East Otero School District R-1 - Regular Meeting - February 23rd, 2026

001I 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. Nation flag of the United States, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and [laughter] we're just back. >> All right, letter to the audience portion. Jill, do we have anyone sign up? We do not >> item D, approval of the agenda. [clears throat] >> Move to approve the agenda. >> Second. I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda. Questions, comments. All right. Roll call. >> Mrs. Ayella. I. >> Mr. Bickl. Hi. >> Mrs. Hines. Hi. >> Mr. Coleman. Hi. >> Mr. Salser. Hi. >> Number two. Consent agenda. I recommend approval of the consent agenda as presented. Um consent agenda below. Um just below if

002you want us to read it out loud. So we have a retirement Kirk Shiplet retiring a junior high art teacher junior senior high effective June 26 and approval of spring sports extra duty assignments for the 2526 season. U make a motion to approve the consent agenda. [clears throat] >> I have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda as presented. Questions, comments? >> Yeah. >> Oh, go ahead. Hey, you you said first. Um, I'm just curious, do we have a are we going to replace the our teacher at the junior senior high school? Does that he's retiring at the end of the school year? So, that'll be depending on um what we come up with with the cuts. Okay. >> Okay. Mine mine is um since we've got some o coaching openings um

003as soon as they fill next board meeting we're going to approve them or do you just say hey we're proving it with four coaches I'm looking at track um it depends on our numbers and where we're at with our numbers and if we our numbers are right now I think we're going to stay but if they get bigger then we'll look at replacing those co those ocean coach instead. Okay, that's why I was just wondering if we didn't have people apply or if we were just leaving a motion. >> Okay, >> any other questions or comments, right? Hearing none. Roll call. >> Mrs. Ayola. >> Hi. >> Mr. Bickle. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Hines. >> Hi. >> Mr. Pomitz. >> Hi. >> Mr. Salsbury. >> Hi. >> Number three. Financial report. Okay. Um up there.

004>> Hello. Good evening. >> Yeah. So, we'd like to introduce um Demetri Sher um from DMC Auditing and Consulting as well as I believe Sarah's up there. I can't see the screen. >> Yeah, I think she looks like is also up there. She's with CD and she's part of our presentation for the CSS. All right. Oh, there's K. All right. Well, the floor is yours. >> Okay. Um, good evening, uh, board members and and, uh, those in attendance. And um I understand that today is going to be kind of a um to give you kind of an update and kind of a uh some some resolutions maybe on towards um this the audit situation with the school district. Um I don't know how much has been really presented to you to be honest with you.

005So I'm going to kind of start from the beginning here. You know, we were hired back um oh like a year and a half ago to uh potentially do the fiscal year 2024 audit for the district. Um and during that process we you know there's been a lot of turnover at the district and we were uh not able to get a a set of books that we could audit at that time. Uh the books were not ready in any audit shape. So we kind of let the you know we understood that the district was working with several consultants and trying to get the books ready to go for the audit. Next thing you know, the audit preparation kind of extended into 2025 and then further into kind of late 2025 where um you know, Abacus

006um we worked with a lot took over the books and started working on those and started trying to see if things could be improved and and the books could be got ready for uh the audit for the district. Um however, you know, there's been a lot of complications from my understanding. Um it's just been, you know, there's been a lot of turnover like we like that caused a lot of issues and then there's some probably some poor practices that weren't in place to my understanding. Um and so based on our review of the books, we also noticed that there's the fiscal year 2023 numbers had a lot of issues and corrections that needed to be made. And so we kind of established that fiscal year 2023 was all good. And as new auditors, we are

007required to perform procedures on the previous previous year's audit work um to sort of understand that we're having a a solid starting point uh as part of our general accepted auditing standards. And so when we did that and we started working with advocates further uh we realized there's a a ton of work that needs to be done by um by the consultants and by the district in order to prepare the the audit uh the the accounting records for audit for fiscal year 2024 and that the district is nowhere near uh prepared for that. Um there's issues with payroll, issues with grants, issues with cash, issues with various accounts, multiple accounts. Um and that, you know, we also understand that district is on a time crunch um as well uh when it comes to funding and

008and different and with you know, the property taxes that are needed to keep the district afloat. Um and so we, you know, talking with your superintendent and with Abacus, the Kim and and Sarah as well as CDE, we've identified that, you know, the maybe the best solution for the district for the fiscal year 24 audit considering it's been, you know, almost two years passed since since the the the period of of audit has been um sort of being prepared. um maybe it's best to disclaim an opinion which basically means that we would not express an opinion on the district's financial statements. We will build a you know prepare a financial statement based on the information we have. We will do some audit procedures that we can to sort of make sure you know to the

009best of our ability the numbers are we that we attempted to to to audit the numbers and then we would basically issue an opinion saying that there is no op the readers cannot rely on the financial statements that are presented and that is kind of our conclusion uh based on our discussions with with the with with your personnel with your management and and CDE as well as um I will kind of stand for any questions or discussions that you want to have based on this situation please for fisc 124 >> any question how did this happen and how this is beyond embarrassing to the district. I mean, I don't know. How did this How did we get into this mess? How did this happen? And Dr. Kumls, you are not here. This is not on

010you or on your watch, but this is just beyond embarrassing. Do you have a explan and we are where we are? Do you believe working with us that we have procedures and the proper personnel in place now to make sure this doesn't happen again? I will say that's a tough question to answer. I think you have the right We work with Abacus and several other clients. I will tell you that and they do good work. I'll tell you as far as the consultants go. I I think you're you have the right consultants. It sounds like your superintendent really based on my conversations with him and your your assistant superintendents that they have the right mindset and they want to fix the situation and move forward and and and um fix, you know, basically make things

011make things better. Obviously, they weren't here when this all happened. We barely got hired on when this happened. Um no, you know, there's a lot of um hindsight's 2020s. It sounds like it feels like to me to us. Um, I I really can't tell you as far as personnel because I don't know the personnel. You know, we we were barely even able to start the audit to be honest with you, you know, because the accounting records were in such bad shape, I would say, that we weren't even able to dive in too deeply into the accounting records to really audit them. And that's where I think we're coming from and saying, I I don't know what how to answer that. I I certainly understand your point of view and uh the fact that it's you

012know it's not the ideal situation. Uh I I think the key is is that you your current people in place seem to be trying to fix the situation and that's the best answer I can give you. I don't know how this happened. I mean it must have been years of of mismanagement of accounting records and um you know I'm not sure what happened prior to you know in 2023 24 I'm not sure who was managing the accounting records how they were reconciled all I know is you know when we walked in we said we are not auditing these records with the current shape that they're in and I think that's where we we were waiting to see if there would be a um a better records that we could audit maybe a reconc at least

013cash be reconciled. I mean that's that's the first thing you do as an accountant is you reconcile cash and it sounds like there was months and months and months of unreconciled cash, unreconciled grants, um you name it, it was just not done. >> Thank you. So no opinion on the fiscal 24 audit. What's your confidence level of being able to issue an opinion on the 25 audit at this point? >> Uh, great question. I'm not sure. I don't I I don't have I have more confidence in that than I do the 24 audit. I'm not going to lie to you. Um Um [clears throat] uh but you know, we'll have to wait and see. Honestly, I I I know that, you know, I trust that um Kim and Sarah would would would do their, you

014know, they would still have to go back to 24 to a degree to reconcile feast cash. And there are some things that they're you're still going to have to go back to 24 to find some things that will, you know, roll forward into 2025. Um, you know, it's hard to say because are were when did the controls go in place because clearly there were no controls or very few controls in fiscal year 23 and 24. >> Um, the question what year I'm sorry I I I couldn't hear you. What year were there no fiscal controls? This is >> 24. Sorry. >> School year 23 24. Fiscal year 24. >> Gotcha. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Well, I I apologize if I uh but basically what what what we're trying to get at is that whenever

015the controls went in place, that's when we would have more faith in the accounting records. Um because you know I'm not sure when in 23 24 25 the controls actually got improved or implemented. That would that would definitely um tell us how much reliance was in place on on the county records for the fiscal year 25 20 25 and we won't know that until we dive in to be honest with you. The worstc case scenario, what would you estimate time frame for this next audit? >> Fiscal year 25. >> Yes. >> Uh can't give you a time frame unfortunately. I mean we again we're disclaiming an opinion on fiscal year 24. Uh that would also all depend on how you know when the accounting records will be ready for us to audit. They have to

016be for us to start the audit. Now counter records have to be ready and completed on an acrruel basis and reconciled and that's not obviously there's a reason why we're disclaiming we're proposing disclaiming the opinion for uh fiscal year 24 you know so I I honestly cannot give you a a a concrete time frame until I start we start looking at the accounting records when they are ready. You have another question. >> So, sorry. >> Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. >> So, after the 25 is submitted, we'll be back on track to do 26. >> Yes. >> Okay. Yeah, >> I we have been told at previous meetings that we were on track for our 2425 audit and now I'm hearing you say something different. >> Are we not on track for our 2425

017audit? Uh what defined on track? >> Um well um [clears throat] that you had all the documentation that you needed and that you were prepared to begin it. And I'm seeing you shake your head. That's not true. >> No, we haven't even touched fiscal year 25. not touched it. We haven't even seen the trial balances, nothing. What we have looked at was was 2324 and we were able to review the beginning balances and somewhat get a get a good understanding. Kim was able to reconcile up to that point and we're able to review the fiscal year 23 starting point. So we know when we start the 23 20 when we start the 24 audit we were which we were planning on doing that we would have a good starting point and we got to that

018spot. So we all we had to do was make sure we reconcile 2324. So we are purely talking about 2324. We have not touched we have not looked at fiscal year 2025. that is not in the cards yet and it's not going to be until we disclaim this opinion for fiscal year 24 and then the county records will need to be gone back and reconciled from from June from July 1st 2023 all the way through June 30th 2025 >> that's two years >> yeah what I'd like to just say is basically anytime that we would get um emails requesting data we were returning it on, you know, as fast as we can or as fast as we could, we would turn it over right away. So, we were returning them, but that's when you would

019go down or David would be going down a different hole and then he would need more information. So, that's where that's where the holes or that's where things that we kind of fell off track is we started getting missing items over the last few weeks that we could not even find anymore. So, and that's where ultimately Sarah um you, Dr. Kay and you know, we all met and started talking about this other option. >> Well, I I think where we went with is maybe about a month ago, maybe a month and a half, we kind of said, "Look, we can probably finish this audit, but we need this this list of things, right?" And we went through, we got >> we said, "Look, we can probably issue an opinion at fiscal year 24." We were

020just talking about fiscal year 24 >> and we can probably issue somewhat an opinion on these financials if these list of things would get done. >> And then after looking at the list, it it sounded like it was just not going to be able to be done in >> in a in a in a solid enough time frame. And so we said you know what uh the only other conclusion you have the only other solution you have is to disclaim an opinion because we will not u issue an opinion on information that we cannot substantiate >> with evidence. >> So then next steps after we issue this disclaimer then you're going to be waiting on basically an audit package from advocates. >> What? So, what's what's the ETA on having that package essentially put together

021and ready to go for you to look at? >> Um, I I'm working with Jared as well and we have to get grants in alignment as well as making sure the cash is in alignment with what I worked with the auditors up until now. So, I will be going back and reviewing everything. My hope is or my goal is by May is I will have everything in order um to send over for them to be reviewing at some point in May. I should say >> you say May, >> correct? >> And that's for 25 audit. Correct. >> Yeah. 24 25. We were um Sarah um if you want to correct me if I'm wrong. I think we were um contracted early 2025. So I'm not confident on from July of 24 through um you know

022some of how things were recorded and such. So that's where Jared and I both will have to go back through all of the accounts and make sure everything's aligned properly before Dimmitri can even start. >> Yeah. your time frame is right. >> Okay. We started running payroll not until July of 25. So I'm not sure even what payroll looks like at this point. So that's going to take me some time to go back, especially with Jared, to make sure that the grants are assigned to the right people. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Uh, explain what you just said regarding payroll. And I've got another question, but you interjected payroll. Explain that. What does that mean? Um, as far as the >> we need to go back and review all accounts to make sure that everything

023was expensed correctly through payroll as well as accounts payable. So everything that was processed through payroll, we have to review all of those accounts to make sure everything's aligned with all grants and all the accounts that they're supposed to be expensed to. Okay, I guess [clears throat] to put it in very simple clear terms, when can we get our money that the county clerk is holding? [clears throat] >> From what I understand Oh, Demetri, you want to go ahead? Yeah, as soon as as soon as we based on state statute, you as long as you issue somewhat some kind of audit opinion, which is in this case a disclaimer, you will receive your funding that's been withheld, at least a portion of it, which is why the sol the conclusion is to maybe issue disclaimer

024in fiscal year 24 and not go through the full-on audit to try to audit every account again and try to reconcile file everything and like you know build you know we had a whole laundry list of things we'll need in order to get a cleaner opinion than just the disclaimer. And so this will get the district the funding it needs to hopefully finish the school year. Any other questions? This is a mess. >> What do you have next for us? >> I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said. What was that? >> What do you guys have to We [clears throat] don't have any more questions. >> Okay. I I mean what what I need you what I what I need from the board personally from our firm is to know to for you to

025be okay with a disclaimer of an opinion on the on the fiscal year 2024 financial statements. That's really what I need what we need in terms of you know so you have an understanding that this is what's coming and the consequences that go with it. Um you know certainly it will fulfill the state requirement for an audit. So that's the good thing and it'll bring back some sort of um uh financial resources back to the district that are maybe being withheld by the count by the county treasur. Um so there's a positive thing there and then we move on to the fiscal year 2025 audit um when as soon as as soon as we have those Kim ready and and and they're ready to go. So, we don't have a problem really finishing an audit,

026you know, considering there's controls in place and um and that you know that their accounting records are reconciled and that's really key and grants have to be reconciled because again CBD requirements are very specific and on top of that you know you have you you have a lot of federal awards for federal grants that need to make sure that they're done the right way. So, um I can't guarantee anything on fiscal year 2025, but we will we will start as soon as they're ready and um maybe we need to set up, you know, time and meetings with with the board to, you know, give you updates. You know, that's something I've done with other clients and if that's something you prefer, I'm happy to keep you in the loop. I will also tell you that,

027you know, we are we kind of we're crossing into our another busy season for my firm. we don't have you know you know you know independent resources so there may be some delays due to that and so I want to make sure I'm I'm clear on that and make sure you you know set the expectation right but you know we will do our best to work on your audit as fast as possible but there may be some delays due to the fact that my staff will be really really busy from May to about middle of middle of June maybe early July so there may be some some timing of differences there so I just want to make sure the expectations are set and that, you know, we will do our best to to to get

028things done as fast as possible and keep you in the loop on what's going on. >> Something I for clarity because you were cutting out a little bit and so when you were talking about keeping us updated, I I didn't understand were you saying quarterly you were going to keep because there was static or something was >> Oh, sorry. Sorry. I I can keep you up to date as as often as you wish, I guess, is what I'm saying. I've had I've had clients where they're kind of in the same boat. Maybe they're concerned about the timing of the audit and um I've I've I've requested that I give them updates um you know, every month or whenever and keep them up to speed on where we're at with the audit process. But um I

029will tell you that you know there are going to be times where we might be busy and might not be able to get to you know to your audit every single day and put all our resources towards it because of our size and our and our resources during that time of the year. That's why it's so important to keep these audits on a timely. So >> yeah, thank you for clarification. Um, yeah, cuz I I feel we'd be remissed by not getting an update, you know, whenever you could provide one. I mean, I understand, you know, the time of year we're in. Um, but because of past financial um errors, struggles, whatever you want to call them, I I think we'd be remiss not getting an update. >> Absolutely. If we were to do an

030outdated I mean I will probably we will once we do the disclaimer opinion we will we will um we will probably present that to you as the board um whenever that's done and then subsequently as soon as the fiscal year 2025 audit starts we will we will start keeping you up to speed on where we're at from our point of view if that works for you. Yeah, >> I'm a consultant and you're you're speaking really good consult speak right now and so good job [clears throat] >> an action item today. >> I didn't have it as an action item, but it sounds like he needs the board's approval to proceed. >> Yeah. I have one last question. What what are the implications of filing a not a nonopinion audit? What are what are the implications

031ramifications to the school district? >> Uh great question. Um as far as I I will tell you I don't know all of them. I will tell you the implications will are likely from As far as this, I I can't speak for the car department of education. I believe you have somebody here who might be able to maybe speak to the comp to the uh implications of that. But as far as you know, the biggest one is uh the bond rating. It'll definitely impact your bond rating moving forward if you decide to go through with the bond. That is the number one. How long >> can you just can you talk a little bit more about that and how [clears throat] long does that stay on our record? I guess >> you're talking about as far

032as the rating goes or you talking about >> Yeah, the bond rating. The bond rating. Yes. And and and does that affect our current bond? Um, I'll have to look into the current bond. I don't I don't know the impact on the current bond, but as the as the future really depending on the rating agency and how they look at it. I would think that if you had I I really don't can't answer it exactly. I would think if you had several years of clean audit opinions, I don't know that it would impact it that much. Um, it's hard for me to say. I'm not a rating I don't work for a rating agency. I've worked with rating agencies before because I've been a finance director before and I I know I've worked with rating

033agencies and so I know that they look at this as to say kind of a consistency rating and the funding but they look at a lot of factors not just an audit they look at you know what's your reserve like they look at you know different factors in the in the surrounding community you know is there you know consistency of of revenues that they look at more than just an auto. So, it's just one of the factors that they look at. So, it's hard for me to say, but that's the main one that I can think of. Um, I'm I can't speak for the the the state or what the implications are on their end. >> Question. Uh, what happens if 2025 is like this? Um, what happens if we can't find all the stuff

034and we end up doing this same thing and we can't proceed? What is the outcome of that? uh as far as just impact on everything else. >> I mean, what what is the impact? Does the state come in? What what happens if we can't find all the stuff for 2025? We have the same problems. >> Um you know, I don't know that that's something you would have to ask the the state. You know, I I'll tell you this. This as far as far as I know the state the state auditor's office and I don't want to speak for them, but based on my understanding is that this the car department state auditor's office of the state auditor um is is would be okay with the audit opinion as presented the disclaimer uh for for fiscal

035year 2024. I'm not sure what the implications of multiple years of this would be. Um but but I would I I don't I don't know what the what that does to it's I don't know that it's never happened in my career. >> I'm sorry. It's never happened. So you've never done this before? Like you've never issued an an opinion like this before? >> Awesome. Per month. >> Per month. Yeah. >> Have Have other school districts had an audit issued like this? >> Yes. >> Who? >> I I I it's none of my clients. I'll tell you that. >> I didn't ask if they were your client. >> I don't know. >> I know. I know there are school districts. I don't know who they are, but I know there are >> magnitude. Yeah. around there.

036Can we get a list of those, please? >> See if we can find it. >> I entertain a motion to approve the disclaimer of opinion on the 24. >> I will second the motion. first. >> Oh, I was first. I'll second. >> I have a first and a second to approve the disclaimer of opinion on the 24 audit. Any other discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Mrs. Ayol. >> I. >> Mr. Nichl. >> I. >> Mrs. Hines. >> I. >> Mr. Colemans. >> Hi, >> Mr. Salbrer. >> Hi. >> All right. Moving on to letter B for the January 2026 financial report. [clears throat] >> Can you guys uh hear me? >> Well, my um video camera is not working for some reason. >> No. Yeah. >> Okay. Um, one thing that I do want to

037point out, and it kind of does go back to the discussion that we were just having, is to again make sure and verify that these books are staying current and they are reconciled monthly and that you guys are getting reports that come straight out of the accounting software. Um, and this will help tremendously in the uh errors and the issues that we're seeing and that we've been trying to work through over this past couple of years. So, just want to point that out before we go through our financials for January. Um, the report that we have up on the screen is uh our cash flow report. And the reason why we're going to start reviewing that with you guys monthly is uh we are starting to see that we're going to have cash flow issues

038and just want to give you sort of a view on what we go over with Dr. K that is weekly per our discussions. So the screen that we have up >> should I keep going or did anybody have a question? >> No, >> keep going. Okay. So the screen that we sh we're sharing currently. >> The main thing I want you to pay attention to is that cash available bottom line area um the bottom the bottom green area that says it's 3.7 million. So, as we talk about the next couple of screens, I want to just let you know that we have 3.7 million at the end of January, and that means that we have 60 days cash on hand. So, if we didn't receive any more funding through the front door, we have 60

039days of operating cash available to us right now. >> I just want to interrupt. I we didn't get a clear answer on when we were going to get our county taxes or or or property taxes. >> Yeah. So, >> that's >> Yeah, it's concerning. >> Frustrating. >> Yeah, it is very frustrating. From what I know, the process for us to uh for Dimmitri to issue his disclaimed opinion report is we're at least a few weeks out from that yet. Um, so I would say probably by the time we're um having our next board meeting next month, we will start seeing that that property tax that's been withheld from us. If something seems like it's going to take longer, we will communicate that through Dr. K so he can let you guys know what that time

040frame looks like. We have currently been in contact with um what's the state loan program through Colorado uh state and it's an interestfree ro uh loan program. However, currently at this time they wouldn't allow us to um be enrolled in their program because we didn't have an audit for 2324 in place. So again, another reason why this disclaimed um this disclaimed opinion at this time is the best option for the district so we can continue to keep moving forward. >> So basically with the 60 days cash on hand without doing this disclaimer after two months we pretty much wouldn't make payroll. >> Yeah, we we still get a little bit of funding in through the front door, but that is correct. We're starting to see um that cash is going to is going to um

041fall out here shortly uh sometime in April or May >> and to finish the audit it would have taken longer than April or May. >> That is correct. Yeah. The the the big crux to crux to the matter is that cash wasn't reconciled correctly. And so in order for Dimmitri to even be able to start that verification process, they have to know that there is no um transactions that have been been booked to cash that were incorrect. And that's a big big big project >> and that's a personnel issue. That's a mistake on the district's site. Is that correct? >> That is a Yeah, that is a lot to do with how the um the finance office was doing reconciliations. Um, so again, I will stand firm on the fact that the district needs to

042see financials coming out of the financial software. Uh, because an accountant can show you guys reports if they're made on Excel spreadsheets. How do you know your books are balanced or reconciled? So, if we don't have any other questions on this page, Kimbo, if you want to switch me to the next one. This is another uh big one that we review with Dr. K uh every week on Tuesdays. Um what this shows is the cash that's sitting in each one of the bank accounts that the district has available. Um, one thing that I want to point out is that we had two CDs and we had one CD that closed down in December. There's still another CD out there uh that I believe was closed out here in January or it February. Okay. So, it

043was closed late January. We see the cash come in on February. So, that's why there's not noted up here. So, the big thing that we're wanting to look at is that yellow line where it says total cookie jar. Again, that's the cash that is available to the district for operating. The other thing that I want to point out is that our outstanding checks. So, it's the it's the cell that's in the middle of the two colored lines that Kim just put in blue. So outstanding checks is something that we review with uh the team every Tuesday because at this point we're watching to see if we have cash that's going out in um in this form it would be pay payables going to vendors. We want to make sure that we have enough cash sitting

044in the bank account that we can cover that but we can also make sure that we are going to hit the next payroll. So, I want to let you guys know that the payroll, the next upcoming payroll is one that we are always watching to make sure that we have cash available for that next upcoming payroll. And so, this is just showing us that the total at the very bottom is after we take out the outstanding checks that have been issued and the open accounts payable that are out there that we would have $797,000 sitting in the bank account. >> The checking account. >> In the checking account. >> Yeah. just the checking account. >> So again, this is just a view that you guys get to see of what we review with Dr. K

045on a weekly basis. Now, >> on average, how much is a payroll run? >> Can can you switch us to the next screen? >> Um, I don't believe I saved that one. Bear with me just a second. Let me open it. >> Okay. I don't believe. >> Hey, you okay? Okay. >> While Kim's pulling that up, I will tell you that um Dr. K is very adamant with us uh as well as anybody that's helping in the finance department that we remain as transparent as possible with you guys as well as any of the public. So if you any of you guys have any questions, please please ask them or if we need to supply you with anything, let us know. So this screen here answers the question of how much those payrolls are running.

046And you can see that over um in column D the payroll that was for January came to 1.187 in total and that's called allin. So that would be not only the payroll amount that's paid out to the employees but also the parah and associated benefits that go along with that. The other thing that's nice about this page is we're also comparing it to this time last year. So we can see are is the district running on track from where we were last year. Uh does these payroll amounts make sense? That sort of thing. So one thing that we will call out and Kim is already ahead of me is that uh the area down below in red, what that is showing is that we receive funding in from the state each month and that funding

047comes in and then we have payroll that goes out. And so unfortunately at this point in time, the money that we receive in from CDE monthly is not high enough to cover that payroll all-in amount. And so even with just paying payroll, we're running at a 89 almost $90,000 loss each month. And that's not taking into consideration any of the utility payments that we have or any uh outside vendors that need to be paid um and that sort of thing. So again, we're not making enough to even cover our payroll at this point. So that cash that we have available to us is very, very valuable. Is that because we uh miscalculated we budgeted on a per pupil number that we didn't come in at? Is that why we're not getting what we thought we

048were going to get from the state? >> Yeah, that um you're you're right. You're going down the right path. That is true. We budgeted um for a pupil rate that we did not end up having actually come in. >> Right. >> So, yes. Yeah, we're operating um you know, and our overhead costs are running much higher. not getting that's why we're not getting what we thought we were going to get from the state and that's causing our our dilemma is that my Dr. That's one of the issues. The second issue is >> we never addressed >> the the the we never so we set up the budget this year or set up the budget was set up before deficit spending already set up as deficit spending. >> So it was set up that way and

049then losing students that we projected made it even worse. >> Gotcha. Is that correct, Sarah? >> Yes, that is correct. >> Okay. Thank you. >> So, if there's no other questions on cash flow and what we're watching, um, as far as all the parts and pieces that go into that, I'm going to go through the financial statements with you guys rather quickly, unless you have any questions. We're starting with the balance sheet. And so, this balance sheet is through the end of January. And again, what we see on balance sheets are bank balances are a big part to the assets that we see up at the top. And so, um, again, that's those are the bank accounts that we're watching as far as cash available to the district. The liability area, which is the next

050grouping down, that mostly is communicating out any sort of payroll liabilities that have been paid or not been paid yet. And we want to make sure that those those um account balances are really really low um to show that we are in fact running those payrolls and we're paying the taxes and the parah that um are is associated with those payrolls. And then the final grouping down is the equity area and that's basically what's cons what's called out as being fund balance or it's also the um savings that the district has had over the course of the years. And one thing that we're watching is that net change line, which is that very, very bottom number. What that net change line is showing us is that currently through January, the district is running at a

051loss. We've lost $1.8 million so far. Now, if the books, if we were in a better spot, that wouldn't be quite so concerning because we'd be seeing property taxes starting to come in here shortly. Um, but with what the situation is that we're where we're sitting right now, um, that's not helping our cash position at this point. So, if there's no other questions in Fun 10, Kim, I want you to scoot over to the income statement for me, please. The reason why I'm jumping over here is because I want to show that these two um financial reports tie. And the big thing that we're watching for on this one is that year-to-ate activity. The very bottom number there that Kim has highlighted for us. There's where that $1.8 million ties out to that other report

052that we just saw. So, that shows that the books are in balance and that we have um all the financials are are talking and they're um they're talking back and forth with each other. And so, that's another area that we're going to keep an eye on. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes that goes out of whack. And then I get to call Kim and ask her why. One of her favorite phone calls every month. >> I don't get a >> No. [laughter] So, what I want you to guys to pay attention to is over on the far right. So, we have the percenttobudget column and the percentto budget column is now reflecting the amended budget that's been put in place. And so, we should be seeing 58% to those budgeted amounts. And so what Kim's got

053highlighted for us is that our total revenues that have been collected to our expected budget amount is showing at 54%. And down below you see in our expenses that our total expense that we've had so far to this year is that 9.9 million. And so that's showing at the 56%. And then that explains why we have that loss because we have 54% in in revenues, but we have 56% going out in expenditures. So again, if you guys ever need any of the full detail that supports these numbers, please ask us. We do have that full full detail for you guys if you need it. >> Actually, they get it. Thank you. >> They receive the details every month. >> Okay. So, I do want to I do want to stop there and I don't want

054to um I want to stop for questions number one. And I know you guys have a long meeting ahead of you. Um but really wanted to take my time to show you guys the cash projections, how those work, and then just where where we're standing so far with fund 10 because fund 10 is where the um main operating um of the entire district rolls. And so that's the fund we're really watching because that's where all the cash um that we need to operate the district comes in and out of >> any questions for Sarah. I I I'm I'm I'm sorry. I know we have a long a lot of stuff, but we heard this at the I'm curious and I don't need a a lot of explanation, but fun 23. >> Um >> we heard

055about this a little bit at our meet and confer with with our with our teachers and our building people. And I know we made some changes in how We collected those funds and we managed those funds. And so I guess could you just again I don't want to take a lot of time but there's there seems to be a lot of confusion about those student activity funds and they're not adding up and everybody seems like they have a different set of numbers. So, just briefly, could you talk a little bit about that account, please? >> Kim, is there something you want to interject? >> Um, [clears throat] I have not heard of anybody having issues with balances. Um, going back to September, we had um the activities database, long story short, the activities database was

056housed in a totally separate financial software. It was not housed within the operating or within the district. So everything has been moved into one financial software. It makes life easy when we're trying to get everything ready for audit. Demetri is asking for questions. They can get into the software so one-stop shop having it in one place. So, what we've then done in September was I worked with the high school Billy and she sent me the balances of all accounts. We reviewed all the reports and then I set up a revenue account for all income coming in for the fundraising and I set up an expense account for any expenses that go out. So, we're able to track all revenues and expenses. All sponsors have access to their accounts. And this is what I have relayed

057to Shay and to Billy. Please let me know if something's not right. We can fix whatever. If anything's didn't come over correct, so I had not heard anything um until you're bringing it up at this point. So, I'm anxious now to hear um and if anybody is You want to say something, Patrick? Yeah, just to kind of interject, we've talked to the principal because this is mostly at the secondary level and the >> ad we're asking is anybody, you know, brought up this issue. The answer is no. So, we need to dig into who actually brought that up and who's really if there is an issue or not because none of us it hasn't brought to our attention as we meet all the time about um the activities funds them not working out. So, when

058that was brought up at the um mean confer, we're going to track that down. We're going to try to find that person just so we can, you know, see if we can help them and get them squared away where they need to be. >> Good. Thank you. There's only one place that everybody looks for the numbers. Yeah. There's not two places. They're not looking at another bank account somewhere that has a different balance than what we're looking at. >> No, we got rid of the second software and it's one bank account. Has that been explained to him? >> Um I because [clears throat] I don't know the answer to that if they um they should have been explained to them but I I don't I can't say 100%. >> Just from past experience I I

059know we would get paper copies at the end of our season. So if if it's now under one software but they're looking at something from the end of last season. Let's say tracks tracks the new one started. a lot of their season ended in May, June and they're looking at that end of year balance, but it's all been moved. That could be some of the confusion, too. So, yeah. >> Yeah. Everybody can see their live cash balance and this rolls from year to year. So, these cash balances, they started off with the numbers from September that Billy gave me and they've been rolling forward since then. So we can clearly identify any of the revenue coming in, expenses going out. If something was put to the wrong account, we can easily, like I said, you

060know, reclassify things. But this way they can clearly see what is their cash balance. Um, just an open book. I want all sponsors to have access to their accounts and if there is issues, please, you know, let me know. I'd love to, you know, help help get it fixed. >> Thanks. I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Do you have anything else for us, Sarah? >> No more. Nothing else today. [clears throat] >> All right. I would entertain a motion to approve the January 2026 financial report as presented. So moved. >> Second. >> I have a motion and a second to approve the January 2026 financial report. Question time. >> Um I have a comment more than a question. I would just like to say it's wonderful the the documents they present over I mean um

061because that's never been done and I think that helps us have some accountability for for what not what previously before us but for what's going on in the future that now we have access to this stuff and and we can look at it. Um so whoever our consultants are whoever set this up or all of you thank you very much. Anything else? All right. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Ayala. Hi. >> Mr. Bickl. Hi. >> Mrs. Hines. Hi. >> Mr. Coleman. Hi. >> Mr. Salser. >> Hi. Moving on. Four minutes. >> I move to approve the minutes of the January 26th meeting as presented. >> I have a second. I have a motion and a second to approve the minutes of January 2020 28 January 26 26 meeting as presented. Questions, comments? >> Maybe we

062should think about moving on approval of the minutes of on the agenda before we get into the the tables. Just comment but >> All right. Any other questions or comments? All right. Mrs. >> Hi, >> Mr. Bickle. >> Hi, >> Mrs. SC. >> Hi, >> Mr. Famids. >> Hi, >> Mr. Salt. >> Hi, [clears throat] [laughter] those cleansing videos on YouTube. It's a pallet cleansing, right? Just sorbet. All right, presentation. >> All right, we're going to start our first presentation. Um Jared Wilson, chief academic officer, will present media replicate for the junior senior high and Tiger Trades Academy. Think we're working on a tech difficulty just a second. I want to make sure that we can navigate the slideshow. If not, I might just hover next to read slide. We'll navigate like that. That works

063for you, Mark. Yeah. You want just do that for right now? >> Yeah, let's go ahead and start with that. [clears throat] >> Um, so yes, so last month they came in was able to present on primary and intermediate like to do kind of the same deal for our junior, senior high and uh TTA. Um so starting off with our um secondary data. What you see on the board is our arc of the year for 2526. So you guys have heard the UVA term 90-day plans quite a bit. This essentially is the same same concept but through TNTP lens. This called the arc of the year. So they break down the school year into four arcs. Um turn those into sprint cycles. um identify really clear goals and then uh work with staff to um

064meet those goals, collect data on those goals, um cycle it into our professional development and our PLC time. And so you can see on there how LAN's junior senior high has broke down uh their arc this year just to make this kind of the CMTSS connection. Um the connection of the arc of the year and the LAN vision of instruction data. This data that you see is on a scale of 1 to five. Um so this is what uh an average or I shouldn't say an average but this is what teachers have scored on average in each of those categories. And again, what we do with that arc of the year on a vision of instruction in each of those categories, we start to define the teacher or the adult steps that need to change

065that will improve student outcomes. So, as we navigate through each of these sections, we collect data, see how our teachers are scoring, identify actual steps that we can take to improve that, and then use that to drive our professional development and our PLC. As a former teacher, I'm looking at our overall student engagement you got on that slide. Yeah. And like for me, it's like how do you get 2.9? Because I I former teacher again, I I think your students should be engaged way more than that. So what are what are you saying? I I mean student engagement is they're just sitting there on their phone or the teachers just saying work on your own or the teacher, you know, what's the student engagement? Um to to best answer that, it kind of mimics a

066lot of what I talked about this last time of really trying to raise that bar. So at first it's looking at and going how many of our kids are actually engaged through the duration of the entire lesson while we're sitting there and then going from that what is passive engagement look like to active engagement. Are they just kind of sitting and getting or do we have kids that are getting up wanting to participate in the lesson get some group work? All those kinds of things. as we started to look at that throughout the year and saying we want to have a higher level for that is how we're looking for that engagement if that makes sense. >> Yeah. Yeah. I I just wondered what you're how you're judging the engagement. So as long as it's

067consistent >> and and we're trying to use that Lona vision of instruction tool across the district to say this is what it looks like when we say this is the golden standard. This is what we want it to look like and go through with that. And I have an I have an image on that that later on the slide that might highlight that a little bit more. Um stepping over just to look at some NWA data. Um so this first slide shows our increase from previous years. So this is math um achievement and growth percentile ranking. So for winter 2526 Excuse me. >> Just is that total number of students is what what what is that? I guess what number is that for that 143? Let me >> Well, um 143 or 338 or what

068is that 338 I guess? So that 338 would be the number of students that took it at the billing um in total. So 338 of our students took this math test. >> And then the 143 is the the number of students that met their growth goal >> on that piece. So it could be someone that scored low percentile versus high percentile on achievement. But this is just mapping how much growth they had and did they meet what the anticipated growth should be for that cohort. That's making sense. And it's for all the math class, right? >> Yep. This end. Yes. >> Yeah. I'm I'm want to make sure like it's not just question math. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Across the board. Yes, sir. >> Um same same breakdown. This is going to be for

069reading. This is for science. And then we hop over to language usage. This is the only only area we've identified so far when looking at just percentile um for uh growth that we fell. So we went from the 37th to the 34th and from the 50th to the 43rd. So comparing last year to this year, this is where we were. Yeah. >> So this is just the average of the whole school. Do you see any trending with just like certain grades? like we've done it in uh PIP for uh accountability for this school. We can see trends where there's a certain grade that just can't catch a break or has a trend where they just can't get over a math hump or something like that because this is like seeing the overall. I'd kind of

070like to see if you're also watching trends with that. >> Um so, uh not something I have in my slideshow, but some kind of mimics what you're we're seeing across the district as as our level of rigor goes up. So, as the grade gets more difficulty, we're starting to see less and less growth or less and less achievement. It almost has that same stairst step um trajectory probably be the best way to put that. Um with this one thing that the high school has done is they've identified that um they do need to have this shared ELA focus um and have tried to kind of bring that into other content areas. So they pushed um like they have a professional development strategy that they pushed all their staff called races and it breaks down to

071restate answer site explain and they're pushing that same that same concept to all um classes to try to help combat that >> and I know you and I and I don't think I quite answered your question to the fullest but I'm just wondering >> um yes we haven't seen any like one grade level or anything that that's that completely is an outlier. or anything like that. >> Okay. >> Just because of co we had that and I was just wondering if you're seeing that. >> I mean you kind of see it across the board. Um what we're really trying to get to is not ignoring that piece but just acknowledging that it has skewed everyone's data. So everyone's facing that same problem. So when we're still dropping in percentile we're not making the same growth

072other people are making and they dealt with the same type of struggle. That makes sense. And many of those co kids, I mean, you know, now in the high school when that first hit, they're the seniors, you know, and then you've got the I mean, they're still working it, but at at the high school grade level, they had or I guess they were middle schoolers in that building. >> Um, and so yeah, it's it's, you know, started to work its way up where they've been in school longer, you know, down there. I I don't ever want to say it's going to return to normal, but yeah. So, I guess I just would ask you what what is your opinion of these numbers? I'm not trying to form an opinion my mind until I hear what

073you think. So, um I think I mean there's definitely room for improvement. I think that we especially seeing the the help and support that we've gotten to see from TNTP um and UVA at the primary and intermediate level has really started to change the district's um perspective and approach on how we can run our PLC's, our professional developments, how we can be more intentional with making some of this growth um with using TNTP to look at strategic planning. I'm very hopeful that it's going to help kind of refine the Lahana way or Easter way of how we can improve our our system all around. So, I I'm feeling optimistic about it. Again, I'd like to see higher scores, but I really, as I look at this, I see so much room for for growth um

074that, you know, we've got to change some adult moves that'll help our our our learning outcomes, but very feasible. >> And and this is really the first year though that we've had this academic uh support structure in place, right? >> Yeah. >> So, this is like year one results. >> Yeah. And and almost I would call it happier results. So much of it at the beginning of the year still learning the structure, learning the the format of everything. But yeah, >> starting to see that change. >> Thank you. And with with the back to the top, sorry, I hate to go back up, but the ownership with academics and the engagement with the student, I feel like that's tied in. When we did the tour of the district, we really seen that the kids that

075have been already doing this stuff are very engaged in classes. Uh even had a teacher talking to us about the new rigor and the math and how the kids are really engaged. Uh we go to the high school and it's the same old, you know, lecture style. So, I mean, it's gonna have to change, but it's also we have to see that like I don't know how that's going to work. Um, the kids just were not really intention typical high schoolers, you know. >> Well, I think the first step is that we now have data that says >> because it's correlated. We have data that says or we need to do better in the classroom in these areas or engagement and you know when we now we can focus on classroom instruction that we have

076that data and we can move forward and the scores will go up once you start identifying if you don't fix what's happening in the classroom then you're you're not going to get improvement in the scores. So we have the data. Um we're aware of it. Now we can have a plan to move forward to execute and increase increase improve student outcomes. I think to a high school level students expect some explanation of of some of the stuff I've had kids say you know we our teachers lecture but they explain to us how to do it. So I think there's more of a lecture at the high school just because the age of the of the children here. Well, it also speaks to, I think, what you had brought up with what engagement looks like, your

077engagement level in a kindergarten class versus um a 10th grade class. >> Well, the one thing I will say though, Ron, Rod, is >> the data says that lecture even at the high school is not affected. >> Oh, yeah. No, lecture's always been in effective, but I think it's like how do I want I don't want to say lecture for lectures, an explanation, right? and we have more action coordination. >> So, just moving forward, something else I really wanted to highlight was another um target that the junior senior high focus on was creating a culture of belonging. Um they've really tried to attack this with their STPO, so their student teacher parent organization. Um with FCP, I know um Mr. Romero has done a ton of work with that as well. Um and then their

078caregiver caregiver contacts where they've really tried to identify um data that is you know supportive that those things that they're doing to reach out to families to communicate more um to be proactive uh has a positive impact on the community. >> Um the last the last step um I wanted to highlight with with you guys today is with um this is our ADA attendance tracker. of the average daily attendance. Um, and if I mispronounce this, um, Haley, please let me know. But, um, this was a great representation of this is the number of students who are present each day during or in the building during a given month. And it's calculated by adding the number of students in attendance each day and dividing by the number of school days. So, essentially, it's charting um how

079many students are in class in each period throughout a given day on average. um and it's broken down monthly. Um and we're able to use a tool like this um to give to our school leaders to see if they're seeing trends from we're we're hoping now that we have this kind of setup and Mr. Romero's built this that they can look last August to this August. Are we seeing a trend in this piece comparing that and seeing what um initiatives we can do are actually having an impact on that? >> We don't have any data for last year. This is a first kind of that that entry of what we're seeing um across the board. Do you guys still use Infinite Campus? Infinite Campus doesn't break that down for you, huh? >> Um, it and

080correct me if I'm wrong, is it seems that it does, but it doesn't quite give us as much um actionable data. It It breaks it down in a different way that um when you start breaking it up by period and cohorts within the high school, it gets really confusing versus just on a general scale. How many of what percent of our kids are in our building receiving instruction um on a given day? >> Do we know how this compares to other districts? >> This is what I would say is since co this is down. >> Yeah. So I am actually uh working with a learning cohort um through the state of Colorado on average their attendance is really low. Every district everybody I'm with uh inner city districts I'm with rural districts. I'm with everybody

081and everybody's attendance is low. Um the state is actually working on a uh project to decrease absent kids by 50% um to across the state and we are kind of getting there but they're really putting the learning curves together so that people can um come together talk about what they're doing in their district, what's working and how we can um exchange some ideas and I have we have some things in place that we're going to work on for next year. Um those are slowly rolling out or finalized is that we can't roll those out next year but it is across the entire state. Attendance is slow. >> But I'm looking at our numbers and I think they're pretty good. I mean they're better than they used to be. >> Yeah. >> No, I'm I would

082say this that you want to be before CO what was considered good was 93 94%. >> Yeah. Before CO Yeah. So I think this is average about what's going on right now better than some places but definitely down from pre-COVID yeah numbers. >> Well pre-COVID nobody had ever done online stuff like you know that before either so that's yeah >> all right so I'd like to just transition over for Tiger Trades Academy. So um again >> we have UVA TNTP using the UVA approach of a 90-day plan um identifying our big rocks. So again um big rock systems for knowledge and clarity of standards align planning and instruction and then systems for coaching feedback I'm sorry for observation feedback and coaching. Um again just to highlight that LANA vision of instruction tool. Um and it's

083kind of small on my side. I apologize if on your guys' side it's a little bit harder to read. I can get you a PDF version. Um, but essentially again what that's looking at is what are the specific steps when we break each of these bullet points down. What could we be teaching our staff or what can we focus on in a PD or a PLC to really make this um come to life in our classrooms. Um here is the uh vision of instruction data collected for TTA. So again, your average scale rating from one to five U for teachers at TTA. >> Did the same people do the grading across districts or was it different across schools or was it different? >> Great question. So um originally it had just started where each building

084was kind of doing their own. Um so principles, um instructional coaches, admin, they they were doing just their own. We started to see especially with COMTSS and our work with TNTP that that district norming just wasn't taking place. What we started to do was build a cohort. Right now it's currently just the instructional coaches and myself where we'll go to each building so that our primary instructional coaches seeing it at the high school level and having more of those conversations to really define what this should look like to start that norm. Our goal for getting to this point would be to where we can put some of these cohorts together so that teachers can go see other buildings and vice versa so that we're getting um that seen across the district. Looking at student scores,

085so you'll see that we have um fall 24 um 25 scores. So this is achievement in reading and winter 25 26. This again this is across all grade levels represented at the school. Um we did have to go back as you'll see comparing fall to where we're at now in winter. Um we had some tests invalidation. Um so we we felt that some of the test scores from end of the year last year um was not valid enough. didn't um accurately capture where our students are capable of and had a lot of inconsistencies that we didn't want to start to drive instruction off of that data and so we went back to our furthest point into where we're at now um to try to really capture that. >> Do we have that many less students

086there or did some people opt out? >> Um I a combination of both. I I do think that we still have a a declining and correct me if I'm wrong on this declining number, but the the amount of students you will see that number of students on that category shift dramatically with TTA scores um just because of the the online methods they use within ingenuity and everything. It's a lot easier for students to want to opt out, not take the test in general. Um so having a higher percentage of students that actually engage in the test is a different task for TTA. Uh moving over into math, we see where we um again fall at the 11th percentile ranking and are now at the 14th. Um for language usage, same thing. The reason you don't

087have a statistic for winter um kind of goes into what you brought up, Mrs. Hines. We had not enough students. We did have some students take this, but the population of students that did take it was so minimal that uh it wouldn't be right to share that data just because it'd be too easy to identify the students by that makes sense. Usually once you hit a small enough portion, you don't want to share that out just to make sure that it still remains confidential. Um and then you have for uh science again I think that is the 13th percentile and now sitting at the 22nd and then you have your um final slide which is your TTA attendance tracker again broken down that same that same way. Good to see that October since we have

088the October count that is a high number there. [clears throat] >> Thinking homecoming. >> What's that? >> Homecoming is >> there you go. Yeah. So, um well, again, I I appreciate your guys' time. I know I I went a little bit over my my anticipated time as I went through. Uh, but is there any questions or anything that that I can highlight or answer for you or even take back um so I can get more information for you? >> Okay. And I I've never taught under Dr. Kreml. I've never had you none of them is famous for doing a bangup job this year on this and then they kind of all split the side next year because we've got new obstacles and challenges to overcome. So hopefully next year at this time we're going to

089be able to see almost go from a slide deck to a spreadsheet um as you're going because I I wouldn't mind seeing the trend over three or four years as we gather the data. Um I think that's better for mapping. So I, you know, but I I just wanted to say, hey, what you did, I I think, you know, that that's the right fact just as long as we stay on it and and make an impact. U not another nice new shiny stone over here, but we go for next year. Yeah. I uh I really appreciate hearing you say that. It also mimics or matches what we're getting ready to talk to you with COMTSS the next presentation, which is how can we develop these systems that are not jumping to the next shiny thing,

090but are districtwide. It's what's going to help us keep what TNTP and UVA is going over with us and it's going to put it all in the same basket so that we're not siloed and we're working together as a district. >> Good. Good. >> Anything else for Jared's presentation? >> Moving on. And we also Mark, we should still have Katie on uh >> Zoom. [clears throat] >> Yeah, she's up here, right? She's right here. >> Yeah, I can hear you, Katie. >> Thanks. We're getting your getting your image put up and we'll get rolling. About 15 seconds. >> Oh, there she goes. >> We can see you now. >> Oh, we presented you. You probably won't be able to see her. >> Is that okay? Are you guys okay with that? You'll be able to

091see my deck in front of you and then present there. Perfect. >> All right. Um, so again, thank you guys for your time. Myself, Jared Wilson, chief academic officer. I'd also like to introduce Mr. Romero, our district social worker, and then Katie Gable um with CDE. >> Thanks everyone. Um, first I just want to say I applaud you for your your work doing everything you're doing with the district around your finances and I I wish I had answers for you when that gentleman was speaking and said someone from he was from CD and I thought oh man I wish I could help you but that is not my office or my expertise. So, um, I I'm here to support you in any way that I can, and I definitely know the folks who are working

092with you and and know Glenn Gusen, and I think he's a great resource to help you with with kind of the CDE financial questions. But, um, I just want to say thank you to Jared and Haley for all of their work on the MTSS. And our hope is for our time together today for this is just to really give you a picture of what is happening in your district and around the state with Colorado multi-tered system of supports. Um we have a federal grant that supports the work. The grant is ending but as Jared mentioned this is really a continuation of the work that you guys are doing. So there's no financial obligation from the district to commit to this. it really is looking at um a framework of connecting the the great work that's

093happening in the district and kind of continuing to move those things forward. So, our hope is for you guys to have an understanding that when you hear multi-tered system of supports that you know what that is and that you can connect with with Jared and Haley and the other leaders in your district who are doing the work um to support the efforts. So um what is CMTSS Colorado multi-tered system of supports? Um it's a framework. So it's just organizing a lot of our thoughts and ideas and uh initiatives that we're working on into um this framework. So the framework is not an initiative. It's a standalone thing where we can throw new things in and have um all of those pieces align. So there is five components um database, problem solving and decision- making. um

094family school community partnership. I can't remember this off top of my head. Land of continum supports comprehensive screening and assessment systems and then team insured leadership. So it's just um how everything combines together and how we move these initials that we are working on in our district. >> Thanks Ellie. I'm going to share just a little bit about those components and sort of what the work is looking like in your district a little bit. So the first foundational component in MTSS is teamdriven shared leadership. And this is really the foundational piece of the work, right? It is that you guys have a district level leadership team that is looking at the systems and structures that exist in your district and how to work toward outcomes for students. Right? So the reason we're all here is

095how do we how do we get student outcomes that we're working toward? So your district has a leadership team. Jared and Haley are on that and then there is also a leadership team through the Boseies through the Santa Fe Trail Boseies and that is um spearheaded by Natalie Brown and then your folks go and meet with some other district leaders and Natalie around that um team driven shared leadership. So it really is the foundational piece. Um with that is the database decision-making and problem solving. So Jared just shared a ton of data. Um and it really is something that the the implementation team is using data to drive decisions, right? So you're looking at academic data like those NWA scores, CAMASS scores, and also non-academic data. So like that attendance data. Um someone who asked

096that what the attendance rates are. So as a state right now, our average daily attendance rate is 91.4%. So your guys's data is a little below the state average. um but that is K12 um average as well. So just to give you a reference point. So again that team is using data like that to make decisions right like where are we norming with other districts and schools where are we showing growth in our own district and that really is driving the work. Um the family school community partnership piece is really key and Haley's been doing some really great work around that and working with another CDE um team that supports our office as well of how do you make sure parents are engaged and we know that the biggest um support of our kids success

097is their families right in the community. So making sure that they're looped in and a part of that that work. Um, comprehensive screening and assessment is just that, right? It's looking at how are we screening all of our students to know what supports we need to put in place and then what are we doing with that data and that's the fifth component which is the layered continuum of support. So once we have collected data and we've screened our kiddos and we know where everyone's falling sort of in the spectrum of of the expectations and standards, we're able to put in supports and look at that strong universal tier one instruction [snorts] and then which of our students need additional supports um for either enrichment, so which of our kids are above and beyond and we

098need to to enrich them and which of our students need more intervention supports who are not um responding adequately to that tier one instruction. So, those are the five components that really set the foundation framework for the MTSS work across the district. Um, and like I mentioned, it's really important that this is not a program. It it's not something that comes and goes. It really is a system and a framework of how you do business. So, it's something that will continue on um beyond any of us, right? And it's really going to set the the framework for how your district kind of goes through the work. So to share a little bit more of how the team uh breaks down, we um are supported through the regional implementation team like she said with Natalie, we

099are with Rocky Ford, Losamus, WY and Sher. So we all meet once a month and we really discuss what we're working on in our district, what they're working on um and then how we can support um and we get some feedback from CDE and then our Boseies as well. And then um our district implementation team, Jerry and I, our co-corders. And then um we have our principles and our instructional coaches who sit on that team. And we we're really looking um at that data or um any issues that kind of come up when we're trying to work on that consistency um throughout the the district. That's really what our D is focused on, our district implementation. >> Those th those members Shir Wy, that's our host district, right? Yeah. >> And who draws the BOS

100district lines? How does that >> It's whoever we we have to like accept them in. So we have to like vote and say we're going to add somebody. Um I think there was somebody interested in us recently and we I think we declined it. I don't know what it was. I don't remember it was regarding but you have to it's it's a long process but no we're within our our group and it was from somebody way far away. So >> Okay. >> Yeah. Just why don't we just across the state? >> Yeah. And just so you know, so the there are 21 Boseies across the state of Colorado and they all do operate a little bit differently in terms of the the services they provide to the districts. Also in the Santa Fe Trail Boseies

101is Swink and Kim districts are also a part of the Santa Fe Trail Boseies. They just were have not been a part of this specific work in this grant cycle. Thank you. >> And then after our we're working on um supporting our school implementations team. So our CEOs um those kind of live right now in our ILTS are instructional leadership teams within our buildings. And we're hoping that um through a lot of this work we can expand and bring in teachers uh general uh general ed and special ed and different things like that as well. And to really highlight that within a building, we usually see our principles, our APS, [clears throat] and then our instructional coaches. What we're trying to get is more of a voice from some of our lead teachers, some of

102our specials teachers from from special education, things like that, just to give a better voice to what the work we're doing. >> Um, so then you'll see this little uh stairstep picture here. Um so MTSS color multi system support is that framework. You can throw just about any initiative in um to that. So RTI, attendance, whatever you may your district may be focusing on. Um and then it puts practices into place for our students. So um our district is the um unit of support. So we're supporting our schools who are implementing the work and then seeing the change in our classrooms. Kayy and next I just want to share this visual. This is something that we use a lot in our office around the reasons for having a framework. And I'm sure you guys notice

103right in your district there's a million different initiatives. A lot of times initiatives are tied to grant dollars or other you know outcomes. And although the intention is always to work toward a shared vision, a lot of times when there are different pulls on our dollars or on on expectations, things kind of are going in different directions. So when we have that organizational framework, which is your MTSS triangle there, and you align it. So if you go to the next slide, what ends up happening is you align all of those initiatives to your common vision, right? To that outcome goal that you're trying to get. So the hope is is like Jared shared, you guys are working with UVA and you've been doing TNTP work. Um any other attendance uh frameworks that you're looking at,

104any of that work would align under the MTSS framework to drive to a common um outcome goals, right, of of student achievement. So that is what the intention is of the the framework that alignment integration. Okay. Um I now moving over to just our next slide which is database decisionmaking. Um I I know your guys slide might have slide nine which says teamdriven shared leadership. We kind of overpriced that. We don't need to go over that again so we're going to slide down to the next slide. Um this really highlights the use of the DCA tool um which is the district capacity assessment tool and school fidelity tool. um it gives us an honest reflection of what is in place in each of our building and really starts to highlight clear action steps tied to

105real data. So again trying to really focus on how we can um make this sustainable rather than the next shiny thing. Um this DCA is supposed to allow us to build the capacity year to year to year to look for growth. Um so again these um this DCA allows us to look at systems that are already in place and need meeting needing clearer documentation. It identifies gaps requiring the intentional design and communication. It outlines inconsistencies across buildings that need aligned and then gives the district um clear priorities to focus on improvement. when we break down the DCA um and and kind of how the DCA gets broken down. We meet as a D team once a year was originally how it kind of started. Correct me if I'm wrong. So, it's a district team and

106you go through I believe it's 28 items and everyone rates themselves and then you kind of negotiate what rating depending on um what your building might see versus someone else's building. Come to a consistent on each of those 28 cate 28 categories. So overview of that entire DCA that we did once a year um really comes down to the strengths that we've identified in the dis district district has been the improvement in coaching across the district. Um we've seen that our coaching has become more targeted, has more clarity, equipment has been more consistent. Um we have found that our PLC structures become more aligned and that our professional development alignment really has started to go into cycles. So now that we're getting into classrooms, seeing teachers more often, getting more observations, we're able to identify

107more of what they need so that we can give them more precise coaching. Um areas that we found that really need improvement. Uh is highlighted there. Number one is written processes through the through the DCA. We've identified that there's a lot of great things we're doing, a lot of things that we didn't realize that maybe primary or high school were doing because we don't necessarily have everything down into a written um process. Um, we're trying to really work on this being a system dependent versus person dependent and part of that is getting it into a written process and getting shared out. I know me further we talked about there's been times where they've had the central hub and these kind of things. That's where we've identified that we do need to do a better job

108of having this written process out so it's easier to follow um so that it doesn't just leave from person to person. It ties um ideally into our second goal which is uh communication for both internal and external. really making sure that everyone's in house knows what's going on, but we're also communicating with everyone out there. Um, and then the last is just really looking at our systems and processes and aligning the district, whether it be RTI systems, IEP systems, uh, attendance, etc. that we're, um, making sure that they all talk to one another and we're not sending a shock wave to parents when they leave from primary to intermediate to junior, senior high, TTA. We want to try to just get as common as we can. Going through that next um data slide, you'll see

109two um two slides with that on it. First one really highlighting our um biggest categories um which kind of breaks down organiz organization leadership competency data systems and then gives a total rating and you can see how we've scored in 2023 2024 2025 and then we just completed our DCA um just yeah last Monday. So as soon as we get that data it'll also kind of speak to that spreadsheet if you would Mr. typical that really shows where we've grown the last couple of years. Um and then that next slide um breaks down the leadership um fidelity um selection, training, coaching, decision. You can see all those areas that we've had some growth and then ones that we might have plateaued and where we want to try to target uh going forward. And again, what

110what's as we look at growth, one thing we've identified is we think we can improve all these numbers just by really focusing on our written process for what we're doing every day and being clear about how we're doing it. >> So, are you going to are you going to um looking here at U numbers some like three numbers in a row that seem to have plateaued? Selection, training, and coaching. Are you going to target those specific areas where it's kind of flatlined? >> Yeah, go ahead. >> So, also I want to share so when we talk about that team driven shared leadership um that has changed over the last couple of years. So, this is our fourth year in the grant. Um the first year it was me pretty much running it by myself um

111as a baby social worker and baby to education. Um so when I was thrown into this project, I was like, "Hey, I need to learn everything about education." And so uh the next year it was me again at another person uh Sky and she was uh helping me co-coordinate and then her and I started the last year together and then when Jared and I came on so there wasn't a lot of opportunity to do a lot of work because we had still had to still do our regular jobs and build in that uh this additional supporting thing. So now that we I believe once we get our 2026 data um this those numbers will improve once we get that because um we have people in positions to do those work the work um to make

112those those numbers move >> and and yeah uh essentially to to also answer your question we see that plateau that'd be an area we would want to target and we would really want to look at why are we plateauing is it something we need to change or is it something that we're inconsistent is it something that maybe junior senior high is doing really well prim I mean, primary might not be there, you know, or vice versa. How can we make sure we're sharing that? Make sure that we're sharing with everyone how we're doing it so that we all kind of raise that bar together. >> Um, and again, just to to bring it up again, that Lana vision of instruction tool is really aimed to guide the golden standard for teaching at Easto. As we

113develop it, as we increase it, as we look at it, we're trying to do all those bullet points to really improve student outcomes across the district. >> [clears throat] >> I think we go to the next one. Um again look in district big rocks big rock one you guys have heard planning implementation implementation of high quality instructional materials across the district we've looked at internal audit of materials what are we using um common components of curriculum so even on curriculums for example we have wanders at primary and intermediate ELA we found so much discrepancy in how teachers are using it or what components within that curriculum because most curriculums try to sell you everything under the sun sometimes you can get lost in what components have the best um effect for student learning. And so

114really trying to meet with them and get a better idea of what should be used. Um something else that we're looking on is our common assessment practices. What does it look like across a district? And then for Big Rock 2, strengthening the quality and consistency of struct instruction, excuse me. Um again, developing that common walkthrough tool and then that district norming. Um Mrs. Hines is something that you had mentioned. Is it just buildings going through that? Um really developing those teams, working the district lens that's been normed. Yep. Um so with that the uh Katie talked a little bit about family school community partnership being a standalone agency but also under the umbrella of or that framework of MTSS partner non-enter system of support. So I've been really working with um that office at JD

115Madigan to increase the support uh for our families and our students to get that voice and buy in. So, one of the big things we're working on is um evaluating all of the activities and the events and things that we're putting on. Is it really impactful? Is it going back to what we're really here to do? Is it tying back to our goals? Are those big rocks? Things like that. So, one of the uh focuses so far we've worked on is conferences. Really getting some feedback on how conferences are, are they effective, are you getting your questions answered? Um what changes can we make? How can we improve those? Uh so that way you get the best outcome for your student. Um and then really working with a real collaborative um that has been really

116helpful. It's all of it's a bunch of tiny districts or very similar to us who are experiencing very similar things. So we're bouncing ideas off of each other. Hey, what are you doing in this case? This is something that we're struggling with. Do you have any ideas? Um I meet with them about once a month or every other week to really uh have those discussions and see what we can improve and um to bring back different ideas. And again, just to really tie up that that UVA approach with the strategic alignment within the district systems and the TNTP focuses of coherent instructional programming, developing that culture of belonging, and then having that consistent high quality instruction. Um, so again, why why this matters for our students? Um we're really just trying to build this consistency

117piece across across the district and build something that's more sustainable that's systemdriven versus person driven. Uh really started with the grant and now we have a lot of partnerships and supports and we have now a structure where we can uh run anything that we're working on through that and make sure we're meeting all of those requirements with that framework. >> And you said you've been doing it for four years, right? Yeah. So now it's become almost a process, a normal process, not just we're doing it to jump through hoops with the grant, but that's correct. That's how we operate. >> Absolutely. That's 100% how it started and now it became, oh, this is something that can help us. And as we were putting the work with TNTP and EVA, a lot of it was like,

118hey, these are the things we're already working on and what MTSS could support. And so we're uh putting all those pieces together so that way once those partnerships are gone, the work will still continue on. >> Good. That's really good to hear about that work continuing on because I know that that's a big thing in the past that we've had all these different programs and people come in and things that have happened and it's like okay let's call them happy phase let's do it for x amount of time and then they leave okay now we can go back to what we were doing before >> so I like that you know we spend all this money you know from grants and whatnot to have these partnerships but it doesn't mean anything if we All right.

119>> And it's a system or a framework that will last. It doesn't have to have money tied to it. It's just how we It's just how we're going to operate, >> right? Yeah. Good. >> Yeah. [clears throat] Awesome. Um and then that last last slide, are there any questions or anything for myself, Haley, um Katie that we could answer for you? >> I think from my point of view, I'm excited. I mean, you know, I like to see my data data every year. >> Well, and when you use consistent practices, it's easy to collect that when you jump around makes it really difficult. So, >> and with consistent practices like I know years before we did like um like you were talking about teacher parent conferences or something like that, we did like student le

120>> ones. I thought those were great. Matter of fact, your daughter did that. I loved it. and then went to another kid and it was like so anyway but with saying that it was you know like those practices are we going to look at those kind of things that work the things that don't work we go back and make sure that we really look at those things that work >> with our family school community partnership we have a bu a building level team at each building um we've combined our primary and intermediate teams because a lot of the same initiatives are happening in both buildings and it just makes sense to keep that consistency across the board so once we'll collect all that data from conferences since we just did it and then we'll bring

121it back to the team and say hey look these are what the things that we're uh seeing and then bringing it to our pie uh groups as well to have that that collaboration um how can we improve those conferences or even if it's the ice cream social at the beginning of the year how can we improve that or something along those lines >> yeah that's you it's almost a trauma thing compared to teacher conferences I'm being a teacher but you know attendance to parents there. Um it's almost a nightmare, >> you know. So hopefully as you collect data and you go through this, you know, I don't know how many people have been here to remember the big party we used to have at the high school and you win a kid, you know, all

122that kind of stuff just to get parents up there um for parent teacher conference. So that that's good. That's a good Yeah, they point just because it was brought up. But I thought I think that's probably one of the most important things is to have the parents and the teachers aligned >> with what's going on. Sorry. Something else I'll just share that I think is a really significant piece of this work is that partnership with the Boseies and the other districts because I think that there is >> it it creates uh a time and a space for people to share what's working in their districts because similar to most districts right parent engagement is challenging and so it's nice sometimes I think I know there's some neighboring districts that are part of the Boseies that

123have tried some new things in the last year or two to increase parent engagement and are having success with them. So, it's a nice place to share those things and hear what might be working in your neighboring district that you could also, you know, try out and and see if that would increase that for you guys as well. >> All right, any other questions or comments? The the just the last closing comment I want to make is as we've gotten to work with CDE and seen so many people rather than an organization. I just want really want to highlight Katie as another example for CDE where we have a person that has met with us multiple times even just on this presentation to really help us succeed and be successful with everything that we're doing.

124And so I really want to make sure that I highlight you Katie. Thank you for your support um as we've navigated through this. >> Thanks Jared and and I echo that back. I have really enjoyed working with with you guys and I'm excited to see all the the growth and um and if anyone has any questions ever, please don't hesitate to reach out to me as well. Um and I'm happy to share any anything with you guys um in terms of the data too. Um that district capacity assessment is also available if you were curious to see what the questions are um as as the board or whatever that can be shared with you as well. Thank you. >> All right. Number six, superintendent report and recommendation. >> So, um the first thing I just

125want to let everybody know, we will be moving the superintendent evaluation to the March uh board meeting. We'll move that back a month. Um we'll we'll get everybody the evaluation and get feedback back to Sarah and then we will figure out how we're going to display that information. But we'll have that done for the March 4. Um, next thing, last week we got a letter from the IRS that states that we did not um we didn't do two things. We didn't have a transmitter of an employer provided health care or health insurance offered and coverage information returns. We should report that the 1094C to the IRS. We also did not complete form 191095 employer provided health insurance offering coverage. Um they have recommended for us and those fines are going to be $170,000 for failure

126to file and then $169,000 $880 for failure to furnish. So this happened in uh 23 taxes. So it was not reported in the 23 24 school year. And the reality is we have a broker who does our insurance who has been offering and said I can do this for you. It'll be easy. Um so I don't know why this wasn't filed or wasn't furnished but um we are now sitting looking at a $3 roughly $40,000 fine from we're working right now. Kim, Sarah, Glen Govson, myself, we're trying to reach out to the IRS to see if we can get it reduced or if there's other things we can have. Um, but right now, that's the only information. We just got this last week and I wanted to let everybody know $340,000 in fines. So, do

127we know is that was it R central office that is supposed to file. >> Yes. Okay. >> Yep. Central office. >> Do we have any um uh [clears throat] do we have insurance or screw-ups like this? Do we have any re I mean can we do anything? Do we have any >> [clears throat] >> um what can we do? We're working on it. Um I'm not optimistic because it's the IRS. Um you know, when we were originally talking about it, um we're working on it. We're working to reach out to our attorney, but um it doesn't feel like the IRS, you know, negotiates or um works with other parties. So, um, we are we'll give answers for you at the next board meeting. Right now, this is just we just got the letter. So, I

128wanted to let everybody know where we're at with with this and we have we as we're working as we have we haven't been able to get any progress because it's, >> you know, happened selflessly and it's not long ago that we got this. >> Can we have a from here on out since we know this was an issue now, do we can we >> it will never happen again. >> Okay. I was going to say, can we have like a check system three times check it? >> Yeah. And this is like this should have been done. We have a broker who's offered to do it for us and um it was not done. This is there's no excuse for this. No one else should have done it for us done it for us like ADP

129or any other payroll provider. >> Um they they've offered to help us. They said we would do it for you. But from what I was told and >> we indicated no, we would >> indicated no, we have it and then we didn't do it. >> Do we know for the 2425 year? >> We don't know. We're still we're worried that more of this might come through and what um implications does this discovery have and potential as you just referred to potential future discoveries. What does that have on our audit? And is that going to delay our audit? And is that going to delay getting our money from the treasury? >> I I don't know the answer to that. I will find out. >> Another question. Uh with the IRS, is there a way we can

130pay it in increments back? >> We're working on that right now to see what our repayment plan. And we're hoping we can start the repayment plan after July 1. And I'm going to move on. And this isn't going to get any better. Um, we also, um, found out, um, not long ago that in from the years 18 to 2022, what the state does is they give us money for the students in October one that we can count. they go back and audit to make sure that the school districts are counting kids that they actually can count and can get paid for. Um, in 1819 we owe back $2,433. 1920 that went up to $45,657. we claimed $18,000 that we weren't supposed to. And then in 2122 we claim 30,000 or we over $30,000. So in

131total um it's $97,136.85 and that is for the state equal. And then we also have to do transportation. So same thing we ended up with fines. Our total fines is $113,847.34 to CDE. We do have we have worked with them and we can we have until November of 2032 to pay it back without interest. So there we have a repayment plan that we're going to go in effect. We will start next school year, the 26 27th school year. So after July 1, they'll be pulling the money that they give us for our kids every month. We're going to have them automatically take out that amount until we pay it off in 2032. So that's 113,000. So with the two total, we just 4 about $443,000 between the IRS and CDU that we are now on

132the hook for. And to your answer to your question, we don't know if we're out of the woods with other things that are going to come in prior to um us taking over the district. And this happened under clearly it happened under mistakes made by district personnel. >> Yes. >> And wasn't under your watch and it wasn't under the previous superintendent was only here for one year. So it was under a different superintendent. Very unfortunate. So, not only were we overspending during those years, but we were also collecting too much money we shouldn't have been collecting. >> Correct. Correct. >> And not filing appropriate noting. Yeah. >> Going [clears throat] forward, >> we now have procedures in place to make sure that we are counting >> the appropriate students and not extra students that can't.

133>> Absolutely. We actually um are the person in the office that does this for us now. Um D wrangle, she and I met and there was a couple kids that I said we're not claiming because we are going to follow the law to the tea if they're not there. There's all these rules around who we can claim when they're attendance when they're in attendance. Um, we're not taking any chances of, you know, there is no Yes, we would be nice if we claim the kids, but honestly, if they're not pending, you shouldn't be claiming them anyway because most likely they're not going to be coming back to school. >> And then if you do claim it, you're stuck with a bill later. And actually we passed we're not gonna have we already passed for the

1342526 like CD came back and said you guys did everything they already take a look we're not going to be audited because um we file so everything so quickly and with such care >> thank you for doing your job >> no just >> thank you for being confident. Yeah, >> I guess um you indicated we'll we'll pay this the CDE thing over time. We'll just build that into the budget. >> Exactly. >> Okay. >> So, we'll know exactly how much we're going to be taking out every month and we'll build that in the budget. >> It's kind of like a mortgage. >> Interest free. All right, there bonus points. >> Moving on. I've got two more things. Um, and everything we're discussing is extremely serious. Um, we're moving forward with reducing staff for next year.

135We have to get to about $2.5 million in reductions. Just we are overspending. Uh, we have been for years. We've already clearly laid out. Um right now we're looking at about um 23 certified staff. Um we're still working on classified. Um we want to get the certified done because we we have to get if there's any openings we have to post. Um we want to let everybody know, but we're in the process. Met with the principles last week, gave them their numbers. Um we had cuts, teaching cuts only. Um nine at the high school. um five at um both the primary and intermediate and TTA um was also five. So that is the number we're reducing for certified. Um that'll get us probably close to about $1.5 million before we look at classified and also

136um administrative. They're coming back to me this week. So we'll be able to start notifying um teachers. We've already looked at um the teachers who retired. So, we've accounted for those. We're looking at some of the teachers who were itinerate subs, which should be long-term subs is actual language we should be using. Um, and we provide those folks have already been notified. Um, they are able to reapply. They have their license. We move forward and we're going to um get all that done as quickly as possible. But the teachers will be notified as soon as the principles come back with who they're recommending to me. We'll let everybody know next week. But we're been moving quickly. Um, principles have done a really good job. This is hard having to make these tough decisions, but right

137now we're in a place where it's we don't have a choice. Um, and it is the right thing to do to get us to where we're spending what we can afford. >> I just have a question real quick. When you're saying certified, you're are you putting secretaries in with say aids or >> That's in the classifier. >> That's classified. >> Yes. Right now we're working on >> Oh, you're looking at the Yeah. >> Yeah. We're looking at everything. >> I mean, we want to make sure everything looking at what's going to be effective. Um, you know, and make sure that, you know, we're able to continue to still serve our kids at the high mark. And I just want to clarify what I believe you told me is over a 10-year period, we've lost 200

138students and [clears throat] added 45 employees, 35 classified, 10 unclassified. Is that >> that is correct? >> Is that right? >> Yes. So we we had declined enrollment but yet we continue to add personnel. >> Yes sir. >> Yes. >> But you said that's classified, right? Not certified. >> No, we we improve we increased certified by 10 and classified by 35. >> Okay. >> During that time period. So when you should have been reducing staffing because you're not bringing your number of students aren't there and the resources aren't there. We went the other way. >> Yeah. I just want to make sure that we're looking, you know, because we're being videotaped and you go out into the community and people get certified, classified numbers, all that stuff. >> So certified is anybody that's required to

139have a licensed teacher, >> right? um admin special service providers like counselors um classified when I use that it is pair pro secretaries um maintenance but that is considered classified then administrative is obviously administrative principles central administrative leaders >> so the 2.5 million does that include what we would need to cut with the fines that just came in or is there going to be more money needed to cut after we calculate in those funds? >> We we are actually going >> over to make sure that we don't want to miss this target. We cannot miss the target and then be back here next year in the same situation where we're trying to cover payroll every month. Um, and the other thing is we want to get to a a place where we're able to be

140talking about students and what students need and be able to invest in programming that is going to help our students. And the other side of it, we need to make sure we have we're preparing for our older buildings and you know those costs. So, we're not, you know, we're not going to miss the target. We are going to make sure that we are able to be fiscally sound moving forward. And then um for the numbers at each building is that after the itinerate clubs >> that's a total number that we're they will not have back next year. >> Okay. So say at the intermediate we have 15 of them. So those all get nonrenewed and then five of them >> basically th those positions will not be filled again but the other 10 could possibly

141still be needed. >> Yes. close to that number. So, I used a a graph teacher to student formula and that's what we used. So, we're trying to make sure um that we hit that number. So, if there's we're not going to go any less [clears throat] than the formula that we came up with. So, we came up 19 to1 for secondary and then we're having no more than 25 to1 um in the intermediate because the 19 to1 is not really 19 to1. We have the kids and those things, but we're coming out with the number that it's still going to be more than 19 kids in the classroom because you have to count for that. They don't make it easy because you have how many teachers do you have, how many students. So, um, but

142that is how we're doing that. And the numbers, they know how many numbers they're going to have for next year. So, we can start going through and posting and filling those positions. >> Okay. >> Just to be clear, class sizes are going to go up a little bit. >> Yes. And just to also be clear, right now we have probably our class sizes are not appropriate. They I mean we you guys we've been in the buildings, they're not appropriate because we have 200 less students and we've increased that. Um uh I think it's a a concern of mine but also a lot of uh constituents and parents uh you know we're in turnaround we're coming out of it but it's uh you know losing teachers is there a process I'm pretty sure they want to

143know how are you going to do that on which ones and how like are you having to help feel like or the state or anything to make sure that we don't go back into turnaround because we are going to >> how we're doing that is quality programming making sure that we're focusing on what we teach, how we teach the two big the big rocks that making sure that we have systems in place. Um that we're able to move forward having all those things that we work on quality instruction in the classroom. So right now I will say this though what I emphasizes that are probably the most lopsided state we're in turnaround in that situation. So just because you have that teacher student ratio has not had that quality of effect is we have what's

144made the difference is TNTP the UVA partnership working with our teachers providing professional development that's what's going to get us out of out of [clears throat] yeah 19 to1 on a secondary level is not that number at all. >> No. Um, so just for clarification, so um, we're cutting two and a half million. The first round of cuts will cut one and a half million, but we'll still have a million more to cut, >> right? >> Which will be admin and classified. >> Yes, >> eventually. Okay. And then >> we don't we have the numbers. We just aren't >> they're not I don't have them ready to present. Okay. But we will make that $2.5 million. >> Okay. And then um the certified teachers that are being let go, they will know those those specific

145teachers will know by the end of next week essentially. >> Yes. >> Okay. Just want to make sure I heard that right. Okay. Thank you. Any other Was that you right? Any [clears throat] other questions on >> I do have one more thing and it's going to go right into new business. Um the strategic plan we're working with TNTP. They're going to start collecting data the first week of March and then we will be including parents, staff, students, um some schoolboard members on the two planning teams that we will as soon as the data comes from PTP in March, we're going to meet in April and then have another advisory team in May. So, we're excited that partnership is going to be in place. And that to your questions about how do we move forward

146is by making sure that we know where we're going. We're not just going for every fad of this new program. Um I know those of us have been in education a long time. There's two shall pass. We are actually trying to create systems that will last forever. They're going to last and it's based on best practice. Anything else for Dr. K? All right, moving on to new business. Okay, >> so I recommend the approval of partnering with TNTP for strategic planning in the amount of $78,616. This will be paid with easy grant funds that we already applied for. Um we were just waiting on the right on the partner and the right timing. So, um, I do recommend we approve that partnership with TNTP, who we already use for a lot of the academic and

147instructional. Um, we wanted to keep it consistent. >> And you did say it's grant funds. >> Absolutely. >> I just wanted to clarify that >> it's grants fund that we've already received that we got a good deal. >> Yes. and make a motion to approve the uh contract with TNTP for strategic planning in the amount of $78,000 or six $78,616. >> Second. I have a motion and a second to approve partnering with TNTP for strategic planning in the amount of $78,616. with >> I like the timeline. It seems pretty aggressive. Um, but I like it. I mean, if they can do it, let's do it. It seems aggressive, but let's go for it. >> And this their timeline is based on their they do this all over the place. >> That was what they recommended

148to us. We worried about, you know, summer. Anyway, I'm all for it, man. We need to get it done. So, let's go for it. >> I like that we're using the same partner that we did for all of our turnaround stuff that ties in together. They know district, they worked with our district. So, I think it's great that we're using the same partner for this. I think it's favorable on us using this partner because CDE wasn't involved but they look favorably on TGP as well. >> Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Ayala, >> hi. >> Mr. Bickl, >> hi. >> Mrs. Hines, >> hi. >> Mr. Fulls. >> Hi. >> Mr. Salser. >> Hi. >> All right. Letter B. >> So, I recommend the adoption of approval of resolution exhibit A. the statement of fiscal exigency.

149Um what this means is we are declaring that we are in very difficult times um and that we um as we go forward go through the teacher cuts. It allows us to be able to um to not necessarily if there's a program cut and it's a non-probationary teacher. It allows us to be able to do to be able to function with a little more flexibility to be able to get to the big cuts that we're having. >> I entertain a motion. >> I motion we adopt the fiscal extended ex whatever resolutions. Second. >> I have a motion and a second to adopt resolution exhibit A, statement of fiscal. >> I actually wrote it down like >> question helmet. I don't think it's anything that we want to do, but we all understand that it's something

150that we have to do for the kids. We can't help all the students possible if we don't ensure that the district continues to function. >> Well said. Here we are. >> All right. Roll call. >> Mrs. Ayol. I >> Mr. Bickl. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Hines. Hi, >> Mr. Coleman. >> Hi, [clears throat] >> Mr. Salser. All right. >> All right. Number eight, board comments. Start chating. >> Why do you want me first? >> Um, this has been a difficult meeting. Um, I could use some more colorful language, but I won't. Um, but I'm really proud um to be on this board. and served with my four other board members. I think we all knew we had silver hands. I'm not sure any of us knew the degree of the mess, but I think we've

151all approached it pretty cleareyed and haven't allowed personal agendas or personal things to get involved. And I think we've we've done a really good job about tackling this mess. Um, this mess didn't happen overnight. Um, it's been 10 years in the making and we're trying to fix it overnight. Um, and we won't fix it overnight, but we will get it done. I want to really thank the staff. I know this is traumatic and stressful times and your professionalism and you showing up every day is a testament to to what you do. Um so I really appreciate that. Um I want to congratulate our wrestling team, both boys and girls. I want to congratulate the kids for a wonderful production, a theater production. Um, and I want to just really give a big shout out to

152Dr. crumbled because I'm pretty sure you had no idea what you were signing up for. But your leadership and your ability to communicate and be transparent um and be present has made a difficult situation um more resolvable. and I just want to acknowledge your leadership and and thank you and thank you to all the staff and to everybody else. Thank you. [clears throat] >> Um I just wanted to add um I definitely echo all of Greg's sentiments um particularly to the staff. I wanted to add on as far as the meet and confer goes um I wanted to express that we heard a lot that night. Um, we definitely appreciate the time that was taken to put together what was presented and we are talking about it. We will have a work session to discuss

153it and to go through it and we will address as many of the things as we can as soon as we can. Um, I think all of this today kind of puts a spotlight on the importance of having the right leadership and the right person at the table to run our district. Um, and I want to thank Dr. K for all the work he's done and I truly feel like he is the right person to be at the head of the table running the district. Um, and I also appreciate that he has taken all of this in stride. You know, all the things that keep popping up here and there and everything and fires here, fires there, and um, he doesn't complain and he's not running away. So, I George appreciate that. So, but I

154am optimistic for our district and what our future looks like. The past is scary, but it sounds like we are going to be closing the book on the past and we can move forward to the future for our students and for our financial situation. So, >> um mine is more just kind of a concern. My my comment is as we're going through all this budget work and um we're making cuts to staff and everything. I just want to make sure we're doing due diligence to the facilities. Um I've had a few people question about the the pool. Um and to make sure that that you know I don't know how much we put into that pool, but I know since I have been employed or was employed at the district seemed like every year we

155put money into the pool. So I was just wondering and I I know it's difficult especially with financial records and the way it's it's set up as building fund to know how much we put into that pool but is it responsible to keep the pool or um to m keep maintaining the pool um with all the budget cuts. So I don't know if you have three years worth of data or one year's worth of data or how much we put into that. If I can bring that back to the next board meeting, I will give us some time, give us the next month to go through and figure out that and we can bring that back to you. >> Yeah. >> Also, if there is any uh bond information on that, if the city was

156supposed to maybe help us maintain that like from back in the 80s, who knows? There could be something we're missing. >> Yeah, back in the 80s. >> Who knows? Um I guess my turn. Um, I'd like to say, uh, I I did a list because I always forget something. Um, I'd like to thank the the parents and the coaches, uh, for the state wrestling, um, and the staff, too. That helps out because, you know, without that program, I don't think we'd have it, you know, with with all the adults that help out. And I want to, uh, congratulate the kids, of course. You know, a lot of them have that eye, the tiger, that's for sure. I've seen it on the map. I was really impressed with watching a lot of the videos. Um, and

157then I also want to uh uh also shout out to the cheer team. I seen their halftime show. It was really good. Um, and then also um two science fair kids also that participated and that one. And then also let's see uh the ones that participated in let's see we just they just did a knowledge bowl too up in it was Burlington or something like that. And then uh Colorado Springs also did a speech and debate one. We had one of our um the girls at the high school win I think sixth place and we had to alternate for the nationals. Uh so that's an awesome thing. And then um we had a big turnout for the 4 uh sign up um that's um coming to a close really quick at the beginning of March.

158So March 1, we're not taking anybody else. But we looks like we have a program for uh robotics and this is a good way to save money because it's something that we are you know uh partnering with other programs how we can still service our kids and give them opportunities with a lot of things. I mean it's rocketry there's arts all kinds of cool things with computer science. Um, so I see that and then um, cool was my other thing. I was thinking about that one too because I just wanted to follow up with it. That was it. We're supposed to be discussing things. It's like supposed to be that engine driving part for strategic planning and stuff for us to get things going. And I just want to thank everybody. >> Sorry. >> No.

159And and this is a really hard time and I I feel really bad for all the things that are happening and the decisions that are happen to make, but it's something we have to do. I just I always forget something. Um and I think most of you know we were in the building buildings last Monday for about 3 hours or so. And I I just want to say um a year and change on a board. I think that was the most valuable 3 hours of time that um that I've spent since I've been on the school board. I loved it. It was awesome. Didn't mean to stress anybody out or anything, but just being in the buildings and seeing them, it was great. And I mean, I would like to see if we could do

160that on more regular basis. >> All right. Anything else? >> With that, we will adjourn at 8.