Board of Education Work Meeting 12/9/25

001[laughter] I believe Hello everybody. How are you doing tonight? >> Hopefully. >> Hello everybody. >> Ready to get started. >> We're about ready to get started. Thank you. Want to thank staff and all the committee members that are here to participate in this uh board meeting. Thank you so much. Miss Evson, would you do the pledge of allegiance for us, please? >> To the flag of the United States of America, >> and to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Could we do a call order, please? >> Mr. Chavez >> here. >> Mrs. Cole, >> can you hear us? Casey, she's online. >> I don't know. Okay, >> here. >> Is that you, Mrs. Cole? >> Yes. >> Okay. Mrs. Evansson, >> here. >> Mrs. Heights,

002>> here. This is Woods here. >> Thank you. Uh before we start taking a look at approval of the agenda, I'd like to add something if we could with you guys all approval. We'd like to Dr. Hill would like to give an update on the Central High School students that were in the wreck. So, uh can I get a motion for that for the change? >> Motion to amend the agenda. >> Second. >> Thank you. Approved. >> Mr. Chavis >> approved. >> Mrs. Cole, >> yes. >> Mrs. Evansson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Heights, >> yes. >> Mrs. Woods, >> yes. >> So, um, we just sent an update out, so I'm just going to read the update. Um, for folks who don't receive the, um, emails from the the district. So, um, the email reads,

003"Dear D51 fans and colleagues, tonight I want to share a brief update on the bus accident that occurred over the weekend involving District 51 students and staff. I want to start with gratitude uh for the folks who have helped throughout this situation. From staff to students to families to members of our community to first responders and even leadership from other districts who have reached out to offer support. We have a caring community and it shows especially in times like these. Our hearts have been with our D51 families every moment since the incident. I'm grateful to share um that the few students who remain in the hospital are making positive progress in their recovery. um they are surrounded by excellent medical care by their loved ones and by the support of our school and district community.

004This continues to be an active situation and out of respect for that process and for the families, we are unable to share specific details at this time, but I did want to share the progress that is being made and dispel any rumors that might be circulating. I know our community wants to understand exactly what happened and I know how deeply people care. the outreach, the offers to help, and the words of encouragement. All of it reflects the strength and compassion of the District 51 family. Right now, our priority is clear, supporting the students, staff, and families who were directly impacted. This is where our attention is and where it needs to remain. We will continue to share updates as soon as information is verified and appropriate to release. In the meantime, I want to thank

005everyone for their patience, their trust, and their care for one another during a very difficult moment for our district. And I want to encourage folks to continue to keep the kiddos in the hospital and their thoughts as they continue making progress. Thank you and thank you for being a part of the D-51 family. >> Thank you, Dr. Hill. Uh, could I have a motion to approve the rest of the agenda? >> Motion to approve the agenda. >> Second. >> Mr. Chavis, >> approved. >> Mrs. Cole, >> yes. >> Evansson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Heights, >> yes. >> Mrs. Woods. >> Yes. >> Thank you all. Uh, next thing we want to discuss is performance contracting presentation. >> Good evening board. Thanks for having us this evening. I'm Clint Garcia. I'm the chief operations officer district.

006Uh tonight uh we have Caleb um what's your last name? Sorry Shin >> Shin. Caleb Shin with Schneider Electric and Melanie. Um uh you remember at the beginning of the year we uh had a process where we went through the district and we did an audit on our district buildings for energy usage and um looking at ways to save uh energy and Schneider Electric was doing some work on that and we just wanted to give you an update on where we're at uh in that process. And so with that I will turn it over to Caleb and if there's any questions afterwards I've got Melanie up here to answer any of the financial questions that might come up. >> [clears throat] >> Uh thank you Clint. Um just before we get into the presentation, there

007have been a lot of hands uh on deck. It's taken a village. So I do want to extend a thank you not just uh to Melon Clint, but Eddie, um Micah, the bond team, uh Keegan, Tony, the uh whole the entire facility staff, Jimmy, Brian, the the list goes on. there's been many conversations and a lot of collaboration that's kind of gotten us to the point where we are today. Uh and all of those different folks have been involved in kind of the uh the project scope that we've landed on. So um just thank you to all that have kind of been a part of helping us design this. >> Okay. So, uh, we began the design process, uh, back in winter of this year. And, um, when you're building an energy efficiency project, this

008the beginning of the design really begins with understanding how much you're using, uh, from an energy standpoint. Where are you spending, where are you overspending? Um, so a lot of the earlier stage design was auditing facilities, looking at existing equipment, working with Keegan, uh, the district's energy manager to understand where the district could reduce costs. And the district spends close to $3 million annually on utilities, so gas, water, and electricity. And really the goal of this state program is to reduce that annual spend and use the savings to fund school improvement. So that was the first leg. Uh and as we begin doing that utility analysis, we come back to Clint and the facilities team and you can hit the next arrow there. Um to really finalize the project scope and and working with the

009facilities and operations team. Um the project scope balances both energy efficiency and classroom improvements. Uh so that is what we've been working on as a group here the last couple months and um as the scope's getting finalized, Mel uh and the finance team is kind of working on getting all the funding um ready to go uh for the project. So, it is December 9th and we are here updating the board on where the project landed from a um final [clears throat] scope standpoint and we'll be back a week from today um to bring the project uh to the board for vote. Should the project be approved on the 16th, um we will be able to order equipment and mobilize uh in as early as spring of next year. will begin installing HVAC units, lighting um

010and buildings and classrooms will uh those improvements will begin happening early in 2026 as well and will occur throughout the year. Um so we plan on getting the vast majority of the construction completed throughout 2026. Okay, so this is where the project landed. Um, again, it's a balance of energy efficiency projects and school or classroom improvement projects. The vast majority of the work that's being done is lighting work or LED retrofits. There's a combination of um to avoid sounding too nerdy here, TLED retrofit. of just um improving existing lights that are already kind of new, but making them more efficient and getting them in compliance with the state ban of fluoresence. And another piece of the lighting scope is replacing the fixture itself. So, you're with a full fixture replacement, you're going to see energy

011savings um because you're using less energy with that more efficient fixture. you're going to see less maintenance spend and time spent on um essentially working on and trying to fix older fixtures. The district has a handful of schools with very very dated fixtures that uh don't really have replacement parts available anymore. Um and another benefit is just the aesthetic improvement of taking a 40 50 year old fixture and replacing it with a new more modern fixture. So, that's what's being done on the lighting side. That's a district-wide project. Um, and on the mechanical or the HVAC side, we'll be replacing 25 different uh rooftop units, mechanical units across eight different sites. And these units that will be replaced are uh at or beyond useful life. Um so replacing a mechanical system that's no longer reliable

012or functioning as it should will improve the comfort in the spaces that it serves. So um throughout this design process as we've engaged the facilities and operations team we've also sought sought out uh understanding where are the comfort and climate issues throughout facilities throughout classrooms. Um, and we will be curbing some of those challenges by essentially putting in functioning HVAC. Uh, and then some of the other pieces are less exciting, but energy procurement optimization, we're helping the district essentially go from a less competitive rate to a more competitive rate. So, that's a paper change essentially that'll help you save money. Um, and we'll be working with Eddie on his team through some capital asset planning and energy management to help the district continue seeing savings above and beyond what this project is guaranteeing. Uh, and

013as a part or through this this whole project is through the state energy office and we're required to provide three years of post project support. So when construction wraps up in 2027, we will continue to be here through 2030 to help the district with asset planning, energy management, and pursuing any grants or other um incentive funding that might be available for the district to go after. So, I'd also add that along with the bond work that we're doing to to tackle the uh deferred maintenance, the over $600 million in deferred maintenance, this is just another um way for us to handle uh and take care of some of that deferred maintenance. So, replacing those 25 units that uh that are at the end of life and then some of the lighting stuff, that's going to

014help us reduce that number. Uh so so lastly, this isn't super pro project specific and Clint said only five minutes, so I'll be quick here, but we've had the opportunity to do some really cool things uh with um the district's students and uh we're going to continue to do that into 2026. So we were at Orchard Mesa um building these solar houses. Uh we've also um there was a book kind of a day of service book giveaway. We worked with Lisa Sharp and some folks to help um with that and that's in that lower picture there. And most recently we were at the career center with Todd and some of the construction students and we were having really exciting conversations about OSHA. We're doing like a six kind of prong program. It's that grid initiative

015on the bottom left. We're just working with students and those that are interested in the trades, whether it's project management, electrical, plumbing, you name it. We're doing a lot of that type of work in this project. We're going to try to get some of those students into in a safe way. Um, no one's touching exposed wires. Uh, just involved in the construction um project where where we can. In fact, in late January, we have 12 different students that are going to be doing some kind of job shadowing, some on-site. Um, again, not not touching any exposed wires, but watching actual work happen. So, uh, [laughter] yeah. Um, so that's another thing that's happening as a part of this that's been fun. So, >> so I just want to remind everybody also um the board and

016the community if you remember uh last year we talked about the work that we've been doing internally to save energy and over the last year and a half we've saved over a million dollars in energy by just doing some additional work. Um this is going to enhance that uh above and beyond what we've already what the district's already been already been working towards. So I think that's important to note and appreciate the work that you guys are doing on that. Yeah. Yeah. When we showed up, Keegan and the operations team had already been doing so many things that we would typically go in and try to find as a part of like an energy savings project. Uh when this work is completed, and I'll need to I need to check back on this with the

017energy office because we looked at this like six months ago, but uh D51 will be one of the pound-for-pound most costefficient cost efficient school districts from an energy standpoint. And that's I think something to hang your hat on as far as not wasting money on energy and keeping in the classroom. So >> awesome. And one one last thing, um I think it's important to note how we're going to pay for this and and uh what this is going to cost or not cost the district. So Mel, if you want to talk. >> So the reason that we're talking about this or that we have this opportunity right now is that we had an energy performance contract that we actually just made our last payment on on November 1st. And so that's why that we have

018the opportunity now to replace that payment with a new payment and be able to get some of this work accomplished outside of um asking voters for bond dollars. I mean this work really wouldn't happen on these HVAC units to be able to have that cost and be able to tackle that deferred maintenance. Um, but when we say budget neutral, that's what we're meaning is that maintenance has some earmarked dollars that they'll be able to contribute um towards the project uh providing $1.3 million upfront and then the rest will be financed over a 20-year loan. Um, but it's budget neutral in the fact that Schneider guarantees a certain amount of savings. Um, we've really worked with their team to not count anything as savings that isn't guaranteed and hoping that we'll find additional efficiencies and savings

019above and beyond that, but very being very conservative in that. And so between the payment offset with those um guaranteed savings, that's where we'll have a little a payment that ends up being a little bit less than what we were used to paying on our old energy performance contract that expired. All right, there any questions? Any questions from anybody? >> Thank you. >> Next one is strategic plan update. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Bond presentation. Central High School update. as Micah comes up. Um, we just want to give you guys an update on the progress at Central High School and where we're at in process. We're pretty excited about the work that's going on there and and design work is in full swing. Um, I think we're moving into uh construction documents here pretty quick and

020so excited about that, too. >> Yeah. >> All right. Well, thank you, Clint. Um, I Most of you guys know me, but I think I'd see a couple new faces. So, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Mike Adams with Dynamic Program Management. Um, DPM is the owners rep for the 2024 bond projects. Um, and so with that, uh, like Clint said, we've got a quick update on Central High School. Um, so go ahead and hit the next slide. Um, so we've been keeping this slide in every one of our presentations, but just a it's a quick recap of what goes into the bond. There's three main categories. one being Central High School additions and improvements, the next being Fruda High School additions and improvements, and uh the third being what's considered the priority

021improvement projects uh which includes projects at um at close to 30 some schools over four different summers. Um and there on the right is just kind of a a general breakdown of those budgets. So, uh, with that, yeah, go ahead and hit the next one. Um, quick re recap of what's recently been completed, uh, are the design development documents. That's, um, really kind of a big milestone along, uh, the the design, um, process. As Clint mentioned, we're heading into construction documents next, uh, which is the the final set of design. Um there's been a lot of utility coordination going on. Um you know, we'll look at a set of the plans here in a second, so you can take a look at it, but uh the addition for the new school is going right in

022the middle of all the old buildings and there's a lot of utilities running in through there. So, a lot of utility coordination happening currently. Um you know, in progress, as mentioned, we're working on construction documents. um just received the design development estimate here recently. So, we're currently reviewing that. Um we've got um meetings coming up uh continued design meetings over furniture, fixtures, equipment, all the interior buildout. Um really pinning in pinning down the details. Um and then >> a lot of time in meetings with Mike and I just [laughter] >> we've become good pals. Um and then upcoming uh so there is a little bit of work that has to happen here over winter break. I want to make sure you guys are aware of um Feder Hall where the library is located. There's some

023asbestous uh in the floor tiles in the library bookroom as well as a janitor's closet. And um the plan right now is this coming summer to renovate that entire building into uh what's going to be its permanent condition. Um and in order to make that schedule happen in in three months, uh we have to get in there early over Christmas break and get the asbestous out of the way. Um so that will be happening uh here end of December while students are out of the building. Um, and then along with that, another thing that's upcoming, we don't have on this slide, but starting in March, there will be some uh asbestous abatement there. And the there's some existing locker rooms that aren't currently being used uh just kind of northeast of the auxiliary gym. And

024that is specus abatement is going to start um there in March. Um, so Clint actually if you have the next slide I think we might be able to see where that's located. So this is a floor plan of the the first floor. Um, and that asbestous abatement I just mentioned um is is there a mouse? Can you just >> Yeah. Yep. So that would be Yeah. Right up right up in this area. Um there's a couple locker rooms that abatement needs to get started soon. What's that? >> Yes, those are in rough shape. Um and then so you know along with that that will roll right into uh construction as soon as that abatement is is wrapped up. And um the the one of the first phases of this project is going to be that

025southwest corner, the weight room, wrestling room addition, those new locker rooms. And so um I believe the plan is to turn all of that over about November um here this coming year. Um I think in time for the Warrior Classic is is what we're hearing. So, and then um so that's the first phase and then they'll move into building that that large main addition that you're seeing there in the center connecting all the buildings, the twotory portion. Yep. And uh with that, this is just quick uh layout of the classrooms on the second floor, primarily science classrooms. I know I've kind of reviewed these floor plans in detail in previous meetings. Um, so didn't want to jump super into the details, but if you have questions, feel free to ask. So, with that, I think

026that's uh that's it. Not a whole lot. Oh, actually, we do have some updated renderings. So, here you see the the front main entry. Um, there on the right side, the top left is kind of perspective from the baseball field. Uh, the bottom left is kind of courtyard on the north side of the building. Um, and then athletic edition, well, athletic entrance and addition there on the left. And then some interior elevations, common spaces there on the right. A couple more interior elevations in the school. And we've got a lot more renderings than I remembered. Um, [laughter] couple more right here. Maybe check one more slide. Okay, there we go. >> [laughter] >> Great. >> What? >> So, the Central High School baseball team is really good. What if what if they hit home runs

027on that baseball field? Are we protecting the building? >> Yeah. Um, so we're looking at a taller fence there along that left field side. >> Some really thick glass. Is there any other questions, comments? >> Yeah. Since I'm new to the board, I just wondered who else is on the team to assist the planning. >> Yeah, that's a good question. And I usually have that in here, so sorry about that. Um, but BLE uh the Ble uh group um they're the architects are a local firm. They were the designers for Grand Junction High School. Um they've teamed up with DLR, uh a national um international architecture firm. Um, so they are the architects on the project and then FCI constructors is the general contractor. Um, we've got a number of other miscellaneous third parties, surveyors,

028uh, environmental specialists, stuff like that, but those are the main parties. >> And how about staff and students and families? Have they been a part of the just the process? >> Yep, that's a good question as well. And so at each stage in the design process, we've been having a lot of uh what are called design advisory group meetings and user group meetings. Um I think we even had like an open house uh for staff and students to come kind of look at the renderings, ask questions, provide input, even some student involvement along the way. >> Anything else? I'd like to thank you both for meeting with me to talk about >> individuals that are in wheelchairs to make sure that their desks are accessible throughout central and and food. I really appreciate your time.

029>> Yeah. Anytime. >> Great. Thank you guys. >> Thank you. >> So now we'll go to the strategic plan update. Student opportunities. I'm here Next, anything else? I'll just stay here. Good evening board. It is my pleasure um to introduce to you to our prepared and supported student opportunity group and I am going to be the clicker and Carrie is going to start. Uh welcome new board members. We're excited to have you with us. Um, and to those continuing in your roles, thank you for your ongoing support. Tonight, our goal is to show the work happening as we move forward with priority two of our strategic plan, expanding student opportunities. My name is Carrie Bolinger and I am one of the elementary directors. I have the privilege of co-leading priority 2 goal one student pathway

030options alongside Dr. Angie Powers, director of gifted and talented education. We are also grateful to have leaders from our priority 2 goal 2 team which focuses on the graduate profile implementation. Len Bordon, MTSS specialist, is here with us tonight. And Andrea Kimper, assistant director of career and college readiness, is unable to be here. Our mission and vision remain unchanged and continue to serve as the foundation for our work. Likewise, our core behaviors and our graduate profile remain constant. These are the essential skills and competencies every student must develop in order to thrive. Building on all of the progress made through the 2022 2025 strategic plan, our new 2025 2030 strategic plan provides a foundation and clear direction as we move into the next five years of growth and improvement. In the new strategic plan, there

031are four focus areas, each with two priority areas, which you can see highlighted. The information we're about to share is focus area one, prepared and supported students under priority two, student opportunities, previously referred to as robust and aligned options. We will review our progress to date while clarifying the goals established for 2030. Thank you, Carrie. There are two goals under focus area one, priority two. One around creating robust pathway options and one centered on developing graduate profile skills for all students. We'll address each of these in detail. Since we have two distinct goals, we have two teams supporting those goals. I'd like to acknowledge those members who are here tonight with us. Uh Brooke Caster, Summer Kennedy, Tyler Mclofflin, Matt Schultz, Jared Burick, Scott Davis, Nicole Jane Jones, and Shauna Hobbs are with us tonight.

032Priority two within the focus area of prepared and supported students emphasizes the expansion of curricular and programmatic opportunities and the development of graduate profile skills and career connected learning with the ultimate aim of preparing students for success in careers college or the military. Goal one states that 100% of D51 families will have access to regionally and vertically aligned program options from pre kindergarten to 12th grade by June of 2020. To achieve this goal, our task force has identified a focus for each year of the strategic plan. In year one, the current year, we are working on foundations and infrastructure. That is we are building or strengthening systems and structures that will support strong sustainable pathways including formal application processes and evaluation protocols. In year two, the focus is on pilots and expansion. One or two

033new program options will be launched and we will work to expand existing programs and fill in gaps within pathways particularly where student interests in family demand are highest. The year three aim is scaling and support which will involve additional expansion of successful programs across more schools as well as studying ongoing implementation efforts to ensure that staff and schools have the support they need to effectively launch and sustain programs. By year four, we hope to reach full alignment. This means that programs will be connected in pathways across grade levels and regions so that families could see those seamless prek to 12 journeys. Finally, in year five, programs pathways will be in full implementation and working on continuous improvement. We will fulfill the vision that every student has access to a rigorous engaging pathway whether IB, steam,

034biiteracy or other options yet to be added that prepares them for success beyond high school and we would commit to reviewing and refining programs so that they remain strong and relevant to student and community needs. For year one, the current year, our team has set quarterly objectives to facilitate reaching the annual outcomes. Our short-term goals or sprints reflect two major aspects of program infrastructure. The application process for new programs and the evaluation process for existing programs. In quarter one, we revised the program application for schools wishing to add a program and collected samples of existing program evaluation and audit tools. In the current quarter two, the program application was launched and open to schools wishing to add a new program. In quarter three, we'll review program applications and shift our focus to the development of

035and revision of program audit tools. Quarter four objectives include reflection and process adjustments as well as planning and scheduling for audits and applications in year two. >> Thank you, Angie. Um the second goal um that's designed to advance student opportunities centers around graduate profile implementation. Our bold goal is that all students will demonstrate skills aligned to D51's graduate profile as appropriate to their grade level. To meet this goal, we have two interconnected strategies. The first embedding graduate profile skills and career connected learning into the core curriculum K to2 and the second utilizing a high quality social emotional learning curriculum resource to support this work by providing systemic instruction of life and professional skills for our core curriculum strategy. Our key step in year one is to build a strong foundation and infrastructure by developing curriculum

036integrated prototypes by grade level and content area that embed graduate profile skills and career connected learning into the core curriculum K to2. These prototypes will serve as models for how academic learning, career exploration, and essential competencies come together in meaningful ways over time. Our goal is to expand these models across all schools, ensuring every student has consistent opportunities to practice and demonstrate the graduate profile skills at every stage of their learning journey. Over the next four years, we'll move from initial staff training and measurable integration in year two to full systemwide embedding of the graduate profile skills in years four and five to ensure every student graduates with the competencies necessary for success. In tandem with the curriculum integrated units, another key step in year one is to select and recommend a highquality tier one

037social emotional learning curriculum resource that helps deliver systematic life and professional skills instruction across our K to2 system. A resource for this skills instruction is valued for a number of reasons and I'll briefly name just a few of those. It norms us on what and how to teach the skills and attitudes requisite to learning. It improves students readiness to learn. It improves academic outcomes. It helps us establish a universal reliable expectation for tier one behavior and therefore help us intervene and respond more effectively to tier 2 and three behaviors. And because this process has been shaped through the lens of our graduate profile and workforce readiness, a you a unified resource will go a long way in helping our students acquire the capacities that are promised in our strategic plan. So I'm pleased now to

038highlight some of our accomplished and upcoming work um for the graduate profile implementation goal. In quarter one, we successfully developed our initial graduate profile curriculum prototype and we launched the process to select a comprehensive social emotional learning curriculum resource that aligns with Colorado essential skills standards and with our graduate profile competencies. Moving into quarter two, we're refining and expanding those prototype units across various subjects. and the instructional resource selection team is poised to recommend an SEO curriculum resource for adoption following a thorough review. Looking ahead to quarter three, our focus will be on mapping the graduate profile competencies across all grade levels K to 12 and presenting the recommended curriculum resource to the board. Finally, at quarter four, we will ensure that our new curriculum prototype units align with the individual career and academic plan

039or IAP process and will plan for implementation and professional learning. This structured approach ensures that we're building a strong foundation to support every student's success. All right, this slide highlights our progress and priority to student opportunities. We've completed several key components including two full K through2 pathways and the development of tools to support graduate profile aligned units. We are also making strong progress in areas such as the program option application and the forthcoming social emotional curriculum recommendation. Our continued focus includes establishing criteria for highquality opportunities and constructing units aligned to the graduate profile. While there is still much work ahead, we want to celebrate the accomplishments um that our team has achieved so far. We appreciate you celebrating with us and we want to um open this up for any any questions you might have.

040>> Any questions from anybody? >> I have some. Um okay, so you just going kind of back through this just to make sure I'm tracking correctly. Um each school um is going to pick a program. Correct. Each elementary school. No. Okay. No. Um we're actually using the um process while these um new resources I say they may be more than one one for each level is um using the same process that we do with any um selection process for curriculum. when I go through the where they're going through the CRGC that I'm in charge of that and then we have our >> unique programming unique programming like STEM >> oh pathways thank you sorry >> yeah so >> yes >> right sorry so right we want every elementary school to be on a pathway to

041meet with the middle school to meet with the high school right is that what we're kind >> we have established and then to have a constant feed of interest from students and families that needs to be then coupled with a way to evaluate our current programming so we can strengthen current programming, align current programming, add new programming, >> right? >> Yeah. >> So, um Okay. So, then how are the schools um picking the programs? Um because I know um we have various schools doing different things. So, are they picking something that um is just aligning with something that they're already doing that's just more robust or >> Yeah. And I think and the first part of your question was would every elementary have a unique program and that's not necessarily true that each elementary or

042each school would but we would want to make sure that the programming that exists currently students can access in a K12 way which hasn't been true of our current programming. And so as a first priority we're looking at those pathways and pipelines and programming that was already sort of established in a school. it was uh underway and how can we support you then take it to take it all the way to fruition. We ran a pretty robust survey a couple of years ago to survey for family interest that's also informing that we'll need to run that now continuously as programming gets updated. >> Great. Thank you. Sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't clear on my question to that's fine. I think the other reason why that's important is we to to Jackie's point, we want to

043be able to actually support the success of the program and you know sometimes that's going to come with financial support and we may or may not have that. And so um that's why having a an actual system across the district to um evaluate which programs are actually working or or need more support um and then any new programs you want to add so it's not kind of a free-for-all. um and then a school says, "Well, now we're we're doing this now and now we need money to be able to support it and we don't have that." So having this kind of unified um process is going to be uh better for the district in the long long run. >> Great. Well, and so that that kind of led into my next question is what's what

044are we going to anticipate for cost? Um which obviously will probably be something that you'll then come to. Um, so do you, not that you necessarily have to identify any schools, but do you have schools identified that you're going to run this pilot with um already that um you're going to then come back and report on? And um yes. Um in fact, we have a meeting the end of the month, which is not that far away, mid December with um Fra Middle School on the early college. And so we know where we are financially, right? But we still don't want to stop innovation. We still don't want to stop that opportunity to provide a process. And um that's exactly what we want to do. It takes um then it's that opportunity for the school, how

045invested, you know, where are they? Where is this um this program or plan coming from? And what do they really need? It p it provides an opportunity for them to actually know and understand what they need to launch. But we're meeting Is it this week or next Thursday? >> And it's FA Monument High School. The high school >> high school. So, so, so just to kind of recap for obviously for myself as the board and the the the community, our kind of our ultimate goal and and again, correct me if I'm wrong, is we're really wanting to try to find every like every elementary school to feed like that there's a pathway that we have from kindergarten, you know, you know, all of our grades that then they go to middle school to high school

046that there's a there's a pathway that every kid can follow um through a program kind of like we have already done with um our IB program or our diploma program with um Palisade um you know and then what we've done with um uh what's the other one that's escaping me that we >> Yes. Yeah. Sorry. that we've um so and we're just wanting to be able to do that with every school so that because obviously we can't school of choice every kid into just a few schools and that's kind of our ultimate goal. Correct. Just one point of clarification. Um it won't it won't necessarily always be there will be a program pathway but that program pathway may not be direct feeders. Okay. And I think what's tricky about it is that every school has

047uh not just one thing, but a number of things that make them unique. That's already true of schools in our system. And we'd want to celebrate that with each school. It doesn't mean that the thing that makes you unique uh is also part of a larger pathway or program. And I think a good example of one that where we could call that into question is something like Monument Ridge. Does outdoor education really well? Is that a program? Is that a new pathway? Uh or how can we support Monument Ridge in doing outdoor education really well? Or what are their other partnerships? And I think that's just one example. You know, Mesa View was doing a lot with career connected learning and with steam or STEM and chose to apply on the steam and STEM route

048and is now part of our steam STEM options at elementary. But we still need to work out a feeder pattern where students where they began in a steam or STEM program can continue into middle school and then high school. And so I think it's it's a number of initiatives at once. It's closing those pathway gaps and it's inviting more schools to consider whether or not they'd like to be part of a formal pathway. But I think there's also and this is um stands out in the literature that Carrie has drafted. There's a real embrace or celebration of unique programming and unique options in our system to name that it's something we celebrate. It's not something that's a a conflict or a rub. We we think it's wonderful that Monument Ridge does outdoor education really well

049and that's a culture shift too. >> The other thing I would say is budgetary question you know this is as we're having a discussion this coming spring around whether we go for a millennial thread. These are opportunities that potentially something that this is this came out in the strategic plans is what the community wants. And so if it's something that the community wants um and it requires funding and that might be part of that um ask to the community as well as if we want to continue to offer robust programs and options in our district, it requires funding to be able to do that and that might be something that they support. But we obviously have a lot of work to do before we finalize something like that. Well, I'd say I'm also encouraged to

050hear um that the SEAL curriculum is um focused on the graduate profile and because I hear a lot in um in our business community of wanting to frontload kids to be ready to um kind of experience the world, right? Like um how do you how do you dress for success? How do you look somebody in the eye? How do you how are you ready to encounter the world and you know and frontloading that as early as elementary school? Um because we're just seeing like college kids bringing their parents to interviews with them and they can't even get on a Zoom interview. And so unfortunately that's happening after they have already gone through college. And and I think now it's almost our responsibility in the district to make sure that they're ready by the time that

051they graduate that we feel by the time we send them to college or they get out in the you know their career or military that it that would serve them no matter what choice you know that they pick that they're ready to serve that. So it sounds like the curriculum you guys are looking at serves those needs. >> Yeah. And I'm glad you brought it up because it you haven't yet heard from priority area three um and that will be student well-being and belonging and I think a lot of people their first thought is well that's where that work must be happening with student wellness and belonging that where that strategy must live but that's not true of our strategic plan it's a strategy that's connected to priority area two our focus which is on

052the graduate profile because the correlation is so strong between what it is that the outcomes that we want for students uh in our graduate profile and that core curricula. >> Yeah. It's the right place for it to live. >> We want them to be we want them to see a path where they can move forward and be successful because if they can see that then they know that they that they're going to have a place to be, right? So, um and then that will move them forward. Perfect. Thank you. Those are all the questions I have. Well, first of all, wow, a lot of work that you put into trying to make that happen. So, really just lots of celebration. Um, I think just celebrating I just a couple of comments and then um just

053clarification. Um I think really honoring the innovation that school teams are doing across the valley, you know, at many schools and then trying to um ensure that that aligns for those families once they move beyond. I think so often the uh families really relate to a school because of the programming but also because of the work of the school team that's in that school um the relationships and all of those. So kudos to this is a lot you guys have done. Um I also wondered about cost and uh just just a clarity of the application. Um you referred about a formal application process. Could you just explain that a little bit more? >> Sure. Um really prior to this there wasn't a process. So it was I'm interested and I'm going to put STEM on

054my front door. And so we really wanted to come up with a consistent process that provided any application but also gave um preparation for them and understanding what it means to be a program so that we can have deeper more rich options out there. So the application process at this point is um do you want to talk a little bit about it? No. [laughter] um she did a lot of that work and so it is um like I said an indepth process for them to go through. They name what they want to do. They talk about what it looks like, what is needed, what resources they might have, thinking through who it impacts um and how it is relevant to kids and what that helps them with in the future. So it's indepth. The next

055step is once they have um completed that application process is we create a panel to review that and they will present to that panel what that looks like and that purpose is really Q&A so that we can have some understanding and also we bring a lot of questions that maybe a principal and their team has not thought about and so that's really the purpose of that panel. Then after the panel, there's some time for review to determine if that is in fact a viable program and a needed program and are they prepared for it. >> Also, it um to add on that we there's language within our agreement with the teacher association that if we're going to have like an innovative is innovative program >> um that there's there's guidelines in there as well. So,

056it's making sure that it also fits all that into it. So, we're following the negotiated agreement, too. >> Part of the application um points exactly to that um process in which it had to have um the innovation um process had to have at least 80% or more of their staff in the building that were on board to move forward with the application. They have to go through that process before they even fill out an application. >> Right. That was going to be my next question is yeah, just how do you bring staff along to make sure excuse me, that uh that people that are working in the building are supporting >> the direction >> or that they have options to apply elsewhere if it's not a fit. So, sounds like great work. And then cost,

057I'm assuming, then would be when they they bring the application forward. >> I can say more about cost. Yeah, part of that pro application process is to submit a budget. And with unique programming, there are one-time costs, sometimes even in materials, and then sometimes there are recurring costs, either in fees if you're part of a connected to another organization, or often what's most expensive is professional learning for your staff or staffing itself, like the need for additional staff and the role of a coordinator. And so what programming costs from program to program is very different depending on the nature of it. So AVID kind of programming has fees to partner with AVID to be licensed and has material fees and staffing may or may not be able to be supported with your current staffing and

058then other programs require additional staffing for other purposes and so one program does not cost as much as the next and that's why Mel is also a part of that review team to consider the cost and the return on investment which should be uh checked by us in terms of what the outcomes it provides for students and student interest and family interest in that programming. >> So it's I guess it's difficult. You couldn't just award an amount. It wouldn't work that way. >> $25,000 only. >> Yep. >> They might correct. They might less. And then the last is you talked about audits. So I'm it sounds like there's ongoing. >> So that was the other piece. Once you've become a program, how do we evaluate the um the outcomes that is it still a program

059that is working as it was intended? And so that's the other piece that this committee has come up with is what does program evaluation look like for each one of these um programs, unique programs. >> And when you say working, you're referring to their achievement and growth. >> Well, what are those outcomes that make your program unique? So, you'd want to say, if I'm a student in ETE or STEM programming, what how would my experience be different than had I not attended ETE or STEM school? And some of those outcomes show up academically, but often they show up in other ways. And so are schools measuring those things? How are they measuring those things quantitatively and qualitatively? And then are we checking them on them over time to see that we're improving? And that as

060a student, I had that experience that was promised to me. >> Ultimately, it's achievement and growth. Right. It >> right. That has to remain high for students. Otherwise, participation in that program cost them something. So I do have one question. It's kind of a So we're looking at creating these programs at the elementary level and we already have some that feed into middle school, high school, things like that. So, if we have elementary schools that apply for programs, if we have one that's a steam program, but they don't naturally flow to a steam middle school or a steam high school, does that then mean that those middle schools and high schools are going to have to create those programs or are we just going to assume that those elementary students are going to school of

061choice at some point? >> That's that's the challenge we have now. >> That that most in that particular steamer STEM, we do not have a middle school and so we do have a high school. So right now we are trying to um promote wherewith that naturally be because right now our elementary steam and stems they're not in one area of the of the valley. So there isn't just one natural progression or feeder pattern that would go to um one middle school. But we know we have a gap >> and so that we have a programmatic gap. And so how do we um fill that gap? We need to determine that. >> So, do we think that this would potentially I mean, if we have a student that starts steam in middle school and then let's

062say that we identify a middle school that would flow well for steam >> and then that becomes our steam program for middle school, but would we >> I don't know. I guess I'm just trying to like I'm probably thinking like too many steps ahead here, but I'm just thinking how would we end up getting them to that middle school? >> Yeah. I think probably the best example right now is like what's going on at Mount Garfield Middle School for IB. So that's an application process. Um so what does that look like? If I'm a if I'm a um if I don't go to Taylor, I know Taylor's going to be early years, but if I go to another school, but then I want to go into the IB program at Mount Garfield at Middle School,

063there's an application process. And then for for some of these programs, we have um uh busing hubs um to to help help get students there, but otherwise it's transportation on your own. So it really just depends on the program. Um so that's that's an example I could think of right now. A middle school that's has an application for >> correct. And then there are some automatic fees that we need to um participate or be an program or an IB program. Um, and those fees were covered. We were able There are some recurring costs because that's part of what Jackie was talking about. some programming requires a certain FTE, which IV does, but otherwise it's going to be about um attracting um additional students that would automatically go to their FTE that would help um supplement

064their staffing model, but they will either go by hubs um or parents will transport. I think the hubs are the only way we've been able to offer something. Um, just because if we did full-on uh open choice and we're going to provide transportation. I we already pay $9 million a year uh in transportation costs that we do not get reimbursed from the state for. So, and that's just with neighborhood um transportation and then the um hubs that we do have. So, if you were to open it like I think Denver maybe is a complete option district where you get transportation and it's that you're going to add a lot of costs there. So, that's been our option within our budget constraints is to say we can at least do some hubs in different parts of

065town. If you can get your kiddo there, then we can um uh transport them. And then sometimes even if there's a bus after the school year started and there's room, they could be paid rider um options there as well. But it's, you know, it's not perfect. I guess what my primary concern is is that we have so many steam elementary schools because honestly I mean when I the kids that I talk to they love the steam program and so I think we have all these steam programs and then if we identify a middle school but then we don't have the ability because we have so many kids that are already zoned to that school we don't have the ability to school of choice or hub in or whatever these kids that have done this steam

066program from elementary school and then they're kind of stagnant and Then what then is their their student profile? Then which direction do they go? You know, they've already put so much in elementary school into this. Then do we create like another middle school with the program. Would we financially be able to support that? So I guess that's what I'm thinking when >> financially we're going to continue to work on that capacity. Um currently we have room in our schools to accept more students. >> Yeah, I think that's stuff that's going to come as we go through this. And also like not every kid's going to track with that. Like so my kiddo loved the dual immersion program. Shout out the principal and would have gone to the middle school one. But then all a sudden

067there's challenge and you really want to do that. So sometimes you'll have kids that want to move to different programs and they're not naturally going to feed through the program that might be offered at their feeder. Um so but that's something we're going to have to figure out as we go along is are these pathways um accessible um for families and if not do we need to make some changes um I guess along the way. But we've never really taken this on as a district and so we're going to make some mistakes and learn along the way as well. >> But I think a process is what's most important with all of this and we have one now that we've never had before. >> Thank you. I appreciate you answering those questions. >> I believe

068Casey has a question. >> Yes. Hello everybody. Thanks for letting me join online. Um, so I think my question kind of um goes along with Barbs. Sounds like maybe there is a potential for like some strategic planning around maybe some schools, elementary schools who are already um maybe like steam or PBL schools that are near and middle school and maybe we could strategically encourage that middle middle school that they already feed into to also become a steam school. Is that a possibility or is that not what you're thinking? >> I can Yeah, I think so. You've named the challenge. Um, and also I think what we named earlier was critically important that a staff would need to vote and want to implement that programming. And so I think we're talking about strategically what middle school

069makes sense geographically and that's really important. but also that staff needs to have a want and an interest for that programming to go well at that site. And what we haven't had is a process and what we haven't had is literature to build up really a culture that celebrates that. And I think Dr. Hill also named uh a real challenge to and what other districts do is they often leverage mill dollars to make some of these options available. And we talked about professional learning be being expensive, staffing being expensive, and of course the most expensive thing is busing. And geographically, unlike other districts with additional mill dollars, we're spread out pretty far and wide. So we do need to be ever more strategic with the dollars that we have and considering our students interests and

070geography. So the calculus behind that is pretty complex. And that's why this team coming together is so critical. And already they've closed two pathway gaps, which I think is really promising in one year's time. >> So, thank you so much, Jackie. >> Sorry, Casey. Were you done? I didn't want to cut you off. >> No, I'm good. I was just saying thank you. Thank you. >> Um, so if you can't answer this or if you need to put a pin in it, that's fine. So, what about programs like DIA where we already have elementary and middle school, but we don't have a high school program. So that's kind of the reverse of what we're talking about now because I know we've had a lot of families ask for like for completion of that program. Is

071that something we'll also be looking at? >> Yep. And so we've had conversations with one of our local high schools about what kind of programming to offer and have increased uh programming at the high school in fact at Palate High School and at Grand Junction High School with our biliteracy program which is not the same thing as dual immersion. dual immersion in a high school setting has lots of unique um needs. So, if I teach math right now and I teach part of my day is I teach freshmen in algebra 1. Um, but I might also teach freshmen in topics and I might also teach freshmen in geometry. And so, if I am the math teacher who teaches math in Spanish, uh, already I teach freshmen, that's good. There's potential for me in my schedule

072to teach freshmen in a dual language programming in three different math classes. But now, what time is that math class offered? Because I offered geometry in third period, but the student who is in that dual language program is in band third period. Now, does that student need to choose between band and math? Well, that's not going to work. We need band and maths. >> So, now I need multiple teachers to teach mathematics and Spanish, which was great. We'd want to have that kind of programming, but I need multiple teachers in every content area to build a schedule for students to participate in other things. If students wanted to only participate in that, that schedule becomes more and more doable. But we want our students to have options. And currently, we don't have the kind of

073staffing that could support that model at high school. So, we need to be recruiting more students. Part of how we're recruiting more students to become teachers, bilingual teachers, is even through our biiteracy program. We need more teachers who are who are bilingual. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, it's from experience, it's super hard. We had it in Austin, but I mean we had 130 schools and only two high schools that could offer some sort of dual immersion opportunity at the high school level and just because it was hard to staff. So it's not impossible, but it is hard, especially um um just with the constraints that we have. So it doesn't mean we won't keep looking at it, but it's definitely it's a difficult one. A lot harder than it is to have it at the

074elementary and middle school level. Elementary, you are licensed to teach a grade level. Secondary, so six and sixth and above, you're um licensed to teach a content level. So we'd have to find content teachers who speak Spanish. >> Perfect. Thanks for answering that. I'm sure many in our community are wondering and so that kind of helps clarify things for them. Thank you. >> Any other questions? Thank you all. Appreciate it. When you're ready, Jen >> and thanks to everybody who was here in the audience who's been a part of the process. We appreciate that. >> I I do have a friend Yes. Look at that. >> You get your own microphone, friend. Isn't that good evening? It's been a while that I've stayed up here for multiple. That's okay. Hello again. Jennifer Marsh, chief academic

075officer, but I have the privilege uh this evening to have a co-presenter with me. Dan, would you like to introduce yourself? >> So Dan and I are presenting to >> Okay. Dan Worth, MVA president. >> Oh, that's very strong. Yeah. Um Dan um I had the privilege of once again it's been it's been a while since I've been up in front of you guys with um a calendar. Um and tonight I will be presenting Dan and I together will be presenting a calendar. um I had the opportunity to facilitate the calendar committee once again and we're going to talk about the process and then once we go over the process on how um we came up with the calendar that we would like to recommend um we'll go into that calendar um in a little

076bit more in depth. So as a commit as the committee began in the development of the 2627 school year calendar um with the goal of ensuring that the process was thoughtful, transparent and grounded in what best supports student learning and well-being. The calendar will be um the calendar can be considered one of the district's most influential strategic plans. I'm sorry, strategic tools. We are talking about plans. It shapes instructional time, professional learning, family routines, and student outcomes throughout the year. Because of its impact, this year's process was intentionally structured to engage a broad group of stakeholders and to use interestbased decisionmaking to guide our work. The calendar committee included input from teachers, leaders, staff, families, and the community to examine what our students need to continue the academic and well-being growth we've seen over the

077last several years. This allowed the group to design options that reflect a wide range of perspectives while staying aligned to the board's expectations, district policy, the MVEA master agreement, and the needs of our broader community. Our commitment was is to bring forward a calendar recommendation that was collaborative, data informed, and student centered and representative of our district. By using this deliberate interestbased approach, the final calendar recommendation not only meets operational requirements, but will continue to support strong student outcomes and the well-being of our entire school community. Here is our calendar um committee purpose and charge. And I know we have the um words up top, but I do want to read it out loud. I read this out loud every time we met this last month. The D-51 school calendar committee is charged to develop

078and recommend a school calendar to the superintendent and the board that serves as a strategic tool for improving student outcomes. Aligned with the D-51's commitment to engage, equip, and empower each and every student each and every day. The committee will design a calendar that intentionally maximizes learning time, supports students and staff, honors the master agreement, follows board policy, and reflects the diverse needs of our schools and families using interestbased decisionmaking and working toward consensus. The committee will ensure that its recommendation are collaborative, transparent, and representative of multiple perspectives. This process ensures the school calendar is a purposeful and data-informed tool for advancing learning. As many of you know or you've heard, um the calendar can be a little contentious. And so I really wanted to make sure that we had a process to um ensure

079all voices were heard but yet still following those constraints. Here was our calendar recommendation timeline. We did surveys in the fall um both to staff and family. Then in October and November, the calendar committee started meeting. We reviewed each of the um the surveys that were were given and their results. We spent a lot of time on reviewing what those constraints were. Um and then we looked at draft 26 and 27 calendar options. We're now in December. We're presenting those. um the one calendar that I have for us to review for as a recommendation and then the next step would be to adopt that calendar next Tuesday. Here are all the folks on um on the committee. So, as you can see, we have a pretty good cross-section of our entire district. We have teachers,

080we have um building level leaders, we have district level leaders, we had folks on the operations side of the house and we also had folks um on the financial side of the house as well. So what are those considerations andor constraints? These have been the same for a number of years since I've been in charge of facilitating the calendar. The first one is to solicit input from staff, families, and community. Work to limit fragmented or broken weeks. Maintain student and teacher contact days. Attention to holidays. Honor the master agreement. Attention to concurrent enrollment with CMU and CMU Tech. Balance days um in quarters and semesters. Consider the economic and employment needs of our community. And of course then to follow board policy which is based off a state Colorado state statute. We do have an

081FAQ. It's linked on our um website. Um I did include it in the packet with you guys um this evening just for your understanding and and review of why some things are done. I named a number of times the interestbased decisionmaking and I'm going to share a little bit about what that looks like and Dan's going to share um more as well. So the calendar committee used interestbased decision-making process throughout the work rather than beginning with fixed positions or pref personal preferences. We started by listening to the stories and underlying interests of our committee members. This approach allowed us to focus on what matters most for student learning and well-being and family needs. By working towards areas [clears throat] of shared interest and alignment, the committee was able to collaboratively evaluate multiple calendar options and

082arrive at a recommendation that reflects a wide range of perspectives while staying true to district priorities and board considerations. Dan will now share more about interestbased decisionmaking. >> Yeah, thanks. So what is interestbased decisionmaking? It I'll just read here. Interestbased decisionmaking is a collaborative approach that focuses on the underlying needs, concerns, and goals, interests of all parties rather than stated positions by identifying shared and individual interests. Parties can work together to brainstorm creative options that lead to mutually beneficial solutions, fostering better relationships, and a more sustainable agreement. So I think that pretty much accurately describes how the process went. It was it was a very wonderful collaborative uh process that uh I think matches that definition there right on. So why did we use interestbased decisionmaking? Uh there's five reasons there. Uh one promotes collaboration.

083So it encourages teamwork and partnership instead of competition. Um creates value. Uh it leads to innovative solutions that benefit everyone involved often more than uh compromise would do. Uh strength strengthens relationships. It fosters trust and underlying between the party or understanding excuse me between the parties which is especially valuable for ongoing partnerships. Uh it supports collective acceptance because all parties are involved in creating the solution. and there is a greater commitment to implementing it and uh reduces conflict by addressing root causes rather than surface demands. It can resolve disputes more peacefully and permanently. So interestbased decision-making first we started with so when I talk about story and interest first I started with the district academics data story I think all of you are really familiar and we believe that our calendar again is a is

084a tool for this um we had allowed the committee members for story and interest because we have such a cross-section most people come and think about the calendar that they want and why they want it our one calendar tonight's calendar that we propose will make over 60 calendars throughout our district. So, there's that pull and push for every different area in our um [clears throat] in our organization that a lot of people come in with one lens. And then, of course, we wanted to review our family and community. Those survey results were considered um a story and interest as well um as with the staff survey results. So, I'm going to go ahead and start first with those survey results, and I'm going to um I'm going to share the family and community. Overall, you

085can see that um we had this year over just over a thousand folks that responded. And you can see with these bar graphs, predominantly it was elementary with middle um second or I'm sorry, middle school just a little less than than high school. Correct. >> Oh, I didn't I didn't fix the I'll fix that. Thank you. Um and then here are the questions. um which is a little smaller but you can see what those questions say or the questions ask and here again the demographic family survey breakdown and I want to apologize that 2021 need that shouldn't be in there this is what the breakdown last year or the last time we gave the survey it was a thousand and this year total responses were 427 so we had about half um with 37% elementary,

08624% high school, 21 multiple, so parents or guardians that had multiple either elementary, middle, or high, 16% middle school, um grandparents or other family members, um two ten of percent, and community members. We didn't have very many community members, but they too had the opportunity to respond to the sur survey. So nearly four and 10 respondents were elementary parents, obviously the largest. High school multi-level families made up 45% and middle school parents represented about one in six and only a small fraction under 1% were extended family or community members. um approximately so you can see here the family survey results favorable 25% of the respondents felt it was excellent mostly satisi satisfied minor adjustments suggested four [clears throat] was good 30% positive but open to some tweaks three was neutral 25% unfavorable um which two

087was considered poor 12% of responses which had strong concerns around structure and then if they had a one it was very poor. So total approximately 80% of families are satisfied or very satisfied while 20% um expressed moderate and that's when we did excellent good and neutral for 80. So here were those family um and community feedback themes or trends. So the likes you can see here they like the consistency or the constant calendar structure. They appreciated the balanced semesters. They liked the FAQs. We included the FAQs with the survey that we sent out and we asked people to read it before they started um responding so they knew and understood exactly why um what some of those um constraints were and then what were some of why the thinking and when um certain dates were

088selected. [clears throat] some of the positive things that said they calendar works great for our family. We love early release Fridays, balanced semesters, they love um ending before Memorial Day. It made sense when it came to communication and transparency valued. They liked that the FAQ I had mentioned that and then they appreciated um times for teachers that that PD time. Um top concerns number of folks in this the top concerns were done or dislikes because we had that open-ended question what would you like to change or what would you like to see different so these were actual texts um early start date they wanted to see it in August you know rather than in July for some of um the teachers or very beginning of August so they wanted it a little later it was

089about 60% of the me mentions said school just starts too early. Um, too many random days off. That was some of a number of the mentions. Hardworking parents combined days into to longer breaks. Some This comes up every year when I do a survey. Um, let's look at a 4-day work week. It was less than 25%. Um, and then some wanted to talk about early release Fridays again. So, the majority of families appreciate the calendar's consistency and early release structure, but nearly half express some concerns that the school be year begins too early and um includes too many isolated non-cont days staff. >> All righty. So, the staff survey side of things, it went out to about 2,800 uh staff and you can see who they are at the top there and then in the

090in the middle you can see the questions. Give you a second to look through those. Then at the bottom, you'll notice those last couple. They were just to middle school staff pertaining to a conference day they middle school has on September 2nd. And the first part of that was does that make sense to do a conference day so early in the year on September 2nd. And then if no, then would it make sense to move it to November? So we'll we'll have that data here. And here you could see again the scale one to five. Five being like excellent, one being like this is the worst calendar ever. And you can just see um this you're looking at 706 staff which is representing uh 27% of the staff um did do the survey. 706 of

091you can see how they fell. You can see in those four and five there that's um let's see 27. Let's see. Yeah, 27%, no, excuse me, 57% were favorable and then you see that 29% that was neutral. And it's kind of like how do you interpret that? Does that mean, you know, no strong feeling one way or the other? Only 14% had a negative response. So even a little lower than the community, which was 20% I think in those two and ones. So overall again and you can look at it say staff seems to be fairly content with um that with with the current um calendar. The only thing I would add is um while there was a big difference between the thousand that um of community or families that responded to the previous this

092year um with the 400 for for families. This year it was about the same percentage of staff responded to the staff survey. >> And again scale one to five. Five being on the right there. This one's broken down by grade level and other, you know, special service provider, support staff, and so it gives a quick picture that um, you know, for high school, middle school, actually, they're just a little less certain of the current calendar compared to the other groups, but they all more or less have the same pattern. And then, um, this slide here is just some themes. And overall, you'll see that for staff, it's pretty positive. Uh staff seem to like the pacing, the structure, the consistency, kind of the rhythm of the year, kind of knowing what's coming. So, the likes,

093you know, the balance, the pacing, the finals, uh before winter break, uh spring break aligned to CMU. Uh it's predictable, meaningful breaks. Uh winter break, Thanksgiving, that's a little typo. That should be spring break. So, winter break, Thanksgiving break, spring break. And then on concerns, again, open-ended questions. And by far the top concern among staff, 23% mentioned this is that the school year just starts too early. They'd like to see it uh go into uh start in August and not July. There was some others desire for a fall break. Um too many broken short weeks come up. revisit early releases either shorter periods of time or heck just take the whole day off it looks like you know full days and then long stretches without a break can be wearing so to staff again do

094you support keeping the current calendar the structure so basically the start date breaks and and you can see pretty much a half yes about a fourth unsure and about a fourth No. And then um this one is that one I mentioned on middle school. So the the first graph there makes it pretty obvious that you know good hair over a half are like no it doesn't make sense to do a conference day in uh September. Um 29% not sure about a fifth are saying no it makes sense to do it. So then if it should it move to November and you can see a good chunk say yeah it that makes sense to move to November or we're not sure and again about a fifth saying no we we shouldn't do that. All right drum

095roll please. So tonight we bring forward a single recommendation recommended calendar for your consideration for the 2627 school year. This calendar is one that reflects the careful analysis, multiple perspectives in a process grounded in collaboration, inclusiveness, and our district's strategic goals. Just a little bit of background, as you can see, um what level of support we did build consensus on after reviewing I think we ended up with five different calendars. We did preference checks, we did rankings, and this was B2 is what we called it. Um this one was the one that we are moving forward this evening. As you can see that there were weren't any wasn't there's no purple. So while um that was the only one that was consensus nobody blocked it. So we will move forward with B2. This is small

096but you all should have one. I don't know. Um we'll we'll talk a little bit about tonight. I am only bringing forward one calendar. Um, and the reason that I'm only bringing forward one calendar is one of our consider [clears throat] considerations and constraints was that our calendar align with CMU's calendar. Right before we started our calendar committee, we found out that CMU had posted when their spring break was and it actually was moved back a week. And so we knew that we needed to align. We have over six almost 700 students that attend CMU through concurrent or um with CMU Tech. We have a large number of families. We may have parents that go to CMU. we know how important it is to align. So, we have we needed to move back that spring

097break to align. So, you can see typically um it would be that third week in March, but this year for the next school year, it's that fourth week in March. Um CMU would like to they are just putting their calendar committee together and they want to create calendars through 2030 now that they they've gone through some different um personnel changes. They now will ensure or hopefully ensure that we are a part of that calendar decision-making process and we will be on their calendar committee. And so my hope is I'm only having need to do one year, but I'll bring the calendar committee back once we meet with CMU and we can have a multi-year calendar like we've had in the past. So what is this calendar besides the the um spring break? The first thing

098is we heard pretty strongly that our teachers and our family wanted um a later start in August. Just as a reminder, we talked about this a lot as a calendar. When you you pull here or you push here, it you have to have some um there's pressure. It pops out something else, something different. So, when we came uh later in August, that's you can see on the the calendar, it's a later start. Um it's a partial start of a um the year at the beginning of the year where students would then start on a Tuesday. Typically, we've started on a Wednesday for our students. The next thing is we swap that inservice and work day at the start of the year. And typically, we've had inservice um or workday inservice inservice workday. We have flip-fpped

099a little bit so it goes inservice work day inservice work day. at the very beginning of the year. Um we've moved that middle school conference day that was right at the beginning of this of September which was um then moved into the middle of the second quarter or into November. It's really important many of our middle school that day actually was kind of mixed. Um, a lot of people, our middle school folks liked it at the beginning of the year was that opportunity to build relationships with their parents, students, they could um share what that assessment, those testing scores were. But some of them felt some of our parents felt it just didn't fit right as as um as it would, you know, at the beginning of the year to put it more towards the

100middle of the year. our schools can still have they have to have six or eight hours of um parent teacher conferences. So they could still do that middle school during that um first quarter. We also um we retained the CD days, those comp days um as both a break and additional pay. Um our staff really like that when the CD day wasn't embedded in a a break that was already established. it wasn't part of Thanksgiving break. Not only did they want the CD day paid, but they also wanted a day off. And then again, spring break aligns with CMU. Our quarters or our semesters aren't as balanced as they have been in the past. when we push down that start date in August, we know we still as part of our FAQs, we still need

101to make sure that we end our first semester before Christmas break. And when we did that, we had to add some additional days to our second semester. Frankly, our high school, our secondary folks liked more days um in second semester than um than in being balanced or having it unbalanced with more in the first semester, if that makes sense. So with that, a reminder is we're presenting the board or the calendar this evening and then next week you need to officially adopt or if you have some ideas or questions uh before then that's what we can answer. So right now thank you. And I I will say uh Andrea and Jose Louise had the opportunity to attend a couple of our um calendar committees. So, I don't know if you want to add anything or

102ask any additional questions from when you weren't there. They were process observers. They did not vote. Um, I guess one maybe question. Um, so I know some expressed the like of a when we approved a three-year calendar, but I see that we're only approving a one year. So, was that all I mean, I'm guessing that was discussed. Um it was and it was and it was because of CMU's >> just waiting to see what they >> want to wait and see. Okay. So, so potentially next year you all could be in front of us to present maybe a year. Okay. because that seemed to be there was a lot of great feedback when uh families could plan multiple years out I think as well as staff when they kind of knew what what to expect

103for I I mean I I was kind of um just really uh baffled just or or impressed maybe just that everybody liked having knowing multiple years out. So that was that was just really good feedback to hear honestly. So >> Samuel only >> that would be great >> only um let this next year's and they weren't going to bring it back after they had already posted it. >> Well, I'm glad to also hear that you that we get to be a part of their calendar committee as well. So that'll that'll be helpful. So okay. Well, that was that was probably the only clarification I wanted to know because I know that that was something that was highly desired from feedback. >> I'll get the band back together. [laughter] Well, and I jokingly you're saying that,

104but I do want to say I appreciate um Jen started by saying I had the opportunity to lead this. I think most people don't want to have the opportunity to lead the calendar uh committee, but and she leads a lot of different committees. Um, and so just appreciative to Jen and to Dan and everybody who helped with this because it's you're never going to make everybody happy with a calendar and I think what y'all are presenting is um the best option and that was the intent initially was to have a multi-year calendar and of course the mixup with CMU. So um but I do appreciate there's a lot of time that went into this and I think this is the best option we have for um for the community and that's why this we're bringing

105just this one option for the board. Any other comments or questions? >> Thank you. >> Oh, wait. There's more. One more slide that is related and not related. So, now that we have a calendar [clears throat] recommendation, um we want to talk to you about just give you a a heads up about our summer bond work and early dismissal. [clears throat] We have these schools here on the left that are receiving some pretty significant bond work. The biggest things are sprinklers and those abatement that abatement work with our classroom. That means every classroom has to pack. you you guys remember listening to this last year, the amount of work that needs to be done packing up their their classrooms and um weeding certain stuff out and with abatement and with sprinklers. And so our schools

106there on the left are receiving um that work. But then our school New Emerson on the right, if you remember, um we presented last time I believe that New Emerson is moving from the old building down to Nisley. So we would like to um we plan to give both all of these both schools for bond work and for moving two days at the end of the year and then one day at the beginning of the year. >> And remember that's to be able to um do it within the contract um days for staff. so that we're not asking them to come pack up their rooms off contract. So that's why we're having to do that. And then if there's some wonderings around why some of these schools are on there from last year as well.

107Remember that was because of receiving schools um receiving students from closures. Now they're getting bond work done. So that's why there's uh they're impacted twice on here. There's a couple schools that are on that left side. But this is the only way to make sure that we're going to actually get the work done over the summer and be able to provide some time for staff on their contract days to um pack their stuff up and then be able to unpack it and be ready for um accepting school. So, we don't like to have to take days away, but this is really the the best option. So, we'll communicate this out um to families ASAP um so that they understand. And this is actually earlier we've been able to do in the past so that way

108they can plan for end of the school year and then the start of the school year with um the delays. >> I'm assuming we'll have a similar situation. >> I was just going to say it's going to happen. We got four summers of priority improvement projects. So every year we're going to have some schools that are going to be impacted. It's it's a good and a bad thing. The great thing is they're getting bond work done and so we want to celebrate that. But yeah, it'll be two more summer. Now that that also depends. It depends. There's some other schools that are getting bond work done and they're not on here, [snorts] but it's because the amount of work is pretty minimal um as far as impact to classrooms. So, um I think like Rimrock

109was on there and some other schools and they're not going to have to have >> it's the abatement in the sprinklers that are causing the most um the work that amount of work that needs to be done and the amount of packing that needs to be done. But it is from rock and do >> and we already have a moving plan put in place for New Emerson like we did with some of the other schools after >> Yes. >> Yeah. It's our it's the side gig for um Jen and Clinton all them as a moving company now. So >> being on that committee too >> I had the opportunity [laughter] Carrie is doing a wonderful job with this opportunity. You get mail back. >> Thank you all. I have a short >> a little tedious.

110>> All right. Thank you board for the opportunity to present the information related to the mill levy certification tonight to you. Um you have before you a resolution to certify the mill levby for the 2026 tax year. This is what allows us to um collect property taxes and this is an annual process that's brought to the board each December. Um the process has a short turnaround and so that's why both tonight you're getting the information and we'll also vote on it after this. Um and uh the mills must be certified to the county by December 15th based on the assessed values that we receive from the assessor's office. the assessor's office actually has until tomorrow to give us the values and so it really is a short window but they're always really great at getting

111us the information as early as possible to help meet these tight deadlines. So there are some terms that are unique to the mill levy certification process and so I just want to ground ourselves in that first and take a moment to define those. So mills assessed value and assessment rates are used to calculate the property taxes due. And so when you think of a mill, it's equal to onetenth of a penny. Or to say it another way, it's equal to $1 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Um some of our mills are for a set number of mills that we then back into the revenue generated by that number of mills, where others were trying to set the number of mills needed to generate a specific revenue amount. And so there are formulas for each

112scenario there. Um, assessed value is the taxable portion of a property's market value based on the applicable assessment rate. And so there are different assessment rates for residential properties versus non-residential or commercial properties. And then it's the market value multiplied by the assessment rate determines your AV where only a portion of the market value is taxable. And so just for example, the current assessment rate for residential property is 7.05% which is a slight increase from last year it was at 6.95%. This means that for every $100,000 in market value, $7,050 is taxable. So that's what we apply the rate to. And on commercial or non-residential, it's $27,000 per $100,000 of market value that's taxable. Um so one thing to note is that all of these rates are set by state legislation. Um local governments or

113special districts uh school districts don't have any control over these rates and they can change from year to year. And so residential changed from 6.7 actually sorry I said 6.95 6.7 to 7.05 this year and non-residential decrease from 27.9 to 27. Um but in general when assessed values increase it takes fewer mills to generate the same level of revenue and when assessed values decrease more mills are required to generate that revenue. Um for school districts there are three primary categories for property taxes that are collected. The first is our local share of our total program or PPR funding as set by the school finance act. Um the second is our voter approved o mill levy overrides. These are amounts passed by voters to provide additional operating funds above what the state dictates. And the third

114are bond amounts as passed by voters as well to repay debt on capital projects. [snorts] Um, in Mesa County, nearly 65% of the property taxes that are collected for school district 51 fund the local share of our per pupil revenue or PPR as required by state statute. The remaining 35% of property taxes collected are things that we've gone to voters for and voters have approved through overrides or bonds. Um, so just to delve into each of these uh categories a little bit further, looking at total program tax collection, the amount that a district receives per student is of course set by the state um the school finance act formula. Likewise, the number of mills is set by the state. And so in tonight's certification, the 27 mills for local property tax share of PPR combined

115with our local specific ownership taxes that we collect represent about 42% of the district's overall PPR funding. Um these are first in revenues and so anything that's not generated locally is then backfilled by the state to get to that funding formula. And so that means that the remaining 58% is backfilled by state contribution. And so absent state funding, we would be asking voters to certify or asking you to certify 71 mills rather than 27 if we didn't have that state backfill. [snorts] Um the next category are those voter approved mill levy overrides that which support operations. The district currently has three MLOs's that have been approved over the years passed by voters um accounting for about 16.9 million in annual revenue for operations. The 1996 mill is permanent. It's for a flat amount, but it's

116unique of our mills in that it adjusts for inflation. Um uh so this year it'll increase by 2.3% which was the inflationary rate or our dollar increase of about 144,000. The 2004 is also an ongoing permanent mill levby override. Um it's for a flat amount in the amount of $4 million and that one doesn't adjust for inflation. And lastly, the 2017 or 2024 is the permanent extension of the 2017 mill levy override that was approved by voters last year in November 24. Um this continues at $6.5 million. Um, and so it's important to remember that these mills were passed for specific dollar amounts, there's different ways that districts can go and ask for mill levby overrides. And so because that that means that even when property values increase, the district doesn't receive additional funds above

117the set dollar amounts that were approved, we just adjust the mills in order to generate that revenue. Um, so in terms of capacity, me levy overrides are capped at 31% of our total program revenue each year, which would be about 66 million that we do have the capacity to go to voters for. And so currently at 16.9 million, we're utilizing just 25% of our capacity for MLOS's. The last category, the third category is bond redemption. And this is used to repay capital debt um for building improvements. So these are the principal and interest payments on that debt. The funds are um actually held by the Mesa County Treasurer's Office. They never pass through our funds directly and they're responsible for making the payments with those property tax collections and so they can only be used

118for this purpose. Um they support capital the support for capital construction is capped at 20% of net AV. Um, so in tandem with whatever is on the voter questions as well with the annual limitations and again we're well under any caps there. We're using utilizing about 65% of our debt margin. [snorts] So as has been previously presented, the Grand Junction High School project was completed on time and with uh funds remaining. This was possible because of the extremely tight management of the project to ensure that the dollars went as far as possible. And just a reminder that this was in a time of high inflation, supply demand, supply shortages. And so it's pretty remarkable um that the team was able to get everything accomplished and still have funds remaining there. So, um, with that 3.1

119million in project fund remainings, uh, it'll be returned to voters as stated in the ballot question by reducing the amount that we'll levy and essentially we'll use the 3.1 million in order to put towards those bond payments, meaning less will need to be generated through property taxes. Um, so while still being able to meet the ongoing payments, we'll be able to reduce the levy by 1.849 mills from last year's levy. And so what this means for taxpayers is that using a $500,000 um property as the example on a residential property there will be about a savings of $65 per year from the previous mill levy rate. And on non-residential property owners will see savings about $250 a year on that $500,000 property than if we had left the mill levy at the 11.325 that it

120was last year. So just putting all of these pieces together in the resolution that's before you. This was a reassessment year. And so that's the you'll see pretty substantial growth in the assessed valuation for properties in our county. It was about a 19.7% growth because of that reassessment year. Um you remember when I said that property values increase, we levy fewer mills and so there is an overall reduction of the number of mills being levied. were able to decrease um that by 2.859 mills um because of the growth in AV and then also returning that unused uh portion of the Grand Junction High School funds. So [snorts] last year it was 45.077 mills and this year we'll be able to reduce it to 42.218. Um, looking at the individual impact, here are just a couple

121examples of how the assessment rate, the assessed value, and then the mill all uh translate into annual taxes. And so all three categories are represented here of local PPR, MLOS's, and bonds. Um, so the levy is just under $300 a year per $100,000 home market value and $1,100 per year per 100,000 in commercial property market value. And despite some of those legislative changes in the rates and uh the assessment rates, uh we'll be able to decrease both of these numbers slightly from last year's numbers. [snorts] Um we want our community to have a clear understanding of where property taxes are going and their property tax bills um and how those taxes directly support students. So the last few years, we've intentionally partnered with the county in order to change or improve the information that's being

122sent out with tax bills. So when tax bills go out, this is an example from last year. Um, but just being able to share some of the same information that we're presenting tonight here basically. So, if you look at that distribution breakdown, that is is what shows the amount that's legislated by set by state statute for school district tax collections versus the part that's approved by voters. And then also just additional information about each one of those mill levy overrides or bond redemption levies and how they're used. Um, and then there's also my contact information that's sent out as well, so that when folks do get their property tax bill and they have specific questions about how we set the rates or what the money is used for, they know someone to get a hold

123of and contact to have those questions answered. So, next steps for you guys tonight is the resolution um that's before you to certify the mills. After those that certification takes place, we'll then provide that information to the county commissioners and to CDE, the Colorado Department of Education ahead of the December 15th deadlines in order to be able to collect collect those property taxes. Uh if you have any questions, >> any questions, comments? Nice. >> Yeah. Well, I do appreciate you all meeting with me ahead of this too because this is complex and it's there's just terms that are different that you'll hear once per year and so I appreciate you all taking the time just to go over the information and make sure that you are understanding it and >> I appreciate the role you

124are. >> Thank you >> that all. So, uh I could have a motion to an acceptance of the mail certification. Motion to accept the second please. A motion to um for the melody certification. >> Yes. >> Second. >> Take a vote, please. >> Mr. Thomas, >> approved. >> Mrs. Cole, >> yes. >> Mrs. Evansson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Heights, >> yes. >> Mrs. Woods, >> yes. >> Thank you all. Uh business items. Naming the facility of Neslie Elementary School. Oh, thank you. We just have to do all we have to do is approve it then. Can I have a motion and a second to renaming the facility of Nestle Elementary School? >> Motion to rename Nesley Elementary School. Second, >> Mr. Chavis. >> Approved. >> Mrs. Cole. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Evansson. >> Yes. >>

125Mrs. Heights. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Woods. >> Yes. >> And ju just to clarify, that's the section that's the serving our early childhood education students right now. So, thank you'all. >> Next is we have board announcements. I didn't know what that was before. had to ask uh it used to be where we did uh the board discussion. So part of board announcements what if you have anything you would like to have in the agenda. This is a good time to say say [snorts] that and we could uh put it on the agenda at some time and get if has to go uh to one of the staff to take a look at it and get a presentation to us. This is the time to ask and give some time to put everything together. And if

126there's not, that's cool. >> I don't have anything this time, but I think it will next time. >> Sounds good. >> Nothing. Nothing. I like it. Further meetings. Uh December 11th through 13th, we'll be at Casby College Association of School Boards. And then on the December 16th, we'll have a board business meeting at 5:00 at the Harry Butler boardroom. Well, I think that is all well. We'll adjourn. Thank you all for being here. Drive home safely. >> Motion to adjourn. >> Motion to motion. Motion to ajourn.