September BOE meeting wrap-up

All members were present for the Falcon School District 49 Board of Education meeting in September. Athena Espiritu from the Pikes Peak Early College and Lexi Boone 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 met the 18 high school students volunteering for the student board.Board updateJohn Graham, vice president, attended the special education advisory councilís annual picnic Sept. 23.Kevin Butcher, treasurer, attended a conference in Washington, D.C. with the Economic Development Council of Colorado, and the No. 1 topic discussed was workforce development and how education will play a role. ìWe are so far ahead of the game, compared to what is out there,î he said.Marie LaVere-Wright, president, attended the Bennett Ranch Elementary School groundbreaking ceremony.Dave Cruson, director, attended the POWER Zone barbecue and wanted to thank the students at Vista Ridge High School for all the work they put into it.Chief officer updateBrett Ridgway, chief business officer, said the Colorado Department of Education was working on new language for their transportation regulations, which D 49 did not favor. Testimonies from Jack Pietraallo, D 49 transportation director, and Amy Attwood, district lobbyist, played a large part in preventing the regulations from being approved, Ridgway said.Action itemsThe board unanimously approved

• A 2016-2017 supplemental budget for the nutritional services fund to account for revenue sources and related expenditures that were unexpected
• Formal approval of a three-year master lease purchase agreement with Apple Inc. for about 1,000 MacBook Air laptop computers for the educational staff
• Review of policies: safe schools; school board meeting; minutes; qualifications/responsibilities of chief officers; school closings; security/access to buildings; service animals; inter-district choice; student dress code; violent and aggressive behavior; secret societies/gang activity; extracurricular activity eligibility; student discipline; use of physical intervention and restraint; suspension/expulsion of students; expulsion prevention; and student fees and fines
• Fine-tuning of job descriptions for human resources director; purchasing and contracts manager; and community and facility planning manager
• Re-drafting of job description for risk and benefits manager; business office generalist; and senior systems and data analyst
• Revisions to policies for staff sick and personal leave; and staff absences
• The repeal of the Preamble to Policies of the D 49 BOE; board member code of conduct for individual meetings with district staff
• A resolution supporting Constitution Day on 9-18-17
• A job description for a before-and-after-school site aide
• The transportation department organization chart, and the addition of a professional-technical position
• Designation of Oct. 24 as the official impact aid survey date for the 2017-2018 school year

Discussion itemsRon Lee, director of 3B mill levy override capital construction, provided an overview of on-going 3B projects. According to data from Wember Inc., the districtís general contractor, all projects are on time and under budget.Peter Hilts, chief education officer, said the design for improvements at VRHS required some adjustments.Andy Franko, iConnect Zone leader, provided a performance update for his zone, and said charter school enrollment accounts for 36 percent of the total student population. ìThe schools in the iConnect Zone serving elementary students are doing very well in our primary literacy initiative,î he said. Franko also highlighted successes from the charter schools within the district.Ron Sprinz, finance group manager, provided an enrollment update and said the ALLIES (Academy for Literacy, Learning and Innovation Excellence) program at Odyssey Elementary School had to be capped at 90 students instead of 150 because of issues with the programís building.The charter schools are expected to hit their budgeted enrollment numbers; Sprinz said he has not determined if the Colorado Military Academyís enrollment is affecting enrollment at other charter schools.Paul Andersen, director of human resources, provided his departmentís annual report. Currently, the district has 81 administrators and about 19,000 students, he said.Hilts said grants pay some of the administratorsí salaries, and the district took that into account when they developed their student-to-administrator ratio. The administrationís workload is still increasing, and Hilts recommended periodically reviewing information from human resources to ensure the administrative staff is not stretched too thin.Andersen said the overall trend is that more administrator positions are being funded by sources other than the districtís general fund.The next regular meeting of the BOE is Oct. 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the board room at the D 49 Education Services Center.