Regular - Board of Education Meeting 01/27/2026

001Meeting is called to order. The time is 6:00 p.m. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> I would like to welcome all of our visitors this evening. Um, first item is 3.03, 3 approve the regular board meeting. Um, may I have a motion to approve the agenda as presented? >> A second. >> It's going to be >> and minute >> I >> Mark Emry. >> Yes. >> Michelle Ericson. >> I >> AJ Wilson. >> Motion carried. >> Moving on to gifts. Um, item 4.01. I'd like to invite Sandy Gibbs to the podium to present a gift to Vineland Middle School. >> I don't

002see Sandy here. So, I'll donation of a $2,000 uh gift from the Southside lawn to Vinland Middle School. Don't ask me any questions. [laughter] >> Okay. Very good. Well, thank you. [applause] [clears throat] >> By the way, Mrs. Ms. Ryan, in that regard, there's two things I've always appreciated. No offense to Sandy because I love Sandy, but the fact that uh they come with the donations. Secondly, field trip requests, out of state requests, those are really important and it's nice to see the people asking questions. It is fun, huh? Okay, so then item 4.02, I would like to invite Ashley Chain to the podium. get so nervous talking. Um, hi there. My name is Ashley Tmaine. I have not met some of you yet. So, I am the FFA, CTE, and Science teacher at Craraver

003Middle School. Um, last year I received a $75,000 grant from the Colorado Garden Foundation to build a greenhouse at our school. and Little Diggers Construction was actually the um company that came and helped us pre-bid some of like the excavation items and whatnot. He was so helpful and once we started building it, we realized that that was a lot of the cost and the district actually came and did all of our excavation for us. So, we got to save on those costs. However, Little Diggers did not get the job. He was so fantastic, so supportive, and he even this year has given us a donation so that we can buy the materials that go into the greenhouse. So, we'll be using that money for like pots and soil and other items to start our spring

004baskets. So, very thankful, very helpful from the community. >> Actually, who owns little diggers? >> Oh my goodness. >> You know, >> it is Do you know? >> It's okay if you don't. I just >> I It's It's listed on the thing. I just can't open it right now. Sorry. Yeah, I'm drawing a blank. But >> that's great. Ashley did a great job um securing that grant. I'm super excited about it. >> Very exciting for >> Do you welcome visitors? >> Do I welcome visitors? >> Is that our board members? >> Anytime, every time. >> Yes. Matt Dennis. Matt Dennis. Thank you. Like that was a >> Yes. But I hope that we can have something when we're we're done with it. It should be within the next couple of weeks. >> Awesome. >> So

005>> Oh, that close. >> Yep. >> Yay. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Item 4.03. I'd like to invite Perry Rogers to the podium. >> Good evening, board members. Thank you for allowing me to speak this evening. I'm here to there's any $4,000 donation to Bula School from Banner Bower and Cold Trip attorneys at Law. I didn't want to mess that up. Um they wanted they made the donation to us to enrich our students playground and other outdoor activities. So, we will be using the money to buy balls and and repair playground equipment and that kind of thing. >> That's great. Any questions? >> Thank you, Mr. Rogers. Next [applause] question. Item 4.04. I'd like to invite Laura Gardamando to the podium. She'll present be presenting two gifts to PBLO County High

006School. Good evening. I'm Laura Gordmando. I'm with PBLO County High School and I have two donations this evening towards our AAT program. The first was $584 donated to our FFA program from our friends at the Central Colorado Education Trust on the Eastern Plains. The second was an inind donation of digital readouts for our machining program valued at over $500 um to finish off the rest of our mills all being digital readouts for our students instead of manual and digital. Um that donation was from our instructor. Our instructor is a PCC instructor and his company Elenx LLC donated those um digital readouts so that way we have 100% digital machines. >> That's great. Any questions? >> Thank you. Appreciate that. [applause] Item 4.06. I'd like to invite Chamblan to the podium. He'll presenting be presenting I

007can't talk tonight. Five gifts to the various PBLO County High School programs. >> Hi, thank you for having me. I'm Clint Shamblin, the athletic director at PBLO County High School. And I think two of the gifts are on there or one is on there twice, but um >> we have a donation of $1,000 to our JOTC program from Shart Tung. We have a donation of $3,500 to our boys basketball program from Cyclone Car Wash. We have a donation of $500 to our high school wrestling program from Ward Electric. And we have a $500 donation uh from team Charlie and Debbie Bell to our girls swim program. >> That's great. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Thank you. Item 4.11, accept the gifts. May I have a motion to accept the gifts of proper acknowledgement? >> So

008moved. >> I second. >> Okay. >> And Bennett I >> Mark Emmery. >> Yes. >> Michelle Ericson. >> Hi. >> AJ Wilson. >> Hi. >> Motion carried. >> So, next item is 5.01. Um, this is the PCA spotlight with Kate Paycheck. >> Is our secretary. She's gonna read about our spotlight members today. Okay, I decid I told her I'd take this one. >> Uh we have two PCA members we would like to spotlight tonight. The first one is Crystal Terrell. Crystal demonstrates outstanding dedication by taking great pride in Vineland Elementary School each and every day. She works diligently to ensure the building is safe, clean, and welcoming, creating an environment where students and staff can focus on learning and growth. Her positive attitude, attention to detail, and willingness to help others do not go unnoticed.

009Crystal consistently goes above and beyond in her role. Her strong work ethic and commitment to excellence are evident in sorry, evident in the care she takes to maintain a healthy learning environment. She stands out for her charismatic attitude and the genuine pride she takes in supporting both staff and students throughout the school day. And so we want to thank Crystal very much for all of her outstanding work at Vine Lin. [applause] >> Our second member we would like to spotlight unfortunately could not be here tonight. So I will accept it for her and give it to her tomorrow. Uh the second person is Jessica Hernandez. Jessica consistently demonstrates dedication through her commitment to student success and her supportive presence in the school and community at Cedar Ridge Elementary. Her kindness, caring nature, and positive attitude

010make her a trusted and respected teacher among both students and colleagues. She builds strong relationships with everyone she encounters, fostering a welcoming and collaborative environment. Jessica goes above and beyond to ensure students who are struggling receive the support they need. She implements small groupoup interventions and responds thoughtfully to guidance from the MTSS team. She maintains a calm and positive approach when communicating with her parents while clearly addressing concerns and advocating for her students needs. Her focus on individualized support and proactive problem solving makes a lasting impact on her students learning and confidence. And I am proud to have her as one of my co-workers at Cedar Ridge. So, thank you again, JESSICA. [applause] >> May I of course [clears throat] and Kate, this is one of my favorite parts of the meeting and I want

011to thank you guys for your selections and recognizing >> all nominees by other showing support for each other. >> So is it uh nominees nominations from other teachers or parents >> teachers? So any of our bargaining units. >> Sure. Sure. Yeah. That's great. Okay. Item 5.02 PCEA and district 70 mentoring for student success. So it says that Jennifer Alonso and Susie, how did you say Susie's last name? >> [clears throat] >> No vows. >> There's just not very many. >> You're going to vow [laughter] >> sometimes. Why? >> I know. Susie. Susie. Susie. You will you tell me when to switch? >> Yes. Okay. >> Um, good evening and thank you to the board uh for the opportunity to present this evening. My name is Susie McGay. I am a pair professional at Liberty Point

012International Middle School. I'm also the ESP vice president for PCEA and uh ESP does stand for education support professionals. So classified or hourly employees. Um [snorts] and this is my team and they're going to introduce themselves. >> No, Carl. >> So my name is Carl Silva. Um, I'm the head custodian at PBLO West High School and I am the other ESP vice president for PCEA. I'm Jennifer Alonso. I'm the director of exceptional student services and I was asked to be a part of this mentoring grant and it's been a great experience and I've loved working every minute on this. I'm Lindsay Slobodnik and I am the preschool director at Cedar Ridge. >> I'm Donna Rod. I'm the UNISER director that works with uh the the association and was also part of the cohort um and

013team that developed the grant for this um for this local. Just kind of wanted to give you a little bit of background before we get into the details of the grant. Uh PCA, Public [clears throat] County Education Association, is an affiliate of the Colorado Education Association and the National Education Association. And the grant that we um developed and trained for and wrote uh came from our national organization, NEA. Um and Susie, we are very fortunate to have her, went to a training that we often send our leaders to and um she learned of this program. It's a mentor mentee program that we want to implement with all of our educational support professionals here in here in district 70. So we worked very hard to develop the grant and successfully got the grant from NEA. So

014for the first year NEA will we will pilot this and NEA will fund it to get it off the ground and get it going. Um, like Donna said, it started um at an NEA conference that I went to for ESPs. Um, when I came back, I presented it to the district leadership and I got the okay and we applied as a cohort. NEA strongly suggested that we have an admin and that's why we invited Jennifer Alfonso. Um, we were one of 11 uh cohorts accepted into this nationwide. Um, we were one of three asked to present at NEA headquarters in uh, October. We were only one of two that brought an administrator with us. Um, and the training started in June and we did um, in person or I'm sorry, we did um individual uh,

015assignments, group assignments, and Zoom assignments. Um, and next slide. Oh no, that's me. I apologize. This is our um our uh vision statement. Um PCA and District 70 mentorship programs vision is to retain highly qualified staff by pairing veteran mentors with new employees to provide consistent and effective support. This program fosters professional growth, reduces turnover, and creates a stable environment that enhances both staff development and student success. Through this commitment to mentorship and excellence, new and veteran staff receive the guidance and resources they need to thrive, ultimately leading to improved student outcomes. Okay. So, our desired outcomes for this program are to strengthen and build strong relationships with students and staff, to foster student success by making sure our staff um are trained and confident in the work that they do every day. Um we

016want to expand and offer more professional development opportunities for ESPs. Um and I think our biggest goal is to retain highly qualified ESPs and reduce turnover. Um, long tenur staff members over the years have gained institutional knowledge. Um, they've had their successes and their failures and they've also witnessed others successes and failures and that type of knowledge cannot be put in a handbook. Um, it's information that has been built up over a number of years and it's invaluable. By connecting these veteran employees with new employees and employees who may be struggling, they can pass some of their own experiences and problem solving skills to help others overcome challenges um and be more successful at their jobs and the work that they do. Um this will help build and increase confidence and job satisfaction and hopefully

017reduce turnover, which is another big area that this program can help with. And that's where our partnership with the district is of great importance. Um, and since we announced creating this program, support from the district has been amazing. Um, so I'd like to thank Rhonda and Stephanie and Dan, um, for really really helping out with this. It's been, it's been great. Um, but from the district, what we're kind of looking for, you can go to the next slide. What we're kind of looking for with partnership wise is sustainment of the program once the grant money does run out. Um, and facilities like HR, we're kind of looking for um, let me see. We're looking for like turnover numbers, etc., stuff like that. So, we can see if the program is running good because we don't

018just want to let it run itself. We kind of want to see where we need to tweak stuff and and everything like that. Um, NEA and CA have provided training and funding through the grant and you as the board, we would like your acknowledgement and support and principles are are very important too because we kind of want them to encourage people to actually use the program because we think it can be very helpful. So why this program really matters? Um you know we all know and especially with our ESPs high turnover hurts every department and we you know when we lose people we lose um relationships with students and you know experience when they when we train them they leave and we want them to stay. Um when we have high turnover it increases our

019staff workload which we don't like to see. Um it does cost to hire and train people over and over. Um we would like our school cultures to be stable. You know, when you have um someone that's been there for a couple years and they leave, um we want that stability for our students and we want to lower um we want lower we want to increase our student engagement actually. [laughter] Yeah. And we don't want to disrupt our student support. So yeah, we want to raise that. the test. >> Can go to the next slide. [laughter] >> Okay, >> that's you. >> All right. >> Okay. So, um our mentorship model and our our program structure is really one mentor paired with multiple mentees. To start out, we kind of want to start out small. We'd

020like to have an orientation, a mentor mentee introductions at onboarding. Um, we'd also like to have kind of like this induction program, what you call for ESPs. Um, bringing them in early before school starts so they can meet their mentors. We give them all of the opportunity to learn how to clock in. You know, who's your building? Like recognizing all of those things that maybe go untrained because we're just saying walk in your walk in the building. You know, we've done some onboarding, but we'd like to make it more u meaningful for them. Um, we'd like to incorporate some shadowing, one to four days of hands-on learning. Um, we'd like our mentors to go into the building and observe the mentees a little bit. Uh, we want to do it two times a month for

021the first four months and then one one time a month thereafter. Um, we really want to provide that ongoing support for our new hires, our transfers and ESPs on improvement plans if they are on those plans. >> [laughter] >> Okay, we discussed and we all agreed that um shadowing is probably um the best way to go as far in terms of improving um um and keeping employees and closing skills gap. Um, and we also think shadowing allows us to move new hires more quickly from orientation to high level performance. Um, so by pairing uh an experienced ESP with a new one, um, we're connecting training to concrete job performance. Um, we expect this to drastically reduce the ramp up time new employees need to become fully productive. Um, and also one other important thing we're

022hoping to get from this is standardization. Um, because we are creating a pipeline for transferring best practices and standardized workflows all over the district. Um, we believe shadowing also empowers people to to get hands-on experiences. Um, which in my mind builds confidence more quickly. It also enhances problem solving skills. Um, and confident and happy employees are less likely to uh seek job opportunities outside the district. Um, and it's overall good for our district's health. It fosters collaboration and teamwork. Um, we're building professional capital. We're improving morale. We're creating stronger, more resilient employees because of shared learning. uh slide please. Um and this is also kind of an organizational framework that we came up with. So at the top you see uh the advisory committee. The advisory committee consists of principles, directors, um uh the coordinators

023from our program and I'm sure that those titles will ex you know expand or be more fine-tuned uh the the further we get into this. Um but the advisory committee is um actually the governing body of the whole program. Um and they it's basically their job to ensure that the program aligns with the district's goals. Um they handle the mentor selection. Um they oversee uh evaluations to track the return on our investment. um and they manage any high level problem solving regarding um policy or resources. Um so we feel like this structure ensures like a systemwide effort and strategic buyin from district directors and principles other than us operating in a silo by ourselves. Um sli oh not slide sorry. Um the the next down is the uh coordinators. So there's one coordinator currently for

024each each region. So Mesa Mountain and PBLO West. Um I think someone already said we are starting with a pilot program and we're going to focus on pair professionals and custodial staff initially. Um and coordinators will be responsible for gathering data so that we can refine our practices in high turnover areas before we scale scale up. Um so coordinators are um responsible for standardized training. Like I said, we want standardized training is a big goal. Um they're responsible for data collection and reporting that back to the advisory committee. Um the mentors and mentees are the quality control of the whole program. Um and the mentor criteria is is formalized. It's a skilled role. So it's not a buddy system where oh hey you just hired my friend so let's you know it's it's it is

025meant mentors and mentees will be intentionally placed. Um mentors are required to have three years or more of experience in their job classification. Um there's mandatory training and you and an official recommendation from an admin. Um and our targeted mentees are new hires um or transfers that may need um a little more help. Um any growth seeking ESP can request a mentor at any time and also employees on um a support plan. Um so we feel like we've created a cascade of support if you will um that's ensuring accountability and assuring that people's needs and resources are being met. So I think one thing that's that stood out from our plan from the rest that presented in um DC was that we incorporated principles into our plan because they are the pre they are the

026ones who work directly with our people in the buildings. Um they're responsible for staff performance, building culture and student support. um they are directly involved with our ESPs on improvement plans and they help set and monitor those goals when it comes time. Um principles are the leaders in the building and really having their support with this program matters and them you know recommending the program keeping it going is really beneficial to to what we're trying to do. Um and our mentor professionals when they're out they are those affect the building staffing schedule. So, they really need to take part in what that schedule looks like and make sure it's working for their building. Okay, next slide. Okay, so the goal of this program aims to reduce staff turnover and enhance professional development. It ensures new

027employees receive If you want to just click through, there's pictures supposed to go through a slideshow. >> I know. Okay, >> it's a a slideshow of ESPs across the district. >> Yeah. So, it ensures new employees receive necessary guidance and resources for success by supporting staff growth and stability. The program directly improves student outcomes and strengthens the overall school community. So the the last slide, yeah, you're supposed to there were supposed to be pictures of staff and then in the end there's a last slide >> and it just basically talked about investing in people will have a lasting impact. Um so overall this program as we said earlier um we did get the grant from NEA. It's a $15,000 grant to get us off the ground. We will kick this program off in July with

028the orientation for the mentors and mentees and the training and um then we will also wait well to back up a little bit. Um we have some matching money that's coming into us from CA. So they matched the grant and of course the inind contributions. We couldn't have done this without the partnership with the district and with without them supporting us to give us the time to give our mentors and the mentees time that inind contribution is huge in making this program work and that's the one thing I think that helped us stand out compared to all of the other uh locals that were applying for the grants um was the partnership that we have with the school district. So that's really important. >> I think that you have the PDF version and not the

029>> It's It's okay. >> Well, this is the Canva. My PDF also only shows the one. >> So, this is the >> It's okay. >> Sorry. >> It's all right. Just take take that off, though. [laughter] >> Thank you. Sorry. So, like Donna said, you know, we're asking for inkind contributions and um this support demonstrates the board and the district's um commitment to both staff and students. Um we are protecting our investment in our employees by recre increasing retention. CA and PCA will support this work by providing training and release time. Uh this program is intentionally designed to be ESPled and ESP run with uh close collaboration with the district CA, NEA and PCA are providing the initial startup with a long-term goal of the district with district sustainability. This partnership reflects what is possible

030when the union, the district, and the board of education partner together. We can do great things. Thank you. >> [applause] >> sit down. Does anybody have any questions? >> Well, I So, you had said that this is a pilot year. >> We're We're going to start piloting next year. >> Next year, we're going to start we I got outvoted. I wanted to start in January. Um, but I'm glad that they they stopped me because I don't think we were quite ready. Um, so we get this extra time to hopefully get all the kinks out and make sure that it's great. and we're actually starting to meet with the advisory committee. Um, two of them are here today, Stephanie and Dan. And then we have Victoria from Vinland Elementary principal. >> So, she's also on the

031advisory committee. >> So, is this at every school? >> So, it's a pilot program. Um, one of the things that I learned when I went to the conference is don't start big. um this gentleman from New York her his superintendent said we need to do this this group this group and their HR person quit and they got a new said don't quit Stephanie um [laughter] don't and then uh there they've got a new system and it crashed and they had to do everything all the data collecting by hand and it was too much so they suggested and from every uh because there were different states at that conference Illinois Vermont New York they all said to start small So you can build the data, refine it, and then slowly start to work into other roles.

032>> So we're going to start, let me just take off a minute. So, we're going to start with our pair professionals and our custodians, and we're going to target certain buildings where we're going to provide this program and start out small like uh Susie said, and then as we're successful with this this coming school year, then we will expand and eventually it'll expand to food service, clerical, all of our support staff will have the opportunity to get involved in the mentor program >> and it's so beautiful and also so necess I mean, I just think it's great because I think at some schools, especially our, you know, our smaller schools, they may be the only person in their building doing that job. And so, being able to work with someone from a different school as

033a mentor just sounds >> or a different building. Sounds great. >> Yes. Yeah. >> I have a couple of questions. So, it's a pilot program for us or it's a pilot program on a national level as well. How long has the program been in? >> So, the it'll be a pilot program here in district 70. >> Okay. >> We've written the grant and it's specifically for this district. >> Okay. >> And it'll be um like I said, it'll start out with our pair professionals and our custodians in certain areas. Well, it'll be in all three areas of the of the of the district, but it'll be in certain schools to start out with because like Susie said, we didn't want to get too big too fast and then have it not work. So, we're going

034to start small, have success, learn from that because part of what we do is we survey our people to find out what worked, what didn't work, and then improve it. So, the goal is eventually to turn this over to the district and then they will run the mentor program. That's how we sustain it. >> But we're we're starting it to get it going and then we will eventually turn it over. So, Donna, do you know on, you know, the other programs that are already established nationwide, what kind of success rate they've had, um, how their retention numbers have improved or I, um, presented before I, um, a asked to to apply for this mentor program because we I presented to a district admin and I don't have those numbers, but they were substantial. >> We

035can get that. >> We can get those we can get that information for you. curious, you know, no track record there is, >> right? No, where they have put this program in place, they have been very successful. >> Yeah. >> The one lady that I um work, she she's from Vermont and I talk to her regularly. Her she um stepped away from mentoring and she's a coordinator and they only have one mentor because it has been so successful. They don't have the turnover. >> Oh, yeah. That's >> so they they're they also are a much smaller district. So, I will be honest with that. >> Um, it it Vermont's a small state, but >> I can get you those numbers. >> Yeah. I was just curious. I was also wondering about um just looking at

036the organizational chart that you presented, how many administrators compared to mentees do you anticipate >> administrators as? So, you have the committee and then you have, you know, kind of your your organizational chart and you've got your mentors and then you've got your mentees. I'm just wondering how much support staff we're going to anticipate needing to get per mentee. Um, so it is one mentor for many mentees. So, in my building right now, we have three new pair of professionals. >> Okay. So ideally, we would like to stay within the same building so there's not traveling. >> So I could essentially mentor all three in my building, >> but if I have to go to the building next door, >> it it just depends on how many new hires or how many >> um people

037would like this. >> So the administrative staff would already be in place. There are it would be like the principles coordinating who is going to be doing it. So it really wouldn't be additional uh administrators to do it. It's those administrators are already in place. They're just uh working with them to make sure it happens. >> Okay, that's helpful because we've got the advisory committee, the district directors, the coordinator, all before we get to the mentors, but you're saying those are already existing staff. You're not looking at hiring people. >> Well, there's a hire like a process um uh to be a mentor. >> Yeah. >> So, it would be existing staff. Yes. and coordinators are existing staff as well. >> So the coordinators and the mentors are our educational support professionals. There's they're not

038teachers. They're not administrators. >> And that's why uh Susie said it's it's our ESP, our educational support professionals overseeing ESP. >> And that's the beauty of it because they walk and live those positions and they're going to mentor and support their colleagues. >> Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Almost everything stantial I've ever accomplished in my life. I had a mentor. >> Yeah. >> So, you know, >> it's a valuable thing. Thank you guys. Any other questions? >> All right. Thank you. [applause] >> Okay. Item 6.01, information from the board and the superintendent. So, we'll hear now from the board and the superintendent and we'll begin with Mr. Dito and just work our way around. >> I did have the opportunity to attend my uh first payco meeting last Thursday as the new representative for uh

039the district and um I will be getting some training and some orientation on uh what that role, you know, what the role of that group is and hope to be able to report back to you guys um at least once a month, maybe quarterly. They do meet uh every Thursday or the fourth Thursday of every month. And so um did did attend that meeting. And um just one little shout out, we we do have Ry High School basketball uh both girls and boys varsity teams are playing up at the ball arena on Friday >> um before the Nuggets game. It's part of the Denver Nuggets uh prep kind of classics that they do with high schools. So it's a real cool event. They get to play on the big court and then they get to

040attend the game afterwards and part of the proceeds do go to uh the school for tickets that they sell. So that's really cool that they get to do that. >> Yeah, that's great. I think the high school band is going to be at a game sometime also. >> Yeah, that's great. >> Yeah. Really neat for our kids. That's >> Yeah. Yeah. >> I'd like to thank my department of instruction and curriculum uh for the January 23rd uh PD. it was blistering cold. Um, and so we thank our teachers and our staff who attended that. Um, the PD was based on teacher feedback and their requests for PD. And so I felt like the data for from the survey showed that it was a substantial um improvement in engagement and relevancy from teachers. So uh, thank

041you to my department of instruction uh, Anthony, Holly, [clears throat] all of them, everybody in the department of instruction did a great job of planning. So, thank you. >> Great. I just want to take a minute to say um I've appreciated working with the rest of the board and um it's been an interesting time with the vacancy trying to navigate getting that filled, but I feel like we had good conversations today and uh we'll just keep plugging away and try to do the best we can for the district. So, thank you guys. Thank you, AJ. >> Thank you. >> Well, let me put my glasses on. >> [laughter] >> I have a couple things to talk about. There was an awesome event at uh PBLO West High School. It was the district should we call

042it an honor band or mass band? But it it was fantastic. Uh just middle school kids, high school kids, all rehearsing during the day for an evening performance. And of course, I've directed many honor bands. I've I've taken my kids to many honor bands. And this was just first class. And I have to give special compliments to our directors, both high school and middle school, who organized it. And especially the awesome musicians. It's hard to put a concert together in one day. And they they did a great job. So, let me give more praise. Dr. Martinez and Mr. Bombgardner were there. And a couple teachers said, "This is the most administrators we've ever had." >> And and that was fantastic. I I even went to Adam and I said, "Thank you so much." In all

043my years, there was no one never anyone in your position that attended my stuff. And so that was really appreciated. Taken a million pictures. It was great. Okay, another wonderful thing was a community forum we had right in this room. And I have to give lots of credit to Mrs. Miss Ry for setting this up. This uh I spent eight years on the board and this initial time what two months has been harder than any of those eight years. And I have to say to Rhonda, [clears throat] that was such a bright spot hearing from our community and uh hearing about the the positive things, how we can promote our school district, uh the wonderful things going on, what our strengths are, what what we can improve. It was Thank you, Rhonda, for putting all

044that together. >> So, you're welcome. I I it wasn't just in the Mesa, it was also in PBlo West and and Ry and Bula because we serve four very different communities with very different needs. And so our goal was to meet with different members from the community and we invited different members from the community um that we thought we could have some really productive and good conversations with that could lead us forward. So there were community members, there were some staff, there were um leaders that want that told us here are the things that I see you guys are doing good. Uh and here are some things that you guys could do from a community standpoint on improvement. And we hope to utilize this data. And I sent out a survey to all of the

045teachers too with the same exact type of questions that we asked our community members because we need every voice in order to develop a strategic plan. And in all of the years that I've worked with district 70, I don't recall us ever developing a real like indepth strategic plan in which we involved our community and our teachers and our and our kids. We have a survey that we're going to be asking the board to approve in the in the near future that asks our kids questions too to get their voice as well so that we can look at a three-year plan for the future for our district and for our kids because that's who we truly serve and we also want our kids to remain in this community and to become productive citizens and to

046show what those values look like. And so, um, that those are all the conversations that we're having with the community. Uh, and the teacher feedback I've got so far is is spot on with what our community says as well. And so, I think it's just important to hear from everybody. So, if you haven't filled out the survey yet and you're a teacher, I encourage you to. And it's meant to look at it from a really broad standpoint. Where where are we headed? And it was very interesting our our board was brought up many times and I'm just proud that we are given that opportunity to participate. I hope all our board members attended. Yeah, I also had the good fortune of attending. It was really nice to hear from community members um both uh about

047things to celebrate and then obviously ways to grow um community involvement um it was very exciting and so that strategic plan that um Rhonda mentioned and Mark has mentioned I'm I'm looking forward to working on that very much. Um I think it's really exciting to be you know to be a part of that. And I also wanted to let you know I volunteered to be on the PURA board, which is the PBLO Urban Renewal Authority um uh representing District 70. So I'm learning a great deal about um the strategic plan, if you will, of our um community improvement um everything from construction to vision. So I mean, I just see all like very good things happening and it's really exciting to have these opportunities and to serve in that capacity. Thank you, AJ. >> Well,

048first off, I'd like to apologize for being on this screen. I wish I could be there with you guys, but some issues that wouldn't allow me to be there. So, my hope to be there next week with you guys to continue to have great conversations. Thank you, AJ. >> We hope you feel better being here, AJ. All right. My page here. Item 7.01, presentation of the PBLO County High School Wrestling Trip to Garden City, Kansas. Mr. Chamblin, >> again, I'm Clint Shamblin, the athletic director at Public County High School. Uh, thank you for this opportunity to present for our wrestling program. They are seeking permission to travel to a wrestling tournament in Garden City, Kansas, the Rocky Welton uh, Invitational, and that tournament will be from January 29th through January 31st. All right. >> Can

049I give a little history on out of state trips? >> Yes, sir. >> What was that? [laughter] >> I just think they're so fun. That was like a >> Well, it is >> excited to hear what you're going to say. >> I came to the board and asked for permission back in the 90s and they said no. >> And so we were the first group to go out of state, [cough] [clears throat] but we went on our own accord. So, thank you are continuing out of state trips and I'm proud to be the first group to ever take a group out of state. >> That's great. Thank you. >> Item 7.02, presentation of theou between PCEA and PBLO County School District 70 regarding group and guest norms. >> Good evening, Madame President, members of the

050board. Um, we do have a a anou for you tonight in regards to our bargaining norms. Each year we do revisit the norms for our group before we began our bargaining session. And we took our 26 norms that we had in place, which is quite a lot of norms for a group and kind of reorganized them into three categories. behavioral norms, process norms, and then created a set of norms for our guests that would attend our bargaining sessions. So, you have a a copy of those norms in front of you. Do you have any specific questions about our revisions? I just I'll make a comment. I asked um Rhonda for the previous norms because we were asked to sunset them and I thought, well, I should at least know what I'm voting on. Um and

051I seems to me that's a great improvement. So, yeah, good work. No other questions. Thank you guys. Item 7.03, 3 presentation of the supervisor of HVAC and preventive maintenance job descriptions. Stephanie Russell. So um this is a revision to a supervisor of maintenance um revising this uh position as a supervisor of HVAC and preventative maintenance. Um the position it would be a working supervisor. They would be expected and required to apply their skills and HVAC skills, knowledge, and experience to diagnose, troubleshoot, and repair HVAC systems across the school district. This position would also provide guidance, leadership, and training to other HVAC staff members. Um, they would be required to have that HVAC EPA certification, um, and any specialized courses in HVAC. Uh, that is as much knowledge as I have. So, I've invited Dan Gyos,

052our coordinator, to give you more specifics to that position. >> Thank you, Miss Russell. Uh, good evening, uh, friends, colleagues, and board members. I'm Dan Gagos, uh, coordinator of maintenance, and and I am joined by our supervisor of maintenance, Mr. Scott Lindenmouth. Uh as Miss Russell uh just gave you a brief summary, we really feel that this uh new job position will be uh extremely beneficial not just to maintenance the maintenance department but uh the school district as a whole. Uh right now we feel like uh we need a position that could apply uh some some higher level skill and ability to overseeing the uh the HVAC department. And for those of you that don't know, that's heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. So, uh, when you have, uh, all the the nice environmentals in every

053school, and every building across the district, when when it's cold outside or it's hot outside, these are the HVAC systems that are uh giving us all those uh those nice things that we have so we can have a great learning environment. So, this job is critical so that we could apply that focus uh to the HVAC department. This position, as Miss Russell already mentioned, will provide guidance, leadership, and direction to two other HVAC professionals. Uh they'll also oversee any contractual agreements we have with uh contractors or vendors in the community that assist the school district uh with any repairs, revisions, or new installations. And uh we really would appreciate your support to go forward and try to find uh the the right candidate for this job. At this time, we're open for questions. Scott and

054I would answer any questions you may have. Yes. >> I have a question. Have we had this position before? >> To my knowledge, no. I've only been here going on three years. I don't believe there's ever been a supervisor of HVAC. And it also includes preventative maintenance. I wanted to mention that. So, we developed a preventative maintenance program probably about two years ago. So, it's in the making. So, we want this position to also further develop our preventative maintenance program so that we have a more focused and a more uh you know a more uh a better a better method on how we maintain all of our equipment districtwide. So, this this position will bring a lot to that field. And so, no, we we had never had the position. >> Five more questions. We

055did at one point have the our director of maintenance Monty Montes was uh he had his HVAC knowledge uh which he was also a director not a supervisor but he did oversee HVAC. >> So Dan how many supervisors do we have in the maintenance department? >> Uh right now we only have Mr. London move to oversees. >> How many employees? How many supervisors? >> Uh so Scott is our supervisor for maintenance and he roughly oversees eight employees in the building maintenance area. And then we have Mr. Tony London. He oversees the grounds department and he has about that same number. Usually about eight to nine people in that area. >> So how many supervisors? >> Two at this present time. >> So we'll additional employees. So, we would add a third supervisor that oversees and

056focuses her time, attention, and skills to the HVAC area. >> So, I have a question. Is this uh person a supervisor so we can pay them enough? Is that why they're a supervisor? >> Correct. Yes. Um, you know, uh, in the short time I've been here, I think, uh, Rhonda and Bob could, uh, speak more to this in the past, but, uh, it's very difficult for us to find qualified HVAC professionals who have their EPA certification. Uh, we can find general laborers to help out in that field, but it's difficult. So, by offering a supervisor maintenance, it kind of opens the door to an HVAC professional who wants to work for the school district long term. uh they'll be paid a little bit more, but their job responsibilities will also be more broad and and

057they'll cover a lot more. But we'll expect them and require them to provide that leadership guidance, direction, and training just as Scott and Tony does to our maintenance and grounds personnel. >> And how many employees will this supervisor oversee? uh starting out they will oversee two other HVAC professionals but we also work with uh one primary company in the community but we we have agreements with two or three HVAC companies. So oftent times uh this person might be working with anywhere from five to 10 individuals in the community that are helping us repair uh HVAC equipment across the district. And we also have new projects where we install new boiler systems. Uh we do renovations where it's very difficult to pull off our current supervisors or coordinators and focus all our time and energy to

058some project like that. >> What would the salary be? >> It depends upon experience. But >> how much is it? >> It would depend upon experience. So you would you could look at the supervisor pay scale and and deter depending upon experience that's where they would [clears throat] be at. But when you think about county high school alone has how many units? >> Uh 13 >> 13 units for HVAC at just county high school and that requires preventative maintenance. Uh we have uh 20 schools 21 buildings or just the schools not including the um the administration building, the maintenance building, the personnel building uh and then backter. So when you think about all those buildings, they have multiple HVAC units. And so to think that only three people could service all of that is difficult.

059And so we have contracts with other individuals that this person would also have to um maintain. So you know, we use multiple companies right now to ensure that our HVAC are working and this would eliminate some of that use of uh outside agencies. How much? >> I don't know yet until we hire someone. It would depend upon experience. Do >> you know the range? >> Yeah, let me pull it up. The salary schedule for you. >> I would also be curious to know um if we hire a position a person to fill that position, what would the reduction be in the subcontractors? Well, so we have two open positions right now and so it would fill both of the two open positions that we've had. So it would be a minimal increase in order to

060serve two two different positions. >> So this one person takes the place of two. >> No, we had two positions open. We have not been able to fill either position. So, we're basically going to take one of the positions and fill it uh with another HVAC professional with uh that meets the minimum requirements and can immediately help us address the repair needs across the district. But we felt like with this position, we would be better suited as a district if we convert that uh uh standard HVAC position, if you will, into a supervisor role for this. This person will also be a working supervisor like Scott and Tony. So, they'll spend about 60% of their time uh working on systems, but the other 40% will be applying uh training and overseeing our contractual agreements. So

061just from my perspective of looking at budgetary uh things with this uh the HVAC uh arena um I really feel like in the coming year we could probably look at reducing outside help. I'm thinking about 25% in the coming year as we bring on these two positions. And I could see it as we grow our own professional development uh we apply our own uh uh energy and time and resources to develop our own employees. I could see that even further reducing outside help. Uh so I could see where this could be an advantage long term. Instead of continuing with constant outside contractors supporting us, we want them to be a partner in the future and not a major player in this. >> So when we contract out, we is this a we call them because

062we need help or is this something that they're always because I mean I think like with the supervisor and I mean I you know just needing to hire more people. I mean, have I guess have we always contracted out? >> You know, in some capacity, I've been here about two and a half years. We always had an agreement with an outside company just to support us in times of where we just didn't have the number of staff members or personnel to address the uh the downtime or the repair issues. So, we've always had that uh sort of agreement, but right now with the open two positions, we've relied heavily on an outside contractor, two contractors actually. And just to give you an idea, their their normal rate could be anywhere from $2 to $300 an

063hour when we contract with them to help us. And it goes up on uh weekends, holidays, night shift. So, we feel like by having our own team and growing our own team and having qualified professionals, we could really limit the n the amount of outside contractor help. And we could see that happening because we feel like if we have a couple more staff members who are fully qualified, uh uh we can really see that we'll reduce the amount of money we spent on outside helpers. So, a supervisor starts at $73,514. >> And is this an atill employee that can be >> This is an Atwill employee that >> And this is an out This is an Atwill employee who is an administrator who can be non-renewed at any point in time as well as um

064all of our supervisors are on call and we call them many times uh on weekends and evenings. >> So, the 73 514 that's salary the starting salary but then there would be a benefits package that's not the total cost to have the employee correct >> yeah do you know approximately what the cost would be >> 22.85% 85%. So,000. >> So, a 73,000 employee with benefits if they take everything is 90,311. >> All of our benefits are 1.2285. So, whatever our salary is times 1.2285. >> Okay. And that's what it costs us to pay parah and our port our portion of um of uh benefits. >> So I I have a question for you. You mentioned that we thought we could use um we could reduce the rely relying on subcontractors by 25% but the supervisor

065would give 40% of his time to supervising. Correct? So there's a 15% disparity there. So, he's not gonna all What am I trying to say? There's It's still going to be a 15% increase in cost to have a dedicated supervisor as opposed to using subcontractors. >> Um, >> did I understand that correct? >> So, we actually can't hire an HVAC. We we've had a position for HVAC two HVAC positions in the master trades area posted for >> a long time. And because of our pay scale with the master trades, we are not able to fill those positions. >> Um >> Yeah. Because they can make more somewhere else. Yeah. >> Literally anywhere else because >> Yeah, I get it. >> Yeah. I think when we compare that cost, when we look at a $90,000 position,

066uh we realistically can pay in the area of 200,000 to 300,000 in outside contractor help. So, we really want to really have them as a partner like they are now, but we don't want them to have a primary role in helping us support the HVAC systems. We want them to be our partner in in the hour of need and help us with new installs and uh major renovations, but we feel like if we find the right person for this job, they will make a a big difference in and uh limiting that outside contractor help. Uh so we're we're really confident that if uh we move forward in this area, we can really reduce costs overall. >> Our current contract with one of our vendors is 37,000. >> So it's almost like a retainer. We pay

067that regardless. >> We did not have >> we have a helper in the mechanical field. We don't have any Hback in the district >> and we have tried to >> we have tried to fill those positions >> ACTs >> and are they always available? >> Okay. >> It comes at a premium. >> Okay. >> Our contract is 431,000 approximately almost every >> So that's like having four employees. So we we could hire four employees for that contract. >> The goal would be if we could hire four outside. >> So Axe is one of the subcontractors. Who's the other one? I think he mentioned too. >> We work with Vision Mechanical who are a local company here in PBLO. and Vision Mechanical throughout the bond uh installed many of our HVAC systems. >> Mr. W for

068clarification to like if yesterday they had to send three of their employees out to fix three different issues and they worked all day long that that was essentially 24 hours of the >> of it's not our contract 40 hours a week. they could move into a $300 an hour rate if they go past their 40 hours. >> So, I have another question about the budget. It was brought to my attention um yesterday in a meeting that in the the increase between 2020 and 2025 in custodial and maintenance cost um it's 110% change which is pretty substantial. Most of the other categories we're seeing like 23 24 some at 49 but the maintenance and the custodial just seems like it's just exploded. Is there I mean there can be valid reasons for that so I'm not

069making any judgments. >> This is from um 2020 to 2025. >> So part of the reason for that is um whenever it was originally budgeted it was not budgeted in the proper accounts before uh Amanda Whitman had taken over. And so um in the past those uh maintenance budgets were not properly budgeted into the right accounts. And so now that they're being properly budgeted into the right accounts and and accredited to what we're really spending the money on, uh that's why there's an increase in that because they're allocated to the actual account rather than like the school itself. So the school isn't spending that money. In the past, it would have showed that those custodians were charged to the school and now it's it's different. >> I see. So back in 2020, um the budget

070for that line item wasn't a true figure. More money than that was meant it was just coming out of a different fund. Is that >> it? The the DAC was not correct. Yes. So the area that it was being charged to was not the correct place it should have been charged to to accurately reflect the cost of custodial versus maintenance versus grounds. >> Okay. >> Wow. We really >> I mean I will I will say too though if you look question if we're talking about budget though I'd ask you to too and and you want to really evaluate it you can look at to see how much um that we've been putting in our reserves. So we have been very conservative and we've been putting money in our reserves which we'll talk about in the

071near future at negotiations. So I mean we have been very fiscally conservative even if we did increase maintenance budgets. And one of the things that we talked about in our community meetings, one of the things that was brought up over time and time again is they don't want to see District 70 become Ron Holly or District 60 and have to shut down buildings because we are not paying attention to um preventative maintenance in our buildings and taking care of them. >> For sure. Yeah, we need to I just wondered if there was a a reason for that, you know. That's a good discussion to have. I'm glad you asked the question. >> Yeah, I just just curious, you know, I mean, with maintenance, it's the kind of thing if it needs done, you need to

072do it. You need to protect your assets. Um, >> like I said, this is two positions we've had in the budget since day one. So, by changing it to supervisor, we're hoping hoping we can find somebody that might take one of the positions. So, it's not adding trying to fill and taking away the outside resources. >> And so in your opinion, Jamie, by um making an inhouse position, it'll lower our overall cost pretty substantially. >> All right. Any other questions? Good discussion. All right. >> Thank you. We appreciate your time and support. Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Item 7.04, discussion on the criteria and rubic use for applicant screening for February 3rd, 2026. So, we um Stephanie created a rubric for us that had some categories to help us evaluate our candidates for

073the vacancy. Um one category was resume, letter of interest, and references. Those were things we asked applicants to provide. So, did they do what we asked? Um, community involvement, engagement in schools, communication skills, leadership experiences, conflict resolution, budget management, collaboration with all stakeholders, experience working with diverse populations, experience with govern government, governance, um, knowledge of school finance, accountability and achievement. Um, we started going through this during our work session and um the applications. We were reading through the applications trying to see where we thought what score we would want to give the candidates and what we found was there just really isn't enough information in the cover letter and in the resume to adequately complete the rubric. So, I think we're going to rework it um this week and have it align with interview questions

074and then utilize it during our interviews next week. Um it just seemed like a better use of time. Um and yeah, you guys want to add anything about the rubric? >> The rubric was excellent. I don't The trouble is I don't think we have any questions prepared. The rubric >> and by the way this will be open. So the public is welcome and I'd love to see folks come and watch the interviews and our decision. >> I think they said it well. Um I think you know obviously aligning questions with the rubric um and being transparent as possible which means inviting you and others to come and to um watch the interviews. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I think um This might be an appropriate place also to discuss who we want to invite for an

075interview. We discussed a little bit but um we didn't make any decisions. Any further discussion on that? >> Like we didn't hear from AJ yet. So >> Oh, sure. Hi. >> I'm I'm all for just interviewing all four of them. I think that would be fine. That way we kind of get to know all four of them. Well, I think based on the rubric, so the rubric that we were looking at is a rubric that you would use to score um candidates to determine uh but because we didn't because we chose to to kind of work backward and we're looking at the rubric and we're saying that we're going to write questions that align with the rubric. We do have some questions. We're just going to make sure that they align perfectly with the rubric,

076that it's very clear. Um, I think um I I I I wanted to make that clear. We can talk further about who we're going to interview, but >> Well, I think >> so. I I was stating questions if you weren't here and said, I think you're leading us somewhere >> and I was get me to say something. >> I wanted an agreement from all my colleagues here that we would select someone we can all work with and the person for the job and everyone said yes and that was just a pleasure. >> Yes, a pleasure indeed. And I also want to mention that all uh we have four candidates and all four candidates um when we received their applications, we ask that we um we put a a statement from each candidate online. So, please,

077you know, take the opportunity to to look at their statements. Um they've been posted on our website um through social media um and so please visit the candidate statements. Okay. Um item number 7.05 review and discussion regarding the issuance of an RFP for attorney services. Mark. >> Yes. There's not enough to do, is there? Um, we had quite a discussion at our last meeting in [clears throat] regard to our present board attorney and uh we have received many many emails on this subject. Just many emails with facts, with citations from Google, uh, chalk beat the list goes on and on. So my recommendation was to prepare an RFP request for proposal for attorney services to get us out from under the shadow of this negativity that we've been under. And uh that's my introduction. >>

078Yeah. So, I I feel like we discussed it um pretty extensively last time. So, I'm just open for any other comments. AJ, looks like you're wanting to talk. >> I think I think what we needed to do was the guideline that was sent out. We need to go through a little bit more to have the specifics as far as the dates, the times, what we're looking for as far as who is going to because I'm under the impression that the attorney is for the board. So, it should go to the board so the court can make the decision. Um, those are some of the things that I think we need to look at and agree upon if we're going to do something like this. >> Uh, the attorney is for the entire school district, is

079it not? >> So, it can't it can be it the the way we've done it in the past is we've had the attorney uh serves both the board and [snorts] the district. Um, it does not have to be that way. It can be uh the board has their attorney and the district has their attorney. That is a little muddy, but that is also an option. >> Okay, AJ, you made good comments in regard to dates and items of the proposal. So, we need to progress with that. We did have an agreement from our board members that we would go ahead and pursue that RFP. So I think it's just in the details now. >> So we we we did have a discussion. Um we didn't have a vote and as I went home and thought

080about it over the last week and engaged with some of the people in, you know, my constituents. I'm not opposed to the RFP, but I do wonder if it wouldn't be wise to wait until we see our fifth member so that you know so that all of the board members have a say in our >> it doesn't we have to get the RFP out. So the board if the board is making the decision I understand your statement but no better time than the present >> and I was thinking in also visiting with constituents that you would want to give the attorney or law firm ample time to put together their proposal. So I think it would be realistic to say that we would give them at least four weeks or approximately 30 days. It's not

081something we want to rush. And so I think by um starting now and then giving a full month, our person should be seated at that point. >> We're only two weeks away from the vote and I would like to see our whoever we choose for our fifth person. I would like to see them be able to have buy in on our criteria, on our questions, on the you know the dates. So I I don't think that delaying two weeks and revisiting it in two weeks is really >> but I think similarly um I I don't think by I don't I don't think we're delaying anything by um issuing an RFP because we do want to make sure that we give every I mean local law firm um ample time to do this and I think

082by first issuing a date I mean it whether it's tomorrow and 30 days in the future is the deadline. I mean, I think it gives people the law firm uh any law firm interested time to do that and I think the person coming on board, we won't see anything until the end of that. Um, right. I mean, >> sure. But we would need to set the criteria prior to that and I would just think I would prefer to have them involved in that process. I think we end up with a stronger a stronger result if we're involving the entire board. >> From my standpoint, um you talk [clears throat] about constituents. I have received countless emails and phone calls on this this subject and the sooner we can proceed the better. I mean, my inbox

083is full of citations and newspaper articles, and the list goes on and on and on. I saw people at the honor band. They they cornered me immediately, talked for half an hour probably about this issue. So, um, you you referred to your constituents a lot and that's what I >> Yeah. Yeah. I think that's, you know, that's what we should be doing. Um, and looking >> Sorry, go ahead. >> Looking at the um proposal requirements that we um have, I feel like they're pretty straightforward as far as what we would expect from um a law firm or attorney applying to be to represent us. >> So, I'm not sure. Um, I mean, I think the person would definitely have the opportunity, this this fifth board member would definitely have the opportunity to weigh in, but

084I think I wouldn't want to uh prolong this opportunity >> any has done a great job as They're concerned with student safety and parental rights and I've been very satisfied with what they've done in the realm of protecting our students and parents and the decisions that they probably [clears throat] focusing on you know students goals and you know focusing on one of the goals of the district that we can have instead of going through trying to find an attorney that I'm already satisfied. So that's that's kind of my stance. >> Well, where you guys are >> AJ, is our community satisfied? Are two of our board members satisfied? Are our staff satisfied? That's a question you're satisfied, but I think you're far outweighed. >> Your opinion. >> Okay. Further discussion on that item. Okay. Do

085we have any open >> what's that? We should probably because the vote so the vote is >> that's action item >> the approval to issue the request >> is request for >> 9.02 I mean it's that you guys pass. Um, when you make the motion, >> you can make it work together. >> It's cold. >> Did you catch that? So, work sessions, just so everybody knows, are not recorded and are not streamed. So we hold them publicly. If they have been streamed in the past, it's because they've been Zoom or whatever. So make sure that if you want to attend those that you do. >> Okay. So >> I mean we have to put that if you approve it that we would set a work session to decide upon dates and um we couldn't. I

086I think that if you voted to if you did vote to move forward with it, it's it just needs edited >> and so I would just need dates from you. I don't know that that has to be um I mean it's going to be publicly published. If we are going to do it anyway and so I would just need the dates from you. We could edit the RFP that's been um presented to you guys to look at for consideration. So [clears throat] I you're not you you would vote on whether you're going to proceed with an RFP or not. I don't think all the fine details have to be perfect whenever you vote for that. We can fix those details >> after it's voted upon. >> And Mr. Miller's firm is more than welcome to

087apply. >> Yeah, of course. >> Okay. Do we have any open forum? I do. So, open forum to the policy. Just so you know, you have three minutes. Um, I just put on >> your timer will be on the on the board whenever you just know that your time will stop you at three minutes. >> Start talking. >> Thank you. Uh good evening and uh thank you for giving me this chance to address the board. My name is Jeff Sloan. I am a resident of PBLO West. I had three boys who went through the district 70 school system. They're all grown up and contributing to soci society. So you can feel good about that. I'm also the spouse of a teacher and spend a lot of my personal time uh supporting my wife and her

088teaching job. Um, I wanted to reiterate something that was said already regarding the open um, board position. I It sounds to me like, um, we've got some cohesiveness in terms of strategy and some agreement about how this person will be selected. Obviously, I think we'd all agree the best thing that could have happened would be if Miss Oaks had resigned her position before the election and we had a democratic process that allowed us to choose the next board member. That didn't happen. Uh so we're left with this less than demog democratic process and and depending upon the four of you to make a decision. Um I hope I am sure everybody in this room hopes that you can work together and reach some consensus about who that person will be. Um and and I'm sure

089in the process probably have to make some compromises about about who you um would really like on the board versus who you're willing to accept. And I think a reference is made to somebody you all four of you can work with. And so we've we we missed the great democratic opportunity. We're left with this subde democratic opportunity. Uh and and I just want I want the board to know uh that I echo some of the sentiments I heard earlier about um you know what you intend to do and what the strategy is here. Um, obviously we need five people who can work together, um, who can communicate and can and and can work together to help solve some of the challenges we face. Uh, quick comment regarding the the attorney position, put the RFP out,

090get proposals. If Brad Miller wants to submit an application, he's free to do so. The board is then free to act on those proposals as they see fit. There's certainly no harm in seeing taking the temperature of the local legal community and seeing who's willing to put forward their services and see how much they would cost. Um, we've all we've all heard and read the same things that Mark referenced in terms of the reporting and uh the local media about the the cost that the districts has has incurred uh to engage with Brad Miller's firm. Um, and there is certainly no harm in seeing what our options are. And if the four of you agree on criteria for what you expect from a from an attorney, >> that's absolutely fine. If and you put forward

091>> you put forward an RFP that you all are comfortable with and then we see what kind of response we get and we see what our options are. But right now we don't have any options. We have one option and um I I don't think it's fair to say that everybody's in complete agreement and and perfectly happy with that. I realize that some board members are and that's perfectly fine. Uh but sir I think the wide >> sorry >> time's up >> sorry and usually it it goes on the board but an update sorry >> that's giving warnings >> you get it thank you >> thank you for taking the time to come tonight >> it's three minutes sorry I will try to give you a 30 second warning and then I'll let you know

092when your time's up >> our our system's done an update and I don't know why it's not popping up just on my screen. Next will be Miles Lucero. >> Good evening, folks. My name is Miles Lucero. I am a district 70 boy through and through North Mesa Elementary, Pleasant View Middle School, PBlo County High School. I also coach tennis at PBlo County High School for three seasons. Um I also have the honor of representing our community on the PBLO board of county commissioners. There is a issue going on with the county that I think this board needs to be explicitly aware of because it involves a an organization and a school under both of our jurisdiction. That school is Riverstone Academy that operates out here on the Mesa 1950 Aspen Place. That school is not

093in compliance with not only county zoning codes, they're not in compliance with county building codes. They do not have a certificate of occupancy to occupy the building where they have some 20 to 30 students, little ones every single day. They are not in compliance with fire codes. They are not in compliance with the health department codes. The county is doing everything within our power, including the threat of shutting down utilities, to ensure that our children that go to that school are safe. I think all of us do these jobs by and large because we care about kids and especially the safety of our kids. I don't know without a shadow of a doubt that there is is or is not an unsafe condition over at that school. But I know I do know that that

094organization has not gone through the proper steps to achieve compliance with any of the agencies responsible for the oversight and the safety of our kids. We're aware of it. We're doing what we can. I'm asking you as a partner organization that has some influence and power, and I don't know what exactly that is, to get involved, dig into this, and as it relates to Mr. Miller, I'm deeply concerned that you will not receive impartial legal advice as it relates to that facility and that organization because of the myriad conflicts of interest that exist between Mr. Miller and Forging Education and Riverstone Academy. If the four of you folks cannot put together an administrative document to at least solicit new attorneys, that's that's an abdication of your duty to this community. We elected you folks to

095represent us to keep our kids safe and to do the work. We did not elect a man who who >> 30 seconds >> brags about being a board whisperer that does not live in our community that does not represent does not have kids in our community that don't knows nothing about our community. We we elected you folks to do that job. Please put together a simple administrative document. Ma'am, get start soliciting those bids. Mr. Miller's law firm can can submit. It's an administrative document. Please get it out the door. Listen to the community. We want you folks, not a board whisperer. Thank you very much. [applause] >> Next, I have John Zondalo. So cute. President Bennett and other elected directors, thank you for this opportunity to speak. I'm John Zanlow. I'm a proud grandfather of

096two uh students in D70 who are having a great experience. I appreciate that. My comments tonight are fueled by your discussion at the last board meeting about developing an RFP for new legal counsel. I do think developing an RFP is a good idea. It will be important for all the board members to have confidence in their legal counseling. Clearly, AJ has confidence in Mr. Miller from his experience in working for him with him for the last four years. It's obvious that Mark and Michelle do not because of Mr. Miller's baggage and their preference for local representation and thus the avoidance of being charged for mileage to mileage to attend meetings. versus a track record of advising school boards. Now, a caveat, my comments may be totally irrelevant because I couldn't hear anything that Michelle said

097before someone turned on her mic and very little of what Mark said the whole meeting. I don't know what the, you know, the the uh AV, but you cannot hear it or very little on on the recording. So, maybe I just heard wrong. What I did hear or I thought I heard was that oops sorry some repeated reference to Mr. Miller's baggage and because of his religious leanings. Now I'm not a lawyer. I don't caution against an exclusion in your RFP for any law firms that demonstrated religious leanings. Last time I checked, and things can change quickly, is that we still had a constitution and a and a and a first amendment that guarantees freedom of speech, including religious leadings. Excluding from consideration or even demonstrating a bias against religious leanings, which unfortunately Mark has

098already done publicly, would not be a good way to start the process and very likely illegal. The only valid criteria should be a demonstrated track record, which Mr. Miller clearly has with many other school boards and and districts and with D70. I don't know, Mr. Miller. I did attend a majority of the D70 board meetings in the last few years and rarely saw them. I expect most of his input would have been in executive sessions with the board where thorny legal issues do come up. The public has no opportunity to evaluate or form an opinion on actions in executive sessions. the assessment of his performance and value from the only incumbent on the board might be highly relevant. I do have one recollection of Mr. Miller during an early meeting of the new board in

0992020 when a local pastor came up to this podium podium and began a prayer over the board was almost shouted down by someone in attendance who said he can't do that. Mr. Miller quickly and correctly pointed out that he could. And so in a demonstration of my right to free speech and in this public forum and because of my religious leanings >> time is up. Oh, >> sorry. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Sorry, I'm daydreaming. I'm not used to doing this. Chris Sutton. >> Hello. I'm Chris Sutton. Most of you guys do know me. I've recognized some of you guys over the past 30 years. I want to say thank you for those of you that have been impacted on my life, teachers, etc. Um, I want to speaking really quickly. I'm

100improving this. I want to say thank you for Mr. Emery coming to the all county band. That was wonderful. My kid is here with me today. He plays trombone. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Ericson, for all the wonderful things you do for speech and debate and all the other programs still in this uh thing. Uh, Miss Bennett, I don't know if you know this, but I actually went and attended college with your daughter, the same daughter who now works at Riverstone Academy for Quinn Fryberg, who's all attached to this whole fiasco. >> Actually, you're mistaken. >> That's what it said online. I apologize. I'm just putting out what I was was was available online. So, uh, but your daughter, I did attend college with her. Uh, so I want to put out out there

101the concerns I have. I want to echo with, uh, Mr. Lucero and everything else. We have an attorney for a school district. We elected you guys. Why are we even having a discussion about the attorney's agenda? In what world are we electing you all, which again, Mr. Miller was not hired with an RFP? Uh, Wilson knows this. Wilson knows that he was just brought on and casually brought you like brought in behind the scenes. I understand it's all connected and everything else. Miller wasn't RFPD. There was never one uh there was one put out there, but he didn't take it. He wasn't hired in the right way. Of course, Wilson supports him. He's been on his side and working for him this entire time for the past four years. I'm asking you guys to start

102a clean slate. I love this district. I've been a part of it since I was like 10 or 12. Little little kid. I I've people in here constantly I know you guys, you guys know me. We are a community and your community is telling you to get rid of your attorney that in what world do we have to have public perform to be like, "Hey board, we like what you guys are doing. We like this this coming together and trying to discuss, but your attorney, he has an agenda." Why does the attorney have an agenda? >> Like why does the attorney have the agenda? I know I'm not the only one. staff members, administrators, uh, citizens in our community, put out the RFP. If you don't, it's going to really look bad on you. It's

103going to be clear which side you're on. And we know that this is a a spl I was I was happy when when OC resigned. I'm not going to lie. She uh Wilson knew about the whole Riverstone fiasco as well. He got the same email that the rest of the board got when Miller sent that email saying, "I want to go and put this test case in your district." Wilson was aware of it. He knew it would cause controversy. He should be resigning as well. I'm not even calling on him to do that. But I do know there are constituents that are >> 30 seconds. >> This is chaotic. This is nonsense. Uh as far as it goes with the first amendment, right? You're right. There's also this thing called the establishment clause. It separates

104church and state. This is a state entity. This is a public education public school board uh meeting, not not a Christian or private school board meeting. You can have your beliefs. I have mine. I I'm actually a veteran. I actually swore my a life to the Constitution and everything else to go and defend it. You know, you guys swear to it, uphold it. >> Thank you. >> Any others? >> That's all. >> Okay. So, number nine, action items. Item 9.01, 1 consideration and approval of the criteria and rubric for applicant screening and interviews for February 3rd, 2026, including authorization to interview a specified number of candidates. So, I guess we need to um do I have a motion to approve the criteria and rubric for applicant screening and interviews for February 3rd, 2026, including authorization

105to interview for number of candidates as presented. >> I don't know if AJ wanted to move to do it. I'll move I >> I move to accept this. AJ, >> you want a second? Go ahead. >> I think it's delayed. Sorry. >> Ann Bennett. >> I Mark Emery. >> Yes. >> Michelle Ericson. >> Hi. >> AJ Wilson. >> Hi. >> Motion carried. Attorney services. I move to issue a request for proposal for attorney services. >> I second it. >> And Bennett, >> no. >> Mark Emory, >> yes. >> Michelle Ericson, >> yes. >> AJ Wilson, >> no. >> So, with a tie vote, the motion does not pass, but it can be re considered at a later meeting. >> Item 9.03, 3 approval of adoption of the world language curriculum recommendation. Do I have a

106motion to accept that? >> I move to adopt the world language curriculum. >> Second and Bennett >> I. >> Mark Emmery. >> Yes. >> Michelle Ericson. >> Yes. >> AJ Wilson. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. Item 9.04, approval of theou between PCEA and public school district 70 regarding group and guest norms. Move to approve theou between PCA and public county school district 70 regarding group and guest norms as presented. >> So moved. >> I second. >> Anne Bennett. I >> Mark Emery. >> Yes. >> Michelle Ericson. >> Yes. AJ Wilson. Motion carried. Item 9.05 approval of the supervisor of HVAC and preventative maintenance job description. Move to approve the supervisor of HVAC and preventative maintenance job description as presented. I'll move. >> Do I have a second? I'll second >> and Bennett. >> Hi. >>

107Mark Emry. >> No. >> Michelle Ericson. >> No. >> AJ Wilson. >> Yes. >> With the tie vote. Again, this can be revisited at a later, but right now it's defeated. >> Item 10.01, One, approval of the consent agenda items. Move to approve the consent agenda as presented having been reviewed by the board. >> Thank you. >> I second. >> Ann Bennett? >> I. >> Mark Emry. >> Yes. >> Michelle Ericson. >> Yes. AJ Wilson. >> Motion carried. Okay. Item 11.01. A work session will be held on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. at the Educational Services Center 24951 East Highway 50, Colorado for the purpose of conducting interviews to fill the director to board vacancy. The next regular board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 10th, 2026 at the Educational Services Center. the

108same address beginning at 6 pm. The board is scheduled to vote on the director to board vacancy at this meeting. Adjourn the meeting. Do I have a motion? >> A second. >> Hen Bennett? >> Yes. >> Mark Emry? >> Yes. >> Michelle Ericson? >> Yes. >> AJ Wilson? >> Yes. >> Motion carried and it's 7:42 p.m.