All members were present at the Falcon School District 49 Board of Education regular meeting in March, except Kevin Butcher, treasurer, who was absent with prior notice. Jacob Hans from Sand Creek High School also attended as a member of the student board of representatives.Before the meeting, the BOE held a ìFantastic 49î event and recognized Wendi Sidney, learning services administrative assistant, for her dedication and work with the districtís primary literacy initiative. The board also recognized Jim Withrow, manager of the Safeway grocery store at Powers Boulevard and Constitution Avenue in Colorado Springs. His store donated $10,000 to Sand Creek High School. Additionally, the BOE recognized Mary Ann Wilson, cheer coach at Falcon High School, for her dedication to the school and being named the Colorado Coed Spirit Coach of the Year by the coaches association of the National Federation of State High School Associations.Board updateMarie LaVere-Wright said the board wanted to express their sincere sense of loss at the passing of two district employees from the transportation department in February.David Moore, vice president, said he is moving to South Carolina, and this meeting is his last. ìIt has been an honor and a privilege to serve on this board,î he said. Mooreís fellow directors expressed their gratitude for his service to the district.Chief officer updateJack Bay, chief operations officer, said construction on the lower floor of the office complex in the warehouse near the bus barn is complete and the department is waiting on the final inspection.Brett Ridgway, chief business officer, said a group of about 36 teachers representing each school have been working on the teacher compensation priority from ballot measure 3B that was passed in November 2016.Peter Hilts, chief education officer, thanked Moore for his service: ìThank you for being the heart and soul of the board for all these years.îStudent board updateHans said the student board of representatives has been meeting monthly and discussing the future of their board.Action itemsThe board unanimously approved the following:
- New/revised job descriptions for the following: internal communications manager; digital communications manager; accompanist; and home-based education specialist
- Course proposals at Vista Ridge High School for the following: applied algebra 1; applied algebra 2; applied geometry; basic statistics; business math; conceptual physics; and Russian language and culture
- Revisions to the following policies: board member conflict of interest; voting method; board member compensation and expenses/insurance/liability; records retention; early graduation; response to intervention; administering medications to students; first aid and emergency medical care; and public conduct on district property
- Proposals for standard level international baccalaureate chemistry and physics courses at Sand Creek High School
- Proposed 2018-2019 BOE meeting dates
Discussion itemsDavid Knoche, executive principal at the Pikes Peak Early College, and Andy Franko, iConnect zone leader, updated the board on the zoneís performance. Knoche said the priority is to provide actionable data and feedback about the online/blended learning program to see how well it is working. To do this, the zoneís administration conducted 245 walk-throughs in the various schools during the first semester alone, he said. That data will then be used for strategic planning to set goals and targets for instructional focus.Knoche also provided an update on the 2016 fall semester at PPEC, and said the school has an 87-percent college course success rate, with a 21-percent increase in student college readiness from one semester to the next.Additionally, Knoche presented information on the zoneís ACT Aspire results, which are intended to assess student readiness in English, math, reading, science and writing from grades three through eight. ìWe are seeing an upward trend and getting closer to the benchmarks,î he said. ìThese scores give us guidance to guide instruction; they are no predictors of ACT scores.îFranko presented the early literacy results for his zone, as well as an update on construction of the new facility for the Banning Lewis Preparatory Academy, which he said is on schedule. Todd Morse has been hired to head up the BLPA, he said.The Colorado Military Academy had a change in school leadership, and has met more than 50 percent of the intent-to-enroll numbers that the school needs, Franko said. ìWe expect to bring the (charter school) contract to the next regular board meeting,î he said.Ron Sprinz, finance group manager, presented information on the 2017-2018 budget, and said there is not much change from the last update.Ridgway provided an update on priority No. 2 from ballot measure 3B, which is to refresh and refurbish existing facilities throughout the district. The mill levy oversight committee has spent time evaluating the proposals from all the zones to decide which projects to focus on, he said. Bay said, ìWe should have the final designs within each zoneís budget to get approved in the next few weeks.îLaVere-Wright discussed the development of BOE goals, spearheaded by Butcher and John Graham, board director. They provided a summary of things they felt would be helpful for serving on the board, she said.Hilts suggested enlisting the help of veteran board members to describe the necessary functions as a board member to newly elected/appointed directors, and Graham said he felt staff input was a necessary component that was missing from the current summary.The board agreed to discuss member engagement and outreach guidelines at the April 13 BOE meeting.
Other businessMoore submitted his official resignation from the BOE, which prompted a discussion about the need to fill that vacancy. The board agreed to set April 7 as the due date for applications, and discussed the appointment process.The next regular meeting of the BOE is April 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the board room at the D 49 Education Services Center.
