All members were present at the Falcon School District 49 Board of Education regular meeting in September.Before the meeting, the BOE held a ìFantastic 49î event. Louis Fletcher, culture and services director, presented information on a five-year plan to implement restorative practices within the district. The plan is funded by a United States Department of Defense Education Activity partnership grant totaling $1.5 million.Two local military leaders attended the meeting in support of the plan: Air Force Lt. Col. David Wilson, 21st Force Support Squadron commander at Peterson Air Force Base; and Command Sgt. Maj. David Burton, senior enlisted leader at Fort Carsonís garrison command. Each expressed their appreciation for the districtís support of local military families.Chief officer updateBrett Ridgway, chief business officer; and Jack Bay, chief operations officer, will travel to Phoenix to present the D 49 business model to an international audience.Action ItemsThe board unanimously approved the following:
- The updated position/job descriptions for the English language development technician and the assistive technology assistant
- Addition of the service animal policy
- Review of a number of policies
- The manager job description for the Building Restorative Interventions Growing Honorable
- Traditions project, funded by the five-year DODEA $1.5 million grant
- Adoption of a pay schedule-limited employee compensation proposal
- A resolution supporting the designation of Constitution Day as Sept. 17
- A policy regarding the board of education evaluation process and professional development
- An intergovernmental agreement for an additional full-time school resource officer at the Falcon Legacy Campus
Discussion itemsAndy Franko, iConnect zone leader, updated the board on his zoneís performance. ìWe are focused on offering lots of opportunities for students in the idea of having a robust portfolio of schools,î he said. ìWe are also making great strides in our primary literacy results.îJim Bonavita, iConnect solutions coordinator, presented information on the districtís summer school credit recovery program. The program had 206 high school students enrolled, many of whom took more than one course to stay on track to graduate on time, he said.Kathleen Granaas, coordinator of academic performance, presented assessment data gathered during the previous school year, and said the results of the tests give the district a snapshot of what the students can do. The data is important because the new state graduation guidelines require that students demonstrate a mastery of the standards, and the district must be able to measure that, Granaas said.Ron Sprinz, finance group manager, presented a preliminary enrollment update, and said that enrollment has remained relatively unchanged across each zone. The October enrollment count will serve as the driving factor in creating the amended budget, he said.Ridgway presented information on the upcoming election and the districtís efforts to educate the community about the ballot measure, 3B, which seeks to keep the mill levy rate the same, rather than allowing the mill levy override to expire. The next step is to gather relevant information for the ìBlue Book,î which provides voters with information on all ballot measures.Peter Hilts, chief education officer, presented information on the districtís pursuit of ìPerformance Excellenceî through Rocky Mountain Performance Excellence, a regional affiliate of the Baldridge Foundation, which oversees the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award. The district has submitted its application for the award, and expects a site visit in early November, he said.The next regular meeting of the BOE is Oct. 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the board room of the D 49 Education Services Center.
