001I do. And Matt's not here. >> He had 75 sprinkler systems. >> I'd like to call the Canyon City Schools School Board meeting to order. It's Monday, October 27th, 2025 at 5:31 p.m. Let's begin with the pledge. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thanks for coming everyone. Roll call. Miss Mary. >> Mr. Albbright >> here. >> Mr. Alexander is absent. Miss Mary here. Mrs. Reer >> here. >> And Mr. Miley is also out. He's with the band. >> Yes. >> Grand Junction. >> And both of those are excused. Miss Solano. All right. Mr. Ren, I'm assuming you're the one I'm asking if there's any changes to the agenda. >>
002President Reer, there are no changes to the agenda. >> Thank you, Mr. Ren. May I have a motion to approve the agenda as written? I move we approve the agenda as written. >> I second. >> Motion and a second. Further discussion hearing? None. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Albbright, >> I. >> Miss Mary, I. Mrs. Reer, >> I. Agenda is approved. Next, we have the consent agenda. Would either one of you like to pull something off for further consideration? Hearing none. May I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> There's only two of you tonight. You [laughter] Okay. I I move we approve the consent agenda >> and I second. >> I have a motion in a second. Further discussion hearing? None. Roll call, please. >> Mr. >> I. >> Miss Mary. I.
003Mrs. Reer. >> I. Consent agenda passes. Next we have board members report. Who would like to go first? [snorts] >> Go ahead, Molly. >> I don't have anything this week. >> Okay. Well, I have a little bit. I had to go back in my calendar to look because the day after the last board meeting, we finished up our staff appreciation visits to Washington and the admin and I loved getting to do all those. I love doing that. We're going to do it again in the spring. Um and we also um a few of us met with the um with Abby Price's future educators class that she did. They had a panel where they got to ask us questions and um I was happy to be there, but I was really glad that Robin was there
004because she's our expert on school finance. And I was really glad Adam and Bill were there to answer a lot of questions. But um I was happy to be there because I think it's important that we try to grow our own teachers. And I also judged the scary story for the gifted and talented program. So that was kind of fun, too. I got a different grade level this year, so I had to adjust my my scope. >> [laughter] >> And I think that's Oh, and I I will I just I literally drove from the airport from going to Disney World to see my kid who's a performer there, but I got to see one of our own kids there who happens to be really good friends with Buzz Lightyear and I got to meet Buzz
005and to have my picture taken. And um I was really glad to see one of our Emily um Emma Emma Smith who happens to be a really good friend of Buzz Lightyear and I got to >> nice >> take my picture with him. So that was fun. So >> are you going to share that with us later? >> Sure. >> Very cool. [snorts] All right. So um Steinmeire, our property that we own out by the new car wash and uh Jew liquor store. our buyer I think it's out of the it's out now is Seven Brews. It's a small coffee shop. Uh so we're just beginning the arduous process of uh stage one and stage two. They they begin that process with soil testing and utilities and that sort of thing. So they've just begun
006that. The really entertaining thing for me is we're not technically under contract yet. So it's like isn't that a bit about the cart before the horse? But I'm not complaining. Go test away. Uh we had a construction meeting on Friday. It was uh mostly about uh some unexpected fees that we're getting from the county and uh the unallocated money that we have from the bonds. And we had a facilities court meeting. So you guys snoring out there yet? [laughter] All right. I think that's it for >> Oh, I did have one more thing. I attended my last CCEO meeting because now that >> Carla's on board, Carla and I were both on there and they can only have one board member and Carla's going to stay. So, >> um, but I I enjoyed that. I
007really did love that committee. It's nice just to have nothing but to support kids and give away money and help kids and programs throughout the school. So, it's a great committee. I'm sad to have to leave it, but I understand. So that is a good >> So our facilities cor part of what resides in there is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. I don't know if you guys know about that but um if you sign up all of your if you have a child birth to five years old and you sign up for that program you get one book a month free. It's actually a pretty cool program. So anyway, all right on to our favorite thing, the awards and kudos. So, Canyon City Mountain biking team, if you guys want to start making your way
008up while I read. Canyon City's Tiger Mountain Bikers have experienced a banner 2025 season owed to their sheer fitness, dedication, and grit. Strong in mind, body, and character, each of the athletes pushed forward the best of themselves this year. The team saw several podium finishes and earned first place for division 2 each race weekend during the regular season. 17 out of 21 teammates qualified for their state championship races and Canyon placed seventh overall of 26 division 2 teams at state. Alongside their coaches, athletes helped to construct a new high school raceourse and venue at the Royal Court Gorge Ranch and Resort and put in over 200 hours of trail work throughout the season. The new course and venue were wellreceived and the league is already planning to return to Canyon City next year. Out of
00990 teams affiliated with the Colorado High School Cycling League, the Tigers were awarded the Golden Pick, which is recognition given to the team with the most trail work hours averaged per rider and includes a 1500 team scholarship. $1,500 team scholarship. Well done, Tiger Mountain bikers. [applause] PILE OF things to bring to our team celebration. >> Yeah. Where's the golden pick? >> I know. Celebration pile. >> And this is not the first year you've gotten. >> No, we do a good job. >> I've been fourth. >> I'm going to go through and do some hugs and congratulations first. Congratulations. Congratulations. >> I want to say to you guys, >> one of our mottos for Canyon City Schools is we are future focused. >> Um, and so of course I'm connected with this team for three very
010specifically good reasons. >> [laughter] >> What I see with you guys is that you're developing a lifelong sport, a skill that you will take into your life. That's your future focus. But I think I'm the most impressed with your volunteer hours that you have stayed connected with the community, given to the community. All these trails you work on are access for every adult, every other kid who rides. You help make our be healthier and uh you are future focused and that's your golden pick awards. >> I do have a real estate comment to make. Whenever I show someone from out of town property here, I say we are the mountain biking capital of Colorado and that's thanks to you guys. [applause] This is two parts spread out. So, you're going to have to bring a
011second first row. >> You guys can do Here we go. [applause] >> Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. >> Sir, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate you, too. Are you okay? >> Yeah. In fact, my collar bone was from biking. >> Yeah. >> Oh my gosh. >> It wasn't It wasn't a team ride, though. Yeah, >> what grade? >> Oh, senior senior. Oh, that's it. >> Yep, that's it. But other tons of like like she said, future focus. You've left your mark. >> Yep. For sure. For sure. [laughter] >> I like your shirt. No, I don't know. >> I know. I'm sure it's packed full of excitement. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> Yeah. Or you can rush home and watch it live. See you. >> We can clear a room. >> See you. >> Thanks
012everyone. >> Thank you. >> Bye guys. >> And the room is cleared. >> Yeah. >> [laughter] >> All right, we have some we have one information item this evening. It's a standard operating procedure GCBA years of service eligibility presented to the board for information. And it's a new standard operating procedure from HR director Jamie Davis to ensure consistency and fairness in determining whether an employee hired midyear qualifies for one full year service credit towards step advancement on the district's salary schedule. All right. And then we have the gate presentation this evening. Come on up, Shila. a little bit. Is there more than one copy there? >> He asked for it. He asked to see the >> the slides before and I was like, I can't give you permission yet. You have to wait. >> That
013was me, right? >> Yeah. Um, I want to say thank you for letting me be here. I do appreciate this opportunity every year to come before you and share kind of the state the state of gate and um what we're doing, how we're doing, and how our kids are performing. So, I really appreciate it. So, um I am actually going to start with the video and the video is about two minutes long. I hope the volume's okay because it is a really loud video. Um but hopefully it it sets up um what I want to share with you tonight. So there's always an ad. >> Progressive makes it easy to see if you can save money with a commercial auto quote online. So you can a focus LOOK ON HIS FACE AS HE steps to
014the PLATFORM FOR THE 510 kg deadlift here in the mutant deadlift world championships. 5 10 on the bar for making those essential lastm minute preparations AND STEPS NOW TO THE PLATFORM. The Icelandic giant former world's strongest man reigning and defending world deadlift record holder. We are here at the Utila Arena, Birmingham, England, the Mutant Deadlift World Championships. AND HUFFDOR Bjönson is strapping to the bar to try to make history here with the greatest weight ever raised in the history of the sport. Here we go. [cheering] Let's go, Thor. Let's go Thor. Come on. [cheering] Make some noise. World record. Beyond of Iceland. 510 kg, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. [cheering] It [crying] is. WOW. AND THE FIRST THING THAT COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT IS THE FACT THAT THAT WAS EASY. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
015LOOK UPON THE MOUNTAIN. LOOK UPON JULIUS BONDSON of right here. Okay, thanks. So, on September 6th of this year, this event took place. Um, the Mutant World Deadlift Challenge. It was a championship in um England. And half Thor Bjornson didn't just lift 150, I'm sorry, 510 kilograms, that is 1,124 pounds. He shattered his own world record for the third time in recent years. But did you catch that his name was Half Thor? It's like his parents knew, right? Who names their kid half Thor? Um, while this headline celebrates the weight he lifted, what's truly remarkable is that it wasn't just his biceps doing the work. It was his total strength, his focus, technique, stamina, and strategy all coming together. And this is a reminder that strength is never one muscle alone. It exists in the
016whole body working in harmony. In the same way, giftedness isn't just about a single test score or a single talent. Our perspective, how we recognize potential, nurture multiple abilities, and value diverse forms of thinking dramatically ch sorry, dramatically changes how we view and support gifted learners. Just as Halfth Thor didn't set his record by chance, he trained, planned, pushed through every step. Our gifted learners achieve when they own their journey. Own their journey isn't just a slogan or a catch phrase that we have set this year. It's a mindset. It's about giving students the tools, the guidance, and the opportunities to take ownership of their learning, to [clears throat] explore their strengths, tackle challenges, and celebrate their growth along the way. When we empower students to drive their own path, we see potential, and it's
017transformed into real achievement. We see this in action when students explore a topic they're curious about. When they create something original, they reflect on their growth and they lead others through innovation. Each of these steps builds not just knowledge but resiliency, creativity, and confidence. Qualities that will serve them well in a lifetime. Like a world record lift, gifted education is about building strength across the whole spectrum, not just in one place. how we choose to see and support our students dramatically changes what they and we can achieve. So what I'd like to do is sorry he told me um is walk through um some of the handful of goals that our department has. >> Do you know why it's called >> don't know? >> I don't know. >> Right. [laughter] I know. Well, he kind
018of had mutant qualities, right? I mean, [laughter] a little bit scary. >> No, you're fine. I I don't know why it's called that. Um, so I just want to um walk you through a a handful of goals that our department has this year. The theme of own the journey has a two-part focus. While we're empowering students to embrace their unique learning paths with confidence and curiosity, we also encourage students to take ownership through goal setting, decision-making, and reflecting. We've also seen a need for single subject acceleration. And our goal is to provide a consistent e equitable way to support advanced learners in specific subjects while also keeping students challenged, engaged, and growing academically. This year we will host members from CDE when they visit our district and they come down for our gifted educational monitoring
019which is gym. Um this process of gym is like an audit of our program and they do this every five years. The process ensures legal compliance, program quality and continuous improvement in our the gifted services that we provide. So, they will be here in our district January 13th through the 15th. And we're excited to showcase our gifted program. And last up here is a goal of Splash. Last year, we were not able to hold Splash. We had many teachers out and um only three that could return. So, we said, "Okay, we'll go back bigger and better this year." And we're very excited to get that back. We enjoy Splash very much. So, I just want to share some gate facts with you. And all of these facts um are indeed on the handout that I
020gave you. Currently, we service 251 students and those students are identified formally as gifted learners scoring at that 95th percentile or higher which is approximately 8% of our population and we have remained consistent whether the district population goes up or down we are staying consistent right at that 8%. um which I think is pretty impressive. Um when the district population goes up or down, it's not affecting our department. Um all of these students are currently on an advanced learning plan and they all receive new goals every year um that they help write and the classroom teachers help write and those are progress monitored and then evaluated at the end of every year. So last year our annual um gifted plan was to incorporate tier 2 students back into our program. Um the year before Adam
021left our our program, um we did away with tier 2 students, which are students that score the 92nd to the 94th, because our numbers were just too big. We just couldn't service all of them. Um and I think that we have always done a really good job of honing in and making sure identification is accurate. Um but I think we've even done a better job at that just through state regulations and making sure that we are on target. So, we do have a little bit of room, a little bit of wiggle room. So, we've um hand selected some of those tier 2 students and we've pulled them in with the hopes of raising that bar a little bit and getting them to the 95th percentile by fifth grade. So, we're excited about that. And um
022let's see, what else do I want to tell you? Those students will be reassessed at the end of fifth grade to to make sure that they're on track. So this slide shows the area of giftedness um separated by um um well separated by area I guess math remains at the um the height of the bar at 54% of our students beident being being identified as math. Um we are seeing that number go down just a little bit. Every year I report that math is our highest. Um reading comes in at a second. Um but that that gap is is closing. Reading is um increasing and math is um dwindling just a little bit. Um we also have a high number of visual visually art identified students. We have eight incredible artists right now and a
023handful that we're getting ready to take a look at. Um ma uh music and writing are still areas we continue to strive to find students. Um boy, I hate the crutch of co But I really do feel like co hurt us with music identified kids. Um not being able to blow on instruments and then um and then kids not returning to that as we see. Um so I mean if you've noticed band is even smaller than it used to be but we're still trying to find those kids. And as Yes. >> Do you see writing and music showing up by the time kids uh hit middle school and high school? Do you begin to see we're not seeing a lot of writing identified kids across the state? Um the the tests that they give us
024to administer for writing is pretty poor. So the state is working on that but okay they have not come up with a great solution either. It's >> a great question. >> Okay. Um so this is our gifted population in each school. Um, as you can see, Canyon City High School, it says 11%. That is actually the percent of the population at the high school. So, 11% of the population is identified gifted at the high school, which we expect to see, you know, as as they go through the grade levels. That is our highest area um with McKinley um being our our lowest identified school. And this is a breakdown of grade level. Again, we expect those numbers to rise as kids um increase in their knowledge and then their ability to demonstrate that knowledge. So,
025our K2 population looks small. Um but then you can tell third through 5th it increases a lot. Um a lot of this has to do with every spring and second grade we do administer the Kogat, the cognitive abilities assessment to all second grade students. So, we do find quite a few there. Um but we do have two two testing windows that students kindergarten through um 12th grade can be recommended for testing. So we have one in the fall and one in the spring. So this is a new slide. Um typically um I haven't shared a lot about assessments. Um it it's really hard to get our um our hands on gifted data that is accurate um because it always seems that um what is turned in for um October count and who's identified as gifted
026just doesn't seem to mash uh mesh. But um I I think that that that is um in it's improving. So I think that our numbers are more accurate. So just a a real quick um bit of information. our high school juniors and sen juniors um all of them scored met or exceeds on the RWC for um SAT that's impressive and 61% of our juniors scored met or exceed on the math portion of that and advanced placement scores um three to five a good score um we over we doubled what we were last year um Stephen Carter took over um the advanced placement courses and talking to kids and getting kids involved and teachers and it made a huge difference. So we are excited to see that. And on on the below below that we have
027the ELA and the Mass Cass scores for third, fourth, and fifth graders. So you can see who has met or exceeds. I do want to point out at Lincoln we had a large number of fourth grade students and all of them were exceeded in ELA. So that was really fun to see that. So we're seeing a lot of scores um a lot of things increase. It is awesome. [laughter] Um so some highlights looking back um at last year because reflection is super important. All of our students, kindergarten through 12th grade, were afforded the opportunities to be involved with competitions, attend field trips, and um have meaningful hands-on experiences. Um I was awarded the state advocate award, which was really fun to receive. And then our team also got to attend the KAGT conference. Mr. Ren
028was there, too. And that was um that was a a great experience. >> It was fun. It was really fun. Thanks. Um, number three up there with family engagement. This is probably the most important and most um, endearing to my heart is family involvement. I think that um, if we don't have the support of our families um, that then we're not going to keep our kids engaged. So, we um hold our annual celebrate gate night every year and and last year we brought in a national speaker and he was phenomenal and he was with the kids all day long and families at night and that was just a big celebration and we're excited um that we will be hosting that again in February with a different speaker. Um the last thing I want to point
029out on this slide is our gifted education Tuesdays. are get every January, February, every Tuesday, I send um professional developments out to all classroom teachers um and paraprofessionals um just to try to educate a little bit more on gifted characteristics and um how to advocate for those kids. And I also send um a different set of um information out to our parents so that they um feel like they are being um adequately engaged as well. So, um, just like Thor didn't break a record with just one muscle, our students don't reach their full potential with just that single test score. Every lift, every step, every practice session, it mattered for him. And every experience we provide, every challenge, every chance to explore, reflect, and lead, it matters to our students as well. So, we support
030the whole student um in owning their journey. We don't just witness achievement, we get to witness transformation. And um that's why we're all here, right, for education. So, um I do have a gift for you um to remember the heavy lifting that takes place. >> You guys love my trinkets, right? >> You guys love your trinkets. [laughter] >> Thank you. >> Look how strong we are, >> right? >> Yeah, I can handle this. Yeah. Yeah. >> Thank you, Shila. >> Shila, congratulations again on your recognition. >> Oh, thank you. >> Testament to your hard work. >> It was >> and your dedication. >> Thanks. >> I know we don't have many clapping, but >> Oh, I'm good. Thank you. [applause] >> Do you have any questions for me? >> Well done. >> Okay. Well, if
031you do, you know where to find me. And I want to tell you, thank you for scoring our scary story contest. That's tomorrow night, by the way. >> Okay. It's so fun. >> So, when is the Mugs fundraiser? >> That that takes place in March. >> Okay. >> Yep. I haven't even thought about that yet, but now I'm like, okay, [laughter] >> yeah. >> I'll reach out to you because >> fabulous. I would love that. talk a little >> I'll reach out. >> Okay. >> This is a great list by the way of stuff that you experiences. >> That's great. >> Mr. Ren, are you ready? >> I am always with this annual presentation. So, I just want to start by saying thank you and well done. Um, and I also blame myself for scheduling
032myself to follow you in presentation because I will not live up to the same standard. >> Oh, whatever. [laughter] >> And what did you bring? What did you bring? That's what we wanted. >> I I did not >> chocolate or anything. [sighs] >> See, I've already not met the bar. So, well done, >> Charlotte. >> Thank you. Queen's close by. >> All right. Um so um [clears throat] tonight um I will be presenting on um the special education overview um for the Canyon City School District. Um as always um thank you for allowing me to present. Um, a couple themes that I'll try to connect to throughout my presentation are um, strategic plan priorities [snorts] two, um, which is people, and strategic plan priority three, which is engagement. Um, the first part of my presentation
033is going to be a lot of numbers and letter soup, so prepare yourself for that. Um and then the last part of the presentation is going to be um some explanation of our parent survey um results. Um so do I just tap the board >> arrow? All right, there you go. Okay. Um so some numbers. Um the Canyon City School District right now um is estimated to have um approximately 2,964 students. Um and currently um we have enrolled um 555 students with IEPs. Um doing some simple math there, you'll see that the percentage of students with IEPs in the school district as compared to the big number um comes out to 18.7%. Um I'll talk a little bit later about how that compares year-over-year. Um but I wanted to give you a very early snapshot
034of kind of what the numbers look like in special ed um as compared to the district. Will you be shar? >> Yes, I will. There it is. So, um numbers by school. Um so, if you just kind of start there at the top, um you'll see the in count um next to the school and then it's followed by a percentage. So, Kenyon City High School um right now has 212 students with IEPs. that makes up about 12% of their enrollment. Um Harrison School, um K through 8th grade has 99 students with IEPs and that makes up about 20% of their enrollment. Canyon City Middle School, um at 57 um making up 15% of their enrollment. [clears throat] Canyon Exploratory School um 37 um which makes about 13%. And you're hearing me say about over and
035over because these numbers do change sometimes daytoday. Um students um do come come to us um all the time and sometimes families um leave our community as well. So there is some fluidity in this but um these are the most accurate numbers that that I can provide to you right now. Mountain View Core College um has 21 students with IEPs making up 9% of their enrollment. Um Lincoln 60 at 23% McKinley um and this includes um the prek numbers as well PK through five um 67 students uh making up 27% of their enrollment and then Washington Elementary School um 58 at 19% of total enrollment. So that kind of gives you the school by school understanding of the not only the incount but proportionally what that relationship looks like to their total enrollment. Does that
036answer your question so far Todd? um district 70 um just [snorts] down the street with a somewhat similar demographic. Um their percentage is about the same as ours around 18 to 18 18 to 19%. Um I believe um that RE2 is also kind of in that same range. I haven't heard from their AU director what their exact numbers are right now, but um 18 18% [clears throat] is is kind of where a lot of school districts are right now. Um it's actually an increase for us and I'll talk a little bit about the year-over-year increase for Canyon City Schools um in that percentage, but at about 18% we're we're kind of right where um most school districts reside for the most part. And I use District 70 as kind of our bellweather locally uh because
037they're regionally close to us. They have a they're larger than us and but have a similar um socioeconomic profile. Um and their percentage is is really close to ours as well. Uh the next slide here talks a little bit about what's called least restrictive environment. So this is where I'm going to start getting into to a little bit of alphabet soup. um for you. Um you may hear people talk about LRE, that means least restrictive environment. And essentially what that's talking about is how many students are receiving their services in general education. So um the the first LRE that's listed there is the 80 or more. Um in our district, 83% of students with IEPs are receiving their services in the general education environment. Um the next category there um that LRE um is that
03840 to 79% LRE. Um 11% of our students with IEPs are receiving services in that environment. That means it's kind of split between receiving services in general ed and receiving services in in a special education environment. Um it's also split in the less than 40. Um, however, it's a much lesser amount of the percentage that's provided in the general ed environment. Um, only 6% of our students are receiving services in that less than 40 um, LRE. Um, these are students that are largely receiving services in one of our resource um, programs. And I'll talk a little bit about those center-based programs um, in the next slide. Um, and I'll also kind of explain to you some of the um disability categories for for where they might be receiving that LRE and those those lower percentages.
039What you see here um is um is a breakdown by category. So ID is is the acronym for intellectual disability. Um these are students who um score score lower on their um their IQ assessments. Um many of them receive services in our significant support needs programs. Um not all of them. Um but what you see right there are 22 students who have been identified with that intellectual disability um category. Next cate the next acronym there is SED um and that stands for serious emotional disability. Um 37 students are currently identified um in that category districtwide. Um SLD now this is the largest category um under special education in terms of like um identification. Um, and this is true in every school district um, in Colorado and throughout the nation. Um, specific learning disability includes um,
040the areas of reading, writing, math. These are more your academic um, needs. Um, and it always represents the largest portion of the pie. [clears throat] HI, this is a little bit more rare. Um, hearing impairment including deafness. Um these are um students who've been identified as a prime with a primary disabling condition of hearing impairment. Um it is a more rare identification but um we do have students who receive services under this category. ASD this is autism spectrum disorder. Um autism spectrum disorder um has 37 students identified. Um this number is pretty consistent with last year's numbers. However, over the last 10 years, that number has has doubled. Um it was a little bit more rare um 10 or 15 years ago. Um and we're we're seeing that identification um show up a little bit
041more frequently in our determination meetings. >> Tim, is that because the we're better at identifying over 10 years rather than an increase. >> Um that's what [clears throat] that's what most of the researchers would would cite is um better identification practices. Um what we used to think of as maybe something else undiagnosed 20 or 30 years ago um is um is better assessed um and therefore we can we can qualify under those assessments. um whereas before we might have thought it was something else. Um additionally, autism has also become a spectrum. Um it used to be more narrowly >> um evaluated um when it was first um considered and now as we think about it as more of a spectrum from that mild um case all the way to the more severe profound cases um
042that that starts to open up um for for for more students being identified with autism. So it's it's a variety of things. Now, I'm not a biologist or a physician or anything like that, so I can't get into any of that kind of stuff. Um, but I would I would say I could I could >> just a lot of speculation around that, >> right? I could comfortably agree with evaluation processes being more thorough and the the actual um definition of autism becoming more broad, >> which lends itself to a larger number being identified. Um the next category there is uh TBI or traumatic brain injury. Um this is typically a smaller um number. Um and as you see that um we do service um three students in the school district currently with TBI SLI. This
043is always the second largest category um in every school district including our own. Uh this is that this is speech language impairment. Um speech language impairment tends to be u much a much larger um well it tends to be more likely identified at the younger ages. So, children coming into K12 education will often show up to kindergarten with an identification um of SLI if they already have that need. um that tends to be a large number and due to the good work of our service providers um in preschool, in kindergarten, in first grade, in second grade, we start to see a lot of those students graduate from SLI and even um all the way out of special education because their their skills have improved so much and then they no longer need those services. Um
044however that always does remain the second largest category of identification. MD um is multiple disabilities. Now the the thing that you need to know about MD is MD only exists with ID. So in order to be qualified under multiple disability a student must first also be identified with intellectual disability. So an example of a student who might have multiple disability would be one who um has been qualified under ID and may also have something else in their profile like autism. So that kind of places them in that MD category. Um DD um developmental delay. This always in this this always lives around the third or fourth most um most identified um category. um developmental delay um is a little bit more of a broad sort of catchall um for very young students. U developmental delay
045is the category that most students in preschool are identified with in part because it's really unclear if there's something specific that we're we're really attending to. So it's it's meant to be a little bit more broad around a variety of different goals um academic, social, emotional, access, etc. Um eventually once students um reach third grade or before um before before third grade um it's it's required that they are re-evaluated and if they continue to qualify, they qualify under one of the other categories that's um available up there. And then the last one up here is OI um other health impairment. Um this one is mostly reserved for um well it's fully reserved for um students who have um some sort of medical or health related impairment. An example of that might be um a student
046has diabetes and diabetes um the condition of diabetes um causes some sort of barrier toward learning. Um and OI is is typically one of those large more more qualified categories. So, I just wanted to kind of give you guys um a a a pretty thorough um understanding of what those categories are that we're treat that we're treating for and where the students reside inside um those those various categories. We still continue to um provide two centerbased programs in our school district. Um the first one that's mentioned up here is our significant support needs programs. These programs are um designed um primarily for students with intellectual disability, multiple disability andor autism um and typically autism um for students who are um have lower functioning academic skills or intellectual skills. Um the sites where these um these
047programs continue to operate are at Lincoln, Kenya City Middle School, and Kenya City High School. The second um center-based program that we continue to um provide is our serious emotional disability program. And um students must have um SED or DD um developmental delay with social emotional goals. um in their in their profile. Um the sites where these center-based programs are provided um continue to be at McKinley Elementary School um Harrison K8 in Canyon City High School where they offer it through their care classes transition program. A little bit newer program. Um this pop this this program um is designed for our young adults after um exiting school age services um beyond 12th grade. Students are who are typically um identified for this transition program have intellectual disability um autism or multiple disability in their profile.
048Um the objective of the Greater Heights program is to uh is designed to support students during their transition to post-secary life after high school. Um it was um it was the right idea a few years ago to begin thinking about how to provide this um type of programming offsite so that these young adults would have the opportunity to engage in their community uh move about their community um practice um adult transitional skills in their community um and have access to their school um when necessary. location of the new site is at 402 Main. Um it's um it's a really cool building. Um I hope that um if you haven't had the opportunity to go there and visit the site that you'll um have that opportunity um and maybe we'll even have some of the transition
049events um like we've had in the past with the Greater Heights program so that all of you can can go attend and see um see those young adults in their environment. Um enrollment um I put 10 to 20 um as the enrollment. We have not seen 20 students there. Um I think about that number of 20 as being um kind of the high mark for what that um program um could facilitate. Um our numbers have really been somewhere between 7 and 12. Um, and I probably should have written that down as enrollment as 7 to 12. Um, but I on the high end with the current resources that we've dedicated to to that program, I I believe that we could service up to 20 young adults. Um, so there's room to grow into that program.
050Summary. The total incount of students with IEPs has remained relatively unchanged for the last three years. The percentage of students with IEPs compared to the total enrollment in the district has increased. So, this kind of comes back to the second slide where I was talking to you about incount and percentage. Um the the increase year-over-year from 2425 to 2526 has gone from 16.5% to 18.7%. Um that's in part due to a slight increase in the incount for students with IEPs, but it's probably more a consequence of um the reduction in the overall size of the total enrollment. Um making uh making that percentage a little bit higher. L L re LRE percentages track the state of Colorado percentages within a percent or two in all three environments. Um the the feds like um school districts
051to report an 80 or more LRE for at least 80% of their students because inclusion is really one of our big goals um in um in special education at the federal level, state level, and at the local level. um and um our percentages for that population or for that for that environment always reside over 80%. I think I reported 83% um in the previous slide. Um the most qualified categories under IDEIDA that's um um the individuals with disabilities and education act um are SLD, it always is specific learning disability and SLI. Um that's always you that's always the second largest category. Um the Canyon City School District continues to operate two separate um center-based um special education programs at all three levels. Um we're really proud to do that. Um it's it's programming that we
052believe um is in the best interest of students um schools and their families. And I am also aware of school districts near to us that don't have these kind of programs. And um unfortunately um well fortunately for us, we have these programs um and they would also like to have these programs. Um the Greater Heights Transition Program continues to operate as a community-based transition program in an off-site location and it's in its third year of operation under its new design. just happens to be in the new place and we're really excited for for where that's going to go. Um so that really is the part where I talk about um people and in in this this event I'm talking about the little people or the young adults. Typically when I think about people in our
053strategic plan I'm thinking um about the staff. But this this part of my presentation really wasn't about learning. it was more about who who they are. Um so I was kind of thinking about the little people um and the young adults in in this pro in in this part of the presentation before I move into the the next part um really kind of covering um the parent engagement survey. I think it's probably more appropriate for me to ask question or allow you to ask questions because there's a lot wrapped up in all of those acronyms and all of those numbers and kind of why all that happens. So I' I'd like to give you the opportunity to ask questions at this point in time before I move >> acronyms. >> I appreciate the cheat sheet.
054That was very helpful tonight. So thank you. >> Welcome. >> I also remember one of the first things you said to me, Tim, when I started on board was that you can judge you can judge learn a lot about a district. I will take not judge learn a lot about a district by how they take care of their special needs population. And that spoke to me on so many levels. and I've really noticed that over the years. So, I appreciate what you're sharing and all the work, not just you, but your whole team do because I want that to be what our district's known for. So, >> thank you. >> Um, comment. First of all, Greater Heights graduations are always wonderful. >> Oh, they're the best experience. Those those kids and the work that they
055do with those kids is great. Um, do you keep um some data on the kids that leave special ed, maybe the significant learning disabilities that they've kind of caught up or developmental delays? And you mentioned that with speech language. Um, >> so are are >> there usually our kids that sort of leave the program, >> graduate? Yeah. Or exit. The the terminology we use in special education is exit services. Um, >> okay. >> So, >> they can exit services because they no longer need them is kind of is that the question you're asking? >> Yes. I just wondered if you keep a keep track of every year how many K kids exit services because that would be an indication of of success. >> We do. Fortunately, I did not bring those numbers with me, but
056I can provide them either individually or >> I don't need to see them. I just want to make sure you do because >> it's it is an indicator of growth and success. >> The state requires us to keep keep track and report um students who exit services. Um, so we do do that and and each year um when Heidi and I work on um our December count report and our end of year report um I'm I revisit those numbers um before before signing off and sending in those those reports to the state. Um it would I agree with you it would be good good data to look at. Yeah. I'm not prepared. >> And I promised you I would not do as well as Shila. So there's another example [laughter] >> of how I would
057not do as well. >> Um any other questions before I move forward into the survey? Okay. Each year, um as a special education department, we we conduct a state required, um parent engagement survey. Um, all of the questions in the parent engagement survey are really questions related to um, do parents feel like um, they've been involved? Do the parents feel like they've been engaged? Um, in a lot of ways these these um these questions are sort of like are they satisfied with with their services that they're receiving for their for their students. Um the state continues to call this sur this um this survey the the parent involvement survey. The numbers that you're looking at right now are both the response rates and the percentage of students statewide or percentage of families or parents statewide
058that report that they were involved in their their students process. Um the state response rate for the survey was 41.5%. And um the state percentage of families or parents that are reporting that um that that they feel like they've been involved was 81.2%. Um and then the numbers down down there in the bottom are just kind of the chronological data um from 2020 to 2025 for the state. What you'll see on this this page is um the Canyon City School District's data. Um we take our um our survey data very seriously. We think that it's important to know how our families feel about um the services that their students are receiving. And we do look at this data every year um as a case management team. And then case manage case managers take it to
059their schools and share it with um their special education teams and their their administrative um teams to understand what areas they're doing really well in and what areas they can improve upon. Um we received 50 surveys from the state. They're random. Um we don't pick them. um state picks them and um we were able to survey every one of our families that the state picked for us this year. So 100% participation on our surveys um and um for for families um who report that they um feel like they were engaged or participated or otherwise satisfied with the services uh that they received n there was a 94% um response rate in favor of of that statement. Um chronologically you'll see in 2223 um families at a 95% response rate felt engaged or involved. Um it
060dropped a little bit in 23 24 to 88% and then it jumped back up in 24 25 to 94%. Um the top three questions on the left um are the categories that we scored the highest on. I'm satisfied with the options I have to communicate with my child's special education staff. My child's special education staff invites me to speak up on behalf of my child. I feel welcomed by my child's special education staff. Um on the right side, um these are the three categories where we scored the lowest. And I'll qualify that by saying they're not low scores, they're just the lowest for us. Um which gives us something to think about. Um, so when we go back to our to our schools and we think about how we can improve, uh, these are some
061areas that we can think about improving upon. My child's special education staff provides opportunities for me to strengthen my knowledge about special education issues. My child's special education staff asked me my opinion about how well special education services are meeting my child's needs. and my child's special education staff and I share strategies that we can use to support my child both at school and at home. Um I I will tell you that the last two um the one on the bottom on the left and the one on the bottom of the right do not surprise me for different reasons. The one on the left um does not surprise me because um we as a department um and as a school promote a customer and as a school district promote a customer serviceoriented approach. Um all
062of our staff lead with um a willingness to listen and a willingness to empathize. Um, and both of those things go a long way toward um, developing relationships um, with families and establishing a high level of trust. It's really important to have that um, you know, especially when you're kind of working with families on some things that are not always the things that they want to hear, but we're talking about their most prized possess possessions, their children, and we need to do that in a in a very um, honest yet empathetic way. Um, and I feel like our staff does a nice job of doing that and um, with a customer service approach. And then the second one doesn't surprise me either. Um, that one about providing services at school and at home. We're seeing
063a higher level of impact um, for some of our our students. And that impact doesn't only present at school, it also presents at home. Um, and these are families that are looking to us for help and support. Um, so this is an area that we'll continue to work on. um kind of the state comparison KU city school district participation 100% um for us um the states was uh 42%. They need to do better. Um and on the engagement side um Canyon City School District um families that are involved are engaged at 94% in the state of Colorado at 81.2%. They are doing better, but so are we. Um, and then the Canyon City um, to Canyon City three-year um, year-over-year comparison. Um, and this is the engagement facilitation satisfaction number 95% to 88% and then
064back up to 94%. Overall, consistently high. Um, and we want to make sure that we continue to >> [snorts] >> um, provide that kind of satisfaction for our families. And that wraps up um my presentation. Um and for the second part, I'd like to open it up for questions um if you should have them. >> If you can go back a slide. What I what I what I what stood out to me was that with that second chart with your top three and bottom three questions. >> Well, thank you. Um, and before I leave, I just want to say, um, to the board, thank [clears throat] you for your continued support of our special education programs. Um, special education never pays for itself. Um, the federal government provides about 8% of cost for programs. The
065state government kicks in about another 50% of cost for programs. That means that somewhere around 40 to 45% of cost for programs has to come from someplace else. And that tends to be the general fund. And our school board has always been supportive of of our students. And where we've been able to make the case that this is a need and we need the resources to provide for better outcomes for our students, our school board has stepped up and been supportive. um even during times where financial situations aren't as good as they maybe once were. So, continue. Thank you. Um our school board's been wonderful and um as and we'll be responsible with with our with our resources. Um, but if we don't have the resources, we feel comfortable at least being able to come
066to the to the school board and to the leadership and expressing our needs and hearing um having and having a hearing uh a willing ear and and we appreciate that. >> Please pass on our gratitude to your whole department. >> Yes, please. >> Have a wonderful department. They're great. >> And Tim, you you did good. You did right up there with Shila. worried up [laughter] there. >> Even though you didn't have his presence, >> no presents, >> we expect chocolate at the next one. >> No video. [laughter] Shila does a wonderful job. She's great. >> Thank you, Tim. >> All right. Request to address the board of education. Misso, do we have anyone? >> No. Thank you. >> Anyone filling in for Adam on a superintendence report? Hearing nothing. I'm assuming not. >> Anybody going
067to do Adam's superintendent report? >> No, there will not be a superintendent report. >> Okay. All right. We have a very small amount of policy work to do. It's for information only. File IKF-EN City Schools graduation requirements presented to the board for information only. Update the current policy from Cosby to incorporate the state board's adjustment of the SAT score requirement easy for me to say scores requirements reflecting the new SAT format since it's for information I only will see it next time for votes. All right, no old business. We do have some new business. Thank you for staying awake back there. [laughter] All right, first we have the request for out of state travel for systems go. It's recommended that the board approve out of state travel for the systems go rockets 1, two, and
068three classes to travel to Frederick'sburg, Texas from April 28th, 2026 through May 2nd, 2026. During this trip, students will launch the rockets they have been designing and building throughout the school year. Um, Mr. Laughlin was out with a migraine, so we'll just be approving that. I think may I have a motion to approve the systems go out of state travel? >> I move that we approve uh the request for out of state travel for systems go in April and May of 2026. >> Second. >> I have a motion and a second. Further discussion or questions? Hearing none. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Albright. >> I. Miss Mary. I. Mrs. Reer. >> I. Next we have Brie. Do you want to share anything or are you just here for moral support? >> Well, I don't really
069>> Oh, nice. >> Okay. >> Well, you're going to know in about a minute. >> Wonderful. [laughter] >> Questions, too. I can totally >> Okay. Thank you. It's recommended that the board approve out of state travel for the speech and debate team to travel to the Longhorn Classic Tournament in Austin, Texas from December 4th, 2025 through December 7th, 2025. May I have a motion, please? >> Me again, Todd. I I'm I move that out of state travel. >> You just said all of them are yours. >> All of them. Okay. for a speech and debate team to travel to the Longhorn Classic tournament in Austin, Texas December this December. >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> Um, sorry, I was just reading through the how this was getting paid for. Hang
070on just a second. Um, yeah, I'll second. So, >> I have a motion in a second. Any questions for Bri or further discussion? >> You good? >> Mhm. >> Hearing [clears throat] none. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Albbright, >> I. >> Miss Mary, I Mrs. Reer, >> I go make arrangements. >> Thank you for all of your help and sponsorship. [laughter] >> I will. >> Thanks, Bri. >> Are you John? >> We have another one. >> Are you John? Okay. Which are you here for? One of them. >> I'm just here to watch. >> Oh, you're just here. Okay. Well, good. >> To watch the mountain bike. Oh, and you stuck it out. >> Fantastic. We appreciate your support. All right. Next, we have uh it's recommended that the board approve out of state travel
071for the speech and debate team to travel to the Holiday Classic Tournament, Cheyenne, Wyoming from December 19th, 2025 to December 20th, 2025. I have a motion, please. I move that we approve the speech and debate team traveling to the holiday classic tournament in Cheyenne, Wyoming this December. >> Second. >> I have a motion and a second. I do have a question. >> So, it's it's not a progression. If they do well at the first one, they go to the second one. They just go to both. >> No, they're two separate. >> Okay, perfect. That was my only question. >> Oh, no. I I'm being Oh, okay. >> Okay. Interesting. Thanks for the info. All right. I have a motion, a second. Any other questions or comments? Hearing none. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Albright. >>
072I. >> Miss Mary. I. Mrs. Reer. >> I. That passes as well. And lastly, we have it's recommended that the board approve out of state travel for the boys basketball team to travel to Farmington, New Mexico from December 10th, 2025 to December 14th, 2025 to participate in the Mary Sanders Holiday Basketball Classic. May I have a motion, please? >> I move that we approve the out ofstate travel uh request for boys basketball to travel to Farmington, New Mexico this December. >> Second. I have a motion and a second. Further discussion or questions? Hearing none. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Albbright, >> I. >> Miss Mary, I. Mrs. Reer, >> I. Motion passes as well. With no further business,