##VIDEO ID:l12S1Ar5Am0## okay I am going to call the Wednesday February 5th regular board meeting to order we'll start with rooll director Assad Lucas here director bastelli here director Goldstein here director Marsh holen here director Potter here I willing rain a motion to approve the agenda as stated so moved second director Asad Lucas I director bastelli I director Goldstein I director Marsh Holan I director Potter I executive session I will entertain a motion to recess for an executive session to one discuss the possible purchase acquisition or lease of personal property more specifically enterprise resource planning Erp software pursuant to board policies 2.0 General operating limitations and 2.5 asset protection and Colorado revised Statute 24-6 424a and2 to receive legal advice regarding the new America School thoron charter renewal application pursuant to board policy 2.0 General operating limitations and Colorado revised Statute 24-6 424b so moved second director zad Lucas hi director belli hi director Goldstein hi director Marsh holen I director Potter I e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e all right we are going to reconvene and that means it's time for the Pledge of Allegiance so if your eyes if you're able IED Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all all right we never did our superintendent update thanks Lori I'll just share uh a few things that are pressing in the system one is related to the issue of immigration deportation we are spending a lot of time filling a variety of issues questions concerns and activities on a pretty much daily basis today was uh one of those occasions where we had ice activity in the Federal Heights in Southwest Thorton part of the community and that affected Hillcrest Elementary stem launch and Federal Heights Elementary are the three schools most affected in the end we believe uh that it's possible that the parent of one of our second grade students at Hill crust was taken into custody today when I say believe there's just a lot of things that you hear that are often presented as fact and sometimes as you dig deeper and try to get more directly to the source some of those things change a little bit in terms of what uh has transpired but that may have happened we also believe that child is in the car and custody of a neighbor and trusted adult right now but beyond that there's just lots of angst and fear there was some ice fans in close proximity to stem launch and a lot of parents who are concerned about either picking their kids up from school or leaving their home to go get their children so we spent quite a bit of time today a subset of our team uh working through that doing some communication to that part of our boundary and I expect that we'll have more of that uh in the weeks and months ahead so it's become a fairly significant part of many of our jobs on the security side in coordinating with our principles about what to do if this happens and then there's also uh fairly consistent communication needs that we have in that space what I'll emphasize on all of that is it still remains true uh what I communicated last week to the best of our knowledge which is at this point we've not had any ice activity in any of our schools where ice is asked to interact with a student or staff member there nor are we aware of any of those interactions in the metro area or frankly throughout the United States so we hope that our students uh will come to school we also understand the fears and worries that families have and as I've shared with some of the board members before today in email form we do have some schools where attendance has dropped in the four to 5% range and and given conversations that we're having with families we believe a lot of that it's always difficult to parse it out individual by individual because in some cases families aren't as forthright about the why behind holding their kid home but in a number of cases a large number of these cases and some of these schools families are expressing that the why is because of uh immigration contact concerns so we'll continue to find ways uh to communicate with families see if there are ways that we can problem solved with them so that they can take the right means to get their children to and from school and if that's just absolutely not possible see if there are alternative ways that we can provide educational resources and support to kids in their homes so that they don't get further behind so that's a big piece related to that I had a meeting today uh with the Adams County sheriff and a number of the leaders on his staff along with superintendents from other places in Adams County and it was uh just a reaffirming message of what I believe the Sheriff's Office has communicated before which is they're following the same procedures protocols and communication practices with school officials as they have for many years as it relates to their presence and activity in our schools a second piece is that they're not in a position where they are planning to enforce and join ice in Immigration related enforcement actions there are times that they might be called upon to provide support in connection with Federal agency enforcement measures uh around drugs and guns and other crimes in the community like what happened at the 66th and federal location the Adams County Sheriff Department did have a role in securing streets and traffic but they weren't inside the building is what the sheriff emphasized and so they're they're acknowledging that there's lots of things in law enforcement work that are decided on a Case by case basis there could be situations either hypothetical or real where You' have somebody who's engaged in criminal conduct who'd be inside of one of our schools and so we could have the sheriff's department president at a school if that were the case but they believe that's highly unlikely and that their would role would continue to be that they only present on our campuses to deal with law enforcement criminal matters and not immigration matters they also I think are frankly concerned that they were locked out of at least one school in the county recently and not allowed to enter on something unrelated to deportation and so I think part of the the Outreach here was let's not have the deportation issue get in the way of law enforcement providing the appropriate timely response to a Safety and Security incident or need in a school so productive conversation feel good about where that stands second issue is uh we're doing a whole lot of hiring right now uh for big Stakes positions including our next chief of Human Resources so we've got some finalist interviews Ono now there's interviews that'll be getting to final stage with me and cabinet for Northland High School soon for Vantage Point High School we just hired an elementary executive director to replace James Scott who departed at the start of the school year to go back to DPS and we've hired Amanda boyi who's the principal at Sky viiew Elementary for that position there's a variety of things and business services around construction maintenance and things related to the bond uh that we're getting nailed down and close to filling out that entire team so it's busy and just in some of what I've described there there's the possibility that you have dominoes about especially if you make some internal hires you might then have a position like we will at Sky View that you have to hire for next so that's a busy and important thing that we're doing now and then the final thing I would highlight is budget and budget is becoming a bigger and bigger weight in some of our conversations that we have with school leaders and others within the system we're going to be presenting to you later this month more information about our budget but it's probably one of the top three or four most challenging budgets that I've had in 16 years in this role and it's really a combination of things one is that it's uncertain about how the state's going to fund declining enrollment districts there's some advocacy as you know from the governor to not average over the course of three to four years what uh your enrollment has been but instead to fund you only for your current year student C we have concerns that in a lot of places our enrollment declines are fairly gradual over time don't allow us to save expenses in terms of teachers and Par professionals and other things until a lot of students have withdrawn from a school or a grade level so that could be a really significant adverse impact in the $7 million plus range if enrollment averaging goes away for next year $7 million being a net Because the actual reduction is more than the 13.2 $2 million or so range so we have that big piece in terms of Revenue that's challenging um and worrisome and then we have two other pieces of the puzzle that also complicate the first is compensation there have been some really challenging Financial years in the past where we've had pay freezes we had one year with a pay reduction there's other years where we've done really modest things and have implemented half steps on our salary schedules for certified and classified those all come with a variety of challenges and implications but beyond that we know that even heading into the election this fall that we are eth out of 10th in the peer District Metro region in terms of average teacher salary that we know from data that we have now that our principles almost at every single level in the system are more than 5% behind the market for their same position in this peer District set so we're in a spot with compensation classified we have some positions in the same place and so to go to a freeze or to do nothing at all in the compensation space I fear will leave us in a spot where we're at more of a competitive disadvantage and getting people to come and to stay so I expect as we have more work with our IBS team and with our csca team and discussions with principles that there will be some Investments that we all are recommending and compensation so that we can try to maintain our our best competitive standing uh in a district that's really behind the funding curve and then the third piece of the puzzle is that the year before this the 2324 school year was our last year of using Co and Esser money from the feds and there were some things that we've been investing in for a number of years that we felt like still made sense in terms of meeting the needs of students for the 2425 school year and so we spent about $9.9 million this year out of fund balance to meet some of those needs and have invested in things like additional intervention beyond what our typical funding models allow us to do and for more social emotional learning support because we have lots of kids who remain disregulated and challenged and engaging with peers and in the school setting post pandemic and a variety of other Investments Beyond mental health and counseling being other examples and so we've got to right siize some of those dollars and we have compensation Investments that I think we've got to actively contemplate and make happen and then potentially a deficit a real deficit and you're over your Revenue which just makes the whole thing more challenging worst case you add all that up and it's about a $30 million uh puzzle that you're trying to figure out in terms of cuts reductions adjustments so that you can right siize some of the the positions you've been paying for with onetime funding and deal with the deficit of new revenue and also do something in the comp space so that's a high level uh overview we'll talk about it a lot and once we're in a spot where we feel like some of the the fear concern and worry about Federal actions whether it's there's a variety of executive orders that have come down it sounds like there could be some executive orders about the department of aded each time those things happen we feel like there's lots of questions and communication we need to do and so want to pick our timing to be right around state school funding levels but in the next couple of weeks unless we get signs that things are going to move in a Direction that's more similar to the status quo in terms of school funding and formulas we're likely to ask our community to start reaching out to legislators in a really aggressive way because there's a lot at stake for our kids and our community for next year so those are the big three for me thank you thank you uh director Potter thank you president Goldstein um over the last three years on the board there's been plenty of times that I've been amazed and grateful for our staff but I find myself being deeply grateful for our incredible staff they are so compassionate and they lead with thoughtfulness and intention through what is uncertainty and it doesn't go unnoticed I spent some time the last week or so meeting with different Community leaders um in the District um our Education Association leadership city council Commissioners I mean I met with a lot of different leaders and to see the amount of compassion that has come out from all of them um and to be in such a unified place to really support our community the best I the best that they can has really been wonderful and I'm I'm truly grateful to live and serve alongside each of them and again I'm just so grateful for the thoughtful intentional leadership of our superintendent and our cabinet and our principls and everyone um because it it is a tough time and I just want you to know it's not unnoticed and we really we really appreciate all of you so thank you thank you director Marsh hon thank you um I guess I'll start with my third bullet point of my comment which is it is um National counseling week and um so thank you to all of our counselors and given today um and I my family and I took on a number of Venezuelan um kids that were here that needed a place while they were getting on their feet and um we feel for them as they are just trying to go through and live their lives and um earn and do the things that they came here to do Under This fear so not only am I watching constant reports for that I'm watching them for our families as well but I would like to reiterate as I know the um letter that came out from the district did and I believe us up here all believe is that please send your kids to school please know it's a safe place um we we want them in school and I know our staff the amount that we add on our teachers to have this have to be added on to is is just really unfair um and there's no other way to say that so I hope everyone takes advantage of our wonderful counseling this week and every week um also um happy Lunar New Year to everyone and I want to give a shout out to our amazing staff because every day my daughter has told me new things about Lunar New Year um because stem lab has done an I'm sure all of our schools have done an amazing job but um the art teacher at stem lab has just gone above and beyond and um now I know more about lunar near than I ever did um and if anyone is around this weekend with little kids or elementary school kids I guess I should say consider sending them to the North Glenn um Theater Camp on Saturday um it's a a great opportunity for our kiddos and the uh High School um theater group does a great job and they get to do a little performance at the end um and finally I know um we're in February and so happy uh Black History Month to everyone as well thank you director biselli I have a few big um updates but I wanted to start in honor of Black History Month with I well not ironically enough but with a poem by Nikki PG ovani a famous African-American spoken word artist and poet entitled black history month and the poem goes if Black History Month is not viable then wind does not carry the seeds and drop them on fertile ground rain does not dampen the land and encourage the seeds to root sun does not warm the Earth and kiss the seedlings until tell them plain you're as good as anybody else you've got a place here too and I chose that predom L uh you know black history month but also because that's the message that we want to send our kids they all belong here they all have a right to learn and and it's more important than ever that we embrace them and show them that we care um I had quite a few visits this week uh or last week I visited well a couple weeks back I donated blood at stem lab my son's school and Alexis's school um and it was great they are doing a pbl on um synthe blood and so the kids got to watch the blood draw process from vitalant or vitalent I put the emphasis on the wrong cabble um but uh and it's just so fascinating they have all these tools they're going to use to try to create synthetic blood that doesn't separate in their engineering class and I just love things like that that put kids in that driver's seat and really encourage them to think like scientists and engineers and historians and things like that you know that sort of stuff I also Al visited uh Eagle viiew Elementary with Lindy Peterson the principal and Kyle um Hartman thank you uh he's the new vice principal wonderful guy uh he used to work at North Glenn Middle School I believe and they have some great stuff going on there I think their attendance rate is better than it's ever been it's at like 93% um they have exceeded expectations in the math category for State accreditation I believe is that correct I'm looking at you it is yeah which is very impressive um and so just they have a great staff culture they have great student culture I think they've seen a really big drop in emotional regulation issues among their kids and so just Kudos go out to them for the great work they're doing there I also had a wonderful visit at Cherry Drive um and I they have some great progress there too the principal's really looking forward to the the survey that's coming out the results around staff culture because thinks she's seeing some really wonderful changes and while I was there the staff were playing um The Sound of Music with their Kazo and they seem to be having a blast so I think she's doing pretty good um they also are meeting expectations according to State accreditation standards and I think they have they she said they have a really solid mtss process um and you know they're just keeping on keeping on doing a good job holding down the fort there and then I also visited visited um new America school and I thank you so much Myra and Michelle for inviting me in into that space and welcoming me and I was able to um kind of poke my head into a class where the kids were uh writing murder mystery novels and I suggested that they check out Myrtle because it's a really fun logic puzzle book that you can do with your your kids and my son and I sit there and we try to reason who did what with what where so it's like clue over and over again multiple iterations um and it's a great brainstorming device for English classes so thank you again for letting me visit and then um anything else oh thanks to our school counselors I wanted to do that shout out too and I also have to shout out to two particular school counselors I've had lots of experience with thanks to my own son um Amber Choy and Shelby Haggard Amber Choy at Glacier Peak Shelby Haggard at um stem lab wonderful people have made my son's experience 10 times better just through being there and yeah I think that's it thank you director Assad Lucas good evening everyone um so I'm going to apologize ahead of time president Goldstein and I flew back today from DC been up since very early our time and so if I'm a little slow in the processing stay uh um forgive me so I was going to start out also with recognizing School counseling work save that for for last um to highlight uh Black History Month um while in DC on Saturday we got there a day early so we can go do uh fun things and exploring one of the first things we did was go to the africanamerican History Museum and um we got there very early even earlier than we needed to we we held out the cold until we could get in but um I don't think I mean I wasn't I've never been there before had any idea of the impact and how moving and the history um if you do go plan on two days I mean we were there pretty almost all day and we still didn't get through all of it like we I don't think we got to one level of it and one of the levels we did this quick go through um cuz we had to get to another Museum um at 3 but uh yeah it's um and you you learn these things and you know these things but then you're there and you're getting to read experiences and see it and understand it and the connections and it is so moving it's probably one of my most favorite parts of DC so far out of the three years that we've been going and Lor's been taking me on worldwind uh tours but um yeah it's a pretty phenomenal place and we got to be there on the first day of black history month so it was even um more exciting um so on January 16th I attended the five-star Foundation board as U as a boardly aison to it and they were just talking about the Their Own Strength and connections that they have that can they can bring to the board to help meet the overall board's um goals and Achieve what they want to continue doing great work for for kids in the district on January 22nd I attended the district equity and engagement committee meeting and we got to hear from a panel of students um about their experience in the stem program at North Glenn High School and so that was just a really great opportunity and we've heard it before but it's just it's just it's different every time because it's different kids and their experiences are different and and what it means to them is different so that was wonderful and I just want to give a shout out and show my appreciation for all the work our equity and engagement department does for students and family staff and Community um so thank you for your work maray and Manny and to their team um on the 23rd we had another IBS meeting um and again just another great reminder I mean just I I've said this before and I'll say it again it's just so many Professionals in the same room having really really hard conversations solely for the purpose of kids um and so it's just really it's always an awe to be a part of that uh there will be a special education advisory meeting tomorrow here at the district beating uh District building from 5:30 to 7:30 um and I shared this before but this is just a really great opportunity for parents who have uh kids um with an IEP or in the evaluation process um for to receive Services through an I um to seek more clarification understanding about the process about uh Services um so on and so forth and I've attended these before and it's just it's great there's veteran parents new parents um sometimes even parents that feel like they need to do this but they don't know how and it's just it's just a really great opportunity to get um be able to GA and understand and ask questions and get clarification then another reminder about the uh powow that is going to be hosted by um Apac on Saturday February 15th at stem launch I think it starts at 10 a.m. right yeah 10: a. um a great event it's just it's uh the atmosphere is just so much fun they have they have their the traditional C uh ceremonial dances but then they have vendors as well um people that have crafted and made things and some of it is just and fried bread as I've heard which is also delicious um but yeah it's a really great event so highly recommend that okay so get back um I mean we'll probably talk a little bit about more um president Ste will but as I said we were in DC at um the advocacy and Equity Institute that's hosted by the National School Board Association and they do this yearly and it's just a way for uh School boards across the United States to come together understand more specific needs related to um Equity um and advocacy and a lot of it's in the p i mean even this year it still was really focused around idea and um supporting students uh uh with uh in special education because Ida when it was established in the 1975 75 it was Congress said that it would say was going to be funded at 40% this year it was funded at 12% and that was down from last year that it was funded at 16% % has never ever been funded fully um and so you we're there every year advocating for that trying to get um Colorado delegates to support that um this year is a little different because not only were we continuing to advocate for that but then advocate for education in general and um you know one of the things that I focus on just because it's close to my heart is Title One funding and um with rumors and wants of the Department of Education being dissolved that would significantly impact Title One funding which is our most at risk students you know and one of the things I would share with our Colorado delegates is my kids um have always attended Title One schools um and just because that was our our neighborhood school and um fortunately for them they come from generational privilege and wealth um but most of their friends do not and so um these are kids that are such significantly impacted in many many many ways and even more so now these past few weeks and um and really sharing those stories and one of the things that they said is if you have stories if you have experiences if you have things to share it with them so that is my my call to action for everyone here watching parents is if there you have concerns about your child the future of your child's education concerns about special education funding concerns about Department of Education please reach out to your um congressional representative your uh US senator because they want to hear those stories and it is necessary that they hear those stories and the importance of education and it being adequately funded along here with Colorado but um so we're going to we're going to fight both fronts um so going back to school counselors another area that's close to my heart uh I have my my second Ms is in school counseling I went back after working in the in the real world for a couple years um and uh got that my masters and I worked in schools for a few years work with Refugee and Asylum seeking students um in Denver public schools and Amora public schools and it is a job that is thankless I mean even when you say it's just our our school system wouldn't be able to function at all without our school counselors and our um our support staff social emotional Learners everyone but our school counselors do so much and again within the past couple weeks there's been a lot of falsehoods and misinformation about what school counselors do um and so what school counselors do is they meet the needs of kids they they work hard for kids they're often the first person in first one in line of response for kids it be academics it be social emotional it be um relationship stuff with peers Al social emotional but I mean they're just the first their priority is Career College and Career Readiness and I think we are starting hopefully to learn that um we can teach our kids and get them ready to go on the world and if they're not emotionally ready socially ready they are not going to be successful um and so that's where school counselors come in they come in with the academic aspect of it but also supporting them in the ways that they need to do that um they are not I know some of the rumors have that you know they try to um persuade kids or in influence kids in some way and that is false again they're there to support they do not provide Mental Health Services they are not licensed professionals they are there though to determine if that is a need so they can refer them out again they're the first line in response to those things so thank you to our school counselors you do so much um and again going back to that persuasion or indoctrination or you know whatever the messaging is one thing I've said when we were in Washington is that um if our teachers and school counselors had that kind of power then kids wouldn't be in front of their phones non-stop so there is that um those those phones and that social media and that internet seems to be a lot more powerful ful and that is what our school counselors are trying to to fight against to make sure our kids are healthy so all right that is my soap box and what I have for the night and so thank you everyone thank you um first of all I want to shout out to um Anna utto um she works in our instructional um department when she won an award from um she's of um 25 leaders recognized Nationwide for her exemplary work across a variety of segments of K12 particularly computer science and um we were given a really nice article about her and her award and I think I even put a few good words in for her at some point in this process was great and it's really neat if you um have a chance to read it I also want to shout out to representative Jackie Phillips she represents house District 31 and we're laughing it is kind of funny but I think there is a really important message in all this so she had a bill she got um kids from Horizon High School um to support a bill to pick out a state mushroom for the state of Colorado and you know that is kind of funny when you think about it but it's also very educational because those kids were able to watch the process of how a bill becomes a law and it's not quite over the finish line yet but today um it passed the house overwhelmingly there were a few people who actually voted against it um and one one one uh representative said something about um I believe he he thought it was it would lead to Eco terrorism or something like that but um you know I give shout out to those Horizon kids and I think Mr Sanchez is their teacher and for um and then went down and testified and they were it's it's really great and I think her next step she has to take it through the Senate and when it gets signed hopefully the hopefully the governor will sign it and maybe we can get them out here to Horizon High School where she wants to try to make that happen so that's kind of cool too um back to the uh African-American Museum if you've never had a chance it's a very powerful place it's it's relatively a new part of the Smithsonian and you do need a ticket it's free but you have to get a time stamp to get in and it really shows um the good and the Bad and the Ugly of African-American history um the good being all the contributions they've made to the Arts music uh Sports video uh movies uh music um and the things that they went through as a as a as a people um because they did not come here on their own free will and it it really does a nice job of showing how that all happened and and it's very um it's it's very I I kind of likened it a little bit to the Holocaust Museum um in a way because it does you know that's a very sad place too but this did have bright spots in it and um I really enjoyed um going there too and then we went to as um Amir said the advocacy in equity Symposium yesterday we spent the whole day on Capitol Hill and we had appointments in every legislature Colorado legislature and Senate and so there was 10 different me meetings that were set up and they were set up so we could each go to about five I think I went to six but um it's interesting you know the conversations that we had in those offices um where we actually had to say please do not support getting rid of the Department of Education uh please do not support um getting rid of the title funds or putting conditions on the title funds and emphasizing that public education is so important for every single child and we need to make sure that every single child has access to public education and please do not support vouchers or um education what they call Educational Opportunity funds which is vouchers which is money that can be used um in any institution educational institution including private public funds need to stay public and so we spent a lot of time emphasizing that um because that's very concerning um and you know we have some of the Colorado delegation that supports that uh and I know I don't you know not to be political but it's been made political already already and I'm just going to address the elephant in the room um yeah so u i two went to IBS and I went to the equity um and um engagement committee and um I I'm sorry I'm tired it's been a long day it's been a long day okay um and tomorrow I'll be down at the capital under the goldome so busy okay um looks like we're on the board business no wait back up sorry uh public comment no one has signed up to address the board uh during public comment okay well then okay board committee leaz on reports um is there a Dak report there sure is um so the Dak met I think it not last week was it last week b or the week before okay so we did meet last week I feel like I've been alive for a year but it's only been like a week so um and it was a really good conversation the focus was on the district on the survey that we send to our school accountability committee members around spending priorities and our uips um and Bo was able to share a really robust set of possible areas to focus on in those surveys so I think that the Dak group now has a good starting point for creating those surveys and getting them out to people in a timely manner Bo can nod if he agrees there we go thank you thank you do we have a fact report yeah the fact met on January 23rd um Brenda McGee gave a um read out of the 5.0 employee certification and monitoring of District policy um and Molly and Brenda also gave um the 2.5 report on purchasing and Acquisitions and I'm reading this because in the reporting I was just writing words that I don't understand but shout out to our fact committee members because they really do and they were asking really really great questions um and I I just just am always in awe when I attend those that um the amount of willingness of um very smart people to volunteer their time um and help our very smart uh staff members so um that was it and then they did fact uh monitoring report work so thank you um lrc did not meet all right on to the board business now uh we have a couple of folks here from the Rocky Mountain partnership um to just give us an update on what they're up to so Jody and Ashley I believe Emily sorry and I see um Bo coming over to help on like that ah awesome well good evening everybody I'm Jody nowiki for those who don't know me I'm the senior director of stakeholder engagement with Rocky Mountain partnership joined by my colleague Emily Sanders I'll let her introduce herself in a second and Bo a leader in the work is going to um help us to tell you a little bit about what's happening through the Rocky Mountain partnership and in particular um what's happening with Adam's 12 most of you know this but just kind of a quick refresher on who Rocky Mountain partnership is and what we're doing we are a place based partnership that brings together Community to support children and young people up to the age of 35 in achieving critical Milestones from Cradle to career and we are um like I said a partnership made up of a lot of cross- sector Partners including Adams 12 um one of our longest standing Partners um on our community Leadership Council that is the table of sea Suite leaders from across sectors that are really driving the decisions and strategy of this network um we're really honored to have superintendent gdowski and Lori Bailey and then of course superintendent gdowski represented on our executive committee um but you can see all the different partners there um and we are part of a national network called strive together Cradle to career and they are based out of Ohio we're one of about 70 networks like this across the country and not even 20 late 2023 they set um uh kind of a a national goal to put four million more young people on a path to economic mobility and the call to action was for Partnerships like ours to name our number um on how many more kids would be meeting Milestones which we were the first in the country to do and when we talk about economic Mobility upward Mobility social Mobility we're really talking about these Cradle to Career Milestones or outcomes starting with being ready for kindergarten third grade reading proficiency 8th grade math proficiency graduating high school and then enrolling in completion some sort of skill training or post-secondary program credential and then being employed at a good wage and so these are the milestones we know young people need to be meeting but they're also measurable metrics that we can set goals and measure progress against um since the last time we were here we have taken a little bit more of a state wide lens in addition to this region um our current region in r&p is Adams County City and County of Bromfield the city of Arvada and the city of Aurora the entirety of those cities even though they cross multiple counties and so when you look at it at a state level it's over 8 126,000 young people not meeting these milestones for our region alone it's a over 123,000 children um and my data team is very clear that you can't say exactly what percentage of young people that is but it's about a third um of young people in this region and so when we think about our region um last year or 20 2024 we set our goal at the end of 2023 early 2024 that um 71,000 more young people who aren't already um currently Meeting those Milestones are on the track to meet those Milestones will be by 2030 and I mentioned the Gap that we currently have is 123,000 that 71 1,000 gets us back to where we were before covid hit which admittedly needed work anyway but this is the first phase of a a phase approach so our strategic plan the resiliency project Focus between now and 2030 is really focused on getting us back to where we were while also acknowledging that there's a lot more work to do beyond that we've also set those targets by outcome so how many more young people does that mean hitting each of these outcomes and we have it broken down down by year we also have it broken down through um an equity lens so we're looking at different segments of the population um on the back end but for this current school year we're really hoping to see about 3,398 more young people hitting those milestones and then our annual targets go up by year so I'm going to pass it over to Emily now to talk just a little bit about what we're doing about that um to hit those goals and really excited to highlight in particular the work that we're doing with the district thanks Jody and thanks everyone um good to be here tonight I'm Emily Sanders I am the senior director of collaborative action at Rocky Mountain partnership the newest member of the Rocky Mountain partnership team and so I've I think I've met some of you not all of you so thanks for having us tonight um as Jody mentioned we have three strategies to meet our 2030 Target Target Champions uh high impact projects and and advancing policy initiatives um and I'm excited to dig into each and outline how our partnership with Adams 12 uh overlaps with each for the board the first is Target Champions so Target Champions are direct service providers like Adams 12 whose work directly impacts at least one of the Cradle to Career outcome areas that jod talked about they commit to specific and measurable goals that will help more young people achieve those milest stones on a path to economic Mobility we have 12 Target Champions currently ranging from school districts like Adams 12 uh as well as Chambers highered institutions uh Community organizations and employers they each have or are setting their individual targets and together are creating a really unifying movement in our community towards that shared goal of 71,000 more young people succeeding by 2030 impacting countywide outcomes and for context to date we have about 40,000 of the 71,000 goal claimed by Target Champion so far so great progress and also more to do in terms of engaging Partners in this work and at this point I'd love to invite Bo up to talk a little bit about your experience um as a Target Champion your targets that you've set um and how this supports your District's work awesome thank you Emily thank you Jody glad to have you with us tonight board members superintendent gadowski it's good to be with you um the target Champion work has been a nice extension of work that we do already as a district and to be able to think about the work we do as part of a contribution to securing the economic and social Vitality of our County I think is really important much of the the target Champion work you see on here is hardwired and embedded into the work that we do every day and I've been really fortunate internally uh to have a lot of support around uh the work that we've done initially looking at our data and setting some goals and then of course thinking about uh the implementation and strategies to get there so I want to publicly Express appreciation for Dave baina who's in the room tonight you know anytime we're talking about our data in smart goal setting Dave's going to have a seat at the table for sure uh Lori who is uh heavily involved in the Rocky Mountain partnership also has been a thought partner in this work and then when you think specifically about uh the goals that we've taken on which are the middle range in that Target Champion work we've worked closely with Kim Brady our executive director of curriculum and instruction and Christy Weaver our director of CTE and postsecondary Readiness so I want to talk a little bit if I may about our goal work and how we're contributing to that roll up across the county of those ambitious goals uh that we have in place to create more Economic Opportunity and Mobility uh to young people and young adults throughout our County so third grade reading proficiency we know uh and have known for quite some time as a huge indicator of future success and um between now and 2030 we want to see uh 48 more students than we had last year across our system reaching that third grade proficiency threshold this is a metric that we've been interested in working on for quite some time as a district around early literacy uh you as a board are very well aware of our investments and Benchmark Advance the Investments we've made in academic and reading interventionists uh the work we continue to do to support students who have dyslexia or dyslexic like characteristics to um mark all the resources we have human and otherwise uh to get more kids on track to reading earlier uh this is an ambitious goal you can see an interim goal of this year of adding 68 more kids to that total we're going to need to be revising these year-over-year obviously so we can continue to stand that 2030 goal as we look at results and also contemplate um declining enrollment in our district but this is a goal we've had in place in an area of a work that's been um front and center for us as a system e8th grade math is another piece that's built into the target Champion work we have a lot of work going on at our middle schools right now around thinking classrooms in math and that really is the ability to be able to explain at a more deeper conceptual level how mathematics works and how it's applied specifically in the real world has part of that proficiency so many of us in our generation are famili with just automaticity of algorithms and in and outs today's application of mathematics and extension of mathematics really requires the ability to extend that and apply it in new and interesting ways and career embedded ways that we know our eighth graders are already thinking about uh as they move forward again uh we want 360 more kids than we had last year when we get to that 2030 goal uh on track and that as we break this down over 5 years equates to 60 kids next year high school graduation as you know is a point of Pride for us we just celebrated our highest uh graduation rate ever in Adams 12 and yet we want to continue to strive and increase that number uh year-over-year moving forward I want to speak a little bit and celebrate the work in the last two buckets though particular enrollment and then skill attainment in CTE Pathways you know we have invested heavily and done a lot of work over the last several years to increase opportunities and access uh for our students in our CTE courses and even though we won't know until we get through this year and have a complete accounting of not only the enrollment and the completion and then the credential attainment there are some interim measures that we are aware of that we're excited about progress in this way um the first thing that we're really excited about is that we've been able to embed some core academics into a few of our most popular CTE programs that being Diesel and Welding we're able to embed High School mathematics credit into those courses which allows kids to stay on campus for those double periods be able to check off a math course for graduation and still take the CTE course they're interested as you know a barrier often for kids is to go from their Comprehensive High School where they have to access a core content class like mathematics and then try to get over to a CTE campus to take one of these courses by embedding the mathematics into the welding and Diesel experience we alleviate a barrier and get more kids uh into those programs not surprisingly those two programs INE extremely popular we offer sections even Beyond into the early evening to accommodate student interest uh in those places and we're on the cusp of also adding mathematic bearing credit to our Auto Tech three and four class uh and we are going to continue to find ways that we can do those uh standards crosswalks and have more Core Credit available and embedded within our CTE programs um we also continue to do a lot of work in expanding opportunities for new Pathways and concurrent enrolling opportunities for kids a couple that we're really excited about that are launching now are in the Aerospace and engineering program at Future forward through a partnership with MSU Denver and we also now have uh accreditation program for unmanned aircraft systems uh AKA drones which have become very popular and part of that program allows our students to earn an FAA part 107 remote Pilots license which is foundational to uh other Aeronautics and pilot licensing moving forward so as we continue to uh want to see greater increases in the number of students enrolling and ultimately uh attaining industry credits part of that work is opening and expanding new Pathways which is part of that work around uh concurrent enrollment opportunities uh and New Opportunities uh with uh crosswalking credit so that we can have students uh pursue and earn math credit while they are um in a diesel class in a welding class and moving forward so um that number of 1493 it's the largest on the page and yet it's the one I think collectively we feel the most optimistic about because of the pace uh that we're continuing to develop and build out our CTE programs we're excited with the opportunities of the passage of our bond to create some new spaces for this learning uh and we're hopeful that we can uh fill that with appr at staff um at the time that they come online a few years from now as well so excited about those uh pieces year over year moving forward um I want to just say that uh wish we're at a point right now where we could give you some more interim sense of how we're progressing you know well that the proficiency around reading and math is not something we're going to see and completely know until uh C Mass results come in and there's nothing that we have in the system that we feel is a really good replication and predictor of that uh but we do know that the work we have in place around K through third literacy and Middle School mathematics we feel uh confident puts us on track uh and then as we said we're very proud of um where we stand and continue to Trend in high school graduation and we're also feeling good about the work that we're doing in career and tech ed moving forward so we're going to be connected with the partnership you noticed that there were some other school districts that are also Target Partners uh I think there's going to be opportunities for us to learn from each other and hear from each other around successes and challenges uh we're kind of the largest player in that space uh which is a great thing and and also I think a humbling thing that sometimes smaller districts uh that are a little more Nimble and uh in different places have things that they can offer us and we can sometimes offer to them so we look forward to that step as well who am I turning it back over to back to Emily all right thank you thanks B and I'll just say that the Adams 12 team has been really thoughtful and intentional with these um targets that they've set as well as the strategies that are behind them so really excited um to have you all as partners and to keep um moving the needle with this work uh as Bo mentioned we are excited to to launch our Target Champion community of practice this year um this is a space for Target Champions like the districts but also like the other organizations outside of school districts to come together to uh connect and collaborate share challenges and opportunities analyze their data uh in real time lift policy barriers or opportunities um and discuss funding needs and identify opportunities for collaborative application so um that's one thing that we're really excited to to be moving forward with this year um and I'll just say that you have the TA available to Champions on your screen and it it looks a little bit different for each organization um and we really just try to plug in in the best ways to support the work that you're already doing our second strategy is executing high impact projects high impact projects or hips as we like to call them bring together cross- sector Partners to address challenges and barriers that impede progress towards cradle to Career outcomes uh that no one organization or sector can really tackle alone each hip identifies bar uh baselines and targets similar to Target Champions that will contribute to the 71k Target and they aim to address shared barriers uh that entities like Target Champions lift to us um as well as incubate and scale new and innovative solutions now we know that there's so much need in so many areas along those cradle to Career outcomes um that could have these collaborative projects around them but we can't do everything at once and so we we took nine very ambitious projects and Whitted them down to three to really start this yearound um and these are the areas where there were the highest uh need and also the Community Partners at the table willing to come together and Tackle them together to really make an impact in them so therefore we've landed on these three hips for 2025 starting with the first two the first hip is improving and enhancing educational and career navigation for Learners so that they have the support that they need to earn skills and credentials we know that the navigator to student ratios are significantly above the national average in our region and so this hip is piloting a couple different innovative solutions to expand Navigator capacity in the community the first one of the pilots is a uh is a project with Casa leveraging their evidence-based model to create an effective volunteer navigation program Lori Bailey uh from the Adams 12 team has been a huge partner and support in this initiative and the Adams 12 waffles uh wraparound support facilitators uh are providing referrals to the casa team for the family engagement pilot it's focusing in this first iteration on students who are experiencing chronic absentee uh and we see the potential to expand Beyond uh that specific Target group in the future but really focusing on students who have uh intersecting um uh supports that they could use we're really excited at the potential of this cost-effective volunteer navigation program uh and really the potential to scale what works as there are Casas um around the region around the state and really across the country um in different judicial districts um and so we really see the potential here and are excited to have Adams 12 at the table um to really understand what it takes to make this work the second pilot within the navigation hip is re-engaging Learners to complete credentials and degrees uh finishing what they started um but may have fall falling off the path too so this is uh working with Adams County Education Consortium uh primarily to uh leverage Innovative Ai and Technology to support Navigator capacity um not to uh supplant by any means that really critical one-on-one relationship but to uh support and enhance their capacity and um have some some supplemental supports there the third pilot that's not up here is really new um and is a Workforce Development pilot program that's being developed with the City of Commerce City and Community College of Aurora leveraging Municipal Navigators uh to support Learners across high demand uh to obtain high demand certificate or degree programs and so each working group is very distinctly different and is meeting individually as well as really coming together to to learn from each other and share what's working these really distinct areas to hopefully grow and scale to support more students navigate their path to earning credentials and ultimately gain employment at a good wage the second hip that you see there is expanding uh expanding and enhancing training sites we are convening districts um community colleges Chambers and a growing list of Workforce Development Partners to see really what region-wide alignment on CTE programs could look like to ensure there's consistency and quality um across programs offered and that programs are really designed to best meet the local industry needs so Christy Weaver has been a has been engaged to represent Adams 12 um and this is in pretty early stages but excited for for this to continue to build throughout the year um this is really to uh better align employer needs with training opportunities for learners and lastly the third hip is around increasing learning at work opportunities because we know there just aren't enough currently for our students to have access to these hugely important experiences right now and um as I mentioned the first two hips are really prioritized for the first six months um this hip hasn't quite launched yet and we'll get um we'll get it up and running hopefully in the second half of the year but really want to make sure that the first two are are up and going before we bite off too much um and as I mentioned earlier part of what we're really excited about for both the target Champions and the high impact Project work is the opportunity to bring Partners um across the network together to go after collaborative funding opportunities to accomplish these shared goals our message and impact we believe is so much better and stronger together um and so we're really excited to dig into these opportunities this year um for example we were recently invited to submit a request for for qualifications to the Wallace Foundation uh which would allow us to deepen our collaboration and strengthen the systems that support adolescence for this from opportunity this is a $5 million Grant over five years which would be huge for our partnership and for our community and we're really grateful to have Adams 12 being a a primary partner in this initiative um we're grateful for you all for writing a letter of support for our application and we really hope we get the opportunity to work closely together and thoughtfully building and implementing this initiative uh if we're awarded I will also just put out there that if you as the board are interested in how you can get involved or support this uh the district's work and the partnership's work I'd say the main ways are to connect Adams 12 teams to Partners in the community that could help Advance the atams 12 work towards those Targets in their target Champion work um or and or to connect the Rocky Mountain partnership team to Partners that could bear Champions or involved in high impact projects so as you're out in the community if you come across Partners we would love to to connect over them and finally our last strategy is around advancing policy initiatives we know we can only reach our 71k goal by advancing policy um everything sort of from Little P to big p that remove barriers for young people reaching Cradle to Career outcomes we use our CLC Target champion and hips to identify policy opportunities and barriers and our 2025 policy agenda uh that our network has approved includes securing funding for public education expanding skilled training education and Workforce learning opportunities and reducing housing barriers particularly that disrupt education and employment as part of our approach to policy last year we announced the launch of our Statewide Cradle to Career Collective uh policy coalition to really build our influence in the policy Arena and Jody's going to touch on that in just a minute but another main aspect of our approach is our Civic influencer fellowship program which you all may be familiar with it's a 9month program for 16 to 18 year olds in the region to really build their leadership and datadriven decision-making skills to ultimately hopefully springboard them into leadership roles in the community they receive expert training and a stipend in addition to Hands-On learning opportunities like Gathering uh Community voice and perspective for our hips and as well as advocating for policy and ballot initiatives like the 2024 Adams 12 mil levian Bond uh we're so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Adams 12 on those initiatives and are excited about the impact of the bond that passed um and we hope to be able to partner on future initiatives as well we're also really proud and excited to have several Civic influencers that are either Adams 12 fivar school School current students or alumni uh serving in this year's cohort and with that I'm gonna pass it back over to Jody to wrap us up promise I'll wrap us up we actually tried to get some of our Civic influencers here but um it was a difficult evening so a lot of conflicting priorities but Emily mentioned the Cradle to Career Colorado Collective which um many of you were at our state of the partnership lunch last fall where we publicly announced this but really I think at the highest level what's important to know here is that we're working to get some more teeth at the state level around policy um and so we got a grant from strip together our national affiliate to launch this Statewide policy initiative um which is the collective um and here we go really it's to to be able to go after those big policies but also um to be a space where other regions across the state can also set targets towards that state line Baseline um Statewide Baseline beyond the 71k that we talked about and be a place for more shared learning so we're not just talking about Partners within this region but really from across the state um that are doing work but Marching In The Same Direction um on the Cradle to Career outcomes so more to come on this um superintendent gdowski has been really instrumental and helping to shape what this is looking like um which we're really grateful for um and then the very last thing I don't have a slide for but I wanted to just mention is that our team is in the process of revamping our publicly available interactive data scorecard that really shows progress towards the 71,000 goal around our outcomes but also all the indicators that lad up to that like Bo talked about some of those things we won't even see for a year or two years after the fact but there's a lot of data that we can track in real time that show as a region how are we how are we progressing towards the those goals and so all the target Champion goals the hips other things will be in there and as soon as our data team gives us the green light um we'll send that to you all directly so that you can see that that scorecard did you miss anything all right well that's all that we have for you we know it's getting late so we appreciate you having us here and if there's any questions we'd be happy to take them any questions thank you for all you do you enjoy the partnership and hang in there all right new America School charter renewal application all right so um what I will do is entertain a motion we we um we have a choice to make a decision to make so I'll entertain a motion um to go with one of two resolutions one to renew and one to not renew so is there anybody who wants to make a motion motion to renew is that adquate that's a good start I would recommend that you would make a motion to adopt the resolution uh for a two-year renewal as presented motion to adopt the resolution for a two-year renewal as presented yes okay don't ever leave me to take charge second okay all right thoughts I mean I have a lot I I talked with Mya and Michelle um last Friday and there are just a few things I would like to um reemphasize based on the conversations that we had uh and at the time I noted um the the primary concern for me is around IEP and special education in relation to Dropout rates um and the uh learning specialist situation it would mean tons to me if we could make sure that the learning specialist is in place and providing that support on a consistent basis the other piece that makes me reemphasize this is and I told you this in the conversation I believe Adams 12 has a roughly and I checked with Chris when we talked 133% rate of students who are on IEPs and I'm looking at Dave and case he gestures furiously no you got that wrong he would know um and I did some calculations based on the numbers that you provided and it seemed that your numbers were um low uh I think around six or s% I'm not a mathematician somebody else would need to double check that for me um and that concern like I said in the meeting when we had that conversation I'm not sure that we can compare the two uh the district to a school um that accurately I do think that there's a gap there that should be of a concern um to pay attention to because it could mean you're missing some kids who should be on IEPs um again I don't I'm not saying it should be at 133% just like ours but U there could be some kids falling between the gaps there uh so I did mention that and we also talked about you know the assessment piece and as I said in that meeting I understand the difficulty in that you have a complex student population that you're working with a lot of them are emergent bilingual sometimes or they're on different continuums and trying to diagnose um or assess from that IEP standpoint gets really cloudy so again I appreciate that um I do still think that it's an area uh that I would like to see you focus concertedly on in my visit I will say I loved the curricular approach that you're using it's very culturally sustaining and that means a lot to our student population who um have Spanish origins or indigenous origins or Mexican or you know wherever they may be from and I do think that based on what I saw in the classrooms you're working really hard to do [Music] that so I learned earlier and I'm going to start by saying I love our Charter Schools um been a big Charter School advocate from the very beginning now it is concerning to me that all of our charter schools are equally paying in to help provide a resource from the district and if we have four Charter Schools paying in but one charter school using most of their time that is not that doesn't sit well with me um our last twoyear contract there was a lot of I'm not going to sugar coat it handholding and it was we came down pretty hard and said you guys have to meet this and there was there was too many issues and so if you guys are granted this renewal I would ask that you be mindful of how much of that person's time you guys are using and how much you guys need to be responsible for on your own so that you are not taking away from the other charter schools in the district because that is not fair to the other schools that are trying to be on their own and make those changes in house my other concern is I understand that you guys are the Thor and location but there is a larger organization um that kind of comes to play here and helps make some of your decisions for you and I am disappointed that we have not seen them yet um I think for me when we are discussing whether or not new America is going to move forward the overarching body or the the larger decision makers should also be present fighting tooth and nail alongside you so I feel like there's a little bit of a disconnect so I would hope that if you are granted the renewal you can kind of work together and I hope with with your new position like that you guys can continue to build that Gap or bridge that Gap um and have them come alongside you more um so I also have a lot of concerns and mainly around the special education but I want to start off with I really appreciate the work you guys do you do hard work um and serve kids in ways that obviously other schools cannot and um know and I and with that being said I think that also puts you in a position to have to get creative but still having to make sure we follow the law and follow expectations um I think for me because I'm not going to lie I'm I'm teetering and again it's not because of um I think Myra and Michelle you guys do hard hard work my concern is support from leadership from the top um and especially like Financial of getting money in to pay for these special learning Services I mean it's competitive we talk about it all the time here how competitive this field is and especially for special uh special education providers and so my concern really is leadership helping the school with that H and being creative with that of how will then attract and retain those Educators because it seems as though too there tends to be that you hire somebody or somebody comes but because of you know finances or pay whatever the case they leave and so then you have this big gap that you're not providing services and even though that's understandable that's unacceptable at the same time and um and so it's what I guess I really want to be guaranteed you know is that that Gap will not if it happens it's within a reasonable time and what that reasonable time is is that's so it's up you know what I think is reasonable is going to be different than what but these are kids that have to be served by by law they have minutes in their IEPs that have to be met um and so I guess for me a reasonable amount of time is based on that um there cannot be gaps I guess is what I'm saying um and so that is my biggest [Music] concern is and yeah and I think there's and even Paula when you were speaking about missing I guess too and I didn't even think of this at the time when I was when I submitted all those questions but even um gifted and talented kids and what we see is statistically it's not statistically possible to not have kids that are identified as GT um at new America and so it's making sure getting that as well but um but because of the law with special education cannot be allow cannot be having those gaps and those minutes not being met um that's really I think my biggest is support from leadership and special education so so I would Echo everything that's been set up here um you know I I come from a history where my parents worked with really high in need kids and seap would come around and the scores were really low and it was really hard and I saw how much hard work they put in and it didn't seem to move the needle so I I respect that but um we're not in a place where this is going to get any easier between special education and this population in fact I think we're pretty uh much in a place where this is going to get a lot harder um it's going to it's going to require a lot more with a lot less resources um federally and that's there's no way to get around that so because of that I I think this is the wrong time to eliminate a school like this I think that the people you know I I know it's it's hard when so much work goes into a smaller graduating class but I was at your guys's graduation last year and I mean I think giving those kids an opportunity does matter um and it does matter in the uh environment we are in now um obviously I come from the special education background sped student myself um working with my daughter on her um so it's near and dear to my heart and I the breach of you know that we were sent is is hard to read so that that's got something we got to fix we've been here before um I've been on the board now for six years I think you guys have been here this is the third time and I you know I kind of lead with my heart on this one because I question how sustainable you guys can be with you know what you can pay your staff and you know we said this two years ago I'll say it again your board needs to help you and um and they're not here and what you H but I've also I've seen your passion I've seen your dedication to what you do there and I you know the learning environment is is a good one but I I worry but I'm not really in a place where I want to be the one to pull the plug um I'm you're still willing to fight or still I'm still willing to let you fight but I don't know how much longer that can be so um you know our um our staff recommended that we renew and I felt that I feel I'm willing to not give up on you I mean ultim I think that's the important point is we want you to succeed particularly particularly I can talk 7:38 it feels like 11:38 um we want you to to succeed for our kids right we want them to have those opportunities and I think that's the important part to remember as we make these decisions is we're also I'm also making this decision because I realize you have at least 190 kids who rely on you as an an institution um it's just a matter of like everybody body said here we want Myra and Michelle to have the support from the top to do what they need to do to to make sure those kids get over the finish line and I guess one last thing I just really I want to add um you know I know Chris mentioned this in his superintendent update but attendance is going to become a bigger issue and that's just the reality of it and it's yeah and and and I think because there's already those attendance issues now it that's going to be a big thing is how to get creative because we can be we can understand that some things are out of your hands some things are out of our hands they just are but it's what efforts are being put into and how are you trying to get those kids into those buildings um are into the building and um and it's it's going to be challenging and again and not just for you guys for across the country um but uh yeah I think that's my my concern as well is just continue and again going back if I mean I agree with everyone you got you guys Pro provide a vital service to and important um education to kids that really need this and don't want to take that away however don't want to be here again in two years I want to be able if I'm still here I if I'm still here I would want to be able to vote for a longer extension um because we like Lor said this is not sustainable can't keep doing this every two years so I will wrap it up by saying um I do appreciate all your work your passion and your dedication um you know we I was here two years ago when a fellow board member made the argument that you know you have about 180 students now and where Adams 12 was as a district when you guys came into the district is very different it is grown it's adapted elll Services um School opportunities the parent committees it is a very different place than when you guys first opened and so I am not convinced that we could not meet your students needs in the Adams 12 district schools I I don't think that we're at that place anymore and so that for me is what really what this boils down to is if you guys don't get renewed will your kids be taken care of and at this point after the two years ago after seeing all of the work of a lot of the staff they have they have transformed and I do think that they would be provided for in Adams 12 and so if you are granted that extension I ask that you be mindful of that and look at what opportunities there are to support your students any way that you can whether it's being able to send them to Future forward or get your parents involved in committee groups come to principal meetings um how you can adapt and grow alongside Adams 12 so that you do truly stand apart as that one place that that is unique and different um because the passion is there it is there but again I I'm struggling to see again going back to the the shared Charter Schools it's not fair for you to eat up most at Pie when you're all equally contributing so just be very mindful of that moving forward so thank you director Assad Lucas I director bastelli I director Goldstein I director Marsh holen I director Potter no okay you guys have work to do thank you being and thank you for being here and uh we didn't need to use the other resolution okay instructional materials I will entertain a motion to adopt the instructional materials presented the January 15 2025 board meeting so moved second any discussion just a question would it be helpful in the future for us to link those materials again on this agenda cuz I'm not seeing them linked on here and it might just be nice to have those actively linked the instructional materials are they on there the they're in last in they're in last week's yeah yes that would be helpful hey next time let's link that on thanks all right nothing else any other discussion okay all right director Assad Lucas hi director belli hi director Goldstein hi director Marsh I director Potter I all right Proclamation Public Schools week I will entertain a motion to adopt the proclamation declaring the week of February 24th through February 28th 2025 as public schools week in Adams 12 festar schools as presented so moved second any discussion well just coming off our advocacy of public education um I think for me this past few days really highlighted the necessity and the importance of public education you know and I always go back to Alexis comment of public education is the last um true equalizer equalizer yes thank you equalizer and I shared that with some of our delegates of saying that and some of them agreed and um and so but it's true without public education our students with disabilities would not be served without public education our most atrisk kids would not be served um without public education I I truly believe as a mental health therapist that our kids would not benefit socially and Al um to the degree that they do um because of the services that public education has put forth to prepare them um for the literally for the rest of their life so I think uh my uh dedication to public education is uh pretty clear and that I'm sitting here um otherwise you know why why be on the board um public education I always always say it's it ensures that our kids are prepared to take a part in this this Grand experiment of democracy right um and it also kind of helps break down barriers because they're uh exposed to kids who don't always think like they do um or think or you know believe what they believe and it's good to meet people from different walks of life and I feel like public education does a really good job of um exposing kids to those to the diversity of our world yeah I would agree with all that I would again say to this empty room that uh but I'm hoping there's people onen that uh public education is important and that that you are hearing um from the White House is not the way that public education operates and I would hope that our community um uses the opportunity to speak to the board to speak to the superintendent about their um concerns and um you know come find out what actually public education looks like because um it's it's not what's being said and I hope that our federal uh leaders wake up and continue to support public education and stop politicizing it one of the treats of this um last couple of days was um one of our closing speakers was Senator Bernie Sanders and you know he does a really great stum speech but he he really I I recorded a little bit of it just because of his passion and it we are one of we are the richest country in the world but we do not fund our public education and why are we just wake up as a country and say we need to fund public education because it is the most important thing for our democracy and for our children um they deserve that I mean I had I feel like I had a great public education in the last in the 1900s um we were joking about the last century but I do and and and I feel like I was able to give that in my career and I feel like my children also have had that but I've also seen the struggle the last couple of years so yeah anyway enough being like Bernie Sanders and preaching well I I was just gonna say um I appreciate the resol or the proclamation coming forward public education is very important I'm grateful that we live in a state that has so many educational choices so that people can find um the right fit for them and I look at all how diverse public education is not only in our state but just Nationwide um and I'm I'm grateful that we have such strong Advocates such as um two our board members advocating to better fund public education and of course our superintendent um who's been helping fight that fight alongside them because I do think um no matter what choice you pick on how to educate your children that we definitely need public head and speaking of Bernie sand does one of the things I think that really hit home for me was um you know being in the richest country and having kids being hungry in our country and um in the richest country in the world and our Public Schools feed them y feed them um at least breakfast and lunch and um snacks things like that and so yeah that was a you mentioned B that was a big thing that stuck out for me with him all right director Assad Lucas hi director bastelli I director Goldstein hi director marshen I director Potter Potter hi okay I believe on Tuesday Monday oh Monday we have our annual meeting with um District 12 Educators Association and um in your packet the questions we've asked in the past um it's always something that you ask them a question and they start talking so these are the questions um did um Dave Luckley and Steve they just were they okay with these okay so um yeah and they'll have it set up um usually what they do is they have us uh they have us at a table with a group of um student or teachers sorry and we just have a conversation and then we compare notes so any comments about this the only consideration I had and to some degree it is addressed in the questions but the last time we met with the this the Educators they had a lot of concerns around the emotional regulation piece M um you know we were still sort of fresh out of covid-19 and so we were still trying to get a grasp on it and I wonder if it would be helpful to um if it doesn't occur organically in the conversation and it probably will um how things are going there just revisit that all right okay that's not a vote just carry on minutes to approve the minutes of the regular board meeting minutes and work study session of January 15 2025 as presented so moved second any discussion okay director Assad Lucas I director belli I director Goldstein I director Marsh holen I director Potter I all right Personnel actions I will entertain a mo motion to approve the personal actions as listed can't even talk anymore resignations and terminations transfers and reassignments employment leaves of absence so move second any discussion okay director Assad Lucas I director belli I director Goldstein I director Marsh holen I director Potter I all right as I said Monday we will be meeting with DTA February 26 the next board meeting and you can see some of the topics that are on here March 5th is going to be our community engagement board meeting and have we confirmed that North G High wants us okay great and uh they'll have some kids I guess first to talk to and you'll have dinner okay and then March 19th the regular board meeting uh any comments questions or anything before we adjourn see you next year next year because that's the way the week feels oh well did you notice that we're off the week of American Education week oh no that's the week before never mind okay well that's coming up too and I just want to say 19 hours straight now we've been up so we have yeah we're going going go home yep all right thank you everybody good night