The Falcon School District 49 Board of Education held its regular meeting Nov. 8.One major concern discussed at the meeting was the suspension of the school resource officer at Falcon High School. As reported in the Nov. 3 issue of The New Falcon Herald, Henry Allen, board director, said the decision to suspend the SRO was made by the El Paso County Sheriffís Department, which cited budget issues.During the open forum portion of the meeting, FHS parent Cheryl Riggs addressed the board regarding the suspension. She said that on Oct. 9, her student at FHS was assaulted by three other students and beaten unconscious while school security was involved somewhere else. Riggs said her child had to be taken to the hospital. ìI believe this assault would not have occurred or would not have been as severe if the SRO had been there,î she said.Riggs requested that the board reinstate the SRO, which was addressed later in the meeting under the action items. During that discussion, Tammy Harold, board president, said the sheriffís office had proposed an intergovernmental agreement with the district to bring the SRO back to FHS. She said, ìThe sheriffís office has said that their hope is to have an SRO back in the school by mid-November.î (The SRO has been reinstated.)The agreement covers the prorated cost of $39,175 for having the SRO in the school on certain dates from July 1 to Dec. 31, she said. A new contract will be drafted at the beginning of 2013 correlating with the sheriffís department budget year, Harold said. The board unanimously approved the IGA.The board also unanimously approved the following items: appointments to the District Accountability Advisory Committee; the Innovation Plan of Springs Ranch Elementary School; the Innovation Plan of Meridian Ranch International School; and the charter school transfer application from GOAL Academy. The innovation plans are set to move to the state BOE, while the transfer application was scheduled for a vote by the D 49 BOE at a special board meeting Nov. 28.After an extensive interview process, the board approved entering into negotiations with the selected candidate for the chief operations officer position. Jack Bay is the boardís choice among five finalists who were interviewed at public meetings. Bay is the former director of finance for Coloradoís Douglas County School District, which comprises about 60,000 students, from kindergarten through grade 12. Prior to Douglas County, Bay served as chief financial officer for the Trinidad School District in Colorado. The contract with Bay will be voted on and finalized at a future BOE meeting.Originally slated for an action item vote, Marie Lavere-Wright, treasurer, withdrew a request for the purchase of a used pod with 10 classrooms. After receiving the findings from a third-party inspection, the board decided that the purchase was not the best use of district funds. Harold directed district staff to continue the bid process on other units and provide an update at the Dec. 13 BOE meeting.The board discussed Senate Bill 10-191, which establishes a new set of requirements for evaluating teachers and principals, and how it relates to the district and revisions to the district grievance policy and regulation. The revisions item was moved to an action item for the special meeting scheduled for Nov. 28.The next board meeting will be Dec. 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the board room at the Central Administration building.
