All members of the Falcon School District 49 Board of Education were present at the February meeting, except for Marie LaVere-Wright, president, who was absent with prior notice. Victoria Kim from Sand Creek High School and MyAvion Walker from Falcon High School were also present as members of the student board of representatives.Before the regular meeting, the BOE held a ìFantastic 49î event and recognized two teams, made up of both students and staff members, for their contributions to the district.The BOE recognized the broadcasting team from Falcon Middle School, which includes teachers Kendra Ramirez and Tim Scheck and students Helen Mosquera and Mason Premer, for their hard work in transforming the morning announcements.The board also recognized a team of enrichment teachers from Ridgeview Elementary School: Kim OíConnor, library media specialist, for providing students with a creative space lab; Sue Ann Ross, library paraprofessional, for cultivating a love of reading in students; Victoria Villescas, technology teacher and coach, for keeping the schoolís technology running smoothly; and Cheri Bagby, technology and math paraprofessional, for helping integrate technology into the classrooms and being the schoolís expert with the ST Math and Reflex math programs.Board updateDave Cruson, secretary, attended freshman orientation and a few sporting events at Vista Ridge High School, and thanked coaches and community members for their support.Chief officer updatePedro Almeida, chief operations officer, said he has been visiting schools for the ìroundingî process, which allows chief officers to have conversations with individuals or small groups in the various schools.Peter Hilts, chief education officer, invited the community to gather to remember Micah Flick, the El Paso County Sheriffís deputy who was killed in the line of duty on Feb. 5. ìThis is a season of real loss and significant loss for our district,î he said.Hilts also recognized Bella Mitchell, a sophomore from VRHS, for taking second place in girls wrestling at the state tournament, which is not sanctioned by the Colorado High School Activities Association because they have not yet created a competitive division for the sport. It was just the second state tournament for the all-girls wrestling division.Action itemsThe board unanimously approved the following:
- Conditional approval of the charter contracts between the district and the following charter schools: GOAL Academy, Imagine Classical Academy and Rocky Mountain Classical Academy
- Revisions to the following job descriptions: bus driver; bus paraprofessional; transportation dispatcher; transportation driver trainer; transportation operations technician; transportation student liaison technician; and transportation trainer
- Review of the following policies: School District 49 identity, vision, mission and philosophy; banking services; fiscal accounting and reporting; record of fixed assets; salary deductions; expense authorization/reimbursement; cash in buildings; student activity funds; disclosure of information to prospective employers; retirement of staff; retirement of professional staff; retirement of education support staff; and educational support staff transfer and vacancy policy
- New course proposals at VRHS: World of Work; Education Exploration; College Preparatory Physics; and Military Science
- The new job description for the athletic director at FHS
Discussion itemsMatt Wilhelm, project manager with Wember Inc., updated the board on the districtís 3B project list. He said staff members toured the Bennett Ranch Elementary School site, where the roof is about 50 percent complete. Work continues at VRHS and FHS, and the safe entry for Meridian Ranch Elementary School is scheduled for installation over spring break, Wilhelm said. About 50 percent of the Priority 2 work is already under contract, he said.John Graham, vice president, thanked Wilhelm and the construction team for their hard work and the community for voting for the 3B mill levy override ballot measure, which has provided the funds for these projects.In response to a board initiative tasked to the chief officers in 2016, Hilts presented the ìchampions or teams of championsî for five Mission Innovation proposals. The proposals were developed by staff members, and Hilts said the goal was to have the board members hear each proposal and identify one or two they would like to further review.Courtney Hutchinson and Staci Gehling, sixth-grade teachers from Horizon Middle School, presented their proposal called ìCamp Innovation.î The learning day camp program is geared toward third, fourth and fifth grade students, providing them with a minimum of a week of hands-on science, technology, engineering and math through various activities, Hutchinson said.Other schools outside of the district already have similar types of camps, and the goal would be to have other schools participate in the HMS camp, she said.Amber Whetstine, executive director of learning services, presented her proposal, ìAPEx Evaluation Teams.î She said the proposal creates an opt-in process for teachers demonstrating highly effective teaching approaches to conduct professional evaluations of each other. Whetstine said she would like the board to endorse the idea so she could help a few schools implement the process in small pilot groups.Scheck, Gateway to Technology teacher at FMS, presented his proposal, ìBuilding Tech Coaches,î which would designate a person in each building to serve as an instruction coach on the use and implementation of technology. He said much of the technology issues the district outsources to Colorado Computer Support could be handled in-house, reducing the time it takes to resolve the issues.Victoria Kim asked if it is possible to have technology boot camps built into the program to help teachers and other staff members learn the basics about the technology they use in the classroom every day. Scheck said the idea was viable.Sahvanna Mease, a career and technical education teacher at VRHS, presented her proposal called, ìTeacher Cadet,î which would provide opportunities for students to have pathways to becoming a teacher. Mease said the program would allow current teachers to earn continuing education credit by supervising an intern in their classroom, and the district as a whole would benefit by producing potential teacher candidates who might return to work at the district.Walker asked about the classes necessary for a student to participate in the program, adding that she knew many students who would have enjoyed the program if it had been available to them early on.Kristy Rigdon, coordinator of literacy performance, and Kayla Martinez, Kidsí Corner program manager, presented their proposal called, ìDepartment of Continuous Learning,î which would be a one-stop shop solution for coordination and collaboration for out-of-school learning. Martinez said this program would be curriculum-based to align with school standards.Hilts advised the board to pick one or two proposals to further research.Hilts said LaVere-Wright wanted to present the idea of having open forum speakers announced during the open forum session. If anything pertained to a specific topic already on the agenda, a person could choose to speak before the board considered the item. Graham directed the administration to put together a proposal for a policy addressing the issue.The next regular meeting of the BOE is March 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the boardroom at the D 49 Education Services Center.
