Transcript

0:00:02frame the work as we move forward. And then the five school adjustment options that are listed will be the options that we are considering as we are working forward or working towards uh the August date when we bring this back to the board. And just to make it clear, and I believe the more board made this clear, allowing schools to stay small is no longer an option, and that's what we'll keep in mind as we're moving forward. And with that, I will turn it over to Randy Barmer. >> Thank you. Good evening, board members. I'm uh very excited uh to come back and give you an update in regards to our engagement uh efforts. Uh as you know, we've been very, very busy over the last 6 months uh connecting with our community. And as we've discussed before, we are dedicated to ensuring stakeholders are informed, heard, and meaningfully involved as we begin shaping the path forward. Uh this slide uh shows uh uh illustrates the many ways that we've connected with different community stakeholders so far.

0:00:59Uh this phase has been about uh listening first and creating space for thoughtful, structured input that will help guide the development of options for the board to consider. Knowing that our educators are the closest to the situation and the student experience, we began first by visiting their schools across the district. Superintendent Anderson, Deputy Superintendent Dela Cruz, and board members met with elementary school principals, educators to and educators to understand the uh and and to understand and see the declining enrollment uh the ways that it's impacting uh the experiences of our students and staff, and hear the concerns they have and the hopes that they have for the future. Uh we've also engaged the district advisory committees, and we've made uh several presentations to our municipalities in alignment with the the goals that uh uh Mr. Bryce had mentioned earlier.

0:01:46Um in April, uh we held six community engagement sessions throughout our district. Uh they were regionalized in the areas that are uh to be impacted. They were all well-attended, uh and folks were highly engaged, very passionate in their conversations. Um I I believe that a quote from the Daily Camera really captured the spirit of the effort. Parents said, uh quote, "We know that there will be that these will be tough pills to swallow. Uh it's important that we're here. They're asking for the community to think like a community." And I really truly believe that that's what happened in these events. Uh they came together, they considered their priorities, the the things that they they wanted us to remember and to think about through this process, and then as groups, they really considered the tradeoffs and and the difficulties in making these decisions uh that we were facing as a community.

0:02:31One of the things that uh we recognized as we were going through this process is that despite our best efforts to make sure that these sessions were accessible, including Spanish communications prior, uh making sure that our events had uh materials in Spanish and interpretation that we conveyed that out to the community, we didn't really get that many Spanish speakers uh during these six events. So, valuing their voices, we connected with the principals uh and and our community leaders in this area, and uh we held a couple additional sessions, uh one with our uh Cap uh group, and then also one at Columbine Elementary in May, uh right before the end of school. Uh we wanted to really make sure that we valued their voices and understood what their needs were, and uh through that process, they they really were um very strongly uh uh thoughtful in regards to the fact that they wanted it to be all in Spanish, they wanted to make sure that it felt like it was uh at home. So, in a school in elementary school uh they're comfortable with, that kind of thing.

0:03:28Um and um we felt uh that that that session was very well-attended as well. Uh communications, as we've discussed before, has been an important part of this engagement process as well. Uh it's important that we've been reaching out uh in a variety of of ways, uh but uh we also wanted to make sure that they're informed about the process and and the uh the declining enrollment situation as well. So, we've uh been sharing information through a number of our our avenues. Most importantly our declining impacts newsletter. As you know, we launched that back in February and it's been a monthly drumbeat really helping to ensure that we're carrying information that folks know that they can count on that information to come. We've had letters from superintendent and and our board president and really try to make sure that we're keeping up with the process. In fact, our next edition should be coming out next week and we'll have an update in regards to this board meeting in the >> and the the data that we'll be presenting tonight.

0:04:23>> As you also know, we presented a number of live stream events. I think it's important that we're not trying to hit folks with just one way of communicating and obviously a written format doesn't necessarily meet everybody's needs. And so by having these live streams, it was really great opportunity for us to to change the format to have it in a conversational form. Something that you really, you know, even to this day it's still good information that I would encourage people to to watch and and listen to. If you're walking the dog or making dinner, it's not a bad thing to just, you know, have that on your phone and be listening to it. And I've included the the links. It's on BB22 so we're going to be playing that throughout the summer on our TV station. We've also got it on YouTube and it's available through our resilient schools website as well.

0:05:06And and thank you for those that joined us in in having those conversations. It was it was a I I think one of the important things to is to mention is that we really it was another feedback loop for us. We were hearing from folks in regards to their questions, their concerns. It really did open up another window for that. Throughout this entire process, so again a six-month engagement process, we had a variety of ways that we were engaging with folks as we've discussed. It started with those teacher round table feedback sessions, principals. We had that let's talk show, had a questionnaire that we were gathering feedback through. The engagement sessions as we discussed both in English and Spanish. And then finally we finished up with the survey that we sent out to both our employees and to our parents uh, to gather feedback. Uh, we gathered a lot of uh, feedback, a lot of thoughts through this process. And so, I'm I'm very proud now to hand it off to Dr. Jessica Alzen Azine uh, our executive director of accountability and evaluation had the pleasure of taking all that data and preparing it for tonight's presentation.

0:06:05>> Uh, before you hand it off, Randy, if board members, if I may. Um, first of all, our communications team, our senior staff for the past 5 months has made this our number one top priority. And I know that you all uh, attended many of of the opportunities, whether it was the let's talks or the community engagement sessions or community engagement session that we did at Combine Elementary School. Um, a couple thoughts uh, from from where I sit. Number one, it's the deepest community engagement we've done since our strategic plan. That we had more opportunities to hear from more voices uh, than we've have in 7 plus years. And I thought that was it's appropriate. That's the type of engagement I think all school districts across the country should be doing when you talk about something as significant as school reconfiguration, consolidation, and closure.

0:07:00Um, and so, that's the first thing. The second thing is before you start to look at the data, um, not only did we just let people tell us what they were thinking, we informed them of the problem. And we talked about what the potential solutions were. So, the quality of the data that you'll see today, uh, this is data from an informed community. And I think that just asking people their opinions without the context and without going through here's our challenge, here's why we're doing this, these are the things that we could do. Um, I think that that's um, it's empty feedback. Uh, you ask people, they will tell you what they think. >> >> Right? But having an informed opinion on a problem that we all share as a community is what you're getting ready to see and so I'm incredibly proud of the work that we've done here.

0:07:49Um, I'm really thankful to our senior team and for our principals and everyone who pitched in to make sure that our community was informed and we heard them. Um, and the data that you'll see, I think Dr. Alzein will do a really good job of telling a data story that really triangulates the different sources of information that we were able to pull together to give you a really clear picture in terms of kind of what we heard as we went out over these past five months. So, with that I'll turn it over to Dr. Alzein. >> Actually, before that board members, any questions or comments on this first section before we get into the data? I know we've seen these slides a lot, but we're good. I want to echo our community really is informed and our team did a great job of ensuring that's the case. I continue to hear talking point like people speaking back the information that they heard when they're asking questions or wondering like how is what's the process? How's it How is it going to continue to move along? So, that is commendable. Not often do you hear your community really understanding the issue, whether or not they're going to like the outcome, different story, but they do they really understand the problem. So, kudos to the

0:08:54team for really clearly defining that and taking all the time. I think it will pay off in dividends and schools districts around us are currently talking about their additional school closures and they are definitely taking a different process than we did. And so, thanks to the team for for the path we took, it will pay off. And the other thing I just wanted to point out, um, talk about our projections, the state demographer's office released updates to the state the state, um, demographics and through 2030 they're predict predicting a continued decline of 0 to 17. Like we this problem for the but yeah, until 2030 there's continued declines predicted in the number of student age people living in the state. and so this um this is very timely and it's not going away anytime soon.

0:09:43Alex >> Also ditto, uh but I want to get into the data, but I also want to say from the conversations I've had in the community what the the depth of their thinking really shows and it's it's not that there's an answer that comes back, there is a consideration of the issues that you hear the community wrestling with. It's just Well, we always have a super impressive community and very engaged folks, but the fact that they're we're we have this shared problem and a shared deeper understanding of it is really testament to all your work and your leadership. I think that puts us in a much better position to have substantive conversations focused on kids rather than other stuff. >> Thank you board members, Dr. Anderson. Uh as Dr. Anderson said, it's it's uh my pleasure to be here to tell you a coherent data story across all of these different sources of data that we have uh engaged in or gathered over the last few months. Um before I jump into that story, I want to make sure we're all on the same page of where is this data coming from? So, uh as we just heard, we had our teacher roundtables, we had our community engagement sessions, and then we had the resilient schools community survey. So, from all three of these uh

0:10:57buckets or sources of data, we have both qualitative and quantitative data coming from hundreds if not thousands of respondents. Just to give a little bit more detail in the numbers across each one of these sources and the response rates that you can see here at the roundtable sessions, teachers had the opportunity to provide their feedback about their hopes and their fears, what's working, what challenges they're experiencing uh in a qualitative way, and then also ranking the shifts that they um hear are options from the district actions. At the community engagement sessions, we have two sources of data. There are the packets that participants completed during the sessions, as well as a follow-up survey that happened afterward and was offered via QR code. And then finally, we had the resilient schools survey that was offered again to uh the full census of our staff and our current parent and guardian uh population.

0:11:51Uh in addition to that, we had an outside contractor offer the exact same survey to a random sample of community members not currently connected to the district. So, you can see here the different response rates, the numbers, the counts. Um we have over 6,000 collections of data. Uh when we look at that at the actual item level, this ended up being about 76,000 bytes of data. Um so, quite a lot, a mountain of things to go through, if you can imagine. Uh so, we won't go into the details of the methodology of how we moved through all of this, but just as um a high-level, uh we did use AI to help us move through that qualitative data at a fast turnaround pace for you all. Uh but for every one of those qualitative data sources, we also had a team of humans do um an audit on at least a subsample of that data just to check for accuracy and look for nuance, make sure we felt good about the summaries that I'm about to share with you all.

0:12:49So, to start off with our data story, I'm going to outline it from our quantitative data, and we're going to start with the resilient schools community survey. So, just as a reminder, that survey had three sections essentially. It started off where the majority of the survey was uh with this this exercise that's referred to as MaxDiff. Um each respondent would see a random sample of four priorities to think about within declining enrollment, and they were asked to choose what was most and least important to them out of that list of four. And that activity was repeated nine times for each respondent. And we heard from the community that sometimes this felt frustrating and that this felt really difficult, and we wanted to just name and recognize that, that we we knew that going in. Uh we We chose the items that were on that list because we heard that those were things that were important to our stakeholders and we wanted to have an activity that would help us understand what was the most important to the community. Out of these 12 things that our community told us were important did anything rise to the top as the most important, what we should be using as our North Star to kind of guide the decisions and the conversations moving forward. And we did

0:13:54get that from this part of the survey. So what we see here are six of the 12 priorities that were identified as most or least important by our respondents. And these are the six that had the highest probability of being chosen as most important with small class sizes being far and above having the highest probability above everything else. So small class sizes, equitable funding, neighborhood proximity, advanced academics, full-time art, music, and PE at every school, and full-time math and literacy specialists at every school. These were the six that had the highest probability of being chosen as most important. After that activity, respondents were then given the full list of all 12 priorities and they had the opportunity to pick up to three that they named as most important for themselves. What we see here are the top three that were chosen the most frequently by respondents. So small class sizes again being the first most prominently chosen, full-time art, music, and PE staff at every school, and then full-time math and literacy specialists. Everything else was chosen 30% or less across the respondents.

0:15:07So in this activity, people were shown priorities and they chose what was most important to them. In a similar but a little bit different activity at the community engagement sessions, what happened one of the activities that happened here is that people sat together in tables, table groups, they shared with each other, they learned together about the challenges that people experience in under-enrolled schools. And that activity was a chance for people to talk about these different challenges that occur in under-enrolled schools, and they worked collaboratively to identify the challenges that they thought most needed to be addressed moving forward. So, kind of the same idea, but from the other other side of of the challenges that we're facing here. So, here the what we see here are the five cards that were chosen most frequently. These five were chosen by more than half of the tables across the community engagement sessions.

0:15:59Everything else was chosen less than half of the time. So, here we see limited small group support, multi-grade classrooms, limited access to specials, part-time counselors, and part-time instructional support. Now, you remember I I mentioned we have these three buckets of data. These two are our quantitative data, and we're going to kind of squint a little bit and pretend that this qualitative data is quantitative data so I can tell a coherent story here. Uh at our roundtables, there were 30 of them. At almost every roundtable, 90% of them, this idea of small class sizes came up in the conversation. And also at over half of the roundtables, the challenges of part-time staff came up in the conversation. So, from our outline of our data story here, we can already start to see some patterns. First and foremost is that issues related to small class size are a top priority to our stakeholders and across these different stakeholder groups and across these different ways that we solicited feedback from our community.

0:16:59Um and we see that through class size numbers as well as the ideas of small group support and multi-grade classrooms. A second theme that came up pretty prominently here is this idea of comprehensive and full-time staff. Survey respondents identified wanting full-time specials, full-time specialists, uh and advanced academics at every campus being of high priority. We see limited access to specials and part-time staff as a challenge that the community engagement session data says this is important, we need this to be addressed. And then finally, staff mentioning um staff part-time staff challenges being a problem across the uh round table discussions. One more piece Oh, and then lastly, uh equitable funding and neighborhood proximity also came up here um across this quantitative data. One more piece of quantitative data uh and the community engagement sessions and at the round tables, people were asked to uh rank or provide feedback on the different shifts that the district might make in response to declining enrollment. In both the community engagement sessions and the round tables, consolidating schools was the most favorable choice.

0:18:09Uh at the community engagement sessions, this was 64% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that consolidating schools is a move in the right direction to solve the challenges of under-enrolled schools. And then at the teacher round tables, over half of the teachers who provided a ranking uh identified consolidating schools as their number one choice for what decisions might be made going forward, followed next by closing schools, and lastly by grade reconfiguration. >> Dr. Olsen, can you go back to slide 22? I would just like to make a point for the board and for the public. Um Dr. Olsen talked about this importance of the max diff and and the frustration that I think some folks felt. Uh that activity replicates what we're going to be trying to do, right? Where it is a trade-off amongst things that you may think are all important, but you have to decide to to what extent is something the most and least important of things you might consider all having a level of importance.

0:19:14Right? And so uh and then we gave them an opportunity to say, "Okay, if you can make a top three list, make a top three list." So then they gave they were given that opportunity. And then the other piece of data on the right is where you had to think through this with a group of your neighbors and peers and friends or strangers who have kids in the district that may be um like your kids or not like your kids or they might live in your community or not in your community. Um And so and then ultimately these conversations with teachers were so deep. So I just would you know the variety of ways in which we asked similar questions. I think that it was just a really great design. And so I just wanted to highlight that before we move on that we asked people in you know similar questions in a variety of what It wasn't just one survey with endless amounts of of uh opportunities to click what you wanted, right? When we sent out the surveys uh they they were um everybody got one survey and then we had a way to track that through um to knowing and understanding that folks didn't get more than one opportunity. So there was some real quality control and design

0:20:19intentionality in how we how we went about collecting the data. So I just wanted to to thank you, Dr. Alzina, and make that point. >> Um one last point that I want to make here before moving forward because we'll come back is that at the community engagement sessions, we have consolidating schools as number one with the 64% of uh agree strongly agree. The second choice um after that one was the reconfiguration of K-8 schools with a 43% of respondents saying uh agree or strongly agree. And we'll come back to that when we get to the qualitative data cuz there's some nuance with that. Okay, so now we're going to shift to uh our quantitative data kind of tells us what our community uh named as most important and we're going to use our qualitative data to tell us more about why. And we're fleshing out our story a little bit here. So, we're going to talk through these same themes that we just saw, class size and instructional complexity, comprehensive full-time staff, talking about that both in the context of special education as well as whole child support and staffing stability, and then equitable funding and walkability in neighborhood schools.

0:21:27And you'll see number five here, varied school models. We didn't talk about that in the quantitative data because it didn't come up in the quantitative data. Uh but it came up as a strong enough theme through the qualitative that we felt it was important to name it uh and in our story outline as well. As we kind of pivot to the qualitative data, I'll do my best to give you some sort of quantification of how uh prevalent a theme was or how much something came up through that data, um as well as uh wanting to make sure that you're hearing some quotes from across the data sources, knowing that all of these themes were presented from across the spectrum of stakeholders. So, none of these themes are here because only families brought it up or because only staff brought it up. All of these themes are up here because across the data, we saw this being important to people in our community.

0:22:15>> Dr. Elzine, can you remind us this qualitative data is coming primarily from the roundtables and the community engagement sessions, correct? Because the survey didn't ask questions that would require open-ended feedback, right? That was more of a forced ranking. >> The third part of the survey that I forgot to mention earlier was that there was one open-ended survey item. And so, a lot of the data's going to come from that, too. >> So, all the qualitative data is from three those three big buckets of information. Great. Thank you. >> Okay, so first this idea of class size. As we've already seen, this is a top priority um across the stakeholder groups. This was the single most prevalent theme in the open-ended responses on the survey. It appeared in hundreds of responses across staff and families. It was present in nearly every round table conversation.

0:23:04An example from the staff survey is quote large class sizes are by far our biggest concern. However, something that came up that's really important to think alongside of this is it's not just numbers. There's a call to redefine the idea of capacity. That class size isn't just the number of desks in the room, but it's also thinking about the complexity of the people in that room. So, staff across the round tables argued that post-pandemic behaviors, neurodiversity, social emotional support, and language needs make a class of 25 feel like a class of 40. So, a quote from a Creekside teacher at the round table, "Class size and classroom capacity are not the same thing. 30 independent kids is very different than 30 kids with multiple IEPs, behavior plans, and needs for support." Next. >> Gabriel Zink, can I ask a question about class size? Having attended the round tables and the community engagement sessions, class size was never defined small class size, I don't recall ever being defined. And I wonder if we can speak to how how staff and how the board and how the community might want to think about what what that small class size is or a smaller class size means um or might potentially mean moving forward, given the redefinition of capacity, and also because it was never

0:24:22defined at the outset. So, people might have very different ideas of what that means for them. >> I would say my interpretation, having been in to most of the round tables and all of the sessions, yes, we didn't say small class size is X number of students. I do feel like that that there is pretty broad consensus that the thresholds that we have now are too high. And so, to the extent that that that would be the starting place in trying to reduce those thresholds is how I would interpret um it is that folks have said. And And I don't know that there's a national um standard or benchmark on what a small class size for a public school district is. Um And so, I think that that the way that I'm interpreting this after hearing this is that uh it is smaller than where we are today.

0:25:14And it's a a combination of number of kids plus their needs is the thing to really be thinking about. Uh and to the to the quote from the teacher at Creekside. And as a reminder we've we we've done some work in this area before where we've allotted extra resources post-pandemic to bring down class sizes based on number in need. And so, I think that really resonated at that point in time. And I think the teacher um teachers were referencing that as we were going through our round tables. And so, uh but not a not not a hard number. We didn't say small class size is equals X. But I do think that people are responding to the thresholds that we have right now. >> Yeah, and like how it feels to be in classrooms with the different complexities of needs. Uh I just wanted to empha- elevate that because as with declining enrollment we've seen really wonky shifts in class sizes. Some class sizes are pushing upper thresholds. Some class sizes happen to actually be small.

0:26:13So, class like we'll get hopefully we will eventually get to somewhere that feels smaller than our thresholds define that we have defined, but it might shake out differently depending on the school and the grade and the like the present experience after we think come work through closures and consolidations. So, um thank you for elevating that. And I know a long time ago when the District Accountability Committee used to bring this up as a top priority, we were able to easily like Bill had this magic number he'd say, "Well, the decrease the class by one person it was X amount of dollars back in the day." And I know that those numbers change depending on all kinds of things. Uh but it um inevitably, as we continue to work through this, that will come into play at some point as well. Alex, and then did I see Alex.

0:27:02>> >> I wanted to follow up on that, too, cuz in particular, I I heard this in the classroom or in the school roundtables was an understanding of the volatility in the class size being hard for the schools that go up and down, and then to our concern about equitable funding, the idea that the small school that only has one classroom of 30 of 29 kids gets two more, and suddenly they have two 16s, feels like we've just invested another full salary into the school that didn't have it, whereas the school that was always at 29 and had three rounds of 29 got four more kids and didn't get another dime. So, the two kids in an under-enrolled school are hugely impactful financially and get more investment. Two kids in a very impacted school with lots of poverty, but high and three classrooms don't lead to any more resources. And so, that was an equity implication that both sides the people that didn't get the 16s were frustrated, and the people that were dealing with the volatility of last-minute hires were like, "Hey, these people are in for a year. We can't guarantee them a job the next year when it goes back down, and it's all bad, and they haven't had a chance to be incorporated into the culture." So, I

0:28:09think class size is one of those things like yeah, unaffordable to actually in bulk bring it down, and the changes will lead to more consistency and more rationality and more equity, but not a rapid big reduction in our class sizes without us finding another half billion dollars or something. >> Deanne. >> I would back up Alex's observation on that. A lot of the tables that I listened to, they were very concerned about there was one class of third graders that had 13 kids, and another one that had 28. And so, they were it was about relative smallness. Like shouldn't we have the equal number um to each other? So I don't think that it was really saying they wanted extra small classes. Of course they probably do, but um it was about the equity issue for sure.

0:29:04>> And and just uh to to wrap this up so Dr. Azim can continue, you know, the more school sites that you have, the more volatile class sizes are going to be. Right? You know, the more round you have in a school, the easier it is to balance those those numbers out in ways where you don't have two 13s or one, you know, two 15s or one 30. Uh you can spread that out over over um multiple classes. So >> Okay. Uh next we have the idea of comprehensive full-time staff. And uh first talking about this in the uh context of special education. So um cuts to sped programming, unmanageable caseloads, and similar comments were explicitly mentioned in over 200 of the open-ended survey items, um which is about 5% of the sample. And then in about 10% of the community engagement packets, this idea came up as well. Uh this idea being that um sustainable caseloads are a priority, that staff needs to be moved from stretched thin to fully supported. So a quote from the survey staff, "So many more students are coming to BVSD with IEPs. Our sped programs are sometimes stretched thin and have high caseloads. We need additional resources so that all case managers have the staff and resources to meet the needs of the students and their

0:30:25schools." And then similarly from a parent or guardian survey, "Teachers are overburdened with demands to manage neurodiverse students, and every student suffers due to lack of sufficient support." In addition, we had a lot of comments about um comprehensive full-time staff when thinking about uh whole child support and staffing stability. So, this was again hundreds of mentions in the open-ended comments regarding full-time counselors, specials teachers, gifted and talented support and special education staff. Uh this was the most frequent request at the teacher roundtables was the elimination of shared or fractional or 0.5 FTE roles in favor of full-time dedicated professionals in every building including counselors, specials teachers, interventionists, and librarians. Uh so, it's this idea that teachers need a consistent daily support team to meet increasing student needs and that uh relying on shared or part-time roles compromises the continuity of the student experience. A quote from a staff survey, "So many students need intensive literacy and math interventions that teachers simply cannot provide on their own effectively with fidelity."

0:31:38And then a comment from the Flatirons roundtable, "Part-time support, counseling, resource, gifted and talented, specials, etc. does not work. Working as a classroom teacher without a team is not sustainable." Next is this idea of equitable funding. Uh so, we didn't see equitable funding come up in the top three must-haves when we looked at the full survey population, uh but that did rise to the top of um top three list for both staff as well as the community. Uh this was also came up in dozens of uh open-ended responses was this idea of equity-based equity-based funding. So, a call for differentiated funding uh to ensure that resources follow student needs. So, a quote from the Ryan roundtable, "When funding is diverted to maintain small schools rather than being allocated based on student need, it limits our ability to provide the level of support our students require to be successful."

0:32:35From a staff survey, "I strongly believe we need differentiated funding, additional interventionists, paras, sped, behavior support, mental health advocates, and smaller class sizes to support the school populations with highest needs. Uh finances came up in a couple of other ways, so there were dozens of people who uh made comments about there being cuts from the top calling for central admin reductions before any cuts happened at the school level. A quote from this uh family survey, I believe that BVSD is top-heavy and needs to make cuts centrally. And then finally, there were also dozens of comments uh talking about asset preservation, just really noting that buildings are long-term assets, and stakeholders warned against selling property. This was concern about what would happen to buildings that BVSD lost control over, uh concern about as demographic shift moving forward in time and the difficulty of uh uh regaining real estate in this area.

0:33:32Next, walkability and neighborhood schools. Uh this was named in over a hundred uh almost 200 of the community engagement packets. It was also hundreds of open-ended survey responses where people uh were just naming the cultural loss in the shift from biking and walking to school to drive to school instead. This is seen as a loss to community identity. Um and there's also uh a lot of comment about the civic commitment that walkable access is defended as a core value for pedestrian safety and environmental health. So, this is a quote from the post community engagement survey. Many of our elementary and K-8 schools are central to the fabric of our communities. Children and parents walk or bike to school. Families bond with neighbors, and teachers and staff are an important part of the neighborhood. This is a rare and valuable dynamic.

0:34:25And then lastly, this theme of uh varied school models that again, we didn't see in the quantitative data, but it came up in the qualitative data. Um about 80 of the community engagement packets named it. Um, hundreds of open-ended survey responses again, uh, naming different models, different programs, STEM and STEAM, arts integration, Montessori, IB, dyslexia, special ed programming, twice exceptional, advanced and gifted programming, and dual language schools, uh, were all named as important and needed and valued. So, this idea of educational diversity, uh, are essential to meeting unique learning styles and student interests. And, uh, that that these offerings provide a competitive advantage, that our focus programs serve as a pull factor for family recruitment and retention. So, a quote from a staff survey, "Because children learn differently, it's important to keep a plethora of models making it easier to select a school that can best accommodate your child's learning style and needs." And then a quote from the fam- a family survey, "Traditional neighborhood schools are wonderful, but families also need the option of additional focus schools to represent values and curriculum they find important. I believe we need both schools. It's not an either-or choice."

0:35:33So, that, uh, kind of fills out these key themes in general, and we want to kind of end with some nuances for different pockets of, uh, people or different, uh, groups of stakeholders. So, first we want to talk about some nuance by region. In, uh, the Broomfield region, we had dozens of respondents, uh, talking about or advocating for redrawing attendance boundary lines. So, a quote from a community engagement packet, "Is there an option to redraw some of the lines of which areas feed which schools in order to even out enrollment before closures or consolidations have to take place? For example, there are neighborhoods that are closer to Kohl but feed into Aspen Creek." And then another nuance earlier, um, you'll recall I said that the, uh, reconfiguration of K-8 schools was the number two favorable shift at the community engagement packets, uh, but we did we see in the qualitative data a pretty even split in the Louisville Superior area of some people being in favor of preserving that model and others being in favor of the reconfiguration. So a quote from each side. A staff survey saying, "I love the K-8 model. It gives middle students the chance to rise as leaders and role models while still affording them the link to childhood."

0:36:51And then a quote from a community engagement packet. "It's good to separate these ages because they are developmentally so different. Young students not exposed to older students' behavior, violence, etc. And specials teachers and support staff being able to be specialized for specific grades." We also saw some nuances by role. So families really emphasized some issues around logistics. Particularly the K-2-3-5 reconfiguration at elementary schools. Dozens of parents wrote in about concerns regarding multiple drop-offs, staggered start times, and an unsustainable mental load. And there were also hundreds of mentions regarding gifted and talented programming. This was a point of tension. Here's a quote from a family survey. "Our family places a high value on a rigorous and engaging mathematics curriculum. Continued reductions in the rigor of the math curriculum as well as any decreases in resources or support for talented and gifted programs would be significant concerns for our family."

0:37:52And then for staff, something that came up for this group was collaboration. There's a high value placed on collaborative teams and planning time. This was a top fear at most of the roundtables was the fracturing of established teaching teams and concerns about being spread across the district. Here's a quote from the Whittier roundtable. "The Whittier staff is my extended family. Honestly, if I were separated from my colleagues, I'm not sure I would continue teaching." And then lastly, as we heard earlier, we had our Spanish only session. We wanted to elevate some themes that came out particularly for this group. I want to start off by emphasizing that this group also named some of the same things that we've already heard. Concerns around the K235 reconfigurations, wanting small class sizes, support for full-time comprehensive staff, but some things that came up uniquely for this group. First and foremost is this prioritization of bilingual access above all else is a core value. Uh and related to this, uh transportation or increased travel being seen as a barrier to access and not just a logistical hurdle. So, participants worry that relocating a focus program or closing a bilingual school farther away from Hispanic communities would cause families to need to look for new places to live, find new jobs to be able to continue to support this core

0:39:12value of bilingual access. Uh and then finally, the concept of student disruption. So, this theme came up of school closures are feared as disruptive events that could diminish student attitudes about school. So, a quote from this session, "My fear is that my child will have to change schools and won't know anyone there, and then he'll find it difficult to adjust and will lose hope and desire to go to school." So, some last additional thoughts to kind of end our data story here. I wanted to name that we had dozens of qualitative concerns for our educators. Wanting to make sure that there are support for their working conditions, concern of burnout and the support that happens for our educators going through this process. A quote from the community engagement post survey, "I think that it's so incredibly important that we support our teachers during these changes. How they are supported directly affects our children. They need peers and admin to lean on."

0:40:10Next, there's a strong call for transparency. Our community is asking for a proposal that reflects the input from all of this engagement, as well as clear and specific data to garner community buy-in for what comes next. And then finally, just to end this data story, the story that I've told includes competing values. And so, we need to be mindful of the fact that trade-offs will be necessary moving forward. Thank you. >> Thank you for that thorough summary of the data that you guys gathered. Board members, I know there's lots of questions and comments that we I'm sure we will all have and Lelenia was first to raise her hand, so we will start with Lelenia. >> Thank you, staff. Uh great presentation. Gives us lots to chew on. Um you know, I note there at the end something that's super important to our community is transparency and I feel like we're really doing a great job of talking about the problem, um letting everybody talk about what they think the best solutions are. And what comes up for me is um and two people have already mentioned it, but I think it's worth continuing to say that there are going to be trade-offs here.

0:41:33So, while we can say we care about the I bet that's me. Is that you, Randy, or me? It's me. Pardon me. Sorry. Um I think that we want the community to know that we would love to solve all of the problems, but we're not going to be able to solve all of the problems. And those trade-offs are going to be necessary when I look at something like neighborhood proximity and then I take something like advanced academics. Those two things are not going to meet together at all points. So, that challenge um of maintaining transparency while understanding that trade-offs are necessary is really important for our public to be aware of. Um and then just for staff, I think that the solution that I hope comes forward is a 5-year solution, a 7-year solution. Um I would not want any of our students to have to go through this twice in their BVSD tenure.

0:43:01One time is enough. It's hard on students. Um it's hard on our families. It's hard on logistics. Uh it it's hard on neighborhoods, neighborhood cohesiveness. So, I think if we can avoid revisiting this in three or four years, just starting again, um I think that that's in the service of everybody here, including staff and the incredible amount of time it's taking for you to find the best answers that we can have. Um I'll leave it there for now. See if anybody else has something that First, I want to go back to um the the intentionality that went into collecting all of this data. Um I truly feel spoiled with community input in a way that I don't think many other um elected officials get to have going to meet and build relationships with teachers and principals and community members. It was just an amazing opportunity and experience to be able to dive right into community and really listen to their thoughts and and their their frustrations, their feelings about everything that's coming down the pipeline. And I do just want to also elevate um the amazing work that the the team has done to really be intentional again in um including and having a space of belonging for Spanish-speaking communities and immigrant communities um at every single um community gathering, seeing the

0:44:48interpretation, the materials that were there for community members. And it just really highlights the first guiding principle of of this um this work that we've we've um encountered upon is removing institutional barriers and really providing equity and access um at the heart of of this endeavor. And so I am giving huge kudos to you all for really being intentional and and really taking um taking the ownership of really meeting community where they're at. Uh I know that at the very end we didn't have um we well, we had um a lot of input from Spanish-speaking parents that they didn't really feel heard. And to see the team quickly adapt and set a new uh a a meeting that wasn't planned and then um put full force into advertising and getting parents recruited and then still having such an engagedful and an engaged conversation with the parents there. Um I think it really just speaks volumes to how much um this school district and this board really wants to listen to every person in in our community to make sure that we're making the right decision.

0:46:05And I do want to echo what Lulaniya said, and it also came up in the nuances of Spanish-speaking communities where um a lot of the the if if a school closes or someone's environment is disrupted, especially for these communities, it feels very um it has a huge gravity around them. And I think that as we're going through, and even what uh Nicole had mentioned earlier, this problem isn't going away. And I think that if we're going to be making some really big maybe uncomfortable decisions, that we make them for the long haul. That this isn't something that we're planning for just um the next few years, that it is something that is going to be sustainable for a much longer uh longer term, because we know that the problem is isn't going to get better anytime soon. And so really making sure that we are thinking as long-term as possible of what is going to be best for our students, for our community members, for our teachers. Um I think that that's going to be the best course of action. Um and yeah, so kudos to to the team. Um this is really great data and really well um well-focused and very well aligned with those guiding principles.

0:47:23Um and I'm just I know that there's going to be uncomfortable decisions, um but I think that we have gone above and beyond to really make sure we have that community input, so that we're not just making a decision out of nowhere, but that it's informed and guided by what I but by what our community wants. So, thank you. >> Like everybody else, I'm I feel privileged and honored to be part of your process. And as a decision-maker, I feel like I'm in a much better position to know what the feelings are on something so complex among so many people. I really I've looked into this around the country at different strategies that people have, and I see nothing like this even from the people that have had super engaged stuff. So, kudos to you and kudos to our community for really stepping up to it as well. Um and it's it's great to hear It's great as a leader, I think, to start to feel the triangulation of things and for the the big numbers to reinforce from the from the data what it is we kind of get the feelings of as elected leaders, where, you know, you have 100 conversations and you start to hear the same things again and again.

0:48:42So, it's great to reinforce that, to know that all of us are benefiting from those thousand conversations. So, I'm really excited about that. Um I have one one thing I think as I look through the data, uh I notice I feel like the things that we're talking about are largely framed from an adult perspective of like, "What will we do to reorganize buildings and adults?" And every one of those changes in values is actually a very kid-focused thing. And sometimes in the way we talk about it, I think we lose the kid-focusedness. So, when we talk about teacher collaboration, I'm like, "Big deal, teacher collaboration." It's like, "No, no, no. When teachers collaborate, Johnny gets to talk to somebody in the reading class who knows what they did last week." If they don't collaborate, they don't know. So, all these things we could have you could have done that whole presentation and not really mention adults at all um and talked about the same things because this is all very kid-focused in terms of the changes that we will make.

0:49:39And I do think we should maybe figure out ways to talk about that that way cuz this still comes off as you know, when it comes if I have to weigh what a teacher thinks compared to what a kid needs, I'm elected to act on behalf of the kids and I will do that. But that's not what the it's not a one or one, but it sounds like we're talking about a lot of adult things here. Um another one Lelenia spoke to this, but there's the extent to which we can act on these things is from how bold we are. We do less action, we can address less things. So, if people want to do the right things on the tradeoffs, we have to do the hard things on structure. And so, the more structurally uh necessary things we do, the more good things we can do. And if we pull our punches on making the hard calls, we are going to get less of the good part. And so, if you want to if you want to do more about class size, you want to do more about differentiated instruction and teacher collaboration, then we need to do more on consolidation or restructuring. So, like that's the other obvious like it's one or the other. Like we we can't just

0:50:46close one school, but then fix eight. So, if we're going to close five schools, then maybe we can fix 10 schools in in one of these regards. And that's it's a it's a really direct tradeoff that the community needs to know. Same thing is that this work is really This is the first phase of the work that we do. Like we don't want to do multiple phases of closures and consolidations. There will be a next phase of implementation where there's a lot of work to do, and we want to be able to switch pretty quickly to adults talking about how to do this well, not should we have done it or can we go back and not do it. So, I think our message is to the community need to be really clear. We're going to do intense stuff once.

0:51:22And then we're going to work really hard to implement it well. And the more intense we make it, the more this will last longer, and the more we'll focus on what kids need and how to do it. And then the last part I think um I'm glad to really see the data come through on the varied school models because I That's one of the things I hear a lot from parents. And it's not just the parents of a charter or a focus school. When parents pick their neighborhood school, yes, they want to walk there, but they also know that their neighborhood school does something really well that was working for their kid. They could have been one of the people driving their kids or biking their kids across town, but they're not. So, all our schools are special in unique ways that have attracted the parents to be there or go there. And so, I think as we think about what we do and how we do we our changes need to accommodate the things people love about their schools and that stands for the neighborhood schools as well as the focus and innovation and and track schools. So, I want to make sure that we are excited about implementing things.

0:52:21And then finally, like I think we can get the kids excited about that. I I looking through some of the work in place like San Antonio and their primary advocates I mean they organized the students to pressure the school board and say, "How dare you not close more schools? Why don't you love us enough to change this and make our schools better?" Um so, like you can turn this around and stay really kid-focused and get even more positivity out of it. So, but I'm I feel so empowered by what you shared and by the work that all the staff have done to do this and I think it's uh speaks speaks volumes to our leadership and uh your team. >> Thank you. Uh I I would like to start by thanking you all the way everybody else has done cuz it's uh it's a testament to the work that's put in here. That's we've had so much outreach and I I can say that everybody I've talked to whether it's the community engagement sessions, the bilingual sessions, the Spanish sessions, the teachers, um everybody I talked to came away more informed, um heard, and listened to, um and we're part of the conversation. I think that's that's really important.

0:53:27And I appreciate you going back to 2021, 2022. Um some people are just now, you know, it's kind of hitting them in the face, right? But it's been a long time coming. We've been having these conversations and we've been really you've all been really thoughtful about what this process has looked like, um and have adopted tried different models prior to this, right? Um, and to the point from some of I'm hearing from some of the other board members here, um, now is the time to be forward thinking and and to look at meaningful change, right? Because small measures aren't suitable anymore. Um, you know, seeing the data results here, um, it was really clear that there's that these themes that arose are all underlaid by equity. Our ability to serve or not serve our students as has been the case given the small number of schools and our inability to provide resources everywhere. And I think that's the driving force for what we're doing.

0:54:18And so, you know, I I'm in favor of of being forward thinking and addressing this stuff now and and having a long-term plan, right? For the next 7 10 years so we're not going through this again. Um, and and so that we can have greater impact and change. Um, you know, I'm not from Colorado originally. Um, we have open enrollment in Colorado. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that all the time, right? And that's something I had that didn't really come up here, but that's a underlies all this as well, right? Currently half of our school or our schools about 50% of them are all through open enrollment, right? So what it's a neighborhood school, but it's also an open enrollment school and that adds complexity here. So So I appreciate thinking about the different models and thinking about, you know, how we can improve access throughout the district as opposed to any individual school and to really think about transportation, um, and barriers to to individuals to access the schools that they want to choose from and try to expand that as much as possible as part of this process. Um, so I think this is an opportunity for us to better serve, you know, not just within the schools, but across our district, right? In terms

0:55:18of who has access to our to the great programming that we have here. So So thank you for, um, all this data. I think we've got some clear direction from our community and our teachers, um, and our and our families. Um, and this is just a start. I I don't want to forget that, right? We've got a the next years could be very challenging, next couple years, right? As we support our families through this process and change. Um, And I think, you know, we've kind of had the transparency. I know it's going to continue, so I really appreciate the work. And so, not so much a question, but a thank you. >> I personally have enjoyed every minute of this process as an observer and getting to meet parents and see them engaging in the process. And I bet they feel the same way, too, that they they feel heard and seen.

0:56:12Um I do worry a little bit about one of the data points because one necessarily negates the other. And that is we would like consolidation and we wouldn't like school to closures. You can't really do one and not have the other. And so, it was kind of a false choice for people. It almost should have been should we consolidate schools and close a few? Or should we close a lot of schools? I don't know. I should need to be different. Because you can't really you can't really do the job without disappointing some people as we've all talked about. So, um there are going to be disappointments. And I also have a lot of confidence in the fact that we're going to be able to figure out some way different ways to support the communities that are being asked to make some changes and maybe to improve the schools that we have.

0:57:13Um so, maybe this is an opportunity for us to make uh BVSD even better. >> Did I see your finger go up, Robert? >> I'll let you go then. >> Okay. Great. Um thanks to the presentation. Like my colleagues here, I am in favor of significant maneuvers to protect us in the long run. I mean, again, state demographer said down 30,000 students in between now and 2030. It's not going to get better. And so, the more we can do today, the better the educational experiences we can provide for our students more quickly. Uh I don't want to have to do this. Laney said 5 years, Jorge said 7 to 10. I am like 10. We need to We need to look out further. This has been an exceedingly heavy lift for our staff. It's created a lot of anxiety for our community in the last couple years just waiting and wondering. It's going to be a lot of work to make the shift. Disruption is always hard, and the more we can minimize the frequency of disruption, whether it's through not phasing in like Alex said, or thinking longer term, I think um while hard of in the outset, will be appreciated by our staff and our community in the long run.

0:58:38And so, I I agree. Um bigger changes that will be provide lasting outcomes is really where I am thinking about this. And I'm thinking a little bit about the tension that exists between the the priorities that were elevated. And to my board member's point, we we're not going to be able to accomplish everything, but we're going to do our best to take this into consideration. I think like a couple things that has really stood out to me around walkability. If we close schools, which we have already decided we cannot keep schools closed, some people might have a longer commute to school. Like we walkability is I understand it's important. So, when I think of that, I'm like, well, let's make sure we keep we the schools that are in pockets where we know we have a lot of students, those are the ones we prioritize.

0:59:28But somebody is going to have a longer walk. Similar like taking a school offline, I understand that there's a um there is some property value there, yes. And I also know it's really hard for the community to conceive of not having a school as a neighbor because a school is a great neighbor. On the weekends and in the summer and in the holidays and not knowing what's going to happen to that property, I think is can be pretty anxiety-provoking. Um I also found it interesting the comment from Broomfield about redrawing attendance boundaries rather than considering a school closure. Aspen Creek is 50% open enrollment and 30% of those kids are coming from out of district. So even in Broomfield, we don't have enough students to redraw those lines. And that's a reality, I think, that our staff is going to Yes, we know. We don't want We hear you.

1:00:18We don't want schools to necessarily close. And to accomplish the other things like smaller class sizes, to have full-time staff in all of our schools, to have differentiated supports, that's going to be part of it. And then similarly, I would say for the community, I hear you in the priority The priority is consolidation to keep those groups of students together. But it may not be that we are able to completely consolidate without some reconfiguration of attendance boundaries or some people might like It depends on our facilities. And so to the extent practical again, I'd say to staff, consolidate when you can and if we have to make boundary line adjustments because there's we can't obtain a perfect consolidation because of the seats in a school, really relying on the hard work that the board did in policy JC and thinking through like what are the priorities there? It's having like contiguous boundaries and it's having compactness of boundaries and it's thinking about balancing students. And so like all of those things are going to come into play inevitably, and I really want to remind the community and staff that probably isn't going to be an incredibly clean, but we're relying on all the work we've done since 2021 to really think through transportation realities, facility realities, attendance boundaries.

1:01:38>> >> And policy JC again is kind of where I was thinking with my 10 years is we have to look at attendance boundaries every 5 years based on board policy JC. Like it would be lovely to be in a cadence where you look at attendance boundaries 5 years later like you're in a cadence where it's not every 5 years you're having to look to close the school and in the conjunction with redrawing those attendance boundaries those attendance boundary changes could potentially help even out. Um So, that's just something I wanted to elevate there. And then um there was one other thing. At at the end of the day this is like a really big fiscal decision, right? Because all the things that we want in all of our schools cost dollars, and that will just have to be part of the conversation um into next year. And to Alex's point the bigger maneuvers we have the more dollars we have to free up to do all of the stuff that we've really heard loud and clear that our community, our students, our staff, our families really do want.

1:02:36So, it'll be hard. And I feel like we're in a really great position based on the extensive community feedback that we received, based on all the listening we've done, and the years we've had thinking about this to set us up for success and help us create a plan before we're in a dire fiscal situation. So, kudos to everybody involved in these processes, and I am excited to see to see where we're headed and what we can do to create the outcomes and opportunities our kiddos really do deserve. Rob. >> Uh Uh, >> >> I don't know. I We don't have a lot of parents here this evening and without a doubt come fall will have a lot of parents here. Um, and I'll remember maybe to say this again at that time, but anybody who's watching uh this later maybe will hear this any parents.

1:03:37Um, one of the things I encourage of our community is for the parents to hold this work and not have the kids hold it. Um, >> >> I got a great compliment from one of my colleagues about that I was very afraid for my own child, but my own child never knew during that moment. And that that's like a a parenting win. So, we're going to have a lot of parents that don't feel comfortable and this is big change and I hear a lot of support from my colleagues about making big change. And I really hope our parents can hold that and not scare the kids because wherever your kid ends up in BVSD, we are going to love them. We are going to do a good job of teaching them. We are going to hold them safely.

1:04:34So, I just I really want to say that because I just recently had an experience where I had to not have my fear be the driving factor for my own child. So, I'll remember to say it again in fall when I've got a room full of parents, but any parents watching this take note. >> Rob and then Alex. >> I just want to thank the board for your thoughtful discussion around this topic. Uh, a couple things to point out. Uh, 76,000 bytes of information we do not have evidence that our community is fighting for the status quo. We don't have that evidence. We didn't hear do nothing, everything's fine. Um the other point I want to highlight is that for the closures, consolidations, reconfigurations that we do, those dollars that we recoup, we're going to be reinvesting in the student experience based on what our community has told us they want.

1:05:40Right? And I And I don't look at the the because there's tension amongst some of the feedback, right? Uh it's more guardrails, not a roadmap. Tensions will exist for sure. You can't have fully staffed schools and not close school like close or consolidate schools or can't close and consolidate. Can't do that. Um and this isn't the only pieces of data that we'll look at, board members. As you know that we have enrollment projections. Based on your feedback, we'll be looking at enrollment projections from 5 years out from now. So, you may have a school that's going to drop 50 students between now and 5 years from now. We're going to be dealing and trying to solve for 5 years from now. Um we have OE patterns. And so, folks may say one thing about a school, but if we look and less than half the kids in that community actually the parents send their kids to their neighborhood school, that's a data point that we have to pay attention to.

1:06:33Um we also have building capacities. Right? You We We are not in um looking to overload schools. Uh we have to be considerate of our building capacities as well. So, there's other data points that we'll bring into this as we think about the recommendation we'll be bringing back to you all in August. Um I would provide just a compliment to the board that in October you had a very good sense of where this community was, which is we can't do nothing. And uh that was validated by the process that we went through. I just want you to to to to you are in tune to your community. And so that is really good news. And then the last thing, and I'm really proud of this, we didn't cheat this we're not cheating this challenge of its complexity.

1:07:23Right, we're not giving people two options or three options and these are the only ways you can solve this or um you know, unfortunately, I think then this is just my opinion, but sometimes superintendents, school boards get to this place where well, we're not going to make people happy, so just do it fast, do it quick, don't talk to people. People aren't going to be happy regardless of what you do. Uh so you make the decision, you move on, you hope people forgive you. I don't think that's the right way to do it. I think the way we're doing it the right way to do it where you listen to people, you give them space, uh you hear what they want for their kids, you hear what they'd prefer um as you think about moving forward, and you don't over promise that we're just going to make everybody happy with all of these decisions. We won't. There will be people who are are going to be impacted in ways they're going to be emotional, and they're going to not be happy with, but if we can stand in in August and present to you an option that provides a better opportunity for our students across our district by making some tough choices, then I think we will have um

1:08:25done a process done this process well, and uh we will be a better school district after it. So, uh again, thanks for the conversation, and I think there's maybe a couple more comments, but >> >> I regret speaking after you, Rob, cuz you said that so well. Um I have a big picture thing and then a technical thing. Um one is uh I was really excited about the feedback for how holistic it was about our students. And when you read through that from a student perspective, I'm like, oh, people care about the specials. Specials turn into teachers, but really the specials turn into kids smiling cuz they had art and you know, energetic kids, you know, sweating a little bit and and PE and singing and feeling resonance for their community. Like the things people are valuing are they're not reading, writing, arithmetic all the time. And they make kids happy and give them an outlet and that's one of the things I think we should never lose sight of. And at the same time, we have parents who are, you know, really frustrated at the lack of access to acceleration. So, we think about things forward, we think about new focuses or what to do and we have opportunities to figure out how to add more accelerated opportunities for kids in this mix. So,

1:09:36like we have really holistic ways to think about all our kids. Another observation I have in all these conversations is everybody knows a lot about our schools. Like parents will come to you and say, "You need to know this about my school." And I'm always like, "Do you think there's anybody on Arapahoe doesn't know that about your school?" Like everybody knows these schools really well. They know the things they're wrestling with. The way the district is evolved to be much more like engaged with its schools on improvement means that all the adult all the people, you know, here know what the schools are like. So, all that's going to go into the decision-making, too. And then finally, um I've had the end same criticism of our consolidation versus close and, you know, distribute people. And I have the technical thing is I'm starting to wrestle with doing two of these things, three of these things at the same time, and suddenly the consolidation makes more sense to me versus the merging. So, like let's say we have three or four schools and three neighborhood schools with catchment zones.

1:10:35We actually make one of the schools become the new home of a focus school cuz we said we're going to move a focus school. Focus school goes there, it doesn't have a catchment zone. So, now we have three catchment zones of kids, but only two catchment zones of two neighborhood schools and a focus school. So, suddenly we have merged those schools and we haven't closed one, but we've changed one of a neighborhood school into a focus school. Um so, like that's the kind of thing where you combine two or three things together, and suddenly your options start expanding even more. So, like it's not just one thing. We're going to do X here, and we're going to do Y here. We're going to do stuff for a neighborhood that involves all those things. So. It'll be even more complex.

1:11:23>> Board members, any other questions or comments? Were you going to Oh, yeah. >> Just covered this just to wrap up the work session one. Thank you so much for the thoughtful conversation tonight. As we look at the overall timeline, we are now transitioning from that community engagement process to the what I'll call decision-making process. So, in 10 weeks from now, we will be bringing you a plan in late August, uh in alignment with what we've heard tonight from the board, from our community engagement sessions, from the work that uh long-range advisory committee has done prior to this. So, we will be bringing that to you, and then that will give the community an option to uh speak in public comment, uh and then another opportunity during study in September with final decision uh thereafter in October. So, just want to line that up.

1:12:20That is in alignment with our open enrollment uh time frame as we have spoken about previously. Um but, with that, that wraps up tonight's presentation. >> You got your work cut out for you, team, between now and August. I think I can speak on behalf of the board that we are eagerly awaiting that presentation for the community as well. As I alluded to earlier, there are some schools that have been really struggling with underenrollment for a long time and are eager to see some change to improve the the experiences in those schools. One final thought I had, you know, we we for years now, we've held three rounds up as a model. I know we've also prioritized smaller class sizes. So, some magical three round model with slightly smaller class sizes and all the people to round out that educational experience in our neighborhood schools at the very least is sort of where my brain is.

1:13:21And I um I'm looking forward to to seeing how this all shakes out. So, thank you. Board members, we are going to reconfigure the board room back to its normal arrangement now that this work study session is done. So, we will take a small 5-10 minute break. >> Everyone, the next item on our agenda today is the superintendent's report, Dr. Anderson. Good evening. >> Good evening. Thank you, Board President Rajpal, board members. Uh some quick remarks this evening. Uh congrats again to the class of 2026. We now have officially wrapped up graduation season. We had a total of 13 commencement ceremonies over just under 3 weeks. Last Thursday was our last ceremony, Boulder Prep Charter School. I just want to um say congrats to the entire BVSD class of 2026. Uh board members, this is the third year of our grad plus leadership academy, and it is now underway. We had more than 100 applications for the program, and ultimately 36 rising juniors and seniors were selected. Over the summer, they get work-based learning experiences, including uh resume writing, how to interview. They intern at a variety of work sites across our community, including here and at um at the Ed Center here in the district.

1:21:52Additionally, this year they visited the Boulder County Sheriff's Office forgetting learn all about the different jobs available in law enforcement. This year, we've partnered with Impact on Education, who among other things offer students an honorarium for participating. So, thank you to our partners at Impact on Education. And then finally, very exciting news. In August, 10 Centaurus High School students and their coaches will be headed to Hamburg, Germany to work with European scientists after being selected by the in the prestigious Beamline for Schools competition organized by CERN, the European laboratory for particle physics. Beamline for schools competition started in 2014 to coincide with CERN's 60th anniversary and aims to give high school students a hands-on opportunity to experience what it's like to be a scientist. High school students from all around the world compete by submitting experience experiments. Those selected are invited on a full paid trip to conduct their experiments alongside the international scientists at CERN or at one of their partner institutions.

1:22:55This year members of the Centaurus physics clubs physics club that call themselves Team Centauri Stars and we got like that were among five winning teams from around the world chosen based on the scientific merit of their proposals. They're the only team from the United States. The other teams are from the United Kingdom, Turkey, India, and Bangladesh. What an incredible opportunity and accomplishment. Congrats to Team Centauri Stars. Uh Their project using silicone photo multipliers to detect Cherenkov radiation inside a glass bar. They've actually been consulting with lead scientists in this cutting-edge physics research and now they get to work with European scientists at the DESY Research Centre in Hamburg, Germany. Incredible. And that's all I have for my remarks this evening. >> Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Board members, any questions or comments? It's very exciting for those students.

1:23:58I wish them the best of luck. Seeing as there are no questions or comments, we'll move on to board communication. Board members, do any of you have anything you would like to update us on? Alex? >> Um >> >> uh yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting with Jen Douglas, the executive director of Peak to Peak, and this today I met with a couple of board members from Peak to Peak. Um I would recommend to my board fellow colleagues on the board that those are good lunches to take sometimes. And it's great especially like board to board to just be able to talk and have it not be about a negotiation, have it not be about some high stakes authorized or decision, but just talking about what people are um working on, what they care about, the challenges, things they're celebrating, um and getting to just know one another as colleagues sharing similar roles at different scales and different places.

1:24:56So, uh happy to invite other people. I I plan to meet with other charter board members when I can, and happy to have another board member join any of those. If you're interested, let me know. And uh word out to the charter schools, too. Happy to to hear from you. Um we hear from lots of people about all the schools all the time, and it's it can be complex, and we have a different relationship with the charters. So, it's nice to build I mean, I love that our district celebrates the great accomplishments of our charters and their wonderful students and the things they're doing that we are there for their graduations and you know, everything else. Uh they're institutions that are a big part of our community, and I think it's uh really helps build understanding about what they're dealing with so that we can be constructive partners and that we can share real feedback when we have it in a lower stakes environment than will happen when it comes up for renewal or something.

1:25:47So, it builds a reservoir of understanding that can be useful to us. Um also uh um had the pleasure of sitting down with some Fairview students um this week, and it's great to hear from students about what they're doing um and their experiences, and uh it reaffirmed my commitment to making sure that we deal with our students holistically as people with complex lives and multiple pressures and things going on and concerns, and that we, you know, try to make sure our schools are remaining responsive to the the the stressors, the aspirations, and the things our kids have. Uh so again, I'm not a parent of active kids in school anymore. So when I have a chance to sit down with students and have them really tell me what they think, it is just it's a pleasure. So anyway, I just um uh I'm grateful for the opportunity for either whether it's Charter board member or uh Fairview Junior to take the time to tell me what they're thinking and um uh it's People say like, "Oh, you're on the board, that must be a thankless job." It's like, "No, not at all."

1:26:54People I get gratitude and people share wonderful things with me and sad things with me and I am so glad to hear it. So keep it coming. >> Thanks, Alex. We will now move on to our the next item on our agenda this evening, which is information. We have one information item this evening, which is cell phone policy update. I will turn it over to Robin Fernandez for introductions. >> Thank you, President Rajpal. Good evening, President Rajpal, members of the board, and Dr. Anderson. I'm before you this evening with an update on how our cell phone policy, what we call away for the day, is going in our high schools. As a reminder, the board revised the policy in the fall of 2024 and was implemented in our high schools in the in January of 2025. Joining me this evening is Principal Greg Donn from Monarch High School and Principal John McCluskey from New Vista High School and they will share how that's going in their schools.

1:27:59You will hear about the current state of implementation in these two in these two schools. You will hear how they are monitoring and tracking compliance. You'll hear celebrations and challenges with the implementation and you will hear about how principals across our high schools in our district are planning for future work in the fall and beyond. But first, we are going to start with hearing from our students. Our wonderful Randy Barber visited with high school students across the district and checked in with them during the last week of school, so just a couple of weeks ago, about their perceptions of the implementation of the cell phone policy. And as you will see in a moment, they did not hold back. >> We're not allowed to have our phones in the classrooms or in the cafeteria hallways. Um, so it's basically a complete ban.

1:28:58>> When school starts at 8:35, we have to put away our cell phones and we can't have them out until school ends at 3:55. >> Basically, if they see your phone at all, it's getting taken. Like, any phones at all is getting taken and you get it back at the end of the day. And if you like had too many offenses, your parents have to come pick it up. >> I have my phone in my pocket right now and it's it's not a problem as long as you're not using it when you're supposed to be doing school work. I think that was one of the the main problem. >> Yeah. >> I think it's definitely increased like my focus in classes. >> Students shouldn't be on their phones during school. >> It was really hard to focus because my phone is like a constant distractor because I get so many texts and like notifications.

1:29:34>> Students really shouldn't be able to like play games >> cuz it'll distract them. >> Kids just don't want to lock in on school work, they want to be on their phones. >> And I personally have ADHD, so having the rule that I can't touch it does help me. >> When we were allowed to have our phones out, like, I maybe I would get my assignment done in class and I would have like maybe 20, 15 minutes left in class and I would spend that time on my phone. Now I kind of spend it like getting other work done for other classes or maybe talking to people in my class. >> Before the cell phone ban, I would just remember like going to recess and everybody would be on their phone. People would just be like in the hallways just like on their phone walking to the next class.

1:30:11>> I feel like it just makes you used to being like being able to socialize on a phone and not really in person and it really takes away that feeling of really talking to someone eye to eye. >> Now it's like, you know, there's like actually some interaction which is pretty cool to see. >> After the ban like we actually went outside and do stuff now. >> You get like totally added side conversations with my friends not having our phone. I mean like today we played hacky sack and like if you were allowed to have your phone you probably would just be sitting inside. >> This Carol has done a great job with just making the transition of no phones easier cuz kind of before we didn't have any of this stuff. It was just tables and I think now you just kind of find other ways to connect with people like playing games or going outside.

1:30:54>> To an extent I think it is good for students cuz I like being off my phone. I like being forced to be off my phone cuz I think it helps me. But taking it away from me. >> Most students know that being on your phone is not helpful for your learning so I feel like there's no need for everyone to be getting their phones snatched left and right. >> And I've got my phone taken away before just on off period. >> I hate it. I mean >> We don't really like it because we feel like it's a little extreme. >> It's just like I don't know. They're really strict about it sometimes. >> It's too much cuz like it's it's excessive cuz we are like in in charge of our own grades. >> I think if I could change something I would change the atmosphere around it.

1:31:33>> We can't have it out like in the school when we're just checking the time or anything like that. >> more of a supportive environment instead of a punishment oriented environment. We just feel like it's enforced a little too much. >> I feel like the school should be worrying about bigger issues that we have. >> Yeah. >> In classes it makes a lot of sense why you wouldn't be able to have your phone. You're supposed to be listening. You're supposed to be present. You're supposed to be focused. But when you're during lunch like I don't have to be focused on anything. >> When it like comes to like a cafeteria or more social spaces, I feel like it's maybe a little too strict. For like >> lunch and passing period, I feel like it's unnecessary.

1:32:10>> That's where I take my 30 minutes to go and do what I want to do. I At work, I'm able to go on my phone, not while I'm working though. >> In in the way it currently is, it's made it so that the people who would be using their phones in class anyway, you know, they just kind of >> Like they still kind >> still use it, and the people who wouldn't be using it, then they're affected in that way. >> >> I definitely think it depends on the teacher or the staff member that you encounter. >> Like some teachers are super strict, and they're like no phones at all. >> It just kind of depends. >> Other teachers will be like, "Hey, like you can have them out sometimes." >> Definitely think it's not fully consistent throughout the school.

1:32:46>> A big thing for me was when they started talking about how they're going to make us put it in lockers at the beginning of the day. >> Right. >> And I feel like that's just too far because in case of emergency or family emergency >> What if there was an emergency and I needed my phone? >> I do think it's a little bit over the top, especially considering like Colorado and like the school shootings in Colorado. >> Well, if you need to contact your parents or something, if it's an emergency, you should be able to do that like whenever, wherever. >> really know what students could change cuz everyone still is addicted to their phones. >> Just more leniency. >> I don't think anybody's really ever going to listen to it. Like our phones are our freedom.

1:33:22>> I think it's awesome that you're doing this to hear students' perspectives. I think that's really awesome. >> >> And there you have it, a wealth of perspectives from our students across our high schools. And now I'm going to turn it over to Principal Greg Doney and Principal John McCluskey so that they can share from a leadership perspective how it's going in their schools. I'm going to start with current state. >> Yeah, uh we wanted to start with the video cuz I think the kids are really uh good advocates for the world they live in and how they're experiencing things. Uh I think you know, the overall statement said it is uh been largely positive and again the kids will say that. They recognize what happens in their classrooms and some differences that it's made. Um I know uh John will speak specifically especially in a small school environment. Um the connections that you make and uh some of the behaviors like uh recognize that all of a sudden hacky sack is back and actually kids skip class more to play hacky sack than they do to get on their phones. And so they are connecting not electronically.

1:34:34Um and so some of those like cultural positives we were looking for are definitely happening. >> Mhm. >> Yeah, I you know, thanks for the opportunity to talk with you all about this cuz I actually do think systemically it's been really significant for the schools to just begin the conversation with young people about the impact of phones and I just I've talked with some of you individually, but the idea that we we really I mean, we're a relationship-based school. So we really started with the idea that you didn't break any rules. As adults, our society handed you this phone. So you've done nothing wrong. We just changed our minds on whether it's good for you or not. And now we actually think it's not and we've shifted. And so we want you in on the conversation about what this feels like to now not have your phone. And schools have made changes like this and I think by by starting with that premise of you're not getting busted, you didn't do anything wrong, nobody's in trouble, but we have changed our mind about what these phones are doing to your system and your brain. And And so get in with us on this. And I think that piece has really I think the kids have said great. Like you know, I mean, some kids

1:35:42have really said I want to I mean, you heard some students really say like I really do need somebody to help me with the boundary on this thing. And so that's generally speaking I think been a huge win. Um if I had to ask my faculty right now, would we go back? Nobody would say let's go back. I I'm convinced of that. So, moving forward, we have to keep reinforcing, but nobody wants to go back. I'll say that. >> Moving on to celebrations. >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I you know, I I might just start with we had a panel of students when we were doing open enrollment um this last round just talking about the school environment. And I was very surprised unprompted how several students really talked about one of the things that we are now doing as a matter of course is insisting that during those social times, lunch times, hallway times, young people actually are being have to get together and talk with other people they might not have talked to and that they they mentioned that as a highlight of the school experience that we're not on our phones, we're not isolating, we're actually getting to talk to each other. And so, I I that unsolicited, I thought that was a great highlight from an open enrollment

1:36:48standpoint to say this is why you should consider our school is that we're talking to each other and and connecting with people who we normally might not hang out with. I also just would say administratively, you know, um these devices have quadrupled my workload over the years. And I have felt a reduction in that in terms of online behavior, those kinds of things have really reduced since we've done this. Um particularly during the school day. Evenings, we can't control that, so we're still getting some stuff, but during the school day we we do see less. >> Um I would just say the kids said this, too. Just the classroom environments have changed. I think the they'll point out when teachers might have differences of of how they enforce the policy, but whether you see the the shoe racks where they put the phones up or they're in their backpacks, just far less of them being hidden under desks and just sort of the sort of complicitousness that they would be around. So, I think the classroom environment for me would be the celebration is is feeling that relief that for that period of time that universally most people understand that they're going to be away.

1:37:56Um I think the challenges just remain that uh they're on their person. And so when you got an open campus and kids are coming and going and they do have passing periods, uh you know, admittedly if you walk into Monarch and I'm not there and there's not three security guards and you're just uh a passerby, uh you'll see some phones. And I think the the part of it is is the kids are not oppositionally defiant. They're not mean or mad at you, but they're going to take a chance if nobody's seeing them, they're going to get their phone out and they're going to use it. And if you tell them to put it away, they'll politely put it away. So I just think it's that challenge of what our campuses are when you've got, you know, a couple of thousand students and it's a couple of you versus them, it's just not a pure system. And so it's hard to really say that it's completely taken care of. And to John's point, you just you always feel like you're playing catch-up, right? You're trying to to catch the next one and make sure it's not happening. Um and so that doesn't always feel good.

1:38:55>> Well, I'm you know, depending on your perspective, pluses and minuses, how one adult approaches a student who has a phone versus how another adult approaches. So we're having to manage the big people also in this in terms of like, you know, you know, what's the right-sized response in any given situation. And so that's, you know, it's another place for us to look for collective efficacy amongst our faculty. And you know, it's good if we can view it. I think it's been tricky because some teachers are like, I don't that's not my thing. I don't I don't want to take phones from kids. And other people are like, please, I'll be your guy in the hallway because they annoy me. And so, you know, when you have those contrasting adults, you've got to kind of get them on the same page.

1:39:45>> So several weeks ago we met with all of our high school principals and they expressed to us what they are thinking about in terms of the next iteration and the deepening of understanding among students and the deepening of this work across our high schools in our district. And so, you'll see on this slide what they all shared with us. First, they are going to continue to incorporate conversations in class, sometimes in health classes, other structures, sometimes even in advisory. Uh share more with our students about why. Continue to develop the understanding of why it is that Away for the Day was developed, why the board policy was revised in the first place, talking about the effects of of cell phone usage, principally social media. Um and uh structure these conversations with students so that, as both of our principals have shared, they're collaboratively thinking of how is it that they need to be supported, how is it that they can make choices that work for them, and how is it that everybody within the school can work together.

1:40:45So, in conclusion, our high schools are working very hard and have been for three semesters now to implement the revised policy. They continue to deepen the work. There are challenges, but there are also a lot of celebrations. And with that, we are happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> Thank you for that update. Board members, do you have any questions or comments on the cell phone policy update? Dr. Anderson, I see is a first taker. >> Uh thank you, Board President Rajpal. I want to first start by thanking John and Greg and uh as a former high school principal and managing large numbers of kids and trying to get them to do the right thing and managing and navigating the adults who some people see things very black and white, other thing other people see things very gray, and other people just don't see things.

1:41:37And I think that that is always always really a challenge. I'll point out that I read in the paper today that DPS has taken our lead. And I congratulate any school district that takes on this this this really really important challenge and I'm I'm proud that our board and our school district was one of the leaders in the state if not the country in adopting this bell-to-bell cell phone um away for a day policy. I will say that board members we have work to do. I I think that I really love the idea of talking about the why with students and and continuing to set the expectation. I think that in in in schools that are lean administratively by design, it's going to take a concerted effort of all people in the schools to really set the culture to get wide enforcement.

1:42:32And you know, I think one of the biggest worries we had going into this is is this going to lead to more disproportionate discipline? Is this going to need lead to more exclusionary discipline? You know, I would see this all the time as a principal. A simple thing is please put your phone away turns into an insubordination. I'm calling the office. Kids are escalated and you get these really really ugly results over a simple direction. And so I mean I think that is a piece that we're navigating as well. I've not seen an uptake uptick in the disproportionate discipline. I think the last data we looked at said you know said we're continuing to decline. And so there's some some I think some competing tensions there as well to get to closer to 100% compliance but also not um not doing that in a way that creates more conflict and damages the relationships that we're really trying so hard to build with our kids. So just wanted to thank everybody give a little more context and and excited to hear your questions.

1:43:38>> Deanne. I don't know if you all are have been able to pay attention to uh things outside of school in the last few weeks, but there's been some interesting uh debates among the governor's candidates. And 100% of them have said that they want to ban all cell phones in all schools including needing to lock them away. So, I wondered if any of you have heard those those um ideas they are now um and how you would handle it if you needed to do more control. >> So, with the conclusion of the school year, we are standing back here saying, "No, those are the things that we catch up on in the summer." But, you're you're right in terms of what John shared with us in particular and what we heard from some of the students uh whose perspectives are shared in the video.

1:44:35That is that's another level of implementation and another level of understanding why. And so, that would be a different conversation and one that they would really need to approach carefully and differently with with students. And we saw in the video that much of what students shared is all right, well, it's on my person. And we heard concern around uh emergencies, uh family contact needs, things like that. And so, some of our students also shared that they have their their phones in their pockets, they don't take them out, it's all okay. And so, needing to put them them away would be a very different conversation and a different approach that we would need to take with students. >> I was going to part of this conversation I think is amplified because of um >> >> a house bill that passed in 2025 requiring all schools in the state of Colorado to have a policy in place by July 1st of this year. So, I think it's on the forefront of districts that didn't take an earlier step and then the governors >> >> that's expensive. And so, I would love as we think about our legislative platforms, we know when there's mandates that we also get the funding to implement said mandate from the government. So, hopefully those governors are having that conversation

1:45:56as well of how they'll help us afford those pouches that get broken and lost and all the things um should they really want us to do that. But interesting and just to piggyback, I actually really appreciate the emphasis on the why and in helping students come along even though it takes longer, that will have more lasting impacts when students have voice and choice to some degree. They understand the why, they can make informed decisions for themselves because it's the right choice because there are benefits to them rather than just to follow some to not be penalized or punished or have to have your parent show up at school to get your phone back. So, I just really do appreciate the emphasis there and hacky sacks are sold out all across the country and and you know, kudos to if the cell phones ban is having a an impact on that, great. But it is fun to see those kids playing hacky sack.

1:46:55Sometimes I hear in crowded hallways during passing periods, but at least they're not on their phones. Alex, I saw your hand up and then Alania. >> Yeah. Um thank you very much and thank you for and you and all your teams for the hard work that it takes to do this. I was one of many of people on the board who were all in on this and I remain all in on this. Uh I alluded to my conversation with Fairview students. The initial part was to ask them about cell phone implementation. And so, as opposed to the 76,000 data points that the data team shared with us on declining enrollment, I have five. But, their reports are of 10 or 15% of the Fairview teachers who think it's a great thing, about 50% real enforcement in the classroom. So, like every other teacher doesn't really care. They have class, they report being able to have their phones out in class. It's okay. They won't be told might be told to put away, might not. Probably in half their classes they're not. As long as no one's around, there's only one or two security officials in the whole building who are asking them to put them away. So, the story I have from my small end is of much less implementation than you've

1:48:01described in your schools. And it's great to see the voice from the video, and I'm super pleased by all of that. But, for me, I'm like, "Okay, if Fairview takes a third year to do this, I'm ready to buy in pouches. I'm ready to buy lockers and take take a stronger position, not a weaker position. And I know we need to get to why with the students, but apparently we need to get to why with the adults too in some of our schools. I'd be curious your takes, all three of you, on how do we get to the why with the adults? >> Um, actually in some ways I do think the kids are leading this in this. I don't know if you guys paid attention to the graduations where kids were graduates were booing about AI discussions.

1:48:45And our kids are super savvy. And so, again, what I see happening is kids are getting their phones out because they have a job requirement and they're in the hallway and they're like, "I got to get a hold of my boss." Again, I'm I agree with you what you're seeing in classrooms, but I guess I am seeing it and it does take time is the opposition to it, to me, is a lot of logistical things that they see their phone use for. They totally get and understand they shouldn't be doing social media, they shouldn't be using it to cheat. Like all the whys are there. Um and I agree with you, because it's on them, it's inevitable that they're going to access those different things. And so, I've always, you know, we never did a ban, right? It wasn't a ban, it was an ask to to reconstruct some things and figure out where it is. And a ban would require the level of things that some other governors would talk about. And I just I can't conceive of that again conceptually with off periods and everything else and how do you manage that? And to me, trying to get them to uh work within the systems that are best for them, it's going to take time. I guess that's

1:50:00the ultimate thing is it's not an easy one class fix. It takes like generation of kids to kind of move through a school in my mind to have them see that. Uh cuz when I talk to like middle school principals, obviously they have lockers and places they can put them. So, kids are experiencing it up to their freshman year. And then it's just it's taken us longer to get it a freshman through senior system where they see that value in the same way. >> I mean, it I would echo that the approach with the students is similar to the approach for the teachers. And you know, I'm I spent a good third of my career without a cell phone as a teacher. And And yet, I would say half of my staff doesn't remember not having a cell phone themselves as adults. So, well, I think what we're having to return and come back to with the teachers is also kind of that balance between, you know, obey versus comply versus buy in, right?

1:50:56And so, we just, you know, my plan in August is to reenter the conversation with the faculty around, "Hey, here's what we're doing. Who's, you know, who's got concerns? Let's talk about it, you know, you know." We've been keeping some data on who's turning in most of the phones versus "How come you're never turning in a phone? That's interesting that you never see a phone and that teacher sees 10 a day. And so, you know, what's you know, and so we're just going to have an open discussion about that so that we're all kind of really buying in at an equal level. So, I think that's the biggest part. It's just relationships, relationships, relationships even with the teachers and how are we going to do this in a way that supports each other. You know, we have similar things, you know, well, you've all been through dress codes, so here we are similar. People are going to have different reactions to this. So, it's on us to get people kind of level set on where we're going. So, So, I just hear you talking about the leadership and relationships it takes to get the adults on board and the kids on board.

1:52:00Um and I will echo what Alex has said, but my insight is much larger than Alex's because I have a kid at Fairview. And I hear the same thing Alex says and size of four said that at at Fairview were we haven't got the kids on board and we don't have the adults on board. And so, I give you guys kudos that you are bringing those folks along. Um and I think John, what you said is so important. We gave you these devices and now we're changing our mind because, you know, we're we're starting to feel that way about all of the technology. We gave this to you kiddos and now we're up in arms. So, um I appreciate you working not just with the kids, but with the adults. I think it's it's really tough work.

1:53:00>> Jorge and then Rob. >> Thank you for the Thank you for the present this today. I really appreciate the kids perspective on this. I think it's so important. Um and I for one was hesitant with this policy to move forward cuz of concerns about implementation and what that would look like and have it be very top-down. And concerns about how it would be implemented um, disproportionately across a number of kids. So, so I for one really appreciate the conversation with the students, recognizing that it's a process and it's about changing culture and attitudes. And so providing opportunities for engagement with each other, providing other activities, providing resources. And I I think you can see that across the schools where that's happening. That makes it a much easier process. And and having them be a part of the conversation, you know, I would hate to see us go towards a purely uh, punitive ban and really embracing that. I I think that it's a cultural shift that we've got to make.

1:53:48Um, it's one we're battling outside the schools as well as within the schools and it's not fair um, to come crashing down without understanding the perception. And I think the students seem to recognize the benefits of this and to the degree that we can kind of support them in terms of having healthier alternatives, building relationships and really building community, then I'm all for that. So, so thank you for that work. >> You know, I I will say that there are other things that you can do. Um, uh, you know, as you set expectations for teachers as a principal, like those are the expectations, right? When you set policies as a board, right? I don't get to say, I don't like that board policy. I don't like this. I follow the board policies up. I mean, that's my job, right?

1:54:36Uh, and so to the extent that there are schools where we we we begin to collect data and information where there's just a level of apathy around doing something that's important, I think that there's ways you can collect data. I mean, we're in classrooms all the time. You can collect classroom data. Um, you can look at who's turning in the phones, who isn't turning in the phones, what's happening, having those conversations. Um, I think that students are able to go to um, administrators if they feel like that there's, you know, a lack of enforcement. Mhm. I think that's that's that can happen. Um and so I do think you can move It's not there's nothing you can do. I do think you can move the needle bringing folks together. I think the the approach of the first approach is the why.

1:55:21And then if that doesn't work, if I'm the principal, I'm going to say, "Well, why aren't you enforcing what we've talked about?" And what is it? And then those can be professional development opportunities for teachers. Those can be um clarifications for expectations from teachers. Uh I I and I think that's all part of being a leader. So, as we continue to move forward, um as as we hear concerning data from whatever sources it comes from, I think that the board can expect that we'll continue to lean in on something that's important. We're going to continue to try to do things in the in the ways that we've described, which is talk about the why and and and really bring people on board, adults and kids. Uh and then if we don't see, you know, just just just like any other rule or policy we'd have, if we had an outbreak of fights at schools, if we had an outbreak of of of some other offense that we would pro- we would intervene, um and we've done that. Uh then then that's what you can expect. And uh you know, you want to you want to make sure that you empower folks to be the very best and and this is the this is the right thing for kids, uh but I don't

1:56:32want the board to go away from this conversation thinking that if we have a faculty or school or or a set of schools that um isn't doing what we've expected them to do, that there's there's nothing we can do. There is. >> As a parent of two kiddos at Fairview since I feel like, you know, we're talking about Fairview, I just want to say they did have a community culture day where the students brainstormed ideas to help improve cell phone utilization and the student council has also come up with ideas to increase engagement. Fairview at the end of that year my kids had the opportunity to be on both of those different things. So I'm well aware of that and I think part of Fairview, they didn't they weren't early purchasers of some of the fun things at Broomfield and Centaurus and Monarch.

1:57:24They they didn't quickly buy game tables and wait for alternatives. They didn't invest in those right away. They're a little bit slower in the investing in the alternatives and they at the end of last year started having a lot of conversations with the students about what alternatives would be successful. So I also want to make sure the community doesn't think that Fairview, while they're maybe struggling, similar with Boulder High, our biggest schools are harder to manage. The schools are very complex. There's not grown-ups everywhere. There's a lot of places to be without supervision, but I in their own ways and on their slightly delayed timelines like our big comprehensive high schools are trying to engage and move the needle also even if they haven't been as quick to change as some of our other school comprehensive and non-comprehensive high schools have been.

1:58:18Yeah. >> I'm curious about the wonderful world of cell phone usage that can now help people with disabilities and if students are able to use their phones for those kind of activities. So I'm using my cell phone right now because it's running sound to my ears and I would be not very happy if I had to put my cell phone away. So are are people making accommodations for kids who are using sugar meters that run on their phone or what there's all kinds of different things that being able to dictate things to the phone and have the phone write it for them. >> Short answer is absolutely. I know there was some fear too that they're seeing an increase in 504s written specifically for I can have my phone, I can have my headphones in.

1:59:10I have to check with someone like Shannon Newberry to see if that actually played out. I think again the difficulty is teacher in the classroom knows hey this kid has an accommodation but then again they're in a hallway and a different adult sees them and doesn't know it's for their blood sugar monitoring and then they get trapped and then that if it's a hard teacher who follows the rules, right? And so you do get some caught situations even though it's you know totally on the up and up. You know at first we talked about are there safe zones in schools that you could like go to to use your phone and that quickly sort of dissipated cuz there is no safe space where you're like this is okay to use it here cuz you try and draw that line, right? Of where it is and it isn't and I just think too about like in certain curriculums for kids to listen to music as they're creating art makes a lot of sense and so when kids say in this class I'm allowed to use my phone it could absolutely be true cuz they're individually doing clay work and they've got their music and they're jamming out to it. I understand why they're confused sometimes because we see the value in it in a certain space

2:00:18but it doesn't apply to all spaces. >> Alex. >> I I really appreciate uh the hard work and the sincere effort and the the need to do the maximum engagement that gets the buy-in cuz that'll lead to the change. As a board member who's totally in favor of the change and wants to get as close to full implementation as we can who received input from parents that ran 98 to 2 in favor of a full ban. Um uh and uh whose kid went to a school where I know it's really hard to change the culture of our comprehensive biggest high schools. I just want to say I want the update on this next year to have some data on it. I would love to have some things that we figure out to measure, that some numbers by school could be reported to me um as a board member so I could evaluate that and know about it. I want to continue to hear great stories about the engagement and celebration and the stuff we're doing, but if we can't get adults in buildings in some buildings to care, I want to support the principals and leaders and the superintendent in having this not be an optional policy. Like I think of this in the spirit of vaping and and tobacco. And we don't have safe

2:01:36places for the vaping. We don't uh encourage some teachers to allow vaping in their class and others not. So I think it's something that we could prioritize, measure, make a culture, invest in, and I'll continue to support all those things. So I'd love I'd love to hear in the next report the data on this. I'd love to know what our administrative folks are doing to support the principals during the principal um transitions. I'd like to know how the teacher evaluations handle all sorts of declining to follow district policy. What are the other district policies that our staff don't implement? Love to know. How many Like we do We're reviewing all our policies every 5 or 7 years. Um depending on the scale. And it's uh frankly the majority of our substantive work. And in that discussion, I never get data on, "Well, this policy isn't really implemented.

2:02:27This policy is implemented 70% of the time, or this policy is met at 80% of the time, but only at 40% of our schools." So if if we have policies that don't need to be measured, that are hard to do, that will take a long time, that we don't have enough resources for, and that's why we're not doing it. I want to know that about all our other policies, too. Cuz this uh this is really hard for me cuz I ran on this. I think it's important to do. I'll keep pushing it for as long as I'm in office. And um and I feel like I will get 50 to one support from parents saying, "Alex, you go. You go tell them to do that." So, I'm going to keep going and tell them to do that, and I hope next year you come back with us with some numbers, and that you are empowering uh the leaders to make more change than we're getting.

2:03:13>> Board members, any other questions or comments? Thank you again for the update. We will now move on to action items consent grouping. 8.1 personnel items, 8.2 board approval of minutes May 26th, 2026, 8.3 approval of superintendent's annual evaluation, 8.4 proposed 2027-2028-2029 academic calendars. 8.5 resolution 26-22 ratification of the negotiated agreement with Boulder Valley Classified Employees Association, 8.6 resolution 26-23 ratification of the negotiated agreement with Boulder Valley Paraeducator Association, 8.7 resolution 26-24 ratification of the negotiated agreement with Boulder Valley Education Association, 8.8 resolutions 26-19, 20, 21, and 25, adoption of the 2026-2027 budget, and 8.9 grant federal programs titles one through nine. Are there any items board members would like to pull from consent grouping? Seeing as there are none, is there a motion to approve? Moved by Anna, seconded by Jorge. Board members, discussion on any of these items?

2:04:24I just want to say um we have more resignations and appointments on this agenda, and I just want to thank Dr. De La Cruz for her time in this district. The amount of change that has been accomplished while you have been here. I I mean, I'm not quite sure without your ability to get work done and be everywhere all at once that we would have done as much as we did. So, I just want to say thank you for your time here. We are sad to see you go, but really excited for all that you have next and that knowing that you were going to help other schools achieve our level of success is great for the state of Colorado. So, thank you for your time here and best of luck. Also, I want to say congratulations to those of you in the in the gallery who are getting new jobs and new job titles.

2:05:14Um, we're excited to continue to work with you in a more um, one-on-one board to senior staff level. So, welcome to the team. Also, on this uh, consent item consent agenda is a superintendent's evaluation. And typically, I take the time to at least just read the closing paragraph on the evaluation. So, our community and our staff get a percent of what the board is feeling about his service. It reads, "The board commends the progress Dr. Anderson has made towards this year's benchmarks and is grateful for his leadership. Dr. Anderson is an an incredibly skilled leader and public education advocate. He's dedicated to improving educational experiences, opportunities, and outcomes for students and staff. Dr. Anderson's willingness and ability to navigate several significant issues simultaneously simultaneously this year has shown remarkable fortitude and an undaunted commitment to doing what is best for the Boulder Valley School District."

2:06:15And while it doesn't say it, I will say and it's been incredibly hard and will continue to be very challenging. So, um, not everybody can do what is right over what's easy and um, we appreciate your ability to to guide this ship this year and in the years to come. With that, Laura, can you please call the roll? >> Booker? >> Yes. >> Chavez? >> Yes. >> Medler? >> Yes. >> Quinlan-Owayda? >> Yes. >> Rajpal? >> Yes. >> Tamuwati? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. First of which is the cancellation of the June 23rd, 2026 regular board meeting. We can do this because we did pass the budget. Well done, team and staff. Is there a um motion on or approve? >> I move I move that we cancel the June 23rd meeting. >> Is there a second?

2:07:23Seconded by Deanne. Any discussion on whether or not we should convene for one more day in June? Seeing as there are none, Laura, can you please call the vote on the motion? >> Booker? >> Yes. >> Chavez? >> Yes. >> Medler? >> Yes. >> Quinlan-Owayda? >> Yes. >> Rajpal? >> Yes. >> Tamuwati? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. Next action item this evening, our final action item is the Peak to Peak Charter School waivers. Do we have a motion? Moved by Jorge, seconded by Alex. Board members, any discussion? Seeing as there are none, Laura, can you please call the vote on the motion? >> Booker? >> Yes. >> Chavez? >> Yes. >> Medler? >> Yes. >> Quinlan-Owayda? >> Yes. >> Rajpal? >> Yes. >> Tamuwati? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. Quick quick action items, board members.

2:08:17Next item on the agenda, as always, is future agenda item requests. Board members, we are meeting Our next meeting is board prioritization. So, just know that any items mentioned today will then go on next semester's prioritization, of which we will amazingly not discuss until December. So, it'll be a bit, but we can capture those ideas here this evening. Alex. >> Uh in light of the last presentation, I would like to put on the agenda item how we track the implementation of our cell phone policy. >> Can I piggyback and say all of our updates have really been on high schools, and I would love if we're doing some any data, like to see how our middle schools are doing as well. Seeing as there are none, we'll move on to the final item on today's agenda, which is executive session. As noted in our agenda, the board has evenings on this evening's agenda, the board has items to discuss in executive session.

2:09:28Is there a motion? Jorge. >> I, Jorge Chavez, make a motion pursuant to CRS 24-6-4024F to convene an executive session to address personnel matters regarding the superintendent's evaluation and contract, and pursuant to CRS 24-6-4024B for a conference with an attorney for the purposes of receiving legal advice on specific legal questions regarding the superintendent's evaluation and contract, and the school district's pending litigation related to personnel, special education, civil rights, and class action regarding Meta, and related to charter school contract negotiations for Summit, Horizons, Boulder Prep, and Peak to Peak. >> Is there a second? Seconded by Anna. Laura, can you please call the vote? >> Boettcher? >> Yes. >> Chavez? >> Yes. >> Medler? >> Yes. >> Quinn Navarro Rueda? >> Yes. >> Rajpal? >> Yes. >> Tam O'Dwyer? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. That concludes the public portion of tonight's meeting. To anybody watching and to those in the audience, I wish you a very wonderful summer break. And board members, we will convene in Glacier Room.