[0:00] We'll get going though. Ready?
Welcome. This is September 16th, 2026.
[0:05] This is Park School District R3 Board of
Education regular meeting. It is now
[0:10] 5:23.
This meeting is called to order. Please
[0:14] stand for the pledge of allegiance.
[0:18] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[0:23] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:30] justice for all.
[0:37] » Chris, please conduct a board roll call.
>> Director Fere,
[0:40] » here.
>> Director Roberts. Director Shocket.
[0:44] Director Reurski
>> here. Director Whis here.
[0:50] She's so sick. Move on to approval of
agenda. Board members have an agenda
[0:54] before you at this time. I'll take any
comments or amendments to the current
[0:56] agenda
[1:00] with it. Seeing none, is there a motion
to approve the current agenda?
[1:06] » I approve.
>> I second.
[1:10] » Perfecting.
>> I approved it.
[1:13] » That's okay.
[1:16] Do you want me to?
>> Nope. We're good. Chris, please conduct
[1:20] a board roll call.
>> Director Fere I.
[1:22] » Director Reurski.
>> Hi.
[1:24] » Director Wis.
>> Hi.
[1:27] » I carry the vote. Agenda is approved.
Moving on to agenda item two, public
[1:30] participation. We had no one signed up
to speak this evening. Moving on to
[1:34] agenda item three, spotlight of success,
career and technical education. CT. TJ
[1:38] and Steven. Students, please come up.
[1:44] TJ, do you see the button on the bottom
to activate it? It should be a green
[1:48] light will come on right below your
speaker. There you go.
[1:51] » My name is TJ Appel. I'm the career and
technical education automotive teacher
[1:56] at Essis Park High School. Um, in our
automotive program, uh, basically level
[2:02] one, these kids are starting out
basically with no knowledge of cars
[2:06] whatsoever. Um, we get them through the
general knowledge of oil changes,
[2:10] brakes, uh, stuff they should know on
their vehicle. um that I think you
[2:14] should know on your vehicle before you
own a vehicle. Um moving on further,
[2:18] when I get the kids that really want to
keep going down that pathway, they move
[2:23] in auto 2 and um they basically run a
fullervice shop out of that class. So
[2:28] auto 2 and auto 3, they run full service
shops for the district and their uh
[2:32] student families. Um last year, second
semester, the kids did 185 hours of uh
[2:39] labor on vehicles. Um, average labor
rate right now is around $225 an hour.
[2:45] So, my students did around $35 to
$37,000 worth of work for staff and
[2:50] community members vehicles. Um, already
this year, these two students in my
[2:55] sixth and seventh hour class, um, we're
already at the 47hour mark this
[3:00] semester, and I think we're at the month
mark right around that time. So, these
[3:05] are my most advanced students. At the
end of this year, they will have their
[3:08] student level ASSE certification, and
then that means they just need one more
[3:13] year of shop experience um approved, and
then they can have their full-on adult
[3:18] ASE certification, which is basically
your doctorate degree for working on
[3:22] cars. So, I'll let those two students
speak about what they're doing in class.
[3:28] » My name is Noah Moore. Um right now in
class, I'm working on my truck. I'm uh I
[3:33] just did my valve cover gaskets and I'm
right now I'm working on pulling my
[3:38] turbo, fixing that. Um we just did um a
wheel cylinder. We're doing a whole
[3:45] bunch of things to that. And then last
year,
[3:49] the year before last, we pulled a motor
out of um an Extera. That was really
[3:55] cool. That was a cool experience and it
was cool to know and um just learning a
[4:00] lot about motor vehicles and something
I'm really interested in.
[4:05] » And then what what year are you? Are you
a senior this year?
[4:08] » Senior this year.
>> Okay. So when when um your teacher said
[4:13] that you just need one more course,
where would you go to finish that? Would
[4:16] So I'm thinking
>> Yeah. So they could either go take it in
[4:20] college and after they have a year of
classroom in college [clears throat]
[4:24] that can also be certified or right out
of high school they can just go get a
[4:29] job at a shop somewhere and then that
can count for one year of experience.
[4:33] You cannot take your ASSE test without
having two years verified experience or
[4:37] one year classroom one year shop
experience.
[4:40] » Gotcha.
>> Yeah. So what I'm program counts as one
[4:43] year.
>> Gotcha. What I'm planning to do is I'm
[4:45] planning to go work at a dealership down
the valley somewhere and then I'll get
[4:49] one year there and then I'll be able to
take my ASSE.
[4:53] » Outstanding. That's great. Thank you.
>> Hi, my name's uh Matthew Hanbach. Uh I'm
[5:00] kind of done similar stuff to Noah.
Mostly just working on stuff that I want
[5:05] for my vehicle. Like recently I've put
on a new exhaust. I ordered a Ypipe
[5:11] recently and then before that I did a
kind of a lift job. I lifted the front
[5:16] end of my truck 2 in. And besides just
working on that, um I just kind of try
[5:23] to help out with my family like
just any regular stuff that they need or
[5:30] like anything else teachers need cuz
like sometimes TJ will just be like,
[5:34] "Matthew, do this break job." And I'm
like, "Okay." And then then I get that
[5:39] done.
>> It's one of those classes where like my
[5:42] sixth and seventh hour class I feel like
I don't even need to show up. Like they
[5:46] just show up and they get right to work
and they know what they need to do. It's
[5:49] incredible. Like it's unreal what goes
on in class.
[5:53] » That's excellent. Ma Matthew, what are
your future plans after this?
[5:56] » Uh pretty similar what Noah wants to do.
I just want to get straight into the
[6:00] workforce. Probably find a dealership.
just get my one year in as soon as I can
[6:05] so I could just start making the big
bucks.
[6:08] » Good for you. That's excellent. Well,
thanks gentlemen for making the time to
[6:13] share that and um I wish you the best as
you uh wrap up this year. Keep up the
[6:18] good work.
>> Thank you.
[6:20] » Oh, wait.
>> I got one question.
[6:23] » Yeah.
[6:26] So the certification just for the kids
to work on the electric cars, they have
[6:32] to basically get the same certification
a lineman would get. Um so they get to
[6:37] see them. We talk about them and stuff
like that, but hands-on I don't want it.
[6:42] Um I was our only EV certified at Subaru
uh in Lmont. And there's only one
[6:48] special tool for working on an electric
car and it's a 30foot insulated hook to
[6:52] pull the person away if they're getting
electrocuted.
[6:55] So yeah, we we talk about electric cars
and stuff like that, but we they I don't
[7:01] have them handle them or anything like
that. We do a lot. Uh we talk more about
[7:04] hybrids, though. Hybrids are kind of the
future. So
[7:09] » TJ, can they work on hybrids then?
>> Yes, hybrids are low voltage. Um every
[7:14] kid in the class has spelt what an
ignition coil is. Um it's 30,000 volts,
[7:20] but it's low amperage. So the kids get
to see what that feels like. So they're
[7:24] not terrified of working on it. And so
they get to experience it. I don't make
[7:28] them do it, but if they want to, they
can feel what that ignition coil is. And
[7:32] basically at that point, they know like
you cannot get electrocuted working on
[7:35] those types of cars. EVs, yeah, that's a
different story. So
[7:40] » then for your first year when you're
working on vehicles and your book work,
[7:44] how do they get certified? So they know
when they go for their second year that
[7:48] the
>> so first year is like 90% classroom.
[7:52] They are exclusively in the classroom
learning terminology, learning all the
[7:57] different parts of the car. And then the
last month of that class, all the kids
[8:00] in a one get to rebuild Subaru engines
that were donated to us by Super Repair
[8:04] down in Boulder. So every kid tears down
that engine completely down to every nut
[8:08] and bolt. Then they put it all back
together, make sure it functions. They
[8:12] don't start them, but they make sure
they they work properly and stuff like
[8:16] that. Auto 2 is kind of that big flip.
It goes into like 80% in the shop, 20%
[8:21] in the classroom. So, just more hands-on
work, but then uh for example, if we
[8:26] have like a break job on a car, we may
have a lesson the day before to kind of
[8:30] talk about that type of break job and
then the day after they'll actually get
[8:34] their hands on and do that break job so
they can see like what they learned and
[8:38] tie it into hands-on learning. And then
auto3, that's kind of the same thing.
[8:42] That's more so in the shop almost
exclusively. And then ASSE auto tech,
[8:48] that's kind of half the semester in the
shop, half the semester in the
[8:52] classroom. And that last half the
semester is just prepping for that
[8:55] certification.
>> Wonderful. A great skill. Much needed.
[9:00] » Thank you.
>> Yeah, go for it.
[9:03] » You do electrical chargers.
>> Yep.
[9:07] So, I had a student that actually just
rewired 113
[9:11] wires underneath the dash of a uh our
transportation manager's vehicle uh just
[9:16] to fix her turn signals. So, he
literally rewired 100 I think it was 113
[9:22] is what we counted individual wires that
he reoldered, soldered them all back
[9:27] together, insulated them, and verified
the repair.
[9:31] » So, they can repair a car from
electrical all the way.
[9:34] » Yeah. Yeah. I with this group of kids, I
mean, the my sixth and seventh hour
[9:39] class, there's almost they can almost do
anything. They're almost to that point.
[9:44] There's some things that are super
technical that we get into a little bit,
[9:48] but it's one of those things where it's
like as an auto mechanic, you use that
[9:51] knowledge maybe once a year. We kind of
dive in on like the very important stuff
[9:56] they need to know.
[10:01] Well, again, thank you both for coming
and sharing about that. Uh, I know we
[10:06] don't have a as big a crowd as normal,
but I'm going to tell people to get on
[10:09] and check check out your work. So, keep
it up.
[10:12] » I can see what we got going on.
>> Thank you, guys.
[10:20] » Do we want the other student to present
though?
[10:22] » Yeah, just do a picture as the whole
>> Yeah, let's do that. You guys have
[10:27] » We can leave like 10 minutes.
>> You guys have to leave or
[10:32] » Oh, what time is that?
>> Six.
[10:35] » Okay, hold on.
>> So, I'm Steve Shaw.
[10:41] Uh, longtime teched teacher. Jackson.
>> My name is Jackson Gold. I've um taken
[10:49] multiple of the CTE classes here at the
high school. I really enjoy the classes
[10:54] because they um with Mr. Shaw because
they teach a lot of different individual
[10:59] introductions to different parts um like
civil engineering or like residential
[11:04] wiring or programming or welding. Just a
lot of getting an introduction and then
[11:10] giving the resources if that's something
you're interested in to continue working
[11:14] on your own. just to be able to get a
lot a little bit of a lot of different
[11:18] topics so you can see what you're
interested, what you might want to
[11:21] progress your knowledge on in the
future. So, I've been really enjoying
[11:24] learning many different things. And even
if you don't want to pro progress as a
[11:28] professional career, a lot of jobs like
the um residential wiring could just be
[11:34] helpful just owning a home in the
future.
[11:40] » So, I wanted Jackson go first. It's
about students more but I'm happy to
[11:43] give the overview but you have question
Jackson could come back and answer more
[11:48] questions if I can give you the overview
right now.
[11:51] » So just to give you a little background
um CTE is more than just what we so
[11:57] that's career and technical education
that's everything from business
[12:00] education to agriculture education
technology education health sciences.
[12:06] So it gets a little convoluted. They
call us, we're just a part of CTE. We're
[12:11] technology education. Used to be called
industrial arts. So now it's engineering
[12:17] and everything. So I do the other part
where I teach engineering classes,
[12:22] uh, which can include everything from
precision measurement, drafting and
[12:26] design, computerated drafting and
design, the 3D printing, all of that.
[12:30] Um, so like Jackson said, I try to
approach engineering as try to cover a
[12:35] little bit of everything. I can do a
little bit of civil engineering, a
[12:37] little bit of electrical, a little bit
of mechanical, manufacturing, design.
[12:42] So, I also work with the construction
trades program.
[12:46] So, what's kind of neat, and I've got
pictures up there, too. But what's
[12:49] innovative about we're doing in Estus on
construction side is we're team teaching
[12:54] geometry
and the technology education, the
[12:58] construction facet. So, it's a give and
a take, but I really think that's where
[13:02] education should go in secondary level.
everything needs to be more relevant and
[13:06] applied rather than theoretical like the
universities have trained us. So, uh
[13:12] that's kind of interesting, but that's
growing. And then I teach the welding,
[13:16] fabrication, manufacturing as well. So,
that's pretty a lot of hats to wear. And
[13:23] um but that's what we're trying to do
there. And I mean, I don't want to
[13:28] ramble on, but if you guys have
questions for us, Jackson's been
[13:31] involved and you can see some of his
photos. So, Jackson, you want to talk
[13:35] about that one? What's that photo about?
>> So, I was working on a a project with
[13:42] the um observatory at the high school,
and it was to build a radio telescope um
[13:48] for the observatory.
And what you see I'm working on there is
[13:52] the antenna that goes onto the um the
radio telescope to receive signals.
[13:59] » So, where did that canister come from,
though? Um, I designed it on the
[14:04] computer and we 3D printed it.
>> It's all custom and that's really what
[14:08] we want to get to. And there he's
soldering and you want to have the goal.
[14:12] I always approach education like you
need to have a project. You don't study
[14:16] tools just for the sake of studying
tools which I believe we get wrong a lot
[14:20] in the core. Why are you doing that?
Well, I'll just use the math later.
[14:23] That's a poor reason. You need to have a
project and application so you see where
[14:27] the math and the tools and everything.
They wouldn't just study wrenches. The
[14:32] wrenches they'll learn as they get the
project. That's the point. And I think
[14:35] that's where I like to go with
education. And that's where I try to
[14:39] where Jackson and I align really well. I
like to give him an objective and get
[14:42] out of his way. I don't want me to hold
them up and they I love to watch
[14:47] students pass my skills up and that's
really what we want. I mean, it's like
[14:50] what Mr. Appel does with the automotive
kids. So, we have that together. But so
[14:55] he's done a lot of things and uh what
you do in the residential he really
[14:59] caught on to the residential wiring
because I do a lot I do a lot in the
[15:02] trades but so he we can really
differentiate. It's really nice. You got
[15:07] kids who are lower functioning and but I
got a Jackson. What did you do with
[15:10] wiring last year? um with our wiring
unit. There were some um pictures that
[15:15] were shown of it, but we had these um be
like in a sense pieces of walls that we
[15:20] would um like install outlets or install
like light fixtures and we would learn
[15:25] all the different wiring. And throughout
the unit, we would have different
[15:29] projects we would work on with the
wiring, which would get more and more
[15:33] complicated as we learn more. And it's
just to kind of simulate actually
[15:37] working on a house. But what Jackson's
not saying, I'm a little proud of him.
[15:42] Some of the other kids, it's it's
inundating for one teacher. I say,
[15:45] Jackson, you're so cool. So now you have
kids teaching other kids. That's next
[15:50] level learning, you know, where they had
just really and he does a phenomenal
[15:54] job. So we try to do that. Um, one
little piece too that we're trying to do
[15:58] is we're trying to get um so in in CTE
you have career and technical student
[16:03] organizations
like agriculture education is the
[16:06] classroom portion. And then you have FFA
which is the youth organization like Boy
[16:12] Scouts, Girl Scouts. So for Teched, we
have Skills USA. So Mr. Appell and I
[16:17] have a goal for that. We'd like to
really get that chapter going. We have
[16:20] some leadership capabilities with
officers and things like that. So we'll
[16:25] see. We we've taken students to contests
and competing like you saw Cole
[16:30] finished. We were that close to going to
nationals. We won at regionals and third
[16:35] in state. So anyway, those are the
things we're ever really recruiting like
[16:39] Jackson to be our vice president, Amy
Schwarz to be our president. So that's
[16:42] where the skills are. So just saw a
little note there too for success. We're
[16:47] trying to build work a lot with the
community uh with the grants and
[16:50] everything. Got a brand new band saw
working with Rotary. They come in and
[16:54] anyway, we do a lot of cool stuff. We
can talk all day, but it's really
[16:58] exciting. We really appreciate the
support. I I just I've been at several
[17:02] different districts in 37 years, both
technical, post-secary and secondary.
[17:07] And so Estus, you guys really do a great
job supporting us. So I just really want
[17:12] to appreciate say appreciate that.
>> Keep it up. Thank you.
[17:15] » Yeah. Well, thank you both for again
investing time and energy and coming and
[17:19] sharing and uh we're excited to see even
more projects and yeah, appreciate what
[17:24] you do and the the application is the
key. So thank you.
[17:27] » Yep. Thank you.
Uh, do you have them solving problem?
[17:32] Because I I'm at I've worked
construction, so there's a lot of things
[17:35] that you know you've learned, but you do
you teach them how to or do you just
[17:40] have them a project and let them figure
out how to do it?
[17:45] » Well, that's a good question.
>> So, that's my area of expertise, too. I
[17:50] used to build homes. I had my own
contracting business, too, as well as
[17:52] teaching. Um but um that's the give and
the take as we do this because there's
[17:57] only two of us. So they're finding that
balance between post-secary which he
[18:01] really has a vocational program and what
I'm doing is exploratory more so I mean
[18:06] so we have to find that balance not
right or wrong and pathways are coming
[18:10] but to answer your question so we do
geometry construction class you give a
[18:16] little bit on both arenas you're
[clears throat] not going to have time
[18:19] to do the intense geometry and
conversely
[18:23] normally my construction program we have
a capstone project where we pre-sell a
[18:27] shed we bring the customer in, bring the
vendor in, the kids see the whole
[18:30] process. We build a$8 to $10,000
building. So, it's not like we failed
[18:35] your math test. You don't walk away from
this. It's got to be done. It's really
[18:38] cool. You know, I talk about real world
learning.
[18:43] So, I don't know if we'll be able to get
there in a geometry construction format.
[18:49] You almost need a construction two and
three like much like what Mr. Appel
[18:54] does. He has the ability to do auto 1 2
3 4. But me being only one, it's hard to
[18:59] get to those higherend capstone
projects, which you would like to trying
[19:03] to figure that out. So, I hope I
answered your question. So, but we are
[19:08] doing we're doing the wiring and the
mock walls and everything, but we've
[19:10] added two new classes, too, which we're
kind of excited about. We brought the
[19:13] eighth grade in. We have intro to teched
for eighth and ninth graders. Do a
[19:16] little bit of everything. They love it.
And then we have basic home and auto
[19:20] care, which Mr. Pel's going to be
teaching. That's a life skill class.
[19:24] about a quarter of how to take care of
basics of your car, how to finance it,
[19:27] maintain it, and on the home side, too.
So, I've taught those classes, Mr. Pel,
[19:32] and I will get that going, and we're
hoping that just takes off. So,
[19:37] » thank you for the time.
>> Thank you. Well done.
[19:42] » Okay. Thank you.
>> Does the student proof this, Chris? Is
[19:46] that what it is? Yeah, cuz I didn't I
know how to get
[19:53] » trying to help you all out.
>> Oh, no worries.
[20:41] Moving on to agenda item four,
discussion items. Agenda item 41,
[20:44] superintendent report. Superintendent
Grebs.
[20:49] All right. Well, thank you very much.
I'm going to start with the facilities
[20:52] update. Uh the high school um has, as
you heard, we needed to install cameras
[20:58] per CHASSA rules in the event we host
playoffs. Those are up and running and I
[21:02] think the community has taken advantage
of watching some games online. The
[21:07] elementary school uh we are much closer
to solving the HVAC issues especially in
[21:13] the office. Yes, thank you for your
patience. Uh Miss Miller, um it turned
[21:18] out to be a um programming issue is the
latest culprit. So hopefully that's
[21:22] taken care of. And then again continued
maintenance um projects, painting and
[21:28] fixing things. Uh, I want to give a
special shout out. Brian Lund, Matt
[21:32] Bird, and Nate Harger. Um, they have
been working to restripe our parking
[21:37] lots uh on campus. And on Labor Day, the
three of them came in and not only
[21:42] repainted some lines, but they
reoriented the lines behind the middle
[21:46] school and gained nine parking places.
So, uh, it's just another example of
[21:52] people chipping in um, and using their
resources and ideas for the betterment.
[21:57] Um, safety, security-wise, uh, we made
some upgrades on the top field fence.
[22:02] Uh, I noticed a small gap, uh, when I
first got here, asked Eric to look into
[22:07] it, and not only did he take care of the
gate issue, but there was some fence
[22:11] that was shorter than we wanted. And so,
it's been replaced with 6T fencing. On
[22:17] the finance uh, departments, our
preliminary assessed values are down
[22:22] from uh, last year. Larur County is down
3.4% 4% and Boulder 1.4. So, it will be
[22:29] a reduction in what we bring in,
especially on paper. Mr. Lund has
[22:34] assured me that counties have until
December 10th to rectify any
[22:39] assessments. So, there is a possibility
uh the hits won't be as big, but as of
[22:45] right now, we are predicted to lose
around quarter of a million with that
[22:50] revenue.
Family and community engagement. had a
[22:54] chance to go to my first elementary
books for breakfast. As a former
[22:58] elementary principal, I can say I was
very impressed. We had 111 adults check
[23:03] in and out. I noticed uh with some it
was some couples, but others a mom and
[23:10] her mom came, so a kid got to read with
mom and grandma. Uh it was just a great
[23:14] event um to have that big of a group.
And then those that chose got to stay
[23:18] and listen to the presentation by Mrs.
Miller and Dr. Santos along with their
[23:24] PSCO um organization. So, it was a great
way to get people involved. Uh in focus
[23:31] areas as far as um assessments, we've
got all of our fall benchmarks done and
[23:37] so teachers had a chance to work with
admin this last Monday in their first um
[23:41] you know, professional development day.
Set some good goals for progress. when
[23:46] it comes to um our state report that
accreditation number is out and at the
[23:52] next works uh session I'm going to give
board members a chance to see some more
[23:57] in-depth graphs and and how we did
comparing our our own Bobcats from one
[24:02] year to another
in the area of wellness um which is part
[24:07] of our strategic plan. We've currently
got a staff wellness challenge going on
[24:12] where staff log their minutes. Um, as
someone who is kind of competitive, I've
[24:18] stepped up my game. I, uh, have gone
from about 40 45 minutes up to over an
[24:23] hour every day. So, um, I appreciate the
health committee offering that
[24:28] challenge. And then under our real world
applications, high school freshmen had a
[24:33] chance to do a climbing trip with KMAC.
um middle school as a publications class
[24:40] this year. They invited me as the new
guy to come in and be interviewed for
[24:44] their newspaper project. So, that was a
fun real world thing. And then again, at
[24:49] the elementary, fourth grade's already
been to the Rocky Mount National Park
[24:53] and I think third grade is uh heading
next week maybe. So, again, it's been a
[24:58] great start. Any questions about my
report?
[25:06] No, thank you very much.
>> Okay,
[25:09] » moving on to agenda item 42,
administrative report. Miss Miller,
[25:12] you're up.
[25:19] Strange I don't have to. Sonia and I
aren't going to argue about the height
[25:23] of this. I get it all to myself today.
[laughter]
[25:28] Um, I just wanted to start out with some
celebrations. The first I want to
[25:32] continue sharing with you our Golden
Globe award getting passed from staff to
[25:35] staff. Emily Jurgens presented it to
Maggie Horack a couple weeks ago for her
[25:41] her perseverance and collaboration and
support for our multilingual learners.
[25:45] We're still celebrating that last year
our 20 students who exited our ELD
[25:50] program and looking forward to having
those same numbers again this year. And
[25:54] then on Monday, it's not in my report,
but on Monday, she passed it on to Katie
[25:58] Rue Gabber, who um is has come back to
our community and kindergartener is just
[26:03] doing an outstanding job with our
smallest bobcat. So, um another shout
[26:09] out to our PSCO for just an incredible
our fourth annual fall barbecue. Really
[26:15] well attended. We had to reschedule it
because of rain and we had it. We loved
[26:20] having it on Friday night 5 to 7 and
then families went down to the football
[26:24] game afterward. And so we plan to
continue I've already gotten great
[26:28] feedback about that. Plan to continue
that uh in future years. And just a huge
[26:33] shout out to all of our volunteers from
our um student council and their parents
[26:37] and our PSO who came out to really
support the success of the of the
[26:41] barbecue. And then also just a huge
kudos to our staff who are our our club
[26:47] sponsors. We are really lucky to have
great club offerings for our students.
[26:52] Everything from gamers club to Bobcat
Beats to the garden club to robotics.
[26:58] And it's all of our teachers who give
their time and energy after school to do
[27:03] that. And we're just so grateful for the
commitment they make and their
[27:06] creativity they bring to our students.
And this year we have our highest club
[27:11] attendance rates we've ever had. So it's
very exciting. um upcoming events. If
[27:17] you'd like to join us at Books and
Breakfast, October 2nd is our October
[27:20] Books and Breakfast. And our special
guest is Officer Paul. He likes to come
[27:24] in the fall and talk about school safety
and the parents role and how we can talk
[27:29] to young kids about about school safety
in ways that help them. His mantra is be
[27:34] prepared, not be I'm I'm prepared, not
scared. And he does a great job of
[27:40] helping us have those conversations,
really difficult conversations together.
[27:44] And then our fall conferences are coming
up so soon [laughter] and so October 5th
[27:50] through 7th. I'm really hoping that
we'll get all of our parents out to
[27:53] attend. And academic in academic
achievement and growth like Dave shared,
[27:58] we finished up all of our beginning of
the year benchmarks except kindergarten
[28:02] because they have a longer benchmark
window in beginning of the year. They
[28:05] have 60 days. So they'll be benchmarking
the end of this month. Um but some
[28:09] highlights that I just was excited to
share with you. You know, traditionally
[28:13] we've seen really high second grade MAP
scores and then they go down a little
[28:17] bit when they start third grade and we
did not see that trend this year. We
[28:21] they stayed high and our third grade
scores only 9% of that grade is below
[28:28] the 20th percentile which is the
smallest in the well below benchmark
[28:32] we've ever had. And they have 49% of the
grade above the 60th percentile. So just
[28:38] a big shift in achievement coming up
from our primary students. And this is
[28:42] also the first year when we look at
achievement, every grade level is above
[28:47] the 44th percentile. And so a bigger
shift in our achievement percentiles.
[28:53] Our PLC's have been really digging in on
Monday and in their PLC's each week. Uh
[28:58] looking at what are the strengths and
assets their student their new students
[29:01] are bringing in and what are some of the
challenges that they can really work on
[29:05] in their instruction this fall semester.
and setting goals, creating plans for
[29:10] individual students and groups of
students, and they've been doing just
[29:13] great work planning for out their
instruction based on based on their new
[29:17] students. So, it's been great to see.
Um, our collective goals in the
[29:22] elementary school are going to continue
to be around our English language
[29:26] learners and ELA and getting our
achievement and growth up for both ELA
[29:31] across the board, second year of our new
curriculum, and our English language
[29:36] learners. and we're excited to continue
to see that growth. Um, one of our
[29:41] strategic plan action steps this year
that's really important to us is our
[29:45] programming for our high uh potential
learners and our gifted and talented
[29:49] learners. Uh, last month, Rachel Graham
came to our leadership team meeting to
[29:54] really talk about specific plans for our
students who are scoring in those bands
[29:58] uh, and making plans and commitments as
PLC's for over the next month. and we're
[30:03] coming back together and working on
those. Along those same lines, we've
[30:07] also working, you know, the middle
school um has their gifted acceleration
[30:12] program in math. And so we've been
working with her of looking at what are
[30:16] options for doing math acceleration in
the elementary school to make sure we're
[30:20] meeting all of our learners needs. And
so our team has really been coming up
[30:23] with ideas. We're going to pilot some
things this fall, look at data, get
[30:28] stakeholder feedback, and figure out
what would be best to align so that we
[30:32] can have a math acceleration
plan that's more aligned and consistent
[30:37] elementary, middle, high. Um, you know,
we have more accelerated options with
[30:42] flooding in the elementary school, but
we don't have a a system systematic plan
[30:47] for acceleration in math right now. So,
I'm I personally am very excited about
[30:52] the work and the impact that this is
going to have on our students.
[30:56] Um, and then on our September 14th PD
day, we also got back together with our
[31:01] Otis representatives. I know that Dave
shared out we started working with Otis
[31:06] this year with they worked with Bridges
and they turned Yeah. they turned our
[31:10] assessments online and then it has an
online portal for viewing student
[31:15] scores, how they're progressing on each
standard. And so everyone you did an
[31:20] assessment before uh our September 14th
PD day and then we were able to work
[31:25] with them on what does it look like to
analyze the data in the programming how
[31:30] can it help us how can it uh be more
sustainable for teachers having the
[31:34] digital grade book and so that was a
really great training that we had on
[31:37] Monday and then in real world learning
we've started our national park field
[31:42] trips kickoff this week and excited for
those to continue and then next week uh
[31:47] we begin our annual partnership with the
Estus Valley Parks and Recck District.
[31:51] And so our our water safety classes this
year we've reversed and we're doing our
[31:56] older kids to younger kids first so that
our younger kids have more time to get
[32:00] roars, behaviors, all those things. Um
and so everyone's pretty excited about
[32:06] that schedule uh for our water safety
classes starting next week. And then in
[32:10] the area of wellness, our MTSS team is
already off and running. We did not
[32:15] waste any time. their first mission. Um,
Dr. Santos is leading MTSS this year and
[32:21] you know, our first goal was getting our
youngest students speech screenings that
[32:26] might need it. And we know the impact
that early intervention can have on
[32:29] speech and our youngest kids and our
youngest readers and the way that that
[32:33] can impact their phonics and reading
instruction. So, they're working on
[32:36] getting all of our new students who need
speech screenings being screened within
[32:41] 30 days and being able to make plans for
those students and their families very
[32:45] quickly. And so just huge shout out to
the team and Sundy Peach and our new SLP
[32:49] Nikki Shad for their hard work and
making that happen for our students. And
[32:54] then lastly, I wanted to shout out Lisa
Mechum and Stacy Schoenburgger. Uh they
[32:58] rocked uh vision and hearing screening
the past two days. They they you know,
[33:03] we were apprehensive because we like to
get them done during the meet and greet
[33:06] appointments and we didn't want it to
take from instruction, but man, they had
[33:10] classes in and out in 15 minutes and did
such a great job. And so just a huge
[33:16] shout out to them for that.
>> Yeah.
[33:19] » Questions?
>> I have a question.
[33:21] » Yeah.
>> Um for our English language learners
[33:23] that we graduated because quite a big
group.
[33:26] » How do we continue to support them,
monitor them, make sure they don't need
[33:30] extra support as they continue their
journey?
[33:33] » Yeah. Anytime we exit someone from ELD
programming, they're in first year
[33:37] monitoring. And we our ELD teachers
continue to meet with their teachers and
[33:42] monitor their progress and making sure
that that was the right decision and
[33:46] that they don't need any supports and
offering any supports if they are
[33:50] needed.
>> Yeah.
[33:52] » And thanks for doing the math
coordination acceleration. That's
[33:56] exciting news.
>> It is
[33:57] » because it'll help challenge those kids
that need that.
[33:59] » Yeah. So,
>> Yep. Yeah. Absolutely.
[34:03] » I have a question
[laughter]
[34:06] » from above.
Sorry.
[34:10] Um,
thank you for everything that you're
[34:13] doing. You know, we appreciate it so
much and it is great all the offerings
[34:17] that we have for students in the clubs.
I'm wondering about robotics.
[34:23] Previously, the amount of the number of
students that could participate was
[34:27] limited. And I'm wondering if that
limitation is still there. And if so,
[34:31] have we looked at how we might be able
to address that so that all kids who
[34:36] want to participate in that program can?
That's a great question, Brenda. Um, you
[34:42] know, we always we have to limit it
based on the amount of equipment we have
[34:46] and then our supervisors. Those are
that's our big limitation. Um, and I
[34:51] don't know, Paulie and Nick do such a
great job. They just got started last
[34:55] week and I don't know how many if any
kids weren't able to be in it, but I
[35:01] will find out for you and I can email
you Brenda because that's an excellent I
[35:04] I've known in previous years, but I
don't know that number right now.
[35:08] » Okay. Thank you. And it's not so much
about the number as it is about, you
[35:12] know, just making sure that we're
providing access to all of our students
[35:15] for things that they're excited in. And
you know, I understand the equipment
[35:20] restraints and things and supervision,
but um yeah, I'd like to explore how we
[35:25] can open that up to as many kids who
want to participate as possible because
[35:28] I hate to see kids left out of something
they're excited about.
[35:31] » Absolutely.
All right.
[35:36] All right. Thank you guys.
[35:40] Miss Greenway is not able to join us
tonight. She's at homecoming events. So,
[35:43] Mr. Grebs is going to do her report
along a summary. That report's also
[35:47] posted for everyone's reading along with
the athletic report.
[35:53] » Awesome. All right. Well, u from the
secondary schools, some things that Miss
[35:58] Greenway highlighted. Obviously, this
week is homecoming week, so there's a
[36:03] lot of uh enthusiasm I saw at the middle
school today. Um it was uh kids dressed
[36:09] like teachers and teachers dress like
kids. So, that was quite entertaining. I
[36:13] did enjoy that. Um they've hired a
couple new staff members at the
[36:17] secondary level. Um so we had a special
ed PAR position that's now full as well
[36:23] as uh the program the RISE program which
supervises kids that um are are serving
[36:29] in school uh detention. So we're all
full there. Also Brie Vega from the
[36:35] local library has been able to reschedu
some things and they are excited to have
[36:39] her back at the secondary level.
academic achievement and growth. Both of
[36:44] the buildings, middle and high school,
uh met their expectations for growth um
[36:49] and exceeded expectations when it came
to uh growth in reading and writing on
[36:54] the PSAT. So, they're they're excited
about that. During the PD planning day,
[37:00] they did some vertical alignment, not
just um within that building, but even K
[37:06] through 12. they were able to have uh
folks like PE teachers talk about that
[37:10] continual improvement throughout the
Bobcats experience. Uh I really
[37:15] appreciated that as well as the
implementation of teaching Greek and
[37:19] Latin root words to improve vocabulary
and I actually got those emails. So like
[37:25] from the automotive department there was
a list of words and where the Greek and
[37:29] Latin roots came from to increase
understanding. Thought it was fabulous
[37:34] in real world learning. Um we've had uh
major 13 performed at the community mind
[37:42] concert center. Uh the chamber choir
will attend a leadership seminar. A
[37:47] local um writer civil gardener came to
visit an English class. So we've got
[37:52] like actual realworld use of um those
skills.
[37:57] Uh when it came to um again pach
program, this is a program where kids
[38:02] can learn how to become a teacher. We
had another student that achieved uh
[38:07] lifeguard certification. So, a lot of
realworld great opportunities. The first
[38:13] bobcat go day is actually on Friday. I
think it's the only day that it's on a
[38:18] Friday instead of Wednesdays. And that
is to accommodate the homecoming parade.
[38:23] So, that way it's not interrupting your
typical learning because that is a big
[38:27] deal. Kids are excited about that. um
sixth graders had a chance to uh or are
[38:33] planning um a public works field trip
and learning about not only town hall
[38:39] but the power plants and possibly the
water treatment center. Um you already
[38:45] heard from career technical ed folks uh
did a marvelous job under wellness.
[38:51] They're going to make sure they're
reviewing their safety plans on how to
[38:55] evacuate and head down to the event
center. Um, RORS is up and going in the
[39:00] middle school and um, the the new one
this year is the PI day. PI stands for
[39:07] positive interactions for educators. And
so once a month Sonia's going to bring
[39:11] in PI and they're going to celebrate the
the cool things that staff are doing
[39:15] while they have a little treat. So those
are some of the highlights from the
[39:21] secondary schools. Any questions?
[39:26] » Brenda, do you have any questions?
[39:30] I do not. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[39:34] » You're welcome.
>> When do sports?
[39:35] » I'm trying to see if Oh, here it is.
Yeah. Uh in the world of sports, boys
[39:40] golf, we uh I would like to say there
there are three golfers who have a
[39:46] chance to compete at the state level.
The way they uh do that in high school
[39:50] golf is the states top 84 golfers
qualify. Currently, um Drake Kernney is
[39:58] ranked 15th. Noah Webster 71st and
Maddox uh Naji is 111th. So, got some
[40:06] golfers there. Uh Cheer obviously
working hard for homecoming, getting
[40:11] ready for the big game to show off what
they've been doing. Uh team is led by
[40:16] senior Macy Powell and junior Haley
Downey. Cross country's been doing well.
[40:22] Um they competed in the uh Liberty Bell
at Christ at Heritage Christian and um
[40:29] head to Lions for the St. Brain
Invitational. That team is led by junior
[40:34] Caleb Estanol
and a freshman Lena Schmidt. In
[40:39] football, uh I don't know if you got a
chance to see um last Friday night's
[40:44] game was big win for him. Um, the team
is led by seniors Leo Bal Baldi, East G.
[40:53] Wow, I'm gonna butcher your your name,
Eastston, but uh,
[40:59] what's your best attempt there? Gabiten.
Uh, Chris Lmer, Gabe Oberg, Colobby
[41:06] O'Brien, and Hadley Rasmusen. I need to
learn Eastston's name because um, he had
[41:12] a heck of a game on Friday night. So, if
you haven't seen them, come on out and
[41:16] cheer them on this Friday at homecoming.
Volleyball. Um, they're kind of
[41:22] rebuilding because of how many seniors
they had last year. Um, but they've
[41:26] they've had some good wins and they're
showing improvement. So, seniors this
[41:31] year, Ava Caruso, uh, Genevie Thomas,
Abby Wartley, and then they have junior
[41:38] Kylie McNau. So, I've seen seen some
some good stuff from the volleyball
[41:43] team. In middle school, boys soccer is
underway. Cross country football also
[41:49] doing fantastic. Um they had a a big win
over Clear Creek and Haxton. And so um I
[41:56] think they take on their rival Lions is
coming up. So that'll be a big one.
[42:01] Swimming and diving uh has been pretty
successful as well. Volleyball earns has
[42:06] had a couple big wins and then they are
going to host the Ascent Classic on
[42:11] Friday as part of homecoming. So, it's
it's been a good fall. Um, I think Nolan
[42:16] has been um, you know, most pleased with
how people chip in and when we've got a
[42:22] game, it takes a lot of folks and I I
heard teachers announcing names at the
[42:26] soccer game. They did a much better job
than me. So, uh, those names throw me
[42:31] off. But yeah, so far um, Bobcat sports
are on the up and up.
[42:37] » Thank you. Any questions? Brenda?
Brenda, questions?
[42:42] » No, thank you.
>> All right, moving on to agenda item 43,
[42:47] board reports. I have nothing to report
this week. Franco, what about you? Okay,
[42:52] Brenda, do you have anything?
>> Nothing to report.
[42:55] » All right,
moving on to agenda item five, consent
[42:58] agenda. There are four items on the
consent agenda this evening. 51, board
[43:03] meeting minutes from August 4th, 2026
and August 19th, 2026. 52, super
[43:08] September personnel list. 53 2026 2027
District Advisory and Accountability
[43:14] Charges. 54 2026 2027 District Advisory
and Accountability Committee membership.
[43:20] Are there any items a board member would
like to pull from the consent agenda for
[43:24] discussion prior to approval of the
consent agenda?
[43:27] No. Seeing none, is there a motion and a
second to approve the consent agenda?
[43:32] » I approve theess assessment agenda.
>> I second.
[43:42] We have a motion and second. Chris,
please conduct a board roll call.
[43:46] » Director Fere,
>> I.
[43:47] » Director Reurski,
>> I.
[43:49] » Director Wis
>> I.
[43:52] » The I vote. Consent agenda is approved.
Moving on to agenda item six, action
[43:56] items. There are no action items this
evening. Moving on to agenda item seven,
[44:02] upcoming meetings. Uh our board the next
work session is October 6, 2026 at 3:30
[44:08] p.m. at the admin building. Moving on to
agenda item 8, adjournment. Is there a
[44:13] board member would like to make a motion
to adjurnn?
[44:15] » I have a motion to adjurnn.
>> Is there a second?
[44:18] » Second.
>> All right, we're adjourned, everyone.
[44:21] Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[44:24] » Hope you get feeling better, Brenda.
>> Thank you. And they're