All members were present at the Falcon School District 49 Board of Education regular meeting in December except David Moore, BOE vice president, who was absent with notice. Marie Brock from GOAL Academy and Jake Marvin from Springs Studio for Academic Excellence also attended as members of the student board of representatives.Before the meeting, the BOE held a ìFantastic 49î event and recognized Austin Nordhaus, seventh-grade student at Horizon Middle School, as the first student in the district to be formally identified as gifted in instrumental music. Nordhaus also performed a keyboard rendition of two melodies for the board.The BOE also recognized Greg Morris, an academic counselor who coordinated a military child support group at Falcon High School.Board updateJohn Graham, director, said the districtís special education program received the highest rating from the Colorado Department of Education.Chief officer updateJack Bay, chief operations officer, said his department is planning projects approved with the passage of ballot measure 3B in November.Peter Hilts, chief education officer, said all three of the districtís largest high schools had athletes in the Colorado state competition for fall sports.Action itemsThe board unanimously approved the following:
- The following course proposals and updates for Falcon High School: career math; introduction to landscape design, installation and irrigation; Linux programming I; essentials for writing; digital photography II; algebra II; intermediate 3D art; intermediate 2D art; and pre-AP studio art
- The proposed graduation requirements for Falcon High School
- The proposed CTE course in construction I and II at Patriot High School
- Regulation AD-R, which formally integrates the districtís identity, vision, mission and philosophy into district policy
- Review of the following policies: accountability/commitment to accomplishment; vandalism; waste management and recycling; use of wireless communication devices while operating a district vehicle; length of instructional staff school year; educational support-staff schedules and calendars; open/closed campus; student health services and records; and physical examination of students
- The following new or revised job descriptions: coordinator of academic performance; coordinator of professional learning; data analyst (academic systems administrator); data technician; professional learning specialist; senior data analyst (research and development); and title program specialist
- Certification of the mill levies for the 2016 property tax year totaling 44.417 mills, comprised of a general funds levy of 38.43 mills and a bond redemption fund mill levy of 5.980 mills
- The assistant director of special education job description
- The 2016-2017 Pikes Peak Board of Cooperative Education Services School of Excellence/Journeys Program contract
- The revised educational support personnel and support substitute salary schedules to align with Coloradoís new minimum wage standards required by Amendment 70
- A contract for new student information and new business processing systems
Discussion itemsRyan Johanson, accounting group manager, presented the districtís comprehensive financial report for the 2016 fiscal year. As part of the report, Tom Sistare, a certified public accountant with Hoelting & Co. Inc., presented the summary of the annual audit. The overall financial state of the district is good and received an ìunchangedî designation, which is the ideal designation, Sistare said.John Evans, executive director of the School Leaders for America, presented the Colorado Military Academyís charter application and other information about the school. ìAll students are invited to participate, but a lot will come from military families,î Evans said. ìWe will teach the normal things for a K-12 school, but it will be structured militarily.îEvans said the school already has financing in place, but it has not received the necessary commitment from about 470 students to be able to open in the first year with kindergarten through ninth grade.Tammy Harold, board secretary, said she had concerns about approving a military academy charter because other attempts have been made in the past, without sufficient interest.Marie LaVere-Wright, board president, said the board can put the application on the January meetingís agenda as an action item with pre-opening contingencies or conditions that must be met before the application is formally approved. The board agreed to do so.Ryan Wilson, representative from Liberty Tree Classical Academy, presented the schoolís charter application, and said the school currently has 201 expressions of interest from perspective students.LaVere-Wright said she had concerns about the schoolís ability to obtain funding for the startup costs, while Harold said she was concerned about the redundancy of having another classical academy charter school in the district.The board agreed to move the application to the January meetingís agenda as an action item.Amber Whetstine, executive director of learning services, presented information about GOAL Academyís school performance framework, and said they have received a rating of ìperformanceî from the Colorado Department of Education, which indicates great improvement. Whetstine said Patriot High School has dropped to an ìimprovementî rating.Mike Pickering, POWER zone leader, presented information on a proposed learning center in his zone ó the Center for Literacy Innovation and Excellence, which will specifically address students with dyslexia. He said he needs time to further develop the idea, including outlining the budget. The board moved this item to the January work sessionís agenda.Ron Sprinz, finance group manager, provided an amended budget update and said he still has data coming in.Jim Rohr, purchasing and contract manager, presented the general contractor selection criteria for the projects in ballot measure 3Bís priorities 3 and 4. He asked the board for guidance on additions or deletions to the criteria list.Matt Meister, director of communications, provided a post-election analysis of ballot measure 3B, and said the district is currently working on project design and implementation, the selection of contractors, approval from the mill levy override committee, communication efforts on the status and progress of projects and accountability measures.Meister also presented information on a proposed job description revision for the marking and communications specialist. The board moved this to the January meetingís agenda as an action item.LaVere-Wright presented the agenda topics and time frame for the Jan. 25 annual planning workshop.
Executive sessionFollowing the regular session, the BOE entered into an executive session and discussed the chief education officerís evaluation and performance review.The next regular meeting of the BOE is Jan. 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the board room at the D 49 Education Services Center.
