May BOE meeting wrap-up

All members of the El Paso County School District 49 Board of Education were present at the May meeting. No members of the student board of representatives attended.Before the regular meeting, the BOE held a ìFantastic 49î event and recognized Mehki Reese, 12th grader at Sand Creek High School, for receiving both Boettcher and Daniels Fund scholarships, for being a full international baccalaureate candidate, and for being chosen as ìMr. Sand Creekî and homecoming king.The BOE also recognized the following: Dwayne Morris, custodian at Woodmen Hills Elementary School, for his positive attitude and commitment to teachers; Annette Romero, professional learning specialist, for her level of customer service; and Brian Green, coordinator of learning services, for his ability to influence change through supportive relationships, authenticity and trust.Board updateDave Cruson, secretary, said he was honored to participate in various graduation events like senior breakfast. He also thanked the Falcon Education Foundation for its service to the district.Josh Fry, director, said it has been great to see what impacts the teachers have had on their students when they were recognized at different graduation events.Marie LaVere-Wright, president, said she attended the award ceremony with the three district chief officers to receive the 2017 Rocky Mountain Performance Excellence award on behalf of the entire district staff. The award is the highest possible at the state level through the Baldridge Performance Excellence Program.LaVere-Wright recognized Peter Hilts, chief education officer, and Donna Richer, executive assistant to the BOE, for five years of service to the district. She also recognized Brett Ridgway, chief business officer, for 10 years of service.Chief officersí updatePedro Almeida, chief operations officer, said members of the transportation department attended the transportation rodeo hosted by Academy School District 20. He congratulated the teams and individuals who won their events, and said they all put forth their best effort to represent the district.Open forumTwo students from Vista Ridge High School addressed the board about concerns with class availability and overcrowding at the school.Mary Lougee, science teacher at VRHS, read a statement regarding a policy that concerned many teachers at the school. The policy verbiage seemed to allow the principal at a school to require mandatory teacher participation in events outside of regular school hours, which she said could become problematic and result in much longer work days.Action itemsThe board unanimously approved the following:

• Student fees for the 2018-2019 school year
• Contracts between the districtís nutrition department and the following: Banning Lewis Ranch Academy, Banning Lewis Preparatory Academy, Imagine Classical Academy, Pikes Peak School of Expeditionary Learning and Power Technical Early College
• The following new course proposals: Introduction to Architecture at Springs Studio for Academic Excellence; Urban Planning at SSAE; Exploratory Art at VRHS; and Intro to Digital Photography at Skyview Middle School
• Salary placement for specialized service providers
• Pay schedules for the 2018-2019 school year for the following positions: licensed personnel; education support personnel; professional/technical; administrative; and extra-curricular and co-curricular
• ìSupplement, Not Supplantî -ñ demonstration of compliance
• Performance domains for chief officer evaluations and goal-setting

After much discussion, the board unanimously voted against a resolution that would allow Imagine Indigo Ranch charter school to take actions to relocate the school to a new facility opening in the fall of 2019. LaVere-Wright said there are still different pieces that need to be in place before she would vote yes on this issue.The board directed Andy Franko, iConnect zone leader, to bring the interested parties together to discuss the schoolís future, including its future location.Discussion itemsMatt Wilhelm, project manager with Wember Inc., updated the board on the districtís 3B project list. He said the estimated completion date for work at Falcon High School is June 29; there will be about 56 projects in progress or completed during the summer.Ron Sprinz, finance group manager, described the proposed budget for the 2018-2019 school year. He said the current per-pupil funding rate is $8,541.66, and he plans to present any budget changes at the regular board meeting in June. The goal is to have the board vote on the budget at the special meeting prior to the work session June 27.Franko presented the board with charter contracts for GOAL Academy, Imagine Classical Academy and Rocky Mountain Classical Academy, all of which have renewed their contracts with the district. The board moved this to an action item at the June meeting.Additionally, Franko presented a waiver from Pikes Peak School of Expeditionary Learning to move away from No Child Left Behind and Highly Qualified language to the Every Student Succeeds Act language. The board moved this to an action item for the June meeting.Kim Boyd, director of community care, outlined activities within her department, including securing a grant to begin work on a new mental health program in the district.Hilts presented information about the improvement process for the student board of representatives. The proposal will make the experience more like an academic experience for the participants, as well as a chance to earn academic credits.He also presented the revised job description for the student information system data and reporting analyst. He said converting this position from an hourly position to a professional technical position properly places it in the districtís organizational chart. The board moved this forward to an action item for the June meeting.David Nancarrow, director of communications, presented data obtained from the most recent Voice of the Community survey about establishing a common and legal identity for the district. Based on that information, the board directed the administration to come back with a recommendation for a strong name to consider at the June meeting.Mike Pickering, POWER zone leader, introduced Kristy Rigdon as the new planning principal at the Vista del Pico Elementary School. His team is working to determine a name for the new school. The board agreed there is sufficient time to make that determination and to get student input before deciding.The board entered into an executive session to receive legal advice about a request to hear a stakeholder grievance. No action was taken at that time.Following the executive session, the board reconvened and denied the request for the hearing. Butcher said the board needed to direct Hilts to follow up and make sure the appropriate corrective actions are completed.The next regular meeting of the BOE is June 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the board room at the D 49 Education Services Center.