By Deb Risden
The El Paso County School District 49 Board of Education held its monthly meeting Dec. 12 at Vista Ridge High School. Board members Lori Thompson, Marie LaVere-Wright, Mike Heil and Debra Schmidt were present.
Superintendent’s update
Nancy Lemmond, executive director of individualized education, presented the superintendent’s update. Lemmond said individual education plans have been completed. She said the gifted education program is surveying students, parents and teachers on programming and have thus far provided positive comments and suggestions. Lemmond said the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education cultural fair will be held Feb. 7. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn about different cultures, ethnicities and their food,” Lemmond said.
Board update
Lori Thompson, president, attended the Special Education Advisory Council meeting in November. She said individualized education programs and 504 plans were discussed. The meetings will now be quarterly rather than monthly. Thompson attended the Student Board of Representatives meeting where artificial intelligence was discussed. She said students at Sand Creek High School are working on a project, making blankets for families that stay at the Ronald McDonald House. Thompson attended the Colorado Association of School Boards convention where she was able to network with board members from across the state. She said the annual BOE evaluation multi-rate survey will be launched soon. The survey goes to executive staff, some assistants, the student board, some committee members and community members.
Marie LaVere-Wright, secretary, said the Falcon Education Foundation has provided grants to teachers this year and will be granting scholarships to graduating students in the spring. The annual fundraising will be held in the spring.
Mike Heil, treasurer, attended the CASB (Colorado Association of School Boards) conference and the Sand Creek High School Christmas concert. Heil volunteered as an adult sponsor at the annual Santa’s Toy Express event hosted by the D 49 Transportation Department.
Debra Schmidt, director, attended the CASB conference and learned about what other districts in the state are doing about limiting students’ cell phone use in the classroom.
Action items
The BOE unanimously approved the following:
- Assessment and data job description
- Mill levy certification as required by El Paso County
Discussion items
Spencer McCabe, budget manager, presented a 2024-2025 amended budget based on final student counts as of October. McCabe said the district had reduced enrollment by 100 students. He said the district’s annual audit has been completed and once adjustments are made from the audit, a finalized budget will be presented for a vote in January.
McCabe and Heather Diaz, interim chief financial officer, provided a financial update for the quarter ending Sept. 30. Diaz said the district is on track with the budget forecast and because of the lower student count, zone allocations could be adjusted. Diaz said the reports show a higher fund balance than usual this time of year because the state changed its funding schedule so that districts receive their funding from property taxes earlier in the year. Diaz is expecting the audit report soon and will be making required adjustments to the financials. She asked the BOE to request an extension from the state for submitting district finances, which was granted.
Monica Deines-Henderson, director of nutrition services, presented a job description for a commercial kitchen appliance HVAC technician. She said the district has been outsourcing repair services for many years; and, although the current contract guarantees a four-hour response time, she said it is not always fast enough to save the loss of food. Deines-Henderson also said labor costs for repairs for the first half of this year totaled $49,718. She said repair costs in 2023-2024 totaled $406,590, including labor. She anticipates having a qualified professional in house will save money by extending the life of the district’s aging kitchen equipment through continuous monitoring and maintenance. Deines-Henderson said the job position will be paid from the nutrition services fund and will not impact D 49’s general fund. The BOE forwarded the job description for a vote at the next meeting.
Bethany Meyer, head choir director at Falcon High School, presented descriptions for two new choir courses: a mixed voices concert choir and a treble voices choir. The BOE will vote on the course descriptions at the next meeting.
Amy Sanchez-Martinez, principal at Sand Creek High School, presented descriptions for two new courses: Modern Performance in Music and Leadership Council of Athletics. She said the music course would fill a need for students who are not able to participate in performing arts programs. She said the course will provide an opportunity for students to showcase their talents and provide a flexible environment to learn different music genres. Sanchez-Martinez said the Leadership Council of Athletics course will teach students leadership skills. The BOE moved the new courses forward for a vote at the next meeting.
Becky Sims, VRHS assistant principal, proposed combining the current World Geography and World History courses into one: World History and Geography. She said colleges require both courses and oftentimes do not accept a .5 credit for each. Sims presented a description for a new course in speech and debate. She said the course will be for students interested in competitive speech and debate. The BOE will vote on the course descriptions at the next meeting.
Dustin Horras, Sand Creek Zone superintendent, and Bryan Smith, Falcon Zone superintendent, presented an update on the feeder plan and proposed boundary changes between the two zones. Horras said when the district’s boundaries changed in 2021, Stetson Elementary School fifth graders continued to feed into Skyview Middle School under a guaranteed choice program, with a plan to feed into the new middle school starting in 2023. However, the new middle school has been indefinitely postponed. Starting in 2025, SES fifth graders will feed into Horizon Middle School, although they can opt to attend another middle school by following district guidelines for school choice.
Smith said the D 49 boundaries established in 2021 show that students in the new Percheron development will be split between the Sand Creek and Falcon zones, which would mean a need for additional bus routes and buses that would increase transportation costs. Horras and Smith proposed that students in Percheron attend Inspiration View Elementary, Skyview Middle School and VRHS in the Sand Creek Zone schools because those schools have the capacity to handle the influx. Smith said this plan will allow Falcon Zone schools to accommodate new development farther east.
The BOE moved the feeder and boundary changes forward for a vote at the next meeting.
Other
Theresa Ritz, POWER Zone superintendent, provided the board with highlights about the zone. Ritz said Skyview Middle School won second place in the Gazette’s Best Workplace category, the only school to receive the award. Ritz said the zone uses the High Reliability Schools framework, which is a continuous improvement model. Inspiration View and Ridgeview Elementary schools have both achieved advancement to new levels and will be recognized at the HRS summit in January.
The next regular meeting of the BOE is Jan. 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the Peakview Hall at the Creekside Success Center in Colorado Springs.
