001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> elementary and Avondale elementary. And as always, our district has a lot of longevity and we have a lot of staff members who come and they stay with us for a really long time. And we hope to keep that as a tradition and hopefully we can continue doing that and we can do that with providing competitive wages. My turn. I too have been to some of the award ceremonies and they're they're a lot of fun. It's one of my favorite things and the rest of mine I would actually like to save for the first action item. So, talk about the rest of my points that I would like to give information for. So. >> Okay. All right. That sounds good. Well, I'm just going to echo the award ceremonies. I had the
002privilege last week of being in Vineland, got to meet Victoria and it was just really fun being in the school. It kind of took me back and I loved the It's just a really good atmosphere when you walk in there. I enjoyed it. So, I think you're doing a great job. You talked about longevity. She explained to me that before her we had a lot of turnover in the principal role there, but it looks like we're going to have her for the duration. So, happy about that. So, yeah. Yeah, absolutely and I'm going to take my kids to come play on that playground cuz that is an awesome playground. I was then at several of those as well this week with both with Rhonda and then Chris. Today we handed out the coveted glass apple.
003That was really fun and how they switched from the the owl, you know, did that switch back cuz everyone wasn't too happy. They're very happy you're back to the apple. So, that was really fun to see. That was at North Mesa and um It's It's just an absolute joy walking into those rooms um and just all the teachers big smiling faces. I mean, the environments that have been cultivated there with staff and then with leadership is so awesome. It is so awesome to see and and you see it with the longevity longevity of the teachers. Also, I wanted to say I took my students we did a tour of the Pueblo District 70 art show. I think it just finished up on the 19th. It was at Rawlings. Wow. Wow. I was blown away by
004the talent of the students in this district. It was awesome. So, that was really fun to see. So, that's all. I just I'm having a lot of fun. I love this district. This has really been awesome. I'm just going to echo what they've all said. I got to go to Desert Sage and I it's a beautiful school. It's so much fun to walk into an elementary school. The classrooms are just adorable, smiling faces and just what a friendly environment and it's obviously just as mentioned whether it's a an apple or a nice mug, recognizing those people for years of service, but I thought it was really neat. We actually like had had all the staff raise their hands, you know, for we started out with like who has less than five years experience and I
005thought that was really fun. I got to go with Mr. DePietro and really enjoyed that. I also um I agree with you about the art show. That was fantastic. And I wanted to say as we're rounding out the school year to those of you watching on YouTube or here in the room, if you would please like let us know about end of year celebrations, performances and and you know, I know we're all trying to get to things and knowing in advance is really helpful. So, we I want to be there. I want to celebrate our students and as I read agendas and hear of people retiring, I also want to say thank you to all of the people that are retiring this year and for all of your years of service. You set a precedent
006and a help to build our our culture and >> [clears throat] >> um support our history and I just you know, I'm I'm really grateful. So, please reach out. I'm easy to find on email. So, thanks a lot. All right. Thank you. We have a lot of discussion items tonight. So, we'll jump right in. Item 7.01, presentation of the Pueblo County High School HOSA trip to Indianapolis, Indiana. Good evening. I am Vicki Alliger. I'm the HOSA mentor sponsor. That is our career tech student organization for our biomedical sciences at County High. With the board's permission, I would like to take four students to the HOSA International Leadership Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana June 17th through the 21st. I have Kaylin Duran who placed first at state in medical terminology. So, she's state champion and she wants
007to compete in nationals. And then I have a team of three, Avery Mead, Macy Johnson and Lily Nybert who placed fourth in public service announcement and they would all like to go and compete at Indianapolis as well. While they're there, the kids have a chance not only have a chance to compete, but they get to go to symposiums and there's a lot of college booths there trying to recruit these kids for medical school and all that fun stuff. And so, they have a good time and they get to network with other kids from all over the the world. Last time I took kids to nationals, they got pins from students from China that were involved in HOSA. And so, it's just really great fun networking opportunity for them. And yeah, so we'll be going um
008leaving at 5:30 a.m. on the 17th of June and getting back on the Sunday evening about 8:15 as long as the board gives me permission. Any questions? Are you flying? Yes, we are flying. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not driving kids that far by myself. Unless you want to go and be my my co-driver. >> I'll go, of course. >> [laughter] >> And then do students have to qualify to compete in nationals? Yeah, they have to place in the top 10 at state. The first three are automatically guaranteed spots at nationals, but if for some reason first, second, or third place can't go, then it bumps on down. I see. So, yeah. So, they have to And we went to uh state in February in Denver. At the new Gaylord Resort Hotel. So, that was That was
009a new one for us. Yeah. So, um I also have one more thing that's not on the agenda, but I would love to present. Um I just found out today that Abigail Johnson, our FFA teacher at uh Pueblo County High, has been is going to be recognized as their local Air Force Association's um Teacher of the Year. So, I just want to say congratulations to her. >> [applause] >> Thank you for sharing that. That's exciting. Uh thank you. Um 7.02 presentation of the MOU between PCEA and Pueblo County School District 70. Good evening, Madam President, members of the board. We do have two MOUs to present tonight, and both of them reflect the work of our bargaining team over the last few months. Um the first one is to establish a collective process to review
010and determine appropriate bargaining unit placement of positions. So, within this MOU, some specific points, um we will table action on our movement of our certified and master trades in and out of the bargaining unit at right now. While we um do that, the district will have still have authority to hire positions as needed to meet the operational needs of the district. And then in 2026-2027 school year, we'll establish a joint committee between PCEA and the district, um which will um review current and prospective classifications and make recommendations for movement in and out of the unit. So, which positions will could be in, out, and what does that process look like? So, we'll take next school year to to review that process and look through that. And that is outlined in this MOU. Questions about that
011one? Any questions? Okay. All right. The second MOU um really is uh something that uh we have been working on together, but mostly through PCEA and uh Susie uh McGahey has really worked on this at to establish um and implement an educational support personnel mentoring program. So, um I think they've done some presentations to the board, and they actually obtained a grant through NEA and some funding through CEA. So, the pilot program for next year will be supported through that grant funding. Um and the district will provide some in-kind support as far as release time for professional development. Um the MOU really outlines the pilot year um for paraprofessionals and custodians, uh new hired paraprofessionals and custodians to provide support and to help to retain those new employees in those positions. Um it also establishes
012the program goals and the roles and responsibilities um within each of those um components from coordinators to mentors and mentees that will be in the program. Um it also outlines the structure of the program, um the mentor and mentee responsibilities. And again, compensation uh through stipends will come through the NEA grant for this first year. Um maybe it will be 2 years depending um cuz they did get some additional funding from CEA, and then any funding beyond that would be subject to to bargaining and the financial status of the of the district. Questions about that MOU? Thank you. Thanks. Next item, presentation of the online Rye High School Flexible Learning Program. Dr. Martinez. Thank you, Kimberly. Ladies and gentlemen of the board, tonight I'm bringing you information about a new flexible learning option that we'd
013like to offer at Rye High School. Um as you know, Rye High School has seen declining enrollment. Uh in 2022-2023, uh we had 260 students up there. Uh next year we're predict predicted projected to have about 200. And we continue to lose students. And a lot of the students we are losing are we are losing to online programs uh uh statewide multi-district online programs throughout the state. And we'd like to recover some of those students. We'd like to keep those students here in District 70 learning from our teachers and with our programs. So, what we're looking to propose or what we are proposing is a 20-student pilot, uh an online program. It would be an asynchronous program where students would be doing their work online. But to ensure that they're still connected to Rye High
014School, they would have uh weekly check-ins with a Rye High School teacher who would be connecting with them, ensuring that they are completing their assignments, that they are making progress, that they aren't going to fall into a situation of credit recovery. We're really focusing on making sure those students have a community that they're built to and connected to so that they feel like they're part of Rye students. As Rye Flexible Online Learning students, they would be able to still participate in all of the clubs, uh the art show that you just attended. Uh Rye had a lot of great pieces in there. The students would be able to participate in the art shows and sports and all the other events that go with high school to ensure that they're still having a high school experience,
015but with the option of learning online remotely. All of the same graduation requirements would apply. So, we ensure that over the course of 4 years, students are still meeting all of the board and state requirements for graduation. Uh we would start with an application process, again keeping it to 20 students. We would start with an application process. So, uh it's not a right program It's not the right program for a student who's already credit deficient. We have a different pathway for students who are already behind in credits. It's it's a it's a pathway for the student who may be considering leaving us totally and going to an online program. We feel like this is as a pilot an opportunity to keep students in the district, to make sure that our students at Rye have another
016pathway, and that we can ensure that they stay with us and continue to grow with us and move in the same direction that we're moving. Any questions? I feel like I have a few. Um so, you said the goal is to recapture some of the students that have left. So, when you open enrollment or you put out the applications, would you be specifically targeting those students who have left or you're opening it up to students who are currently Mr. DeYoung will be reaching out to the students who have left, who un-enrolled or withdrawn from District 70 and and enrolled in one of the online multi-district options. So, we want to recapture those students who've left us. Yeah. Okay. I'll go ahead. Yeah, and is this um since it's high school specific, is it available to
017ninth graders, incoming ninth graders, or we looking for students that were at Rye High School? You know, because I I think that's a totally you know, we wouldn't know their success unless we went back to their middle school records. If they withdraw, they potentially could be a student who could be in the online flexible learning program. Okay. So, that could be a ninth grader. And would you take into consideration families? So, if more one or more students are either attending right you know, cuz I could see that be a family issue. Mhm. It's a really good question, Michelle. If there are if there are a family of students, again, our priority really is those students that we have lost. Um they would They are our first priority. So, to make sure that we have those
018students available. Uh in our conversations, um Mr. DeYoung and I have really said this can't be a net loss for Rye High School, right? This has to be a net gain in the end. Uh where we are taking our current brick-and-mortar students and then enrolling them in an online. We want our brick-and-mortar students to stay connected to us, but we don't want to lose our other students to other online programs if we can offer them something that's still rigorous, that's still connected to our community, and still well supported. And so, oh, go ahead. No. What would it look like after year once you said pilot year is 20 students, would you be looking to I mean, how big are you willing to let it get to not affect your current um student base at So,
019we are working with the CDE Office of Online Schools and Programs, and the max capacity for any online flexible learning program that's connected to a brick-and-mortar school is 100. So, if you hit 100 students, you actually have to apply the district has to apply for another school code. We have to hire a principal, and that becomes its own school. So, at all times, it would have to stay below 100 if it's going to stay connected to a brick-and-mortar school. Would you be willing to let it get I mean, get that high? That affect your school? If we could if we could get to a if we could if we could bring 100 students back to District 70, that would put us over what we were in '22-'23 when we were at 260 at Rye. So,
020as long as it's not continuing to take students from the school, if it's new kids coming in, you're welcoming them in. Okay. >> New kids or kids who've left us. Sure. Um and then just one more question, when the weekly check-ins with Is that with a teacher? Okay, so what does that look like? What's the burden on the teacher there and how are they is there what's the metric for those check-ins? Is there >> Yeah, so we have we've outlined what a process of a check-in will look like. So, the check-in will number one ensure attendance, right? So, that that attendance and we report attendance to the state. So, we have to report attendance to the state to ensure that we are meeting the state's requirements. But, that check-in will check that attendance, will check
021course progress and so that check-in will go, you know, are you hitting all of your courses in your English, are your math, are you making progress through each of them? What's your plan? And so that so that we know that the student is progressing appropriately. Um the teacher who is going to be doing the check-ins for us currently has a light caseload. He's a CTE teacher and and doesn't have a full caseload. So, he is the one who volunteered to uh to do some of that support. All right, thank you. Mhm. And when you say I can't remember, did you say this already? Will the students have to physically come into the school to check in or is it just online? Virtual check-ins. Yep, through Zoom. The one time the students will have to come
022in will be during testing, state testing. So, for juniors, of course it'll be for that science C mass and that SAT and then uh PSAT for 9 and 10. And you mentioned some of the extracurricular Mhm. um activities available to the students. What um what about academic um classes? Is there any kind of hybrid option? If there was a class that that they felt would they would be better benefited by being in a classroom, would they have access to just pick and choose the classes or would it be strictly online except for extracurricular? >> The way it's set up right now, it's set up to be an uh a purely online program. But, if we had a a class that was available to a student, we potentially could have them come in. We haven't had
023specific discussions about that, but we certainly wouldn't want to limit them. If that's the key that brings our students back in our brick-and-mortar buildings, then we would be open to having those kids back in our building. >> Okay. And you've also mentioned um reclaiming students that had left to do other online programs. >> know that we have lost students to homeschooling. Um would it be open to home you know, current home school students as well or would you really be limiting it to those that are in online school? If a student has unenrolled for a home school program, they've unenrolled from District 70 completely. So, we'd really be looking at students who are currently enrolled in an in an online program to bring them back to ours. Okay. So, if they were home school, they
024could potentially re-enroll in District 70. Mhm. So, if they were enrolled in District 70, they could potentially take those courses. And you asked about, you know, how big would we be willing to let this get? >> Mhm. Not so big that it wasn't done with fidelity. So, I think that's the most key important piece is that it is done with fidelity because if it's not, then then that makes us not set apart from other online programming that we're trying to not have our kids go into. The biggest piece for us really is that connection to community, connection to a school teacher, connection to a school counselor, connection to the principal. There's always that connection so that they they are able to progress and as Ms. Ryan said, separates us from all of the other online
025programs. Especially in a small community like Rye. The school is so central to the entire community. So, yeah. Any other questions? Thank you for your time, ladies and gentlemen of the board. I appreciate it. Next item discussion on possible CASB training and work session. Michelle. All right, thank you. Um So, to begin, um I just want to share that I really enjoyed reading the Federalist Papers. I did. You did. Um Alexander Hance Alexander Hamilton especially um his writing is very clear. And one of the things he talks about Well, there are 85 essays. But, in Federalist 70, he talks specifically about the need for a unitary executive, a president that can act swiftly and do what is necessary on behalf of our country. Think about, you know, but as far as the legislature is concerned
026or a policy-making body, a people making policy, he talks a lot about or he mentions in the document being slow and deliberate. And and and really looking at all aspects of policy before implementation. So, with that being said, I had uh written to Anne and uh requesting the opportunity to complete our CASB training. We had CASB training back in January. We had a half day and we have a half day um available to us. And so I asked for CASB training. And when I asked um about how to you know, the process, it was mentioned that we should let CASB know what we're interested in um addressing. And I asked about policy making. Um when I look around at districts across the state and country and how long it should take to make policy, it's
027not something we do quickly. And when I say that, we have policy in place that we might revise, that we might amend, but that's different than like if I wanted to pursue policy, um I want to know that I'm going through this the proper procedure. And by no means, like I mean I just like I want this for myself and I want it I was requesting it because CASB said, "What would you like to know more about?" or this is what we were returning to CASB. So, so the policy process includes research, drafting of a preliminary uh policy proposal, reviewing the policy with concerned groups. So, inviting people in and I know when I'm looking across school districts, they often have they call them research sessions, they call them work sessions, they call them various
028things. But, I like that idea. I like initially hearing from the stakeholders um regarding development of policy, whether it be like I and I can give you a couple of examples here in a second. But, uh presenting new and revised policy to the board for consideration and action. Um looking at like talking to administration and all stakeholders within the district. Like how would this look? For example, I'm going to use one. When I started teaching, nobody had a cell phone. And the first thing that students came into my classroom with was a beeper. And a beeper. I was like, "What is that?" Like I couldn't afford a beeper. So, I didn't know what a beeper I know, crazy, right? So, these kids had these beepers on their hips and I was like, "Well, what is
029that? And like who's beeping you?" Um I don't even know if that's the correct terminology, but it's what I asked. So, um anyway, of course today um you know, I think about cell phone policy. It's something that the state has mandated that we update. And when we're looking at that, you know, everybody involved from our superintendent to our administrative team to our teachers and every single educator in every building that has to do something with cell phones, like how are they going to make this happen? Right? Like what will it look like? How will we make sure that we're supportive as a board in making policy that is that we can enforce because really it's the the staff and everybody else that's going to have to make sure it happens. So, I'm just asking and
030I mean this is my I I like this is something I would like to work on, but surely like the other four board members probably have other questions they have about whether it be policy or governance or anything else, but I would just really like CASB training. I think it's very valuable. I think it uh creates a team. So, that is my request that we pursue CASB training. We like I said, we have have a half day coming to us and I would like to talk about um and I listed and I believe it's available to everybody, but I listed policies that I would like to address uh BG BGA BGB and it does go through the policy-making process. So, I just want more guidance and you know, like what is our timeline and you
031know, how do we make sure we're engaging with all the right people? That's number one. And then my second request was um that we have a strategic um work session or a strategic plan work session, I should say, or retreat, however we'd like to look at as board. I think this would be up to us. I just want you know, we're we want to be transparent. It's our responsibility. But, um with this work session, um our district just went through a like a lengthy process in creating a strategic plan um looking at like asking stakeholders, teachers, students, community members, "What's your priority?" And I think this is an ideal time for the board then to meet and we've also answered the the survey and and come together and and create a mission goals for ourselves
032and work with our superintendent to do that. And so, I just want time with the board and I want to address these issues. So, I think >> that's a good suggestion cuz we've talked about trying to figure out if we can, you know, get common goals and what the goals for the district should be and kind of digesting some of There was a lot of information given in that in the statistics they gave with the the community involvement. And so, I do think that would be great to, you know, start breaking some of that down and come up with you know, some of the goals that that we would like as a board to see our district go through. So, I think that's a great idea. Me, too. To be fair, that honestly gives the
033superintendent direction. Uh and it helps the superintendent know what your goals are and the district's goals are so that they have um a plan in place to move forward. And so, I mean or whomever is the next superintendent, it would be great to have some goals in place so that they have something to work towards. Yeah, one of the things I like about that part of it especially is I think if we had priorities or pillars or whatever you want to call them that we agree on, it gives us a filter through which to evaluate everything that comes across our desk. So, if something comes across and it doesn't fall under one of our our pillars, one of our priorities, we can go this isn't our priority. You know, we all do that all the
034time in our daily lives. And so, I think that could be really helpful to help focus our energy into the things that we really care about instead of responding to things constantly. Yeah. Yeah. I I forgot to mention I also listed in my list of of policies. I just, you know, I mean, as far as students go, just knowing what our like I said, I mean, I started out with beepers and I ended with handheld phones that are really little like they're computers really. And so, you know, just making sure that like we're familiar with our policies and we can talk to each other about it and that's why I think work sessions and study sessions as a board are just really helpful because then I mean, that's a way to address um keeping things
035relevant, keeping things like it like in keeping things current. I should say current. So, So, I think for me one of the challenges is um you and I have talked about just the time investment. It's not just these twice a twice a month meetings. It is really a significant time investment in trying to run my business and trying to do other things. I wonder, I'm just throwing this out there. It might not even be feasible and maybe other people can weigh in. But I was just wondering as we go into the summer months um if there's less business kind of regular board business, maybe we could do a regular meeting on one of our monthly meetings and then just give our second meeting to work, to do the research, to to have the work session,
036have a study session, whatever, you know, whatever we want to do so that it's um just to kind of balance the time a little bit. If we need the the two work the two regular meetings a month, then that's one thing. But maybe it would be possible just through the summer when school's not in session to kind of table one of our monthly meetings and make that a work session. >> So, can I can I speak to that? >> Yeah. Please do. Cuz I would like to speak to that. It's not really feasible to table one of those meetings because we're conducting business. And I And I know that we may not speak a lot about the consent agenda, but the consent agenda is where all the meat and potatoes are. It's where everybody is
037being hired or and people are the turnover happens and the resignations and the everything happens in that consent agenda. So, it's it's super important for us to have those meetings because we don't post positions, especially for like a non-renewal, until you voted. And so, we need you to vote. So, my suggestion would be that we don't always have an executive session. You could potentially start it early and do a few hours before the executive session, but the actual 6:00 meeting really has to happen so that we can conduct business. I'm sorry. I appreciate that. Well, that was kind of why I posed the question because I didn't know how much of that business It drives everything we do. >> know going through the summer how much of that A lot. Yeah, okay. It's a lot.
038Yeah. Just because kids aren't here doesn't mean we're That's really a huge time where we're hiring people. And and we have 12-month employees throughout the district. So, we we do a lot of business during the summer time. Okay. That executive session time we're talking about. Right, the executive session or even a couple hours before the executive session so that it would run into that would be a great time for a work session or for a training. Yeah, that's my suggestion. And I I think that as far as the our working our strategic plan, if you will, our adopting a our own priority Yeah, priorities. But I I think our mission, our you know, looking at the district's mission, looking at how we are going to um evaluate super our superintendent and and move, you know,
039cuz I I mean, contractually superintendent's contract is from July 1 to July 1 or June 30th. And so, I just want to make sure like because we are setting precedent, we're a new board, that we do this with the calendar in mind so that we're always with the calendar in mind. And that's something like when you when you're evaluating policy, I agree with you, Ann, that sometimes I mean, I know I've set goals I have set goals my whole entire like all of my career. And sometimes I set a goal and I'm like, "Oh, wow, you know, that's that that's a lot like that's a multiple year goal. So, how am I going to how am I going to show my growth this year?" And I would want to be fair to the superintendent and
040and make sure that we're giving them clear, measurable goals that we're wanting to achieve that they can be in line with. And that's part of it. So, my ultimate objective would be to do something sooner than later, but could we do I mean, I I'm not sure if we're I don't know that we're voting on this now, but like a June session with CASB and then the next couple of sessions, if we don't have executive, let's start working on that, dissecting that. Um I would have to work with CASB to see what they have available. We don't really get to pick their dates. But I'm I'm happy to reach out and see what they have available. And in my mind, I always thought Fridays as being a day available to myself. Um but the reality
041is we could do CASB training any day. And we could do it on a Tuesday, right? We could actually do it on a Tuesday because we're already here on Tuesday and or something like that because if it's 4 hours. I don't I mean, I don't I don't feel like we should I mean, maybe that's part of this discussion. It's when are we available? You know. I I like the idea before the meetings. Even just cuz my whole afternoon is shot pretty much on a Tuesday anyway. So, if I can plan that, that's that's better than taking a Friday off. So, Yeah. All right. I like that idea. We could I wonder if we planned it on if there's nothing in executive session, if we just plan on having like almost like a standing work session
042at that time. And then if we do have something in executive session, that could come up. You just have to make sure we post Yeah. I would need items that would be discussed on the work session >> Right. But we would know by that night if we're going to have an actual executive session or, you know, what our work session would be. So, I need to know. I try to have the meeting finalized on Thursday. I know that I make a lot of changes over the weekend sometimes, but I do try to have it finalized the Thursday before the board meeting. >> Right. And we usually do know if we have an executive session by that Thursday. Right. So, if you knew by that Thursday, you could say, "Hey, let's do it." time frame. But
043yeah, just so I would have that information. Yeah. Okay. So, we could say like if we don't have an executive session by Thursday, then we can say, "Hey, these are one of the topics." and just have a list of topics and say, "Okay, let's mark this one off. Let's let's start going through this one." Am I understanding correctly that you are saying that Tuesday afternoons are tough anyway, so if we said we were going to have a work session from 3 to 5 and then a an executive session if necessary at 5 You know, I mean, like I think depending I mean, I think we have some room here because our work session is up to us. I mean, we can have it any day of the week really. >> Right. I mean, my my
044point is though is utilizing that time cuz when I mark off like I mark it off if we're going to have an executive session or not. Okay. You don't have to have an executive session before your [cough] regular board meeting either. So, you could always have your standing work session. And then if an executive session was necessary, you could also always have it after your board meeting. >> [clears throat] >> Yes. Just as an option. Yeah. Yeah, so basically what we're saying is let's just set the expectation that we'll meet earlier on Tuesdays and either have a work session or have our executive session and just kind of set that expectation. Obviously, it's fluid and it's flexible. We're not setting anything in stone, but at least I like that idea. Yeah. Me, too. And I
045think it would be helpful if we're going to have a work session to have presenters present to us the data again because it was very fast. So, like the data collected from the community and then what we were sent from teachers and students. Just I mean, they don't have to be in the same session. I they could be, but just to to revisit that because >> always pull it up, too, though on the PowerPoint. We can Yeah, just kind of dissect it. Okay. Any further discussion? All right. So, 7.06 presentation of the adoption of policy JBA preserving fairness and safety in sports. So, last meeting um, we kind of had a brief discussion about exploring a policy, um, regarding fairness in sports. Um, Brad Miller had mentioned at that meeting that he had some experience
046in that realm, and so he did provide us with a a sample. Um, all of the board received that earlier this week. So, I guess before I jump in, I'll open it up for comments, uh, surrounding Brad's Brad's suggested document. I guess my question was it's a sample. So, is this I mean, it's a sample. This is what other From From what I my research, it looks like eight not school districts, but eight different some school districts, some BOCES have a have adopted this. But, there are 171 other school districts in the state that haven't. I'm just curious And first of all, is this the policy that was adopted by the eight? That's my first question, I guess. So, if I may. Yeah, please. Yeah. So, Brad Miller speaking. Um, I represent a couple of
047the districts. Um, District 49 is the named party in a in a lawsuit that emanated out of this, um, adoption of this policy. Um, the others are District 20, District 11, Cortez, a couple of charter schools, and and as you, um, mentioned, a BOCES. Um, and what happened was a year ago, February, the federal government expressed its attitude through what what's called an executive order February of last year that declared that the perspective of the Office of Civil Rights would be, and Title IX would be that, um, boys should not compete as girls in girls sports. And so, that group of districts got together and adopted this policy. This is a template from that. It was designed particularly for to narrowly address the issue of sports. So, it's not about gender expression, gender identity in
048a in a broader sense. It is specifically around safety and equity in sports with the notion not being about about gender, but about being the physical disparities that are inherent in in students, um, based on how they're born. And so, that is consistent with the federal government's approach. These policies were adopted. There's been a lawsuit, and the Colorado High School Activities Association has conceded that those policies are acceptable from its perspective, that they're enforceable, and, uh, won't be challenged by CHSAA. And so, that's one step forward in this. Now, I know that our our administration's already explored. We've had conversations around the vi- viability of doing that here in Pueblo. Um, I've always respected that you guys have been suitably cautious and thoughtful. Michelle, I love what you were talking about just in terms of
049policy. And and so, I didn't even present this, you know, even though I was counsel for some of the others, I didn't present this as something that D70 should have done last year. But, at this point now that CHSAA has done this, and now the federal government has reached more significantly into the state and challenged Jefferson County High Sch- school district with violating its approach to boys and girls sports with a threat of revoking federal funds. And so, now this becomes a little bit more pertinent to us to consider. There's risk both sides. Um, I have no interest in us hustling into something here. If you were to go in this direction, my recommendation would be that we work really hand in glove with ADE and and and and all that's because the related regulations,
050the application [clears throat] of a policy is really really critical, and it needs to be done carefully and thoughtfully. I over-answered your question, but I thought I'd throw it all out there. Can I ask a question about, uh, how would the ballot measure that is going to be on the November ballot, um, >> [clears throat] >> support this policy? Right. Um, Yeah, they're totally different. So, two related things. There's a case out of Idaho and one out of West Virginia. They're in column red states, but Republican-dominated legislatures who have adopted policies that co- that are coordinated with the federal government's current understanding, you know, that they're, um, that boys should not compete as girls in girls sports. They were challenged by athletes who thought that that was discriminatory against them and because of their gender
051identity. Those courts Those cases are at the Supreme Court and may be resolved in a certain way. So, that's one piece of this. And then, to Rhonda's very excellent point, a group of citizens put together ballots or or petition drives and got on the ballot a couple of questions that would relate specifically to this. And so, the question might be answered for us in November. Brad, can with the latest up in Jefferson County and the previous one, I think, in Colorado involved DPS, correct, last year? As far as the federal Yes. government coming in saying you violated this federal law, Title IX. Well, That's those stem from, like, either complaints that are filed at that level, or how is How is the federal government Do you know how that's exactly coming down from them as
052far as how they're identifying who they're looking at and who's violating what? I'm a lawyer, but I'm not a constitutional, you know, focused, um, person. So, I'm going to be a little bit glib around this. I don't know about DPS. In Jefferson County, what I know is that this was initiated by the Department of Education and and the DOJ supported the Department of Justice supported an inquiry. It was supported locally people that had concerns, but it wasn't based on a case. It was based on concerns. So, So, just cuz I thought this through thoroughly, can I ask a few more questions? Um, while I understand that this policy would not be challenged by CHSAA, would it not be challenged by state law? And, uh, us Would it not be a violation of state law because
053I feel like we're in a no-win situation. We can't win either either way. Um, what are the What are the liabilities of adopting the policy? Because it is somewhat in conflict with state law. Well, it is very much in conflict with state law. That's I would like Brad to speak to that, but from my point of view, I think they're either, um, Yeah, which one is the Which How do you mitigate the >> and federal law? You know, they're they're in opposition, and so, Right. >> Also, I I think I've been characterized or, you know, I've I've got this identity that I'm I'm all on on one side of the coin, and it it to some degree that's fair. But, I think there's both sides of this. There's the There's a question of whether, um,
054you have a parent of a young lady who's on the volleyball team who gets hit in the head and and says, "Why didn't you protect me? Why didn't you give me safety and security? Why was my daughter exposed in the locker room or on a bus and, you know, touched inappropriately on a bus by someone who, you know, who identified but isn't actually of the same, um, sex as that person?" So, there's that realm of cases that are possible even under our current state law. And then, there's certainly the ones on the other side that you violated, uh, House Bill 1132 and all the 1108 and all the things that have to do with protection of gender identity and expression, and those are real. I can't I can't help you escape that. We've talked as
055a board about whether that state law extends to, um, parental rights. And And some districts will say parents don't get to know this. I think your district in a great way says, you know, "We're going to inform and and get their, um, consent before we allow students to to identify or, you know, express that identity differently." So, good on you on that respect. But, there's still potential both ways. I think the question is timing. You know, Rhonda has brought this up, and I completely get it. Could we wait and see what happens in the fall because that could be transformative in terms of law? Do we, um, do we take, you know, you know, some steps and as Michelle said, you know, like, let's engage and see what our community says? I mean, there's a
056lot of good approaches to this. But, I would say that at at the end of the day, my view, it's ultimately safer to be on the side of call it traditional approaches, but I think that's where where the trends are all going at this point for the purpose of sports because of physical disparities, not because of gender identity, but because of the way people are built physically and the the equitable outcomes for students that want to get scholarships and win races and so forth. Okay. I mean, I think I've said from the get-go that I don't I don't disagree with protecting students on either side. I I'm just apprehensive at breaking the law. And so, how do we How do we do both? Especially when there's two laws and they both say something different. >>
057Yeah, how do we do both? And And do we I want all of our kids to be protected, and I not just the girls playing sports, uh, but all kids to be protected. And so, how How do you balance that? And that's a tough question. It did sound Correct me if I'm wrong, but did sound like some of it is a case-by-case basis as well that you could make determinations on. Is that like our current policy or is that just kind of a guideline that we It's I'll circle back to what I said at the beginning, which is the rule making around this is really consequential. What kind of How are we identifying, you know, physicality? You know, what are our you know, are we relying on the and say this is how she was
058born? Do we do we just trust that? Do we have to verify that? How do we verify that? All those kinds of questions are really, really prickly. I have another question, too. Does this apply Does it extend to activities? Is it just athletics? Because you have you have ROTC, you have I mean, there it's kind of a a gray line there. You have ROTC, you have theater, you have um speech and debate, you have a lot of things that are activities that um potentially cross that line, too. And so does it >> They probably don't have the physical contact, though, in the same >> But they would have changing. So ROTC changes into uniforms, and so uh you know, band changes into uniforms. So there it does cross that line. I would say just from
059a legal standpoint, I don't think so. I think this falls under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, which it's it's it's more about the physical like can you hit a volleyball harder than I can? Will hurt me if I get if I'm the recipient of it? It's that stuff and and the disparity in terms of opportunity to you know, to be on the podium. And and that's what it is where that might not be the case in band. It's like you may not be be able to answer. So you you represent two districts that do have this policy in place. How are they How are they like Lana talked about like the changing rooms. So during the school day, you may have somebody entering a locker room during PE or and they're in
060one locker room, but then sports it shifts over where you are now going to a different locker room based on the policy around the fairness in sports. Has there been any challenges that your district have like did they face in regards to that and why are you why this and you put in this, but then you have it in here, but just wondering how that For those of us that have been around the block and we used to be in like this group shower setting, you know, in PE and all of that, things are different now. We have a lot more privacy and and intimate I mean, spaces where you can have privacy. And so that's a big part of what we do with District 20 and District 49 who I represent. We we just
061you know, we just give a lot of discretion and and privacy. But um but then we have the question of like riding on the bus or, you know, going on the trip and and playing on the Western Slope and then you stay overnight and how do you deal with that? And and we have we've explicitly said no on on those questions. So and knock on wood, we haven't been challenged there, but as Lana has correctly said, there's all sorts of risk both ways. I think this is an important topic um for a lot of reasons, but a lot of reasons we've discussed, but also we spend a lot of time thinking and talking about student retention. And I know because of my background that we are losing students to home school over these kinds of
062issues. I know cuz I lived in that world for a really long time. And so, you know, I don't think that should be our primary concern, but I do think that it's a factor that we need to acknowledge, at least recognize that that it does exist, that there is a retention issue. Um and parents are concerned about this this issue. Um so um so it sounds like if we wanted to move forward, um it may maybe a work session would be good. Um it sounds like to me like there's two issues. It's one, deciding what kind of policy we want to have, but then passing a policy is not the same as being able to implement a policy. So we would really need to give a lot of thought and care to the implementation and
063what that looks like. It sounds like to me, Brad, that's what you're saying. >> We we took about um took about three months to do both the policy and regulation in District 49, which was the first adopter of this. And um so a starting point, if anything, would be to I I suspect it's in your board docs that the draft policy, and if it's not, certainly you know, to elevate that and let people take a look and and you want to have public comment on it and new sorts of things. So something like that, but uh at the same time, I think you don't just want the lawyer telling you what's sort of For sure. >> options. You need a practical practical inputs, too. I think so. I think it would be good to to
064hear from your community, too, where your community stands and I mean, when when we say our constituents want this, we should have data to prove that. And so it would be good to survey our our constituents and and see where they stand on this so that we do have better data to support a policy that is going to be uh if if we're going to adopt a policy before state law supports it, it would make a lot of sense to me to have data to support that. And then also your state law, I'm I'm very I think our state law will be very telling as well. Um It's November. Yeah, I mean, that vote will obviously tell you across the state where our where our constituents stand, not just not just in this county, but
065I I do think that you should potentially look at surveying your community, too, to see where they stand on this so that you have the data to support or not support the policy. I think we need to have a little more of the specifics that we're going to include in the policy before we start asking >> Yes, I agree. I just think that it's something like you don't want to, you know, next meeting adopt this policy because it's it would be very difficult to implement without knowing how we're going to implement it. I'm sorry. Wanted to respond to one other thing that Michelle brought up at the outset. Uh it's not just the aid at this point. There's several several I've you because I've been visibly involved, I'm aware of non-client districts and >> [snorts]
066>> and other schools that are moving rapidly in this direction as well based on the CHSAA outcome. So we you would not be sort of the next in line. There's others in involved in this discussion, too. And as stated, I was just trying to I mean, I think in implementing pursuing new policy, we have to do our due diligence to make sure that whether it's parents, staff, the community as a whole, like reaching out to them. I know not everybody reaches back. I know how this works. Um you know, but if we can get interested people to come and work with us, then we can say we've done our due diligence. And that's for all policy moving forward. And I think we're you know, we're doing this right. I mean, we're talking about it. And
067I I just think that's and looking at this, that's what we, you know, it it and it is time, but we I think our previous conversation about our time and on Tuesdays having work sessions on occasion and inviting people to be present. We're going to be talking about this, come and listen, and then they can make comments about it is really helpful in engaging people interested, impacted on all policy moving forward. Yeah. Yeah, I think having these conversations now is a win-win because if our hand is forced in November anyway, why not be ready to implement so that we are not then in violation of anything and then putting our district at risk of a, you know, some other legal action against us. So I would say this is a great time to start so
068that if we do adopt early, fine. If we decide to wait until the November ballot, fine. But either way, we've done we've done the groundwork. So we should absolutely start having this discussion now and bringing in all those that would uh be needed to implement the policy should it happen. As opposed to waiting and starting in November. >> Right. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, kind of behind the eight ball. Yeah. Um so, Brad, assuming in November, depending on what happens um with the ballot, it's it's possible that Colorado could still be at odds with the federal government. It might not resolve anything, really. We just don't know, but that is a potential outcome that we're in the same boat that we're in now. Do they have what's going to be on the ballot in
069the Yeah, I sent it to you guys. Okay, okay. I sent a link that that tells you. >> I'll put it on the other part. Sorry. Lana, I I think it's completely plausible that that ballot measure doesn't pass. Yeah. And so in that case, um what what are you relying on there? I think it has to do with, you know, values and community interests and then it has to do with the fact that uh CHSAA has already acquiesced to this and so you've got at least that state body that is non in non-opposition minimally on this. So, there are a couple of safe havens. And the Supreme Court I would predict, as much as I would predict that the ballot measure might not pass, I would predict that in the Supreme Court that it probably
070will go the way of more traditional values on this one. And so, that will pave some ways. And then, the the case frankly that is involved with CHASA could move up and then that case could be resolved um in some way as well. Yeah. So, there's a lot of um litigation and and ballot measures that we just don't know the outcomes that we have to do our best to navigate. [laughter] It's almost like we're standing in a minefield, you know, and any way we step there's a risk involved. But, I do think it's prudent to begin to educate ourselves, begin to talk about it, begin to talk to the community um and move forward. along those lines. So, Any further discussion? Okay, it looks like you want to talk. >> Well, I was just going
071to say, so this is one of the things we could add to our work session and start working on what the details would include and Yeah. what specifics. Yeah. I saw one example they had like a chart of, you know, all the comparisons, all the sports and activities. Maybe that's where we throw something like ROTC in there and say, "Okay, this one is you know, this specific, you know, boys, girls, other, you know, as far as co-ed, some of that too. >> Yeah, I think I think you're going to hear a lot from your public too wondering about how how is it that we let girls in play football. like football or, you know, what happens whenever somebody wants to play soccer. I I mean, it's going to it it opens up a lot of
072questions. So, we just need to be very specific and methodical about how you're going to implement if you were going to develop it. Yeah. Yeah, the implementation is really the a key a key part there. Okay, so moving on to open forum, do we have uh >> [snorts] >> public comments? >> I have one. Okay. Brian Nelson, may I have my minute please? I'm hoping the timer pops up this time. I'll try to get it on there [laughter] also tonight. It's really small. So, thank you so much for allowing me the time to speak. I've done this before and some of you are familiar with what I come to say. And part of it is to pump you up because I am here as a supporter of District 70 and always have been and always
073will be because the kids matter. And so, being a pastor, I I cannot come before you and not use some scripture. But, and let us not be weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. That was a a letter from the Apostle Paul to a church in Galatia and I think he writes it to all of us. We should not give up trying to do good. And that is what happens around here. And I'm going to tell you right now, it does my heart good when I hear the board say, "I was in this school. I experienced this this award ceremony. I was at this place. I saw these kids doing this." Do more of that. Keep getting out. Keep getting into the schools. It matters.
074It really does. I can tell you that there may be times when a a administration in the school sees you walk in the door, they may not be thrilled and I get that. Uh because I know what it means to feel like you're under the microscope and and that's fine. But, when you guys show up to be a part of it and to be encouraging, which is what I think the majority of you do the majority of the time, keep doing that. Keep doing that and I'm going to keep encouraging you. I was a part of something called the National Church Adopt-a-School Initiative not too long ago, which is something that was started in Dallas and I would encourage you to pursue something very similar, not just with churches, but with all civic organizations. Encouraging
075people to be hands-on with our schools, with our kids in in a place where we can provide labor, we can provide encouragement, we can provide support. Uh schools have gotten to a place where they have started to, well, kind of cloister. I've kind of started to shut things down and and keep the public out and I get that. There's a safety thing there. And and that's important. We need to keep that in place. But, I do want to to encourage you to be more open and inviting to volunteers in your schools, in our schools. Uh because it really does make a difference. It does matter. Quite honestly, it's money saving. And it also lifts up the encouragement of of the school staff. Now, I'm losing my time. I am the first one to to jump
076into this survey to let you know about girls and boys sports and boys and girls sports. One of them is a problem, the other one not so much. But, here's the thing. 61 boys are playing girls sports in Jeffco schools, which is why there's an issue up there. Proposition 109 says boys can play and boys sports, girls play and girls sports. That's the way it's supposed to be. Title IX was set up that way. And there really shouldn't be much of a question here. And here's what I want to encourage you to consider. You've got the summer. I encourage you to have, whether we're talking November or not, to have your policy in place by the start of the school year. It will make all the difference for the kids showing up to play sports.
077Thanks. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Brian. Okay, moving on to action items. Um approval of interim superintendent appointment. So, we have discussed um what to do about the superintendent vacancy. We discussed maybe appointing an interim superintendent. So, do I have a motion for a specific um nominee for that position? I'd like to start. Okay, AJ, here you go. All right. So, I just wanted to kind of go through the past few years on what the district, what the admin has accomplished. Cuz I think a lot of times we lose track of that. So, these are a few things is over the last few years we completed the bond. And even on top of that, we actually upgraded buildings that weren't included in the bond and came up with money for those with different
078bond grant without the bond because of different grants. Uh the best grant was one of those and we were able to receive that. We repaired steps for teachers and staff and also increased wages. And on top of that, we doubled the fund balance all while all while staying under budget. That's that's an awesome accomplishment right there. Um we also eliminated multiple 140 contracts to reduce expenses and also maintain function within the district. That was something as I was running that a lot of people had concerns over. And that was a a way that we were also able to kind of bring some of those costs down and open it up new um opportunity for others to kind of come forward and shine in positions that were either related or absolving some of those positions as
079well. There is actually for the first time in the district uh technology plan so that we will no longer have to take out loans for buying technology for the district or for the schools and students. But, there's actually a plan in place to prevent having to take out a loan. And that's the first time that's ever happened in the district. We are also now gaining interest on the money that we have to have in in the bank because of policy. And it's over a million dollars a year. And that is because of utilizing interest from other banks as well. So, that's quite an accomplishment. And then, we were also able to get our zoning changed. So, instead of being urban, we were able to get town fringe. That's something that a lot of people have
080pushed for. Well, we're not urban, we're not rural. So, how can we be classified as one versus the other? And because of a lot of push specifically from our district they have actually come up with a new category of town fringe, at least for the current time being. And that has actually helped with our funding as well. So, all this to say, we've had a lot of accomplishments over the first over the last few years. And I think a lot of that is in part to Rhonda and Bob and the admin that they have created, the team around. And with that being said, I would like to nominate Bob as the interim superintendent so that way we can continue these successes and continue this trajectory in in what has started going because I know these
081guys have more goals in mind. Okay. And just um to clarify that uh we would be nominating as an interim superintendent and then we would enter a hiring process um and of course, if we appoint him as the interim, he would be welcome to apply for that for the the permanent position. So, do I have a second? Second. Okay. AJ Wilson? Yes. Ken Bennett? Yes. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susie Karns? Yes. Motion carried. ALL RIGHT. >> [applause] >> SPEAK. [applause] I GUESS I'LL DO THE CLOSING. I'M GOOD. >> WELL, UM DR. WILSON, thank you for those um comments and you know, I have to say uh you know, Ronda has been a uh steadfast um leader these last years and I I'm thankful for her uh entrusting me to be alongside of her as the assistant
082superintendent. Uh I I think um we have done a lot of great things and she's been a great leader. And so uh I thank her for that, for trusting me to be along for the ride and then also for showing um you know, the uh support that uh and advocating for some stability as we go through this change and advocating uh for myself to to to lead this effort. And so I I thank her for that. I I I thank the board for for trusting uh in me to lead us during this transition. I I don't know what the long-term will be like none of us do, but I I will tell you this um it's my 26th year in the district, finishing 30 years in education. Um Started as a teacher here, left for
083a few years to get into administration at at Florence High School, then came back to to resume my education or my career here as a administrator, an assistant principal, a principal, assistant director, director, assistant superintendent. So I I will promise you this, I will continue to work with a great team to utilize all of their strengths uh to move us forward during this transition and I I'll tackle this interim position just like I have with any other position. Give it my all and make the best decisions we possibly can for our students, staff, and community. So thank you. And I Do you Do you want to say one more thing? My My wife uh did decide to come out tonight and she said, "Well, what's going on?" I said, "Well, you're going to come out
084and find out cuz not quite sure yet myself, but um as administrators, we can't do the job that that we do without the support of our our family. And my kids are grown now and they're out of the house, but they certainly gave up a lot as as I moved on in my administrative career. And and and my wife has supported me and I do frustrate her at times and she does get frustrated. And I'll take phone calls and we sometimes joke cuz she'll say, "You know, you're you're like a secret service agent when you get a work phone call. Like it's like you're talking to the president or the world leaders. You're walking around outside or you're going in another room." And so it's it's always a joke, but truly she's she's supported me.
085So I I do want to thank her and cuz I couldn't do it without her. SO, THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> YOU'RE UP AGAIN, BOB. CONGRATULATIONS, BOB. Moving on item 9.02 Approval of the ESS social worker job description. >> up there. I'll do Yeah. Here we are. Yes, it'd be my recommendation to approve the job description as presented. All right. Do I have a motion? So moved. I'll second. Sorry. AJ Wilson? Yes. Ann Bennett? I'm going to vote no. I would rather see resources directed to teachers. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susie Kearns? Um I'm going to say yes on this one. Yes. Motion carried. All right. Um item number 10, consent agenda. Approval of consent agenda items. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented having been reviewed by the board? So
086moved. Second? >> [laughter] >> AJ Wilson? Yes. Ann Bennett? Yes. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susie Kearns? Yes. Motion carried. All right. Um item 11, the next uh board meeting is scheduled Tuesday, May 5th, 2026 at the Educational Service Center 24951 East Highway 50, Pueblo, Colorado beginning at 6:00 p.m. Do I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? So moved. Second. AJ Wilson? Yes. Ann Bennett? Yes. Michelle Erickson? Yes. Susie Kearns? Yes. Motion carried. 7:19 p.m. It's a record. Yes. [laughter]