001All right. Thank you for joining the board of education this evening. Please go ahead and mute your cell phone as we begin the meeting. Today is Tuesday, March 20 March 25th, 2025, and this meeting is now called to order at 6:31 p.m. For those attending this meeting in person, live captions are available on the TV in the boardroom 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.
002Would any board members like to make changes to the agenda? Okay, seeing none, uh, sorry, moving on to the action items. Uh, today we have, uh, action item 3.1, resolution in support of transgender day of visibility. Can I get a motion? Go ahead. Thank you, Kevin. I move that the board approve the resolution in support of Transgender Day of Visibility, March 31st, 2025. Can I get a second? Thank you, Connor. All right. And I believe we have a special guest today. Yes. Good evening everybody. Uh joining us this evening to speak to Transgender Day of Visibility is Delia Mahaney, our diversity, equity, and inclusion coordinator. Delia, welcome. Hi. I have to There you go. Hello, Superintendent Kingsley, members of cabinet and board of education. I am honored to speak with you this evening, though I
003do so with a heavy heart. For the past three years, students have bravely shared their truth during board resolutions. This year, for their safety, they will not. We also considered staff and GSA sponsors, but then again had to ask, would it be safe for them? those who wish to speak. To those who wish to speak but could not, I'm sorry. There is a growing pattern of hateful anti-trans rhetoric that comes out after board of education meetings. That reality matters. This year's transgender day of visibility reminds us that trans and gender diverse people will always exist, that allies must continue to show up. I speak tonight as one such ally. I do not face the threats my trans and non-binary students, colleagues, and friends do, but I want them to know that I see them. I
004support them, and I will keep speaking up. Ahead of this resolution, trans and non-binary high school students shared what they want from our school district. They want safety and belonging every day. They want representation in curriculum and school spaces. They want the naming of their history and experiences, not avoidance. They want accurate, affirming information that reflects the diversity within their own community. And they want respect for their gender identities. Our students are asking us to learn, listen, and respond. They remind us that there are countless resources, books, podcasts, art, and lived experiences to help deepen our understanding. I hope everybody in this room and however many people are watching will check some of those out. They want us to remember that every queer, trans, and non-binary student is a unique individual. It is also essential
005to understand students rights. Under Colorado law and PSD policy, gender identity is defined as a person's innate sense of self. Students have the right to use a chosen name and pronouns that reflect their identity. Deliberate misgendering of or refusal to use a chosen name can is discrimination and harassment. Our students also shared with us ways in which they have felt supported in PSD. Students feel supported when teachers ask for names and pronouns at the start of the school year or semester. Students feel supported when staff apologize and correct themselves when they makes mist make make mistakes. Students feel supported when educators use increas inclusive language in lessons. And students feel supported when adults immediately address slurs every time they are used in all school spaces. Our transgender and gender diverse youth face enormous challenges, political,
006social, and personal. In PSD, it is our duty to ensure their educational experience is safe, inclusive, and affirming. To every transchild, you are not a problem to be solved. You are a culture ad, a source of strength in our schools. We will continue working with you to build a district where you are valued and supported. You're here. You're queer. And it's time everyone get used to it. As author Julia Serrano reminds us, the most radical thing that any of us can do is stop projecting our beliefs about gender onto other people's behaviors and bodies and let them come to school and be safe. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you so much for that. Does anybody have any statements they would like to make or discussion? Did Go ahead, Kevin. Uh, thank you. Um, sorry I'm a
007little rattled. I'm used to having student presenters and often look look forward to it. So, um, if I seem stirred, it's probably because I am. Um, so those who know me, I do have a statement I'd like to read before we take the vote. Um, they know that I believe in starting with the why. When I'm making an argument, when I'm, uh, trying to convince people of anything, in my personal professional experience, the why is usually inexraably linked to numbers. And so I will start with some numbers at the suggestion of a a colleague and an ally that I spoke with today. In 2024, the American Journal of Public Health published results of a 10-year study of mental health issues affecting the transgender community. The this the uh study was called Temporal Trends and Mental
008Health in the United States by gender identity 2014 to 2021. According to the study, in 2014, 11.4% 4% of cisgendered adults reported frequent mental distress compared with 18.9% of transgender adults. By 2021, 14.6% of cisgender adults and 32.9% of transgender adults reported frequent mental distress. Its conclusions from the study are that policies are needed, and I quote, to address the worsening mental health of transgender and gender non-conforming people in the United States end quote. seems simple, right? Yet, looking into our own numbers, um these come from the the Healthy Kids Colorado survey and were included in Dr. Schmidt's presentation, which is why I keep pointing at him. Um and the district ends 1.0 update to the board of education in February of this year. Um zooming out and looking at PSD's numbers in 2023, and
009I'm again, this is picking the mental health component. um the percentage of PSD students in general in uh that had I'll start with some of the red language felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row during the past 12 months that they stopped doing some usual activities. That number for PSD in 2023 was 25.2% of the respondents which was down considerably from the previous year's uh 2021 study of 43.3%. So, incredible decrease and a number worth celebrating. Uh, the percentage of PSD students that had made a plan about how they would attempt suicide during the past 12 months in 2021 was 5.4% in 2023, down from 8.1% in 2021. So, again, great cause to celebrate. Um, the percentage of PSD students that believe in 2023 they have
010an adult to go for for help with a serious problem is an incredible 79.6% of our PSD students. And that's that's up slightly from 2021 of the total student populace of 76.1%. But numbers will tell you so much. And if you zoom in, which is what I'd like to do now, uh the same cannot be said for our uh subset of students that identify as gender queer, non binary, and gay and lesbian here at PSD. And so these numbers, and I'm I'm reading numbers, um, in 2020, excuse me, 2023, uh, the population of genderqueer, non-binary identifying students of PSD, these are our kids that felt so sad or hopeless that almost every day for two weeks or more in a row that during the past 12 months, they stopped doing some usual activities. Of that
011group, 47.5%. Which is actually an uptick considerably from 2021. of that same group. And again, I'm just speaking right now to the gender, queer, and non-binary uh population of PSD students that seriously considered attempting suicide during the past 12 months. 24.9% I'll round up to 25%. That's a quarter of that population of our own students. And then zooming down, attempted suicide one or more times during the past 12 months, that number is an alarming 13.1%. Which is an increase in 3% more or less from the 2021 numbers. The the findings from Dr. Schmidtz in that district ends report is that multiple national studies indicate that genderqueer and gay lesbian populations are at a higher risk of suicidal behavior, mental disorder, and substance misuse dependence than heterosexual people. Suicide risks are approximately two to four times
012higher among gay and lesbian populations. Similar depression, anxiety, alcohol, and substance misuse are approximately 1.5 times more common in gay, lesbian, bisexual people. Findings are similar in men and women, but lesbian bisexual women are at particular risk of substance dependence. While the lifetime risk of suicide attempts was especially high in gay and bisexual men. It is likely that the social hostility, stigma, and discrimination that most gender, queer, and gay, lesbian people experience is at least part of the reason for these significant differences in mental health and belonging outcomes. End quote. So I I say this and again not as eloquently as Deia said, but I've got some thoughts on the subject is that against this back backdrop uh I wish to convey a sense of urgency to us all here tonight as well as to
013our greater PSD community. I'm reminded that one of our district pillars of our strategic plans is mental health and belonging. So where do we start? What do we do with those numbers? especially when we find ourselves, as you put eloquently, in a national moment where our transgender and non-binary gender specific students are still suffering. And they're suffering on our watch. Well, I believe it begins with passing this resolution tonight and with it a renewed commitment from our district that transgender students exist. Regardless of one's worldviews or hateful rhetoric, these students exist. They exist amongst us. They share classrooms with us. They play sports with us. They may be your on your they may be your soccer teammate and have been for many many years. They practice in hot band rooms alongside us. They learn with
014us. They suffer the loss of a loved one amongst us. They celebrate their birthdays alongside us. And they do all these things potentially without your knowledge that they are trans. In fact, your student likely does all these things with a friend or a classmate that they have no idea is trans. Imagine the weight of that student's reality to navigate all those daily activities and feeling like they have to hide who they are from everyone around them and hoping, praying each night that they won't be found out or suffer the consequences of an unforgiving, unaccepting population that awaits them every single day, day after day, hour after hour, and worrying about where they will relieve themselves or where they can change clothes so they will not be found out. and they will continue to exist with
015or without your recognition of this basic fact because they exist regardless of whether you choose to believe that about them. And so, unfortunately, because our students are not here tonight, I'm going to say to those that are in this room and hopefully a louder student population that I am here to say in a very clear voice that I see you and I accept you for exactly who you are, all of you. Not just the part that societyy's making you feel ashamed of. And I'm here to say that I know you exist and I hope I can be a small part of the forces of good in your life to say this from this table that you matter to me and you matter to this district and our community. And whenever you feel like battle lines
016are being drawn and you feel you are being encircled by those around you who do not understand, those that do not care, those who would choose to taunt and attack you for something that you cannot change, know that I will be standing beside you and I have your back. And with this resolution we passed tonight, please know that I'm immensely proud to be part of a school district that also says so in the clearest way possible. We see you and we also have your backs. And if you want to have our students backs, there is a fundraiser for Trans Visibility Day on Sunday, March 30th from 3 to 6 at the Movement Apothecary and Splash NOCO. That address is 2721 South College Avenue, unit 3 and 4, Fort Collins. Um, I'm told there will be
017local uh talent raffles, community art, silent auction, dancing resources, and educational materials. And the fundraiser directly supports local LGBTQI plus nonprofits and organizations. Thank you. Thank you very much, Kevin. Anyone else? I'd just like to follow up if I may. Um, thank you, Kevin, for what you have said. Um, I know that's a um this is a tough discussion right now um because this is trans day of visibility we're celebrating and yet we don't have anybody visible and it hurts my heart to think that uh this would be my eighth transday visibility resolution and we don't have students here for that and I understand why it is definitely because it is not safe. Um but all these students want is to be seen. That is all they are asking is to be seen and to
018be treated like any other. And so what I want to offer to you um those who are in our community, in our school district, um trans, gender queer, gender um non-conforming um allies, transjoy resistance. And this week there is a whole lot of joy to be had. There are self-care events. There are comedy shows. There's a dance that's happening. There's a brunch that's happening. There's an art show and a resource fair. And there's a march and a rally. I encourage you to go to the various uh websites and places where those events can be found for dates, times, places. Um, and celebrate, be visible, be joyful. Transjoy is resistance. Thank you. Can we call the vote? Kristen Draper. Hi Connor Duffy. Hi Kevin Havda. I Carolyn Reed. I Scott Shen Power. I motion passes 5.
019Thank [Applause] you. Go ahead, Superintendent Kingsley. You wanted to say something and I'm sorry I was short. No, it's okay. the words that you Kevin and Delia shared were very eloquent and and much needed. Uh at this time I I just want to reiterate that the mission of this district is to educate every child every day. I've been in the business of public education for 28 years and I don't know how we in our good conscience can live up to that very important mission without ensuring that we see every child that we teach for who they are and exactly as how they show up and that starts by affirming their existence, teaching them with all of our hearts and centering our relationships on joy. Um, so I'm really grateful for that and I'm very proud
020to work and live in a community that advocates, values, and supports human rights. And so I just want to thank everybody uh for this important moment. Thank you very much. And actually, I believe now it is uh yep, time for the superintendent report. So handing it right back to you. Thank you. You're you're welcome. Thank you. Um, so good evening again everybody. I really appreciate the opportunity to address the community. I want to welcome all of our students and staff and family members back from a very well-deserved spring break. Um, we are excited to be back in our classrooms working with all of our students and our teachers are are working their tails off once again uh in support of advancing our outcomes for our students. I had the chance and the pleasure to go
021to three of our schools yesterday. Bamford Elementary, Bethy Elementary, uh, and Bacon Elementary School yesterday. uh you know the first day back of spring break I was so impressed as the superintendent around the high level of academic rigor and press that happened on the Monday coming back from break. Um and I would also say I want to just congratulate and rest assured that our students who are about to take uh their CAMASS testing uh over the next two weeks that we're prepared, we're ready. We've continued to show that over the last several years. Uh, but I'm really grateful for the the level of dedication that our teachers and school communities have shown in that particular area. It reminds me over and over again when I step in the walls of our classrooms why our families,
022the majority of our families who live and work in our community choose PSD. And so I want to highlight uh our next quick win video that our communications team uh has put together. What's really cool about this video is not only is it a part of our Choose PSD campaign, but you're going to be able to see this quick video in all of our local movie theaters until July 6th. We want to share what makes our district a place where students and families belong. This video is just one part of the campaign. You'll also see billboard postcards arriving in mailboxes, digital ads, and maybe even a vow pack surprise. So, families, uh, if you're paying attention, be on the lookout for all those exciting things. We are inviting families to choose excellence, to choose belonging,
023and choose PSD. If the comm's team could please roll the video, I'd appreciate it. [Music] I know it's quick and it's subtle, but it's impactful and it centers the the relationships that we have with our students and our families that is on joy. So, I'm really grateful to extend that and I look forward to seeing that at a movie theater here uh in the community relatively soon. Uh we're we have a really strong agenda tonight. I want to just signal that we have a couple facility updates and changes tonight. uh that we'll talk about. The first one is on the consent agenda. Uh and there are several related projects here on the consent agenda that are to be completed in the summer of 2025. So that's exciting. Uh one of those particular projects is to
024support the relocation of our transition programs. That's the Cooper home, the community connections program, the campus program, and project search all to one house, which is our existing partnership center. Uh where they can continue to grow together. And this is a huge celebration for the community. Uh, and I'm really grateful for all the teachers and dedicated staff and students who have been working together. Bringing them all under one roof is a value ad in an exponential way. And I think I want to signal that. I believe that's a huge celebration and I know our staff does as well. The second is an action item that's on the least space for our employees assistance services or our EAS program. I want to take this opportunity to highlight all of the incredible work that our ESC EAS
025team does every day to support our district employees. Um I I think they are I don't want to be competitive. We wouldn't be the district that we are if we didn't have EAS at our disposal and all of the network of providers that work in conjunction with them to support our employees to make sure that they can be their best selves in the workplace and at home is just nothing short of tremendous. So, I'm signaling that action item. And then later on tonight, we'll also hear another update from our chief technology officer about how we're working to streamline and improve our district's technology systems uh and how we collaborate and work with each other to get a lot of this important work done. And this is all an enhancement to better serve our entire PSD
026community. So, I look forward to a very productive uh meeting with all of you. And I want to thank you for giving me some time to address the community. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you so much. So, we'll move on to the community comment portion. Uh so, welcome to the community comment section of the board meeting. The board desires to hear the viewpoints of all stakeholders, including students, employees, parents, guardians, and community members. Public comment is designed to address issues, not personalities or personnel matters. Please keep your concerns and comments focused upon the district and appropriate for a K12 audience. Please note that the board does not generally respond to remarks made during community comment. Our lack of response should not be construed to mean that we agree or disagree with what is said or the
027description or interpretation of events as presented by any speaker. Further, even if some remarks may be factually inaccurate, we generally choose not to respond or correct the record here because formal board meetings are not the time or place for back and forth dialogue. As we begin this community comment section, let us model for our entire community how to listen and how to interact respectfully even with those with whom we disagree. For we all have the students best interests at heart. So, this opportunity for public comment is from members of the community who registered to speak by the designated deadline. Those people will be called up uh to make remarks in the order that they signed up and each speaker will be allowed three minutes to address the board. So, first up we have Anna Labetta.
028Welcome. Thank you. I appreciate that. All right. Good evening. I want to start out by reading an excerpt from a Colorado news article involving parents who were concerned about PSD's struggle to help dyslexic kids keep pace with peers. This article is dated August 9th, 2018, exactly two weeks before my sixth grade daughter walked into our PSD neighborhood school for her first day of kindergarten. The article states, "Shonda Stall, a PSD integrated services literacy coach, said there are systems already in place to catch problems early and intervene. Teachers regularly screen kids from kindergarten to third grade at the beginning of the year to see if they read at grade level." Now, the district is working to increase teacher awareness of dyslexia. Teachers may have heard the word dyslexia, stall said, but their level of exposure depends
029on courses at the university level. According to materials provided by the district, PSD created a district-wide rollout plan to increase awareness this year. Again, I want to point out that this article was written six and a half years ago. Um, and it reads as if it's literally a current event, right down to the district saying they're screening kids regularly and Shondaanda Stall rolling out a district-wide plan to increase awareness that year. Nothing has changed in a tangible way for kids or parents around dyslexia. On May 10th, 2019, legislation was signed updating the Colorado Read Act. This was exactly 20 days before my kindergartner looked up with me looked up at me with tears in her eyes on the last day of school as she said, "I failed. I didn't learn how to read." In the
0302019 ReadAct legislation, it was spelled out explicitly well before COVID that each individual board of education for each district was to adopt a literacy curriculum that aligned with the science of reading by no later than July 1st, 2020, which would have meant that our district's literacy curriculum should have been overhauled to align with the science before my daughter started second grade. Again, she's now in sixth grade. Respectfully, Miss Draper and Miss Reed, please help me understand why the board of education at that time disregarded the importance of this legislation. Instead, our board of education didn't adopt a curricula that aligned with this 2019 standard until April of 2023 and didn't implement the curricula until the fall of 2023. Let's put it this way. If my daughter would have had access to the science of reading
031before she started second grade, there's a very good chance that her profound learning gap would look very different than it looks today. Our district has shown a pattern of procrastination and negligence when it comes to prioritizing recommended literacy measures in our district. Our secondary students, who should have been caught by the safety net of 2019's legislation, desperately need this board's advocacy for urgency. Literacy is the cornerstone of education, personal development, and societal progress. Please ensure that literacy for all is a top priority in this district. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we have Danny Lawrence. Welcome. In the last meeting during the CASBY presentation, I was stunned and I hit the rewind button probably about 20 times to absorb the admission that this board doesn't amend your board policies or review them. but maybe sometimes
032just monitors them. Although I can't find that in several years worth of meeting agendas. And I tried to imagine a world based on my professional and volunteer experiences where the board that I was serving on didn't review their policies with fidelity. Prior to losing my career to ensure that my son was educated, I served on local, state, and national boards of real estate. And I was also the CEO of a Habitat for Humanity with a board, a local Habitat for Humanity with a board. And in all of those examples, policy review annually was an absolute requirement. I remember it because it was tedious and I hated it. So I watched that all unfold last meeting and I realized that the mission statement for PSD hadn't been updated in 19 years and that crushed me. No
033wonder nothing here changes. It's insanity. Last spring when we all learned that the board had kicked the can down the road financially for a decade. That was bad enough, but this exceeds neglectful to me. You hold the superintendent accountable to his policies while clearly not judging his performance based on your own. And some of you didn't even know that you had a policy committee. Let's just be honest about that. I see each of you spending a mountain of time volunteering. I do. It's visible. It's apparent. And I appreciate your time. But you guys aren't spending time on the things that would course correct this organization because your ego is too busy defending what you've all done. Instead, you appear to spend your time denying the community access to your legislative agendas while simultaneously picking your
034next board of education members politically. Secret meetings to vet candidates corrupts the process. And it keeps someone like Mr. Shoenbower from making the contributions he has made this past year unless your chosen candidate also forgets to file their paperwork. And we can't keep going on like this. It's madness. A $550 million organization amends and reviews their mission and vision statements. You aren't serving every child every day. and you haven't been for a long time. You recognize disparent outcomes and you do nothing about it. And for the staff here, I cannot imagine hearing that the people in charge of my retirement and my benefits couldn't be bothered to amend their policies in a decade. All while you're questioning whether you're being too hard on yourselves. It's crazy. It's unbelievable. And it insults the intelligence of the
035communities that continue to support you. What we have isn't working for so many. And getting serious about policy revisions is a good place to start. And it shouldn't be the job of just two board members. I volunteer personally my time and my experience to help. Ask any of the previous IEP members here at the PSD. They'll tell you that I'm the queen of words smmithing. But this is too serious to allow another year to go on without addressing it. Quit passing up the important for the urgent. Quit and start working towards some leadership principles that will allow for thoughtful planning. Bnee Brown says it best. Daring leaders say the unsaid. They unsurface what's been pushed down and they bring to light the stuff that the shadow that's in the shadows and in the corners. And
036we need daring daring leadership now more than ever. We need a value change and because PSD won't survive without it. And you all know better. So please show it. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Moving on to board topics and committee reports. Uh, this agenda item is an opportunity for board members to provide an update on committee work or speak to board topics. Excuse me. Do any board members have anything to report? No. Okay. Uh, April 17th. Yes. Um, at Rice and at uh Beth Key at 5:30, we will be doing our final um engagement session. So, please join us there. Uh, was there anything else? Okay, go ahead. Not not final forever, just final this school year. For this school year, we intend to keep doing those, but yeah, I I I was blanking
037because I thought it was the 17th, but I didn't want to miss a quote and I was trying to find Thank you for Yeah. No, absolutely. Um, no, and it is it is the final for the school year as we all know that that Mayber is a you know, a fun month for all parents. So, we know that that's not going to be a great time. Uh, so we will go ahead and move on to the consent agenda. Would any board members like to pull anything from consent? Okay, seeing none, um, can I get a motion? Go ahead, comment. I move that the board approve and adopt the recommended actions for the items on the consent agenda. Do I have a second? Thank you, Carolyn. Right, let's see. Jill, can you call the vote? Kristen
038Draper, I. Connor Duffy, I. Kevin Havda, I. Carolyn Reed, I. Scott Shoenower, I. Motion passes 5. Thank you. Moving on to 8.0 action items. 8.1 Executive Limitation Policy 2.8. Can I get a motion? Thank you, Carolyn. I move that the board determine that the superintendent has reasonably interpreted board of education policy EL2.8 in his internal monitoring report dated March 25th, 2025 and that the evidence presented supports the superintendent's conclusions stated in the stated in the internal monitoring report. Can I get a second? Yes. Thank you, Kevin. All right. Um and is there any discussion on this item? Go ahead, Kevin. Just a very brief comment. um what we're, you know, we're we're interpreting the one of the EL uh limitation policies of the superintendent, which the gist of this one for those that haven't read
039the fine print is more or less the policies that govern the superintendent's communication uh with the board. And I just want to again in my practice trying to zoom out a little bit for our community the amount of information that comes across in this school district not just on your desk but on everyone's desk and to have to triage expedite to keep the the the seven of us informed as as best as possible is an insurmountable task. And so I think that while this may seem like a a very prefuncter vote from those that wouldn't know better, I commend you, Superintendent Kingsley, for the amount of information that you have to distill to deliver to us in a way that we can digest and that that we can make some sense out of. And it's
040not perfect, but it is really, really good. And so I just wanted to say that. Thank you for that. Anyone else? I think uh Nate would say ditto here. So yeah, absolutely. Go ahead. I just one I want to say thank you for the compliment and I just also want to compliment and extend that to the entire team. Um I am an ambassador amongst many others who are working in this district and various departments and divisions who help keep me informed to be able to keep you in the community informed as well. and I couldn't be able to achieve uh this executive limitation with integrity and with fidelity without our team. So, thank you again. Thank you. All right, Jill, can you call the vote? Kristen Draper, I. Connor Duffy, I. Kevin Havda, I. Carolyn
041Reed, I. Scott Shoenbower, I. Motion passes 5. Great. Thank you. Moving on to action item 8.2, approval of commercial lease for employee assistant services or EAS. Can I get a motion? Thanks, Connor. Excuse me. I move that the board approve the commercial lease and authorize the board president to sign the commercial lease attested by the board secretary. Can I get a second? Thank you, Scott. All right. And so on this, I believe we have a special guest. Yes. Joining us this evening to speak to the commercial lease for our employee assistance services programs is Dr. Lauren Hooton, our chief of staff. Welcome, Lauren. Thank you. Thank you board and superintendent for the opportunity just to provide a quick update on this lease space for our EAS team and I'm hoping that we can have our
042presentation up or not. I will bud will get it. So our purpose tonight is just to provide just a very high level overview of what EAS does and why they need the space that we are planning to lease for them. Okay, there we go. All right. So our employee assistance services team or EAS provides 247 365 support to all of our employees and their eligible household family members. Brian mentioned this in his remarks. The EAS team does an amazing amount of work to support our staff each and every day. So, we are very grateful for everything that they do to make sure that we can all show up as our best selves for the students that we serve. Um, as you can see here, the the team really assists with a number of different things
043ranging from mental health and problem solving strategies to creating space for employees to work through personal issues. They also are providing mediation services to employee teams across our system. And there's a whole lot more that the EAS team does as well. Uh but that just gives you a quick highle overview. Our EAS team consists of six staff members, the EAS manager, three counselors, a specialist, and an administrative assistant. They are currently housed in an office space on Mlen Street. That space will no longer be available for use at the end of June this year. So, we've been looking for a new space for EAS for a while. Uh, additionally, we're looking for a larger space for this team so that we can offer more in-person services and also more of those group services in a
044larger, more accommodating space. Uh, the other thing to note when we think about space for a program like EAS is that privacy is really imperative for those employees who are seeking this kind of support. Uh, and it is for this reason that EAS cannot be located inside of a school or a district building that's being used for other purposes. It's really intended to be a space that can be accessed confidentially, which is why it exists outside of our other facilities. Uh, in the past, we have explored possibilities for putting EAS in a district facility that's not being used for another purpose. At this point in time, we do not have a suitable space that we can put this team in available. Um, which is why we're looking for this leased space outside of our current
045building portfolio. So this space that we have found in this effort is located at 3350 East Brook Drive. Uh this is across the street essentially from Fort Collins High School. This is an ideal space from a location perspective because it's relatively centrally located for our employees across the district. Uh the space that we are looking to lease is about 2700 square feet which brings us to a larger space that does accommodate providing those uh services in person and doing group mediation in person as well. The rental rate that we have negotiated for this lease is $18 a square foot beginning in May of 2025 and escalating 3% annually. Just as a point of reference, the space that they are currently in on Mlullen Street is about 13 just a little bit short of 1400 square
046feet and is being leased at 1688 a square foot. Uh we're looking to sign a relatively long-term lease here uh beginning in the next month. And the rental costs for our EAS space are paid out of fund E, which is the employee self- insurance fund, which therefore means that this lease cost does not impact the general fund. Okay, so that is the overview that I have for you all. Are there any questions? Yeah, Caroline. Yeah, I just have some practical questions. I'm I'm assuming since it's suite 200 that there's an elevator and it's handicapped accessible. I believe so. Yes. Okay. And then I was just wondering if that $18 includes CAM or not. Includes CAM common area maintenance. I would have to refer to Otto Dave who are more familiar with the lease terms on
047that. We can pull that. Anything else? Oh, Scott. Thank you. Yeah, that I was curious about that. Triple net would be the other uh thing if that 18 included that. The only concern I have, I mean, we're talking about doubling the expense from 23,000 a year to 49,000 a year. Um, the 85month lease at 7 years. Um, given what possibly might happen with our facilities in the next 3 to 5 years, there may be space that frees up. Is there an opt out that we can have in that lease where there's a I've seen it in in some of the leases I've signed where you can have, you know, halfway through or threequarters of the way through you can have an opt out. Yeah. So, and I'm going to have Autumn correct me if I
048get anything wrong here. Um, so we do have an out and it's the basically the Taber appropriation language that we put in our agreements. the um the less or accepted that that Taber language basically means that if the board were to unappropriate that expenditure, we could get out of the lease. Um but we we've never executed that that paragraph that I even that I've even known since I've been here. Thank you. Anyone else? Yeah, it's in if you look at the contract, they speak to that in 33, it's the appropriation of funds language. Again, I'll defer to Autumn, but looks like in no event shall tenants obligations in the lease constitute multiple fiscal year direct or indirect debt or other financial obligations under article X, the Colorado sets a taper carve out, but it also
049says the tenants obligations here are expressly subject to its budgeting and appropriation of sufficient funds for each fiscal year the lease is in effect. Yeah, I just also want to reiterate and I know um Dr. Dr. Hoot, you already had said this, but privacy is of utmost importance on this and so we need to be very careful about it would be wonderful if we could co-house this within a school or something like that, but we also have to be extremely aware of the privacy issues that come with this. And so having it in a separate building is definitely something that we need to be uh very much aware of and and willing to to look at. So, uh it it's one of the main reasons why and actually I think it is the reason why
050uh we are not looking at co-housing this. So, yeah. Yes. Go ahead, Caroline. So, I think I have the right contract pulled up. Yeah, I do. So it says here yearly amount 50,55 base rental and it says rent rental per square foot is 1750 and common area charges are 28,4 340 to 982 a square foot a month. So that's kind of high cam. Yeah. So it is kind of high cam. So I just did a search on common area. So that must be if you look down page page 16 page 16. So it looks like total monthly rental 6,570. See you page. Yeah, it's on page 16. And so it has the yearly and monthly amounts, both base rental and the common area charges. And the total yearly amount is 78,847 for the base rent
051and common area charges per month. That's $6,570 a month. Sorry, but tell me where this is coming out of. It's not a general fund. No, this is coming from our employee self- insurance fund. Yeah. Um, I'm going give you a little background on the employee self- insurance fund to just help. Um, you may or may not remember, we are a self-insured district. So, that means that we pay out our medical claims. Um, we have stop-loss insurance and things like that, but the fund is really established to track that activity. So, the district makes contributions on behalf of its employees to the fund just like we would just like another district might make a contribution to an insurance company. employee elections to have like family or spouse coverage or partner coverage would also be um a
052piece of that. So, so yeah. All right. I thought I was done, but now I got a followup. So, maybe it is an audible question, but why is this the perview of the board to do this and not the subject of negotiations? Uh under the board policies, any sort of lease building is required uh to have board approval. Yeah, it's one of the executive limitations. Other questions? All right, Jill, can you call the vote? Kristen Draper, I. Connor Duffy, hi. Kevin Havda, hi. Carolyn Reed, hi. Scott Shenbower. Motion passes 5 Z. All right. Thank you. We will now move on to 9.0 informationational reports and discussion items. Uh and 9.1 is work order and assessed assessed management system update. As sorry, I can't talk. Asset management. My goodness. Uh system update. And I believe we
053have a special guest who can actually speak. We're doing great here. So tonight, we look forward to hearing an update on the work order and asset management system from our chief technology officer, Bud Hunt. Bud, welcome. Thank you, uh, Superintendent Kingsley. Board, appreciate the opportunity to be the thing between you and what's next. While I get to talk about one of my passions, which is centralized data and service management. So, um, it's a win. I'm not going to use or try to say the word that you said previously is I'm nervous that I will miss uh speak it too, and that will end up as a YouTube clip that none of us want. to remember. But I am here to share an update with this board uh on our work order and asset management system.
054There we go. Um and the work that we've been doing since uh you uh so graciously allowed us this opportunity to do some alignment across our business systems uh last May. So uh I'll try to keep it quick and I will try to uh keep it informative and let you get on to the next thing. But I also thank you board, specifically you, President Draper, for sharing my enthusiasm for a good ticketing system, which is what some of this uh product is. So, as you recall, we uh have we uh sought your approval last May to combine, align, and develop a common platform across our operational units, operations, finance, IT, several other departments. Uh in May, uh we began that work together in the fall. It was a little slower to get started than we
055originally thought. We ran into some contract issues, some opportunities for further alignment. Uh but we uh working on that, have been working on that and are aimed at a balloon launch of I'm not fooling April 1st as our uh public launch of the system uh here in the system. So tonight, just want to give you a review of that platform status, the launch, and how we're finishing an implementation start, which really means we're starting a multi-year data project, which again is something that I get pretty excited about, and I think the board uh will share that excitement as it's an opportunity to continue to support and steward uh work that you have uh supported in the past. So, if you recall when we uh came to you to talk about the project, we're trying to
056align our support platforms. We have three in use. We're we're taking two off the board next week uh around a common platform, knowledge base and consistent end user experience. All of our district uh users, be they teachers or uh support staff should be able to come to one place, experience a common experience, get the support they need, and that's all living in a data system and an ecosystem that remains consistent and aligned and doesn't require multiple people deciding multiple ways to track the same information in different ways, which results in uh some misalignment. So we want common visibility to request needs uh across our system by our service providers. The goal there is faster response times. Sometimes you have the opportunity to create opportunities for better teaching. Other times you have opportunities to give people
057more minutes to do that good teaching. In a lot of ways this is one of those few more minutes projects uh by providing some better service and uh continued improvement and visibility into system alignment. Right. Uh and then we'll come back to this last point, but that ongoing stewardship of our asset and facilities condition data. We've called that the Mckin Street data in this room before. What is the state of our facilities, our stuff, the things that we invest and care about? How are we monitoring, supporting, maintaining, and attending to that data in a long-term uh way that keeps it current, fresh, and protects the investment that this board has made and our community has as well in that information. um nerd out just a bit here to say that the service now platform that
058we have selected through a bid process is a s a software as a service tool. Uh it's the one time I get to say SAS and mean it. Uh it's a SAS uh system which means uh that we are working with multiple modules in a cloud environment across a common data model. Uh we're working with three of those modules as we launch the platform. ITSM is an IT service management module. Our field service management module is more of our our facilities and uh outdoor services uh module and then the enterprise asset management module which is that long-term investment in our data stewardship. Uh those are some modules that you could put into this platform but it really uh is a an opportunity for us to think about that data and I'll come back around to
059that. all those words to say as far as our end users are concerned beginning April 1st they'll go to one place it looks kind of like this to support uh or to do the work that they were doing across a few different places and you'll see on the page the idea is that there's one place where the knowledge for that information lives one place for the service request or our service catalog in the system to live and one place to report hey man this doesn't work the way I think it should uh in the system so uh new look and feel this is one of those moments where uh it technology a lot of good parts of technology work happens behind the scenes. If it works really well, nobody's going to notice. It's just going
060to be better. But it's taken an awful lot of hours and an awful lot of folks time to get us to this space. Uh so let's talk a little bit more about what's uh sitting behind the scenes. Right. Right. So I named earlier we've implemented a few modules across this platform. But this very terribly drawn uh uh graphic which I have produced uh using my skills with clip art uh really is to highlight for you that bottom layer because what you want to do in a system like this is you want to put all of your data in one place in a complex uh set of tables and and then you work the systems the software above and across those. So the same location that we would think about when we need to service an
061IT call is also the same location where we have ongoing preventative maintenance work related to our boilers. Historically we've treated those as different data elements in different systems and different tools over time in this platform. It's our hope we'll have a much better real-time model of what our the state of our systems are uh through this data model through this platform. So the software modules on top are just different ways to interact with that data with the idea being that the data is what we really care about that we really value and we can do different things with that data depending on who's asking to meet which business needs. Um that was a really quick sassy look at a SAS but that's what I want you to take away. Again I am the reason that
062this you're not able to leave yet. So just remember that it was sassy and it was okay. Um but more importantly uh over time we hope to think about which modules were working against that data in other uh district uh areas. But to the status part here's where we are today. Um we began that platform configuration work in the fall. We've been doing some organizational change management because when you have multiple systems multiple teams can do things their way. We've had to define and describe and align around a few common ways to do some things. Uh we've been working behind the scenes to do all the training and transition associated with that. Uh getting ready for that launch next week. We'll have our final go no-go for whether or not that launch is going to
063happen. Sneak peek. We think it will. Uh it we're feeling very good about that. Uh and then we'll turn off the systems that people have been using historically and redirect things to the uh new system. And then that really said earlier that's feels like a finish. It's very exciting. It's really the start of the work because now we have a bunch of people field testing the data in the systems that we have built and so very immediately thereafter we're going to be looking at systems improvements. One of the great things about this investment uh in this space instead of buying a product that will look the same, feel the same and work the same. We're building a platform and we are learning how to develop in that platform that will allow us to do service
064improvements throughout the work as we go. So, those next round of service improvements will begin sometime this summer after we've given folks a month or two to live in the space, marinate in the space, and show us how it works. Um, once again, that platform will launch August or April 1st. It's one of those websites that many of the people in this room won't experience because that's all behind a a district uh login through our login methodologies. We're very excited about those pieces. again highlighting that this is an opportunity for us to continue to support, look after, and maintain all of those data environments. Uh looking ahead, as I said, those service improvements will be what we'll be thinking about in the short term. Making sure that platform engagement is working. We know how many
065tickets are coming in in the IT and work order spaces. Now, we expect those numbers to go up over the next few weeks as we've reduced a little bit of friction and made it a little bit easier to put things into the system, which actually means that we will experience more work and slightly reduced uh service mo or service times. So we'll be managing those expectations as we uh work the new work in and then begin that process of adjustments and service improvements helping our teams to recognize when we see a common set of things that before we were seeing in two places see the same things broken now we know we have a problem it's not that somebody's doing it wrong it's that something needs attention or what we would call in the IT
066side we have a problem that needs to be managed rather than an incident that needs attention uh and then we'll continue uh to to make those small improvements over the next few years as we start, this is my favorite word of the night, the platform ingestion of other data sources in the district. We have both on the academic and the business side, what what some would call magic spreadsheets of their data, the the information that we have maintained and kept in a bunch of uh different environments. We want to start to bring those items together and then continue to look as an organization about what systems make sense to bring online in terms of services we might want to offer in that data versse. uh continue to look at how we're tracking assets. All of
067the construction projects that we are working towards, the updates to systems, ongoing things will be things we look at as well. And then we'll start the what I think is exciting, but some in this room might find uh tedious uh business ecosystem review. what are the other things that we're doing in the system in various platforms that may make sense to ingest and bring into this platform so that once again we're touching the information the same information across multiple business uses in the organization. So I think that's very exciting. I think it's uh very fun. I will name that if it works well it will be very quiet. And so this is a moment before I I yield to your questions to just say uh thank you to all the folks on our IT team,
068our finance team, our operational team who have been living in change in this space for months and are about to be going public and will experience that change along with the rest of the system. It's been a good collaborative effort. Uh have been glad to have that opportunity to work and align uh across the business side of our house. would also thank that uh all the folks uh in the public and and our voters for helping us to sustain our investment in our facilities and resources and our data so that we can protect that investment through projects like these. So, uh thanks to everybody there and I look forward to no fool in our April 1 launch and I'll see what questions you have now. Does anyone have any questions? Scott, go ahead. Thanks for
069the always entertaining update. I appreciate that. uh but also very informative. Um I'm excited about this. I think it's a really great way to make things much more efficient and hopefully get projects done quicker. That's that's one of the complaints I've heard is just things linger linger linger. So this will be good. Um one question I had though is I know you guys have been living in this, but have you had outsiders that would normally use this run test just to see what that first time user interface is? Absolutely. We run so any software development project that that our team does and I'm I would love to take credit for this but it's a good team that I I'm supporting facilitating. We run all all of our uh all of our software projects in multiple
070environments. So there's always a development right think of that as a playground a development environment then a testing environment. That testing environment is where we take things out for a first spin and then we have our production environment which is what our end users will see. Over the last several months, we've had, I think, 35 to 40 different formal testing processes that have occurred with different stakeholders throughout the system. In the last three weeks, we've done dozens of training events. So, we were uh some of our team were with our office managers at 7:30 this morning to see how they're going to experience that and and we had some representatives doing testing before, but as they're seeing and experiencing, we're folding all that feedback back into the platform. So, we've had hundreds of engagements at
071this point across different user groups in the in the system. Fantastic. Thank you. Other questions? No. All right. Well, thank you. That was fantastic. And yes, I am very excited about this. Um, yes, I know the data. Um, but I just I also think it just it it's going to promote some organizational longevity and some institutional memory, which you know, currently we're not great at. So I think we this will help immensely. So thank you for this and and again thank you um to the voters who helped us establish this and get the the money for it. So appreciate it. So with this um go ahead. No. Okay. So and this was justformational so we do not need to call a vote. My apologies. Uh so thank you very much and have a great night.
072Thank you. All right. Moving on to uh 10.0, the executive session um for superintendent's performance feedback. Can I get a motion? Go ahead, Kevin. I move that the board enter executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel matters related to feedback on the superintendent's job performance as authorized by CRS section 24-6-402 subpart 4f. Individuals invited to join the board in executive session are superintendent Brian Kingsley, general counsel Autumn Aspen, and board secretary Jill Bruner. Can I get a second? Thank you, Connor. All right, so Jill, can you call the vote? Kristen Draper, I. Connor Duffy, hi. Kevin Havda, I. Carolyn Reed, I. Scott Shelon, I. Motion passes 5. Okay. We will now convene in a closed session. This is the last agenda item before adjournment. At the conclusion of the executive session, we will adjourn
073the meeting and the adjournment will be recorded. Uh so let's give ourselves uh go ahead and get at least 5 minutes uh before we go ahead and get started. And thank you. Have a great night.