BOE April meeting wrap-up
By Lindsey Harrison
The El Paso County School District 49 Board of Education held its monthly meeting April 9 in the auditorium at Sand Creek High School. All board members were present.
Open forum
During open forum, Donald Kent and Javier Rosario spoke about their concerns regarding the use of AI throughout the school district, specifically how to ensure that it’s being utilized appropriately and monitored well.
Superintendent’s update
Peter Hilts, superintendent, recognized the Falcon High School baseball team for their continued success and securing the 100th win for their head coach, Brandon Stegman. He congratulated the schools within the district that have recently obtained Purple Star designation, indicating their continued commitment to educating and supporting children from military families. Hilts said D 49 had more schools obtain that status this year than any other district and is now the district with more Purple Star Schools than any other district in Colorado.
Hilts also recognized Pikes Peak Early College for receiving the John Irwin Schools of Excellence Award, which is given to schools that demonstrate continued academic achievement compared to other schools and a high rate of student participation.
Board update
Marie LaVere-Wright, president, said she attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Pikes Peak Library District facility, which went well. She also said that the Falcon Education Foundation’s biggest fundraiser is coming up and encouraged the community to attend. LaVere-Wright said that the FEF has donated about $750,000 to D 49 over the past 25 years and hopes the upcoming event will be successful.
Lori Thompson, secretary, said she also attended the PPLD groundbreaking ceremony and acknowledged Starbucks and Mavericks, both donated snacks and drinks for the event. Thompson said she attended the SCHS celebration honoring students that have maintained a 3.75 GPA or higher and was impressed with the number of students who also obtained their associate’s degree through concurrent enrollment before they receive their high school diploma at the end of the year.
Holly Withers, vice president, reported that she also attended the PPLD groundbreaking and was happy to see a big turnout. Withers also noted upcoming events for the district, including an Empty Bowls night at SCHS and “The Adams Family” musical production performed by Vista Ridge High School.
Mike Heil, treasurer, congratulated Banning Lewis Ranch Academy, Inspiration View Elementary School, and Springs Ranch Elementary School for earning the Purple Star School designation. Heil said he also attended the PPLD groundbreaking during which he spoke to PPLD board president and CEO. He said they agreed to reach out to Starbucks and Mavericks about possibly sharing parking space with the library given that community members going to the library could end up as customers of both businesses.
Action items
The BOE unanimously approved the following:
- A resolution declaring April as the Month of the Military Child
- Policy and procedure reviews as follows: career and technical education advisory council; staff use of the internet and electronic communications; privacy and protection of confidential student information; privacy and protection of confidential student information regarding hearing and complaint procedures; equivalence of services (Title I); trusted culture and character education materials; and graduation requirements, courses and credits
The board engaged in a lengthy discussion of the latter. Withers asked for clarification on how appointments are chosen for the CTE advisory council and what AI engine the district is using. Hilts said the district uses a white-listing system that doesn’t search for specific terminology when it blocks access to certain websites, but rather it automatically denies access to all unknown websites until the user has requested and obtained permission to access the site.
Discussion items
CJ Jilek, director of ground maintenance, and Daniel Payne, director of facility maintenance, provided the annual update for their department and said they are conducting fire inspections on all district buildings, and things are going well. Heil asked about the significant increase in work orders for the maintenance department over the past year, which Payne said is about encouraging staff to put in work orders for anything, big or little, and not because of degraded buildings.
Representatives from the Family School Community Partnership program provided an overview of the work that they do as liaisons for the district and described ways that they are working with parents and the community across the D 49 zones. Lauren Stuart, liaison for the Sand Creek Zone; Cari Muresan, liaison for the Falcon Zone; and Victoria Villescas, liaison for the POWER Zone, described the ongoing effort in their zones to achieve the following: create an inclusive culture, build trusting relationships, design capacity building opportunities and dedicate necessary resources.
Karen Parks, McKinney-Vento liaison and Title Schools Family Engagement liaison, also spoke about the work she and the other liaisons have been doing and noted D 49’s participation in the FSCP Pikes Peak Regional Collaborative. The collaborative partners D 49 with other school districts and the Colorado Department of Education to work together for the betterment of the educational system throughout the state.
The board agreed to move certain policy and procedure reviews forward for action at a subsequent BOE meeting as follows: workers’ compensation; employee benefits; and notice to parents of alleged criminal conduct by a school employee.
Public comment
Zack Spiller, donor relations coordinator for the Community Partnership for Child Development, expressed his gratitude on behalf of the CPCD for the support they have received from D 49.
The next regular meeting of the BOE is May 14 at 6:30 p.m. at Sand Creek High School.
