Board of Education Business Meeting 10/21/25

001testing. There we go. All right. There we go. We're good. All right. Good evening, everyone. Uh welcome to uh to our October 21st business meeting. Um we'll go ahead and um call the meeting to order. And if you don't mind standing with us, we'll go ahead and do the pledge of allegiance. And Director Evansson, can you kick us off, please? To the flag of the United States of America to the stands, indivisible, liberty and justice for all Right. Thank you everyone. We ahead and do roll call. >> Mr. Chavez, >> present. >> Mrs. Evansson >> here. >> Mrs. Heights >> here. >> Mr. Jones >> here. >> Miss Lima >> here. >> All right. Do I have a motion to approve the meeting or the agenda for this evening? Excuse me. >> Motion to approve

002the agenda. >> Second. >> Mr. Chavis. >> Approved. >> Mrs. Mrs. Evansson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Heights, >> yes. >> Mr. Jones, >> yes. >> Miss Lima, >> yes. >> All right. Do I have a motion to approve the meeting minutes for September 2nd, 2025, September 5th, 2025, and September 16th, 2025? >> Motion to approve the meeting minutes. >> Second, >> Mr. Chavis. >> Mrs. Evansson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Heights? >> Yes. >> Mr. Jones? >> Yes. >> Miss Lima? >> Yes. All right, next up we have our recognitions. So, um, just a reminder, if you can stay at the front so Callie can take pictures afterwards, that would be great. And Director Jones is going to, uh, kick off both of our recognitions for this evening. >> All righty. Good evening everybody. Would Hunter

003Simmons please join me in the front of the room or Simmons? Mr. Simmons. Across Colorado, countless high school athletes work hard at the top of their game. This year, Grand Junction High School senior Hunter Simmons did just that, earning the prestigious titles of 2025 Class 4A boys golf state champion and Southwest League player of the year. Hunter's path to the championship showed that years of hard work and determination can do. Over the tough days of competition, he shot a combined score of 139, finishing one underpar and taking a top spot. He sealed his win with a clutch birdie on the final holes. Showing incredible resilience under intense pressure. But Hunter's impact goes beyond his score. His teammates and coaches have all shared that his leadership, strong work ethic, and sportsmanship have made him a standout

004on the team and across the school. He is known for putting in work year round and giving his best on the course and showing respect for anyone he competes with qualifies qualities that represent the very best of Tiger athletics. Tonight, the board of education and superintendent Dr. Hill congratulate Hunter on his outstanding achievements. Thank you for proudly representing Grand Junction High School, District 51, and the Western Slope. We can't wait to see what you do next. [Applause] with Frutoa High School athletic trainer Jennifer Kimbro, Dr. Irwin with Community Hospital. Athletic trainers or athletic directors here tonight, please join me at the board at the front of the room. Tonight we are proud to recognize all four of our comprehensive high schools, Central Fruit of Monument, Grand Junction, and Palisade for earning the first team safe

005sports school award from the National Athletic Trainers Association. This recognition honors schools that go above and beyond to keep their students athletes safe through strong emergency preparedness, injury prevention, safe facilities, and education both athletes and parents. The first team distinction represents the highest level of safety standards, and only 10 other schools in Colorado hold this title, making the incredible accomplishment for all four of our high schools to earn it. This achievement reflects the hard work and expertise of our athletic trainers and our partnerships with Community Hospitals Western Orthopedics and Sports Medicine team. Together, they ensure our student athletes have the care, knowledge, and confidence they need to compete safely and successfully. Tonight, the board of education and superintendent Dr. Brian Hill proudly congratulate our schools and their partners on this outstanding achievement. Thank you for

006all your education education of health, safety, and success of our student athletes across D51. [Applause] All right. Um, we have another recognition, but this one's actually going to fall under um the board's good things. So, um, Director Lima and I are going to actually come up to the front for this one. So, So, we're going to invite Dr. Christensen up and then Delita from the business incubator and Janie Van Winkl as well. So this summer, um, director Lima and I had a chance to have lunch with Janie and Alita and, um, they presented an amazing idea to us to have, um, Mark Pererna come and present. I don't know if any of you guys had the chance to actually hear him the well, I know Jory did because he was hosting us at Grand High

007School. Um, it was just an amazing evening to hear what Mark had to present. And so, um, we were just very thankful for them. and then they had the idea that we could sell tickets and give the funds to um the foundation. So, I just want to give you guys the opportunity to share and thank you so much for doing this. So, who wants to go first? There you go. >> Thank you so much for agreeing to do this together with us. It shows how amazing um our community is with the work that you do. So, it is our pleasure to do this and partner with you and do things together. you are de facto raising our future entrepreneurs and so that is something that we are incredibly proud of. Thank you for all the

008hard work that you do. This is very little compared to what you do every day. So I hope that this is a spark of an amazing partnership uh that we have and amazing new things to come. >> Thank you. Thank you all very much for doing this with us. It was truly an honor to bring Mark Pera to our community and hear ideas that can be incorporated into the district and um it was a great pleasure to be able to partner with the uh District 51 Foundation. So, thank you all. >> Well, this was certainly an easy yes when I received this phone call. Goodness. Um it really aligns with everything that we believe in, which is partnering with our community. And so this was a combination of the business incubator and school district 51

009and CMU and the D-51 foundation. And so we'll put this toward good use. But thank you. You are a delight to work with. Thank you so much. >> All right. Thank you very much. We appreciate you. >> Sorry. We're we're a little out of our normal procedure here. How's your work? [Applause] All right, board. Um, any community or excuse me, committee or activity updates or any other good things that you'd like to share last two weeks? >> Director Jones and I uh met this morning at Central High School with a group of students over there. our uh twice annual visit with students and had a great conversation. Always nice to communicate directly with a group of students. Um feed them a little Chick-fil-A and have a great conversation. So that was terrific morning. I think

010was it last week we all had an opportunity at Grand Junction High School um to meet with our some some of the students over there. Had some good conversations over there. got some insight as to uh some of the clubs that they have over there and some of the good things that are going on with that as in they have no lack of participation. Um but trying to figure out ways for them to uh better recruit for that. Um some so some good conversations were had around that and then I had an opportunity to witness the Golden Apple Award which I'm sure that'll be talked about here in just a little bit. And uh then I got to spend some time in Dr. Whiteford's class. Always always a good time. So, he what turned into

011a brief 15minute introduction ended up into an entire class of just a blast. And um I had an opportunity to go to Orchard Mesa's uh end of quarter celebration. So, they always do such a great job with that and have some conversations with staff and students over there. And then I got to spend some time at Dose Rios on that same day. And um I did have my Grand River Academy uh student meeting and so it's we had more seniors in that than anything else. And just like one of the girls uh last year when we were talking she was talking about the fire academy but now she's going through the EMS program and she's just something like she works at Powder Horn and she's a full-time student and she and she and she and

012just the other kids are just so awesome and they're just so full of like energy over there. So I love even though it's like an online I don't know I guess you think like in person it'll just be more personable but those kids are just so full of energy. They have such great personalities. Yeah. I mean, well, I mean, they're on they're online all the time for class, so I guess it just becomes like part of their thing, you know what I mean? But it was a great great meeting. And um yeah, I think that's and we have uh student council tomorrow. I think R5. >> Yep. So, >> how was how was Central? >> Central was great. It was a lot of good conversation and and the kids had a different perspective of things.

013Um it was always good to hear about the things that are going on, but we talked to them about what they want to see different, what we would do different as a board and what they see as a um their pluses and minus and it's always good to hear that everybody feels welcome um about the change over with with admin and you know they're very highly on on Principal Hayward and they like how he's very socialable and can talk to them all and just just all admin staff and there's a sense of another sense of belonging and we talked about you know some of their educational needs or how they feel things could be different with teachers and things, but it was very positive and very good. I think it's it's different than what we've

014heard from the other ones. So, it was I thought it was good. >> Great. I appreciate the updates from those student groups. So, all right. I apologize. I usually allow everybody moment to uh recess, but they they did anyway. So, um yes, it's okay. All right. Uh well, thank you board for the updates. Anything else? All right. Uh, Sierra, we're ready for our D-51 happenings and celebrations. I sent it to you. Okay. Hi board. I'm Sierra Hawkins, communications and marketing specialist for D51. Here to share with you the D51 happenings and celebrations. Kicking things off with our golden apple. Meet October's winner, Gloria Reyes. A powerhouse at Grand Junction High with 18 years supporting our culturally and linguistically diverse students and 24 years total with D51. Gloria is the heart behind our newcomer program, helping

015students adjust to a new country, culture, and language with compassion and care. She brid bridges gaps, builds trust, and champions every student she serves. We're so proud to honor Mrs. Reyes at this month as this month's Golden Apple recipient. Thanks to a generous donation from the Grand Junction Lions Club and matching funds from D51, over 80 NWworks calculators are now in the hands of students at Central Palisade, Fruda Monument, and R5 High School. The D51 Foundation applied for the Lions Club grant last year to help ensure all students have access to essential learning tools. A huge thank you to the GJ Lions Club for their continued generosity and for being such an engaged and supportive community partner of D51. Fruta Monument High School recently hosted the adapted soccer tournament which brought together students from every

016D51 high school both with and without disabilities for a day of fun and teamwork. Big shout out to Katie Hmel, D-51 adaptive physical education teacher for organizing these incredible opportunities that showcase the best of D-51 and a special thanks to Project Search with Community Hospital for providing first aid services and water, keeping everyone safe and hydrated throughout the event. Seeing the smiles on every student's face and heart behind, and hearing the cheers from both sides of the field was truly heartwarming. If you haven't been to one of these events yet, you're missing out. It's an incredible display of our D-51 spirit. But Cliff Middle School wrapped up the first quarter with a schoolwide game of rock paper scissors that brought the entire school together. Throughout the week, Mustangs faced off during passing periods, lunch, and

017before and after school, earning bracelets and necklaces with each win. At the final assembly, those lucky enough to collect them joined a schoolwide showdown. Nearly 100 players narrowed down to just one champion. Thanks to the BMS student council and principal Brian Dickis for showing how connection and fun build school spirit and belonging. Last week, all four of D-51's comprehensive high schools competed in the 2025 Colorado Band Masters Association Western Slope Regional State Qualifier, performing alongside 12 other marching bands from across the region. Each band showcased its talent to proudly represent our district. All four of our high schools placed in the top three in their class. Special thanks to Kathy Joseph, D51 music coordinator for helping make this event possible and to all the students, directors, and families whose hard work and commitment led to

018these outstanding performances. Mal gracias or a million thanks to Anna Hyleman, the artist behind the beautiful new mural at dual immersion academy made possible through the support of Diaz's PTA. This vibrant artwork welcomes students each morning with messages of positivity, confidence, and purpose. The mural was created to celebrate the school's dual language culture and remind students that their voices, identities, and stories matter. Thank you, Anna, for continuing to make our D-51 schools brighter and more inspiring through your work at DIA, Windgate, Mesa View, and Rocky Mountain. Monument Ridge Elementary's first Lego League teams recently welcomed James Coburn, a Colorado Mesa University professor of archaeology and Japanese. He gave students valuable insight as they worked on innovation projects that solve real world problems through creativity and STEM. Mr. Coburn shared challenges archaeologists face, helping students strengthen

019their projects on artifact recovery and preservation. Special thanks to MRE coach Madison Krauss and teachers Brittney Bristol, Felicia Gin Gyensen, and Leslie Weaver for connecting students with real world world experts and inspiring innovation in the classroom. And at D51, we know it takes a village to keep our schools running smoothly. And our custodians are at the heart of that village, especially as we enter sickness season. Their hard work makes all the difference in keeping our classrooms clean, safe, and ready for learning. From early mornings to late nights, they go above and beyond so students can thrive and teachers can focus on teaching. To our custodians, thank you for your care, dedication, and pride in what you do. We're so grateful for you. Happy custodian appreciation day. And that's all we have for our October happenings

020and celebrations. Be sure to keep up with all the latest D-51 happenings by following us on social media at D51 schools. Thank you. [Applause] >> It's great. Thank you very much. >> I probably shouldn't say this, >> but I got to go. >> But you're going to anyway. And I didn't say it last time, but I'm going to say it this time. Central was amazing. >> They did such a great job. Say that one more time. >> Simmer down. The band. The band though. >> Okay. Okay. >> Sorry. >> All right. Sorry. >> I think you can say it's still sports. >> Anything central. >> It is. So, they were amazing. And then I think but none of our We're all 3A and 4A, right? So, none of them will be competing here for state.

021It'll all be in Colorado Springs. >> Dang it. >> They did. It was really great. >> A trip. >> Awesome. >> I think you can brag on any of our schools. It's all good. So we have some healthy healthy competition amongst the board for favorite schools. So all right, next up we have our superintendence report. So Shannon's already ready to go. So thank you Shannon for uh but Dr. Hill, why don't you kick it off and introduce it? >> Um so Shannon is here to present. We do this annually as you all know, but for the community um an update on where we are currently with our enrollment and then what the projections are showing for for outy years. And obviously this has been um important over the last few years is um we've had

022to make some decisions based on these numbers. And so um Shannon's going to present um that data to us tonight and then y'all can ask any questions you might have. So I'll kick it over to Shannon. >> Thank you so much. >> Uh well, good evening everybody. I have some some basic observations and a couple of big takeaways uh that I'd like to make sure everybody understands. Um uh we continue to decline uh from an enrollment standpoint. We have 470 fewer students uh this year than we had in the CDD count that was published to their website last year. Cohort effects are the main reason for decline. So we have fewer kindergarteners than seniors. So the big takeaway is that students are not leaving Mesa County. They're not leaving our school district. families are not

023leaving. The composition of the existing community is changing and trending towards smaller families. So as people interpret this data of enrollment decline and assume that people are leaving, that's just fundamentally not true. I'd like to make sure that as a community we understand that the composition of the folks that are here is just changing as are other school communities throughout the west. So right now I have 18 active engagements from here to Anchorage and I would say in half of those we are declining in enrollment because the in incoming primary age grades are smaller than the outgoing high school age grades. And that's just a a standard adjustment moving through. And I'm looking for some sort of stability coming to this district and others um in the coming five years or so as those cohorts

024stabilize in a new kind of national familysiz norm that school demographers are seeing in our immediate future. Um the last two years we've had two uh good years where bursts increased and again that's uh suggesting that I'm going to start looking for us to bottom out at some point. Um there's new housing growth in West Grand Junction and Fruda but there's not enough of it to reverse enrollment decline. So the other important takeaway is that 99.9% of our housing stock every year is existing housing. So there can be a social trend within the existing housing stock that will vastly overshadow the less than 1% of the housing stock that is new. So if we see a lot of new homes being built around the district, a lot of folks might assume that that's going to

025result in there being a lot of a lot of growth. But because it is a 99% of existing housing stock versus 1% of new housing stock, it takes a lot of new housing in an affordable category to really make a difference from an enrollment growth standpoint. and what's being built uh in the district continues to be um constructed by smaller contractors in smaller chunks even though we're starting to see some rays of light in Fruda and West Grand Junction with quite a bit of housing being constructed and I'll address that in just a moment. We're also beginning to see some of our builders and developers responding to the need for more affordable housing in a family uh price point category and um we're seeing um a bit of that in Fra currently that I'll address

026in just a moment. So for next year I'm forecasting another 400 397 students uh reduction uh again based on a big grade going out and a small grade coming in. So, you know, there's there's no blame to be assigned. It's just a a demographic phenomenon where a large group of students leaves and they're being replaced by a smaller group of kids. So, over the next five years, given the way the cohorts are stacked, we're going to see another 1326 students um reduction. And again, people are not leaving through Grand Junction, Palisad, Whitewater, unincorporated Mesa County. It's just an adjustment in how our families are structured. We have four elementary schools schools that will actually grow. The rest of the schools uh will decline a bit. Uh the enrollment effects of our prior consolidation efforts have

027been as forecasted. There were no surprises. So everything that we were looking at as far as most of the parent behaviors that I was anticipating actually played out the way that I thought they would. and the numbers for the residual schools in the wake of the consolidations that this district elected to do um worked out the way that we thought they did and a lot of people are to thank for uh retaining those children. Um everything that I'm showing you here is preliminary and we'll update that as our counts are finalized. So here's this cohort thing that I'm talking about. So these color-coded diagonal trends that show these enrollment counts are like the the class of 2026 is shown in in red over there on the right. Class of 2027, class of 2028. As you

028go younger into the grades, those are graduating classes of kids as they advance from 3 to four, four to five, five to six, six to seven. And if you follow those red arrows, you'll see that those cohorts or those graduating classes move through those grades relatively intact. Now, every year we have a certain amount of um increase from 8 to nine when we get kids back from uh non- neighborhood school providers into our comprehensive high schools. And then like every other district in the United States, we have students that leave us going from 9 to 10 and 10 to 11. And so we have a standard amount of uh departure of those high school kids. But the good news for our district is that all of these cohorts are stable. Everybody that gets on the

029bus to go to school in the graduating class of 1996 or I'm sorry of has stayed on the bus. They do not get off the bus. So they stay with us as they move through time. But you can see going from 2024 to 2025, we lost 470 kids in our count. Those kids did not leave. they successfully graduated and metriculated out of our system and were replaced by a smaller group of children. So you can see our 12th grade on the right 1598 and our kindergarten class over on the left 1241. Uh that's what I'm addressing here is that is the nature of the enrollment decline phenomenon in uh this school district. As far as our births, we've had a couple of uh good years where we've gone from a a low of 1390 up

030to 1433 up to 1535. So, these are children that are born in the geographic boundary of the district. So, that's kind of a harbinger that makes me scratch my head about how many kindergarteners will I have in five years. So, that's a a positive indicator for us as far as development around uh the valley. Um this shows what's happening in Fruda with Korea uh with um Iron Wheel West Canyon and the Fuda Muse which is an affordable development with 50 town homes. And so we're beginning to see quite a bit of activity, but again that's probably 250 units on that table. A lot of those are already constructed and that's going to help us at um Monument View and Rimrock um Monument Ridge rather, I'm sorry. Um but it's not going to be something that's

031going to um exceed the capacity of those schools and turn our enrollment circumstances around. uh given the fact that this is 1% of the housing stock or less and what's happening in the other 99% of people that live in existing housing is going to overshadow what happens in the new I just quickly talking about the Redlands a little bit. There's a huge vacant lot uh uh phenomenon happening in the Redlands right now. Um so a lot of vacant lots for sale. A lot of these are $200,000 lots for the most part. So the home that's going to result from those is going to look like what's in the middle of that, the photo in the middle of that are going to be roughly 900 to$ 1.3 million homes and that's not going to produce a

032significant number of children. So regarding the safety of our decision to deactivate and repurpose Scenic Elementary, uh we are not in a risk circumstance in the Redlands. we are going to continue to be just fine with Broadway and Windgate addressing our elementary school needs. Um, some town home construction is happening there, but again uh even with Redlands 360 that has uh five homes in the parade of homes that are currently unoccupied, we're just not looking at uh huge numbers in the Redlands. Uh Pomona, we actually have quite a bit of affordable housing being built. Founders Colony is got about a dozen units that are available now or under construction. And then there's a new um apartment and town home development called Nexus that um has uh popped up very quickly. Surprised me. I drove past

033it one moment and it was um a vacant lot and drove past it the next moment and it had built units with a parking lot full of cars. So, um, uh, a lot going on there in Pomona, but that has not affected the enrollment of the school. So, Pom Pomona continues to be stable or static. Uh, do Rios, we've got a couple of U developments happening over there, maybe a dozen homes under construction uh, in that entire attendance area. Again, it's uh, not affecting the enrollment of Dos Rios, and Dos Rios is turning into one of our smaller schools. So my forecast continues to reflect this idea of the stability of our cohorts as they move through the system. And so I'm forecasting that we're going to continue to uh decline in our count, but

034it's not going to be as dramatic as it has been in recent years. As more of these big grades move out, we have more stability from the smaller grades that are coming in. So you can see that my average expectation for net change over the next five years is around 300 uh fewer students per year. Again, people aren't leaving. Um it is just these big cohorts are cycling out of the system. Those children are metriculating. they're getting their diplomas and they're moving on to their uh next experience in life and they're being replaced by a smaller grade. Uh around the district, uh some of the schools that are getting uh big and continue to grow include Appleton, Fruit Veil somewhat as a result of our um boundary change there. Monument Ridge and Rimrock will Monument

035Ridge and Rimrock will continue to grow by some of the as a result of some of the um housing initiatives that are happening um in in that uh northeast Fruda area. Um our other um secondary schools will continue to be stable and there are two numbers shown there next year and five years out. So there's 2026 and 2030 if you would like to look at those. Um some of our schools continue to be rather small. So you can see that we still have um quite a few schools in that uh mid200s range. Um but um uh for the most part as you look from 2026 to 2030 um we will become more durable than we have been in the past. So there's a restatement of the points that I just made and um I would

036be delighted to respond to any questions that you might have. >> So actually do have it's kind of a compounded question I guess. So the last time that Colorado did a census was in correct? Um well the last uh denial census was in April of 2019 and then the American Community Survey does a long form style survey that allows mid decade counts and that has been posting annually since the dennial census which was the 2020 census. They've been posting numbers that show D-51 growing every year from a total population standpoint. Now, the Census Bureau is essentially offline and has been for the last three or four weeks. So, I can't get any tables off their website due to the government shutdown. But, um, for the most part, uh, April of was the last fullscale census.

037I know we moved here in 2020 and I felt like it was I think 23 when we had some people coming through our neighborhood that were with the Census Bureau I believe but I'm not sure if it was full scale Colorado what it was I just remember it but anyway I guess where I was going with that is um you know some of our data kind of starts around 2023 with like exiting entering things like that and then I guess my question is is that we have kids that are clearly being born and I've I know that I'm looking and I'm seeing that there are lower birth rates across the United States. However, I feel like we have a lot of people that are moving in moving out. Would we have any data at any

038point that would show and would we have to wait for the census to get this data that would show if the people that are coming in that have children that are of that age, are they choosing to um school of choice, homeschool, parochial school? I mean, how would we how could we obtain anything like that? And I know that there's a lot of reporting that happens to the district with parents that traditionally homeschool because they have to provide, you know, that letter every year. But umbrella schools, it's not quite like that. And some other types of, you know, school of choice, it doesn't require reporting. So, how would we know that if people are coming in that they're if they have kids that they are not sending them to D51 or that they are choosing

039other avenues of education? >> So, the census will be an incredibly poor choice for something of that detail. But the Colorado Department of Education the third week of January publishes data that indicates how many children are in a n neighborhood school destination in B-51. And it's either um our schools, the adjacent districts, and then the Colorado Charter School Institute has a recordkeeping capacity of its own that says how many kids are in a CSI school like Capstone. Um, and then furthermore, we have CDE collecting data on homeschool enrollment and D-51's own data monitoring and collection systems have very good data, the best data probably on the number of children enrolled in homeschool. Now, a lot of this has to do has is not overtly reported and I have to look at indicators elsewhere in order

040to understand what's happening here. So, for example, for Goal Academy, our atrisisk online high school program that has a drop-in center down on Maine, they are sanctioned by D49 in Falcon and they're run by out of PBLO, Colorado. But my way of figuring out how many gold academy kids we have is I see what D49's export what D49 is drawing out of D51 into D49 from Mesa County. So, I'm looking at who they're enrolling to determine is it 600 this year like it was last year or has it risen to 700. So, all these kind of oddball places I have to do an Easter egg hunt to go around and get that kind of data. As far as new residents goes, there's not really a way in real time within a 24month kind of a

041cycle to understand who's bringing children in and what kind of choices are they making other than doing some sort of a community survey. And because those parents are not in our database, if they did not choose a D51 neighborhood school, we don't really have a great way to reach them. Now, anecdotals, um, focus groups with parents, a lot of times you can gain some really high quality data if you convene groups of that type. And some districts actually do convene groups of parents that are not D uh district home district parents in order to get that kind of anecdotal data. But as far as getting something accurate and current, it's pretty difficult to get something like that. >> The other >> very convoluted answer question, but I'm just I'm just describing as far as the

042Easter egg hunt to go around and get all the little bits and pieces in order to comment on how how dedicated are local families to the D-51 neighborhood school option. we are able to collect that and I run that on an ongoing basis for the district. So if you want to know what's the total number of kids according to the census that live here and how many are in a D51 neighborhood school, I can use census to tell you what your market share is. We haven't done a market share study in quite a while because D-51 does not have the level of charter school or CSI schooling numbers that other big districts that have 28% of their enrollment in charters like Gley 6 or Douglas County or Falcon 49 or Academy 20. They all have

043charter school enrollments in the mid20s and we don't. We our our charter school, our church school, our CSI numbers are fractional, I would guess significantly less than 10% and the majority of children that bring their families to Grand Junction through to Palisade are putting their kids in a D-51 neighborhood program. Now, choice within our own school district's own schools on our own neighborhood list. We can do a a choice school analysis. It has historically been 86% of kids stay in their neighborhood school and 14% go shopping uh for another D-51 neighborhood school. Um, but if you wanted to see what do all of those players look like, uh, you could request that through the superintendent and I could show who's in Capstone, who's in what's the new one that just opened over here behind us?

044>> Um, ascent. >> Pardon? >> Ascent. Ascent. >> Yeah, ascent. Um so capstone ascent church schools I can inventory and then we can look at um show our own charters that are sanctioned by you as a market share and then we can do an accounting of our neighborhood schools and then I can go back to that 2020 census and I can tell you how many five to nine year olds actually were here according to that count. So that that's an imperfect analysis, but it's a market share analysis that I'm occasionally asked to do. >> You know, just because you mentioned Goal Academy, I'll just throw it out there. Um I'm sure they're nice people, but um their um results unfortunately um they get lumped together across the entire state. So they get one uh rating

045and um when you really break down the results um they're not as strong as our Grand River Academy School. So, you know, anybody out there that wants to put their kid in an online school, they actually should enroll them in Growl because it's a much stronger program. So, um the other thing though I just want to mention is um this is I I have from last year and I'll I'll ask Elizabeth's not um Elizabeth Gardner's not with um at the state level anymore. I forgot the person who's taken over for her now, but the state demographer, but remember she um put out the report last year and I can resend it to the board, but I can ask her for an updated one. And the trends are exactly what you're saying. I mean, she was

046projecting that um she now she looks at kids in the entire county, right? So, not just within the district's boundaries, but she projected that we were going to continue to decline on the number of kids within our county through 2032. I don't know if that shifts now that the birth rates have gone up a little bit. Um but she was saying you're not going to actually start to bottom out until 2032 with the number of kids in your county. And then she has those rows that breaks it down by um like grade level. And so, you know, you can see our peak with 5 to 11 year olds was 2016 and then ever since then it's gone down. So, it it matches up with exactly what you're saying and that was what the state demographer

047shared as well. Um, and again, we can get an updated version of this and see if it um if it changes, but she her last time she presented to us, she said we're never going to get she doesn't project she didn't project us to ever get back to prepandemic numbers of kids in our county. And so, um, and if we're going to continue to decline overall in the number of kids through 2030 or 2032, it's just something as a district we're going to have to continue to to have a discussion around and deal with, um, with the declining numbers um, across our entire county. So, I just wanted to reiterate that that was that matches what you were presenting as well. >> And also, Dr. Hill had pulled recent numbers for the board um, what,

048just a couple months ago. >> Oh, for the kids that leave and come in. Yeah. Well, because I had had we had asked um which leads me I think to my question because I I think we had asked like what is our in and out of state migration and then what kids do we you know what kids do we lose and gain from charter home school and private school. Mhm. >> And it seemed like we were still maybe losing some kids to out of state migration, just a few higher than what we get from, you know, that come in from, you know, out of state. Um, that number was still a little bit high that were still leaving the state. And then, and then as far as like the other educational options like charter, homechool,

049and private school, that is still basically a net zero. It's a wash. as many leave for those options, they return right back to D-51. >> Well, and actually, and you're right, the past couple years had been that way. This year, actually, we we gained more kids back from homeschool than left, which was a a shift for us. And then we also gained back more students from non-public than we lost for non-public, like almost twice the amount. So I for me when I saw those numbers I thought well if we're if we're still down >> 470 kids and we gained more kids than we lost to these options um it it could have been even worse I guess is the way I looked at it. So um >> yeah this was the trend shifted a little

050bit this year where we were getting more coming back than we were losing. Right. >> Yeah. >> So Dr. Hill has been really good about providing the board with that information because I know I constantly have people thinking that we're we're losing kids outside of the district and that's just not what the data is showing and and we're actually gaining more kids back um but we're obviously still a net, you know, net negative kids which obviously that makes sense if we're just those cohorts are smaller. So, so Shannon, do you think we've lost the majority of our kids out of state? Like we've already kind of seen that trend happen like families for the most part have left our area in Colorado that we'll see for the most part. Um I mean some are still

051going to come and go. Um but do you think that the majority has that of that has taken place? >> There there are two things happening uh uh around the western US right now as far as migration goes. young families are leaving high housing cost areas and moving to other places. So, for example, I go down and visit my mom in San Antonio and drive down the Corpus Christi and I see Carl Colorado plates all over the place. So, I think that um people are young families are leaving Colorado. They're going to central Kansas. They're going to the Dallas Fort Worth area. They're going to southern Arizona. They're going to southern Idaho. they're going to other places where they can get a more affordable house and not rent anymore. >> But that's an anecdotal observation

052of a very fractional set of folks that are leaving. And the durability of our cohorts, as I showed you, really demonstrate that that's not changing the trajectory of our ship basically, >> right? everybody's staying on the bus and uh our student count changes are as a result of that cohort adjustment. There's also a bit of folks moving around for political reasons right now between states and some folks are beginning to document those changes, but again, as I showed you in that color-coded graphic, everybody in D51 is staying on the bus for the most part. Also around the west a lot of families are coming back from online opportunities uh that they elected during COVID on a delayed basis. So, especially during SY around the West, we had a lot of surprises as a lot of

053these COVID kids came back from online because their parents kept them out for another 18 to 24 months until they thought the coast was clear to put them back into an in-person experience. And we've seen surprises all up and down the west coast in other parts of Colorado and Alaska where COVID kids have come back late. >> Um, so there's a bit of that, but again, these are one one and a half two and a half% >> phenomenon that I'm talking about that are hard to measure. Those do add up. I think the central message though is that everybody in D51 is staying on the bus. Um, our cohorts are the same size that they are as we go year to year. We're just part of this once in a generation change in family size.

054We're going to have to weather that storm for another five or six years until we stabilize at that size. And um, that's a future that seems pretty certain. Okay. Any other questions for Shannon? >> Well, thank you for the information. Yeah, >> you're most welcome, >> Shannon. >> All right. Um, and then, uh, next up, we'll have Mel come on up and share with us our quarterly financial update. All right. Good evening board. Um, thank you for the opportunity to present to you tonight um, our endofear financial results for 2425 and then our first quarter financial update for the current fiscal year. Um, the business and investment reports are prepared quarterly by our staff and reviewed by the fiscal oversight committee that we meet with ahead of of time. They also prepare a memo to

055the board which is included in your packets. Um, want to remind everyone that our budgets, our annual audits, and other financial information continues to be posted on the financial transparency website for the district. And so that information is always available. Um, but in tonight's presentation, I'll be focusing on three areas. Those key financial results from 2425 2526 Q1 updates. And then I also want to spend some time talking about the pressures and challenges that we're already starting to monitor and plan for next year. So the 2425 general fund statement is the first page in your packets after the U memo from the fiscal oversight committee. We ended the year a little bit stronger about $1.2 million than projected back in March, which was primarily due to the sustained receipts on the revenue side. um unassigned

056fund balance at 630 was 7.6 million with revenues at 101.69% of budget. So 0.19% above what we were projecting in March and expenditures came in at 99.98% of budget which was 0.46% above March projections. Um specific ownership tax collections which is uh the local taxes paid on vehicle registrations those remain strong. Those are somewhat unpredictable until we receive them. Um but they re remain strong through the end of the fiscal year. And then interest earnings fee projections as well due to the delayed Fed rate cuts. Um as well as the district's continued efforts to really maximize that revenue line item through our investment policy. So these are uh pretty tight margins. Usually 3 to 4% is considered um in the acceptable range. We really try to keep it within 1 to 2%. Um, but these

057are really very close to those March projections this time. Um, so looking at our 2425 ending unassigned and committed fund balance, it was equal to 23.1% of expenditures, which is a half a percent above what was projected. Um, an estimated 3.2 2 million of that unassigned fund balance, which is the importion exceeding the 20% reserve minimum um will be used to fund those one-time COLA and LU payments for staff that was agreed to after the budget was adopted. Um those will be formally added during the budget readdoption. Um but they're already included in your 2526 end ofear projections if you're looking at this first quarter. So you'll see those and and they will be paid in two installments, December and May payrolls to staff. So the remaining unassigned reserves serve as a critical buffer um

058in case final student count funding comes in lower than we had budgeted for, which I think is fairly likely this year. And it also provides a safety net for one-time needs that may arise throughout the year. um want to say it again. Um but reserves are onetime dollars and not an ongoing source of funding for operating expenses. >> So Mel, if I could take just um the opportunity to make sure that that our community really understands this. Um we were able to have above that 20% minimum in our reserves and that's how we were able to to use to do the one time cola. >> Yep. And again, we're matching onetime costs with onetime dollars. >> Correct. There's no other place to replace that money once it's gone. So, it's really important that everybody understands

059that it's a pretty big deal that we have that kind of a buffer. Well, and we're using >> without it and this continued declining enrollment, we could really end up in a sticky position with um with no well with no no new money continuing and the old money being depleted. So, correct. I think we've made the decisions um through these last certainly last year coming into this year was challenging but just over the course of the last several years to put ourselves in the best position possible where our budget is is sustainable. We aren't committed to ongoing deficits. Um and that'll be really important when I start talking about what we're looking at for next year is to be in that spot of of being okay and not having um that deficit to dig out

060of first. um with some of the funding things that might be coming down the pike. >> Um so what what would we be looking at if we did end up with that deficit? >> What do you mean like if we had an ongoing deficit? >> So I think it it just compounds the issues, right? And so if we already were committed to um salary and benefits that we didn't have a sustainable ongoing revenue source, we'd either have to reduce those, pull those back, which we never want to be in a position to have to do that um or make cuts elsewhere in order to sustain them. I guess it puts us in a hole to begin with um before we can make any other decisions. So we would first need to cover those and then

061we every year we always have those required costs like our contract increases our health insurance premium increases if there's a change to parah increase something like that any of those one of those unavoidable costs changes in utilities and so we would just be compounding that before we could talk about what we wanted to add or look at based on our funding. Does that make sense? >> Yep. Um, so beyond just the general fund, I want to touch on some other funds that are facing pressures in our system. Um, in general, there's an overall tightening of budgets, whether we're talking about grants, whether we're talking about some of our other funds outside of the general fund across the district. And so for the end of year 24 25 um several of our funds did end up

062using a portion of their reserves to meet ongoing costs. And so looking at the preschool which is fund 19 in your packets that fund used 142,000 of reserves. Um unlike K12 funding which is based on that single October count day, UPK universal preschool is funded based on enrollment throughout the year. So that makes their revenue source a little bit more unpredictable than it used to be. So that's something we're going to continue to watch um every month to see what that enrollment is and how that's going. Um and currently the general fund is also partially supporting that fund because the amounts from UPK aren't sufficient to cover the cost. And so we're annually transferring $400,000 from our general fund into this fund, which we'll need to continue to monitor and make sure that's appropriate. This

063is another fund that they had some like startup universal preschool type grants that have kind of dried up or are expiring and so that'll only add to the pressures here. So that's one we're watching. They're okay for right now. They have reserves. Um but it's definitely something we want to again make sure that that ongoing piece is accounted for. Um nutrition services, which is our fund 21, they use $350,000 of reserves. And I just want to say our nutrition services staff does a phenomenal work uh job managing the costs and adjusting um their cost to their revenues. Um that's something that they're always really proactive on, but the meal reimbursement rates just haven't kept pace with the rising staff costs and food costs. Um and then the other thing in this fund is that the

064health future of healthy school meals for all will be decided in the upcoming upcoming election. And so that'll shape kind of the revenue streams of that fund going forward. Um outside of the general fund risk management, our fund 64 is probably um the most pressing concern that I see right now. That fund used about $1 million of reserves last year. um driven by rising insurance premiums, claim costs, higher staff costs, and general fund is the primary source of revenue that supports that fund as well. Um I've I know that since I've been involved in budget, we haven't increased that transfer into that fund, but I actually went back today and that transfer um just going back over the years has never been lower than it is right now. There's been a couple years where it

065was higher than the one and a half million. um but it's been one and a half million since 2017. And so definitely it's time that that transfer is no longer sufficient for the costs. So that'll be a priority ideally in our midyear budget adopt read um but certainly for next year's budget planning to increase. >> And did you say you're planning to increase it to one and a half? Is that what I heard you say? It currently is one and a half. If I'm looking just at last year and using one million of reserves in order for that sun that fund to be kind of self- sustaining, it would need to be about 2 and a.5 million. I don't think we can get there quite frankly because of the other budgetary needs across our system,

066but we at least need to move at least 500,000 more to that fund to that transfer and have a plan to increase it over time. Um it's kind of easy to focus on the challenges um these days, but there were a couple of highlights that I also want to bring forward. Um and the fund 41, which was our building fund of the bond proceeds for the new Grand Junction High School. The final invoices are finally coming in on that and we're really wrapping up and getting close um to having a final number. Um but that project remains under budget and we haven't needed to use the interest earnings that have accumulated during this project and so again hope to have a final number soon. Um >> you tell us what those were the interest. >>

067I think it was around 7 million. >> Yeah. So that's a goodish number for today. I want to have obviously a much more exact number. Um but that will the remaining funds will be returned to taxpayers through temporary credits on their property tax bills. That was something that was written into the ballot language. And so the way that we'll do that likely will be through that temporary tax credit and as long as we have a final number before the December mil levby certification, something that we'll be able to include at that time. >> Excellent. Thank you. >> Um and then fund 62, that's our district's self-insured medical insurance fund. Um that fund ended the year balanced in a stable position and finally back at the target level of reserves at 10 a.5 million. Um you'll

068remember that this fund was at near zero reserves just a few years ago. It ended 2021 at $750,000. Um our annual expenses in this uh fund are about $28 million. So this is a much more manageable place to be. Um but we'll continue to monitor the increasing claim costs, the impact of the rate adjustments um during open enrollment. Um and open enrollment is open right now for staff. It goes through the end of this month through next Friday. And just importantly, the district will be able to continue to cover 100% of the employee insurance premium. We know that's something that's really important for uh retaining and recruiting our staff. And so we are glad to be able to continue that. Um so turning to this year's financials, that's the second set of financial statements in

069your packets. Um revenues and expenditures. So for our tracking, as we would expect, following similar patterns to recent years in the general fund, um our revenues are at 22.85% of budget through September 30th, the end of the first quarter. Last year at this time, they were 23.24% 24% of our end ofear actual. So really close there. Um expenses similarly. They're outpacing last year a little bit at 23.67% of budget. Last year we were at 23.39% of our end of year actual. Um but these early figures indicate that our budget planning was appropriate to this point in the year. Um we're only a quarter in and so it's still really early, but we'll continue monitoring those trends and reporting back quarterly. Um, before I get into kind of the next year's funding or the things that

070we're watching, are there any questions on the statements themselves? >> Um, just one quick one on the um, health insurance plan. I'd just like to throw out some thanks to Connie Mack and all of the all of the individuals that have worked so hard for the last four years making sure that that fund became stable and that and that we had a good um a good product for for all of our employees. Um and also thank you to everybody who works so hard making sure that we can continue to pay that 100% of the employee premiums. There are very few businesses anywhere or organizations that can do that anymore. So that that's very that's great. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Um Mel on the preschool so fund 19 and fund 21. Um so I

071know there was a lot of frustration with school districts around um really the the governor not talking to districts about universal prek and how that should have been rolled out and even pro possibly funded. And then I think it, you know, it ended up kind of getting dropped in our laps and then we all had to figure out basically how to get it done in numerous ways. Um I mean ongoing, what do you see that we're going to have to continue to fund for preschool? I mean, if we're at 142 um out of reserves right now, I mean, what do you And again, I I know I can't hold you to anything, but what do you think we're going to have to continue to fund preschool? And especially because I think the way they sold

072it was that there would be all these grants that would help districts and we all know that grants are drying up left and right. There's just no grant money left. And so, >> so I know they go out for like the Bule grant. There's some other funding opportunities that we don't know if they're going to come through yet for this year. Um I I mean I think without that the natural numbers would be a $500,000 transfer, but they've also made some changes. Um and just how they're structuring things a little bit. Um and so I'm really hoping that that fund their budgeting to not necessarily need all of that transfer in this current year. I'm really hoping that that comes to fruition that we can maybe even pull back a little bit. Um because it's

073those funds are critically needed in other places in our district as well. So that's one that we don't want to over transfer, but we also need the fund to hold water too and stand a float. And so that's one that I I think the $400,000 transfer is appropriate. I just don't know how long we can sustain it. >> Yeah. Um, I in talking to other CFOs and people across the state, like I think that's one of the frustrations with UPK and with the Healthy School Meals for All is that they're underfunded programs. And so, while they're great opportunities for our system, who doesn't want to feed kids? Um, who doesn't want to be able to provide universal preschool access? All of those things are great, but the reimbursement rates that districts are getting just don't

074meet the funding the the cost realities, I guess. >> Yeah. It's it's borderline an unfunded mandate on districts. I mean, >> we've been saying underfunded. Yeah. >> I know. Yeah. I mean, but yes, it's pretty much the same thing. It's >> it's it's the same concept, right? It's And again, these are great things, right? We we want to be able to provide preschool. We want to be able to provide, you know, the lunches, but when Denver decides it and then pushes it out on districts and then they don't ask districts how we need to implement it or give us the funding to do it, we have to take from somewhere else because it's a mandate. We we can't opt to not do it. Um, but then those dollars have to come from somewhere else. Um,

075or someone else or something else. And so, um, I just I just want the community to understand all of the things that your department has to look at and what they have to do. And also from the board standpoint, the tough decisions that we have to make because some of these things are put in our lap. Um, that we don't get to decide what money we get to do with these things or not because we're we have to. So, I I mean, I appreciate what you guys get to do and and these are really great things that we want to do, but when the state says you have to do it and then they don't give you the money to do it, that's it's just really frustrating. >> Agree. So, yep. Appreciate it, Mel. Thank

076you. >> Um, so I realize that it's October, but we're already talking about 2627, and that's because of some of the significant funding challenges that are already kind of shaping up. um that all early indications are that next year is going to be a really difficult funding um year on multiple fronts. And so I just want to spend some time going through those. Um federal funding, you'll recall that over the summer nearly $2 million of our federal grant funds were frozen. um ultimately released um but definitely it was a time of panic with those funds um that were frozen and the staff that were already hired into positions for this school year. Um but with the delay at the federal level of uh having appropriations, that means that we still don't know with certainty if

077those same programs that were in question over the summer will be funded next year. So, um, last before the shutdown, there were several proposals that I had read that were kind of floating around, ranging from K12 funding being kind of flat on allocations to severe reductions or eliminations of some of those same programs that were in question over the summer. Um at the state level, uh the state had a special session in August to address their budget shortfalls because they two are required to have a balanced budget. And they made some changes which thankfully didn't um change our allocations or funding levels for the current year that they're working through in this year. But most concerning is that the ledge council put out that they're projecting that the state will have an $841 million shortfall

078next year for 2627. Um our lo Yeah. >> I was saying our lobbyist last month pres I think it was last month presented to you guys and gave an update. We're already the session hasn't started. It won't start until January, but already kind of those discussions are happening where they might have to pull back on some of the promises that were agreed to last year around hold harmless provisions around taking from our our fi student count averaging was five years last year. It's been five years forever. It went to four years this year. Last next year it was supposed to go down to three years as long as they continue to implement the new funding formula. but she was indicating that there are already conversations that would negate those hold harmless provisions and take it

079down to two years. Um, so those are really challenging when you have the rate of decline that our demographer is presenting to and that we've been experiencing. We're definitely a district that's impacted very heavily by those student count averaging changes. >> So do you have a guesstimate or any idea? So, just to make sure everybody's on pace with this, last year we got a million dollars of new money, which is >> not not a lot. It's almost nothing. >> But what they were kind of threatening was a reduction of over 9 million. >> Yep. It was about nine and a half million, I believe. >> Okay. So, now we now we go down to the two-year averaging next year. What do you think that might look like? >> Um, so in >> I mean I

080don't want to put you >> Yeah, these are going to be ballpark numbers until we have kind of the final counts for this year that I can really base it on. But when it was five-year averaging, we were receiving that $9.5 million. That's where that where that would be a reduction if it was pulled back um because of student count averaging. This year um I was budgeting for that to be reduced to seven and a half. And so I would a million imagine it's probably about a $2 million hit just ballpark. Um if it goes down to two years depending on kind of which years the steepest declines were falling in. So you'll have a little bit we won't have never mind. I'm just I'm just thinking after we get our official count. Yep. >>

081Give us part of the equation but not the whole. >> Yep. Um, so then lastly, kind of the third head to this is the federal pressures, the state pressures, and then locally our continued enrollment declines and changes to student count averaging that are expected. So, I think I'm going to get kind of into um where you were going, Director Lima, or at jump in if I'm not. Um but there are some um key data points that will be known in the coming months or weeks and so those will inform our decision- making around planning for next school year. And so one of those is having a final October funded student count. Um that'll set our current year revenues and also serve as a baseline for those future projections into next year's and beyond given the

082different funding scenarios. Um but then importantly the governor's um the governor must submit a budget proposal by November 1st. Um every year this year November 1st is on a Saturday. So anticipating that maybe by next Friday we would have that. But this was again to your point really the first point of data that we had last year that all of a sudden student count averaging was gone. We were looking at a large reduction. And while the state ultimately was able to pull from other areas in the budget to close their gap and save K12 last year, um at the state level, that really is looked to as what happened. That K12 was one of the winners in general and that a lot of other areas across state budgets took substantial reductions. And so again, having

083another almost $850 million shortfall that they're going to have to fill, there simply just aren't other places that they're going to be able to pull from this time around without impacting us. So I think um the governor's budget is certainly something that we're going to be looking at, but we're not expecting that it's going to be favorable. I think we're pretty much expecting that there will be some level of cuts proposed to K12. Um again awaiting those federal grant allocations which will determine available resources for programs and positions currently supported by federal funding. Um and then having the final enrollment projections for 2627 um that that's going to be able to guide both our funding and our staffing decisions as we start looking at um staffing and planning for that as well. Um lastly, the

084state's um session will run from January to May. the state legislators ultimately set our PPR funding, not the governor's proposal, but his is always kind of a launching point. Um, and so that will certainly have our full attention. Um, as we hope to know our funding level levels sooner rather than later. So, um, to close, I guess just the reassurance that the district is in a stable financial position because of the planning and decisions that have been made to this point. Um, but we're facing the likelihood of future structural challenges in the long term that will require further careful planning um and the alignment of future spending with future revenues. Uh at every step we remain committed to prioritizing meeting the needs of our students and providing competitive competation compensation to retain our excellent staff.

085Um but like all districts in Colorado, we rely on state and federal funding and inherently our financial stability depends on the decisions that are made at the federal and state levels. Um and so the uncertainties or the challenges at those levels um definitely give us pause and continue to be difficult to plan for. Um this year, again, we're talking about this already in the year, but we plan to continue rolling out updates as we know some of these key data points. Um bringing our community, bringing the board and our staff along with us, um as we learn some of these because the sooner we can understand the scope of potential reductions or what our funding might look like next year, the better we can plan for it and engage our community. Any other questions? Thank

086you. First, this is bothersome to me in a lot of ways. Um, we look at the state budget fall shortfall of just 200 million. Then we're looking at our budget cut about $4.4 million. 300 is like $6 million within our budget that we will lose. And didn't you say like declining enrollment was two and a half or one and a half? Um, that's a guess. If they take it down to two years, I think it might be a $2 million reduction to us. Yeah. >> So, when we look at all that, then it looks like all the other stuff that you have that you wrote down, we have to watch out for and look at. The other parts we're going to have to take a look at is if we're going to look at closing

087schools, consolidate schools, or reduction of staff. Am I correct? >> Uh, well, we're not closing any schools for next year. I think that's safe to say at this point. Yeah. But yes, >> that's something that we we're going to have to start considering, right? Taking looking at looking at uh if we do a mill levy, how is that going to go? So, those are all plans that we're going to have to take a look at because the reduction within our budget is drastic, >> right? And I mean, it it seems um common, but you either have two options. Either you find a way to increase revenues through like community support um or you're talking spending reductions. That's really where we have to align our revenues to our expenses and pull that back into something that's

088sustainable. Yeah, Dr. Hill, >> we're um and that work's happening right now. Um it's funny. I call them senior leadership retreats, but retreats are usually fun. Um these are not fun. >> Sorry, I didn't bring any fun. >> Yeah, it's not fun meetings when you're talking about trying to find ongoing dollars um and where you're going to find make those reductions. And so, you know, I think the last slide um I just want to highlight that we are committed to trying to figure out how to get back to um steps, right? We don't want to go two years in a row with having to do stipens. And so, we are trying to figure out how to do that um so that we can, you know, pay our folks what they deserve. Um but I don't

089want to overlook also the prioritizing educational needs like how do we continue to provide resources to our schools during this time as well. So, we're looking internally, you know, we've already cut 1.4 million from central office, but we're looking, you know, other areas. Um, and it's just not a not a fun place to be in. But we we are committed to trying to figure out how to get back on track with those things. Um, as Mel said, but I I think, you know, you're right, the only way you can do this is e either the state provides more funding or we get more through mill levby overrides. And I think going out for a mill levby over if we can show that we've done everything we could do internally, hopefully that will help us. But,

090you know, if you if this stuff frustrates you, and it is frustrating to have to have these same conversations every year, like the frustration should be directed at the state level. Um, because we're not being funded adequately. Um, we're, you know, that study that was put out that the legislature asked for, legislature asked for said $3.5 billion shortfall every year in K12 education. Like, we're not making a dent in that until something happens at the state level. Um, and so we're down here at the district levels all trying to fight over these dollars. um when really it's it's an issue at the at the state level. And so we if there's advocacy and things that we need to do, we need to be um advocating at the state level to say we need more funding

091for K12 education. When you hear that they promised that they were going to stairstep the averaging and now they're not and they're talking about going on to two, like that's stuff that people should be calling and and advocating to say you you can't you shouldn't be doing that because you didn't say you you said you weren't going to do that. So, I just I think that um we're all frustrated in these moments. Um and that that's it's not going to change unless we bring in um more money from the state level and we're also going to have to talk to our community at some point about um how far behind we are on the levy overrides compared to our comparable districts. And so um you know, I do appreciate all the work that Mel does

092to try to keep us balanced. Um, and to your point, like if we d if we have a sudden change like this, this is why we have reserves so that if we have to do one-time things to kind of get us through those those periods of time, we can. Um, but this is tough for everybody. So, I just want to reiterate that um advocacy is great. Um, let's advocate at the state level to to get more funding for K12. Jose Luis also just want to make sure that the point was made clear that two million or that that we would be shorted next year. That's if they keep their word on just taking us down to two years. >> If they do what they did last year, which was try to take the wipe the

093whole thing out, it's a lot more. >> Then that's where we're closer to that seven million number. >> It goes to seven million less. And I think that that's uh likely I mean they've rolled that out last year as something that they really believe philosophically that we shouldn't be funding phantom students. We know that that's a mechanism that they would look to to balance their own budgets now. Um maybe if we didn't know that before, we know that now. Um the past tactics of course have been the budget stabilization factor or the negative factor which reduced funding from any school district school district that received state funding. And so that was at least kind of a level reduction. Um it was still $250 million reduction over several years, but every district kind of shared in

094it proportionately. I think the changes to the student count averaging um it's not even because in the areas that there are pockets of growth in our state, they might see new funding um and then the areas that are hit particularly hard by declining enrollment like our area um are really going to struggle. I think some of the points that came up last year about them calling it phantom students were that given the inadequacy in funding levels, we're not funding phantom students. We're using the money that we're given to fund the students that are here. And so it'll be interesting to see if they stick with that same wording this year, I guess. But it definitely did not go over well with some of the information from the people on the ground that those dollars are

095being put to work and they're funding real needs that we have here due to our funding inadequacies. >> What worries me, I think the most about that is that due to the budget shortfall this year at the state level, they've already they've already sort of robbed or taken from other areas to make up for what they had to do. And fortunately, we were skipped this year, but there comes a point there's nobody else to take from. >> Yep. Exactly. >> Yeah. I'm not I I'm not thoroughly convinced that they're not going to go after that and try to fully take it away and that we won't be facing a $7 million shortfall. So, I think we need to kind of brace for impact. Um, which I know you always are pretty good for, um, kind

096of hoping for the best but expecting the worst. And then I think you make a a good point for us to remember and Dr. Hill is pretty good about reminding us that with that $250 million with the the negative factor or the budget stabilization factor when they said they never made us whole. Um they just >> they just stopped taking it. Yes. And so we never got any of that money back. And then Dr. Hill's really good about reminding everybody that now we're we're funded at 1989 1989 levels, right? Excuse me. And so it's like, yeah, it's we all love the 80s, but not that part of the 80s. Like we, you know, we don't we're not living at 80 levels. Um, you know, groceries and so on and so forth. And so, um, you

097know, that's so there's just some things that are just not working and and so this is this is really in a sense a crisis, you know, that's coming from the state level. Um, this isn't anything that, you know, like Mel's team, I know there's been some information that's been put out there that that really frustrates me because your team has done a really good job at at trying to help balance this and make sure that we are staying afloat. And this has really been a frustration from the state um of not funding Mesa County adequately. And and Joseé Luis makes a good point, you know, that um you know, we are looking down um some pretty interesting and scary things um over the next couple of years about what what we're still some challenges that

098we're going to have and um and it is frustration from the state level. I mean, that's where we get our the majority of our money is the state and federal government. So um and and you know one of the things that we the board was tasked with looking at is you know what what can we ultimately do um to get ready um you know things in order to then basically have to then look at what we can do with our own community um support-wise. So um we got to make sure that we have all of that in place. So really appreciate all the things that you guys do, but this has definitely not been um a fair process from from the state side um over here and I do appreciate what our representatives do to

099help advocate for us, but it's um it's it's there's still a lot of work that needs to be done. Well, we talked talked about it on a call with some superintendents the other day is like the messaging is important as well because um a lot of times we say we need more money for K12 and I think inherently like in when you hear that it you assume that we have enough and that we are asking for more and instead it's like we need to be start talking about how we need adequate funding like we're we're it's inadequate what we're actually getting from the state. So when we say we want more it makes it sound like we're greedy and we're needing more than than what we actually need. um we just it would be great

100to be like adequately funded um from the state and again they they commission their own report on that. So we're not making the numbers up and if it's $3.5 billion shortfall every year um somebody's got to do something to start u moving the needle on that. So it's not wanting more, it's can we can we be adequately funded um to support our students. >> Yeah. Yeah. Like you said our co our nutritional costs, our contract costs, our utility costs, you know, >> transportation >> our Yeah. transportation, insurance, you know, also wanting to continue to pay staff, you know, and um just and everybody across the board, all of our people, right? You know, custodians, Perez, you know, we we have to pay everybody because we we need to recruit and retain everybody in the system.

101So, um it takes it takes all of it. So, yeah, we're not we're definitely not adequately funded uh as far as that goes at 1989 level. So, thanks for that clarification. Any other questions or comments for Mel? >> No, I just want to say thank you and good job to Mel and her team for always uh in a time of uncertainty come always coming out and keeping us informed and being transparent about things and finding the silver lining when there's really not one. So, you guys have done a great job and so I saying thank you and good job. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. We're going to be real, but we're still going to hope for the best. I absolutely second um what director Jones said and everybody else and I just I just

102think where we felt we were last year and we felt I don't know kind of comfortable and then >> you know there was this well this is what the this is what the um equation is going to be and this is how this is going to pan out and it's going to be favorable for you guys and it just it really does disgust me and it should disgust our community and you guys should really be out there advocating at the state level like Dr. Hill said because they backtracked >> and they took they took what they said they were going to give us and now we're in such a bad spot and 14 years yeah the budget stabilization factor stopped for a hot minute but like they it doesn't mean it couldn't come back. It

103doesn't mean that they can't change it in legislation. It doesn't mean >> well they never removed it. They just paused it. >> They paused it, right? >> It's still in there. But we're still 14 years unfunded or underfunded, I guess I should say. And then we don't know where we're going to sit next year. And I really say like you guys are amazing, but plan for the worst and hope for the best, I guess. >> I again trying to find some silver lining. I much rather be talking about this in October >> than in May when we've had to talk about some other funding reductions in the past when they really do come down at the the end. And so, um, I think when we have this information, we have to take it seriously. We

104have to start planning. We have to start making thoughtful, careful decisions. Um, because in the past, we haven't had the luxury of being able to do that. And so, I'm much more thankful for at least a runway where we're starting these conversations and starting the planning because, of course, we want to impact, we don't want to impact students, we want to impact our staff as least as possible. If we're talking positions, that's a much better place to be than talking people. Um, and so all of those things and all of the planning um that goes into it um just that's top of mind, I guess. >> Thank you all. >> Yep. >> All right. And then um so thank you Melon. Our our last item I'm going to have uh Tammy come up um and

105it's for the um Windgate Memorial. So she'll share that. And then I know this is in your uh packet to vote on tonight. >> And I'm having Callie join me up here and Come on. >> Um, as you know, we wrote um KDEA back in October, which was the naming of facilities and memorials and tributes within the school buildings. We wanted to kind of get a hold of um making sure that everything was um appropriately run by people. We knew what was going on in the buildings, things were consistent, why we were putting names to certain things within certain buildings. So, we established a process and part of that process under KDEA and I'm going to start to my left here with Cali is forming a naming committee. And so, as you know myself, I'm

106on the naming committee. Cali is for um communication purposes because often um she's either out there or she calls me to let me know that something's going on that I don't even know about. Um and uh Paul Kaine is part of that naming committee as well. A lot of our names come through athletics or have to do with gyms or fields or things like that. So he kind of has a pulse. Clint is on the committee um since he's in most of all of our buildings. I thought he was a good touch for that. probably I'm gonna say the most important person is our environmental health um and safety manager Melissa Salter and that is because um she's a genius with these forms and she helped me with the service animals. So I let her

107know that hard work does not go unnoticed and you've just been appointed to a committee. So she then helped so thank you Melissa. So she helped um create all of the forms. Um we have put it on the website. Um there is now um in the internet under it's now called um board of education policies and it also falls into the department so that all principles know that these forms now exist. I did roll out a bunch of new pro policies to the principles this being one of them. And so Amy followed and was the first to submit paperwork. Um, I'm not going to present every time that we have a memorial or um uh um a naming of a facility, but since this really is the first time we've gone through the process, I

108thought, well, we'll come up here and just inform you. Um, so this is at Windgate Elementary and the little guy's name is Becker Mimik Minnick. Sorry, I knew that. And so, um, I sent you the paperwork earlier. Uh, this is for a piece of playground equipment. And maybe I'll just let Amy talk a little bit about Becker um to tell the board just a little something about him. >> Um, so thank you so much for considering this. So, Becker student and then he moved on to Redlands Middle School. Um he did have some health related issues and passed away this summer. >> Okay. Um so he had some health related issues and passed away this summer. Um during um his illness, he was in a wheelchair and we would often see him after hours coming

109over to our playground and enjoying our new adaptive equipment, playing with his brothers and his mom at a few opportunities to go and say hello and talk to them. Um, so when he passed away this summer, his parents reached out to me and asked that if people who who knew the family could donate to they made donations to Redlands Middle School or to um our playground project in honor of him. And so the donations started pouring in and actually were more than I had expected. Um, and so with that, I decided that I wanted to see if we could purchase one single piece of equipment that we could um, celebrate and honor him. I didn't really want to wrap it up into the larger project because we had so many additional donors um, for that

110equipment. Um, so we were able to order a piece of equipment. It will be here and installed in December and we're hoping to affix a memorial plaque to it um to recognize and celebrate him, celebrate inclusion and just the joy that he brought to our school community and to really the whole Redlands community. So, the paperwork has gone through all of the naming committee who have signed off. Um final went to uh Dr. Hill who also approved um the plaque um at least initially the thoughts are that um the plaque on the piece of equipment that I also sent you a picture of will say um in c sorry I didn't think it would hit close to home for me. In celebration of Becker, whose joy and courage inspire play for all, always loved, never

111forgotten, forever missed. Um, so that plaque will be a fix to the piece of equipment, maybe with his picture. So, I am going to ask for you to um vote tonight to approve um this uh particular memorial and um if so, then I will have um Andrea sign off on that and we can move forward. >> Thank you. Any questions? With that, do um do I have a motion to approve um the naming uh for this piece of equipment? >> Motion to approve the naming. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All right. Seeing none. Well, sorry. We got to wait for Amy. >> Yes, we're gonna we're gonna go ahead and just uh go ahead and vote for take care of this right now. So, >> Mr. Chavis, >> approved. >> Mrs. Evansson, >> yes. >>

112Mrs. Heights, >> yes. >> Mr. Jones, >> yes. >> Miss Lima, >> yes. Well, >> thank you. This was a very special one to be able to do first of all. And thanks for the work on the policy and um uh please uh let us know when you guys uh dedicate it. We'd love to be out there and part be able to participate. Uh so, it's awesome. >> Thank you for your support. We will invite you to the memorial service that we have. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We're going to take just a quick five minute little reprieve and then we'll be right back. Hey, you too. >> All right. Thank you everyone for so we could take that little bit of a break. Um, next up we have audience comments. So, Director Jones

113is going to kick us off on that and we have uh three minutes for audience comments. Um I think we only have one. >> All right, we got a real busy night tonight. So, we're going to be here for a little bit. So, um Miss Hicks, you're out first and last. Um, so I think I'm mostly here to put a a face on the ed educational impact of these budget decisions. Um, so I I teach at a high needs school. Um, and I have 25 second graders this year. But when you talk about 25 second graders, I know that we hear across the board that people have more than that. And at other districts they have more than that. And I'm I'm here to say that's not acceptable anywhere. But in my class I have

11415 read plans. I have 10 kids who can't access grade level curriculum. They it's it's not possible. They're that far below. So I have to adapt that. Um a a good small group size is is six. So I can't even intervene at that level. In addition, you know, I I do have the rest of them who also I have to meet with and I have to do things for. And so this year we received or we're and math also I had um 40% of kids come in in what we call the red which is two grades below grade level. Um so try to organize my thinking here. Our class our school received a hundred kids and we only received four FTEEs. one of those had to go for a specials because we added another round

115and that just had to happen. It's it's simply made it so that our class sizes were going to be too big. Um we lost two interventionists to the classroom. Um so now we don't have interventions either. Um I'm I'm teaching a large-sized intervention group now of 16. Um we flooded our aids into those classrooms, but it's simply not working. um my progress monitoring doesn't look like it usually does. I grow kids. I work hard and I grow kids and I don't have the resources to do that with the current classroom size that I have. So, I am really here to put a face on like we have to make when you're talking about the budget, you have to make extremely extremely difficult decisions about the budget. When we're talking about class size, it matters. It

116matters right now to these kids. Um second grade's a big year for reading and my kids. I really cannot say that they're going to grow the way that I want them to this year. Um behaviors also are um very impacted. And so I just I just want you to know that like I've reached out to you guys. I've emailed you guys. I've gone to board coffees and this was making decisions last year. And I really really do want to hear what are we doing? What really really hard decisions are we making to help the impact in that classroom because it is very impactful especially in a school like mine and I do want to say my principal can't solve this problem. I've gone to him but there is no more he can do. We don't

117have the resources at my school. We've done what we can. >> Thank you. That concludes our audience comments for the night. >> All right, thank you. Um, next up we have our consent agenda. Um, the consent agenda contains personnel actions and acceptance of gifts, items that are routine and can be approved by a single motion. Items on the consent agenda will not be discussed individually by the board unless um a board member wants an item removed for individual consideration. Um board is anyone requesting any items to be removed from the consent agenda this evening? Okay, seeing none, um I will state that we had a total of $56,968.7 um in gifts. So we're thankful to our community that gives to individual schools um uh for in lots of various uh ways. So we're thankful for

118that. And that's all listed in the agenda so everybody can see who's giving what. Uh, do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Motion to approve the consent agenda. >> Second, >> Mr. Chavis. >> Approved. >> Mrs. Evansson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Heights? >> Yes. >> Mr. Jones? >> Yes. >> Miss Lima? >> Yes. >> All right. Next up, we have um we have two policies. We have policy IK, IKF, excuse me, for graduation requirements and policy JH for the student absences and excuses. Um, sorry. Yeah, excuses. So, um, do I have a motion to approve policy IKF and JH? >> Motion to approve policy IKF, policy JH. >> Second. >> Any discussion on these? Mr. Chavis, >> approved. >> Mrs. Evansson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Heights, >> yes. >> Mr. Jones,

119>> yes. >> Miss Lima, >> yes. >> And we already did the Windgate Memorial. Just felt like it was more appropriate to do right at the time there. Um, next up, we have a resolution to approve the sale of the property, which we have the resolution for the Elm uh property. Uh, so do I have a motion to approve the resolution to approve the sale of that property? >> Motion to approve the resolution to approve the sale of the property. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Mr. Chavis, >> approved. >> Mrs. Evansson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Heights, >> yes. >> Mr. Jones, >> yes. >> Miss Lima, >> yes. >> All right. Um, next up, board open discussion. Is there anything the board looking to get on the agenda or have anything else they want

120to bring up? >> Um, something I forgot earlier. Um, we did have the board coffee. >> Oh, yeah. >> We had a gentleman come down and talk to us for a while. Actually, a couple people come talk to us for a while and so it was good a good conversation and good good hour and a half or so. And um, so I just want to thank the individuals that came for the coffee and and implore our community to come out to coffees when we get a chance. is a good chance to have one-on-one conversation with the board. So, and find out things that you wouldn't really want to, you know, hear in a in a meeting or might be want to know more. >> Yeah. Great. >> That's it. >> All right. Um, next we

121our next meetings um well in November, normally it would be the fourth, but that is um the election. So, we bump that meeting. So, the next meeting will be November 18th. and then um could possibly have an additional meeting but um then November December there will be an organizational meeting uh based on um new board members or new board member positions. So stay tuned for that and that is all we have. So do have a motion to adjurnn. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> All right. Thank you everyone for your time this evening. Drive safe.