Transcript

0:05:11I'd like to call to order this regular meeting of the Boulder Valley School District Board of Education for Tuesday, January 27th, 2026. Board members may attend and participate in board meetings electronically in accordance with BBSC policy BMEA and state law. Laura, can you please call the role? Booker, here. Chavez, here. Let me try it again. Thank you. Medler here. Quinn Linua here. Raj Paul here. Tamuading here. Anger here. Thank you. I would now like everyone to turn their attention to the screen for our land acknowledgement this evening. The Boulder Valley School District resides and operates on land that is the ancestral homeland and unjustly and illegally taken territory of the Ute, Pueblin, Arapjo, Cheyenne, Apache, Navajo, and 48 other tribal nations historically tied to this land who have called this land home since time and memorial.

0:06:45We acknowledge the atrocities committed here, including the painful history of genocide, forced assimilation, and efforts to alienate the indigenous inhabitants from their homeland, supported by the policies of the United States government. BBSD is aware of the many indigenous peoples, past and present, and their dignified nations and cultures, who care for this land with strength and resilience. BBSD recognizes the histories of the land in Colorado and the survival of many nations that carried their oral traditions into the present. It is BBSD's responsibility to educate ourselves, our community, and our students so that we can embrace the wisdom and knowledge of indigenous peoples and actively stand together to address injustices. In offering this land acknowledgement, we affirm and honor the history, wisdom, oral traditions, and resilience of indigenous people, and recognize the responsibility to care for and appreciate this land together.

0:08:02I'd like to remind everybody that the mission of the Boulder Valley School District is to create challenging, meaningful, and engaging learning opportunities so that all children thrive and are prepared for successful, civically engaged lives. Good evening. Thank you for joining us here in person tonight and those of you watching online, we're glad to have you observe and participate in our meetings. At this time, is there a motion to approve tonight's agenda? It's moved by Jason, seconded by Lenia. Laura, can you call the vote on the motion? Booker, yes. Chavez, yes. Medler, yes. Quinn Linua, yes. Raj Paul, yes. Tamuading, yes. Anger, yes. Motion passes. Our first item on the agenda this evening is our student moment. Happy to have our students back in the building with us tonight. I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Anderson to kick them off.

0:09:01Thank you, board president Rajpal. Board members, as you all know, BBSD is the place to be green. We pride ourselves in being a leader here in Boulder Valley School District in sustainability. Through our green BBSD action plan and the board's green new deal resolution, district is make is making some big gains in this arena, including making progress towards our goal of becoming net zero when it comes to energy districtwide, reducing BBSD's greenhouse gas emissions, creating new climate literacy opportunities for students at all levels, and implementing the seal of climate literacy. Perhaps most importantly, we've expanded student voice and involvement in our sustainability efforts. To that end, I'm super excited to introduce to you a dynamic sister duo who are passionate about our environment are taking action to make a difference. Taylor Hatch is a sophomore at Centaurus High School and Harper Hatch is an eighth grader at Plat Middle School with plans to join her sister at Centurus next year. Hatch sisters, the floor is all yours.

0:09:59Okay. Yeah. Once again, my name is Harper and my name is Taylor. We are so grateful for for the opportunity to be here with you this evening. Tonight we are going to share our roles in establishing the seal of climate literacy in our newest program, the junior seal of climate literacy, touching on our journey, where we are today, and what we hope for the future. We have both been BBSD students from early stages in our education. As we grew as students, we both became increasingly more passionate and concerned about the future of our planet. Thankfully, BBSD provided many outlets for our passion. from the school green team to the BBSD green youth council which has specifically given us a platform to lead district-wide initiatives. We got involved with the green youth council when two high school seniors approached us with the goal of establishing a group of students that helped to implement components of the Green New Deal for schools resolution that the board of education passed in 2023. For example, climate education.

0:10:52Eager to join, we became some of the first members of what is now recognized as the Green Youth Council. Last year, which was the Green Youth Council first year in operating, we successfully established the application process of the seal of climate literacy. As a result, about 20 seniors were recognized last spring. For those of you who may be wondering, similar to the seal of biiteracy, the seal of climate literacy is for is a high school diploma endorsement that recognizes students who demonstrate climate literacy. One of the main components of the seal is long-term commitment to specific environmental issues identified within the community. As a seventh grader and freshman, the seal of climate literacy felt far away, not because of our age alone, but because it often seemed that the work we were doing did not yet carry the same weight or recognition.

0:11:37With this, we decided to create a middle school branch of the seal of climate literacy. The creation of the Junior Seal of Climate Literacy addressed this gap by validating and amplifying younger students efforts, providing an age appropriate pathway for environmental engagement and affirming that meaningful climate action can begin at any age. Turning this dream into reality often felt daunting and impossible. Stretching our leadership skills, we had to reach out to principles and convince them that this brand new program was worth their time, as well as talk to our peers and other staff to help get the program off and rolling. As we developed our plan, we chose to pilot the program at Nevin Platt and Choice Middle School. Doing so allowed us to learn the framework's weaknesses and strengths. At our first year with the program underway at Plat Middle School, we decided to develop a subcommittee, a group of GYC members who had helped us expand the program. Within the Green Youth Council, we had many different subcommittees, including curriculum development and fundraising.

0:12:33Leading a committee further pushed us to learn how to productively conduct and lead a small group of peers. With our subcommittee underway, we enlisted the help of others to get this program into other middle schools. To do so, we drafted emails to principles, planned out our communication for the year, and refined our application process. One of the most notable improvements was the switch from an paper application to an online form. As of now, we have five participating middle schools and 49 students who are actively working to achieve the Junior Seal of Climate Literacy and hopefully earn recognition in the spring. To get to to get to where we are today with this program, we participated in many outreach events, most recently during the 2025 BBSD showcase at the SU event center where we personally connected with many middle schoolers, introducing them to the Junior Seal of Climate Literacy and giving them the confidence that this was something they can achieve.

0:13:23Looking ahead, we can hope we hope that we can continue our work with the Junior Seal of Climate Literacy, eventually getting it into all middle schools. We also aim to create a ripple effect that strengthens the seal of climate literacy as a whole by engaging students at a younger age. This early participation reinforces one of the program's core principles, sustained long-term environmental action that grows with students over time. We would like to thank Miss Greenwood, the adult ambassador of the Green Youth Council, as well as all the hardworking and driven students and driven students of the Leadership Council and Green Youth Council. However, none of this work would have even been possible without the support of BBSD's amazing board and dedicated staff. Thank you so much. Thank you for that. Board members, any questions or comments?

0:14:18I have a question. What five middle schools are participating in the junior sil climate literacy and what kinds of activities do they do to earn that? The middle schools are Platt, um, LMS, Manhattan, Aspen Creek, and Metoark. Um, and to achieve it, they can do a lot of different things. A lot of different things count. um something as small as like picking up trash, making that a goal that you have with that you carry throughout your life or something bigger like organizing a community event or being part of your school green team. It's it's really open to a lot of different things and especially this year um since students didn't have a lot of time to create a portfolio, we'll be more open to our applications, what what accounts. Yeah. Thank you both for all of your work on the committee and for getting this off up and running in our middle schools.

0:15:11Well done. The next item on tonight's agenda is a superintendence report. Dr. Anderson, good evening. Thank you again, President Raj Paul. Uh pleasure to give my uh report this evening. So on Saturday, some of our best student musicians were in BBSC were brought together for the district honor band concerts at Monarch High School. Both middle and high schoolers had the fantastic opportunity to work with a guest clinician and explore a range of musical styles. Congratulations to all of our students and thank you to our amazing conductors and all the district music teachers for putting together this opportunity for our band students. And as you could see, lots of uh lots of happy kids there um at Monarch High School on this past Saturday. Also last week, the BBSD unified uh bowling athletes from across the district came together for their annual unified bowling tournament at the Cole Creek Bowling Center. If you haven't been to one of these unified events, you're missing out the celebrations of inclusion, teamwork, and of course, some friendly competition. Great job to all the kids who participated. And a big thank you to the staff at the district and school levels that come together to make these events a success.

0:16:24And speaking of success, a couple of weeks ago, Plat Middle School hosted a day-long workshop focused on the climate, the challenges we face, and how they might take action on the issue. During a special event, which is organized like a conference, students from Platin Lewisville Middle Schools as well as Centurus and Fairview high schools moved from session to session, learning about everything from climate related careers, careers, and art to climate justice to the legislative process and how they can participate by testifying. Guest speakers included Boulder County Commissioner Ashley Staltzman, Boulder Chamber Policy Program Specialist Devin Edgely, and student climate leaders, including several from our BBSD schools. You can read more about the event in the spot newsletter that came out last week, which includes several stories about grad plus opportunities in celebration of career and technical education month.

0:17:10And with high school course registration just right around the corner, high schoolers and parents, there are a lot of great opportunities available in career and technical education. So, be sure to learn more and register through your high school. And board members, those are my comments for this evening. Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Board members, any questions or comments? It's always great to see what is happening in our schools and in our community. The next item on tonight's agenda is public participation. The board respects the right of the public to speak on matters concerning the operation of the schools. The board does not endorse the comments of any individual participant and reminds all those who speak that you are responsible for ensuring your remarks are suitable for an audience that includes kindergarten through 12th graders. Furthermore, this is an opportunity for the board to hear from our constituents, but is not a time for the board to directly engage with or react to speaker remarks. Speakers will each have two minutes to speak. You will see a yellow card when you have 30 seconds remaining and an orange card when you have 10 seconds remaining. If you run out of time and would like to share additional information, you may always email the board. Um and to our public and to our

0:18:10board um to better align with our policy, we have gotten away with the option for gifting minutes. So speakers will all have moving forward two minutes to speak. This will also help us maximize a number of individuals we can hear from on a given moment as particularly as we head into a time where we are all anticipating um slightly more public comments. With that, our first speaker this evening is Kristen Kembell. My name is Is your button pushed? No, it's not. Thank you. There you go. Uh, thanks again. My name is Kristen Campbell and I'm a parent of two students at Mesa Elementary School. Archer and third and Harrison and First. When our family moved to Boulder two years ago, we wanted to find a place to live where our kids could walk to a neighborhood school, build deep friendships close to home, and feel rooted in community. During a whirlwind week of house hunting, one image stayed with us. A stre a steady stream of kids hiking, biking, walking, skateboarding together down the sidewalks leading to Mesa Elementary. It felt like belonging in motion. at Mesa. Both then our first grader and preker could attend under the same roof. And we quickly connected with many welcoming families during our one daily drop off. We learned that these welcoming families are a bedrock of

0:19:38Mesa's culture, curated by its exceptional team of teachers and paras specialist and its principal Josh Baldner, whose leadership comes with endless compassion and a belief that every child belongs. Not long after Harrison started prek, it became clear that his needs were complex. At five, he could read chapter books, but he struggled deeply with self-regulation and social connection. What we didn't know yet was that Harrison was a twice exceptional student, living with ADHD and anxiety, but also gifted. The Mesa team met Harrison's needs even before we knew what those needs were. Nurturing his emotional and academic development while also helping navigate really complex IEPs and advanced learning plans. All of this while miraculously fostering an environment where kids accepted and embraced those differences and didn't bully. Harrison's story isn't unique. So many families choose Mesa for this holistic approach to supporting every kid emotionally and academically.

0:20:40Our students are thriving on both accounts. We are knocking test scores out of the park while also teaching kids how to accept others and advocate for themselves and become kind leaders. Thank you for considering protecting that environment as you guys make hard decisions. Thank you. Our next speaker this evening is Melissa Zens. Hi everybody. Thank you for having me tonight. I too am a Mesa parent of three children. Um, in my professional life, I'm a data professional and I attended the last board meeting and heard about the small schools and economic issues facing BBSD. Um, so I took it as an opportunity to do some investigation on the South Boulder uh, school district uh, myself just to see what the trends were in that area. Um, I have created a handout. I emailed this to you all earlier. Um, I'll go ahead and start at the top. In terms of academic performance, it's no surprise to us that Bear Creek is an absolute shining star on BBSD's resume. They are what I would consider an elite program school. Um Mesa is a close second in the South Boulder neighborhood, scoring in the top two and a half percentile across the state. Additionally, we see that Bear Creek and Mesa are serving the community's needs in their zoned constituents at a high degree with 70%

0:22:11plus attendance from their zoned areas as well as net positive uh net enrollment numbers. Where I'd like to pause a little bit is the parent climate caregiver uh survey results where Mesa outperformed every South Boulder school on every metric by a huge margin. Um in terms of the school satisfaction metrics, there are 33 of these metrics. I'm not talking a select two or three or five. There's 33 metrics. As a data professional, I can tell you that this is not an anomaly. It's parents like Kristen and myself that seek out this type of environment and this kind kind of culture that cause us to have that kind of dedication. In terms of enrollment, this causes us to have steady enrollment. We're not the highest. There's no secret to that, but our enrollment is steady because the people who go there want to stay there.

0:23:00Our mobility numbers are incredibly low and they're low for every demographic because we are the school for everybody. I say this because I think we have two great schools already in existence in South Boulder and as you have the unenviable task of deciding how to adjust programming to meet economic demands, I just request that we recognize the strengths that we already have in the South Boulder um neighborhood. Thank you very much. Thank you. Our next speaker this evening is Craig Dreer. Good evening, members of the board and Dr. Anderson. First, I want to sincerely thank you for your service. I know that serving on the school board is a demanding role, often involving difficult decisions, and I appreciate your unwavering dedication to the education and well-being of every child in Boulder Valley School District. My name is Craig Dreer. I'm the parent of a student at Mesa Elementary in Boulder and a second child that will be attending Mesa in 2027. I understand the district is facing hard realities regarding declining enrollment and budgetary constraints. As you are well aware, these are not easy problems to solve and will require practical and creative solutions. It is for these reasons that I am here tonight to highlight Mace Elementary as a blueprint for the district's future stability.

0:24:15While enrollment trends across the district are playing downward, Mesa has remained steady, maintaining its enrollment numbers. This isn't an accident. It's a direct result of intentional inclusive culture uh the school has built. Mesa currently holds the highest satisfaction scores in the district and maintains high academic performance. But the metrics that matter most cannot be always cannot always be found on a spreadsheet. Mesa is an inclusive haven that creates thriving students as a neighborhood school with a close-knit community. I know families who have struggled in other environments and were on the verge of leaving the district entirely for private school or homeschooling but ultimately found a home at Mesa. When families like these find a home at Mesa, they stay in BBSD. In this way, Mesa acts as a vital revenue retainer for the district. It retains students who would otherwise exit the district to private schools or homeschooling, and attracts students from outside of BBSD who have not found a home in neighboring school districts.

0:25:08Mesa is quite unique in its ability to effectively retain at risk of leaving families who would not keep their kids in the district if faced with consolidation to other schools while also serving as a beloved neighborhood school. In closing, my goal here tonight is to highlight Mesa as a high-erforming, retention positive asset to the district that is doing exactly what we all want our schools to do, grow, perform, and welcome everyone. I believe it should be viewed as a blueprint for the future of the schools in our district. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Our next speaker this evening is Kathy Murray. Uh, good evening. Um, I am here today to really question and understand how a student safety concern regarding, this is the dismissal of Melinda Kshner, how a student's safety concern ultimately were led to result in a teacher being investigated. How does a report intended to protect students lead to personal actions other than through a process that's raising concerns? I'm a parent of two students at Aspen Creek, second and fifth grade. Since the end of last year, I've raised safe serious safety concerns on the PTA board as part of um emails to the principles submitting safe to tell reports. I've personally spoke with Mr.

0:26:23Ryan and Miss Jones regarding the incident referenced in the dismissal letter dated September 8th. My intent through all of this has always been to advocate for the safety of not just my children, but for all children to be able to have access to a safe learning environment. Rather than addressing the underlying safety issue, which was repeatedly characterized at this point as a legend, the district has devoted months to investigating a well- reggarded teacher in our in our indust. During that process, issues related to data access were also identified. Access under district policy should have been appropriately safeguarded from the outset per the document that was released. Policy JO was stated and I did I researched what is policy JO and I questioned earlier to emails to the board about who is responsible for data access in this in our in in our district. The policy JO clearly states the superintendent or designate with pro will provide the proper administrative administration of student records including the implementation of a safeguard measures or procedures regarding access. End to quote each principal is responsible for the maintenance or access to the school students record. If this level of access was inconsistent with district expectation, it raises a question why appropriate controls were not in place.

0:27:43this as we come to conclude this leads to several important questions about the the dismissal that's at question. Why were repeated student safety concerns at Aspen Creek not addressed? Why did the investigation lead to months long with students being the one at the at the being harmed? Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker this evening is Jennifer Rap. Hi, thank you. Um, I am a parent of two students at Aspen Creek and I'm here um tonight to speak regarding the dismissal of Melinda Kshner. Um, in the recommendation for dismissal posted on the board's agenda, it states that Miss Ker access frontline to view records for students at her previous school where she had been a teacher. The first question that immediately came to my mind was why she had these why she had access to these records in the first place. Why did she have access to an entire school's records and why did the access remain in place after she accepted a position at another school within the district?

0:28:56The question leads to a much more important one. who is responsible for granting and managing managing staff access because that is where the responsibility lies in the data breach. Not with Miss Ker. Miss Ker accessed data that she was explicitly given access to. Access that the district is now claiming that she should not have had. She did not bypass security measures, misuse credentials, or gain unauthorized entry to the system. She had it. she was given it. It is the district's responsibility to safeguard student information and to ensure that staff are granted only access necessary for their roles if improper access existed. That is the failure of district systems and oversight, not misconduct. I would also like to know when the district plans to conduct a full audit of staff access permissions and how many other additional teachers will be investigated and dismissed based on the precedent you are setting tonight with the dismissal of Miss Kshner. How many more students will be without a teacher for months with monthslong investigations with this precedent set tonight? Thank you.

0:30:17Thank you. Our next speaker is Alexa Jones. Okay. Hi, I'm Alexa Jones. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I have two and soon to be three kids at Aspen Creek. Um, in terms of Miss Ker, I wanted to speak about what I read in terms of what was published and the concepts of a neglect of duty. And I am here to tell you that the definition of duty is exactly what this district should be fighting to keep when it comes to Melinda. This is a teacher with a rare magical ability to teach and make students feel seen. While my kids have not had her, I've heard countless stories from neighbors and friends and examples um from the last board meeting from Lafayette parents as well. We are facing a national teacher shortage and are we really prepared to dismiss a teacher who among many other things um helps children feel seen and for them to reach their full potential? Um are we really going to penalize her for not having the proper guard rails in place?

0:31:23And I share the same concerns that were shared about the dangerous precedent that we are setting and the impact that it will have on our students and our community. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker tonight is Jana Navaro. Um, good evening members of the board. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Jana Navaro and I'm here as a parent of Zachary Navaro, a student at Aspen Creek who had the privilege of being taught by Melinda Kshner. I want to be very clear about why I'm here. This recommendation is not just about a policy or a single incident. It's about the loss of an exceptional educator, which begs the question, was this policy set up to support exceptional teachers? Miss Car Miss Carner is without a doubt the most impactful teacher my son has ever had.

0:32:18That's not a phrase I use lightly. My son tells me this regularly. He felt seen, challenged, and supported. As parents, we're often told that great teachers are hard to find. When we find one, we should be doing everything we can to retain them, which is why I'm here tonight. I understand that schools need standards, policies, and accountability. But good governance also requires judgment, perspective, and humanity. When the response to a situation outweighs the offense, especially when it costs students a teacher who's truly making a difference, we need to pause and ask if this decision serves the best interests of the community. I respectfully urge the board to reconsider this recommendation. Exceptional teachers change lives and I hope this board will stand by that. Thank you. Our next speaker this evening is Lisa Cyp. Good evening members of the board. My name is Lisa Cip and I'm here as a parent and community member to speak on behalf of Melinda Ker. I have two children currently at Aspen Creek K8. We were fortunate enough to have Melinda as our daughter's fourth grade teacher.

0:33:38After two previous years in which my daughter dealt with bullying on a daily basis, she entered fourth grade with trepidation. Her confidence in interacting with her peers was at an all-time low. And as parents, my husband and I dreaded hearing our daughter's afternoon recap. Was it going to be a good day or a bad day. Melinda was aware of our previous difficulties at the school. And I was thrilled that my daughter would have a teacher with a kind heart and an excitement for fourth grade. Melinda saw her, supported her, and helped rebuild her sense of self in a way that few educators are capable of. The growth that we saw in our daughter academically, emotionally, and socially was extraordinary, and it was a direct result of Melinda's compassion, professionalism, and skill as an educator. Melinda is the kind of teacher every parent hopes that their child will have. She creates a safe and structured environment, pushes her students to rise to their potential, and treats each child with genuine care and respect.

0:34:32She's also a deeply engaged member of our community and I've been fortunate to get to know her not only as a teacher but a member of our neighborhood and a friend. I'm not here to speak to the details of the investigation. I'm here to speak to the character of the person that I know. An exceptional teacher, a wonderful human being, and someone who has had a profoundly positive impact on the lives of the children she serves. On behalf of my family and many others, I urge the board to consider the full picture of who Melinda is and the difference she has made in our community. She deserves fairness and she deserves to have her years of dedication weighed with the seriousness they merit. I believe her dismissal from the BBSD system would be a true loss to the community and future students lucky enough to have her as a teacher. Thank you.

0:35:17Thank you. Our next speaker this evening is Jared Ker. Good evening. My name is Jared Ker and I am a parent of a current Aspen Creek student. I'm here because of a studentwide email that was sent out on January 26th at 3:31 p.m. to Aspen Creek community, including students, regarding a personal matter involving my child's parent who no longer works at that school. That email went out at the end of school day while students were still on campus and interacting with their peers. I was not informed of this ahead of time, which meant I had no opportunity to speak to my daughter or help prepare her for what she might hear or feel. As a result, my child received information at school from the school about a serious personal situation involving her parent in a setting the district does not control socially.

0:36:30that placed her in a difficult position with her peers without parental support. I want to be clear. I'm not here to address the merits of any investigation or the district's authority to act on personal personnel matters. I am speaking solely as a parent about communication decisions that directly affected my child. Even when details are limited, school communications that reference personnel uh personnel investigations must take into account timing, audience, and foreseeable impact on students, especially when a student may be closely connected to that employees involvement. Sending a message like this directly to students during the school day creates real risk of social and emotional harm. Student privacy and student well-being need to be considered together. Protecting one should not come at the expense of another. I am asking the board to review how this communication was approved, including why students received it and why parents were not given the opportunity to prepare prepare their children and to ensure safeguards are in place so no student is put in this position again.

0:37:38Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker this evening is Fallon Dudek. Good evening board members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Fallon Dudek and I'm here again to speak about the removal of my son's fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Ker. Yesterday, we received notification that she is recommended for termination. While I am appreciative that we now have some information and respect that there is a legal and policy matters at hand, the information given is vague and leaves many questions unanswered. It is not at all clear why BBSD systems do not already limit access to records by technical means instead of just policy. One could make a good argument that the district itself is violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act for its lack of appropriate technical protections for education records.

0:38:43What are the timelines of this investigation? If early September is referred to as the date in which concern occurred, it appears that immediate removal from teaching on October 27th with no plan for support in place should not have happened. If the primary concerns were for our children, then what measures were taken to ensure their education was the focus? I'm asking the board to consider restorative action take place in the form of but not limited to placement of a certified teacher, district support uh district supported academic enrichment and instructional opportunities, additional pareducator allocation, and a written transition and support plan for this class entering fifth grade. I'm asking everyone listening today, especially those who have been or continue to be educators, is there a different avenue of disciplinary action other than termination that could be explored? I will echo another parent who couldn't be here today in saying the loss of this talented educator would be a serious loss to our children in our community.

0:39:50While accountability matters, so does whether the response meaningfully serves our students and is reflected in the values we hope to model for them. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Our next speaker is Lori Reetta. Good evening. My name is Lori Reetta and I am one of the ILC teachers at Aspen Creek. I'm here to thank the board and many other leaders in BBSD for take for taking tonight's vote on the recommendation for dismissal so seriously. As educators, we have many responsibilities to our students and families beyond providing a highquality free and public education. One of our most important responsibilities is to protect each person's basic human dignity. And we do that through respectful discourse and maintenance of privacy and trust. As educators, we are trusted with very sensitive, confidential, and sometimes painful information about our students and their families. Much of that information is recorded in Frontline.

0:41:03The intentional misuse of that information by a trusted educator is horrifying. It's harmful to so many, but especially to our most vulnerable students with special behavioral and unique educational needs. Our greater responsibility is to the children entrusted to our care. I love my job and I hold every one of my students and their families in my heart. I know that all of you do, too. Thank you for this opportunity. Thank you. Our next speaker this evening is Katie Tilla Hun Tahoon. Sorry, Katie. Hi, I'm Katie Tillahan. I'm a parent of a fourth grade and second grade student at Lafayette Elementary. I was here a couple of weeks ago and spoke about how upset I've been watching the BBSD investigation unfold and the lack of communication and support to the school and also my continued support for Melinda Ker. Uh all of that still stands today. I would like to say that this has been a debacle the last three months and I think there are three main people and groups that have been been harmed by this. The first is the students at Aspen Creek where there has been a continued pattern of student safety concerns that have not been addressed by the administration. I don't even have a student there and I can see that and that is horrible. The second group is

0:42:32and I'm sorry for all of you that you've been going through that. The second group is the fourth grade students at Lafayette who lost their teacher three months ago today. They have not had a teacher in the classroom all of this time for what amounts to in the end an IT policy violation. Did Miss Ker break the rules? Yes. Would I have done it in her situation? Yes. If you are in a situation where you feel that your students are not being protected as a parent, I don't think anyone of us in the room would not access information that we felt we needed to make our case. The other group that I think is harmed here is Melinda Carner. And I just talked about it. I think you there has been a disservice done to every single person involved in this. I think that it is unacceptable that the BBSD investigation has rolled this way. And I'm confused about why after a pattern of student safety concerns that came to a head in this way, why is the investigation not about the administration at Aspen Creek that hasn't been dealing with the student safety concerns that are clearly well documented? And anytime I have questions in that, I want to ask why. And I think you should, too. This feels political.

0:43:41It feels like a witch hunt. And I would want to understand as the board of education before rubber stamping what's being put in front of you. You're an independent body for a reason. And I beg you to look into why this is coming to you this way and why the investigation is on Melinda Ker versus the administration. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker tonight is virtual. Mark Milan. Is Mark on? Uh, yes, I'm here. Good evening. My name is Mark Milan. I'm a parent to two students at Lafayette Elementary, one of whom is in Miss Ker's fourth grade class. Other speakers tonight and parents in letters to the board have already done a commendable job articulating why dismissing Miss Kshner would be a disproportionate and overall negative outcome for the Lafayette Elementary School community. I won't repeat those points, but instead want to highlight now that the public knows that access to records was the issue at stake, how wrong it was for BBSD to place Miss Ker on leave while its investigation dragged on for months.

0:44:47Removing a primary teacher from the classroom was not even close to the least educationally disruptive means of addressing the risk actually presented here, which was records access. In the students best interest, BBSD should have kept Miss Carshner in the classroom with a warning while its investigation was ongoing and simply revoked her accounts access to whatever records required limited access. If it had no technical means to do that, that's a problem that's incumbent on BBSD to fix. BBSD's system should enforce access restrictions technically instead of just by policy. An immediate removal from teaching should never even have taken place here had BBSD appropriately weighed the actual risks at issue against the very real harm of a teacher's extended absence. less disruptive, equally protective alternatives were easily available, which BBSD inexplicably elected not to take. The board should immediately re-evaluate the criteria for when a teacher leave is triggered by an investigation, and it should only resort to that extreme measure when there's no other more narrowly tailored way to address real risks. BBSD's wildly overconservative one-sizefits-all leaves practice deprivives students of their teacher first and considers ready better alternatives never. This does obvious harm to students whose interests seem unrepresented in the district's current investigation decision-making.

0:46:16Thank you for listening. Thank you. Our final speaker this evening is James Bush. Thank you. I am not talking about the other issues. However, I would note that my son went to Mesa Elementary 35 years ago. It was a great school. It is a great school. I like the schools. I'm here to talk about Fairview High School student parking lot. I addressed the board uh on October the 11th, 2022 about putting gates up. That was done. Now, I'm asking that the board or the school enforce the policy that is shown on their signs and actually lock the gates at 11 p.m. until the following morning. Because as it was a example this last weekend with a snowstorm the gates unlocked in came person nor persons unknown to zoom around in their trucks and their muscle cars and be very disruptive. And this has this has been continuing for the last three and a half years. We've called the police many times. I live right across the street on Gilaspie from the exit to the student parking lot.

0:47:38It's driving friends I have in the neighborhood, my family crazy. And all I ask is that the policy that is shown on the signage be enforced. The sign says student parking lot is closed Monday through Friday after 11:00 p.m. and on weekends. Gates will be locked when the parking lot is closed. Somebody has figured out that if you station a car in the parking lot and leave it overnight, no one will lock the gates. We need to enforce the policy. That's really all I'm asking. Thank you. Good luck. This concludes today's public participation. On behalf of the board, I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to share their thoughts and experiences with us this evening. Our next item on tonight's agenda is the district accountability committee's report on budget recommendations for fiscal year school year 2627.

0:48:36Alli Brown DAC chair will be presenting. Hi board. Thanks for having me. Um I'm excited to be here with you today. Um yeah, that'd be great. Thank you so much. Um I'm Ally Bruin. I'm co-chair of our district accountability committee for um the 2025 2026 school year. I'm here tonight as um the interim chair of our budget subcommittee. I'm still working on recruiting a full-time chair. Um there are some DAC members in the audience today. I'm still working on recruiting a full-time budget subcommittee chair. Um we're so excited to be here today to share out Oh, there we go. um one of our core statutory responsibilities which is to provide input from the district accountability in consultation with our school accountability committees on the development of um the next budget uh for our school district. Um so wanted to start with the why. Um, as many folks who are listening, who are in the room may may or may not know, the district accountability um committee um has the opportunity to weigh in on a lot of different um issues that um come before the board, but there are a few that we are um required by state law to address.

0:49:47Budgets, um our school and district improvement plans, um policies that are mutually agreed upon um with our board, um we review charter school applications, and there's a couple of really specific responsibilities we have. um by staying really focused on those responsibilities, we are able to do the work um that we are presenting tonight um which is um takes a lot of time, takes a lot of volunteer time from our parents and our community members. Um and I just want to thank our team for um being so focused and um and kind of keeping uh being able to keep us as a group focused on um on the on the budget topic so that we can present some really robust findings to you all tonight. Um, I wanted to start our uh, presentation today with um, a reflection that actually comes at the bot at the end of the memo that we shared with you all a few weeks ago. When we better understand not only what's working in our district, but also how things work, we as parents and community members can be more effective advocates for our school and district improvement priorities. So, in just a minute here, I'm going to walk you all through um, the process we went through this past fall to actually generate the um,

0:50:51insights and recommendations that we're going to be sharing with you. It's a little bit different than how the DAC has um gone through this process in the past. So, I thought it'd be helpful to spend a little bit of time um taking you on that journey with us before we share our findings. So, last fall, the first thing we wanted to do to start our budget conversations were to actually start with our strategic plan. So, um as a group, we had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Laura Dea Cruz and Dr. Jessica Alzine to review not only what are the core priorities in our strategic plan, but why are these our pri why these are our priorities? Um as well as the data that is in our um that we look at as a as a district and as a school community to really deeply understand how are we doing um and where do we need to keep getting better. Um the the big message here being the strategic plan and the budget really go hand inand. So, um, moving forward, we're really trying to, um, come up with different ways that we might continue to deeply integrate those conversations we're having as a DAC.

0:51:51We reviewed the strategic plan dashboard, which tells us how our students are progressing in each of the four strategic plan priorities districtwide as well as at every school and broken down by different student characteristics. We also looked at our unified improvement plan scorecard, which tracks our progress toward those targeted two-year goals that are helping us accelerate progress in areas of focus need. again aligned to those strategic plan priorities. Um we wanted to look at this data again to really understand um from a budget perspective to use um hard data um versus maybe some perceptions that might not be grounded in data on what is actually accelerating progress and where are there gaps that we need to um revisit with our strategy and then the um financial resources that that go behind that. Um so to be actional we u worked with our uh partners at the district um to to present to DAC members um hypotheses on which of our investments that we've made not just yesterday but actually over over the past few years are starting to show results in our schools and then what are our best hypotheses on areas where we need to continue um to either focus our attention or maybe shift shift our resources so that we can see better progress.

0:53:00These slides here um are available um through our DAC resources. These slides were also shared with the board um last fall. We know that parents can feel more confident engaging in budget conversations and providing that really actionable input when we understand how our district is funded. Right? So, we got we spent some time um learning about the school finance act. We spent some time um uh we had the opportunity to look at a two-minute video on Taber trying to understand that crazy thing. Um we walked through our fiscal cycle again just so that we could really understand like what's happening when and why is it happening, what decisions are made um locally in our in our schools, at our district, and what decisions are happening at the state level and beyond so that we could really target the recommendations that we share with you all tonight.

0:53:49We also wanted to better understand how our district's revenue expenses breakdown and compared to other similar districts. This is something that was really helpful in past years. We've heard a lot of questions and comments from parents on the DAC around we need to be spending more. We're not investing enough and understanding that actually we're spending more per pupil than a lot of our um neighboring districts was very illuminating for us um to take a look at. All of this information is pulled from the financial transparency report cards that the Colorado Department of Education shares. We also had the opportunity to hear um from Robin Fernandez um a little bit more detail on the district that hap the processes are happening here in our district um that inform our that influence and inform our school's budget and the sitebased spending decisions and flexibility that is available. So, we have um some more detailed slides I'm not going to go over here tonight, but that are available to the public on um what goes into the staffing and FTE allocation. Um how the differentiated school support fund allocation um what it looks like today compared to what it looked like previously when we had federal stimulus dollars. Um we looked at um spending for the common um items that schools are spending their school

0:54:56resource allocation on. Um some state and federal grants that are going directly to our schools. um as well as different ways that our fundraising entities are set up um across um across our schools. All of that information I mentioned we have in our um slides that we use for the deck which are publicly available. This information is also in the massive um award-winning budget uh that Bill setter puts together for us every year. Okay. So our process that we went through as a DAC um we are so grateful to Dr. Anderson um and our BBSD team for partnering with us to co-design a flexible protocol that we shared with school accountability committees um directly with principles through the principal um weekly uh communication that goes out um asking them to review basic information on their school's budget um and to instead of coming to us and saying what do you need which did not feel very actionable in the current um uh in the current financial environment that we're in to instead go through that similar our process we went through at the district level and saying let's analyze alignment between our school spending and our improvement priorities. So we asked school schools to school teams to answer a few questions. What's fueling your progress?

0:56:08What would help accelerate improvement where you're not seeing the results that you want to see? Um and then we also had a third area of inquiry that that was a little bit more of just an information gathering um process at this point in time, not an analysis, but what is your PTO or your booster clubs? what are they spend um what are you spending using funds from those um private fundraising sources we received uh formal input from 33 of our 56 schools or about 60% um in general these feel pretty representative when we look did our analysis of elementary middle K8 and high school which is a big concern on the DAC um for folks who uh may not know this the DAC in our DAC membership includes one representative from each school accountability committee which means elementary schools are the majority of um our DAC members. So, we wanted to make sure that as we were doing our analysis that we were really caring for the reality that um we have fewer high school representatives um on the DAC, but that we wanted to make sure the high school perspective, for example, um was well reflected in our results.

0:57:10Um, one of our budget subcommittee members put together this awesome um, Tableau visualization to just showcase again geog geographic representation of the folks who formerly um, participated in this budget input process. Um, along with and I also wanted to just share the reminder that some school teams were able to have conversations um, about their budget. they did not like fill out our form, but their DAC representative was able to participate in the process of reviewing the findings and recommendations. Um, so we again just another opportunity for us to make sure that uh the information we're sharing tonight um feels well representative of our um schools across our district. Um so key findings, let me pause there actually um just process-wise, do folks have any does board members have any questions around the process that we went through before I start talking through findings?

0:58:03Yeah. Before you go any further, um I know I'm sure it's bothersome to you as it is to me that only 33 of 56 schools participate here and then we say that um if they didn't complete the survey, they had the opportunity to review. So how many more schools did you get? Yeah. So, we had um five additional DAC members who represent schools that did not complete the survey did provide feedback on our the memo that we shared with you all a few weeks ago. So, we're still running at like 65%. Yeah, it's it's hard. I mean, maybe we nailed it and the other schools all read it and like agreed with it and just didn't let us know. Um but yeah, so we're not I think the response rate is not um is not where we want it to be. Um and um so that's something that we are our family engagement subcommittee this spring um is going to be thinking through a couple of priorities for the work they do this spring planning for next year. One of them is um making sure that we are recruiting DACK members who represent not only all of our schools but our entire school community. So, we want to we're going to be working on um tapping some of our uh the leaders of

0:59:19our family engagement or family and educators together committees to see if any of them are interested um in stepping into a new leadership role on the deck, for example. Um and we're also going to be thinking about what are some of the processes that we um plan for next year um so that we can really increase the response rate for these types of opportunities. So, one idea we floated um that we have, you know, not made no decisions on um as a group yet is um do we want to collect budget input and input on our improve district improvement plan separately or together? Um so, if we're asking for input maybe one time instead of three or four times per year, what might that do? Um so, for us to be able to increase the really that high level engagement that we want from our Sachs, we appreciate how hard you're working to get this input. So, thank you.

1:00:03Yeah. And I would just say for our um community and for the board, the way the statute's written, it's like to the extent practicable, engage with your school accountability committees. No other school, no other district accountability committees across the state that I'm aware of send a survey out like this. Um most district accountability committees actually just meet the bare minimum that state statute is, which is seven members from their school district participating. And so while we love, and this is a plug for schools that are paying attention tonight, better engagement with our district accountability committee, still you're definitely meeting with that response rate the the the task um outlined in the state statute, Jason, and then board members and for the rest of the meeting, we'll start with our remote participants because I can't see them waving their hands anymore in this and then we'll go through um everybody else. Jason.

1:00:59Um, yeah, thanks Ally. Um, how, you know, with Nicole's caveat in mind, too. Uh, but how does this map uh track with like supportive or strong SAC sacks where you have a strong supportive principle or engaged sack? I know you all have done a lot of work on kind of um, you know, uh, supporting like improvement at the SAC level and so I don't know if this relates to that if that's if there's a connection there. Just a question on that. Yeah, I think definitely there's a relationship between the strength and health of our sack and engagement in these types of kind of formal input opportunities. Um, I had several principles reach out um to just like check in on process and make sure that they um were planning for their sack meetings in the way that was going to get us the input that we were looking for. Um so to me that was a really strong indication of this is a principal who really relies on their accountability committee as a thought partner as advisors um when they're making decisions in their school community. We have a lot of um we have a number of uh schools who have sacks that are um kind of in more in the kind of getting up and running um state of

1:02:07things. We heard from a lot of those schools too. often it was the sack chair or the DAC rep who was kind of leading the process of bringing the budget questions to their agenda taking the notes and um and getting those inputed. So when we when we looked at the actual like kind of who completed the survey we had a combination of principles sack chairs and deck representatives which again I think speaks to um in some cases to kind of overall like strength of the sack but also to the variety of like leadership structures and community partnership structures we have across our schools. It's okay if some of these agenda items are driven by the DAC representative rather than the principal, right? If that's kind of how that the SAC is set up in a way that's going to really work for the school community. In other places, we have really strong engaged DAC members who are reviewing all the documentation and they are very clear that they don't really have a SAC that's up and running at their school and they're working on it. So, we're supporting them. Um, just received outreach from a principal today that they identified a DAC rep for this year. So we are like getting close to 100% of schools represented on the DAC.

1:03:13Um and so we're really trying to make sure that we're supporting schools kind of no matter where they are. Um and then we'll be actually consulting with you all this spring to decide what kind of we we had administered a sack health and practices survey two years ago. So, we're kind of approaching that and um we'll be considering whether and how we solicit more input on kind of what's the state of your sack right now again in light of like managing survey fatigue um and overload. Jorge or Alex? Maybe I'll start with Alex and then Alex have anything let us know and then we'll go down to Jorge. No, I'm good. Thank you. Hi. Uh, thank you for the opportunity. Um I I just want to highlight um the great efforts you're going to to get participation on this and to get feedback and input from all of our schools because I know of the amount of work that takes. But also I really commend the amount of development and capacity building you're building with parents across the deck in terms of understanding a very complex budgetary process and the ways in which um our budget is laid out and it directly impacts what we want to achieve through our improvement plan through our UIP and our strategic plan. Um, so I just want

1:04:31to say thank you for for doing that hard work and I and I recognize um it's hard to pull a whole bunch of uh to bring a bunch of schools along um that are at different levels of capacity right now. So thank you. Great. Thank you so much board member Chavez. And two just quick reflections on that. Um one, you know, we think the best way to encourage schools to really have fully functioning Sachs is to make sacs like really valuable. um to principles. Um and so that's something that we are working that we've been think very thoughtful about this past year is making sure that all the resources that we're developing um just feel really meaningful to school communities and that they do feel like something that folks really want to have versus something that we're like kind of getting after them in sort of a compliance exercise. Um and there was a second reflection that I had that I have lost and I will let you know if it comes back to me.

1:05:23All right. Right. So, I'm going to run through now quickly um the key findings that we shared in the in our memo to you. First, um we were really thrilled to see that the input we got from schools um did reflect our district strategic priies and priorities and school improvement goals. So, everyone did the assignment, which was great. Um we were also uh we also noticed that um more than half of our school teams explicitly reference differentiate funding as being something that has supported them to make progress against their improvement goals. And this was for um schools that were were receiving all three levels of differentiated funding. So um again, I think that's a really strong testament to that um that strategy that our district has um employed the past few years. Um we also shared and there's more detail on the memo on just a lot of staffing concerns directly tied to the strategic priorities. So um schools were really thoughtful in sort of talking through like we have this this data coach or our biiteracy coach and we don't and they are amazing and important and we don't know how much longer we will have them um given our enrollment right and given the current fiscal realities and in the memo we have a list of some of this uh

1:06:32the specific uh staff roles that were highlighted by school teams. Um, another interesting finding that uh we appreciated hearing from schools was many um without prompting from us noted that there was really good alignment between their school improvement goals and priorities and the investments that their PTO and PTA were making in their school. Other schools let us know that the exercise revealed for them that actually their private funding was not being used to support their school improvement goals and they expressed um a need and an appetite um to take steps um to ensure that there was better alignment moving forward. And then finally um across the responses just sort of either explicit or um kind of implicit interest in thinking about how policies KH and KHB um might be revisited down the road in the future when the time is right as you all are um making decisions around um the declining enrollment and um next steps for our school district.

1:07:32Okay. Okay. So, in response to the question of what's fueling progress, there were five key areas um that we heard from across schools. First, the new and higher quality curricula uh curricula and um resources that schools have specifically um new math curriculum um as well as new literacy curriculum that are um better aligned to the science of reading. We also heard that the data data driven instruction staffing strategies coaching support um is really supporting schools to um look at data holistically and make really like in the- moment shifts to their instruction so that they're supporting better better able to support all kids. Um very closely related to that um schools uh highlighted the role of interventionists and once they've used the data to better identify kids who need extra support actually having staffing so that there are folks who can go take action in response to um what they are learning through the DDI processes. um educator collaboration. We almost kind of embedded in those first three bullet points, but we decided to pull that out um as kind of a fourth area of what's fueling progress because it was really clear from the responses that like being able to more deeply understand what the expectations are in the new curricular resources, how teaching changes um when you're shifting

1:08:51from a direct instruction model, for example, to an inquiry based learning model. um looking at data, being able to collaborate on um how they're going how teachers can shift their instructions the next day, the next week, the next month um to respond to that is all made possible by being able to come together in community and look at the information, problem, solve, collaborate together. Um and there there is a there was a little bit of attention in some of the other responses in some other responses we heard around um ideas that parents and community members have for what else teachers could be doing um that would take them out of that collabor that would require them to step out of that space where they are collaborating together. And so we just wanted to make that visible um especially to our we it became visible to us and so we wanted to make make it visible to our community um that sometimes when we're asking for something we might not realize that um what we're asking for is for teachers to have less time collaborating together so that they can look at data and so that they can um design interventions uh for our kids. So wanted we we felt like it was important to pull that out. And then

1:09:54the fifth piece here uh was around student support and school family partnership. So, we had schools who shared a a number of different really customized ways that they are directly addressing um the needs of their kids as well as working with families in their communities. Um and that looks different across schools. Many of our title one schools and some of our high schools um specifically highlighted the role of um student supports in school family partnership, school um family liaison, um credit recovery support. So, it looked really different at the elementary level versus middle school, high school level, but again, sort of a theme of having some of these um additional supports in place to help kids and families really based on their unique and distinct needs. We also uncovered four areas of um consensus across our schools around what's needed to accelerate improvement.

1:10:46So, school counselors and mental health support. This is really the biggest gap that we saw and it came across in a lot of the responses that we got from schools. Um, schools really value the additional support that they've received in recent years um to support kids and um at the elementary school level like you we saw a lot of responses around like what it means to support our young kids to um build those social and emotional skills around um uh you know being able to kind of step back and name their feelings, right? And then um get along with their peers at the middle school level. you know, really thinking about healthy relationships and, you know, how you sort of navigate um like instances of bullying um at the high school level. Um a lot of really um deep appreciation for um the mental health centers funded by impact on education and all the wraparound supports that have been built around that. Um we also heard from schools um DDI was listed as like something that is accelerating improvement and it was also shared as something where they need more um to keep improving. Um and specifically had a few schools who who sort of named it um you know the the DDI work is a lot um and so they were really excited about

1:11:57it. they were definitely feeling like the need for um uh support from the district around like kind of being able to do that DDI work in more manageable chunks I think was one of the quotes we pulled in. Um and then we had a couple of schools um sort of relay that they felt like they were actually at the point in implementation where they felt like more of the DDI work um could just come live in the school building. Um so right now a lot of it sort of started out like very heavy with the district support um kind of coming in and teaching and coaching um and modeling some of these practices. Um they're now in a place where it feels a little bit more balanced and they're sort of feeling more and more ready to like bring it all inhouse and thinking about what does that mean as far as like budget and resource allocation. Um interventionists were also listed here both as um accelerating improvement and also an area of concern um like we need more better um just like all the time.

1:12:47Um, and so there's a little bit of detail um in in the memo around just like what what that might look like as far as um as far as like thinking through sustaining supports that are currently in place or like getting creative with making sure that like when we use the term interventionist sometimes we are talking about a 1.0 you know, FTE, math interventionist, but oftentimes we were talking about a person in the building who is providing intervention support. Um, and so that was something we did want to name um came through in um some of the feedback that we got from schools was um a desire to to maintain or even increase intervention support, but an openness to thinking about how we do that. Um it doesn't necessarily need to be a 1.0 FTE person. um as long as whoever is providing that support is trained and supported um to be able to um support our kids. And then finally, this one was really interesting. A number of schools um shared a desire for additional support around like how they design their master schedule. So really wanting to think through um like how do we make sure that we are setting everyone in our building up for success um literally through the way that we design our school day. Um, so we thought

1:14:03that that was a really interesting insight, unexpected insight um, from this conversation. Um, but just as an example, we heard um some of our secondary schools sort of talking about the idea of like if we were able to like redesign our electives so we could kind of merge electives, like how might that free up space for us to like have um kids would have access to the coursework and the learning that they're that they want um and need um in order to be ready for what comes next, but also might free up some space for us to bring in some of those more some more intervention supports. Um, and there are a couple of other um, notes in here at the elementary school level around the kind of what I how to make sure that that what I need um, section that some of our elementary schools are using um, is set up so that the the adult who needs to be with the student for the intervention can actually be there um, on a regular basis every every day or every week.

1:14:54All right. And finally, um, again, this is a place uh, on private spending. We ask schools to report out on what they are investing their private dollars on. We did not ask them to do alignment. We did not ask them for like an opinion on whether these are the right things. But this was kind of our first step in um demystifying a little bit u for us as a DAC um what what are those private um dollars being used on. So um by and large pair professionals also a lot of investments in learning experiences professional development for teachers aligned to those learning experience as well as classroom supplies um aligned to those um enrichment uh learning experiences. Um additional mental health supports um are being paid for with private funds. um lots of school culture, cultural activities um and events and um just kind of other efforts that are really important to our school buildings um but are um things that you know felt like they were sort of school teams reported were outsourcable to parents and community members um even if they continue to be critical um to um the way students are feeling that sense of belonging and welcoming at their schools. Um and then schools reported some school facilities um investments as well.

1:15:58Okay. So, taking all of that together, we offered you five D um five recommendations from the DAC. Um the first one is to continue the planned community engagement um that you have around declining enrollment. Um so many of the challenges that schools shared with us are a direct result of the the issues facing our schools when we don't have enough kids and we don't have um enough resources um that we're able to allocate to those schools. Um and so we don't we don't offer solutions. We don't we don't know what they are, but just like we we do need to figure this out. I think we we left this process with a new appreciation for um how hard it would be to try to come up with short-term solutions that actually keep a full-time art teacher in every building and a full-time music teacher in every building and a full-time counselor in every building just given our budget realities. The second recommendation that we're offering to you all is to continue prioritizing the DDI investments. Um clearly this is something that is making a huge difference for our uh teachers and principles and um school communities and um it's something that as you are making tough decisions um uh moving forward um we would urge you to really retain um

1:17:04the work you're doing around datadriven instruction the 90-day plans and those continuous improvement cycles. Um we kind of smooshed a bunch of stuff into one into one third recommendation um which is just the start of a list. This is not a comprehensive list of just like what are those creative strategies that might be budget neutral. Um so we heard from some schools this idea of like if every teacher identified as a math and reading teacher and had professional development support around your math our math and literacy priorities like what would that mean in terms of being able to continue accelerating growth in math and literacy. Um so can we identify opportunities for other teachers to attend some of the professional development that literacy and math teachers have been going to um so that they can be incorporating that into other disciplines. Also some interesting ideas on the school student support and family partnership work around like are there other um school staff in the building who could benefit from for example some of the training you all have done on restorative practices right and some of the culture building work um that we're culture building and um social emotional learning uh that we're that is happening at our schools. We learned through this process that a lot of schools are staffing um with hybrid

1:18:12roles. They didn't use the language of hybrid roles. that's a word we use to describe it. Um there are lots of educ there are lots of folks in our buildings who are point four here and point six here or point this here and point that there. So um we think that's could be really neat and creative. We heard some examples of for example a librarian who um is now at a 0.5 um.5 library teacher and then.5 literacy interventionist and it turns out it's the greatest thing that's ever happened to her career. um also had an example of another educator who um is really challenging to be split right in those roles and it's maybe not quite working for her. So, we're not necessarily recommending um that we like implement more hybrid roles, but more more deeply understand what are these roles that are happening that are that exist at our schools, documenting that, learning from that, sharing those across schools, and then using that information um to make really strategic decisions around um you know, maybe maybe there are certain roles that are more effective and sustainable for educators and so let's like build those into the model more explicitly and maybe there are some that really aren't working um and so we can maybe steer schools away from those. The master schedule boot

1:19:21camp was another idea that came up just around this idea of bringing educators together um and administrators together to just rethink how we're setting up our school days. Um we're also recommending that you connect schools at various stages of implementation. Um for the most part schools were really excited about the DDI work for example. Um we did hear a couple of schools who were like this is too much work and we're just not quite sure that we're getting the value out of it. um our hypothesis is that they're just starting the work and it is a lot and it is too much. Um so maybe if they had the opportunity to see and hear from their colleagues who are one, two, three years down the road that that might help them kind of keep up energy and momentum um as they are working on implementing something that by and large most all the other schools in the district are really seeing value out of. And then finally um we did hear from some schools uh questions about the tutoring programs and this overlaps a little bit with the intervention interventionist uh feedback that we got.

1:20:13Um some schools are using the language of tutoring to talk about some the inter the type the way that they're structuring their interventions. Um and in some places that was especially at our elementary schools. They're like this is gamechanging. It's amazing for our kids. They're meeting consistently with the tutor every week and the kids who have access to that are growing astronomically. At the middle school level there was concerns that um middle schoolers who were connecting with tutors during their study hall were maybe not seeing the same value. Um, and so we just thought that was an opportunity to maybe do a little bit more research, check in on what's going on there, and um, make sure that, you know, we we know that high impact tutoring is actually very cost-effective and very effective way to support our kids. Um, and in uh, times of tightening budgets, um, would hate for us to kind of throw those out the window if we could actually maybe just like adjust um, uh, the the program as it's being implemented to make sure that it really is uh, supporting kids and helping us reach our goals. Um our fourth recommendation is around um the private funding sources. So, we do not know if you guys are planning to revisit policies KH and KHB, but if you do or

1:21:18when you do, um, we would really encourage you to make sure that you're using and making visible data on how those dollars are being spent, um, potentially even projecting like what changes in policy, like what that might mean for how much um, private funding schools have access to. and making sure that you're using that to really just check in and make sure that you feel good that we feel good as a community um about whether or not those changes are supporting our equity goals. Um so we know that schools want to raise money for their or we know that families want to raise money for their schools. Uh we know that that's super important. We believe it can be really valuable and um we want to make sure that that is done in a way that is um we can all sleep well at night if any changes are made there. And then finally, um, keep partnering with us. Uh, this was a really, really good experience and we are really grateful to the BBSD team for working really closely with us on, um, oh, board member Chavez, I the second thing I was going to say in response to you later, I just it just came back. Um we we had a lot of questions at the beginning of this process and I think um

1:22:25some concerns about whether or not we should be asking all those questions and um we um sort of went in hoping that by digging into a lot of data, by digging into a lot of detail um that it might be overwhelming and that it might not be a good idea, but that we hoped it would be and we wanted to give it a try and you guys were game um to partner with us on that. Um so we really appreciate that. Um I think at times when we are trying to simplify and make uh the language you use about our schools more concrete for parents and family members uh we can there's that Oliver Wendell Holmes quote like we want to get to the simplicity on the other side of complexity. Sometimes we get to the simplicity on this side of complexity and that's not very helpful.

1:23:07So thank you for getting to going through the complexity with us and so that we could get to the other side. um DAC members really appreciate that and we felt like it was a valuable process that we are hoping to share out with more community members um and hopefully replicate whatever that means in the future with more of our parents and community members. So that was a lot of information. Thank you so much for bearing with me. Um I like to bring this picture in wherever I can. One of our students tagged BVSD um up off one of our hiking trails nearby. So questions, any additional questions um that you all have? Graffiti is not condoned but we do appreciate the love for ABSD. I would like to start any questions or comments this evening from Jorge and then we'll go to Alex and then board members sitting at the dis will go on to you.

1:24:02Thank you to the um for all of your work on this. I mean, this is this is a really great to see the applicability of the questions that we're asking and the very direct effects that our current budget investments have had on these schools. Um, I I really appreciate the way you've kind of laid this out and the great efforts you've put in terms of trying of getting participation from the SAC and DAC community. Um, I think these these recommendations really align with kind of where we're going and the challenges we're facing as as we're moving forward. I'm curious um if if from your perspective if there are gaps um that you see or or or or um areas that you think um we need to focus on or or folks that we need to reach out to that were missed through this process given that we had somewhat little participation um or questions that remain to be asked.

1:24:53Yeah. Um as a followup I think I would recommend just connecting with our alternative high schools. Um we have awesome DAC representatives um from those school communities. Um and and they are amazing contributors to the work that we do. Um I know that those are places where we are just continually paying attention to whether or not we feel like the recommendations, the insights we're sharing with you all really apply um to those school community. So that's one that jumps to mind. I think this time around, you know, we did we do feel like our title one schools were really engaged in the process. Our bilingual schools are really engaged in the process. Um, so we feel really good about those recommendations. Um, or we feel really good about um the repres how how representative we were able to be um of the experience of those school communities. Um, but if we were to do another next step, I would just check in um with our high schools.

1:25:46Thank you, Alex. Yeah, I just want to say a huge thank you for the for the complexity and the depth and the engagement around this. I think this is all such useful information. Uh certainly to me on the board and I'm sure to all my colleagues. So kudos to you and everybody who's um done all this work. I think it's really helpful and I'm um really pleased to see the direction that the DAC and the Sachs are going in in terms of like facilitating deep discussion about such important stuff. So whatever we can do as a board and as a district to support that continued deep engagement, I'm all in favor of. And uh I think it's really helpful to us and I think as we move into uh dealing with declining enrollment, dealing with a mature strategic plan, figuring out how to sustain our investments in this spite of the kind of uh financial challenges we'll face as a state and a district, it's just all the more important to have this kind of engagement. So my main feedback is just a big thank you. Um, and I and I'm looking forward to as we'll be talking about it, you know, just tonight in terms of like future engagement around the issues we face as a district around

1:26:56declining enrollment. I think keeping that ability to touch things back on our strategic plan, on our UIPs, on our goals is really quite an important anchor for us. So, I just mostly just have gratitude for you and I appreciate the input and I recognize um how much uh this level of input is helpful to us as a district. So, thank you. Thank you, Anna. I similarly wanted to share my appreciation. And I think that sometimes we can get um caught up in the weeds of our of our own um policym and it's sometimes so refreshing to see some of the very obvious things that we can keep doing um that really align with our strategic priorities. And so um again I just echo what Horge and and Alex just said of just thank you for consolidating all of this, taking the time to do it.

1:27:54um because we are going to face a very hard financial uh coming years and I think that having those very obvious, very simple things that we do daytoday um that will help us keep us afloat and help our students make sure that they continue having that enrichment at their schools is invaluable honestly and and it does make me really excited that so many of the things are aligned to our strategic plan and that they they feel and they seem so seamless that we can um start to incorporate and integrate and make sure that we're not uh overlooking those very very crucial parts. So, thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much for that. And one reflection back is um you know in the past years we have provided schools with like a menu of investments. For example, we've really scaffolded these conversations thinking like oh this is what we need to do to get good good input and like we threw that out this year. So to see schools, school teams independently reporting back so many investments that are aligned to the strategic plan was really powerful for us too. Um and I think validation that like you know our our schools are we're ready to engage in this process.

1:29:15I just want to take a moment to note gratitude and how excited it makes me feel that what we hear from the community. What we believe as a board is also being echoed in your report. The work we are doing is making meaningful changes to our students and to our staff and our school community and also elevating the fact that we can't continue to do that work without addressing declining enrollment. It is a very significant reality. So, thank you for bringing that up. Um, amongst the other things along those lines, I know several folks in the audience are folk are individuals who have signed on to letters around KH policy revisions when they sometimes are considered by the board. And I recognize that I I think a lot of the things that schools are trying to fund raise for are a direct result of declining enrollment. like you said back filling staffing positions and I really don't think it's does us a disservice to touch that policy until we have tackled declining enrollment to really understand if we don't have those significant staffing issues because our schools are underenrolled and underst staffed as a result maybe we don't have to have schools raising tens of thousands hundreds of thousands of dollars to support some of those decisions and then the policy might look

1:30:17very different as a result of that and so I think that policy we all know it does need to be revisited and I think what we really need to focus our time in as you saw in our board priorization that did not get rep prioritized to be looked at again sitting in a redline version. But after the dust settles on the declining enrollment things, I think we all recognize on the board that that policy is really poorly written. It's very confusing and it's unclear what um what the language causes and behaviors and what the outcomes of those and the impacts to equity. So when dust settles there, I think we have an appetite to to tackle that, but conditions are going to change significantly, I presume. And so let's like let that landscape take shape before acting on that. And then the last thing I just want to say and to folks watching, DAC is one of our best thought partners here on the on the board of education. They do amazing work. It's predominantly parents, volunteers, and there is not a more meaningful way, maybe as a former deck member myself, it's selferving uh to get involved in really big decision-making at this school district. So, if you have a school community that does not have a high functioning school accountability

1:31:24committee, does not have a DAC rep, a big plug, like your work is really important to us. This budget presentation is an excellent example. Um, we we can't do our work well without your support and um your constant connection to our school community. So, thank you so much to Ally, to Felicia Gorman, Dak Chair sitting up in front, co-chair, and everybody else on district accountability committee. We do really appreciate your part your partnership. With that, I think we're ready to move on if there are no further questions. Yeah. Thank you. And just a plug for everyone in the room, for everyone watching, join your sack. If you are looking at what's happening in the world, if you are looking what's happening in my hometown of Minneapolis, um a really great way to take action to do something to do good is to join your sack to come join attend a DAC meeting.

1:32:12Um join us. Um, we're doing great work and uh we want all of you to be part of it. Thank you. Thanks, Ally. Thanks to everybody on that budget subcommittee. Next item for this evening's agenda is board communication. Keeping up with the theme, Jorge and Alex, I will start with you. Uh, I'm good. Uh, all I can say is I sorry I can't be there in person tonight. Uh, my stomach is acting up so I don't think anybody wants me there. But, uh, I'm just really excited uh, at the discussion we had tonight from the DACK. And I just want to add that uh, I think we get a lot of helpful input from the community and it's it's really good to see what great thought partners we have on lots of issues out there.

1:33:22no. Jorge, huh? Um, just in acknowledging Dak's work there on our total spending per student, which I really appreciate you guys um sussing out and putting it on your slide. Thank you. um and you're digging into Taber and the school finance. All of those things were really um other than well this morning we met with our legislators as a board and um well they don't know how much we spend per student which you know they do know about Taber and school finance and we had some lengthy discussions this morning and it was brought into very sharp focus again for me um the financial landscape in which we're operating. And um so that was very helpful for our board to sit with our legislators and talk those things through um and what we can control and what we cannot control.

1:34:24And so as a board member here, I'm anxiously awaiting our discussion that we will have here uh on declining enrollment. And what I would encourage our community to do is to think of our community quite holistically uh not just as your school. You're it's bigger than your school. It's a community. and and as we start discussing declining enrollment, consolidating schools, um given our budget constraints, given declining enrollment, I hope that our community takes that big worldview. Deanna and then Anna. Hi, I want to recognize that uh one of the things that I see as a former teacher is uh driving around our beautiful community and seeing on all kinds of days, Saturdays and Sunday afternoons, there are teachers parked in the parking lots at the schools and they're putting in those extra hours to make all of this happen. And I just want to say to all of you that spent your Saturdays in a cold cold school uh trying to get set up for this week, I want to say thank you.

1:35:58I did also want to uh mention about uh we had a legislative breakfast this morning with a handful of our senators and representatives and it was really helpful and I'm really grateful that we were able to see the the state of our budget at the state level but also um to hear from Rob about the solidarity that a lot of the school districts and superintendent are holding the line to make sure that uh we are protecting as much as we can budgetwise for our schools uh for our public schools across across the front range across Colorado. Um, so I'm really grateful and uh thank you to uh policy matters for really bringing together a really great group of folks um this morning. And uh secondly, as a a school board member, a parent, and as a daughter of immigrants, uh my heart is with every student and family in our community who is feeling grief, who is feeling fear and uncertainty right now.

1:36:55Um, last week I was really uh broken by seeing a 5-year-old being used as bait. Um, very similar looking to how my son looks with his backpack and his beanie. And then to hear my young nieces and nephews uh come up with their own contingency plans on how they would protect their cousin. And this fear is not only on the directly impacted folks um but it is being felt in that in the greater community as well. And um I just wanted to take this moment of privilege to really let every child in our schools, regardless of immigration status, race, religion, gender identity, or background, uh they deserve to feel safe, welcomed and loved and a place of of learning and peace and belonging. And these are not just ideals that um we express broadly, but they are lived experiences that we strive to create each and every day in BVSD. And my commitment is uh to continue to show up and do the groundwork with our community. And to all of our students and families who are feeling anxious about what they are seeing happen across our country, I just want to say that you are seen, you are valued, and you belong here.

1:38:21Thanks for that, Anna. Um our delegation is amazing. So, thank you voters for electing highly thoughtful, engaged representatives. Uh, we can't they help us do our work. They are always in constant contact. Um, so it was great to meet with them this morning and just thank you to the voters for electing awesome people. Not everybody has a delegation at the capital like we do. I want to We have 56 schools in this district. Approximately 36 of them are elementary schools. We have more schools than we have people to fill them. And we'll talk about the community engagement process tonight. But I I want to really emphasize every single one of those schools loves their community. Every single one of those every every parent and kid in those school and teachers in every single one of those schools are showing growth in and improved student achievement. they they have great um results when it comes to like sense of belonging and we are not looking at data like that to make decisions moving forward like these are really hard fiscal decisions they are real estate decisions they are facility conditions decisions they are zoning decisions it's not um I just would hazard the community to get into a place where it's not my school but maybe that school because we're all in this together and it's

1:39:40going to be really hard and we all love our schools so much and I think as a board this is going to be the hardest job we tackle and working together to find the best path forward for us is really my biggest goal and I know everybody's going to want to save their school and at the end of the day that's not going to be the reality and so working together supporting your neighbors supporting schools around you um is really I think the foot forward because at the end of the day your kids might be in schools with those other parents. You might be on a PTO at a different school with those parents. Like how can we really work through this very challenging time together as partners um is just something I've been thinking a lot since the weekend since you start to feel the energy building up around this today's presentation and so I just want to honor that. But that's my biggest hope for that this community as we work through this really challenging time. So I just wanted to say that out loud.

1:40:41With that, I think we are con done with public comment or board comment today. So, we will move on to information items. We have three information items this evening. The first of which is strategic community engagement plan for resilient schools. Mr. Rob Price will do the presentation. Dr. Would you like to do the introduction? I would. Thank you, board president Raj Paul. Um board members, as you as you'll recall in October, we had a work session where we really dug into the realities of declining enrollment in our in our school district. Um at that moment and at the conclusion of that meeting, uh it was through consensus um from the board that we needed to begin to really start to ramp up this process. At that time, on behalf of of district staff, I committed to bringing back to you a thoughtful plan for us to engage our community uh prior to um bringing you any recommendations or developing any recommendations around school closure, school consolidation, school reconfiguration.

1:41:47Um and so we've been hard at work over the past four months. Before they even get started, I want to commend our team for for being thoughtful. And I think what you'll see in the presentation this evening um is a district that wants to engage our community and that wants to listen first to know and understand the things that are most important around the student experiences which are creating the best outcomes that the Boulder Valley School District has ever seen for all kids. Uh and that's very important to me. Um and uh this will be difficult. It will be challenging, but we're going to start by listening and then putting our heads together to try to figure out what is the best path forward to accomplish our goals. And so with that, uh, I think our team has a great presentation to share with you today. And, uh, Rob Price, assistant superintendent of operations, I'll turn it over to you. Thank you.

1:42:42Good evening, President Raj Paul, members of the board. Dr. Anderson, thank you for that introduction. Uh the purpose of tonight's presentation is to define the uh comprehensive community engagement process to help us address the really the profound challenges of declining enrollment. Um as the district moves forward towards a future where the majority of our schools will be two rounds or less uh doing the status quo is no longer sustainable and that has come up a number of times tonight. So this engagement strategy that we are presenting tonight is clearly defined to uh clearly define the problem for the public including the operational the programmatic impacts ensuring that the community understands the necessity for change struggling on there we go uh tonight's presentation has four purposes. First, to confirm a shared understanding of the bird's uh board's urgency to declining enrollment or created by declining enrollment. Second is to reaffirm the board's goals that will help guide future decisions. Third is to review a proposed community engagement plan that will help inform viable school adjustment options. And finally, establish a clear path for towards eventual board action. Um, as you can see on the right side of your screen, the list of school adjustment options shown reflects the tools that districts uh typically considered, but as discussed, allowing schools to stay

1:44:23small is not an option. That was discussed at our October 21st work session. Um, with that said, no options are being recommended tonight. Declining enrollment is not just a BBSD issue. It is happening across our nation. It is happening across uh Colorado. This year, Colorado's public school enrollment dropped by more than 10,000 students. That was the largest single year decline since the pandemic. Uh the statewide decline uh really reflects broader demographic shifts. It's including uh lower birth rates, shifting population patterns that are affecting districts of all sizes. uh our enrollment decline, we've talked about this in a numerous uh work sessions and board meetings is influenced by similar factors. Uh declining birth rates means fewer kindergarteners. Our population in Boulder Valley School District is aging in place. Housing costs remain high and neighboring districts are able to afford or to offer more affordable housing options. I just go over these as we are going to be uh experiencing sustained enrollment declines over the next several years and we'll give an update on that here in a minute.

1:45:45This slide illustrates that this work did not begin recently. Since 2022, the long range advisory committee, the board of education and staff, we've been studying enrollment trends, developing metrics, engaging communities, and updating board policies. The pace and the scope of this work has reflects sustained board of education interest and direction over multiple years. Uh the work on this slide also shows that we have pulled every available lever to change enrollment trajectories over the last four years to avoid the difficult conversations that we're going to be having over this next several months. This work has been very very deliberate over this course of time. over a five-year period uh from 2019 to 20124, our enrollment declined by over 2,800 students. So, what has changed since last year is we declined by another 525 students. That's 284 more students than we projected. This is the second largest decline that we've seen since the pandemic.

1:46:54We talked about a number of reasons during the December work session. Some of that could be happening at the federal level, some of the immigration changes that have impacted us. But we do know that delaying any further just continues to increase the risk to the student experience. We strive to provide it creates additional instability for our staff and it challenges the district's long-term financial uh sustainability. We currently have the capacity to serve over 14,500 elementary students in our non-charter schools. Right now, we only serve about 9700 elementary schools. Our util utilization rate is 67%. Just as a reminder, utilization is calculated enrollment divided by program capacity, leaving us with over 4,800 open seats in our elementary schools today. And this is this number is projected to grow to over 5,100 open seats just over the next five years. And one issue we'll discuss among many other issues uh is that we're just maintaining a significant amount of excess space which is really diverting limited funds away from the classroom that has real instructional and financial consequences.

1:48:26The core impact of declining enrollment is on the student experience. and Robin Fernandez, our assistant superintendent of schools, has done a phenomenal job of explaining this slide. And I'll go into a little bit more detail and then we'll watch a video. But as our schools move from three classes per grade level to two classes per grade level to one class to now we're even seeing multi-grade classrooms, we know that programmatic offerings begin to suffer as schools are getting smaller. smaller schools. This shows up as traveling specialists teachers, really complex scheduling, limited teacher collaboration, and reduced access to other enrichment experiences. Board me, board member Quinnland Leea, you brought this up in October about how difficult our teachers are working right now, and we want to acknowledge our staff's effort. As we know, our teachers, our principles, our pair educators are all working extremely hard with limited resources to provide high-quality learning experiences.

1:49:28The effort though as we all know is this is not sustainable. So this year several schools were required to implement multi-grade uh classrooms. One teacher said that she would much rather teach a class of 50 students than ever have to teach another multi-grade classroom. very different than an intentional multi-age classroom like community monaster. This is much different. We're giving them our standard curriculum. We're asking them to teach two different grade levels in one classroom. Much different than what we have come to expect. And with that, uh, we will, um, show a short video. As you've probably heard, the Boulder Valley School District is facing declining enrollment. But what does that mean? and how does it impact our classrooms and students? Well, over the past decade or so, birth rates in Colorado and across the country have been diving. And of course, with fewer kids in our neighborhoods, we're also seeing a matching decrease in the number of kids attending our schools. As you may know, school funding is directly tied to the number of students we serve.

1:50:36So, as schools have gotten smaller, we've also had less dollars. For a while, BBSD has been able to make things stretch so that all of our schools still have all the bigger school services that we've become accustomed to, like a robust offering in specials that rotate every week, instrumental music, and dedicated counselors and special education teachers. Sure, there have been sides of strain, but we've been largely able to bridge that gap. Maybe we've had to cut back on school administration or have had specialist teachers serve multiple schools. But most folks have been satisfied, if not even happy about having small schools with all the things that they've been accustomed to. The problem is that things are quickly getting too tight to keep us up. So, as some of our schools have had less and less classes at turn grades or across the school, there are now fewer adults supporting students, reducing their access to learning opportunities and needed support as well as supervision. The less kids, the more complex scheduling becomes. Plus, that adds a lot of strain to our teachers who now don't have the support and collaboration that they typically have had from other educators teaching in the same grade level. Plus, things are getting pretty unpredictable. Teachers may have to move from grade to grade, year to year, and class sizes can go up

1:51:51and down like a roller coaster ride. In BBSD, we remain steadfastly dedicated to making sure that our students continue to receive a top-notch education from the best teachers in the state. We however know that something has to change. That is why we will be engaging with our educators and community to discuss how we move forward together to make schools resilient while students remain at the center of any decisions that we make. So uh last two slides this video and the last slide you know I've been studying this for four years and the more I study this it should not depend on where a student goes on the resources they get and right now that's the way the system has evolved by doing nothing access to programs access to supports has become increasingly uneven across uh BBSD so uh we already know that declining enrollment is already straining a number of our schools. Uh how inaction will continue to erode uh equity, stability and our student experience over time.

1:53:04So um as you can see here, this is our five-year projections. um as you can uh over the next five years we are projected to decline um another 1,700 students. So while all levels are affected, elementary continues to drive the most facility and staffing impacts. Um and that's why we're having this discussion. So this slide uh shows our 5-year elementary projections using our 202425 enrollment data. The last slide was based on the 25 uh enrollment data that you got in December. We have not updated our school by school projections that will come to the board on February 10th during the annual enrollment trend report. However, based on this data, it helps us understand really the regional patterns which becomes important when we look at the um uh engagement process. So, two indicators that we're looking at here are the number of schools projected to have two or fewer classes per grade level and then the regional building utilization which shows how efficiently schools are being used or facilities are being used in that region. Uh Boulder continues to experience the most significant uh enrollment decline at the elementary level. 10 of our 14 schools, 71% of the schools are projected to be at or below two classes per grade level uh over the next five years. The region's overall building utilization

1:54:34projected to be at 58% meaning we have a substantial amount of space that is just underused. Uh this creates both educational and operational challenges and that is why Boulder will be a focus area of the engagement. Uh Lewisville Superior is also experiencing continued declines. Three of our six schools are projected to be at two classes per grade level or less. The regional utilization is projecting at 61% again indicating underuse across multiple sites. Lafayette Erie shows a different pattern compared to the others. We got enrollment that is slowly growing. No schools during the 20 using the 2425 data are projected to fall to two or fewer classes per grade level. Regional utilization is at 88% which is a much uh which is much closer to an efficient use of space. Um Broomfield continues to see declining enrollment though on a smaller scale just because we have fewer schools in Broomfield. Uh two of our four schools are projected to be at or below two classes per grade level. The regional utilization is at 73% just indicating some moderate underutilization.

1:55:47Uh the number of resident students in the area is the cause for concern there. So Broomfield will also be an area of engagement. Uh really the challenge is we're just seeing fewer students across the same number of schools. So um and we know that the impact isn't even across the district. So the projections really help us explain why this regional engagement approach is necessary and why different regions might have different solutions as we look at this. Dr. Anderson, if you if you could just go back to that slide, Rob, you know, board members, you know, I think this is going to be one of our greatest challenges is um is we're solving a problem that's that is coming but may not be here yet for everyone. And uh if we wait till it gets here, it's too late to solve it. And I see districts across the country kick the can and wait until it's too late and then um they they aren't able to listen.

1:56:50They aren't able to put together thoughtful plans. Uh you know, the the the five-year projection data is if we stay on projection, um again, we were off our projection by 284 students. That's roughly $3 million in actual dollars uh to the school district with the idea that around a hundred kids is is more or less a million dollars in today's school finance act. And so as we engage, I think one of the things that we're going to be talking and really focusing on is making sure everybody understands the problems of tomorrow, right, within the context of today. And uh and so as as you begin to review this engagement plan, uh we're going to be very thoughtful in the in in not only just listening, but the information that we're sharing and doing that in ways where folks can know and understand to keep the the the school district operating and functioning at the high levels it is today. We just have no choice. We have to make some um some really difficult decisions. Uh but at the end of the day doing nothing will create a situation where um you may not be able to recover the school district that you have today. Uh because at a certain point without the resources schools become undesirable and we have

1:58:10all desirable schools today. So all right. So in response to the data that just presented and the direction that the board gave us back in October, we will be standing up a regional engagement process. So over the next month, we will communicate all of the details about this engagement process, including how uh our staff, our families, and others can participate. uh the communication that we send out will include the timeline for the engagement, what topics will be discussed, where those are held etc. Uh what engagement will and will not do as we think about this process. Um engagement will help us build understanding of the problem. uh it will gather input and inform our decisions as we move forward through this process and it will inform board of education decisionmaking when we get to that time frame. However, uh just to be very clear about this process, it will not guarantee the preservation of specific schools. It will not delay action and it will not delay the transfer of decision-m away from you.

1:59:19So, just hope to set up some boundaries up front. Uh hopefully we can maintain some trust by uh continuing to um communicate this out as we move forward. So as illustrated here, the engagement f uh structure is focused on uh regional input. As we looked at in the data slides, we're going to be organized around three regions. That's Broomfield, Boulder, Lewisville, Superior where our school utilization rates are the lowest and a majority of those schools in those regions are projected to be at or below two classes per grade level. Um, projected enrollment in Lafayette and Erie is currently stable. We'll continue to monitor their enrollment and any potential impacts to enrollment in Lafayette and Erie uh will be considered in the development of our school adjustment options. Um, our M Mountain schools are currently not included in this process just due to their unique circumstances up there. Um, and then looking at who will be involved, the regional groups will be comprised of principles, teachers, uh, parents, community members, committee members, um, etc. Our goal throughout this engagement uh process will to be to make sure our community understands the consequences of not making changes and why action is needed now. And as I previously stated over the next month, we will communicate out the details on how everyone can be involved in this uh

2:00:51process and how they can participate. So as we move to the timeline, I have broken this down into seven different phases. Uh phase one which has begun uh is focused on really engaging our principles, our uh teachers, other staff, uh district advisory committees and beginning conversations with the different municipalities that are part of this process. Um this work will begin and or will continue through the month of February. Phase two is where we will start our regional uh community group meetings to build understanding of the problem. This F phase will occur between March and May of this year. And then during phase three, staff will present a summary of the community engagement that we have received to the board. We will present that at a June uh board meeting and then we will spend time uh staff will spend time over the summer developing school adjustment options uh based on the input that we've received and the board of education's goals uh that we have discussed.

2:02:02During phase four is when we plan to present the school adjustment options to you. This will be in August. This will be an opportunity for the board to discuss the options being presented. This will be an also be an opportunity for public comment at our board meetings. In September, which is phase five on the timeline, we will present a final plan for study to the board. And this would include everything considering updated attendance boundaries, maybe open enrollment preferences, transportation considerations among many other things that we need to think about, facility improvement analysis, etc. As we move to phase six, that is where we will present the final plan for action to the board that will occur in October to align with our uh open enrollment timeline. And then as we move into phase seven, that marks the transition uh for focus support um for our impacted families and staff. And we are committed to supporting our students, staff uh and families throughout this transition and to move forward in a way that hopefully strengthens the long-term stability and excellence of Boulder Valley School District. Um that concludes tonight's presentation and I would welcome board discussion.

2:03:23Rob, can you go back? Um, I want to get into a little bit more depth on phase one uh for our board and for the public. Um, we have already established 35 calendar invite meetings. Laura, is that right? Around 35, where Dr. Dea Cruz and I will go and speak with every elementary school teacher in the district. Um, we're going to speak with every principal in the district. We're going to start with our educators. Uh, you know, there there's a lot of great things about BBSD, but the people that we have are our strength and we need to listen to them. We need to understand what it is that we need to preserve through this process to make their experience one where they can serve the kids of our community. And so we're going to be very intentional between January and spring break to make sure that we're engaging deeply with teachers, understanding the impacts, hearing their fears, hearing and listening and and gathering that information to really give us a strong base on what our schools, what our educators, what do they need? Um, and so I just wanted to the the phase one is was just I just wanted to give a little more depth here before we get into into discussion. Thanks, Rob.

2:04:37Can I since we're on that slide, y I know there's folks watching tonight curious about phase two. When do we have a when do you anticipate having a timeline of what those community outreach events will look like? When can they anticipate hearing when like that information will be available? Over the next month, we plan to communicate that out details of those engagement sessions. And sorry, Alex and Jorge for jumping in there. Um, Alex, we'll start with you, then we'll go to Jorge if you guys have any questions or thoughts, and then we'll go to Lenia. Uh, no, I I mean, I appreciate the plan. I look forward to getting the input. I almost want to reinforce something you said, Nicole, which is, um, I really do think this is a a community communitywide issue that we're facing.

2:05:34And um I guess in my day job I've seen what happens when when you're dealing with a potential closure of schools. And sometimes people think that the most political rabble rousing is the best way to inform the strategies. And really, I'm just encouraging everyone to stay student focused on this uh throughout all of our discussions and to be thinking as a community about how we um safeguard the student experience over the next couple of years as well. So all this discussion for the most part is affecting the elementary schools, at least the elementary schools first. And so we have kids between the ages of like three and you know 11 involved in all this. And I really think we want to not making them any more anxious about their life in the world these days. And so I just encourage everybody to be thinking about our end goals being studentf facing, our conduct being studentf facing, and um just trying to figure out how we support and keep things as good as possible for everybody. Um so I'm excited to have uh excited is probably not the right word, but I think it's important that we're moving forward with a timely approach. uh if we don't act now that Rob talks about you know it'll be too late later but what that'll lead to is

2:06:51declining enrollment more and people exiting the system which will make it worse so I do think we're trying to stay focused on kids and I encourage us in our engagement process to do what we can to keep that at the focus of it as well that's it for me thanks Alex Jorge thank you Um, I just want to thank um, Rob and the administration for this presentation. I really appreciate um, the way that they've laid out the need that we're seeing across our schools and the tremendous variability that um, our schools are facing in terms of ability to serve our students given the declining enrollment situation and providing a rationale for why we need to act now rather than waiting till later. Um, I also appreciate the clarity around the goals of this engagement process and a clear timeline. um in particular the recognition that the problems are the same across all areas of the school district and we have to be flexible in terms we think about how we address um the current situation. Um, I'd like to go back to kind of one of the slides earlier that referenced the structure for the engagement plan. And I want to be clear if I understand this correctly that um that there will be meetings with every school across the district and

2:08:05that while Lafayette and Erie are not um facing the same situation as other as other areas of the district that they will be part of the engagement process um and that um concerns there'll be an opportunity to kind of engage with those communities as well. And so I want I want that make sure that's clear um as a part of this. Thanks for that question, Jorge. In phase one um we'll be engaging all the schools, Lafayette, Erie, all the schools. Um and uh as we get into the regional community engagement structure, we'll have to think about what that that engagement would look like for those communities because it would be different. Um, I do think that everybody in the community is interested in in what's happening and wants to be informed and certainly lots of folks will have opinions and we want to listen and hear that. Um, I do think that that the plan here does focus on our areas of greatest need. Um, but there will be engagement with all communities. It just may look a little bit different and over the course of the next month, we'll shape that. I think as we get out to schools and I talk to teachers and principles, they'll give me a really good sense of maybe what that they think

2:09:13that should look like and we'll take our lead from there. Thank you. I appreciate that. And yeah, really it's about that flexibility, right, to make sure that we are engaging across the entire district. Um and uh even if it doesn't look exactly the same. So, thank you. Uh, I will just continue to echo Nicole and Alex um about looking at this as a community rather than uh just individual schools. We need to look at it as a community first and keeping it student centric keeping in mind our students. Um, I want to look at slide 16 and just make sure that our community understands that the final plan will be presented for study in September for action in October so that by an open enrollment time frame, all parents would have the opportunity to understand what the plan is to alleviate as much stress as possible for our students and I think that's a really really important piece um that we are striving I see us striving to meet this time frame um because we know this is going to be stressful for the community um but trying to give people the information as quickly as possible is going to be important and continuing to focus on our our students there. So, I appreciate us laying this out for the community at the get-go.

2:11:02Jason and then Dia, um Rob for your really thoughtful work on this. Um I just I just really, you know, I think my colleagues have said kind of where I stand on this as well, which is, you know, looking at this holistically kind of we can't afford to wait. I mean, I think the alternative is some of our neighboring districts that, you know, overnight are closing schools. And so I appreciate this, but I really appreciate slide 13, which is kind of what laying out what this process will and won't do. And we're not guaranteeing preservation of schools or delaying action. And so um just appreciate you laying that out in this presentation. So thank you. Uh to echo a little bit of what Jason said, I think that the um the timeline is important and it's important to point out what a contrast it is to yes, what our neighboring districts will sometimes do, put out put out um announcements of what's going to happen without input. I so appreciate the long timeline that we get to process and figure out what the best plan is over time. And because of the way our world is working right now where people are thrusting decisions upon us regularly, we probably will feel like it's incredibly slow. So, let's keep that in mind that it's slow for a

2:12:21reason so we can process and get gather all the information and ease into um decisions that are best for our kids. And um I'm so appreciative of this uh long planning timeline. Thank you. Speaking into the timeline, I think we the I appreciate the staff striking that balance between not too long. We've heard from our community that there's some sense of feeling like schools are in purgatory waiting to see what's going to happen and then also allowing the time for really that really important community engagement perspective taking. So I think we did strike a very good balance in this timeline. I will also say it is going to be an exceptional amount of work for staff and so for the community it's going to feel like this is taking a while and for staff it is going to be feeling like a they're sprinting every day to to do this work. And so I think we struck the right balance and and it is going to take time and effort.

2:13:29One thing I've heard a lot about over the years in relationship to declining enrollment is how unpredictable these conditions have created. how much unpredictability schools now have. One year a mixed age classroom, one year, two rounds of second grade, one year, one. It's staffing coming in and out because you can't guarantee the same specialist teachers. We're stitching together FTE to make our our employees whole. I hope at the end of this the vast majority of our schools have a high degree of predictability around class size, around staffing, around all the great opportunities that our schools when they were bigger consistently offered things like math olympiad and spelling be and go and battle of the books. all of the fun things that are harder to do when you have less staff to support schools, consistent full-time librarians, counselors, we heard from the DACK, like these things are incredibly important to schools, interventionists, all of it's harder to do when we have smaller schools. And so for me, I think a lot about what kind of positive experiences once we're through this phase of change our students are really going to have. And I keep leaning into that. My kids had the good fortune of attending schools that were three rounds, had all of the stuff.

2:14:47It's hard when you don't have all the stuff and all the supports. And it's really hard on our staff trying really hard to like it's like the Wizard of Oz, the man behind the behind the curtain trying to make it be amazing for our students and they're doing an awesome job and I really wish they didn't have to work that hard to do it. So I think through the end of this my hope is the outcome is positive. It is really predictable. It's what's right for our students. It's what's right for our staff. It's what's right for our taxpayer dollars in what is an incredibly challenging fiscal environment. So those are my big goals um with this process and I hope to have our community there with us. The other thing that we hear a lot about is how not nice our facilities are. And I keep thinking to myself, man, what if we had that same amount of facility dollars to be spread around fewer schools? Could they look better? That might be really awesome. So, I think there are some positives.

2:15:44I'm trying to think about that in terms of the student experience and understanding that it is going to be a challenge. When we met with our delegation today, we were offered condolences when we mentioned that we are going to be addressing this topic tonight. When school districts do this nationwide, it often results in change of leadership at the board level, at the superintendent level because it is challenging and it is really hard. And so kudos to the board and to our district leaders to be willing to take this on knowing that it's the right thing for students and knowing the potential personal cost. Like we really are here to do what's best for students and what's best for our community. So with that um I look forward to these conversations. I'm excited to be in the schools. I signed up I'm going to be in a school this week to have one of the first round table discussions that I get to participate in. And it is going to be a very big listening tour for all of us.

2:16:45And I look forward to the opportunities ability to engage when that time comes up with their communities in ways that are really meaningful and ways which trade-offs can be explored like you said. Um I think we have a good plan. It's setting us up for success as much as possible. So thank you for that. Any other comments board members? Seeing as there are none, um I would like to call a fivem minute comfort break before we carry on with other information items. Rob Price and team, thank you so much for this presentation today and over the years. We will take a short break. Welcome back everyone. We are still on the information item portion of tonight's agenda. The second information item is recommendation for dismissal. No. Board members, this is an information item because this is the way that section of statute operates. The board's just taking notice tonight.

2:24:53Thank you. Our next information item then is our legislative update. We've heard a little bit about that already tonight, but Dr. Anderson, would you like to kick off that topic? Uh, thank you, Bo President Raj Paul. Again, thanks to our delegation who showed showed up in force uh early this morning um outside the capital for breakfast with us. Our legislative priorities, I think that our our delegation was incredibly uh supportive. Um our big um priorities here is to try to um band together with other school districts to stop this effort to um to take the specific ownership taxes um and put that into the local share as opposed to dollars that come directly to the district. Again, if if this moves forward, it's a $6.5 million hit to the district budget. Uh we can't have that.

2:25:47And so our delegation was um we we made sure that they understood that. Uh we talked to them about our declining enrollment and let them know the process that we would be going through uh and making sure that if if our local um elected officials begin to get engaged in this process to drive that back to the school district. As a reminder, um local elected officials will not have any authority over these decisions. These decisions will sit with the school district and the school board. Um and so talked to them about that, talked about um some deregulation around school age care. Um as it stands today, because we aren't able to use our facilities to their maximum capacities, we have to decline parents who really could use before and after care in our schools. It's a service we'd love to provide if we were able to use our facilities, but because of regulations and um some of that's owned by CDE, some of that's owned by Cdeck, but there's a bill that's going to be moving forward that we support that would deregulate some of those things, you know, it's simp it's silly things like during the day the kids can use the program, the our playground equipment, but then when they go to afterare, they can't use it.

2:26:55It just doesn't make any sense. Um, and then just some additional uh asks in terms of preschool and making sure that we empower our families to choose BBSD and not have to go to Bridge Care to um hopefully get into their local school um through some kind of lottery process when we have seats and we want folks to enroll. Uh again, thanks to our delegation uh for showing up and thanks they have tough task board members and I think that you all understand that uh the budget's going to be tight. Uh but we knew school finance was going to be tight three years ago when we lobbied very much by ourselves against this school finance act that was supposed to create all this equity across Colorado. And now what it's doing is it's it's showing that they never had the money to do it in the first place and now they're trying to find ways whether it's averaging the way you count kids now it's this um SOTS. Uh so again we just hope our delegation stands by us and and make sure that that we band together to protect K12.

2:28:01Thanks for that Dr. Anderson. Board members any questions or comments? The other thing I'd like to add just for the public, we talked about this morning is that with the current state of the state budget, a lot of legislators legislators are being asked to pass bills that have a 0 fiscal note. And one thing we're paying very close attention to is are they trying to pass bills that would add time or financial burdens on our on us as a school district. So, while it might cost zero dollars to the state, might they make a decision that costs us time or costs us money? So, we're being really careful about that. We've asked our delegation to be very careful. Dr. said, um, you know, just say no when it comes to a bill that has a fiscal note that negatively impacts us, which conjures up things from, you know, the 90s and the 80s. And then just say yes to bills that really do help us out in this challenging time.

2:29:01question in favor I have is Dr. An was just leaping through our packet. If we could attach either to today's agenda or this morning's agenda those documents for public that might be interested in and for our delegation to reference back and for board members to have that kind of in our record that would be lovely. Anything else? Okay, seeing as there are no there's no further discussion we'll move on to action items. Consent grouping 8.1 Personnel items 8.2 approval of minutes January 13th 2026 8.3 approval of minutes January 20th 2026 8.4 Board member reimbursement 8.5 approval of contract with Alpine roofing 8.6 rescheduling of February 26 and March 20 sorry February 2026 and March 26 regular meetings 8.7 resolutions 26-02 through 266-05 the 202526 revised budget 8.8 Nate grant Arapo Ridge Ess- CDE. Are there any items board members would like to pull from consent grouping?

2:30:06Seeing as there are not, is there a motion to approve the items on consent? Moved by Lenia, seconded by Anna. Board members, any discussion on those items? Anybody viewing from home? Nothing here. Just want to thank the team. Revised budget looks great. Happy to sign that over. Um, one of the, you know, jobs we have to do is manage our money well and our team continues to do that an excellent job of that. Seeing as there's no further discussion, Laura, can you please call the vote on consent grouping? Booker, yes. Chavez, yes. Medler, yes. Quinn Linua, yes. Rajpaw, yes. Tamuadi, yes. Hunger, yes. Motion passes. Next item on tonight's agenda is policy study items. We have several policies to study this evening. All of which are in our D chapter. For folks in the audience and at home, our D chapter covers our finances. Very exciting. I'll turn it over to Kathleen Sullivan to walk us through these policies.

2:31:23Thank you, board president Rajpaw. As you mentioned, the board has been working through its policy maintenance review calendar with the intent to make sure every policy gets refreshed and reviewed at least every 5 years. We have been making our way through the D policies. You have already acted upon six. We have six more in front of you for study tonight. And at our next meeting, we will finish with the last five uh study of the last five D policies. Um tonight, the six that we're starting with are primarily around the budget and around um the way that we maintain and reference the financials of the school district. As the board is aware, this is an area that is highly regulated at both the state and the federal level. I think when you look at these policies, most of them were last reviewed in 2009 and what we see is sort of globally an awful lot of detail that can would constrain potentially your staff from being able to make uh timely and reasonable fiscal decisions.

2:32:39So the overall effort here is to reduce some of that technical detail reference the existing laws that really establish that governing structure. So with that background I would start with DB. This is the annual budget policy. this uh the updates that you see, there aren't very many of them, is really just trying to align it with the board's policy style book and make sure that those legal references are current. We're doing away with things like the notes that accompany policy that don't really provide any additional explanation for the public. Instead, we're just moving the reference to the state board rules and their financial policies and procedures handbook, which really does dictate much of what the school district has to do um regarding its budget. Thank you for that overview on board policy DB. Board members, any questions or thoughts on changes to that policy?

2:33:54Jorge and Alex, there's a lot of nodding of no, so if you want to chime in, now is your chance before we move on. No additional comments. Me neither. So moving on to DBJ then. This also budget transfers was a very technical and specific document that has unnecessary detail that we are proposing that the concepts and the legal references be incorporated into policy DB that we just discussed and that this item be struck. I didn't see anything moving forward into policy DB from this one. Do you did we just find that there wasn't anything worth saving? Um, sort of. We did find one line um that we think that we may pull over and put into DB when the board uh looks at this the next time. There's one line that uh our CFO Bill Sutter recommends that we pull over. And this was feedback that Bill was timely with, but I wasn't necessarily in responding, so you'll see it in your next meeting. Um, and that the one sentence that we would talk about is that unencumbered monies shall not be transferred from one fund to another unless authorized by a board resolution. So that would be the one sentence that you'll see reflected in DB.

2:35:34That is a good sentence to transfer over. Um, and board members, none of these policies are required for us. Just as a item to note, they're not required by state law or CASBY or because so much of the language is within the law itself. So that's exactly correct about this really this entire chapter of policy. Yeah. Okay, next policy. So then the next policy is DFA. This is the cash management and investment policy. This is a sevenpage policy with lots and lots of detail. As the board knows, I think that when you start getting to seven pages, it's really hard for our staff to stay attuned to all the details that may reside in a seven-page policy. So unless it's specifically required by law or necessary, it just generally isn't a great practice. So we have substantially reduced um this one to align with law and regulations.

2:36:43And that's what I have to say about policy DFA. Board members, any questions or comments on DFA? hearing none. Let's carry on. Moving on to board policy DG. This is the banking services depository of funds and authorized services uh authorized signatures policy which is funny because it's really never included authorized signatures. So I think the title was a mismatch for quite a while. um this policy candidly, we are taking out a lot of the information that's just not necessary or doesn't reflect modern times. There aren't a lot of checks, paper checks that get handed around in this digital age. I do think on this one, um one of the comments that Bill had to share with us is that the very first sentence references an official bank. This is CASBY's sample language, but more sophisticated school districts do sometimes use investment pools. So, you will see a revision between this study session and the next time you look at this policy just to reflect uh the recognition that we have throughout the policies that investment pools that are appropriate and have the correct securities can can also be used.

2:38:11That was actually a question I I was going to bring up. Even like banks, we diversify. So, I'm glad to see that's addressed. One thing I noticed in this policy is the word monies is spelled two different ways. Yes, it is. Thank you. So, let's choose one. Stick with that one. So, that was my second comment on that policy. And then um in the second to the last sentence there is we state twice with requirements set forth in state law under both um oh sec sorry under I see it under the paragraph starting with revenues. Yes. If we could just I like the the new language added in that green section but we can just make that sentence read a little bit easier. Yes. Thank you board members. Any thoughts, questions on this policy. Okay, we will move on to Die.

2:39:16So, the final two policies we'll look at tonight are really related. We have the audits policy, which I love that its file name is DIIE because numbers and audits is not my strength. So, I'm really grateful we've got Bill here. So, this die policy on audits, we really just had one update. So, the language currently says that the board needs to issue an RFP at least once every 5 years looking for auditors. And this is perhaps other people feel like I do. There are not an abundance of auditors out there. Um, it may not be prudent or practical to issue a full-blown RFP every year, but it's certainly something that the board has the discretion to determine that you want to do. So, the suggestion here is just to say that the board shall review whether to issue an RFP rather than to formally require it.

2:40:20That makes sense. Board members, questions, comments? I have a couple on this one. I was looking at the CASBY example policy and there's a sentence that might be worthwhile to entertain that says within 30 days after the board receives the audit, it shall be submitted to the state auditor and the state commissioner of education. Is it that a requirement that 30 days or is it not a requirement? Because if it's not, I don't want it in there, but it was very specific and it caught my eye. Yeah, it's not a requirement. And our policy has this December 31st date, but let me let me look at that and make sure. I did look at it when I was updating this policy to make sure that the December 31st date that was here would work, but let me take a look at that again.

2:41:04Okay. And then the other question I had is um the CASBY example outlines a lot of required inclusions in the audit. I don't necessarily know that they are helpful and again they're not required, but I also wonder is there a way that we can make sure board members and the public know what's expected of an audit that's not living in this policy. I I just have that that wondering we could use something like in DB in the budget policy where we have a sentence that says it's going to follow the generally accepted accounting principles of we could look at referencing that sort of professional standard regarding the audit. Okay, that'd be great. And then the final policy that the board is studying tonight is the audit committee and we have refreshed this language just a little bit. Um I wonder also the one the one question I would really have for the board is that the audit committee is a board advisory committee. The rest of the board's advisory committees are referenced in the B chapter of policies and they're all together as a group that are coded with BDF. So, this was something that I didn't make a recommendation on at this point, but I wonder if it might be more efficient to have a cross reference to

2:42:32the audit policy, leave that in the D chapter, but move the board advisory committee to the B chapter with an appropriate code so that it stays with the other like policies. That was a question I had as well in part because when I was getting through through the list of committees for us to choose from during priorization, I had to hunt for this one because it's not with all the other ones. Um, so I was wondering that makes sense to me. I know that's not where CASBY keeps it and that's why it's probably titled as it is, but I think for our community to understand what our board advisory committees are and how they are different than superintendent advisory ones, having this in the B in our B chapter would make sense. board members nodding. So I think that recoding would be great.

2:43:21One point I noticed in this policy is that in the bullets it talks about quarterly financial reports and then it talks about meeting three times. I just the committee meets three times but they receive reports four times a year and it it I'm just wondering in practice how how does that math work? Well, and candidly, uh, our audit committee is a very dedicated, diligent group of humans, and we will want to take this policy. I brought it to the board first because it's a board policy. But I do think it makes sense to take both the audit policy and the audit committee policy to the actual audit committee so we can make sure that it connects on issues like that that really boil down to practice. Lenia, I also wanted to point out in practice um the community member it this isn't what we do in practice and so it's okay for it to be different but just be sure that uh we correct it to the way that we are currently doing it.

2:44:45And do you mean the terms or Yeah, the the term the term and I I myself would be in favor of a longer term for the community member, but that's neither here nor there. I'm sure that somebody else can have an opinion about that. I just we certainly are not adhering to this. Well, and I wonder if it's like when we talked about the LRACK, I think it was the LLR committee and we said the terms are this long, but there's no limit to how many terms one can serve because we understand how challenging it can be to find folks with very specific knowledge. So maybe that's a sentence that we could entertain and you could bring forth to the audit committee that the term is two years but they are renewable. as a long-standing audit committee member. Yes, Bob Smart would find that hilarious.

2:45:46Any other comments on this audit committee policy hearing? None. That wraps up policy study for this evening. continue to make our way through our target of 20 policies a quarter. Thanks to Chris and Kathleen for keeping us all on track. Final item of tonight's Oh, no, it's not. Gosh. The next item tonight is future agenda requests. Board members, at this time we can bring up items um you would like to include during the next board priorization meeting. Board members, are there any items? I have one came from. We all received a me email from the community about how old our board policies. I'm going to find them. Just one second. It's about employee gift amounts. Oh, GBEC, which was codified and last touched in 1979, and GBEC-R, which is a little bit sooner, but it relates to employee gifts. So, as we're making our way through, I just want to elevate those because times have changed.

2:47:05Anything else, board members? Seeing as there are no additional items to add to our list, we will move on to what is actually the final item tonight, the executive session. As indicated on tonight's agenda, we the school board has issues to discuss in executive session. Is there a motion? Lenia? I Lenia Quinnlanda make a motion pursuant to CRS24-6-424B to receive legal advice on the most recent bond measure. Is there a second? Seconded by Anna Laura, can you please call the vote on that? Booker, yes. Chavez, yes. Medler, yes. Quinn Linua, yes. Raj Paul, yes. Tamuading, yes. Anger, yes. Motion passes. Board members, we will convene in Glacier Room to the public here tonight viewing at home. This concludes the rest of our business for the regular business for the evening and we will be adjourning from executive session. Thank you and good night.