001[music] >> Mhm. Mhm. >> [music] [music] >> Good evening and welcome to the business meeting for the Board of Education of Greeley Evans School District 6. This meeting will now come to order. Please stand and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge I pledge allegiance 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. Ms. Lemon, will you please call the roll? Director Azari? Present. Director Bentley? Present. Director Campos-Pietri? Present. Director Edmonds? Present. Director Lemos-Garcia? Present. Director Mash? Present. Director Roggy? Present. All board members present. Thank you, and I'd also like to welcome our student representatives from our Council of Representatives, um Sara Venegas and Abby Tovar. And I believe we only have like two
002more meetings with you guys, but we'll look forward to the next the next wave of students that you bring up. Um well, we have spent our uh work session looking at our budget uh projections for next school year, and also looking at the very many um pieces of legislation that are before um our Colorado Congress that may affect education. So, um as you may know, one of the primary roles of the Board of Education is to approve the the budget for the school district. And we're um you know, we have all the confidence in our team, um Ms. Megan Spangler and Dr. Pilch and her team to um try to make any cuts that we need to make this year as strategic as possible and as far away from the classroom and our teachers. Um
003so, that is a very big task. Um we really appreciate um we got a little school finance 101, which is always um sort of changing at the legislative level. Um so, we are are learning more and more about that. Um Just wanted to encourage all of our students, especially our seniors, as you're entering the last few weeks, and um as I tell my own senior, you got to finish hard, straight through that finish line. Um you've all been working so hard, so best wishes. And now we will approve the agenda for the evening. Which is an action item. I move that the Board of Education of Greeley Evans School District 6 approves the agenda as presented. Second. Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, Ms. Lemon, will you please give us a vote.
004Director Azari? Aye. Director Bentley? Aye. Director Campos-Pietri? Aye. Director Edmonds? Aye. Director Lemos-Garcia? Aye. Director Mash? Aye. Director Roggy? Aye. Motion carries 7-0. All right. Um it is now um time to hear from Dr. Pilch with her superintendent's, um, honor roll. Thank you, President Mash. Um, it is an honor tonight to introduce some new hires that we have here in the district as part of my, um, um honor roll, not comments. But, I just have one item for tonight. Um, we are going to recognize, uh, a very prestigious honor, um, and I'm I'm excited to announce that we do have a Boettcher Scholar here in District 6. And so, um, I think some of you know that since 1952 the Boettcher Scholarship Program has existed to keep Colorado's most talented students here rather than leaving
005the state of Colorado. Um, and so scholars receive this award based on academic service, leadership and character. So, in addition to receiving 80,000 in scholarship awards, um scholars are also assisted with other institutional and merit or needs-based rewards once they select their campus here in Colorado. It's a very comprehensive scholarship and it's very competitive. Hundreds of students throughout Colorado apply and, um, we're just so lucky to have Sophia Vasquez here tonight as our Boettcher Scholar. And so, um we will be we will be honoring her and congratulating her. Sophia is a senior at Greeley West High School. Um, she had she was selected for having a heart for giving back to those around her and has created a nonprofit named The Supply Box Initiative which provides hygiene products, clothing, shoes, feminine products, and backpacks to
006the homeless population. Sophia plans to attend the University of Denver or the University of Colorado for, uh, social legal studies and she plans to eventually pursue a degree in law. So, I want to congratulate you, Sophia, and invite you up to the podium with me. Thank you, Sophia. Okay, good. Um, first off, I want to thank you guys so much, uh, for recognizing a silent leader like me. And, um, I'm very proud to represent, uh, District 6. I also want to give a special shout-out to Maplewood and Heath Middle School as well as Greeley West because those are all places that have shaped who I am as a person and have, um just just shaped all the involvements, uh, that I'm in. So, thank you guys so much. Congratulations, Sophia, and best wishes. Um, continuing
007on with our celebrations, we have a proclamation. Um Sorry, I keep losing my place. Proclamation for Educator Appreciation Days. So, this is an action item which requires a motion. All right, I'll I'll go ahead and move. [laughter] I move that the Board of Education of Greeley-Evans School District 6 adopts the honorary proclamation declaring that Educator Appreciation Days be celebrated in the district during spring 2026. Second. Thank you, both. And I will ask Director Lemos Garcia if she would read that proclamation for us. Yes. Honorary Proclamation of the Board of Education of Weld County School District 6. Educator Appreciation Days. Whereas a well-educated public is essential to preservation of our national freedom and our democratic system of government. And whereas the people of the United States have recognized that free access to public education for all
008children is a vital component of a strong and vibrant country. And whereas the Board of Education recognizes and honors the important impact that teachers and staff have on our children's education. And whereas a rich and well-rounded education includes curriculum, instruction, and support for the physical health and well-being of our children. And whereas children's education and the success of their schools is also dependent upon exceptional and dedicated leadership at the school and district level. And whereas it is appropriate that teachers, staff, and educational leaders be publicly recognized for their dedication and commitment to educating and supporting all students. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Education of Weld County School District 6 proclaims the following national recognition dates to be celebrated and recognized in our local schools and communities of Greeley and Evans, Colorado
009during the spring of 2026. Assistant Principals Week, April 6th through 10th, 2026. Administrative Professionals Day, April 22nd, 2026. School Lunch Hero Day, May 1st, 2026. School Principals Day, May 1st, 2026. Physical Education and Sport Week, May 1st through 7th, 2026. Teacher Appreciation Week, May 4th through the 8th, 2026. And School Nurse Day, May 6th, 2026. Thank you very much. Um, is there any discussion on the motion? Di- Director Campos-Spitze. So, one of my favorite proclamations of the year is recognizing our educators from all aspects of the building, from leadership down to, um, our nurse who I know my daughter visits frequently, probably too frequently. I think she makes up reasons to go see the nurse. Um, but just wanted to, uh there's a quote that Dr. Deirdre Pilch uses often and it's, um, "Lead from
010the seat you're in." And I see our from our administrators down to our teachers, you all lead from the seat you're in. Es- especially our classroom teachers who can, you know, control a classroom and and have that type of classroom management and not just keep our kids safe, but teach them and and, uh, teach them to to read and to write. Um As as the teachers and the building administrators know, we hired WestEd, a consulting firm, um, to talk about how we might do better in our foundational skills. And I the video that Dr. Pilch shared with staff was also shared with the board, um, including, uh, the consultant's comments. And I just wrote some of them because they were beautiful. And one is that teachers know from their vast years of expertise what it
011takes to teach children to read. And she's talking about teachers here, like teachers in District 6 know. Um, she talked about how the classroom structures and routines are strong and in place. And she said in every classroom in which we visited, teachers were teaching, children were engaged, and she said she saw some of the strongest routine she'd ever seen in her career, um, in our classrooms. And so, it was a proud moment for me to see that video and to know that, uh, we have masters of of our craft in this district. And, um you know, we can always improve, but it it was wonderful to hear, uh our educators being recognized. Um, I just took a picture of all the different weeks because that's a lot of different gift cards to buy. But, I
012would [laughter] encourage, uh, parents and fans of District 6 to to go out and get some gift cards from local businesses and, um, shower our educators with gratitude that way. Um, I know it is a demanding job that you all have, um, but I hope it is rewarding as as you make it look. Uh, so thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart. Ms. Venegas. Thank you, President Mash. I just want to give a little student point of view, right? And say thank you to all of our wonderful teachers, professors, staff, every single person who's in that building helping students be better people. Cuz not only do teachers, yes, they teach you how to read and they teach you how to get a higher education, right? They teach you how to be good
013people. They teach you how to be better and bigger than you maybe ever imagined you would be. And so, our teachers are just amazing. And I like how you mentioned your daughter visiting the nurse very often, that's me, too. Our nurse at UCA is also named Sarah with no H. And so, we call each other Miss Sarah, that's a little joke we have. And so, our teachers are just so amazing and they truly teach us students as much as we teach them, too. Thank you. >> [snorts] >> Thank [clears throat] you. Director Edmonds. Yeah, I I, um li- listening through this proclamation, I think the the one piece that really stuck out to me was the very first line, which is a well-educated public is essential to the preservation of our national freedom and our
014democratic system of government. It it may make it sound like it's a, you know, bigger than it is, but it's actually a huge deal. Like what what public education does for our communities, what it does for our country, but also what it does for the kids in the classroom. [laughter] Just to know that having the ability to read um gives such a a better chance of success in life. The ability to understand math when they're going about their day-to-day lives, but also the opportunity to be a part of a community and be a part of something bigger uh than themselves. Uh it just is so many important foundational things that I know what I didn't recognize it when I was in school. You know, I was just ready to get to that senior year, but
015just knowing what all these these people go through every day to make sure their kids are they're well. The our administrative professionals who have to, you know, make sure everything's good in the front office and let and let people in the building and be that that first face that a lot of people see, or the assistant principals that have to step in when the principal is is juggling seven different things and the assistant principals are juggling themselves and and our our lunch hero uh workers that making sure that 22,000 meals are fed every single day for our students. It's just It's just incredible to see. And so, I'm so appreciative as a parent of students in this district, but also a member of this community to then know that we have something really special here
016and it's because of the people that are taking are choosing to make District 6 their their place where they work, where they where they they call their community. And so, just thank you um for that day in and day out uh commitment, but also um you're almost to to summer break, so I know that these days are a little tough. And so, this obviously come during the the crunch of the the school year, but um we really do appreciate all that you do for for District 6. Well, thank you all. I think we're excited to pass this proclamation and this will be my last one of these um as a parent of a student in the district. So, I also wanted to just thank all of the adults who have touched my two children's lives
017over the past I guess 14 years now, right? Or 15. Anyway, um thank you all so much. We are very pleased to honor you in this way. Ms. Lemon, will you please give us a roll? Director Zaire? I. Director Bentley? I. Director Campos-Peltz? I. Director Edmonds? [clears throat] I. Director Lemus-Garcia? I. Director Mash? I. Director Roggy? I. Motion carries 7-0. For dinner this evening, we were served by our nutrition specialists here at District 6. We had fabulous fish and beef tacos. Many of the um sauces were made in-house. And so, I would like to invite our um kitchen managers and specialists D. Meza, Claudia Fernandez, Maria Saldivar, Madeleine Rocha, and Jennifer Klein-Bullock to come and receive this. Okay, thank you so much. >> [snorts] >> Okay. Right. And now, Dr. Pilch, will you give us
018your superintendent's report? Thank you, President Mash. I have I first want to report that uh dinner was delicious provided by our nutrition services. And isn't it perfect that they fed us tonight and then we get to honor them um as part of the the proclamation. And I also get to recommend some new assistant principal hires to you. And so, know that although you're not in the role yet, well, some of you are, but although you're not in your new role yet, uh that we honor you and and we see you and um I I am am excited to introduce some folks who are moving jobs here in District 6 and some who are uh new to their positions. So, first I want to introduce Cassie Gonzales, who is a current assistant principal of our online
019academy, and I'm recommending her for hire as the assistant principal at Jackson Elementary School. HI, CASSIE. THANKS, CASSIE. AND THANK YOU FOR serving here. And then I want to introduce to you uh Kendra Mueller, who you all may know is the current assistant principal at Centennial Middle School. And she had applied and competed to go over to Ann K. Heiman Elementary as an assistant principal. And so, uh we we we're excited to have Kendra go. It's It's unusual to for an assistant principal move to another assistant principal role, but Kendra wanted another experience uh and wanted to to learn from the famous Ann Ramirez. So, thank you, Kendra. And then coming new to our district is Ransom Gates. Ransom, you can stand up, let them see you. He will be our new assistant principal at
020Maplewood Elementary School. Uh Ransom comes to us having been a teacher and an instructional coach um in Weld RE-1 and uh he has also served in Adams 12. So, welcome, Ransom. >> [applause] >> And then finally, uh we have a new assistant principal athletic director recommendation for you for Greeley West High School. I'm pleased to introduce Jacob Perez. Hi, Jacob. Um so, Jacob has just been at Winograd uh this past year as the dean of students. So, we haven't had a chance to work with him a lot of years, but prior to that, he was an uh middle school English and language arts and journalism teacher in another district. He also served in the United States Marine Corps uh reserve. So, welcome, Jacob. We're We're excited to have you as the new APAD AT GREELEY
021WEST. UM AND THEN I'LL JUST SHARE A couple more things real quickly. One, just a reminder that to to everyone that assuming we cancel the June the second June board meeting, we just have two school board meetings left this school year. Our May and our our June meetings. Wait, do we have another April one? We have three. We have April, May, and June. I was getting ahead of myself. Okay. Two more months after this month, though. Um and then I wanted just to remind you all, I I didn't mention it in the work session, that uh the celebration of life for Bob and Betty Toynton is April 23rd at 1:30 in the afternoon at Union Colony Civic Center. And then following that will be a reception at the DoubleTree. So, um I know that many
022of us in the education community will want to come out to honor Bob and Betty's passing. Um and then finally, uh Dr. Campos-Peltz mentioned the the literacy work and the literacy video. Um I was just going to to remind staff that if you haven't taken a look at that video, it's an update from Misty from WestEd and and me on the video. And we uh we are kind of wrapping up this first part and this first phase of of the literacy uh initiative. And then we're getting ready to launch into the next phase of that. And so, what we'll be doing next is working with a a core te- team of us who are the decision-makers um who will be taking advice from four other teams that are doing work uh in this initiative. And
023then they'll give us some advice and then we'll make some decisions about which things to prioritize first. We did make the decision to to do some work across the system rather than picking a few schools to pilot some of the work. We felt like we'd go broader first and then go deeper because I I think everybody is ready. I'm I see lots of excitement and and energy around staff being ready to do this work and wanting to do this work. And so, uh we need we need to do it now and and take care of everybody in the system. So, um we're looking forward to that and and I'll have more for you before the end of the school year, before that last June meeting, I'll have more for you to update you on that.
024And then we'll, of course, keep you updated just as we will staff as we go forward. So, thank you very much. Thank you. The next item on our agenda is our Innovation 2030 update, student learning and achievement goal one, concurrent enrollment opportunities. [laughter] And I will invite Mr. Osmus to to the to the podium. Thank you. Good evening, President Mash, members of the board, Dr. Pilch, and our council of student reps. It's our pleasure tonight to give you an update on concurrent enrollment in our district. Um it's a high priority to get our students college and career ready. And concurrent enrollment is is a very important part of that work. Essentially, concurrent enrollment means you are taking classes and receiving both high school credit and college credits. And Jordan will talk a little bit more
025about that in his part of the presentation. Jenny Shell Jenny Shelline, our director of career and technical education, could not be here tonight, but we do have Jordan Carlberg, our career pathway specialist, and two amazing students that will share their journey with us tonight. This work is grounded in our mission and our vision that both support students and families in their college and career readiness journey. As a result, we have moved our on-time graduation to over 90%. Where we now have many more students that are ready for their college and career path. Let me walk you through where this lives in our strategic plan. Our strategic plan has four focus areas and captures all of the major work in our district. Providing concurrent enrollment opportunities is found in the student learning and achievements focus area,
026where we engage all students in a challenging and personalized learning plan to prepare our students to be college and career ready. Our main goal in this work is to provide a personalized learning experience so all students graduate on time and are college and career ready. The outcome that we set for this work is that by 2028, 90% of students in grade 6 to 12 will include a college and career path and an academic course of study in their personalized learning plan. We track this progress in Zello and we are on track to achieving this goal. When students take concurrent enrollment, three things happen. First, this reduces financial barriers to higher education. College can be expensive and taking and earning credits while you're in high school makes a difference. We have students coming out of our
027high schools with many credits under their belt. We also know that taking concurrent enrollment classes builds confidence and college readiness. Many students may not see themselves as college material due to lack of exposure and support. Concurrent Concurrent enrollment gives our students the opportunity to experience college-level coursework in a supportive high school setting. And lastly, concurrent enrollment accelerates career pathways and workforce readiness. For students who may not pursue a traditional four-year college experience, concurrent concurrent enrollment can provide access to career and technical education courses or CTE and industry certifications. This early exposure gives students a clear pathway for a career. And finally, one of our major action steps is to increase the opportunities for students to take concurrent courses by discussing these with students and parents, uh training on how to enroll in these courses and
028then also create stronger relationships with our post-secondary institutions. To increase the number of students that attend college after high school, this year we've intentionally worked with worked to strengthen our partnerships between District 6, Aims, and UNC to get students directly admitted to college during their senior year. For this first year, we committed to two things. One, removing any barriers such as application fees and paperwork to get early notification and financial aid packages. And the second was to increase equity and access by targeting students who may not see themselves as college material. >> [snorts] >> All in all, students in District 6 are very fortunate to have the opportunity to earn college credits while in high school and have both Aims and UNC right here in our backyard. To share more about our programs and our
029data, here is Jordan Carlberg. >> [clears throat] >> Uh thank you, Mr. Asmus, and good evening. Um here are concurrent enrollment highlights from this school year. There were 1,248 students that participated in concurrent enrollment who registered for over 4,000 individual college courses, earning approximately 12,714 college credits. This is a cost savings of over $900,000 for our students and families. And additionally, 52% of our concurrent enrollment offered within District 6 was within the career and technical education pathways. Concurrent enrollment provides high school students the opportunity to enroll and guaranteed transfer or CTE pathway courses um to earn college credit. Students can participate in enrolling in courses at their high school, on the college campus, or online. What is extremely unique to District 6 is the financial support provided through the mill levy override that allows this
030opportunity at no cost to students or family. Um across our high schools, there are 12 technical education programs that have embedded college credit within the scope and sequence of the classes. Those pathways are advanced manufacturing, health science, construction, ProStart, business marketing, vet science, welding, cosmetology, cybersecurity, electrical, teacher prep, and engineering. We have 13 of our 29 CTE teachers that are endorsed at this post-secondary level, making offering concurrent enrollment possible in these pathways. Additionally, there are 13 core teachers who are also endorsed in to teach post-secondary classes that offer 12 unique academic classes within our high schools. A few examples of these are math for liberal arts, intro to Mexican American studies, college composition, calculus one, art appreciation, and intro to environmental studies. Aims has been an outstanding partner in providing two instructors that report to
031Greeley West High School this fall to offer additional sections of math for liberal arts and is willing to offer additional five designated sections for District 6 students of college algebra on the Aims campus next school year. We are thankful for our long long-standing partnership with Aims Community College and the University of Northern Colorado. District 6 also partners with four additional post-secondary partners um listed here, which provides the opportunity for to offer college credit within our CTE pathways. Um as evident by the growth of student participation in the last few years, um which continues into this year, there were over 1,248 individual students participating in concurrent enrollment, that shows that our students are valuing post-secondary opportunities available to them as they become career and college ready. This also shows the emphasis placed on concurrent enrollment within
032our I-2030 strategic plan. This slide shows the number of individual concurrent enrollment courses students have enrolled in this school year. On average, there's approximately two courses per semester per student at our local high school or at our comprehensive high high schools and four courses per semester at the D6 CTE Center. In addition to college earning college credit, many of our high school students also earn industry certificates. By the end of this last school year, students had earned 229 certificates as and were on track for those same numbers this school year. Current students are actively sitting for certificate exams as we finish the school year. So final industry cert numbers will be finalized and compiled in June of 2026. Within the concurrent enrollment legislation, there's a unique educational model called P-TECH or Pathways to Technology Early
033College High School, allowing high school students to earn high school diploma as well as an Associate of Applied Science while gaining relevant work experience. Courses are taken for both high school and college credit at no cost to families. P-TECH programs are offered in construction pathway at Greeley West and advanced manufacturing at Greeley Central. P-TECH students have the opportunity to earn between 19 and 37 college credits within their degree plan and have the opportunity to complete their associate's degree at Aims for two additional years after completing high school at no cost. Additionally, Aims Community College has partnered with the University of Wyoming, allowing students for a one-to-one credit transfer directly into their construction management program. Tonight, I am joined um by Titus Jenkins, who participated in the construction management program, um will graduate with his associate's
034degree in in construction management this May, and has some exciting news to um to provide the board. Hello, everybody. My name is Titus Jenkins and I'm I am in my last year in the P-TECH program, meaning I'm going to graduate with my associate's degree in construction management next month. Before I talk to you about my amazing experience I have had with P-TECH and the opportunities it has provided for me, I would like to say thank you to Dr. Pilch and the school board for allowing this program to help students like me. >> [snorts] >> P-TECH has done so much for me, from introducing me to friends that are like family members to me, to giving me a ton of job opportunities that takes an amazing amount of stress off my shoulders. About two to three
035years ago, the P-TECH program provided me an internship with a company named Adolfson and Peterson Construction. Over the last few years, I have worked as an estimator, surveyor, and project engineer intern for this company. I have learned so many different skills that I will be able to utilize throughout my career and I owe it all to the P-TECH program. Over the last year, I have worked as an intern at the UNC College of Osteopathic Osteopathic Medicine project for Adolfson and Peterson Construction. This project has been one of the most rewarding and knowledge-building experiences I have ever had. I remember one day on this project, I was with one of my mentors at the time and they needed to complete some surveying tasks while laying out sidewalks. I had taken a surveying class through the P-TECH
036program, so I asked if I could help. Since then, that employee has been sent to a different job site and now I am in charge of all surveying and site layout on the project as a college intern. I have found a passion for this work while working for Adolfson and Peterson Construction and I am very excited to continue. When I graduate in May, Adolfson and Peterson has already offered me a full-time position as one of their youngest project field engineers they have ever employed. I got a little more. Not having to worry about the pressure of what I might What am I going to do after school is a huge privilege and I have P-TECH to thank for that. Thank you. Thank you, Titus. Our second student guest tonight is Sole Assefawe. Um I practiced,
037and so if I'm wrong, correct me. Um she is a junior at Northridge High School and a student in our cybersecurity program at the District 6 CT Center. Solely has served as a student board on the Success Foundation is in the process of earning her CompTIA A+ certificate by the end of this school year. She's also earned 12 concurrent enrollment credits through the cyber security program. Hi. Hi. My name is Solely. Sorry. Hi. My name is Solely Sapphire and I'm currently a junior and I'll be talking about my experience over at CTE Center. I truly didn't know what I wanted to do when I got over at North Ridge. I just knew it was a STEM school and overly I went even though it was a difficulty in transportation, but I still wanted to do
038something in STEM and learning about the CTE Center has made me into a uh gave me a new perspective in what I want to do in the future. I knew I wanted to do something with uh engineering, but getting the email of uh CTE Center and seeing what different pathways they had gave me the opportunity to learn about cyber security which currently I'm more interested in getting into it which I plan to go to further my education in. Uh over at CTE currently I'm going to take uh two certificates that will get me into directly into the industry which is a great opportunity. I think every student should every incoming student uh high schooler should have the opportunity to get to because they have various uh pathways that I think many of us complain that
039many math classes or English classes that we're never going to use if we on the road are we going to use all these equations? But being over at CTE and actually being in a class where the you're learning it from a person from the industry and they tell you about the actual industry and some people over from the for example from the district uh IT department they come over to our classes they tell us about the industry. I think it's a great opportunity for us and learn just learn from them because they're the IT professionals and they're the experts. So I think is it has been a truly a great experience for me and I recommend it to any incoming high schooler. And yeah. It also being at CTE you don't even though it's a
040difficulty in scheduling you only get four classes at your main school which most students might see as a problem because many of us are in uh sports and different activities you do after school. I'm currently in soccer and basketball over at North Ridge and it was a difficult thing to schedule because I have practice every after school and class ends at 3:00 uh 3:35. And being having a will have a uh great mentors and this opportunity of having different teachers who understand and just give you the opportunity to be to still be involved in your main school it has been a great thing for me because I have a trouble in transportation. I use public transportation and they have allowed me to uh go out of class early and just make sure I I stay
041on my task early. I I did finish all my my classwork and and still participate in my main school. So I think anybody who's been recommended over at CTE you should take they should take it because even though you might think there is some going to be some struggles they will be, but you can work with the teachers and different people who are over at CTE. And thank you. Those are amazing stories and there are so many more. And so next steps for this work um you know first I just want to thank the board and thank Dr. Pelch for funding this and I know when budgets are tight it's easy to say we could go a different way, but uh but you're not and you recognize the importance of this work and we want
042to make sure that career and college readiness is in the forefront of everything we do. You know that we've started this work now with Zello so kindergarten through 12th grade will start having conversations about what they want to do um with their career whether it's college bound or career bound or both, right? You could go you could have be career oriented and go to college for that. So we'll also continue that uh continue to share the opportunities available to the students and their families. Um we are busy right now with FAFSA nights and CASFA nights um the direct mission work making sure that we um remove the barriers for any student to attend college in District 6 with our amazing partners. Um we have many information nights. We're happy with the numbers, but we just
043don't feel like we're there yet. So we have many um parent information nights where parents still come to us and we still meetings. I was telling Dr. Pelch we still go to meetings and we talk about this and say oh I had no idea. So we are not there yet. So we still have a lot of work to do around the communication. Um the you're seeing more and more our Discovery Lab or mobile Discovery Lab and so that's been a great addition. We'll continue with that. And then also um can continue to connect our career and college readiness work through Zello in our district. And with that we'd love to to take any questions that you might have. Wow, thank you very much for this presentation and thank you students for being here. I my
044board is lighting up. So if you don't mind answering a few questions uh Director Edmonds. Uh I first wanted to just take I know Anthony you thank the board and and Dr. Pelch, but I want to extend a thank you to the community um because mill levy override is 100% reason why we're able to do this to Did you say it was $900,000 worth of college credits that we're able to provide for our students? I mean we're in a we're in a district where 70% of our families are free and reduced lunches. That means that they can barely afford to feed their families and so you think higher education is not something that's at the top of the list. And so the fact that we can make this available to our students to see a
045wonderful success story that Titus gets a job after high school. I mean and not just a not just a job like entry level go grab us coffee, but like in charge. I mean that's that's because of that's because of our taxpayers. That's also because of the wonderful programs that are provided through the CTE Center and so I'm just grateful for for that opportunity for our students and I thank you both for coming here and sharing your story. I know it's not always easy to talk to a bunch of strangers, but I appreciate you giving this perspective to know that there's even I I didn't know till I was on the board that cyber security was an option, but I mean everyone needs cyber security. We're all walking around with something right now that we need
046that cyber security. So thank you for being willing to do that as it becomes a bigger and bigger field and and uh yeah again just appreciate you being here. Director Lemos Garcia. Yes. Um I want to reiterate and thank you for the stories that you shared. It really gives us a view of what students go through and your experiences and they're so positive and I'm sure they're all not positive, right? But we appreciate you sharing the positive components. I'm a huge proponent for concurrent enrollment. Um Anthony not only did you talk about um the pathways, but helping the bear uh cross you know barriers or figure out how to complete those barriers for our students. I think the other piece too for me is as a first gen it really gives our students an opportunity
047to explore what college looks like even without not going into college, but gives them an idea of what that looks like in a place in a space that they feel comfortable to when they get to that next step or when they finish their two-year degree that it is easier to go and complete that at a university because they already know it's a it's a known quantity. It's a known experience and so I think for me that's also valuable. Um and then the next just the last piece that I just wanted to talk about is certainly having students be able to take classes at no cost. That is just amazing and I know I'm going to piggyback on what um somebody uh one of my other directors said here is is the ability to be able
048to fund that in our district is just so amazing. So um reiterating thanking the community as well for all that they do and that they care about the districts and our students is just amazing and and I'm just so proud to be a part of it. Thank you. Miss Venegas. Thank you President Mash. I just wanted to give a shout out to the students. You guys are so awesome. I know like being students like oh my gosh I'm dreading these classes, but it's really the help that we need, >> [clears throat] >> right? It's to further our higher education and further our work experience. And so I go to a school that revolves around concurrent enrollment Early College Academy and we have the opportunity to earn our associate's degree of liberal arts and newly implemented
049our associate's degree of science with Aims. And so we have Aims professors teaching us from the Aims campus. They come and teach us at ECA and students are able to earn 60 credits college credits therefore earning their associate's degree saving tons of money cuz they're getting two-year degree. And it's just an amazing opportunity every time I think about the privilege I have to be at Early College Academy and it's such a privilege to take classes on the main campus as well and learning how to be a college student while still being in high school. They have those expectations and it just kind of prepares you for the real world. I put that in quotes because we are in the real world always, but in the grown-up world. And so it's just an amazing opportunity to
050offer so many different classes and within ECA we also offer degrees of designation and within those degrees they can it's kind of an add-on to your associate's degree. So you're still allowed to take those college classes and college courses with Aims and that degree of designation is just a little blip of oh guess what I'm also a pro at this by the way and so we have degrees of designation in psychology, sociology, Spanish, political science I believe and so those students who wish to go into those specific fields can just get more experience and once again that's to all no cost which is amazing. We're saving so much money. These students our students are getting so many fun opportunities for absolutely no cost which I think is amazing and it definitely lifts a huge burden
051off of not only students but families as well. So thank you so much. Thank you. Director Campos Spytzy So I want to harp on on the cost savings because I think just nationally there's a conversation that post-secondary education is unaffordable and that there's no return on investment and that student loans are so overwhelming that nobody should get a four-year degree anymore. So to me concurrent enrollment is such a solution to that narrative where you can get how many 60 credits that you're getting or the other you know we can get credits from all the other programs and not just that so that's for towards four-year degrees but the industry certificates and so I know the Colorado Department of Education recently um merged their their office of post-secondary education with post-secondary education and workforce readiness so
052their new acronym is PWR power and so the power's big three that they want high school students to come out with in the state of Colorado are 12 college credits or an industry recognized credential or a work-based learning experience and I feel like through CE through our CTE we are meeting our students our students needs and our our state's workforce need right by meeting those big three um I am just kind of floored by the fact that we by 2028 we want to make sure 90% of our 6th through 12th graders have a career pathway that they've kind of decided on or or have expressed more interest in. I think that's a an amazing goal um and I was also impressed to see that 229 in our last school year we gave out 229 industry
053certificates. So I think the percentage is out there for Colorado's workforce needs is that about 70% by 2031 70% of the workforce need will need some level of post-secondary education whether that's an industry certificate an associate's degree etc or a four-year degree. Well of that 70% only about 30% will need a bachelor's degree or higher but I feel like we are well on our way. I love our um commitment to getting to 50% post-secondary by 2030. So I did have some questions. One was whether P-TECH funding was in jeopardy at all. I know Ascent and Trep are kind of gone but is P-TECH safe? Um so far yes. There was a I was part of a a subtask force that reported to the main task force that reported to the joint budget committee and we
054submitted a lot of data as well as stories like Titus and stories from our industry partners like AMP and Roach and um all the partners that help our P-TECH programs and so when that when that report went to the joint budget committee there was a lot of data and a lot of support behind P-TECH. There wasn't quite the same momentum around Trep or Trep and so we're not seeing I'm not hearing and I'm not seeing the same kind of direction that they're going with P-TECH which is good. That's really good. >> Yeah. And I wanted to give a special thank you to Titus for helping build our College of Osteopathic Medicine. I get to drive by it on my way to work every day and I'm like it's so pretty and it's on time and
055on budget is what I hear you know for a June a June deadline there. Another question I had was there's a slide where it talked about guaranteed transfer or or CTE pathway course credits. I just what's the difference between those? A guaranteed transfer course would be anything that the state of Colorado Department of Higher Ed has deemed as something that if a student takes it at a community college will transfer for that same credit at a university or a college. And so those are examples of like college algebra, English comp, art appreciation is one. We're working through some foreign language stuff at some of our comprehensive high schools currently to where the CTE side may not be direct transfers to a four-year but they are the classes like like what Titus participated in like surveying,
056blueprint reading, welding, more of those technical skills at the college level so. Um couple more things. One I love that you want to be an engineer Salay and I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing your name right but I'm so impressed that you researched which of our schools had the STEM pathway which of our high schools and that you made the decision to go it sounds like further from home and not the most conveniently located high school but you chose your secondary school based on your interest so so impressed to hear that. And that now you're crossing crossing the city back east to do to take advantage of the cybersecurity pathway is is just admirable so you're an impressive person. I thought I had one more and I lost it so I think I'm done. Ms.
057Tovar Just to go back on the CTE center appreciation I just wanted to say thank you to the district of course for like making that a thing but I've spent two days at the Colorado State Capitol now for like Caspian things like that um talking about the school budgeting and like finance situation and I just think it's really cool that you guys still prioritize like the CTE center and different programs like that and like funding them because they truly have made a impact on like at least the student body at Greeley Central and obviously the entire student body. I really think the CTE center is contributing to the 90.1% graduation rate because I remember being in my fashion and design class my sophomore year and my friends like some of them weren't too motivated to
058be at school and things like that and they would be ditching classes but as soon as the CTE center and that pathway was introduced and they found out they could do cosmetology or welding, cybersecurity all these different things it's like something switched within them like it was like classes that actually interested them and it was no longer oh I have to go to school for just like my math class. Like I think it was Salay like what you were saying about like oh when am I going to use this in my life and it's like I think the CTE center really gave our students some of our students like a reason to go to school and a purpose and it's going to help them outside of graduation too so I just appreciate you guys continuing
059to prioritize the CTE center and funding that so thank you. Director Roggy I just wanted to express my appreciation for you coming this evening and sharing your stories with us just because it's we hear about concurrent enrollment we hear about the CTE and but to actually see how you have worked to make that work for you has been really significant to put um kind of faces to that that program so thank you so much for your time and it's just exciting the things that you are working for for your future. Director Campos Spytzy I remembered my last question. >> [laughter] >> Um so I was curious if you guys look at the the state puts out that talent pipeline report. I don't know if you're familiar with it I'm sure you are. And they you
060know it lists the top 10 skills that employers are looking for and and how that plays into the work the district work curious. Um so usually on those reports the top 10 skills are usually those technical or the soft skills if you will. Is that the skills you're referring to? The employability skills. As a district we're we're starting those early. Those are in our discovery labs formerly known as smart labs. We're really doubling down on um having students through hands-on like technical skills they are learning those collaboration communication teamwork skills as early as those those early middle developing through their middle years and then really our CTSOs our student led organizations at the high school level with like for example FFA, DECA, FCCLA all those organizations then continue to build that foundation for students in
061in leadership and then again in communication and professionalism um and we're growing. We're getting there. I'm excited to see where we're going especially as we're as we're moving this transition into discovery lab and um really kind of putting a big umbrella under under that that this essential skills for our younger students so. Well thank you all for coming. Thank you for sharing your personal experiences and I know that your word of mouth is worth so much so please tell your your friends and your your younger siblings you know that these are the things they can look to forward to as they as they come up in the in the district. I was curious do these numbers reflect our ECA students or is this kind of like concurrent enrollment outside of This is outside of ECA.
062So the concurrent enrollment um, what Mr. Adams and I I support or and and Mr. Schilling is the concurrent enrollment throughout the whole district and then Mr. Bill Fern does all of ECA. So these are all outside of ECA numbers. That's awesome. All right, thank you so much and best wishes in your last few weeks of school. >> [applause] >> Um, the next item on our agenda is our public participation. As a board, we welcome the comments of community members and we dedicate a portion of each business meeting to provide an opportunity for the community community to present brief comments. All speakers are limited to 2 minutes for comments. Our board members typically will not respond, but we may ask our district staff to do so. All written testimony or handouts must be submitted to
063the board secretary, Miss Amy Lemon. We ask all speakers and those in attendance to conduct themselves in a dignified and non-disruptive manner. Cheering, snapping, clapping, and other distractions are not permitted. Anyone who disturbs order may be required to sit down or to leave the board room. Speakers are responsible for their own speech and should refrain from profane or obscene remarks. All remarks must be suitable for an audience that includes kindergarten through 12th grade students. This board is committed to providing a safe environment where all members of the school community are treated with dignity and respect and we expect all speakers to exercise their speech rights responsibly. This evening we have one speaker, Miss Neveah Kyle. Thank you for being here, Miss Kyle, and you will have 2 minutes. Okay. Good evening. My name is Oh,
064thank you so much. Okay. Good evening, board members. My name is Neveah Kyle. I'm a junior at Greeley Central High School. I'm here to talk to you about advocating for our SAT and AP scores by returning our test back to paper. I'm here because I know that Dr. Pilch is a widely known and respected across a superintendent across our state. You are all board members of an important district in the fastest growing city of Colorado. I know that you can inspire state leaders to join us in this call. I know my own struggles within testing on a device and I know many others are struggling alongside me. As you know, our district scores have been dropping steadily since COVID. As a student who has taken the PSAT twice a year on a school device, I
065have been surprised and disappointed in my scores. You are aware of the students detailing the studies detailing the negative effects of online reading. I know when I take the test on paper, I will always get a higher score than I do online. You may believe that the SAT to paper getting the SAT to paper may be out of your control, but we can be advocating for our district and our students who take these tests online. Imagine how the College Board increases its profits every year when it does not have have when it does not have to print exams, ship exams to schools, ship them to scoring sites, and then ship them back to in and ship them back. Mr. Frazier explained to me that for scoring one AP exam, they flew 2,000 teachers across the
066country, put them in hotels, and fed them three meals a day for a week. The scoring is now all done online. The College Board has passed none of these savings along to schools. They have They could at least resume shipping copies of the questions to benefit students like those in District 6. Thank you for advocating for the students of our district. Thank you for being here, Miss Kyle. Thank you for sharing. The next item on our agenda is our consent agenda, which is an action item item and requires a motion. I move that the Board of Education of Greeley-Evans School District 6 approves items as presented on the consent agenda and authorizes the officers to sign any and all contracts. Second. Thank you both. Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, Miss Lemon,
067will you give us a vote, please? Director Zary? Aye. Director Bentley? Aye. Director Campos-Velez? Aye. Director Edmonds? Aye. Director Lemos-Garcia? Aye. Director Mash? Aye. Director Roggy? Aye. Motion carries 7-0. And the last item on our agenda is to approve our employee benefits renewal package and I see Miss Spangler approaching. Thank you, Miss Spangler. President Mash, before we have the It is a motion. So, let's do that. I move that the Board of Education of Greeley-Evans School District 6 approves the insurance renewal as presented and authorized the officers to sign any and all contracts. Second. Thank you. Now, I believe we will have some comments from Miss Spangler. Thank you. Um, thank you for having me again tonight. As you know, the employee benefits package is a very important part of the compensation package for all
068of our employees. And so, tonight we are asking you to approve this package and of course there is a significant financial component associated with it. So, we're asking you to approve it now so that our employees have time to enroll in the benefits in which we are approve. As a reminder, uh, the benefits that we offer to our employees include medical insurance. We have nice health care, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, and then we have several voluntary options that employees can choose if they would like. And then all kind of connected to all of these is the wellness program. For our medical insurance, um, we talked during negotiations that our initial renewal was extremely high and just not feasible and so thanks to our partnership with Flood and Peterson, our insurance broker, they got
069our plan out to market right away and we have a much better viable option for our employees. Of course, it means change and people don't like change, but in this case, we really had no other option. Our recommendation is to move to, um, company called UMR, which is part of the United HealthCare company. And we will continue to have two options for employees to choose from. So, we'll have the high deductible plan with an HSA and a co-pay plan. In this case, the provider network will actually be better. Um, before our plan only had providers in the state of Colorado and now this network will be a nationwide network. So, that should be an improvement for people, especially for people that might have students in college out of state, um, things like that. So, a
070big plus, I think, for this change. Uh, the pharmacy coverage will change to OptumRx. Currently, our pharmacy coverage is through CVS. So, the overall cost for the medical insurance is about 17%. Our first renewal was 27%. So, this is definitely an improvement, but that is still a big number. So, as I mentioned earlier in the work session, we'll be asking to transfer some of the fund balance into our health insurance fund. Hopefully, we won't have to tap into that, but at least it will be there if we have claims that require us to spend that money. And in turn, we'll be passing on 8% of an increase to employees. It is important to note that we will continue to have one plan available to employees at no cost. Um, and then continuing this year, the
071district will pay a portion of the plan if people have a spouse or family uh, dependents on their plan. Nice health care. I've been told that we have to renew with Nice. So, I know it's incredibly popular. I know that I have found it to be extremely beneficial personally. Um, the rates will be the same as they currently are and we just we have utilization that exceeds what Nice normally sees in some of their other plans. So, I think that's a great option for our employees. Uh, dental insurance, currently our dental is with, um, Aetna. So, we'll be asking to move to UMR United HealthCare. The rates will go up a little bit. I believe it's between $2 to a month depending on if you have a family on the plan or not. And there
072will be no change to benefits. Uh, I have had some questions about providers and so some providers, some current dentists that people are are seeing may not be in this plan, but the way our plan is set up, we will still reimburse the dental providers at 95% of what is called usual and customary rates. So, really for most people, they won't see any change. A lot of dentists that people see right now are not in the current network, either. I think people are just starting to look online and say, "Oh, my dentist isn't on there." Don't don't panic. It's fine. You probably won't even notice a difference. Vision insurance, um, will continue with EyeMed. We have a rate guarantee for, I believe, 2 more years. And so, no changes there, no change to the cost
073or the benefits. Life insurance, we are currently with The Hartford and we will have a slight increase in rates but no change to the plan benefits. Voluntary benefits will go to United Healthcare. Um, people can choose to add additional life coverage if they would like. They can add accident coverage, hospital indemnity, and then a new option this year is critical illness that has cancer coverage. I've had some people ask about having some option to have cancer coverage and I think just in our world today, I think that's nice for employees to have as some peace of mind. And then last but not least, the wellness programs. Um, as part of our negotiation with our healthcare companies, they have been big financial supporters of our wellness programs and that will continue with UMR United Healthcare. So,
074that's always an important thing because we have a very robust worksite wellness program as you probably know. And so, we want to be able to continue to financially support that. And perhaps the most important thing, benefits open enrollment. That is coming up April 15th, so starting Wednesday through the 29th and all benefit eligible employees have to enroll or waive coverage. And I'd also like to thank the team, my finance team that is doing an incredible job. This is a ton of work for them to not only have open enrollment but then to shift carriers at the same time. It's a tremendous amount of work, so thank you especially to Miss Heidock and Michael Ringhand and Becky Hingle. Um, they all are working incredibly hard to make this happen. So, any questions I could answer? Thank
075you for that presentation. Uh, Director Bentley. Um, just wanted to check on the new plan, is your is your stop loss the same? Is that the $250,000? Is there any opportunity to to lower that to limit your exposure? >> that. We decided against that right now. We just we want to see our claims kind of level out and hopefully you had an anomaly year. Yeah. Um, also I know like when I switched over to this, um, education was paramount the the first year we had a bad year because almost all the prescriptions uh, the doctors are encouraged to prescribe name brand prescriptions and they're very expensive when there's also usually a lot of generic brands. >> Mhm. And that was our biggest expense was was prescriptions, so um, I know that my carrier [clears throat]
076had options where they'd come out and actually educate and hold classes and stuff, so hopefully uh, I'm sure you guys are doing that but if you know, employees are listening that that's paramount to to try to check your options and I mean this is a crippling giant expense for everybody in the world. Um, a district and businesses and and you know, employees included, so um, there's just a lot of opportunities to take some of that money out of the insurance companies' pockets and big pharmacies' pockets and keep it in our own, so Right. Um, just got to be smart about it. Mhm. We do have um, numerous opportunities to educate our employees along the way and I think our team does a fantastic job. If if we don't know the answer, then we know exactly
077who we need to reach out to to get support. Um, we always want to try to encourage, you know, the lower cost options, generics or in some cases just where you might need to go to have an x-ray or something like that. Um, different providers have different rates and it can vary significantly, so um, part of the insurance company's plan is to continue with that education. I'm not seeing any other questions. I would also like to echo your thanks to your team. I know this is a huge undertaking when especially when changing, you're getting everyone enrolled, educated, and then also budget considerations and all of that, so thank you very much. Thanks for all all your hard work. Thank you. And I think we will take a vote now. Director Zari. Aye. Director Bentley. Aye.
078Director Campos-Spitze. Aye. Director Edmonds. Aye. Director Lemus-Garcia. Aye. Director Mash. >> Aye. Director Roggi. Aye. Motion carries 7-0. Thank you all for joining us this evening. Have a good week. We'll see you in 2 weeks. This meeting is adjourned. >> [music] [music] [bell] [music] [bell] [music] >> Mhm.