After an executive session to discuss student and personnel issues, the Falcon School District 49 Board of Education kicked off its March 8 meeting with a statement from Tammy Harold, board president, concerning Joan Johnson, vice president of the board. According to the statement, the board has been ìdispleasedî with Johnsonís interference in student disciplinary actions. No specifics were provided. Johnson was not present at the meeting.Christopher Wright, board member, did not support the claim. ìIt’s my personal belief that the preponderance of evidence does not support this action,î Wright said. No action was taken at the meeting.The board approved the following:
- Revision of the district’s wellness policy, bringing it in line with state and federal guidelines; staff-related policies; and graduation requirements
- Adoption of new courses at Sand Creek High School to fully implement the International Baccalaureate Program
- Establish passing periods as educational time, bringing the district’s policy and practices in sync with Colorado Department of Education expectations
Kim McClelland, the iConnect Zone leader, and representatives from the Colorado League of Charter Schools, reported findings from a community-wide survey. The purpose of the survey was to gather information from the community, parents and students to help determine the district’s needs regarding charter schools, McClelland said. ìDistrict 49 wants to be a leading charter school authorizer,î she said. The information from the survey will be used to improve the district’s charter school authorizing practices and guide the Response for Proposal application that will be posted in May.After instruction from the board to explore possible ways to lower the busing fees for students, D 49 transportation director Cindy Hardin presented several options:
- Lower rates through a flat fee and provide discounts for paying a lump sum in advance.
- Add more bus stops to make riding the bus more convenient, which could increase the number of riders.
- The item will be brought back for action in April.
The board also discussed the following issues:
- Offering a full biomedical course sequence at Vista Ridge High School
- Changing kindergarten entrance age requirement
- Changes to staff evaluation and dismissal policies
The executive officer for Education Services, Don Begier, presented information on the district’s information technology and network needs. The board decided to enter into a one-year contract with Comcast to increase the network bandwidth from 100 megabytes per second to 500 megabytes per second. In the long term, Begier said they would like to outfit every building in the district with fiber to allow 1,000 megabytes per second. ìWe’d finally be in the place as a district to put the very best devices in the kids’ hands,î Begier said. This item will be brought back for action in April.The board discussed filling three school positions and the job descriptions for each: chief operations officer, personnel director and district contract officer. The item will be tabled until they determine specific education, experience and certification requirements for the positions.The next regularly scheduled meeting is April 12.
