001going up Verizon. >> Oh, it did. Okay. >> All right. Verizon. All right. It is Tuesday, February 10th, 2026, and I call this working session of the Elizabeth School District Board of Education to order at 6 PM. Can I get a roll call, please? >> Director Callahan >> here. >> Director Fletcher >> here. Director Hunt >> here. >> Director Olsen >> here. >> Director Pal >> here. >> Okay, let's stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. I move that the board approve this agenda for the February 10th, 2026 working session as presented. >> Second. >> Any discussion? No. Okay. Can I get a roll
002call? >> Director Callahan. >> I. >> Director Fletcher. >> Hi. >> Director Hunt. >> Hi. >> Director Olsson. >> Hi. >> Director Pal. >> Hi. >> Okay. I move that the board approve the minutes from the board of education business meeting on January 26, 2026. >> Second. >> Can I get a roll? >> Discussion on the >> All right. Can I get a roll call? >> Okay. Director Callahan. >> Hi. >> Director Fletcher. >> Hi. >> Director Hunt. >> Hi. >> Director Olsson. >> Hi. >> Director Pal. >> Hi. >> Okay. Next up we have public comment. So, we'll go ahead and get a start. We got 30 minutes allocated for public comment. Each um person gets three minutes. So, we're going to start off with Lisa Beach. >> Good. >> Sorry. >> But if
003it's red, I'm good, right? >> Yes. Whoa. >> That's really dramatic, right? >> No way I can follow that. >> I'll just do my timer on my phone. >> That was kind of cool. >> Okay, so we'll go ahead and kick it off with >> Okay. >> All right. Um, I'm just here today to advocate for help have you help me maybe get the word out about the TLCC survey. So, this is from CDE and it's um that acronym is teaching and learning conditions Colorado. It's for all staff and it's an anonymous survey. Um, so I think it would help you gain some really um important data to back up your decisions. Um it takes less than 10 well I would say about 10 to 15 minutes for staffs to complete. Um the key categories
004are instructional practices and support, school and staff leadership, professional development, managing student conduct, use of time, facilities and resources, and family and community support. Um, so you get the results in about six weeks and it really just gives you some data on how um, staff is feeling and views these different categories that could really help um, guide some decision- making. Um, I also would hope that it would give us some insight into um, the trend we see unfortunately around staff retention. Um, we have a turnover rate of about 40% um, which is more than the surrounding districts. So hopefully that can give you a little bit of insight on into why those things are happening. Um it gives you some information on why things are working well, what needs improved, um and can hopefully help
005you guide some initiatives with data. Um so how this works is it's an anonymous survey. Uh staff gets codes, anonymous codes passed out to them, so their names aren't ever attached to the survey. Um, I know that in at EMS the teachers have gotten them. They're in their boxes. Um, oh, let me grab my phone because I have the data. Um, and you can check the rates um live on the CDE website. So, for right now at Elizabeth High School, they have 0% responding and the survey closed on February 23rd. It started on January 21st. So I I guess I'm also wondering if me staff members have the information or if that something that you guys could help with get out. The middle school has um five people that have filled it out so far.
006Running Creek zero, Legacy zero. Um the preschool zero staff members and Singing Hill zero. So that makes me wonder if they have the codes. Um but maybe maybe they do. I'm not sure. So anyway, I'm just asking to help get the word out. um you need 50% staff participation in order to even get results. So um it would be I feel like a really great thing for the board to um get a pulse on how the staff feels. >> Thank you. >> Okay, next up we have Michelle Thompson. you know when I can go. I've never done this before. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Go ahead. >> Okay. Thank you guys for taking the time for me today. Um I'm actually here to speak on a new micromanagement system within our high school that I'm not
007sure everybody's aware of called Minga. Um, I would like to alert the board and parents that this program exposes private and personal things about our children directly to administrators that no one should know, including when bathrooms are used and how much time is spent in the bathroom by our individual students. The system should be rolled back out of the schools immediately to preserve the bodily autonomy of our students. And that's that's all I have to say. Next up, we have Michelle Gazinski. I again urged the board to end the ACLU lawsuit. The books in question sat on library shelves for years without incident and caused no harm. They could have been quietly removed due to lack of use. Instead, the board chose to highly a highly public and contentious approach that predictably invited a lawsuit.
008Parents already had the ability to restrict their own children from accessing these materials. That choice existed and still does. The question now is whether the board truly supports parental choice. Respecting parent parents rights necessarily includes honoring choices that you may not personally agree with. Without that principle, the First Amendment and the very foundation of our country loses its meaning. Public schools are for all the kids in our neighborhoods, not just the ones who think like you. Instead of hiring four or five teachers, district funds were spent on attorneys. Instead of addressing basic needs like parking lots, building maintenance, or replacing lead contaminated water fixtures, those resources again went to legal fees. And this appears to be only the beginning, giving the statements that this case will take be taken to the Supreme Court and could
009continue for years as we've been told. I'm asking plainly, how does that place students, our kids here in Elizabeth, at the heart of your decision-making? And I'm glad to see the budget on the agenda again tonight. I hope to hear an in-depth discussion about how and why the budget slid funds around to afford the new consultants and legal fees. I'm again requesting that the district conduct a forensic audit given the significant fluctuations in the budget. Duplicating a highly paid executive role while reading and math scores remain poor raises serious concerns about whether students are truly being prioritized. This is a small district with four schools. We should be maximizing classroom teachers, not administrators. If the board chooses not to conduct a forensic audit, please clearly explain why it's not necessary. You've shown that there is
010room in the budget for new expenses. I'm just asking that you use them wisely. Thank you. Okay, next up we have Roxanas. Yeah. >> Good evening. >> Ready? >> Okay. I'd like to state for the record that as the fourth congressional district state advisory council for parent involvement and education representative. I requested a 10 to 15 minute time slot on the agenda for this evening to discuss miscommunication around SACPI and that request was denied by the board president. I'm here tonight to comment on the proposed revisions to the parent engagement and education policy, specifically the removal of the word families. I want to begin by acknowledging that I understand and respect the importance of protecting student privacy and limiting access to protected educational records. However, this policy is not about access. It's about engagement. And
011those are two very different things. Engagement is about who is welcomed into partnerships with schools, who is encouraged to participate, and who feels invited into the educational process. Access to protected information is already governed by state and federal law. This policy sets the tone for culture, inclusion, and collaboration. What's particularly concerning is that this change does not align with how engagement already functions within our district. Our district and school accountability committees, FACK, the board CRC, and PTCOs are made up of parents and community members, not solely parents or legal guardians. These groups regularly include grandparents of students, caregivers, and extended family members who are actively involved in supporting children's education. By removing the word families, the district risks sending an unintended message that these individuals who are already volunteering, advising, and leading within our engagement
012structures are less welcomed or less valued. And that does not increase engagement. It limits it. For many students, grandparents, and extended family members are the consistent adults attending meetings, supporting learning at home, and advocating for student success. removing inclusive language does not reflect the lived realities of our students or our community. If the district's goal is truly to increase engagement, strengthen partnership, and build trusting relationships around student success, then inclusive language matters. I urge the board to reconsider this revision and ensure that this policy reflects both the legal framework and the realities of the families and community members who support our students every day. Thank you. Okay, next up we have Misty Church. >> Hi. >> Chovish. >> Yep. Thank you. All right. Is it on? >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. Well, good evening
013members of the school board. I would like to read some of what I wrote in the board meeting last month as I believe the community needs to hear this again. My family and I moved to Elizabeth two years ago. We moved here to get our young daughter out of the city life. We love our school, our community, and more importantly, the morals and values the schools have and upheld. I pray that never changes. This letter is written personally to the organization and the individuals suing Elizabeth School District. My family and I continue to be disgusted over this. Not only is it disappointing, but it's also disheartening. I know I personally speak for several families when I say this. What right do you have as parents to have filth in our schools for our and my
014children to read? If you want them to have if you want your children to have these smut materials, read them in your own homes. I will say and continue to say, "How dare you?" What happened to just kids books? Age appropriate kids books. Books I read in elementary and middle school like Charlotte's Web, James and the Giant Peach, and Dr. Seuss to name a few. I'd like to understand from any of the parents here or listening to the meeting this evening that are for this lawsuit, what do you get out of this? For the folks in the community here tonight that haven't heard what books are being taught to be allowed to thought to be allowed to in our schools the last two years or need a refresher, let me give you one. I would
015also encourage you to continue to check the updates on the ASD website. I will read a couple of the paragraphs which I read before from two of these books. One of the books is called The Hate You Give, inspired by the Black Lives Matter. Fooling Around isn't new for us. And when Chris stuffed his hand into my shorts, I didn't think anything of it. Then he got me going and I wasn't really thinking at all for real. My thought process went out the door and right as I was at that moment, he stopped, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a condom. As a grown adult, I can tell you that this is uncomfortable reading. The bluest eye contains themes like rape, incest, racism, and self-hatred. The confused mixture of his memories of Pauline and
016the doing of a wild and forbidden thing excited him, and a bolt of desire ran down his genitals, giving it length and softening the lips of his anus. Surrounding all of this lust was a border of politeness. He wanted to her tenderly. To the community, this is just some of the smud being fought to stay in our schools and libraries. This is gross. Where is the educational value? Let kids be kids. That's it. That's it. I will continue to speak up in support of our school district and for parents everywhere. I speak for many others when I say thank you to the board and thank you guys for doing what's right by our kids. Thank you. So, next up we have the requested budget. >> Sure. So, needless to say, there's been a lot of
017misinformation um that seems to be pretty prevalent in our community. When we don't like something, we try to find um facts that we can try to twist. In our last um budget update, um we provided to the board um there was an immediate uh attention to the board salaries line. Um the board salaries line um uh typically only includes our board clerk and so typically that's Jamie Glazbrook, all of her benefits. What people don't may may not understand in public education if benefits are anywhere from 30 to 40% in some cases depending on how much that individual is being paid. Um we did place some money into the board budget because we have some major transitions happening. We have our chief academic officer who's retiring at the end of the year which is leading some
018critical work for for our district and academic performance. We have our um coordinator of HR who's retiring after 30 years. Um we also have our finance coordinator who's retiring. Um and so those are positions that in the past the board has made it very clear that we want a transition period. We don't want to see that knowledge walk out the door and then hope that somebody figures it all out. And so um based upon that expectation that's been placed upon me, we did put money in the board budget. Um the budget is you must authorize the spending of dollars before they can be spent. Um in that particular case, we didn't know who was going to be hired when. We didn't know the exact cost. And so there was $75,000 added into the salary line
019of the board budget. I don't know how many people know that the state of Colorado actually in 2021 authorized board members to vote to pay themselves. Uh kind of shocked me back when they did that. Uh the school districts who have done that right now are Denver public schools, Aurora Public Schools, and Sheridan School District um have voted to pay their board members. Um needless to say, this board has not. This is an all volunteer board that's committed to ensuring the dollars go to kids. And so, um, it's just really important that unfortunately when people spin facts, when they give false facts out on social media, even when they're provided the real facts, um, that somehow it does lead to miscommunication within our communities. So, um, our budget, uh, we're very proud of the budget
020process because we actually are very transparent. We break it down by school. You see massive increase in spending at the school level. Um, some of that's because we've increased spending at school. Some of that's because for years this district has accounted for things in odd budgets. For instance, two years ago, all of the paper in our district was charged to the maintenance budget. So when you look at the maintenance budget, did you realize that you were probably talking 45 of paper? Um so we have worked really hard to be very transparent to make sure that everybody can see exactly where dollars are being spent. Um and that's what our budget has done. um we are on track um to to restore $2.2 million of fund balance at the end of the year. Um that's having
021that $75,000 in there so that as we do identify a replacements, we have our academic systems consultant that we already have start with us to to again lead some of these academic initiatives that we started. Um we've actually hired an HR um coordinator um that will be starting after spring break and we're in the midst of interviewing for our finance coordinator. So um again um it it's just unfortunate that people will show distrust out in the community by printing false hairrain ideas on social media. And so um if anyone ever wants to sit down, if anyone ever wants to see the backup documentation, all they have to do is call and schedule time and show them the backup documentation to all of these budgets. So, I think it was just really important to set the
022record straight. The board members are not being paid, board members have never taken a salary, nor have they ever expressed an interest. Um, and that money before the end of the year will be moved into the appropriate budget. So, where we have our chief academic officers replacement that will be moved into curriculum once we know how much that will cost us. We don't anticipate that will cost us a full $75,000, but we like it was important to make sure we have the budget authority to spend that to make sure that we did have some transitions in this district with some really key people. So happy to answer any questions you have. I appreciate that those districts you mentioned are liberal school districts. It's not a co coincidence that liberals think that they should get paid.
023They believe that they should they are above us. So >> it is concerning. Um when Denver public schools pays themselves $33,000 a year. >> Yeah. >> Wow. >> For a board member and they have a large board. >> It's not surprising. >> Not a So >> anyways, I'm proud of the work we're doing. Um our audit is next month. Um we'll go through our audit. Um our change in finance directors has been very much a breath of fresh air with really getting us on track and bringing some of the initiatives that board aware of. to the district to ensure that we're invested long term in the district. So, um we're excited about work and happy to always answer questions if people have >> well and and one thing I want to tack on to that
024this whole situation. So, after that last meeting, it was referenced tonight. The board received an email that to be honest was blatantly disrespectful, filled with accusatory tones of wrongdoing. But I got to say that is nothing, absolutely nothing compared to the vitriol, the outright attack on Dan via email. And I have to say after that it spread to social media included a campaign of innuendos made before having the facts. And I got to say there really has been quite the stink made by some in our community on social media lately. Um I do have to ask myself why. Last fall, it was leading up to an election. So, I figured, okay, it's part of the course. All I can chalk it up to this time is trying to distract us, discourage us from our mission
025of improving academic outcomes and opportunities for the students in our district. And to be honest with you, it's almost like the mentality is if if they lose, if we lose, if we fail, then they win. And it's it's really truly sad. It is. Um, one thing I have to say is regardless, we're not going to lose our focus on improving the outcomes for our students and respecting our parental rights in the process. And one thing I would like to address, um, one clarification, thank you for your support, um, of us in the lawsuit. And the books are on the shelf, folks. They're on the shelf. So, that was a misstatement. The ACLU and the people who initiated the case, they do not want them behind lock and keys. So the parents can't control the access
026to those books in our libraries. All right, that's all I got. Next up, policy KB, parent engagement and education. So this has the final revisions that we discussed, the stuff that you brought forward last time. Do you want to comment on that any further? >> Oh, I think it's a wonderful updated version. Thank you for uh following through on the edits. I would just add one two small changes. In the very first paragraph, we reference in this policy the word parent means a child's. I think it's best to just call children students because that's what they are in the district. I've mentioned that before. Um but I think if we update that to just say the students parent or legal guardian, um I prefer that lingo. And the last is much more uh process. But
027uh the very last paragraph, we don't need to say the district accountability. We've already said that above. We can just call it the DAC. So that is my my other edit. But I think this very well reflects the title of the policy which is parent engagement in education. And to me, this is about making sure that parents rights are protected. We always of course invite families and uh others who are involved in a student's life to be part of our school community. That's why they're on our advisory councils. But this policy is about making sure the parents rights are preeminent. And so it's the parents that need to be highlighted here and or their guardians. >> Okay. So those are the two changes. So in the very first paragraph, change childs to student >> students
028and then paragraph four, change district accountability committee to deck. >> Yep. >> Not not paragraph four. >> Well, sorry, the the very last paragraph. >> That's paragraph. >> It's just where it says that and then deck again. But that's already it. >> You've already used the acronym, so you don't need to again. >> Okay. Number four, leaving it. >> Yes, it says the last paragraph. just >> and I I just want to say I agree with the fact that we absolutely welcome um you know other like grandparents and whoever else to come in and they already are and we do have you know community members participating in all these committees and and this is absolutely not going to discourage them from doing that. I don't I I don't see how this would discourage them just
029because it kind of homes in on parents and guardians and doesn't include the whole family structure. So I I agree that u you know it should just kind of home in on the parents rights and protecting those but it certainly does not discourage the involvement of extended family members in any of these processes. We love it when you know grandparents come in and etc. We love that. So >> family's been made nebulous by people who have nefarious purposes. So we have to guard against them. >> Yes. >> Okay. So with that we will bring this back for action or actually I think we can make those changes bring back on consent. Okay. Okay. Next up, policy IMDb flag displays and this is legal references only. So there was some legal reference changes um made to
030the policy. Any question or concerns on those or this policy? >> We did provide you um I think almost identical policy um from another district Um, I think I think some districts have utilized this policy to limit other flags from being displayed on district property. Um, and that's something certainly if the board wanted to explore, that could be something we would explore before bringing this back. I think we thought the other district might have had I don't see that in there. So, um, if that's something of interest, we certainly can explore that. Um, it clearly states the United States and Colorado flag shall be And I think that's appropriate. >> And it says right here, temporary displays and instructional historical materials or work products used as part of a lesson that includes the flag shall
031be allowed. So in those cases, it would be temporarily displayed as part of the instruction. I do like I do like um D49's last Their last sentence is kind of short and sweet compared to our last. >> So district employees and students have the right to reasonably destroy the flag of the United States on their own person, personal property and/or property under their temporary control such as a desk or locker. And D49's pretty much says the same thing. It's just a little bit more short. shortly. >> I wanted to mention that um I know that on in the legal references the very last one is for USC section 7 which is position and manner of display but I kind of was looking um there's actually I think a couple of other sections that should be
032referenced. Um section six of uh for USC is time and occasions for display and that is where uh it says well number one it says uh you should display the flag only from sunrise to sunset. Um and then however when a patriotic effect is desired the flag may be displayed 24 hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness. I think that's an important thing to reference. And then also it says the flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously. And I think some of these things are things we need to probably train a little more and just you know reflect a little more as we do these things. And it's just you know something I don't think we've done. But also um section so section seven is the one that this already
033referred to. Section eight of USC for USC is respect for the flag and um just ways that you should it should never be carried flat or horizontally but always a loft and free and different things. I think all those are important things that we need to reflect that we are referring to and that we need to maybe look through these and just make sure that we are following all of these things. So section seven, section eight. >> So section >> Six, seven, and eight. Yeah. >> So, so any guidance on how you'd like this part back? Do you want us to add those sections? Do you want us to take any verbage from that, Mary? add to the policy or do you just want to reference it so that it's clear that we assume those
034to be >> Yeah, I I toyed with that back and forth, but I think I think as long as they're referenced and all three of those are referenced and we recognize that and we actively kind of pull it and make sure that we are doing the things that it requires, but um I don't think we have to put it into the policy itself, >> okay? >> Because you never know when those things will change. We don't have to change it every every little bit. So that'd be good. just bring it back. You want to switch out the last sentence of >> our last paragraph with the last sentence of D49 >> and I'd be okay bringing that back. Okay. Uh, next up we have EFA, nutritious food choices. >> So, this is a a policy
035that is flagged by Casby for us um as just a policy that has some minor adjustments that need to be made legal references, but it's really just language. We have had Terry Maher, our director of food service review, and she has no concern for the changes. There's just one word I think needs to be added at the very bottom of the first page. The the paragraph above it says these standards shall apply to beverages yada yada. And then the next paragraph I think we left out the word standards there. So I think it needs to say these standards shall not apply. So I think the word standards needs to be inserted where we took out state boards nutritional standards for beverages shown uh in the >> Okay. So it should say these standards. >> Yeah.
036Other words, there's a word missing. >> Yeah. And just I think it's I think it's just lacking a word in there. Doesn't make sense without it. So >> Okay. Next up, policy JIC, weapons in school. So, this policy is really just one that um has just some minor uh very minor changes. Um you do have to choose one of the options um that are prevented which we're actually choosing to uh emphasize the disciplinary action for weapons in schools. This is really important um because our our student discipline policy while it refers to uh 2233 106 the faximile is not in our discipline policy and so we've had to deal with that very recently where we had a faximile of a of a weapon that actually took a while for police to determine that it was
037not a real weapon. um that um we need to make sure that we're very clear with our our community that that playground is a toy weapon now unfortunately things that were costly um uh that we have a prohibition against those people in schools. So so I really felt like this was timely with the midstep that we dealt with recently. Um and then we would recommend that option two be the language that's inserted on the top of the second page. So, in what situation should we even need to have a replica of gun on school grounds? >> Yeah, but that would be >> Yeah. >> in the props. >> There's really no there's no situation. And unfortunately, if you point a a barrel of a gun at the wrong person, you may not be around much
038longer. And unfortunately they no longer or many of them don't have the orange tips that would differentiate them. So >> or fake a real one with an orange tip and you wouldn't know. >> And when you read this the language is very clear in the law carrying using actively displaying or threatening if you have it >> you are violating this this code of conduct. So there is no time for a toy gun is acceptable in school. And I think this is critical that again we have this policy. This is I think timely to bring it forward for the community to hear that. Um but we may also want to go back to our our student code of conduct to make sure that we also reference it similar in the language suspendable. >> I think that's
039a good idea. >> But call it a toy gun. >> Yeah. >> So those kids don't know what a fib is. >> Yeah. That's true. That's true. >> That's a good point. >> Unfortunately. Yeah. I mean toy toys are one thing. Um unfortunately off the gun. That's a little more concerning. So, >> yeah, >> I would like to suggest that um you know went back I don't know a few months ago when we looked at the um the policy that was on kind of search and and different things for the students and all that stuff. We had um the Elizabeth Police Department look at it and we had Tyler look at it. And I know at that time of that discussion, Tyler brought up a concern with regard to under the dangerous weapon means and
040then there's the fixed blade knife and there's the spring-loaded knife. And Tyler was concerned um about the length requirements and he felt that the 3 in and the three and a half inches kind of respectively on those was still a little too long. And I do know that there's something a little later that kind of addresses in the local restrictions regardless of length of of blade um if you threaten with it, you know, that it's considered. But I just would like them to look at it. Um because um you know I just think we need to listen to that. Now even during that discussion then there was the concern that we do live in a rural community and many students carry a knife just like you know lots of people a pocketk knife. Yeah. Thank
041you. And you know they they will go from school to work and they'll need it to you know if they're working >> cut the twine off the bales of hay. >> There we go. Exactly. We got it. Exactly. Uh, so anyway, I just think we need to hear some of that discussion a little bit and talk about it. And here, >> I'll tell you the 3 in is highlighted here because the law says 3 in is where it becomes a criminal offense. Okay. Mandatory. >> Oh, I wondered why it was highlighted. Okay. >> I would agree that that probably should be removed because a fixed blade of an inch is going to cost. >> It could. Yeah. I don't want to be stabbed by Do you know how long pocket knives usually are? >> Three
042inches. >> It is. >> Yeah. So anyway, just something to talk about. And then also um I know and just jumping the gun on the thing a little bit, but it's kind of related to this because we have the document JIC-e exhibit and this is a brand new document we've never had before. It's got the definition of a firearm from uh 18 USC section 921, but it seems it seems odd to me that we have separated that out from just from this policy and it seems like it should be blended in. So, I don't know if there was a reason. >> We just did not have a date on it and that's why we felt like we needed to bring that forward. It is it is restating that specific federal >> um citation. Yeah. >>
043And basically defining it. So, that's So, we're bringing it to you so we can date it because it's been in our policy. >> Oh, okay. Okay. So, I thought it was brand new, but it just I mean, did anybody else think it was a little odd to have it totally separated out from just JIC Main, so to speak? I just thought it was strange because, you know, we've got a firearm >> in the list of dangerous weapons and then we've got this big old huge thing. That's the definition of a firearm. >> Um, it just seems like it should be blended together to me. And there's a couple of tweaks here and there that I think we could look at, but we can kind of do that with u, you know, with Tyler and and
044Chief Engle. >> Is there anything in JIC that's not >> anything that I'm sorry. >> Is there anything in this that's not in here? I think truly it's it's here just to emphasize the federal statute, >> right? M >> but I but I believe and I cross referenced everything in here is in the other policy. >> Yeah. And and the the statute the 18 USC section 921 is one of the legal references. Yeah. >> So and then actually all of the the references to definition of dangerous weapon and all of these things are referenced out. So, I I don't know if we specifically need the extra full definition spelled out. I don't know. I mean, and there may be a reason that like Chief Engel would say, "Well, you know, this is this is good
045to have this spelled out in more detail." There may be a reason that he would >> Why do you like defining firearm for readers to know exactly what what it is that we're talking about? Because it includes more than just your traditional >> Yeah. >> handgun, >> a bomb, a grenade, a mine. That was a little freaky. >> Yeah, >> I can certainly do some research before meeting. Okay. >> Okay. >> Um on the on the JICI policy that we're on, we want to remove Let me be very clear. We have students who exactly like that will forget that they have the the pocket knife in their backpack. >> More often than not, those students will selfidentify, come up and say, "I forgot to take this out." Mhm. >> And obviously that's not a dis.
046>> Yeah. Right. Exactly. >> So, so I think we have to recognize the community we live in that we do have kids who will go right to work and forget. Um we had a field trip um to the Douglas County Justice Center where uh teachers reminded students that they were going to be going through security and that anything that they um realized that maybe they shouldn't have should be left on the bus seats. And there were a number of of smaller pocket knives that that came out were found on the bus seat. So um you know smart kids not to take >> yes we don't >> any so I do think it's important that we we make it clear that really our school should be free from any weapons like that regardless of size. Yes.
047The statute is triggered when it's three inches. >> Three inches you have a legal consequence for that. >> Yeah. >> Um but if >> Yes. It does say if you're threatening it doesn't matter the size. >> Yeah. Exactly. So I was glad to see that. That was good under >> just know that certainly um discretion is being used if it's something. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> So do we want to take out um that exceeds three inches in length? If we are we okay with option two as a choice? >> Well, if we're going to do the that exceeds three inches in length on C, then we should probably take it out on D, a spring-loaded life, because that one is three and a half inches in length. >> Okay. So should I assume it's
048the same situation where they that's depending on the style of knife that the length triggers the criminal level of the offense. >> So I assume we should take them both out then and then I I do agree with option two. >> Okay. So we'll make those changes. I will get feedback from our police chief on the Gunfree Schools Act definition of firearm, his thoughts on that. whether they should be merged or whether we want to keep it separate. We'll come back to that. >> And I just I think it would be a good idea to behind the first use of firearm facil facility to say like any replica toy gun like just define that so somebody who's reading that understands what we're talking about. And that I think it's also important to note that a
049student can seek authorization to bring one of those if they're, you know, doing it for a history presentation, you know, some kind of a toy gun of some sort. So, we still allow for that if it's educational, but they have to get approval from the admin. >> That's in there. >> It is. Yes. Just wanted to point that out that Okay. >> We allow for exceptions with admin approval. Yeah. Yeah, there's a picture on the third floor of Frontier with one of the players with the kid holding the gun. Every time I go up, I see that. Wow, times have changed. >> And nothing in a play, I presume, that would actually fire, I'm presuming. >> But it sure looked real at least in the picture. >> Okay. >> All right. And next we have
050>> so um Mary and Nicole were both um at our classified advisory council um where this was discussed. Um we have a very generous sickly bank where all of our employees can contribute a day and then they have a catastrophic event they can ask for days from that so that they're not losing compensation. This is after they exhaust their own personal leave. So we do have personal leave um or discretionary leave that every employee gets. If they have some left over, it's rolled into sick leave. So they would they would exhaust their leave before they could access this except for two days. We do allow an employee who's very sick to maintain two of their personal days recognizing they may have graduation, they may have some family situation that really warrants them needing the days.
051Um but this sickly bank policy what what the concern has surfaced is that uh where you have an employee who chooses to access max out on the bank and then resign. Um not resign because their health is bad, not resign because they can't come back to work, but basically I just scheduled my surgery when I knew I was going to quit so I could get paid through it and then I'm going to quit as soon as possibly bank runs out. Um so our staff both TAC and CAC have indicated their their desire to have us look at this policy um and to state that certainly should someone resign that the district would take any and all necessary means to recoup those days. Again, those belong to the employees of the district, not to someone who's
052who's misled the district. And we had a situation where somebody took sick leave bank days for surgery that was supposed to occur, never notified the district that it didn't occur, and then after the first year came back and said, "Oh, by the way, my surgery was delayed a month." But I used all of the sickly days, so now I want more sickly days. Um, and and so it is designed to truly be for employees who who need the days. It's a it's a great benefit. Um, so uh this allows not only um the But it also indicates that the need for communication that if if you have taken sickly things and something's changed um that you communicate. We always have like duty for employees. So if you're having shoulder surgery and maybe you're a pair
053professional and you can't work with a child because of the risk of to yourself, there are always other duties we can have you do so that you're still working, you're still earning your paycheck and and we've sub your duties out maybe with someone who has duties that you can do. So, um we really wanted to emphasize that in here. So, those are the two changes before you um both a requirement of continue communication when you're accessing sickly bank and that if you were to resign now we have all accepted and I think you heard us in that board members president if somebody resigns because they can't come back we have had employees who had cancer who have access bank their did not go well. There was no way they could return. That's not a time
054for the districts their days. It's really more of I'm taking a job in the neighboring district and thanks for the days. >> So, um so that's the request of our TAC in our TAC to consider those modifications. There's any questions. >> Seems pretty straightforward. Yeah, the one question I have on M the the one about the clawback thing at the end it says um we'll seek repayment of the time used from the sick bank through any means available >> should be I mean I'm assuming that's like >> mean we from their final pay if their if their last paycheck um is to cover that this is granting permission to do so >> should should we make that a little more specific or should we just leave it pretty >> vague intentionally Because again there are
055lots of ways that that we can seek repayment from an employer. >> Okay. >> And it's not something we want to do. Like I said this is just unfortunately >> in a recent >> just in case >> had this for so many years and it's never been abused but >> has TAC and CAC actually seen the language? >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> I ran it by the leadership. I will send it out before next board meeting. make sure that there's no other recommendations. >> Okay. So with that we have one remaining item and that's policy JLCA sharing of student records information between school district and state agencies. >> So this particular one in our policy audit with we did surface that we a paragraph that is not in the model policy. It doesn't mean that
056it can't be, but we felt like it was important to bring it forward. If if we decide to keep it, then we'll just put a review date. If we decide to remove it, we'll revise it. But, um, everything else was identical except for this last paragraph. Obviously, I don't think it was changed when any of you were here. It was 2013. Um, but it says the information shall be used by the board of education. um to determine whether a student has exhibited behavior that is detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of others. So, this is specifically in a in an expulsion hearing that the board would be able to access um information on the students so that they could make the appropriate decision. The board shall take appropriate disciplinary action which may include suspension
057or expulsion in accordance with the student code of conducted policies. So, it's really a desire Whe you want to keep that that's been in our policy since 2013 or whether you feel like that's extra >> making a decision. Would it be important to have >> all the information? >> Yes. >> I didn't hear what you said. >> I said if you're going to be making a big decision like that, it would be important to know history. >> It's making sure that people understand that you will look at rule from here onion. I was thinking it could be truncated some. The information used shall be used by the board of education to determine whether the student has exhibited behavior that is detrimental to the safety or welfare of other students or school personnel. Period. And then
058the middle part we could leave out and then go down to the last sentence. The board shall take appropriate disciplinary action which may include suspension yada yada. I I don't know that we need the middle part and I think we need to truncate that one little first sentence a little >> say that law now says health, safety and welfare. So we probably should be consistent with that. >> Okay, but that's not what it says now. So let's let's do that. So health, safety, and welfare. I like that. >> Health, safety, and welfare. So, do you want to stop there? Health, safety, and welfare of other students or school personnel. Period. >> Yeah. Period. After personnel and then the middle stuff you can take out and then just leave in the last sentence, the board shall
059take appropriate disciplinary action blah blah blah. >> That's the official word. >> Sure. >> Yeah, that's good. I think it still gets at the purpose of the boarding. >> I think so. >> I think that's I will bring back to you in person. >> Okay. >> And I'm sorry, GBG. I don't have an issue with that. >> No, I think as long as the advisory councils get a chance to see it and don't have any feedback that's negative. >> Anything negative, just put it back on. >> Okay. That was the last item that we had. So, our next board of education meeting is scheduled for February 24th, 2026 here in the boardroom at >> Can I Oh. Oh, go ahead. No, >> 6 p.m. I haven't. >> Sorry. Good. I was like, wait a minute
060wait, wait, wait. I just want to do my little advertisement. Tomorrow is another fundraiser for Elizabeth Education Foundation. Go eat lunch or dinner at Jacks in Elizabeth. And uh you don't have to even say anything. They'll just give us a percentage of their entire sales for tomorrow. So, and again, Elizabeth Education Foundation helps to fund the teacher grants, the senior a couple of senior scholarships, and the stars awards, which are coming up on April 11th. >> That's my little coming up quick. >> I know. I know. >> All right. So, with that, if there's nothing else, I'll call this meeting adjourned at 6:52 p.m. All right.