001Well, good evening and thank you for joining the board of education. Um, please go ahead and mute your cell phones as we begin this meeting. Today is Tuesday, November 18th, and this meeting is now called to order at 5:37 p.m. For those attending this meeting in person, live captions are available on the TV in the boardroom and in the lobby. To access the live captions in a language other than English on your own device, please scan the QR code on the screen or on the table near the entrance and select the language of your choice. The live stream of this meeting is also available in English and Spanish on YouTube. For links to these live streams, please visit the board of education page of the PSD website or PSD TV on demand on YouTube. And
002uh would any board members like to make changes to the agenda? Okay, seeing none, we'll move on to uh action item uh resolution in support of National American Indian Heritage Month Month. Can I get a motion, please? I move that the board approve a resolution in support of Native American Indian Heritage Month, November 2025. >> Can I get a second? Thank you, Andrew. And uh we have a special guest for this, right? >> Yes. Good evening, everybody. Uh joining us this evening to speak to National American Indian Heritage Month is Clarissa Hernandez, an instructional coach at Irish Elementary. Welcome, Clarissa. Hi everyone. Thank you for being here. My name is Clarice Hernandez and I serve as an instructional coach at Irish Esqua Vilingu. We're so excited and proud to be here tonight in honor of
003Native American Heritage Month. This year is especially meaningful because PSD has received its first ever Title Six grant, which will help us better support our Native American students and their families. And tonight, we're honored to have one of our own Irish students here to share the celebration. She is truly a light in our community. And I'll let her introduce herself. Hi, my name is Disha Muero. I am in third grade at Irish Elementary Balingua. I am happy to be here today and talk about my culture. My family is indigenous and proud. At home, we speak English, Spanish, and a little bit of Karen and a meazon. I love the water and the land and the animals. One tradition in my family is we pray before we eat. My favorite holiday or my favorite holiday is
004feast day and we celebrate by inviting people being with our family. A food which is special in my culture tamali and salad. I love the music dancing from my culture especially the butterfly dance. It's dancing for tradition. We dance at powow. Someone from my culture. What inspires me is my family. What I love the most about my culture is dancing. I am proud to be indigenous because I speak my language. One thing in my one thing I want my friends to know about my culture is boys wear long hair. Happy indigenous month. >> Thank you so much. Great job. And Darcia, thank you so much for sharing that with us. And um I would love to if if there's any dancing ever, you got to let us know and see when we can come see
005the dancing. Oh, did you want to do a dance right now? >> No pressure. Next time. Next time. >> Does anybody else have anything they'd like to say? Oh, are we gonna get it? Oh, I thought maybe we're getting the dance. >> Jill, can you call the vote? >> Jim Brokish, >> hi. >> Kristen Draper, >> I. >> Connor Duffy, >> I. >> Kevin Havda, >> hi. >> Scott Shoenbower, >> hi. >> Andrew Spain, >> I. >> Jessica Zamora, >> I. >> Motion passes 70. Thank you so much. And next we have a resolution in support of the anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Act. Can I get a motion? >> I move that the board approve a resolution in support of the anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Act. >> Can I get a
006second? Thank you. We'll go with Scott. All right. And we have a special guest on this one, too. >> Yes. Tonight, we look forward to hearing about a resolution in support of the anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act from Devon Beret, the parent of a Bouter Elementary School student. Welcome, Devin. Might be a little too tall for that one. >> All right. Well, thank you for the introduction and for the invitation to speak tonight. Um, some of you might know me, but my name is Devon Bureet, and I'm the parent of a fourth grader at Bout Elementary. I also serve as a member on the policy review and special education advisory committees here at PSD. We moved to Fort Collins in 2020, specifically to enroll our son in this school district's early childhood
007program. Thanks to IDA's mandates, an individualized education plan, or IEP, to those of us in the know, was created for him on his third birthday, and he was therefore entitled to free early intervention services in a public school setting. His IEP was generated in California, but because IDA is a federal law, we were able to seamlessly transition his care to Colorado. We were lucky enough that the integrated services program at our neighborhood school was an appropriate match for our son's academic needs. In the last five years, he has progressed significantly due to living in an environment where he can learn skills required for educational success while building meaningful relationships with his peers, which at the end of the day is really just what matters to him. Having an IEP in place means that there is
008a blueprint for his support team to work in tandem without having to sacrifice one priority over another. He participates in social groups, has access to the academic resources he needs, and is surrounded by extremely dedicated caregivers and educators. Most of these experience are experiences are a given for a typical child, but they are all things that we weren't sure if he would ever have. The fact that he has all of them is a blessing we do not take for granted, and we owe that primarily to the incredible staff members who have watched over him in and outside the classroom. This level of care has been life-changing for our entire family. We live in a world that has historically made people with disabilities invisible. And certain groups have even tried to erase people like my son
009from history and attempted to prevent their existence. IDA was passed with the intent of protecting children with disabilities and their families so that they might experience the world in all the ways they want to and to provide a learning environment for the these children to take up the space they need to. The message it sent to this country is that these children are important and they belong at school with their peers. They are part of the fabric of this nation as much as anyone else. We are grateful that PSD and the state of Colorado understand that and we are hopeful that our neighbors here will continue to value having families like ours in their community and students like my son in their classrooms. Thank you. Devin, thank you so much for sharing your story with
010us. Um, and just I hope things go as well in the future as they have been for you. So, it's Yeah, thank you for being here. Thank you for being in a part of our community. We appreciate it. Anyone else? >> Jill, can you call the vote, please? >> Jim Brokish. >> Hi. Kristen Draper. >> Hi >> Connor Duffy. >> Hi >> Kevin Havda. >> Hi >> Scott Shoenbower. >> Hi >> Andrew Spain. >> Hi >> Jessica Zamora. >> I motion passes 70. >> Yes. Can if we could do a picture that would be wonderful. So with both groups >> up front here. >> Yeah. Let's do it up front here. Um, so if we could get everybody Dar Darcy, could you You're up front. Congratulations. Thank you all for that. we will move to
0114.0 superintendent report. Uh so superintendent Kingsson will now make remarks to the board of education and to the community. So thank you. >> Thank you President Draper. Uh good evening everybody. I look forward to a fantastic meeting and I'm also excited that we have the opportunity to engage uh with some very special guests this evening um as well as content experts to have a robust conversation a little bit later on everything that involves public education these days. So to take time and energy out of your day to be here in partnership with us and the partnership that you show us at the capital and the state boards just continues to be uh really nothing short of tremendous and I just want to say thank you for being here. I I know we we really really
012greatly appreciate that. Uh a significant focus of our discussion tonight will be on special education and how we best support our students who have individual education plans or IEP. So on the heels of the anniversary of IDA, it just feels really appropriate that we're having that conversation this evening. Uh later this evening, we'll also uh the board of education will hear the first reading of the 2026 2027 school year calendar. I want to just give a special thank you to the calendar committee for their work uh to respond to the feedback that we've heard from the community about starting the school year later to mitigate the impact of heat in our buildings. What you will see tonight is a calendar that has been creatively adjusted to move the start date as late as possible for
013the year ahead. The 2026 2027 school year was originally slated to start on August 13th. And tonight you will see a calendar that starts on August 19th with a transition day on August 18th. And I'm hopeful that this board sees that as very responsive to the feedback that you have provided staff and the committee. uh we have a lot of committees that take a deep sense of pride in their work, the calendar committee is definitely one of them. So while they did have to pause their work as we were tending to other uh important areas where there's intersections of their work. Again, I just want to send a very special thank you for their commitment to creating efficiencies and opportunities for teachers, students, and families alike. Uh each and every board meeting, we have an
014opportunity to highlight something that's going on really positively in the district. Uh this board meeting will be no different. Our quick win video of this week will be a celebration of our school district's foundation and the support that it's provided our district over the last 25 years through their impact grant program. The foundation recently held its annual fundraiser. I want to thank many members of the community and board who were there that night. Uh you may not know but the Ignite the Impact evening just that night alone we were able to fund raise over $22,000 which is just incredible and it shows the amazing support that our community has. not only for our foundation but advancing the work of our district, our students, as well as our families and teachers. We're so grateful for our
015partnership and hope that you enjoy this highlight video. For 25 years, the Pter School District Foundation has ignited powerful learning opportunities for students, for educators, and for our entire community. Born from a belief that every student deserves access to exceptional learning, the foundation fills funding gaps, supporting programs and projects that might otherwise never happen. Through inspiring community investments, we celebrate quality teachers, spark innovation, and create lifelong learning opportunities that prepare every student for success in an everanging world. For 25 years, we've built partnerships that demonstrate what's possible when a community stands behind its public schools. Together, we've made a lasting impact and the next five years are beginning. Yeah. Huge thanks for all that's involved uh at the foundation. It was 25 years ago. It was 25 members of our community uh who started the
016foundation. and to know that its legacy is going to continue to advance for another 25 years plus is really great to be proud of. Uh my closing remarks this evening are going to be met with a bit of emotion because I do want to publicly recognize that President Draper and Jim Brokish, another one of our directors, this will be uh your last live stream board meeting tonight. Um and I'll address you individually if that's okay uh with members of the community. And Kristen, I want to start with you. Uh, I want to thank you so much for not only being a part of the board that chose to hire me, but to believe in this system. When I learned about you early on is in 2016, probably even earlier than that, when in the midst
017of many things that were happening in our country, our state, and our local community, you realized that you had an obligation to act and lead through local leadership and local government. And the legacy that you're leaving, not just as a board member, but as a human being who brings dignity each and every time you show up in these public spaces is nothing short of tremendous. I and the team have deep respect for you. What you've brought, you've left a legacy of advancing the outcomes for all of our students in an incredible way. We will continue to prioritize human rights and center ourselves with dignity and mental health and belonging as a result of your shared leadership with this board and prior boards. And I just want to say thank you for just wearing your heart
018on your sleeve and bring so much love in all these spaces. We care for you deeply and we're grateful for your leadership. Can we give her a round of applause, please? Jim, I want to thank you for being you, too. While I wish I had another opportunity to work with you for four more years, the four years that I have had a chance to work with you, you've approached the role of the director of board of education like a seasoned statesman. You are calm, you are measured, and you're gentle but relentless in advancing the work of our district, but not losing sight that it's about people and relationships because you are a fellow, you know, neighbor and leader of this community, have worked in HP. have learned so much from you and you have left
019the legacy of not only improving outcomes for some students but all students as well as making sure that our leadership as a governance team and as a cabinet team continues to be as measured. We aspire to be as measured and as calm as you. We don't always get there but you've made us better in so many ways and I just can't thank you and your family for sharing your time, energy, and talent with us for the last several years. Our system is better because of both of you and I know I'm a better leader because of both of you too. So again, can we celebrate Jim Brokish? >> That concludes my comments for this evening. Thank you. >> All right. Uh thank you. Um we'll go on to board topics and committee reports. Um, this
020agenda item is an opportunity for board members to provide an update on committee work or to speak to board topics. Do any board members have something to report? You get Okay, go ahead, Jess. So, fortunately or unfortunately, we had an opportunity this weekend to really support our uh youth with the Rocky Mountain Equality Group, and we were able to raise $1,000 in your name. Because of the amount of work and compassion you have for our community, you have made our district better. You have made our community better. and you have made us a beacon of hope for so many and we love you so much and we will always forever be better because of your contribution for our kids and our community. So I we did not have the opportunity to give it to you
021on Sunday but we have flowers and I have a have to get somebody else, >> please. Anybody else? >> Go ahead, Scott. First off, I want to thank uh Christian and Jim for everything you've done uh during your time here. You taught me and the other board members a lot uh about how how to be great board directors. So, uh really appreciate everything you put into into your years here. So, thank you. Um I did want to, you know, jump back into current events. Um we do have and and Brian mentioned this at the last meeting. We do have a screen aers um showing this is uh to you know talk about cell phones and and their use in schools and how to manage that and that type of thing. So anybody who's interested in
022finding ways to help your children and yourselves manage your cell phone use. Uh there is a viewing of a great documentary um tomorrow night at the Pter High School um auditorium at 6 o'clock. So, uh, it's about an hour long movie and then we'll have a Q&A afterwards um with, uh, different stakeholders in that conversation. So, I really encourage everybody to come out. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> Go ahead, Mandra. Go ahead. I just wanted to to perhaps I haven't paid enough attention with not being on the board before, but the number of schools that have activities collecting food and gifts and everything else the with the upcoming holiday season, I just that that's awesome to see. You can't go into a grocery store without some you one of the schools being there saying,
023"Hey, we're we're doing something for the community." And I just think that's worth a big call out. And to quickly tack on to that, if you would like to donate a turkey, the tour to turkey is happening this Thursday. Um, so the food bank is collecting turkeys there and we'll be distributing them to um, PSD schools on Friday. So yeah, anyone else? Go ahead, Kevin. >> Um, before I start with my I do have some business, but before I do that, I also wanted to extend my own gratitude towards you, President Draper. Um, as a brand newbie on the board of education, I don't know if you remember this, but this is a great Kristen story. Um, while we were in the room celebrating our our wins that night, um, kind of lost in in
024all the emotions, uh, Kristen pulled me aside and asked me if I would be comfortable nominating her to be president after, uh, Rob Patterson left. And I thought, "Wow, the honor." I didn't understand what it all meant. And then when that meeting came about, I was also, when you're up there on the Dez for the first time, you kind of lose consciousness. You don't really know exactly what's happening. I don't know if it happened to you, definitely happened to me. So then I remember, oh, it's my turn to nominate you. So I did. And then as soon as you became president, I had personally breathe a sigh of relief and I was like, "Oh, it's gonna be okay." So, I want to thank you for being the head and the heart for the board the
025last couple years and getting us through and to where we are today. I really appreciate your leadership. Um, and Jim, I also want to thank you for your service and your time and how you go about examining problems. Um when we were in the throws of our school consolidation talks last year, uh Jim offered to come to my law office and brought lunch and uh you remember this? and they they asked for my order and so we shared it was like a corporate picnic and um we were in a conference room for hour an hour and a half just slogging through data and numbers and the problem and I always loved being you were such a good thought partner is what I I you command respect but you also have such a grace about listening
026to people kind of articulate their own thinking and so that's going to be sorely missed and um we'll never be replaced but I will I will miss examining our big problems together and I may give you a cold call in the middle of the year and ask for insight. So, I want to thank you both for your for your leadership. Um, as far as the topic, this is kind of an ongoing topic and something we discussed is to get into the cadence of during this segment of our agenda talking about some big issues um that seem like sometimes when they appear on our agenda, they're in isolation and then we don't give them as much u bandwidth. So, this one is a big one. Um, and I just want to kind of talk through my
027own thinking very briefly about um, our instructional minutes conversations that we've been having. Um, and to frame this this little update, what I'd like to say is that I'm thinking the theme here is voices versus perspectives. And so I think as we broach this conversation with um, what do we do with the instructional minutes? Are we going to augment our day or you know, how are we going to address that? We're now getting a lot of voices which I appreciate into our discussion as we ought. It's a huge decision to make. It has a ripple effect that goes to bell schedules. It will go to lengthening the day. It will make our system potentially more aligned or not. It'll make uh give some alleviation for our bell schedules and our bus drivers and transportation. It'll
028have ripple ripple effects. So, it's a tremendous um opportunity to examine a pretty sizable problem and try to make some good decisions. So, on that, no decision has been made just so we're all clear because I think we're getting a lot of uh input from our community about where things stand. nothing is being decided yet. Um, we're in the process now of getting input. And so what I what I'd like to encourage us and challenge us is that even those that are examining the problem in our community is to maybe not rush to judgment on where they think they stand right now because facts change and perspectives change and so too when your facts and perspectives change that ought to be how your decisions sometimes change. I speak for myself. Um, we don't do this
029decision in isolation. um in our in our city, county, and PSD liaison meeting, I I got a really good nugget. I'm not going to take credit for it. I'm not going to reveal my source either, is that a lot of times we examine some of these problems with a middle class or upper middle class lens. And so it's it's sometimes easy to examine a problem presuming everyone's watching the news and everyone's dialed into these board meetings and everyone's going to watch it on YouTube, all 10 people. Um that's not the case. And so I think as we're considering this as a board, we need to really push ourselves to examine all perspectives and what um you know, what are the perspectives of folks that are going to be beneficiaries or not based on these decisions
030that may not be here to advocate for themselves in the boardroom and what their lives are really like. And so what lengthening the day will actually mean to some of our families and some of our students that may get lost in the shuffle. I know I'll be committed to that. Um and then the last thing I'll say is that there is a process for additional engagement from our community. um come speak at community comments about your perspectives on it. There's multitudes of perspectives on lengthening instructional minutes and what that could mean. And we really ought to hear from as many voices as possible so we can make an informed decision. Um email us um show up to our board of engagement um and listening sessions. Uh go to the superintendent engagement sessions. Talk to your
031principles. Talk to your ARs if you're in one of our association groups. Um and keep the conversation alive. So, as long as we're talking and we're not talking at each other, I think we're going to make significant progress in the the months and weeks to come. >> Thank you. Go ahead, Connor. >> Very quickly, few things to say, but first, um, PSD Foundation, um, I was at their board meeting today. Um, the work continues. Ignite the Impact was a great event. Um and they're going forward and continuing to help the community members and kids in our schools who are struggling with food food insecurity. Um they approved um today to um work with David Utenry to make sure that um our our kids um are taken care of. Uh it's really important work and it's
032really encouraging. Um, on a personal note, um, a lot of people in here, um, probably don't think it, um, because Jim does not talk much during meetings. Um, however, um, when we have executive sessions and when we are discussing very important issues, he is by far the voice of reason. And thank you very much for that, Jim. I really appreciate it because there's been times that uh, you have made me switch my position um, so convincingly and diplomatically. very good. You will be sorely missed. And for Chair J Draper, um, what can I say? Um, I think the one thing that impresses me the most is how much you show up every day and fight for the causes that you believe in. It's easy to fold and you never do. So, thank you. >> Thank
033you. Really appreciate that. Anyone else? Jim, >> I guess I should go ahead. So, I've got a set of thank yous to to lay out. Also, uh first I want to say thanks to my wife Marsha for putting up with me being away a lot and and also for all of those Earth to Jim moments when I'm sort of thinking about district problems instead of being present with her. So, I want to start with thanks there. Uh second is uh to my fellow board members and especially to Kristen, our fearless leader. Um, thank you for everything you've done over the last four years since I've been here and really to all the board members. It's just been a joy to serve with each of you and um you're all my friends even though we don't
034agree with everything which is exactly how a board should be. So I really value that about um and how we work on hard problems but working on hard problems with smart people there's a real joy in that. So, uh, thank you for the last four years, two years, whatever it's been for each of you. I want to say thanks to Brian. We actually came in about the same time, and you beat me by a few months, but, um, there's been just a dramatic change, I think, in the district since you've been here. And I attribute that to your leadership. uh you know when when the boss is so dedicated and works so hard and doesn't sleep and is just there every moment it's just I think it sets a tone for the district for the
035administration uh all of that and so uh thank you for all your contributions you've had really appreciate it uh on to cabinet thank you cabinet uh I've had a chance to work closely with each of you and you know some sometimes people talk about, oh, we should cut central office, we should get rid of more cabinet, we should cut their salaries. You earn every penny, and it's just been a joy working with each one of you. So, thank you. Uh, on to principles, teachers, classified staff. Um, you know, these folks work day in and day out in support of our kids and, you know, they're they're also part of the heroes of of our district. So, thanks also for everything that you do. That's it. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Jim. Um, I've
036got a little something as well, and I'm going to try and keep it short. Um, one, because there are just too many people to say thank you to and goodbye to. Um, we don't want to be here all night, and two, because I'm just going to try not to cry. Um, but I think of all those with whom I've worked with in PSD, whether it's staff or teachers, directors, administrators, cabinet members, board members, and we often question ourselves, right? Did I or am I making a difference for our students? And I know when I question that, did I do enough for in my eight years, I had a wise friend to give me some homework um that helped me answer this question. So, as my final act of president, I'm going to give you all
037one last homework assignment, and that is to write down what you have accomplished in PSD. Whether you've been here for two weeks or 20 years, some things may be small, some things may be really complicated, and others may be just beginning. And then when you get stuck, ask your co-workers, ask your family, ask your friends, and please ask me because I'm happy to tell you about all the important impact uh the important things and the impact that you've had on our students, of what you've done, and what you are continuing to do. Y'all have huge hearts. You move mountains for the betterment of our students. And you want to make sure that our students are more than okay, that they feel welcome, that they belong, and that they are thriving. And person on a personal
038note on academics and socially, this is what drives PSD, and I could not be prouder of the work you are all accomplishing. So, I will miss working alongside of you all, and I know that the students are in extremely capable and caring hands. So, thank you. Okay, moving on to consent agenda. Would any board members like to pull anything from consent? Okay, seeing none, can I get a motion? >> I can do it on the fly. I move that the board approve and adopt the items on the consent agenda. >> Can I get a second? Thank you, Jess. And then can we call the vote? Jimish. >> Hi, >> Christian Draper. >> Hi, >> Connor Duffy. >> Hi, >> Kevin Havda. >> Hi, >> Scott Shoenbower. >> Hi, >> Andrew Spain. >> Hi, >> Jessica
039Zamora. >> Hi, >> Motion passes. 70. >> Thank you. Okay, moving on toformational reports and discussion items. 7.1 202627 school year calendar. Our first reading and we have some special guests. >> Yeah, we sure do. So tonight we look forward to the first reading of the 20 26 2027 school year calendar. Joining us this evening for a brief presentation is our Pter school district calendar committee co-chairs Cheryl Day and Brian Keel. Cheryl and Brian, welcome both. >> Thank you. >> Uh thank you for being here. We're going to go through a presentation. There'll be time at the end there for questions. Um so we can go to the next slide here, please. Oh, there's >> there we go. All right. Uh, so the calendar committee, uh, our purpose is to develop, uh, the year-long school
040calendar, uh, as, um, a group with vested partners, uh, and we have to adhere to the Colorado Department of Education, uh, school funding and instructional hours per day laws as well as the Pter School District employee agreement. uh specifically ICICA. Um some of those parameters uh are 160 minimum student days and 1 total hours in the school year uh in order to be in compliance. Um along with that we also uh are required to have 360 hours in the first semester. Okay. Um and we also have to adhere to the district uh policy uh ICICA uh and the timeline for the approval uh by you all. >> Um in addition there are some aspects to the employee agreement that um influence the designation of days that are non- studentent contact days. And so you can
041see on the screen um the various days that are non student contact and the allocation of those. Um one thing that you'll notice is that elementary has three additional days when compared to secondary. And so when we create the calendar there are three days where elementary students are not in session and secondary um students are. And so in creating the calendar, that's just one of the factors that we have to take into account. Um, and I believe at the end if there's questions about what the designation of any of these days are, um, we can answer that. I think people are fairly familiar with what those are. In addition to those parameters, some other things that our committee talked about and took into account um as far as considerations and context for this year, early
042childhood also has minimum funding requirements. And so early childhood is actually required to have more hours per per year than elementary and early childhood programs are housed in our elementaryaries. So when we're considering the elementary schedule, we do have to make sure that we go enough beyond the elementary minimum to meet early childhood. When we look at the high school or the secondary parameters, as long as we're in alignment with those, that will meet early childhood. In terms of the calendar committee where we're primarily looking at days, not minutes, it has less of an impact on early childhood. Um but again there are some parameters there with their funding where when they have more minutes with students they potentially can qualify for additional funding. So we just that's a piece of the puzzle that we're
043looking at. Um, as um, Superintendent Kingsley mentioned, our committee was on a pause from June of last year until October. And that was because of the information we received from CDE um, in regards to instructional minutes. And there were some things that needed to be discussed and thought about in terms of instructional minutes um, that felt like a separate piece from the calendar for our work. we did have to go with the assumption that there would not be a change to instructional minutes since that is something that has not yet been decided. So when we were calculating minutes and hours, it's based on current minutes and hours within the school day. Um, in October, the board asked us to reconvene in response to the heat release days and some of the impacts of those. And
044so asking could we develop a calendar that without upsetting all of the systems that are in place in terms of having consistency between elementary and secondary uh meeting the concurrent enrollment requirements. We were asked what we could do in terms of moving our start date a little bit later and we were able to do that. Although you're not going to see major changes in the format of the calendar for the coming year. With those changes, we also did not do a survey which typically the calendar committee does a byanual survey and so the most recent information we have from our vested partners is 2023. Uh we had some new members uh this year and I'm not going to read them all, but this was our group. We were really thankful to have everybody um and
045the opinions and the thoughts and ideas uh that were presented in order to make the calendar work for all school levels. Uh we as a calendar committee created three separate calendars. Uh so as you can see um we played with start dates uh both for staff and for students. Um but the further we pushed the start date back, the more we had to take away from some of our uh breaks, right? So Thanksgiving break has become um very uh you know appreciated that it's five days uh instead of three. Uh so the committee felt as if that was a big driver um for the calendar. Uh so we landed on version one uh which we'll show you here in a second. Um, and we think it it it's a good proposal and it meets all
046the requirements uh that both you asked us to look at uh and the state required. >> As Brian said, um the calendar committee spent some time looking at three different possible versions and we did land on version one and um a little bit later in the presentation we'll talk about what some of the factors that influenced that decision were. But first, we wanted to show you what version one of the calendar actually looks like and just call out some key dates with it. So, under this proposed and recommended calendar, staff will start back on August 10th. There is a transition day on August 18th. And so, for uh rising sixth and ninth graders, they would be doing their transition days. Some elementaryaries use that for some kindergarten work. Otherwise, it is a work day for
047staff. students would not all start until August 19th, which again is um just less way less than a week later than what it would have been had we not made some adjustments. So, we were able to gain about six days that way. We were able to maintain a five-day fall break and twoeek winter break with this proposed calendar. The first semester ends right before winter break on December 18th and the last day of school is May 28th. And when we talked to cabinet, cabinet was so impressed that we were able to end the school year before uh Memorial Day because that's been a strong desire and it actually has absolutely nothing to do with what we did because if you look there are five weeks in May and so it just happens to be where
048Memorial Day falls. So that is nice, but it is an incidental bonus to the calendar rather than something that you were able to solve. >> Take credit. >> I mean then I'm going to set the bar that you will expect that every year, right? Uh so some of the factors uh that we felt needed to be considered was to keep uh like I said that fiveday fall break. Um you know to balance a later start with concurrent enrollment. um we as a a high school uh need to follow uh Front Rang's uh schedule and expectations as well as Ames uh community college and some of the schools have uh CU and CSU uh classes that they offer. So we have to meet all of the collegiate requirements if they are being taught within the high
049school level. Um so the other one is we have to meet that uh 360 hours in that first semester. Uh and we if we start on the 19th uh and the semester gets over on the 18th we cannot lose any additional days. Uh we are right at that 360 uh mark. Um the committee felt that clustering non- studentent contact days uh is a way to ease child care. Um and we understand that this is just one perspective. Um we know and understand that it's not the same for all families. Um so this can be looked at. Um and then some exchange days for elementary and secondary uh need to be on the same day so that classified staff uh have the ability to attend professional development. That's a very important aspect of the calendar. >>
050Okay. So that was um some of the rationale for selecting the calendar and then we wanted to share the rationale for the placement of the non- studentent contact days. Um, as Brian mentioned, we're we were limited in how many non- studentent contact days we could fit into the first semester and still meet that 360 hour requirement. And so once we had set those dates, the only place you could take from if you were going to try to add more non- studentent contact days would be that fall break. And again, based on the input from the community, we did not want to take from that fall break. Um, so a lot of the building work days are front-loaded in August. Um, part of the adjustment is because of the heat. The heat's less impactful when you
051don't have hundreds of students in the building. Um, swamp coolers and things that we have, it's a little easier to run those when we're not worried about the noise that they create without having students in the building. It's also really important that staff have time to collaborate and plan for the year. And so having multiple days up front, I know from the admin perspective, we often have lots of things that we want to share with staff and collaborate on. And so it is helpful to have those days. Um, we have some new curriculum that are being adopted and so it's important to have those professional learning days early in the year. So we have people starting the year in their building and then immediately having our professional development days so that there is also time
052to collaborate and work on that new learning after those occur. And we did pair those um as much as possible other than those three excess elementary days. We always try to align an elementary and a secondary day because we are aware that many of our secondary students are caring for younger siblings and so not having different days off helps with secondary students not having to miss to care for siblings. So when elementary is in professional learning, secondary is on a building workday and then that reverses. um elementary. One of the bonus work days that were added for work relief, we placed in late September as prep time for October conferences. Um the October conferences and exchange days are placed to be the middle of the semester as well as breaking up first and second quarter
053for secondary. And then again, um those two week fall and winter breaks were continually coming back to because they were a high priority. based on the latest survey data we had. >> Uh for second semester, uh we'll start off uh back with a workday. Uh this allows teachers uh an opportunity to have some prep time for the beginning of second semester. Um we do have additional uh district professional development days in February. We wanted to have them early enough uh so that again teachers and staff have uh the ability to um implement and collaborate on the the professional development that we get. Um we have President's Day off because the community is accustomed uh to having that uh weekend. Uh again, days are clustered. Um, and we paired the building work days uh for that
054consistency. So that flip-flop that Cheryl was just talking about. Um, we have an exchange day in April. Uh, and we spaced that out because the beginning of the year in January, there were lots of 4-day weeks uh, and we didn't want to continue that. That is difficult for all levels uh, to have short weeks over and over again. Um, and then at the end of the year in May, uh, there's another elementary workday. Uh, and this is to allow our elementary teachers, uh, to create lists, prep report cards, um, and get the the end of the year, um, things done. >> Okay. So, um, timeline and next steps. Obviously, tonight is the first board reading and presentation of the calendar. I know that in December the board will be um taking another look and that
055date that final date is to be determined. Um and at that point the calendar will be approved. Um then it moves to communications. Communications puts together the adopted calendar and communicates that out on the website. And then we have lots of different spa staff specific calendars um people with different lengths of contracts. And so throughout the spring, HR works on developing those specific calendars for each group. >> Any questions? >> Thank you so much. Um, looks like we do have a couple of questions. Go ahead, Kevin. >> I just wanted to say this is a highly constrained problem and you really delivered beautifully. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you, J. >> Well said. >> Go ahead, Kevin. My question was on the discussion around early childhood. >> So I I think I heard you
056right when you said that um there are benefits to lengthening to increase the length of day but not to the length of the calendar year. Did I get that right? >> Um let me see how I want to um because we could only address the number of days. I would say we were more constrained in what we could do in terms of early childhood minutes. >> Did I answer that? part. The other part was I thought you mentioned something >> I thought you mentioned something about how they receive funding. Could you say more about that? How what lengthening of the day has with impact on that? So, early childhood with universal prek receives reimbursement through the Lammer County Child Care Coalition. And they receive different amounts of reimbursement when they can offer a 10-hour program
057versus a 15-hour program, this is per week, versus a 30-hour program. So, half day can be 10 hours or half day can be 15 hours. Currently, we offer a 10-hour program because of the amount of time that's available within the day and within the number of days within the year. The funding difference on that is um roughly $1,200 per pupil. Um, and we're really not looking at full day just because there's not, I think, the capacity in terms of um, classrooms currently for that. >> Sure. >> Other questions? Go ahead, Andrew. >> Do you have any items based on what you've created that you're concerned about that would be a risk? I I I look at the 360 hours in the first semester and you mentioned we can't lose a day. If we have a
058snow day, does that fit that or is that just one of those? That's the kind of thing I just want to make sure if there's anything that we need to be aware of that you're concerned about. >> I don't think so. Um, you know, second semester is different. Second semester is longer. We have more wiggle room there. um which is really where we would lose more of those days. Uh if we do lose days at the end of first semester um we should be uh still fit within the parameter. Uh >> and and there is a built-in buffer. So the minimum number of hours um designated by CDE includes a buffer for things like heat release or snow days. Um the 360 hours is actually separate. It has to do with the funding that's received
059and that is um bud jump in please here from it's perspective if I'm not saying this quite right but the hour calculation that it does is based on the scheduled calendar >> and so even like with that buffer for heat release days with what CDE um requires with a built-in buffer I believe we would still be okay on the 360 hours for the funding, >> but that's it specialty. >> Am I >> Is it okay? >> Thumbs up. See, not >> other questions. >> Just one more. Is there anything you need from us to act on over the next few months that will make your job easier next year? >> And you can bring that to us later. You don't have to have the answer now. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Um >> I would say
060we had developed some different calendar scenarios last year. Um and with the um pause on the calendar committee to address instructional minutes, we weren't able to pursue some of those options that were some out ofthe-box um proposals that the committee had come up with. And so I think getting back to looking at those with enough time, I feel like there's been a little bit of a pattern the last couple years where we have an idea and because of factors that are not necessarily within any of our control, things get delayed and then we have to tell the community, well, we were thinking about doing this, but timewise it couldn't happen. So, I think trying to work on things in the spring so we have more of a buffer for things that could arise would be
061helpful to us to be able to bring some of those more novel ideas forward. >> And Scott, >> I just a quick question. Um, Cheryl, you're part of a you're a principal at one of the schools. Um, >> Brian is as well. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Brian >> assistant. Assistant. >> Assistant. That's right. Um I just wanted to know like with the um kind of consolidating the staff days, do you think that's still going to be effective um versus having like a staff day mid and I'm assuming you still will have some days in the middle of the semester, but grouping them all at the beginning of the year. Is that going to affect how things go? Do you is it less effective for staff or do you are you pretty confident it's going to
062still be >> uh effective? >> I feel like it will still be effective because because so much of what happens is kind of frontloaded at the beginning of the year. Um and we do have here and there throughout. We also have other opportunities for collaboration outside of the building workday. So, our staff meetings, our impact teams and PLC teams are other opportunities to collaborate and work that are outside of the designated days. Other questions? All right. Thank you so much. This was fantastic. Really great work. Really appreciate it. >> Okay, thank you all. Um and now we will go to 7.2 discussion with legislators and Brian like to do some introductions. >> Yeah. So this evening we look forward to engaging in really important discussion with not only uh elected leaders from across the state
063and locally uh but also with some subject matter experts specific to things that are intersecting with public education uh in Colorado. So I just want to start off one by just saying welcome. Uh knowing that there are some familiar faces and some new faces, I wondered if it would be okay as a point of privilege, President Draper, for us to go around to let everybody know who's at the table and then maybe we can start off by doing some framing uh specific around special education and our integrated services division where there are some things that are going really well. Uh but as we get ready to continue to move forward and closer into this uh legislative season, uh we're also very clear as staff members understanding that the the deficit and the financial challenges that
064we're under. So the spirit in which we want to collaborate with you today is more around looking for areas where we want to protect our most marginalized, which are values that we know that we all collectively share, while also trying to continue to figure out ways to collaborate with you and understand what you are hearing and thinking as we get closer uh to the season. So hopefully that uh feels like the right space for our heads and hearts to be in this evening. Would it be okay with you, President Draper, if you started with the introductions and we kind of just went around? >> Absolutely. So, welcome everyone. Really appreciate the time you are are taking here and apologies for the later start. Um but just thank you so much for being here. I'm Kristen
065Draper. Um she her pronouns and um president of the board until further notice at this point. Um, so, uh, moving on. >> Jessica Zamora, vice president, she her pronouns. >> I'm Scott Schombar. I'm one of the directors. >> Andrew Spain. I guess I'm currently the newest director, but that will be shortly changing. >> Connor Duffy, board of education. >> Hi, I'm Lisa Hernandez. I'm a autism coach in the district. >> My name is Dr. Jody Raml. I'm the director of integrated services. So happy you're here today. >> Andy Baynecker, >> House District 53. That's West and North Fort Collins. >> Uh, State Senator Kathy Kip, most of Fort Collins. >> Hi, James, excuse me, James Thompson. Senator Michael Bennett's a regional director for Northern Northeastern Colorado. I cover uh 15 counties out of the Fort
066Collins office. Um and and all um four major school districts are Pter St. Frame, Boulder Valley, well I guess Thompson many school districts um but this is the only one that invites us to come and and speak directly to you. So thank you. >> I'm Kathy Gart. I'm on the state board of education for CD2. And for those of you who don't know where that is, think Joe Nagusa's district. and I'm serving in my first year on the state board of education. Happy to be here. >> Thank you. I'm Lori Garcia Sanders, state representative for House District 65, which is Lurmer and Weld counties and a former Tmouth Elementary principal. So, I'm really glad about the heat day delay calendar. Thank you. Okay, let's see if that works. There we go. Hi, Yara Zokai, a
067representative for House District 52, which is South and East Fort Collins. and Barkcus. I'm the contract lobbyist for Pter School District. >> Kevin Devela on the board of education. >> Jim Bro, board of education. >> And I'm Brian Kingsley. I'm the proud superintendent for PSD. Again, welcome to all of you. Uh, President Drake, I don't know if it be okay with you and our distinguished guests, but I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Jody Raml to kind of just set the tone for some of our conversation specifically special education. We know that we'll veer off into other things that are important to us as a governance team. Uh but Dr. Rammo and in partnership with uh autism coaches like Lisa Hernandez are doing an incredible amount of work that is making us the destination
068districts in many instances for families who have students with special needs. But we also know that we have areas where we're still continuing to grow and need improvements. And it's going to take our collective efforts uh both from a policy lens as well as a resource lens uh to think outside of the box to make sure that we can continue to grow in that area. So Dr. Rama, I'd love to turn over to you if that's okay. >> Thanks, Brian. So I'm very fortunate to uh lead the special ed department and PSD. This is definitely a district that uh makes improving outcomes for students on IEPs a top priority. So I just want to thank you for being here tonight and I'm looking forward to the collaboration. Um it's perfect timing as we have the
069anniversary of IDA. Um across our district, we've been um celebrating neurodeiversity and inclusion this week through messages and different lessons, specific spirit days. Um even in our parent newsletter, educating parents on their rights under IDA and what that means for them and their students. Um I'd like to introduce my colleague Lisa Hernandez. She's been she's grown up here in PSD. She's only I said, "How long have you been here?" She said, "I've only been here." So, she's been here her whole career um in many capacities, but the majority of it has been as an autism coach. And I don't know if you all know this, but it's a Flag Staff program. Um people move here from all over the country to join our our autism program like our speaker tonight um spoke of. Um and
070so I just wanted uh Lisa to be able she's boots on the ground. I thought it'd be great for her to share a little bit about our program with you all tonight. Um so yes this is my 28th year in P putter school district and spent my entire career um here. Um I don't check my par on a weekly basis at this point at all. Um so um I have been in autism programming all 28 years. I started my career as a speech language pathologist. Um, and um, autism has been one of those things that um, as I went through grad school just hooked me in and I I really wanted to be able to support the families that I met and um, the students that I met as well. Um, and so in 200
071I always have to think back 2010 I um, became a board certified behavior analyst and I was asked at that time to become the district autism coach. Um since 2020 we have more than doubled in the size of our autism program. So we are providing services specialized services to well over um 200 students in our center-based autism program. In the last five years we have placed over 25 students each into kindergarten each year. So in five years times 25 um you can see where some of that growth is coming. Um, I think one of the things about the autism program is that um, we have really dedicated staff who've tried really hard to um, look at evidence-based practices um, across the board and and part of that is we were able to come up with
072um, what we call core values. Um I think any good organization and we are a subsect of an organization has core values that they adhere to and they they lean into in hopes of creating um a system of fidelity um and integrity. Um as you grow larger that becomes a harder thing to do, right? And so it was really important for us to establish those core values. Um and so I'm just going to kind of read um part of those um for you so you you can understand a little bit about who we are. Um, we've established these core values and key components for our autism centerbased programs to maximize growth and create fidelity across programs within the context of an educational setting and multidisciplinary team. Um, we believe in robust language instruction, strong academic
073curriculum with a foundational understanding that all students are capable of learning and we should meet them where they are. Um, we use research-based behavioral and emotional supports, relevant social skills instruction, and meaningful life skills instruction that helps kids to become as independent as they possibly can. Um, I usually speak at these things because I've been here the longest um, in terms of autism programming, but I certainly don't do it by myself. There are other autism coaches. There are registered behavior technicians that support us, not even mentioning all of the teachers and pair professionals that we have, as well as speech language pathologists and occupational therapists. Um, we serve some of the most um, as you mentioned, marginalized individuals with some of the highest needs and those needs are ever expanding. um I every year think
074I've seen it all until I haven't and then I have to figure it out again. Um and so it does take and require a great deal of resources in order to be able to provide highquality educational services and supports um for the students that were within our center-based autism program. Jod asked me to describe a day in the life of a student. And I've been pondering that question for a couple of weeks now because there's no such thing. Um because we provide services to kids all across the spectrum and we meet them where they are every single day and some days that means they need a lot of regulation support and some days that means they're clicking along. So we're tracking as much academic instruction and language instruction as we possibly can. But what I
075would say is every day my hope would be um as somebody who's lived and breathed this for a lot of years is that we are providing really high quality education and helping them access whatever they're able to access at that particular point in their day. So I don't know that answer is a day in a life but that's that's the best I could come up with. Thanks Lisa. Are there any questions about our centerbased autism program? Okay. Well, um I wanted to uh take this opportunity to share kind of what's top of my mind as far as some uh somewhat budget neutral um asks. Um workforce readiness and retention and recruitment is top of the mind. Um as we know uh educator workforce are issues remain in the across the US but especially in special
076education. Um so continuation of educator funding opportunities including the educator recruitment and retention program would help address that current um and future need uh with when it comes to educator shortages. So that err funding is most effective because the vast majority of those funds go directly to the teachers who are candidates in those lensure programs. This has been uh instrumental um in expanding our become a teacher program and PSD. Um these funds help us um with our braided funding model that continues to produce highly trained special educators um while uh removing some of those financial barriers they would otherwise face. Currently we have 18 um candidates in our current cohort and out of that 18 12 of them are paraprofessionals in our district. Um, another thing I wanted to highlight was um, you know, this
077is a very popular destination for people to move. Colorado's beautiful and so uh, decreasing state lensure barriers out of state when people are moving from out of state without lowering any of those standards would be a huge uh, that would be lifting a huge barrier. And finally, um, a guaranteed statewide supported IEP platform, um, would help reduce redundancy and it would also improve our compliance as well as data collection and it also would save administrative time. There's many others, but these are the top three I wanted to bring to you. >> Thanks, Dr. Ramwatt. And I want to reinforce the the last, you know, suggestion for a statewide IEP platform. We do believe it can address a lot of workload issues, but that one is free like free like a puppy, which means it's not
078free at all. Right? So, I just want to be really clear in terms of the financial burden of investing in a statewide system. There would be a lot of efficiencies with IEP development consistency across the state. And I see the CDE under our current commissioner really moving towards more systemness uh in a lot of different ways, which is really great in partnership with the state board of education, of course. Uh but that is an area that as I have an opportunity to collaborate with other superintendents across the front range is a really really big one to create just uh more efficiencies with the people who are ser we want people serving their children rather than some of the paperwork and the redundancy that comes out of the fact that we don't have a statewide system
079and as Dr. Dr. Jodi Raml mentioned too the reciprocity around certification. Um as I speak with other again other school districts, it's really clear that we want to send a message of not lowering our standards. Um but if we know that there are states that are around us that have at least the same bar or higher, being able to have uh some efficiency where we can, you know, really kind of rapidly accept them into our systems and programs would be really ideal and hopefully something that would be considered lowhanging fruit. Just curious if any reaction, response or rethinking in alignment with what you're hearing from other constituents. >> Please go ahead. Um yeah, Representative Sanders. >> Thank you, President Draper. Oh, I have thoughts on this. Um but actually a one of the small rural
080districts that I also represent um brought up the same thing about special ed um light program a platform. Are you still using Enrich? >> Yes. And do you know how many districts across the state are using Enrich and are what are the other platforms that are being used? >> I would say the majority of them use Enrich and I couldn't tell you what the other names are. >> Yeah. Go ahead, Senator Gib. >> Um yeah, so sorry. Um like workforce development and retention and recruitment. Yeah, that's very important. We are doing everything we can. We have done everything probably can within budgetary needs. Last this earlier this year um the 2025 legislative session, I did have a bill where I explained to all of my stakeholders um who are generally in um education preparation programs.
081They run them at various um colleges and universities across Colorado. They're like, well, we want to, you know, basically reduce barriers. So, we actually um were able to come to an agreement with the state board of education on some of that and we were also able to work with um the Colorado Education Association and remove some barriers and basically my criteria was we have no money. I mean that's a really really big deal and we can talk about that later but the state has no money. So tell me what we can do by tweaking existing law to make to remove barriers to people who want to become educators. Um speaking of the out of state lens sure um on barriers, Colorado has entered the interstate compact. So there is a number of interstate lensure compacts
082where I think we have joined everyone that has been brought to us in the last well since I've been in the legislature. So the last seven years um what these are is they're basically agreements between states a certain number of states generally have to join and we say okay everybody who joins has to meet this bar so we have done that so there should be some reciprocity between states in addition to that and I'm sure um Kathy Gart could speak more extensively to the number of programs that we've created to try and remove barriers to becoming educators we now have um I I know um Senator Marchman who couldn't be here tonight and I were on a um teacher apprenticeship bill a few years ago, right? Because being um a teacher is now a federally
083recognized apprenticeship program so we can take advantage of that. My understanding is there might be something in the works who will even allow us to potentially pull down some federal level dollars which I don't know how that works with getting rid of the Department of Education but we can I don't know maybe James can answer that for us. Um, sorry, James. Um, and um, yeah, I don't know much about the statewide IEP platform, but I will just say once again, the state has like zero money. So, let me just put this a little bit in perspective. Um, last year the state had to cut $1.2 billion from our budget, right? I mean, and people are saying, "Oh, it's just because you guys are spending too much." That is frankly not the case. We are in
084a situation where Taber um was elected was voted in by the voters in what 1992 stands for the taxpayers bill of rights. Sounds really great. People think it's awesome because sometimes they get money back. But here's what that's doing. Because of the artificial constraints it puts on all of our budgetary activities at the state level. It is achieving its purpose of making government so small that it can be drowned in a bathtub. That was the goal of the PE person who created it. Um I did pull this up earlier just because I saw this headline. Um if you looked at the Colorado Sun the every day the other day, it says even worse than we thought. Colorado is stuck in a cycle of annual 1 billion state budget shortfalls. So in addition to the $1.2
085billion we ca we cut last year when the um HR1 was signed into law at the federal level in July, we had a balanced budget before then. We were immediately another $1.2 billion dollars out of budget. So, we had to go into special assession to try and save revenue. Those budget cuts will be haunting us going in through next year. In addition to that, we're probably looking at like another billion dollars. Here's the deal. I mean, if our general fund has about $16 billion in it, if you're reducing that by a billion dollars a year, how many years does it take for it to get to zero? Any guesses? Anybody good at math here? So, I don't think it's a hard equation. This is something that we are going to have to go to our
086voters to solve because it's not going to improve. This is not a situation that we are overspending. If we were allowed, for instance, to keep the revenue that the state collected, we would be able to, for instance, save for a rainy day such as a pandemic or other things where we again had to make enormous budget cuts and do all kinds of um gymnastics in order to get through that back in 2020. And so, um and and and from there. So, I I'll be quiet about that, but I just want to let you know if you guys have ideas on things that are legislative barriers that are that that we can remove. We are happy to do that. But when you look at creating new programs, new anything, it's just going to be financially infeasible
087until we get past this cycle of $1 billion a year off of every single flipin budget that we have. Last year, there was some lowhanging fruit, some cash funds that could be swept. We were able to do it without too much damage. We've been able to save the growth in K12 education. that is unlikely to continue for long unless we take action. So, sorry, gloom and doom gum. Gloom and doom done, but thank you. >> Maybe the other Kathy has better news. I don't think I have better news, but um it's interesting that we are talking you are talking about the educator recruitment and retention because we just were talking about that at our board meeting last week and it's on our priorities that I I I don't want to say this because of my
088colleague to the left, but what I was advocating it's a $10 million budget and we haven't even inflated it. I would love to see us inflate it. We can't. we had to have the really hard conversation about can we redistribute that money so we pick up more people with less money. That's the conversations that we're having right now. Um that break my heart. Um and we need actually we need legislation to be able to do that. But to have that conversation when we know what the need is to say well do we pick up and then do we lose people because the amount of money that we're able to give doesn't really help meet the need that they have. We don't know the answer to that yet but we are having that conversation. If there's
089pennies in the couch to increase us at all, even by inflation um we'll be looking for that. I think um on the lensure barriers, we're happy to work with you wherever um CDE can help and I'm really intrigued by the idea of a statewide IEP platform. I'm meeting with Dr. Foster in the next week or two. I'm happy to bring that to them and to work as a partner because I don't have much more to offer other than anything we can do to reduce the paperwork and the administrative barrier so you can actually focus on kids I think we're all in for. So let us know how we can be partners on that because that makes a whole lot of sense to me. So thank you. >> Go ahead. >> Thank you Chair Draper. I
090just want to echo um my colleague Senator Kip here about just how dire of a situation we are looking at. Uh and when she says we were able to make these cuts with without having major damage and preserving K12 funding, it still was very painful cuts and it nothing that our state budget funds because we have to have a balanced budget and we have uh such a tight budget. everything we fund is important and means a lot to the people getting those resources. So, these are very painful decisions and they're just going to get harder. Uh, one thing that I like to focus on is tax policy. That is my background. Um, I'm a tax attorney uh and served as your deputy assessor, but don't hold that one against me. Um, and what I have
091looked at in my last year is where we can take a stab at Taber to be able to keep some of our money, to be able to close corporate tax loopholes and see what we can do to retain some of the funds we have. Um, I will tell you that that is not um money that I've been able to use to fund new programs or um any new resources. It is simply to soften the blow of that billion dollar hole, saying, can we create another $300 million in revenue here from closing loopholes just to to to make so we can uh preserve K12 funding. And so we're I'm going to keep doing that work. That is another tax package I am working on for this next legislative session. But again, it's going to be with
092that same lens of can we just retain some of the funding we have and cut less? But it's not um it still is going to be a cut and it still hurts. other thoughts on that because it's such wonderful news and we know not to shoot the messenger um you know because we know that this is um you know this is something that is been coming for quite some time um with Taber and we also um you know look at what our budgets are doing and what our needs you know with our budget shrinking and our needs growing we're trying to figure out the best way to approach this and make sure that um all of our students are getting what they need. So, thank you for for sharing all of those perspectives. Really appreciate
093it. Um, were there other questions, other thoughts? Scott, go ahead. >> Yeah, this is for Lori. Um, you had mentioned earlier the enrich. You had asked if we use enrich. Forgive my, you know, not knowing a lot about this stuff, but if a lot of the school districts are using Enrich, is that a possibility for the state platform that like if those are all connected, is there a way to connect all that? I guess that's that's what I'd like to investigate is how many districts how many districts are using it because you have to pay for a platform. Um, I think there might be some districts that are using Infinite Campus or, you know, whenever there other SIS um that integrate IEPs, but um I'm curious how many are using Enrich and if that's something
094that can be integrated across other platforms, student information system um platforms, it might be not as painful as as we might think because they're paying for something anyway for for an IEP. um platform and like I said, a small rural district to the east is having the same they have the exact same question because we're all moving students between our districts and to have a portable IEP that talks that that we can you know I I think about how we have information in um in CDE's website that district and district to district we can get information from where is a student coming from and what's their background But having an IEP that would transfer that you would you would have the information and CDE or however that platform gets transferred from between districts. It's Thompson
095to Pter Pter to Gley, Greley to Cherry Creek. It would be really nice to not have to track down that student's records. It would be, you know, Lisa could get a student in and say, "Okay, I've got this student's IEP. I know exactly where to hit the ground running. I'm not trying to catch up before the student gets here or the student just showed up and I got to figure out if I'm going to have a parah available or what's going on that it it would save so much stress on on schools. So, I'm hopeful that, you know, if we can find out if it's a majority of districts, you know, um it's kind of like with our read plan, you know, when we have three, four, five different um assessments that we need to
096use for students. You know, maybe maybe we can get to more of a common platform like Enrich. I don't know if there's another one out there that's bigger than Enrich, but it would be really helpful for for our schools. I know, and for our districts um to manage that. So, other questions, thoughts? >> Thank you. Sorry. >> I I had leaned over and asked um Kathy if it's possible like some of this might be just rule making within the CDE um within the state board of education. I'm not sure if it's it needs a legislative action. It might be rulemaking. So, which we're happy to look at. So, just out of curiosity, forgive my my questioning on this, but is there something that like the CDE could be um bulk purchasing for school districts that
097then districts, you know, like like enrich? Um so, the state of Colorado purchases enrich for all districts to then participate in. Um is that something that would be possible? Um, and especially if it's I understand the money issue, but if there's um a way to pay into that. So, I'm I'm thinking there are um you know databases that the the um Colorado libraries will purchase and then you issue um people access to that and you charge them per how many students or how many um you know people can access that. Is that something that would be possible or to be looking into >> if it had a zero fiscal note? I mean, I'm happy to. You're right. If if maybe districts could pay in to something more centralized as opposed to individualized, we're certainly happy
098to look at that. But I don't want to be the one that walks across the street and asks for money from my colleagues. At least not right yet. But I'm happy to look into anything that helps relieve administrative burdens um and helps focus where our focus needs to be. So absolutely happy to have that conversation. >> Okay. >> Makes a lot of sense to me. >> Yeah. think and I'm just wondering if that if it could work for something like that other other places in which you know the CDE could make the initial purchase um as and and doing so as a state have that be um you purchasing at a discount essentially um and then having people pay into that per pupil or or something to that effect >> and we could certainly look
099and see what other states are doing if other states have a similar model that might we might be able to replicate that's something we can absolutely do. >> Okay. Yes. Sorry, Andrew. Go ahead. >> No, thank you. Uh, just a thought on that. I think you'd want to make sure or at least run some traps on whether or not that revenue um coming into the state would then be subject to TABR, which would push out things above the Taber cap as a result. So depending upon how that is structured, it could even be double counted um as a result of Taber. And so essentially while it would be an offset, you would be treated as revenue in the state and would that amount of revenue would then need to be offset above the tab cap
100should have pushed that amount above it. So I think it's just something to think about as you think through different ways to pay for services that are desperately needed and would reduce administrative burden on our district. >> Sorry about the >> Thanks. So I I do have a question that is sort of not all education related, but we've talked about Taber a number of times now. Is there a plan out there to remove Taber? Is there something out there that Yeah, go ahead. Yeah. Yeah. So, I think that there are always efforts to find um workarounds around Taber or ways that we can dismantle pieces of Taber as needed to make it so we have things like school funding. Um an outright appeal of Taber and just politically speaking, um is difficult because very few
101people understand what it is and how it actually impacts their day-to-day lives, how it impacts their school funding. And for most folks when I talk to them, Taber means a refund check. Um, now those are getting smaller, so I think that maybe it gets less popular, but um, I think that there is a real education component that's needed about what Taber actually is and how it does put a chokeold on the state um, and our ability to fund things. Um, with that said, I think that there are efforts to look at pieces of taper that maybe are easier to explain. So I know that there for one um I would say the piece of Taber that I personally feel most frustrated by is the fact that it is a flat tax that somebody who is
102a billionaire is paying in at the same tax rate as someone living in poverty. To me that that's um easier to explain and it's something that I find morally reprehensible. Um, so I'm hopeful that that's a piece that voters could look at and I think that that might be the best approach and you know peace meal explaining how Taber impacts people. So I think that that's where I've hearing efforts go. Um, until then I think we're just trying to do our best to make sure we preserve funding for crucial services with with that chokeold in place >> and we really appreciate it. Thank you. Yeah. Go ahead. >> Maybe just a a logistic clarification as well. Um because Taber is indeed a constitutional measure. It would require uh if the state legislature were to refer
103something, it would require a twothirds vote out of both chambers. And so at this point, I do not believe that is possible. which means that if there are efforts to reform Taber in some regard, that would need to be a citizen-led initiative process and not something that you should expect to see out of the state legislature. as I think acutely aware as we all are of the impacts of Taber on our ability to fund not just education but quite frankly health care in our state transportation environmental policy I mean you can go through the list higher education you know you can go through the list of co-equal uh priorities I think for folks across our state and and understand the pinch uh and impact that Taber has but I do think it's important just to
104level set in terms of where you could expect to see some of those conversations happening as important as they are to at the state level. Certainly. >> Go ahead, Senator Kip. >> Um, thank you. And I just wanted to add, I don't know how many of you are aware, but the state did um do these things called adequacy studies. Um, I think it was from the 2024, maybe it was the 2023, um, school finance act, it commissioned two adequacy studies so that, you know, you didn't have to rely on one or the other. Basically the results of those those were comprehensive evaluations um of all the education in our state to say what would it cost if we were to provide every K through2 kid an adequate education here in Colorado how much would it
105cost and basically what it came back and told us is that we're three and a half to four billion dollars short now um there is a good measure that some folks are looking at for next year that I I along with um representatives like however that measure I believe would bring in maybe two and a half billion dollars and it wouldn't just be focusing all that money on education. So think about that. It's like we're three and a half to four billion dollars short. We could get some additional revenue. This doesn't solve the problem. It's um but people also don't want to spend the time and the money to run ballot measures that are not going to pass. People want to run something that's viable. So, um, yeah, I think we have a much longer
106I have a longer term goal of of getting rid of TAR, but, um, it's probably going to take a while and it is very difficult to educate six mill six million people that we have in Colorado on tax policy. It's a challenging thing because, you know, most people if I go knock on their door when I'm running for election or trying to help somebody else, they barely have time to keep their dog from escaping and and have like a 10-second conversation, right? Getting people's attention to have these conversations is a challenging thing. Um there is a there is movement to try to look at doing a graduated income tax. It has to get past the title board and it did not make it past the title board yet. Um they just tried to do the
107most simple strike through some language in Taber and it was found to not be single subject. I know they're still trying to work on that. Um and there's also a measure to debuse funding just for K12. So there's several efforts out there to try to address the issues and I think um for the first time that I can think of all of the Milivvy overrides that were out there all passed but we still can't get there by doing that through Milivvy overrides and trying to burden our locals. And as we all know there's many districts that don't have enough revenue base to even be able to pass a meaningful millie override. And I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the fact that we did have the adequacy studies which are based on our
108actual standards. But we also have a huge facilities problem out there. And while we didn't cut operations for K12 last year, we did cut the funding for best and we have a 20 billion dollar deficit when it comes to our facilities. And so we have a lot of issues out there and we have not been able to actually meet even anywhere close to we had a billion dollars in requests last year um for best programs and I think we had a couple hundred million dollars is all we had to try to meet that need. So it's um it's a problem out there. So but I'm optimistic that one or if not or both of these ballot measures will get across there. There's a huge citizen push out there to try to get the signatures and
109to get this on the ballot for next year. So that's actually is encouraging. I mean, who knows? We can't read the tea leaves, but I'm actually encouraged in the efforts that I see starting so early. >> Thank you so much for that. I do appreciate um learning about all of that. Are there other questions? Go ahead, Jess. Since we're talking about Tory and there are so many initiatives, is there something that from your lens would be helpful for the board to do even? I mean, I understand walking, talking, educating, but is there anything specific that we should be thinking about doing and contributing to this cause? Go ahead. Um, yeah, at the point where we get something that is going out to get on the ballot, so it's been approved by the title board, it
110is going to or something that's going to be on the ballot if something were to be referred, if there was something that was referable. Um, it really helps if we can get all of the school boards that are willing to to take a stand, right? Pass a resolution saying, "Hey, we support this because X, Y, and Z." Right? tell tell people what you need and why um you would support that effort. And I know you know it's resolution, you know, it's not like a binding thing, but it's also um it it also speaks to when there's a campaign out there that we can point to school districts and say, "Look, you know, 95 of the percent of the school districts in the state are behind this. Really, really need to get this behind this because
111this will help our kids. Other thoughts, questions? Go ahead, Kevin. >> Are we sticking with the beginning of the agenda? Are we freestyling a bit because I've got some things. >> Okay. Um I'm I'm going to invite Superintendent Kingsley to help set some context for this conversation, too. But in this conversation about a shrinking pot, I want to be mindful too of measures that appear to be a golden lifeboat. Um, and since you'd made the ask of school boards to take a stance, um, I think as we're looking at the national landscape and what may be coming down the pike, I think we'll have reciprocal ask too once we get our ducks in a row. Maybe as a board, I'm not speaking for the board, but um there some of the measures that we're we're
112leerary of now are um there's a new push for a federal voucher program um in which Colorado can avail itself of some money um federally to um propagate a voucher type program in our in our communities. I just because it was preient. Um I pulled up the results from the Colorado amendment 80 um measure that failed last year. Um and this was to enshrine or to to amend our constitution here to allow for school choice to include um private schools, home schools, um innovations of future. So broadening the choice but enshrining in a constitutional amendment which I think and this is what I was looking at you Andy. think it required a 55% voter approval in order to be amended and come. I think that's 55% once it gets out twothirds once it's on the
113ballot. It depends on how it was voted in. So the same threshold that votes it in votes it out is the >> right. So if it was a 55 that voted it in, it would require a 55 to vote it out. >> Right. But it never got in. >> So let me do this. Superintendent Kingsley, if you wouldn't mind just giving us a little bit of lay of the land as far as the context because this also came up in our city county PSD leaison and then I've got a couple of thoughts as far as how to connect it more granularly to what we're confronting in our in our local community. I think it would be helpful to have just a brief conversation on that if that's okay. >> Yeah, thanks Director Havlda. um context
114that I think all of you are probably more aware of than than I am as a relatively new resident to the city of Fort Collins is the Chamber of Commerce in our community works really closely as you know with the Weld County Chamber and they just put out a workforce development uh report within the last uh month and a half that's been really kind of eye opening for us as our members of our community, members of our board and looking at like the northern Colorado region. And it was interesting to note that Fort Collins has the fewest married households of any of the communities uh within that region and of our households that are in our local region specific to PSD uh those households are yielding less than 23% of them uh children into our
115schools. And so when I collaborate with other school districts across up and down the Front Range and across the state of Colorado, uh we're dealing with a declining revenue scenario similar to you're declinging with lots of compression and deficit issues too. Ours is being accelerated by a loss of students um on a lot of different fronts. It could be declining birth rates. It could be a lack of affordable housing. It could be that uh choice um is deeply embedded into culture or the culture of our state in our local community. You know, in PSD alone, we have five of our own district sponsored charter schools. I'm really proud to report that eight out of 10 families in PSD choose a traditional public school. Uh the other 10% are in one of our five district sponsored
116charter schools and the other 10% are sprinkled between homeschool and some other charter school institute options. Um, but as our I don't want to refer to human beings as market share, but as the number of students who are in our community is decreasing and our needs are increasing, what we're watching across the country in many instances who are already participating in some type of voucher program, whether it's at the state level or a federal level, it's serving as an accelerant to that decline in enrollment both to homeschooling, sometimes to charter, and then obviously a private ecosystem. begins to evolve. Um, and so I'm interested in partnership with our board of like what are you learning about right now about the Educational Choice for Children Act and are you hearing anything in terms of where our
117governor may be positioning on ourselves and is there anything that you think we can do from a legislative standpoint to protect the integrity of our public schools uh in this region? >> Go ahead. Um, director Garm been working on this for months. So, for those of you who don't know what this is, this is the bill that came out of the I can't say it without choking a little, one big beautiful bill act and it's the scholarship granting organizations. I've been working with Senator Kip and others around this. I think um a couple just salient points. It is a gubanatorial decision um but it could be renewed from year to year. So, we'll have to see who our next governor is. Um, I think there's a a false sense that, and this will date myself,
118um, I think of dire straits when I say this, it's money for nothing, and it's not. Um, I think the the concern is that we're still waiting for Treasury to come up with regulations, and we're waiting to see how strict those regulations are because if they are so strict that we aren't able to actually use the money for all children, I would hope that our governor would say no. There are three states where governors have already said no to this. Um, and there's a kind of a push out there to and they're blue states, so I'm not surprising. Um, and the rumors are that our governor may say yes, but I think um, waiting to see what Treasury does might be a smart way to go. We are trying to figure out if we can
119have legislation kind of in the wings that would allow that money to go to all students um, so that it's not just narrowly tailored. So, I think that's kind of we're looking at um, a couple strategies, right? One is hoping that they say no, but if they don't say no, figuring out if there's legislation that might be able to counteract what Treasury does so that that money actually goes to all students. It's a $1,700 tax credit per person and you don't even have to itemize that. And then it goes to what's called a scholarship granting organization and then those have to be 501c3s that are approved. And so there's a lot of um kind of steps before we get to that. But it is really a concern that the effort was to um encourage states
120that haven't had vouchers to have vouchers is the nicest way I can put it. And we've seen we have there's a lot of data if anybody ever wants it on what vouchers have done to public education. You don't need to look much further than Arizona and Florida to see what it's done to those those states. Um, and it isn't a very good situation as far as public education for all kids goes. So, I guess that's what I would say. And I just want to say thanks to Senator Kip for helping me think through some of this um while we try to figure out what to do. >> Go ahead, Senator K. And >> I think um Kathy mostly said it all. I will just add that um I think in the group that we've been
121talking with, we have core values. Those core values are that the money if it goes to places here in Colorado should be absolutely um not go to organizations that discriminate against children or organizations that accept all children. A lot of inclusivity there. And then also to ensure that that money is accountable, right? That there's transparency in its use. We know that down in Arizona there are stories of like homeschool parents using like that voucher money to take their kids to Disneyland, right? that's probably not a good educational reason um to be to be using money. So there's um we we are we are awaiting that rule making to see what we might be able to do to make sure that um our our core values and making sure that money goes is spent in the
122best way possible if it if our governor does make the choice to opt in. just thank you for your support and being on top of this really pressing situation. I would respectfully invite all of us to be vigilant and on guard with the intersection that sometimes these movements are having with port our our land and our buildings which are our assets in our districts. Um, my career started 28 years ago in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. And I worked there as a teacher, as a principal, uh, a chief academic officer for 17 years prior to to to moving to a different state to advance my career. And as I'm seeing how the voucher system is playing out in in Florida right now, uh, initially it led to a migration of students away from traditional public school options
123to other options as the ecosystem shifted. Um but what's happening in present day is different policy shifts that are allowing charter and private schools to cohabitate and run separate schools under the same roof as a traditional public school further pushing out traditional public schools from their existence. It's it's a very messy process as you can imagine. Um I think right now embedded into state law there is some already existing coupling between our lease and land assets with the charter school network. Um, and I know charters are different than private, but sometimes there are some intersections that I think we need to be mindful of. But as we have opportunities to kind of continue to pursue how to promote K12 public education, I think we as a community, as we're grappling with declining enrollment, would really
124like to think and imagine, see this as an opportunity to reimagine what's possible in our district. Um, could our schools potentially in the future be used as affordable housing? Could we be thinking about reimagining schools and and building and developing trade schools in partnership with private industry, chambers of commerce, and higher ed? Um there's could be early childhood centers. I mean, we have lots of big robust ideas for our community, but there is some legal worry um that we may have some obligations to have offerings to some of our competitors that would only further exacerbate the enrollment challenges we're already facing and not elevate our community. uh we are an aging in place community and we need to think differently about the assets that are available to our neighbors and our community members and so
125I just respectfully ask us to continue to be vigilant as you already are um but really need your thought partnership on this not just about our land and our real estate but most importantly our children. So >> go ahead, Senator Kip, and then Kathy, then Kathy. >> Thanks. Um, and I would ask um PSD to your port because frankly our district is probably the only district in the entire state of Colorado that has not had what we call exclusive chartering authority for over 20 years. That means that you do not have control over the schools that are coming into your district. Why don't you at minimum apply to get that back? I've been begging some of you guys on this for years. It is truly unacceptable in a world of declining enrollment that you guys
126as our publicly elected board will not take the opportunity to at minimum apply to get that back. I have had a bill drafted which I will not bring until you guys at least apply to help solve this problem. But if you guys wouldn't even apply, it's like, you know, you're asking us for help but you're refusing to do your part. And so I'm sorry, but this is something you guys need to do. >> Okay, Gabby. Well, I was just going to say thank you for bringing up Florida. I think we have some real lessons to learn watching around what's going on in the country. A statistic I heard, so don't quote me on this, but that only 51% of students in Florida are in traditional public schools now because of that. Um, and this was
127something that just flew under the radar. And you're right. Um, charters and and private schools are able to go exist in in declining enrollment schools with I think without paying rent. And and the money that's being made is all in real estate. And so I I I appreciate you bringing that up so that we can we want to live well with our neighbors, but I think we also need to pay attention to what's going on. So, thank you for bringing that up. >> Go ahead, Kevin. >> Couple points. Um, one, I agree with you on exclusive chartering. Um, I think we've had conversations. I think the last time was that the district went for it. Remind me, someone smarter than me is at least over 10 years ago, I think, at this point. >> I
128thought it was 10 or 15. I'll I'll take your word for it. So, what I want to shift is a little bit of locus of control because I agree with the sentiment you said as PSD needs to do our part. So, and I also want to echo something Superintendent Kingsley said. I think this is important as far as not stepping on each other. Um, again, I don't have to remind most people in this room where we were about a year and a half ago having some really tough conversations in this boardroom about shrinking enrollment, having a large footprint of assets and what to do with the system that was felt like it was being compressed and we were I mean torturously, agonizingly going through discussions about consolidation and closure based on numbers and where things
129were were landing. So, our community responded and then some and we passed a local measure in 4A and now we have a incredible wellspring of of local resources that are helping to prop up the system and to do its part. Um, I agree though, the numbers still aren't great. We're down another 500 kids this year. And I don't think of it as a shrinking market share. I think of it as a system that is now being pulled at the seams and we're doing everything we can to put on life support with what you just said about Taber and losing a billion dollar a year and they're don't look at us for any more money. I understand that concept but our community resoundingly responded to this encroion and these declining enrollment saying let's hold the line.
130So I think we've done a lot of our part at PSD. I think we there's more there's more things we can do like going for exclusive charter authorizing but in a thoughtful respectful way. I mean not to antagonize the charter schools that are in our footprint but I am concerned and I looked at the I looked at the statute today and I'm not going to tell you why but I looked at the statute today. Uh while charter schools um are not allowed to pay rent, there is a lot of discretion at least from my my read of the statute about what um schools can do within the contracts existing with charter schools. So I think charter schools was a part of the voucher program I'm concerned with. What I'm concerned with is that and even
131in that statute there is local control up to the school board about what's best for the the uses of the assets for our community which makes sense. We're the conduits for our our community here. What I'm what I'm worried about and I think my ask is when I think you said it was a gubanatorial decision. That frightens me. But because for all of the good things that we've done in our community and all the the rolling up our sleeves and what we've done to try to help ourselves, it could be up to one person to decide and we're going to avail ourselves of this, which will have ripple effects, the unforeseen consequences that will not only undo all the work that we've done, but it will absolutely disrupt specifically our title one schools, which is
132not okay with me. And so that is outside of my locus of control as a school board director. And so I just want to put that in the room and say there has to be an exchange of knowing what you guys are doing, knowing what we're doing, and the the conversations we have to have because I one of the things I said earlier today is that we are approaching this as if everyone is looking at ballot ballot pedia and looking at the times. They're not. A lot of the folks that we represent are not going to be paying attention to this conversation. And so we have to advocate for those that are not in this room that understand the complexity of this. So, I'm off my soap box, but I agree with what your your
133comment though because that was rousing to me and I appreciate it. >> Go ahead. >> I just think we need to start educating as much as we can so that our current governor understands the implications because I don't think there's very much information out there about the potential pitfalls. And I'm and I'm going to risk saying something very political, which is maybe we need to also ask the two candidates, all the candidates that are running for governor to take a position on this because it might be something that only lasts, I don't know how long it'll be, but this is a really important issue and it's not on many people's radar. But to the extent that we can actually start to help people understand this, the pitfalls, I think that's super important. And so I
134appreciate your comments on that because people I don't think have heard that yet. I think they just keep hearing we're underfunded. Our schools are underfunded. Why wouldn't we take this money? Right. That's >> a 50-year. >> Really quickly to add on to Kevin's position. Um, Senator Kip, I think that exclusive chartering authority has been something that we've batted around as a board for a while and um, we are still working on it. We're trying to get our ducks in a row to get that put together and we're going to make a decision on that within the board within the next I would say four months. Um for our indist charters I want to articulate that exclusive chartering authority isn't some shot across the bow. We have some very high we have the highest performing uh
135charter schools within our district. We work with them very well. They provide education for a subset of our population that really want that and it's a part of choice. Choice isn't going anywhere. Um, and we will continue to work with them as it pertains to opting into vouchers for those in district charters. And I had a conversation with one of the headmasters last week to articulate to him that voucherization is a threat not just to public schools. Those high-erforming indisters that we have, they are under threat for that as well. There is only a finite amount of people in our community who are going to opt into charter schools, right? And when you have more people going after the same resources, there's more competition and inevitably what ends up happening is your in district charters
136that are high performing decline as well. Um you have outofstate charters come in who are uh private equitybacked going after real estate and they fight over the same sub subset of kids. So, as it pertains to our indistrict charters and exclusive chartering authority, if we decide to go for that, um, what we're we want to make sure everybody understands is it's not something that is going against the schools that are already in our district. >> Thank you for that. Yeah, go ahead, Scott. Yeah, I just had to kind of was thinking the same way that Kathy was in terms of, you know, we have a guminatorial race coming up next year. So, if Governor Polus made this decision, it would be short-lived. I don't know if anybody in the room, not looking at you, James,
137knows anybody running for governor, but has anybody made a claim or made a taken a stand on on that? Sorry, man. >> I I'm going to say a whole lot of nothing. I'm I'm here in my official capacity uh with the US Senate. So, um happy to to put uh folks in touch with someone who might be able to have a bet more u fruitful discussion with you. >> I just I Yeah, I I kind of had a feeling. Sorry, James. I just wanted you to get a chance to talk. Um, I uh, yeah, I think that's really something, Kathy. I think you're right. We need to put pressure on these candidates to take a stand, um, and to hear from us at the at the district level as to, you know, what our opinion
138is on this and get people educated on that. So, >> I just want it takes effect in 27. So, we have some time. So, I just wanted to put that out there. the decision can but the the SGOs's don't take place until 27. So just so you have that date. >> I can say that Senator Bennett did vote against that bill. >> Other questions, thoughts? Anything else wants to get put into the room? >> Yeah, go ahead. So it's the teacher in me that I want I want want to shift us to hope in positivity. Um, I think one of the things that all of you collectively do well and I would just invite us to do more of is statewide recognition of our teachers, our classified staff, our leaders and our schools. Do not
139underestimate uh the significance of seeing them, celebrating them, whether it's through social media channels, school visits, those types of things that are already in place. But I've participated in the past two years, there's been more statewide community building around celebration. And I think we have really as a district benefited from participating and being recognized in those areas as well as other districts. Um so the more that you can continue to do that in your official capacities. I just want to you know our people who are in the trenches are working really hard in spite of all of these changes that are happening around them that may not be in their sphere of control. And just seeing them and elevating who they are and what they're doing in public service I just think uh is lowhanging
140fruit for all of us to be reminded of. And I just want to say for all the efforts that you're already doing in each of those areas, thank you very very very much. Yeah, >> I um would love to come and visit whenever. I um have started just shamelessly inviting myself to things. Um it's probably a little more comfortable to be invited. So I just want to make that obvious that I'm happy to come and celebrate um because I just think that's so important. I was lucky enough to go to the celebration of the teacher of the year in Gley and I still get teareyed when I think about it. It was so awesome and that's just one person but to see the school come together and we had more applicants for teacher of the
141year than we've ever had. I think we had 400 applicants all of whom were outstanding teachers and that's not even the ones who didn't apply. So I have two daughters who are teachers. I understand that the then they don't even have time to apply for those things. But I would love to help figure out how we can celebrate more what's going on. I think it fits in with what we're talking about, which is there's such a negative undercurrent about public education right now that to the extent that we can actually be out celebrating what's going on because as you said, there's very this percentage of families who are actually engaged in the schools is pretty small. And so people need to be reminded of all the really amazing things that our schools add to our
142community. So happy to come whenever. That's excellent. And members of the board, 10% of those 400 applicants are teachers from PSD. So, we're making we're doing our part to make sure that our district continues to be well represented in those competitive races. I I know uh we have a lot of teachers here that are award-winning already in a lot of different ways and we celebrate them in this boardroom all the time. Would it be okay if I elevate one other idea? >> Oh, I'm so sorry. I have >> I just want to add into um PSD celebrates. Do we have the date for that? Because we can invite them right now. We'll get you the Yeah, we'll get you a date for PST celebrates. It's when we celebrate all of our staff al together. So,
143teachers Yeah. teachers, administrators, um pair of professionals, um bus drivers, every everybody you can imagine, we do it all at once and it is absolutely a phenomenal time. >> May >> 4th. Yes. >> Yeah. Go ahead, Andy. >> Oh, thanks so much. I um I really appreciate the comment. I wanted to just flag two things. Um because engagement with our educators I think is critical to better understanding just the reality of the issues that are easy to talk about. It's easy to look at a spreadsheet and understand a deficit or a spending cut that we need to make. Um but when we talk to folks who are doing this work day in and day out, I think it takes a whole another lens and sort of um it becomes real for us. Um but to
144that end uh on Thursday or actually I think yeah it's Thursday of this week um there's a educator for a day event um that a lot of us are going to be participating in where we will actually be in uh myself and my colleagues at two different PSD schools throughout that day. Um that is an incredible opportunity for folks to just be boots on the ground next to folks who are doing this work day in and day out. That's a great opportunity. And I also wanted to just mention that it's not lost, I think, on any of us that on any given week, we have teachers from around the state, including teachers from PSD who come down to the state capital and share their stories with us. And that is incredibly meaningful. Um, not only
145because we know what it takes to get down to the state capital and to be able to take a day away from your family or your work or whatever that is and to brave I25, which everybody deserves an award for. Um, but also to just share your experiences of what it means to be an educator, where the pitfalls are, what we need to do better at, what we need to work collaboratively on. Those things are very meaningful to us. And so, uh, certainly that's not something I think that gets seen by the public a lot. It's a fiveminute conversation when we can step out of the chamber and talk to an educator. But, uh, for anybody listening or for anybody thinking about advocating, please know it really matters when folks come to the state capital
146and say, "I'm from your district. I'm from your community. here's what's important to me. Those things have to matter to us. I think they do and we were really grateful for the opportunity to engage with folks in that way. >> Thank you for that. Go ahead, Kevin. >> I just wanted to say thank you for being here. Um I think it's important that you see the beginning of our meeting, too, because you get to see some of the magic that we get to celebrate in this room. And I think as in recent times I've, you know, thought about the world falling apart around me nationally, but then we get to come in this room, we celebrate a student and we celebrate a parent who came to this this district because of what we offer for
147their kids. So there's a lot of celebrations happen in this room and in our district. And I love getting to celebrate that. But this is now my third time being here with with most of you. And I just want to say thank you for coming and engaging in these discussions and having, you know, these issues front of mind. And none of us are soothsayers. I think we all bring a different perspective to this conversation, but I think it's really important that we have a conversation so we can, you know, recognize each other. And I just want to say thank you all for holding the line for public education and I appreciate the work that you're doing and look forward to the work uh moving forward. >> Yeah. Wonderful. Wonderfully said. Thank you. Kathy, did you
148have something? Well, I just wanted to say being a past local board member, I understand the challenges that you all face. So, I just want to say thank you for showing up every day for students um because that's super important. The work at the local level is really where it all the rubber hits the road. So, thank you. Thank you for your service. Thank you, Chair Draper. I've had the opportunity to work with you some over the years and been really impressed with your leadership. Um and I just want to be um open to helping however I can. Um the state board has um put out a call to meet with um the legislators who are on the education committees and I think representative Garcia Sanders coming. I don't know if you've received the um
149the invitation yet, Senator Kemp. I'll make sure you get it. It'll be embarrassing if you didn't. Um um but anyway, we're just trying to get out and meet with people. But I I really just wanted to say thank you. I've been impressed with the quality of the conversations here. You have amazing staff. Um and just let us know how we can be of service to help you. and your really really challenging job. So, thank you. >> And I think that it's it's reciprocal, right? However we can help each other because when we when we're helping each other, we're helping the students and that's really the bottom line. So, um whatever we can do to make this um to elevate that. So, thank you all for coming this evening. Really appreciate the time that you took
150to be with us um and sharing your thoughts. Um anything else before we close out? >> Can I can I say one? >> Absolutely. old lady at Kinko. I made copies of our I think I was so he he was so nervous wa watching me walk in trying to work the copier with one hand. But anyway, I have um copies of our hot off the press legislative priorities. If I could just leave them with you so that if people want them um I don't want to put that poor guy through all the work and then take them home with me. So y >> that would be great. Thank you so much for >> to say that. So yeah, go ahead. >> Go ahead. Um, I just appreciate the opportunity to be here. Um, I'm mostly
151here to just listen and learn and um, hear what priorities are. My my phone is available to any of you. Um, so please reach out. I reached out to um to CEO CFO uh, Martinez last year a few times. How's this going to affect our district? Um, and Dr. Guile also. Um, so I just I really appreciate the opportunity to listen and learn from all of you. Appreciate my years in PSD. Um, I'm an advocate of public education, obviously product of and a great supporter of I will always go to the mat for public schools. Um, I I would also just say I also work in the other realm of with the with the home school and the private school and the charter school networks. And I would invite you to also make sure that
152you remember that you represent those parents, too. And what we would love to have those those kids come back to public schools, but they've made choices to go somewhere else. And you still represent them. And you know, for lack of a better term, the product that we that we provide of public education um needs to be is so appealing that people don't want to leave. Um, but if they have made that choice, we're not enemies. We are all wanting to provide the best education for our kids. And you know, no matter what that looks like, our kids are going to be taking care of us when we're old and we want them to have the best educations possible. So, um, so please reach out to me with concerns, questions. I'd love to, you know, kind
153of try and help bridge some of those things. So, again, thanks for the opportunity to be here. >> Wonderful. Well, thank you all so I think we will go ahead and wrap that up and give you your evening back. So, uh, this meeting is now adjourned at 7:43 p.m. Thank you all.