D 49 BOE October meeting wrap-up
By Deb Risden
The El Paso County School District 49 Board of Education held its monthly meeting Oct. 10. Kayla Maldonado, internal communications manager, started the Fantastic 49 celebration. The following were honored:
- Carolyn Merritt, Sand Creek Zone math instructional coach, for working with teachers and leaders for five years to ensure the success of the Mission DNA math strategies project, which increased student achievement
- Christine and Cory Beasley, parent volunteers at Springs Ranch Elementary School, for frequently assisting teachers and the library, as well as coaching teams
Superintendent’s update
Peter Hilts, superintendent, said there were 600 people participating in the annual D4.9k Run/Walk event hosted at Falcon High School. The purpose of the event is to bring the community together to promote good health. Hilts said that Heather Diaz, accounting manager, has accepted the position as interim chief financial officer. The CFO open position will be posted in early December and interviews are anticipated to take place the end of January or early February.
Student Board of Representatives’ update
Catalina Case, Vista Ridge High School senior, said the SBOR is in the process of meeting with elementary and middle schools to gather opinions and insight from those students.
Nikkos Clift, student at Pikes Peak Early College and Springs Studio of Academic Excellence, said the SBOR’s main goal this year is to increase student representation, including not only the elementary and middle schools but also the charter schools in the district.
Board update
Lori Thompson, president, attended the SBOR meeting. She said the SBOR is working on questions they want to ask younger students in the district during their planned visits. She said she participated in a public service announcement with two other school board presidents. Thompson said there is a disclaimer on the PSA that notes the board presidents are speaking personally and not for their respective boards of education.
Jamilynn D’Avola, vice president, attended the Mission DNA kickoff and said the program is giving students a better understanding of math at deeper levels. D’Avola is attending the Colorado Association of School Boards delegate conference in October. She said the board discussed a plan on resolutions it wants to support and oppose. The BOE will be meeting to go through the superintendent evaluation process.
Marie LaVere-Wright, secretary, attended the Mission DNA event and learned that D 49 is receiving a grant that allows additional professional development for math teachers. She said the Falcon Education Foundation will be announcing their 2024 mini-grant recipients soon; the recipients will receive recognition at the December BOE meeting. She said the FEF’s annual fundraising event is April 11.
Mike Heil, treasurer, attended Evans Elementary School’s multicultural night. He said 15 countries were represented and over 500 guests attended. Heil said two-time Olympic medalist Sarah Hildebrandt spoke to a group of Springs Studio students. Heil participated in the D4.9k Run/Walk and Mission DNA events. He said that Mission DNA provides students with a variety of tools they can use to learn math and they are able to choose what works best for them.
Debra Schmidt, director, attended a task force meeting about Patriot High School. She said starting with the 2025-2026 school year, the school will no longer be an alternative education campus or charter school. She said the model for grade six to grade 12 will include smaller class sizes and divide the grades into three different clusters. They will have 100% in-person instruction, five days per week. Schmidt attended the enhanced security council meeting and virtually attended a meeting with Colorado State Board of Education member Steve Durham regarding CMAS (Colorado Measures of Academic Success scores).
Action items
The BOE unanimously approved the following:
- A new job description for a zone partnership and innovation administrator
- Proposed CASB resolutions and direction provided to D 49’s BOE representative
- The D 49 superintendent can proceed with evaluation and negotiations for the Energy Services Performance Contract; the BOE requested bimonthly updates going forward.
The BOE approved the following in a 4 to 1 majority:
- Policy on the use of metal detectors and hand-held wands
- Resolution opposing recreational marijuana and resolution supporting ballot question D2
Discussion items
David Earthman and Tim Braseth, representatives from Raptor Technologies, provided a demonstration of Raptor’s new tablet-based visitor management system for schools, events and board of education meetings. Raptor’s solution is a check-in system that scans and certifies the authenticity of ID documents, retrieves the photo, checks the National Sex Offender Register database and allows for custom alerts. Earthman said the system is an extension of the visitor management system currently in place in schools and is especially good for schools with busy entry ports and many check-in lines.
CJ Jilek and Daniel Payne, facility maintenance group managers, presented a Facilities Department update. Jilek said all open positions in the department have been filled. Payne reported the grounds and maintenance teams completed 12,419 work orders in the last 12 months, 68% have been completed in seven days or less. He said completion of planned work orders in 30 days or less is 84%, and the number of work orders per technicians is above the top 20% of similar districts.
He said the high number indicates a need for more manpower and a high level of work efficiency of the team. Payne said annual site inspections have begun with an anticipated completion by February 2025. An updated facilities master plan will be completed after inspections. Jilek and Payne said the department’s move to the building previously inhabited by the Transportation Department has been a morale booster. The move has allowed the department to handle more projects in-house, saving the district money and increasing efficiencies.
Other
Steve Durham, a member of the State Board of Education, spoke at the meeting and noted the progress D 49 has made with a focus on positive education outcomes. He said looking at recent performance ratings, the district is ranked 71st in the state. He said if the GOAL Academy numbers are excluded, D 49 would be performing in the upper one-third of Colorado school districts. Durham said those numbers include small and rural districts.“Thank you for your work and accomplishments in improving your academic performance and the important service you provide by authorizing a multi-district online school that serves the children of 6,000 Colorado taxpayers,” Durham said.
The next regular meeting of the BOE is Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. in The Campus at the iConnect Zone.
