November BOE meeting wrap-up

All members of the Falcon School District 49 Board of Education were present for the November meeting. Jaxon McNeil from Falcon High School and Rachel Washburn from Sand Creek High School were also present as members of the student board of representatives.Before the regular meeting, the BOE held a ìFantastic 49î event and recognized the recipients of the 41 Falcon Education Foundation Mini Grants, totaling more than $28,000.Board updateKevin Butcher, treasurer, thanked fellow BOE member Tammy Harold, secretary and outgoing board member, for her service on the board for the past eight years.Dave Cruson, director, presented Harold with a gift for being his board mentor when he was first seated.John Graham, vice president, said he attended several ground-breaking ceremonies across the district and expressed his thanks to all veterans for their service.Harold said she took a group of students from Stetson Elementary School to Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver in recognition of their ìFuel Up to Play 60î efforts. She also addressed her time on the board: ìI appreciate this district so much, and it has done so much for my family and me. I also want to thank my daughters for what they gave up for me to be on the board.îMarie LaVere-Wright said the districtís performance excellence evaluation took place during the week of Nov. 6-10. She added that the BOE retreat will be Jan. 27, 2018.LaVere-Wright said she promised Harold she would not present a plaque for Haroldís service on the BOE; instead, she presented her with a scrapbook that included contributions from D 49 students, staff, community members and the other board members.Chief officers updatePedro Almeida, chief operations officer, said plenty of construction is going on across the district. He also thanked Harold for her service on behalf of the operations department.Peter Hilts, chief education officer, said he saw Haroldís grace under unfair pressure prior to coming on board with the district. ìIt has been a pleasure, and I deeply appreciate you.îBrett Ridgway, chief business officer, also expressed appreciation for Haroldís time as a board member.Student board of representatives updateWashburn said Sand Creek High School has seen a tremendous improvement in positivity, and the students are now building relationships with the staff.Action itemsLaVere-Wright administered the oath of office to newly elected board members, Butcher and Cruson. All board members signed the confidentiality affidavit as required by state law.The board unanimously approved

• LaVere-Wright as president, Graham as vice president, Butcher as treasurer and Cruson as secretary
• Donna Richer as the assistant to the BOE and Ridgway as the assistant treasurer
• A resolution allowing the district to use charter buses as alternative forms of transportation to and from school events
• Review of the following board policies: school board member conduct; school board member financial disclosure; and board member code of ethics
• Identification of boundaries for Bennett Ranch Elementary School
• The following graduation dates and times for the Class of 2018 at the World Arena in Colorado Springs: May 26, 2018, at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. for Falcon, Vista Ridge and Sand Creek high schools, respectively
• Definition of the D 49ís five director districts
• A resolution declaring a vacancy in director district No. 4 with a revised due date of Dec. 7 for receipt of applications

Discussion itemsRon Lee, director of 3B mill levy override capital construction, and Matt Wilhelm, project manager with Wember Inc., provided an update on the construction progress. Lee said all but three safe entry sites have been completed thus far. About 40 percent of the projects are under contract with about 25 percent of that budget already spent, he said.Mike Pickering, POWER zone leader, presented a performance update for the zone, and said data for the ALLIES (Academy for Literacy, Learning and Innovation Excellence) program at Odyssey Elementary School has confirmed that the program is worthwhile. Pickering also highlighted areas of growth across the POWER zone.Ridgeview Elementary School is showing a decrease in math and English language acquisition growth, and the zone will attack the issue head-on, Pickering said.Ron Sprinz, finance group manager, provided an update to the amended budget and said the per-pupil funding rate from the state stands at about $667. He said he dug deeper into the districtís finances and discovered there are about 40 different accounts that determine the per pupil rate.Matt Meister, director of communications, said his communicationsí team provided an after-incident report regarding the flash freeze the district experienced Oct. 31. In situations like that, the communications team determined they might need additional time to decide which action to take: whether to have a two-hour delay or cancel school, he said. The decision could mean calling back buses that have already been dispatched, but the team will inform the community if that decision is necessary, Meister said.His team is also working at bringing a D 49 app for smartphones into the districtís repertoire of communication methods.Following the regular meeting, the BOE held an executive session for discussion of the CBO evaluation and review. No action was taken at that time.The next regular meeting of the BOE is Dec. 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the boardroom at the D 49 Education Services Center.