001All right. Good evening and welcome to the December 9 meeting. I'd like to call the meeting to order and ask that you stand and 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. Hey, may I have a motion to approve the regular board meeting? >> So move. >> I second. >> John Christensen. >> Yay. >> Kathy Howen. >> Hi. >> An OJ. Yes. >> AJ Wilson. [clears throat] >> Motion carried. >> Okay. Our first order of business is to >> Madame President, could I interrupt here, please? Um, I don't feel that I said what I needed to say last week or last time and I would
002like to read something really quick. I guarantee it's less than three minutes >> and it's very short and I just want to the stakeholders to the families to the teachers to the administration and to the staff of D70 and congratulations to the new board members. I would like to express my appreciation for the vote of confidence that you gave me over four years ago. It's been such an honor to serve on the D70 school board and with such distinguished board members. While campaigning, my very first act of service representing children and parents was seeing a four-year-old boy and asking him if he was in preschool. His grandmother told me that they had submitted all the paperwork, but nothing had happened. He was lost in the system. And on a late Thursday afternoon, I was able
003to talk to Miss Cindy Kasing. And by next Wednesday, this little boy was enrolled in preschool. One and that's what I was still complaining. I wasn't even a board member yet. One of my last joys was in Mr. Mr. Janick's reading class when a young girl who was very initially very hesitant about reading out loud asked, "Can I read two pages, please? Please." What a joy that was and she's just a special little girl. There were trials, errors, positive and negatives. Each was a learning experience and I've learned some unforgettable lessons. A dear friend mentioned to me that people come into your life for a reason, a season or for a lifetime. And I know I've made some lifetime friends here and I'm very fortunate and I have definitely uh learned so much and appreciate
004my time spent among so many learned individuals. Thank you for the opportunity to provide this voice for children. >> Thank you very much. [applause] I'm going to excuse myself because I have another event. >> Okay, sounds good. Did you want to say anything or are you Okay, >> thanks. It's been a hell of a ride. [laughter] >> All right. >> Okay, so we'll begin. Um, so the first item is to swear in the new board members for director of district three, Michelle Ericson, director of district 4, Mark Emory, and director of district 5, Anne Bennett. Once the directors have been sworn in, they will take their seat at the board table and sign confidentiality affidavit. So, if I can have the three new board members um just come up to the podium and I'll go
005ahead and read the >> All right. Board members are officials of the state. As a public official, each board member must pledge to uphold the Colorado and the United States Constitution and carry out the responsibilities of the office to the best of the board's ability. Do you, Michelle Ericson, Mark Emory, and Anne Bennett solemnly swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Colorado, and that you will faithfully and impartially, to the best of your ability, discharge the duties as a school board member for district 3, District 4, and District 5 in PBlo County School District 70 as now and here after. >> You're good. We're good. >> Okay. If you may come take your seat at the board table. [applause] [applause] >> I have new
006ones, but they're not here yet. And Ann, I had notorized and signed all the confidentiality right before the meeting. >> Okay. >> Just to try to save time. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Wherever you want. tables come around. [snorts] >> Thank you. Thank you. >> for you guys. Okay. So, our first or excuse me, our next um item, we are going to elect the board president with a secret ballot vote. Um I'm going to go ahead and open the nominations. Um we do not need a second. It is not required on this. So I now um open nominations in the order of for the office of president. >> And I would like to nominate Ann Bennett. >> Do I hear any other nominations? >> I'd like to nominate Michelle Ericson. >> Okay. Seeing no other
007nominations for the office of president, it is now closed. And we will now hold the election for office of president by secret ballot. And you should have the board president ballot in front of you. And we're going to give these to you, right? >> Correct. [cough] >> [clears throat] >> I have a 3 to2 vote with Ann Bennett as the board president and you'll resume. You'll take over board president and take on the next nomination for vice president. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. We can switch seats if you'd like. >> I'm okay if you don't mind. Yeah, that's >> fine. Okay. >> All right. We'll now take nominations for board vice president with the secret ballot. Um, nominations are now in order for the office of vice president with no second required. I
008would like to nominate AJ Wilson for vice president. Are there any other nominations? >> I would like to nominate Mark Emory. >> Okay. So, we have AJ Wilson and Mark Emory. So, go ahead and take your form and go ahead and cast your vote. Sorry. Right. I have a 3 to2 vote with AJ Wilson as vice president. >> Okay, vice president. >> Congratulations. Um, our next item is the appointment of the board secretary. Can I have a motion to approve Kimberly Rain as board secretary? >> Okay. Um, and our next item is the >> Sorry, >> you're good. Um, so is AJ um and Bennett >> here? You'll say I or Yeah. I >> Mark Emry. >> Yes. >> Michelle Ericson. >> Hi. >> And O. >> Yay. >> AJ Wilson. >> Yay. >> Motion
009carried. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. Okay. So, our next um item is the appointment of the board treasurer. Um can I have a motion to approve Kimberly Rain as board treasurer? >> I second. Ann Bennett. >> Hi. >> Mark Emry. >> Yes. >> Michelle Ericson. >> And O. >> AJ Wilson. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Um the first gift item is a donation to Vinland Middle School. Mrs. long. >> Hi guys. Um, congratulations to our new board members. Uh, my name is Katie Long and I serve as the halftime school counselor at Finland Middle School. Um, I'm here tonight to accept a donation from Mininoqua Works Credit Union. Part of this gift will support our student of the month program at Vinand Middle School, allowing us to provide meaningful recognition to students nominated by
010their teachers for their hard work and character. Um, the remaining funds were awarded to a proposal from Mrs. Gorum, the PE teacher, and myself to build an outdoor permanent gaga pit at Vineland Middle School. This new space will increase opportunities for physical activity and give teachers another option for movementbased brain breaks that will help our students reset and stay engaged throughout the day. Um, so we just want to say thank you to Minoqua Works Credit Union uh for investing in our students and their wellness. >> Thank you, Katie. Thank you. Our next um gift item are donations to Publo County High School. Um and we're gonna be received by Mrs. Gordondo. I'd like to congratulate the new board members. Welcome aboard. I'm Laura Gordmando. I'm the academy coordinator at Pablo County High School and I'm
011here to um ex have you guys accept several gift items. Um the first on our list is a donation for $3,262.39 to PBLO County High School football, which um provided a charter bus for our boys football team to go to state playoffs. The next donation was $2,500 for our FFA um nationals trip. And I'd like to just take a moment um for those of you who don't know our um egg girls competed in livestock judging team at nationals in Indianapolis in October and we placed ninth in the nation. Ninth in the nation is a huge honor. State was a huge honor for us because we don't remember the last time that that ever happened. Um, but our girls competed against kids that have full-time judges for their livestock team. And we have our our advisor
012who's split in all different directions. Um, our top the top five in the nation have multiple um full-time coaches. So, for us to place ninth was amazing. Um we will be uh presenting them with a banner coming up in the next month or two and we would love to see you guys there when we do present that banner. >> Misso, who are the members of the team? >> Um well, of course you would ask that and I don't have that all of in my mind at the moment. Um but we had five girls that competed. Great. >> Yes. >> Um we have a donation of 1,28140 um from at Teco Foods for um two spirit buses that took up a bunch of our students to attend the playoffs. We had a donation of $750 to
013Public County High um boys basketball um team to um from Southern Colorado Clinic. Another $750 um donation to our boys basketball team from the Rocky Mountain Development Group. a donation of $750 um for boys basketball from TNT Electric and a donation of $500 for for our PBLO County cheer team who will be competing in nationals at the end of January. >> I'm I'm sorry to be I'm so interested. How did they get all these donations? >> Um you know what? Here's here's the deal. Like [laughter] we have We our kids our kids are little fundraising maniacs first of all, but we have a huge support network that like if I were to list all the people that actually helped with our FFA girls, like just because it wasn't monetary, we had ranchers that let our
014girls go out to their swine and their sheep and all [clears throat] hours of the night like nine o'clock at night going out to judge the steers. I mean, our community is amazing. We had at at tminus six hours, we had a phone call to Dr. Leone in Fowler to give the girls some confidence. I mean, it's just amazing the the the donations, whether it's time or money that our community provides. >> Thank you. >> Yep. Absolutely. >> Good job. >> Thank you. Um the next item is a donation to PBLO West High School JOTC. Um First Sergeant Lam Masteraster. >> Good evening. Uh my name is First Sergeant John Lam Masteraster. We had 1330 donated to us from Eagles, which we can't thank them enough. We partnered with them uh on a fundraising um
015on a on a fundraiser. Uh we did a car wash at the D70 online simultaneously had a poker tournament with Eagles. Uh we were able to uh to uh to raise money uh for our archery team. Uh all that 1330 uh has already been spent uh for 3D targets and arrows. Uh this is our second year um uh standing up a archery team >> and thank Eagles enough. >> That's great. Thank you. >> The next item is a donation to PBLO West High School Dance. Mr. Wymer. Hi, and I want to congratulate the board members >> again tonight. Um, my name is Brian Wymer. I'm assistant principal of PBLO West High School. And on behalf of the PBLO West High School and the dance team, we'd like to extend our sincere gratitude to Cyclone Car
016Wash for their generous $500 donation. Uh, their support will help defay the cost, the travel cost for our team as we prepare to compete at nationals. We truly appreciate their commitment to our students and their continued support of our community. Thank you. >> That's great. Thanks. Um, the next items are donations to Craraver Middle School and Rye Elementary School. Mr. Bombgardner. >> Yes. Hi and welcome and congratulations. >> Um, before I begin, I do want to make kind of a little bit of a statement what Laura made. Um, right now you guys are and gals are coming in to see a lot of um, support from the county. I'll tell you this, across our entire district, we have outpouring support from the mountain to west to out here in the county for all of our
017activities, athletics, and as well as within our schools. So, um we can't thank our community enough for all the things that they that they do. And yes, I'm here uh asking for um your grace in the Craraver Middle School. They received a JR storage uh donation of $1,000. Jody put this in elementary vocabulary, so I will be able to read it to all of you. It says here, "The contribution will help fund new picnic tables, update some recess equipment, uh custom craver backdrop, enhancing both student recreation and school spirit, along with some achievement recognition. We're also grateful that JR Storage Containers, the investment that they have put into Craraver Middle School and the community it serves. >> Can I continue? All right. >> Yes. >> All right. So, also to Craraver, the Valley Backpacks donated
018[cough] $690.33. Um these contributions from this valley backpack group um helps provide essential school supplies, folders, pencils, notebooks, and muchneeded classroom items to ensure students are equipped for success. The Valley Backpack organization uh is proud to help meet the needs of our local learners and strengthen our school communities. I could also say that same message is going to go for the elementary donation that was brought in um as well as the Valley backpacks and they got one penny more. Not sure why, but um maybe it was just that extra cost of that another eraser attached to that pencil. So >> yeah, >> questions. >> Thank you. Can I have a motion to accept the gifts as presented? >> President, may I make a statement first? >> Sure. >> I'd like to say how much I
019appreciate, first of all, the donations being presented and us getting to hear about the great things that are happening in our school district. We truly have the best students and best teachers. So, thank you. Thank you, sponsors. Thank you, principles. [applause] We appreciate Thank you for that, Mark. Um, so can I have a motion to accept the gifts as presented? >> So moved. >> I second. >> Okay. >> And so Ann Bennett, >> um, I >> Mark Emory, >> yes. >> Michelle Ericson, >> yes. >> And O, yes. >> AJ Wilson, yay. Motion carried. Great. Next is information from the board and superintendent. Let's start with um >> Oh, sorry. I missed one. Um our good news item is the PCA employee spotlight. Kate Paycheck. Hello. Um welcome to new members. I'm the Po County
020Education Association president. [cough and clears throat] Susie over there. She developed this last year. She came up with an idea for me for staff recognizing staff and so we have now started doing that. Um [cough] so I have two member nominated sorry staff members who were nominated by fellow PCA members. So first I have Brenda Veronica Manzanerys. Did I say that? I did. Oh, yay. And this is what her staff had to say. Brenda demonstrates remarkable leadership and dedication as a paraprofessional at Vinland Elementary. She brings patience, compassion, and a warm presence to every interaction, creating a supportive and positive learning environment where students feel safe, encouraged, and valued. Her colleagues consistently note her ability to anticipate needs and adapt to new challenges with grace. Brenda consistently goes above and beyond to help students thrive.
021Her professionalism, re reliability, and genuine care shine through in everything she does. Whether she's offering extra encouragement, supporting classroom routines, or stepping in to help wherever she's needed, her commitment to ensuring students feel seen and success makes her a truly valued member of the Vineland Elementary team. Brenda exemplifies District 70 and our PCA mission by showing dedication to high standards of service, collaboration, and student centered support. She uplifts those around her with her positive attitude and unwavering commitment to doing what's best for students and staff alike. Brenda's kindness and bright spirit make her a ray of sunshine in her school community. [applause] >> Thank you so much. And then um our next spotlight goes to Lindsay Jarvo. Lindsay is known for she's a teacher at Ry Elementary. Lindsay is known for genuine care, patience, enthusiasm,
022and creativity. She brings an extraordinary level of passion to her work, creating a classroom culture where students feel supported, respected, and empowered. Her colleagues and students consistently benefit from the steady encouragement and kindness she models every day. Lindsay has built a unique and effective system of classroom responsibilities that teaches students accountability, teamwork, and ownership of their learning environment. Each week, students choose meaningful roles such as lunch counter, cal leader, mail sorting and delivery, feeding the class pet, tech helper, paper passer, and more. Through these responsibilities, Lindsay helps students develop confidence, independence, and pride in their contributions. Many for former students continued to speak highly of her class, noting they felt wellprepared and confident thanks to her guidance. Lindsay exemplifies district 70 and PCA through her resilience, dedication, and commitment to fostering a supportive community. She
023serves as a positive example for students, colleagues, and families by consistently [clears throat] demonstrating strength of character, professionalism, and a belief in every child's potential. Her ongoing impact evident in years of well-prepared and confident students reflects the heart of what we stand for. >> Y [applause] are you guys are you guys judges? I thought you might have been [laughter] >> so young. Those are two of my daughters, Mark. >> Oh, >> yeah. [clears throat] >> Next is information from the board and superintendence. Let's start with Mr. Dietro and go around to the board members. >> Good evening. Again, I'd like to also welcome uh the new board members to uh the district. And not much to report today um other than I I do have a kind of an advertisement that Mr. Dilka at public
024county high school kind of put a plug in today that they are having their Winterfest uh performances next Monday and Tuesday. And so he said that if you're looking for a good holiday show to uh head out to Public County High School, I think he even makes a cameo appearance um in that as well. So um >> is he the Grinch? >> I think he plays an elf. >> Okay. Um, yes. But, uh, outside of that, just want to wish all of our district 70 families a merry Christmas and a happy holiday season. And hopefully our staff can get some much needed rest uh over the the twoe break. I know we just came off of uh Thanksgiving, but this is definitely a busy time of year, so hopefully they uh all can get a
025break and all of our kids have a a great holiday season. >> Well, welcome. It's It's nice to see uh all of you. It's nice to see some of you back. Um and we appreciate the service that you'll be giving our district and our kids. So, thank you. Thank you from our our community members. We appreciate you and we [snorts] appreciate the work that that you guys are continuing to do. So, thank you. Um, I'd also like to mention that um our our PCA and uh and Jen has been they've been working very hard to create a mentor program for our classified and our um focus on is on care pros and custodians. And so they're looking to create a mentorship program for that. And to do that, it sometimes takes a little bit of
026money. And so they were able to secure a $15,000 professional excellence grant. Uh and they just found out that they received that today. Uh they did a presentation in Washington DC in October. And so uh we're excited to begin that um that mentorship program and it's its goal is to help us to support our our parapros, our custodial staff and retain them by giving them the training that they actually need in order to do their jobs. So, we're excited to begin that program as as soon as possible. So, congratulations on receiving the grant. [applause] And I'd also like to say that you I hope that everybody had a happy Thanksgiving and I hope that um we have a a great holiday break. It can be a hard time for a lot of people and so
027I just try to keep all of our little kids in our hearts and in our thoughts because sometimes it's tough time and we just hope for the best for everybody. >> I would like to congratulate you all for coming onto the board and they say this is a thankless job so let me be the first to say thank you. Um, it's it's exciting and I'm excited to kind of be able to brainstorm with you guys and get some new ideas and see what we can do to improve the district for these kids. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thank you all. I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to serve our community. Um I represent Rye and some of the Mesa, but um just really looking forward to working with you all and to serving our
028kids, our families, and our community. >> I'd just like to welcome you guys and um I look forward to working with you and um hope that everybody has a great holiday season and our teachers and staff and students can get some rest. >> Well, it's wonderful to be back. I I am so excited. I walked through the door and as the board meeting was starting, as called it to order, I remembered all these board members that were sitting right here and I swore them in. And it's wonderful to be back amongst the group to help. Our students are wonderful teachers and uh I think we can continue the [clears throat] success and the excellence in district 70. >> Well said, Mark. Um well um again, thank you so much uh for being here this evening.
029Um I am very excited to serve um on uh the school board um and to work on behalf of our students, our staff, and our community. I think we just have I mean we I'm so proud to be um a you know to be part of district 70. This is something that I mean I've had the opportunity to teach in district 70 for um many decades and have really enjoyed it and I feel like this is my opportunity to give back and to um share as you mentioned new ideas and um work work forward and work for um just a a really positive experience for our students and for our um amazing teachers as you mentioned um several of you and just really excited and I'm ready to get to work. So, it's going to
030be it's going to be a really um it's a wonderful opportunity to to give back. So, and by the way, that's what I've always taught my students. So, I'm ready to do it myself also. >> Okay. Up for discussion. Item 7.01 01 is a presentation of the PBLO West High School junior ROC rifle train rifle team trip by first sergeant LM masteraster. >> Hello again board members. I'm requesting your approval to take five uh cadetses to Sandy Utah to compete at the JOTC air rifle regional championships from 4 to 8th February. Uh the cadets will miss two days of school and will coordinate ahead of time for any missed work. Uh we will be staying at the Holiday in Express in South Jordan. All expenses are paid for by US Cadet Command. There will be
031no out-ofpocket expenses to the cadetses. Uh we do encourage them to bring a little bit of spending money for snacks and uh souvenirs. You know how high school kids could eat. Uh pending your questions. That's that's all I have. >> First sergeant, what is the competition? >> It's a uh air rifle competition, sir. >> So is it a regional competition? >> Regional championships. Yes, sir. championship. >> Yes, sir. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> And of the students that you're taking, how many are juniors, seniors? >> I can tell you male and female. Uh I'm sitting in for First Sergeant Diller. We are taking um three males, one of which is a freshman. I know that. So, he's a first year shooter. And then two females that are seniors and two juniors. So, it all
032>> May I ask another question? >> Yes, sir. >> How much do those rifles cost? Uh, sir, I'm signed for 15 of them and I have no idea. >> We were just watching how it's made and they showed how they made those and they're so cool. >> Yes, sir. We just received they're the new Crossman uh I think 1580s and uh they shoot well. Um, but we still practice with the old Crossman. >> It's awesome. So, >> yeah, we're super excited. >> Got any questions? That's all I have. >> Questions? Sounds cool. >> Thank you. >> Have a great evening. >> Item 7.02 is a presentation of the Swallows Charter Academy annual report by Mr. Hawin. >> Well, good evening members of the board. Uh, congratulations to board members. Uh, my name is Matt Hawin.
033I'm the principal of Swall Charter Academy. Uh, I've been there for about 14 years now. Um, it's crazy to say out loud. Um but uh I'm grateful to be here. Just to give you a quick annual report of what we've been up to as well as charter academy for the last year. Just to report that to the board. Um so first and foremost want to say that we uh we were excited to receive the performance rating for both our K8 and our high school um for the both of those schools. We received those banners just a few weeks ago and we're excited to put those up in our gymnasium. Um that that goes all the credit goes to our teachers and our support staff and everything that they do uh within the walls of of
034of our school. Um, our athletics, we are excited to bring home a a state champion, Kaylee Pearson, who won the 2A state long jump title last season. So, now we have two banners in our in our rafters for our for our athletics. So, you know, we're getting things going. We're hoping for three this year. So, we're we're excited for our athletics department. Um, as far as our our academics go, um, when we looked at our data for last year, we we noticed a need for um an improvement in our writing across the board through our K12. And so we looked at our curriculum, Step Up to Writing, that we've been using for many years. We realized we needed to kind of revamp that and we were actually able to fly out a Step Up to
035Writing trainer to do a full day training for our uh staff from kindergarten to 12th grade to to align what's been going on um between each grade level. And so we are seeing lots of great things from our teachers um and hope hoping that that will make some um a good difference in the writing within our school. Uh we are we're also able to uh send one of our staff members to a train the trainer um for step up to writing. So we have somebody on staff that can um help our teachers as we as we implement writing um and and kind of raise the rigor of our writing um across our school. Um as far as our early college program uh back back in May, we were able to graduate 35 uh 34 high
036school seniors. And of those 34 seniors, uh, seven of them, seven of them, um, received associates degrees, eight of them received, um, professional certificates for the trades, and as a whole, they um were able to earn 2,25 college credits, which we are, uh, very proud of for them. Currently, we have um 82 of our high school students that are attending CESU Publo, uh, 45 that are attending PBLO Community College, and one student that's at Intellletch. Uh we also are able to have many more students um take online college uh courses on campus as well as um some of our staff are able to teach for um college credit on campus as well. So lots of opportunities for kids to receive early college. Um as far as on our enrollment, uh we currently stand at 890
037uh full-time K12 students. Uh 705 of those are K8 and 185 of those are uh grades 9 through 12. Um we maintain a strong weight list at nearly every grade level. Um and we were able to lift our caps of our high school enrollment a few years ago. So we've been able to see the the largest high school enrollment that we've had with 185. Uh so we're hoping that that will um help spill over into our early college program since [cough] early college that are ready for it. Um, as far as our staffing, we are currently uh fully staffed with over 70 employees and we were able to welcome a a new board me member to our parent board uh Jennifer Reese and we're grateful [cough] for her and we're [clears throat] grateful for all
038board members that that give of your time and and and serve uh for on our students behalf. Um the big thing we've been working on is our facilities development with of our new preschool. We're able to u purchase the land across the street from Swallow Charter Academy to build a new preschool. Uh we were hoping to break ground last month when we've had a few hurdles in the way. Uh we are working with the county on road curb and and gutter requirements as well as we've put in a out a solicitation to purchase water rights which is a pretty tricky thing as I have learned is the water rights and who thought I don't know I but um we are working on that. uh we're getting close to an agreement on that and so we
039are hoping um to be able to break ground u by this May and to open the uh preschool by August of 2027. Um as far as financially, we have uh obviously we uh successfully refinanced our current bonds to fund our preschool project and we currently maintain 185 days of cash on hand and we are uh 10 students over our projected enrollment um for this year. So that's g has given us a pretty healthy uh budget outlook. And um we just want to say we're grateful for the partnership that we have with district 70. We're going on 30 years that we've been working with district 70. We're so grateful for the partnership that we have with you. I'm grateful for many many faces in this room that have helped me along the way. And we hope
040to continue that relationship and just know that SCA stands ready if the there's anything the district needs. So thank you so much. If anybody has any questions or >> I had the opportunity a few years ago to uh Dr. Compton gave me a tour of the school. It was impressive then and it sounds like it's even more impressive now. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, absolutely. We we hope to expand and and um but uh you know we couldn't do it with a great relationship with with the district. So we appreciate all your support as well. Couldn't do what we do. So all right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Item 7.03 is a presentation of the revisions to the registered behavior technician job description. Um, and Mrs. Russell. >> Good evening. Welcome members. Um, good evening,
041Madam President, members of the board. Um, tonight I'm presenting a revision to a job description for a registered behavior technician. Um, our current job description is from 2018 and um, needed some some updating in format and details. So, presenting to you that tonight. This is a position that does require an associates degree. Um, we would prefer a bachelor's degree for the position. It also requires the registered behavior technician certification and ongoing supervision from a board-certified behavior analyst. Um, I did work with the director of exceptional student services to update all of the essential functions to align with the registered behavior technician daily job duties. So that is the revision to the job [cough] description [clears throat] presented to you. Any questions? Any questions? Thank you. Item 7.04 is a present. Oh, did that one. Item
0427.5 is a presentation of the memo restricted fund balance operating reserve. >> I am so sorry. presentation of the revisions to the 25 2026 student special services um salary schedule with Mr. Wagner. >> Thank you. Good evening board. Congratulations to the new members. I look really look forward to working with all of you in the future. We have some exciting things ahead. Um I'd also like to thank Swallows. It can be hard for districts to work with charters and they're they're always super easy to work with. So thank you for that. Um you should have the memo in front of you. Um, as far it's the 2526 special student services salary schedule. So, we added the column on the right for the registered behavior special or registered behavior technicians. They currently were in the specialist
043assistant athletic trainer column. Um, but based on the new qualifications that Miss Russell just presented, we added that column. So, that's what this change is about. >> Okay. >> Any questions? Okay. So again from Mr. Wagner um item 7.05 is a presentation of the memo restricted fund balance operating reserve. Okay. And again the memo's in front of you. Um this has actually been board policy. It's just never shown on our books. Um so just to make our audit more transparent, I'd like to add this as a restricted fund balance on our financial statements just so it shows. So it actually is board policy and we're not changing anything. All we're doing is showing it on our financial statements as restricted and it does match the state. The constitution says with Taber we have to have
044a 3% um dollar amount on there. So this is exactly the same as Taber. So it'll show twice Taber and then the board policy. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Any questions? >> Thank you. Item 8.01 is open forum. Do we have any comments this evening? comments and wants to go first. You'll get three minutes on [cough] piece of paper for the board to go along with my speech. >> Thank you. >> This all based on Yep. >> Good evening and welcome new board members. I'm Chris Sutton. [snorts] Like many in this room, I have been a part of this D70 community for decades and have a vested interest in the success of our school district. Not only do I want my children to excel, but I want all children and all students in our neighborhoods
045throughout our communities to succeed. Because the correlation between the prosperity of education and the society is well known, the importance of public education cannot be understated. Unfortunately, as you likely well know, our district continues to struggle with adequate funding. Because of this, fiscal responsibility is a necessity. Wasting money and resources on cultural, partisan, or hidden agendas only serves to hurt our students. Please ensure focus on our students and teachers. Also, I ask that you take no offense when I echo a request I made years ago. I ask that you all serve with transparency, integrity, and accountability. I ask you stay in your lane and focus on the needs of the roughly 10,000 students you serve. I also ask you to evaluate your legal counsel and the financial burden tied to Brad Miller. [clears throat] Years
046ago, after the new board was elected, legal counsel was fired and Brad Miller was hired in their in their place. After only four months, Mr. Miller had uh and his law firm build the district for about $40,000, which was more than had been the the entire year prior. In 2022, I created the Miller Meter, hoping to bring attention to this matter. Using the graphic, I predicted that with this new attorney, the district would pay over $100,000 in legal fees by the end of that year. Today, I present to you an updated Miller meter. As you can see, my prediction was accurate. Brad Miller and his firm have charged this district an average of over $100,000 a year. How much of that was so that Brad Miller could push his personal agenda? How much of that
047cost was due to bad legal console or counsel? What cost is this new board willing to incur on behalf of Brad Miller and his agenda? Will Brad Miller continue to profit off of this district while pushing his anti-public education agenda? Will any of you be signing a secret sixfigured salaried contract in an apparent quidd proquo? Will you be putting the needs of the roughly 10,000 students ahead of your own personal agendas? These are questions I ask you to reflect upon. And with that, I truly want to share my optimism and hope that you will uh ser all serve productive and successful terms. I wish you all luck. Thank you. >> [cough] >> I have serious concerns about the lack of transparency and conflicts of interest surrounding anou the district 70 board approved back in June.
048Theou allowed erosce to place a school called Riverstone Academy within our boundaries. According to recent news articles, there's an email that suggests Riverstone was created because a group called ADF asked Brad Miller to help them initiate a case to test legal boundaries around using taxpayer money to fund religious education. Mr. Miller is the lawyer for both D70 and erosce. The article said Mr. Miller sent the email to our board detailing this background on June 4th and that board president Anne OC replied just four minutes later. At the next board meeting, theou was introduced and read aloud. Neither the board members nor the nor the language of theou itself mentioned the religious nature of the school or its true purpose of initiating a lawsuit. Two weeks later at the following board meeting, all members voted to
049approve theou with no further discussion. Now, I think the lack of transparency and ethics and how thisou was created and handled are a problem. I think that Mr. Miller representing and being paid by everyone involved while working to advocate for a third party is a problem. But wait, there's more. Because the midst of all this, Miss O was also offered a full-time job with a six-figure salary working at er Boseis. And that job offer came from the supervisor of that position, Trevor Miller, son of Brad Miller. Let me recap the timeline. June 4th, Brad Miller emails the board about theou and the reason for it. June 9th, Anne O accepts a job with erosce. June 10th, the board introduces theou but says nothing about the background of it. June 24th, the whole board votes to
050approve theou. Now, not only did Ms. Oo not recuse herself from voting on a matter involving her new employer, she also never disclosed any conflict of interest. In fact, when the press caught wind, a reporter reached out to the board, and Ms. Oo claimed she hadn't even interviewed for the position until after the vote. But the vote was on June 24th, and she signed her contract on June 9th. She also suggested she had no prior knowledge of the controversy Riverstone would create, claiming she didn't think religious curriculum made the school a religious school. And later, when asked about that email she'd gotten from Mr. Miller, she deflected, noting, "I don't get paid for this position. This is an elected position. I make my vote depending on what I feel is right." Shame on all involved
051for using their positions to quietly [clears throat and snorts] sneak this controversy into our community. Not to advocate for D70, but on behalf of a completely outside group. I ask the new board to look closely into Mr. Miller. Seriously, just Google him and consider his motives and impact on our district. And Miss O, your lack of transparency and misleading statements are beyond disappointing. Your constituent should not have to learn about a serious conflict of interest from a news article months after the fact. But you're right, this isn't a paid position. So, I'm asking you to end your conflict of interest now, resign from this board, and just take your salary with erosce. And as always, I ask that all our board members commit to transparency and accountability and integrity while representing district 70. I also
052have a packet with um all documentation and evidence for all claims in my speech that I'd like to give you. I'd like to respond. >> I'd like to respond. >> First off, I didn't start with the aroseis until July 1st. Secondly, I have to work for a living and this had nothing to do with Riverstone. I don't work with Riverstone. I didn't even know about Riverstone being one of the programs. So, I would just like to say that you know what? You're getting your wish come true because I was planning on resigning anyway. >> Thank you. >> I'm done. I'm out here. Obviously, I'm new to the board, but I would like to say as somebody that has been a member of the community and has been on the outside that um I'd like to
053thank Ann for her service. She's done a phenomenal job and I think that um she really along with all of the board members really do deserve um just some some compassion for the difficulty in the role that they've they've walked through um going forward. I will say that I am happy to hear from the community but I won't tolerate personal attacks. Um, obviously you do have a right to to bring forth your your um your concerns. So, moving on. Um, item 9.01 is the approval of the tenative agreement between PCEA and District 70 regarding a horizontal movement article 16-2, 16-9, and 17-3 with Mrs. Russell. Yes, I would recommend that the board approve the tenative agreement on horizontal movement as previously presented. >> So moved. >> I have a second. >> A second. >> An
054Bennett. >> Hi. >> Mark Emry. >> Yes. >> Michelle Ericson. >> Hi. >> AJ Wilson. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Okay. Item 9.02 2 is approval of the tentative agreement between PCEA and district 70 regarding classified um evaluations article 14-5. Mrs. Ruffle, Mrs. Russell, excuse me. >> I would recommend that the board approve the tenative agreement regarding classified evaluations as previously presented. >> So moved. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Do I have a motion to approve the agreement? Mark uh Ann Bennett. >> Hi. >> Mark Emery. >> Yes. >> Michelle Ericson. >> Hi. >> AJ Wilson. >> Yay. >> Motion carried. >> Item 10 is approval of the consent agenda items. Is there a motion to approve these items? >> Second. >> And Bennett. I >> Mark Emory. >> Yes. >> Michelle Ericson. >> Yes.
055>> AJ Wilson. >> Motion carried. >> Item 10.01. The next board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 13th. >> Consent agenda. Sorry. >> Sorry. >> It's all right. So, the next item will be consent agenda. >> I also had three on there. Oh, so it's theou that we need to do. Number three. 9.03 >> on the sorry I was like I missed one >> 9.03 >> item 9.03 is approval of theou between PCA and district 70 regarding literacy testing days. Mrs. Russell, >> I would recommend that the board approve theou regarding literacy testing days as previously suggested. >> So Miss Russell, does this mean the testing days come back to the elementary school teachers? We will continue discussion after feedback from our teachers and make a decision what that looks like for next school year
056for the calendar. >> Thank you. >> Do I have a motion to approve the >> move Bennett? >> I >> Mark Emory. >> Yes. >> Michelle Ericson. >> Yes. >> Agent Wilson. >> Motion carried. >> Okay. 10.01. The next board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 13, 2026 at the Educational Services Center, 24951 East Highway 50, Po, Colorado, beginning at 6:00 p.m. Our regular board meeting is now adjourned.