie so to speak on the job site He said I've never seen anything this well organized I'm not going to go into that because I think we've covered the Budget funds that were saved and the amount of projects that we were able to bring on that weren't even part of the bond Which is just extraordinary But you I didn't really hear you mention anything about the COVID Expansions that you've done to most of our schools and the HVAC systems and the filters and and that was a big deal I mean that really made our public safe And have that trust
082of the work you've done. So if you could talk a little bit about that I'd love to hear that, you know, and actually John That wasn't part of the bond program But it was it was certainly a direction that the district took it was covered under partially cap reserve as well as our general fund certainly the dollars that Were put towards that was it was a joint effort truthfully Don was involved and we were figuring things out and And yeah, I mean where we are today is really a tremendous place You know, we've as you know, we've we've doubled the airflow in our classrooms So we went from ASHRAE Requires about 30 it takes about 30 minutes to change all the air in the classroom where we doubled that and It's about every 15 minutes
083now, which is really tremendous We move from a Merv 8 to a Merv 11 filter Which again is a huge effort. We change those filters out. I think it's like every six months roughly You know truthfully the list goes on I mean just that the effort we've spent in cleaning the classrooms has Was just huge and it still is a huge effort And That was all done within our our funds within the district outside of the bond program, I guess is what I would say and To be honest with you that continues to this day. And in fact, I just was talking with our sustainable person this morning and She's working with the Innovation Center to develop a program to monitor air Inside of our classrooms and then outside of our classrooms outside of the
084building actually and just monitor exactly How well our systems are doing? With the doubled airflow and the filters and so on and so forth and then that it will allow us to tweak Our systems to make them operate more efficiently to be honest with you So so we've we've created safe environments and now we're going to look at that and see how we can Create continue to create safe environments and maybe more environmentally or energy conscious if you will Thank you very much. Yeah, I guess you're right. It wasn't actually part of the bond funding but due to financial Prowessness and the ability to save us dollars in other areas. It allows us to expand our reach during COVID and other I Came on just as the floods were going on and I saw this
085district jump into Work and to get a job done to move a school was unbelievable and you know now I feel like I'm watching the witnessing the Herculean task of Sorry, I can't really talk with that on the Herculean task of just dealing with the pandemic and so I Congratulate you on the work you're doing Without you. I don't know where we would be. So thank you You know one other really incredible statistic. I years ago. We were studying leadership and we were studying Disney's leadership you know as part of a program and At their park every employee is required to never walk past a piece of trash That's why you'll see it just be meticulous the entire area and Customers will talk about how that was so powerful that they would never want to
086throw anything on the ground because It just was not the thing to do and then it also enhanced their experience Well, then we transferred that study to how does the facility and the aesthetics of the facility and the feel? The light the space the openness. How does that impact test scores and student achievement by up to 15%? by up to 15% You can improve your academic Results based on the quality of your facility because the kids come into an environment and that's not just the bricks and mortar That's the messaging that's up on the ball the walls about excellence about achievement You know about hard work and all of those things and so Brian I remember one of the first conversations we had He was like, you know We want to build schools and create
087facilities that help kids learn and be successful and be safe and that's that's great great work The Main Street schools that keeps them in the school. Yeah, really? Yeah, thank you it's a great report everybody's gonna say the same thing but To backtrack on Don a little bit, you know, the community has given us such support the confidence state Gain to be able to continue to give us support comes from the effort that your guys in that organization and how you use that money over and over again to just completely Completely convert the district. I mean from when I started here in 204 with the district after I retired from the government was this I've seen it all because I've been in all these schools and I've seen the changes and I've seen the new
088structures and touring the swimming facility with you guys was Just awesome. I mean it and so the community supported us and hopefully the community can get to see What happened with that money that they agreed to give us for that bond for the for what they thought was a set program? That exploded into what it has become now So I'll just keep it short But I know you guys have a lot of respect for me for all the work that you've done in the way you've done it Thank you Thank you. I will also echo the comments that well, really all of my colleagues although we've have talked about the and recognize the achievement and in expanding the Value of the projects that we've done by about 50 million dollars I want to just acknowledge
089that again, and I I think that it is a mark of good stewardship excellent planning and Unparalleled execution of those plans, so I want to again recognize the value That you and your team is adding to the quality and the educational experience that our students have And the other thing that I want to recognize is your continued as a department your continued focus on Progressively improving the learning environment for our kids and that's every generation Of our new buildings we see those improvements put into the design the extra time and effort to have the lighting just right the pathways between classes efficiently designed the flexibility of the learning spaces and I want to just recognize Recall Brian the discussion you and I first had when I was teaching chemistry at Longmont High and You'd heard
090me make a comment about science classrooms in a in a meeting some someplace and I'd said apart from Longmont High that the science classrooms Throughout the districts were woefully inadequate As I do and we spent two hours after school that day and talked about what a present-day science classroom should look like and I have seen in each school as we have gone in and remodeled Skylines science classrooms and then built new science classrooms in our expanded plans Progressive improvements not just sticking with its first idea but making each idea a little better each time and in the execution and That's in a level of attention to detail that pervades all of the work that we're that we're seeing in our school building design and It really does make a difference in as Don as you
091said in student performance That I was last night. I was at Longmont High. We you didn't talk much about the amazing work that you've done there But those science classrooms and really the whole school in the north building Has really been upgraded It looks brand new and the commitment to make sure that as we do these new buildings That we're progressively also going back and remodeling and upgrading our existing Buildings and classrooms so that all students no matter where you go have a first-rate educational experience. It's just a An amazing standard you have sent set for yourself and it brings great honor to Our entire district. So, thank you It's not over yet So I have a question About how many buildings? Across the district. Do you maintain at this point? Being maintained how many
092how many buildings are you responsible for across the district? Do you maintain you know the exact just to provide a little bit of context per roughly? I want to say well 50 would be a rough number slightly over that but 50 So if we have 60 schools it's closer to like if you think about 60 schools and then you start thinking about this building ETS learning services Maybe you know Main Street and then Lashley over there and then the old building by Freddie What are you talking about? I try to blank on my own I think that's okay when you said when you said I remember it like yesterday All I could think in my mind was I don't even remember yesterday like yesterday That's his modesty coming right move so fast one building, you
093know three buildings seems like one So would it be fair to say 80 ish 75 or 80 buildings? Yeah, okay That's a lot it's a lot and so not only do you maintain them and this bond includes maintenance You're looking at accessibility. You're looking at growth You're looking at the learning environment at the day-to-day functioning of the schools And so what I really I guess I just want to provide a little bit of context that that you're doing all this work But you're doing it in addition to Maintaining all of those facilities just like somebody would maintain their home and so it's mowing It's the entire entire ball of wax and so Brian at the end of the day really I want to take an opportunity Everybody has mentioned everything on my list I want
094to thank the community one more time because without the community none of these projects would be possible I also want to thank thank all of you and in your department for following through on The board and dr Haddad's promise to our community on what these buildings would look like and what we would deliver in this bond package and not only did You did you meet those promises, but you far exceeded them And and so I want to recognize that and you do all of this work I started the meeting with the clear message that this board and dr Haddad are committed to the mission statement of this district all in that's our North Star It's clear that that's your North Star as well, and I thank you for that That's also a promise that we
095make to our community and to our students and to everybody who works in st Vrain, so thank you very much for doing that and lastly I'm super excited to attend attend the grand opening of Highlands on October 4th That'll be wonderful. So thank you for everything you do. We appreciate you being here Thank you And next time I'll go first so I can say all this stuff they said how's that And then we can all say exactly so thank you again Brian for being here All right That brings us to our consent items this evening, which is agenda item 7. Do board members wish to pull any of those consent items? If not, then I would entertain a motion, please for approval of agenda item 7.1 staff terminations leaves 7.2 staff appointments 7.3 approval of
096minutes for the August 11 2021 regular meeting August 18 2021 study session and August 25 2021 regular meeting and 7.4 approval of change order 2 to construction manager general contractor contract for Columbine renovation projects So by Jim and a second by John, please Mr. Aarons, I mr. Berthold. Yes, mr. Garcia. Yes, dr. Marder. Yes, miss Pierce. Aye. Mrs. Ragland Aye, mrs. Segrist. Aye Agenda item 8. We have one action item this evening. That is 8.1 and it is a recommendation It's actually a second reading and approval for board policies. Jeb entrance age requirements and JLC be immunizations of students Hi Brandon Good evening. Thank you, madam president Jeb entrance age Requirements as you'll all remember from our study session and then the first reading These changes were suggested by the Colorado Association of school boards
097The current policy does not differentiate between the start date for kindergarteners and first graders That has created some confusion So updates to this policy address this issue and make it clear what the start dates are for different grade levels and Similarly, we've made some updates to board policy JLCB also discussed during the studies study session and first reading of course Immunization of students these updates were also recommended by the Colorado Association of school boards Changes are designed to track with a new state law that requires all districts to publish their immunization rates and Exemption rates for the measles mumps and rubella vaccine vaccine Thanks, Brandon any board member questions or comments this evening on these two policies. We've talked about them Pretty straightforward. I think we're a Brandon unless you have anything additional to add.
098I think we're probably ready to vote All right, then I would entertain a motion for approval of action item 8.1 By Chico and a second by Karen Mr. Aarons, mr. Berthold. Yes, mr. Garcia. Yes, dr. Martyr. Yes, miss Pierce I Mrs. Ragland. I miss Segrist. I Thank you, Christy that brings us to the conclusion of our meeting this evening The board will convene again on Wednesday, September 15th at 6 p.m. For a study session at apex We're looking forward to that and then we will be back in the boardroom again on September 22nd at 6 p.m For another regular meeting want to thank everyone for joining us this evening and one more time I want to thank all of the individuals who spoke during public comment. I would entertain a motion for adjournment, please By
099Karen and John all in favor I thanks everyone drive safe