[0:34] I'd like to call to order this regular

[0:37] meeting of the Board of Education here

[0:39] at Westminster Public Schools the time

[0:41] is 633 Veronica can you please call roll

[0:46] mr. Treacher yes

[0:48] mr. David deck here mr. math here mr.

[0:51] McCoy

[0:52] present mr. Valenti present all righty

[0:55] at this time we will do the Pledge of

[0:57] Allegiance and I believe we have

[0:58] students from Sunset Elementary Sunset

[1:01] Ridge Elementary and fm day maybe just

[1:04] one student I'll stand with you

[1:23] [Music]

[1:37] [Applause]

[1:45] very nice Thank You grant alright moving

[1:53] on we have the agenda approval motion

[1:58] mr. president I moved the Board of

[2:01] Education approved the proposed agenda

[2:02] for the regular meeting dated November

[2:04] 27 2018 second we have a motion in

[2:08] second any comments no comments or

[2:11] questions Veronica please pull the board

[2:13] mr. chancho yes mr. david icke

[2:16] hi mr. math aye mr. McCoy aye mr.

[2:20] Valenti aye

[2:21] fantastic we have some outstanding

[2:23] minutes mr. president I move the Board

[2:28] of Education approved the regular board

[2:29] meeting minutes dated October 16 second

[2:33] we have a motion and second any comments

[2:36] questions none Veronica please pull the

[2:40] board mr. Treacher yes mr. David deck hi

[2:43] mr. math all right mr. McCoy mr. Valenti

[2:47] aye

[2:47] all right we have one more set of

[2:49] minutes mr. president they moved the

[2:51] Board of Education approved the

[2:53] executive session and study session

[2:55] meeting minutes dated October 16 2018

[2:58] second we have a motion a second any

[3:01] comments no comments Veronica please

[3:03] pull the board mr. Tonko

[3:06] yes mr. David deck hi mr. math all right

[3:09] mr. McCoy

[3:10] aye mr. Valenti I antastic we're moving

[3:14] dr. pamela swanson we have your

[3:16] superintendent report okay good evening

[3:19] mr. president members of the board I

[3:22] hope you and everyone else in the

[3:25] community had a nice Thanksgiving and

[3:26] whether you stayed at home and family

[3:28] and friends came to you or you traveled

[3:30] somewhere else I think it's so important

[3:33] to get some time to reflect on what is

[3:34] important and appreciate what we have to

[3:37] be thankful for in our lives one thing

[3:39] this community has to be grateful for is

[3:42] a Board of Education who works

[3:45] tirelessly to help its community and in

[3:47] particular the children of Westminster

[3:50] public

[3:51] and I'm proud to announce we have known

[3:53] for a little while but now people across

[3:56] the state will know it as well that the

[3:58] Colorado Association of School Boards

[4:00] has named our Board of Education

[4:03] basically the board of the year the

[4:05] Allstate Awards so here here

[4:08] [Applause]

[4:32] and we've known that you've been air

[4:37] bored of the year for many years with

[4:39] courageous leadership but basically what

[4:41] this award stands for is really

[4:44] exercising the best principles of

[4:47] governance and leadership while

[4:49] promoting excellence in public education

[4:51] I have a side note an anecdote the Cosby

[4:55] board and Ryan I know you're on The

[4:56] Cosby Board it's a pretty big board and

[4:58] usually there's just a whole lot of

[5:02] nominations and people saying well this

[5:05] board should really get it for this

[5:06] reason or this for this reason but we've

[5:08] been told hands-down across the board

[5:10] and all the committee's that this was

[5:12] vetted through that there was no

[5:14] question it was Westminster Public

[5:15] Schools Board of Education so you should

[5:17] be really proud of that because that's

[5:20] just an extra feather in your cap and I

[5:22] know next week in Colorado Springs you

[5:25] will receive the official award but

[5:27] tonight at the end of the business

[5:29] meeting before we head into study

[5:30] session we do have some cake and punch

[5:33] that will be in the hallway and I hope

[5:34] everybody in the room can can

[5:36] congratulate our board and have a slice

[5:39] of cake on your way out the door tonight

[5:40] if you're if you're able to stay with us

[5:43] as I said about the award what it was

[5:47] for the one thing I didn't mention is

[5:49] that it also comes with a $2,500 award

[5:53] to the Board of Education to go to a

[5:55] program of your choice or programs of

[5:58] your choice and so just to know with all

[6:00] these people in the audience tonight

[6:02] don't be surprised at the cake table if

[6:04] you get lobbied okay because I see a lot

[6:06] of principals up there so they're all

[6:08] gonna be telling you what you need to be

[6:09] spending that money on all right it was

[6:12] three weeks ago tonight moving on that

[6:15] the voters of Westminster public school

[6:17] gave their support to YES on 4a

[6:19] approving our nine point nine million

[6:21] dollar mill levy override the initial

[6:24] returns showed a very close vote kind of

[6:27] a nail-biter but by the time all the

[6:29] votes were counted YES on for a won by a

[6:32] margin of more than 1400 votes it was

[6:35] about 53% to 47% and the county will be

[6:39] conducting the canvass

[6:41] to finalize votes and we will have

[6:43] official numbers signed by the County

[6:46] elections canvas board at our next

[6:48] meeting and we also want to recognize

[6:50] some special people I know a couple are

[6:52] in the audience tonight but we want to

[6:54] do it right at the December meeting and

[6:57] thank people who really carried carried

[7:00] a lot of leadership during that election

[7:01] season so I'd like to thank the voters

[7:04] of our community for placing their trust

[7:06] in us to use resources wisely and

[7:09] acknowledge the people who made the

[7:10] phone calls knocked on the doors donated

[7:13] money to the campaign and talk to their

[7:15] neighbors this was a very important

[7:17] result for the district and will allow

[7:19] the school district to move forward with

[7:22] many priority projects and as you know

[7:26] statewide the voters rejected the

[7:28] statewide ballot initiative amendment 73

[7:32] so we're very very happy that once again

[7:35] Westminster is a self-reliant community

[7:38] and takes care of its own and it is

[7:41] expected this year that lawmakers will

[7:43] once again try to fix the school finance

[7:45] act and we're going to continue to be

[7:47] strong advocates for more equity in the

[7:49] distribution of money and I'll keep you

[7:51] posted on that

[7:52] and finally speaking of government I'm

[7:58] proud to say that the Colorado State

[8:00] Board of Education agreed to hold off on

[8:02] any changes to the calculations used in

[8:05] setting school and district performance

[8:07] frameworks for the 2019 year the

[8:10] Colorado Department of Education had

[8:12] proposed changes earlier in October at

[8:15] their meeting with very little input

[8:17] from educators across the state and we

[8:20] believe that that would have had it

[8:22] would have resulted in unintended

[8:23] negative consequences so our district

[8:26] was the first to really grasp the

[8:28] implications of these changes and in the

[8:30] end we rallied significant opposition to

[8:33] the proposal and most of the state

[8:35] superintendents yours truly included

[8:38] signed a letter about our position and I

[8:42] believe that helped carry the day so at

[8:44] the meeting where we were a couple of

[8:46] weeks ago the the recommendation from

[8:50] CDE had changed to keep things stable

[8:53] for

[8:54] this coming year and so I think that's a

[8:56] real win for all of us across the state

[9:00] all districts but certainly Westminster

[9:02] public schools and I think we carried a

[9:04] lot of credibility in that argument

[9:06] because even with the obstacles of the

[9:09] accountability system in Colorado we had

[9:12] exited the clock earlier this year and

[9:15] finally because this is the season of

[9:18] gratitude and giving we have invited the

[9:22] press to an event tomorrow and I see

[9:25] Heather up there to Tennison Knowles

[9:27] where students are making posters of

[9:29] support and solidarity for kids who lost

[9:33] their school in the Paradise fire in

[9:35] California and tennyson's principal

[9:38] Heather is a good friend I believe of a

[9:41] teacher right at the school and I think

[9:43] the teacher lost her home too is that

[9:44] correct yeah as well and I just think

[9:47] that's a lot of love and support to to

[9:50] teach our kids early on about the power

[9:52] and giving back and caring about

[9:54] something bigger than themselves and so

[9:56] congratulations to tennis and those and

[9:58] we look forward to some good press

[9:59] tomorrow and that concludes my report

[10:02] thank you dr. Swanson any questions or

[10:06] comments for dr. Swanson one comment

[10:11] she's being rather humble she led the

[10:14] charge with the state superintendents to

[10:18] tell the state that they needed to keep

[10:22] things as is and with the help of dr.

[10:26] Granum and getting very close to being

[10:29] dr. Jenna gotto those three led the

[10:32] charge along with the rest of their team

[10:35] and rallied the superintendent's

[10:37] otherwise this is something the state

[10:39] would have let fly under the radar and

[10:43] everybody would have felt the very

[10:45] adverse consequences from from a

[10:48] preschooler all the way up to high

[10:50] schooler and every every teacher and

[10:52] staff member in the state of Colorado so

[10:55] a big debt of gratitude goes to the rep

[10:57] for that thank you for that

[11:04] yes I remember getting that phone call

[11:06] and saying Ryan you need to go talk to

[11:07] Cosby right now that was good can we

[11:11] address the the the gift or whatever

[11:14] this that's blocking Max's face from the

[11:16] rest of the audience before we get to

[11:18] board comments because it's a it's it's

[11:21] bothering me a little bit do you know

[11:27] you that's a no I do I would and I defer

[11:30] to my senior board member all right it's

[11:35] addressed to the Board of Education and

[11:38] it says learn how to open envelopes and

[11:46] no I'm not going to do a Kanye West

[11:49] Minster Board of Education I knew you'd

[11:52] get it done congratulations Anita for

[11:55] those of you who don't know that's Anita

[11:57] now banning formally Roberts who is a

[12:00] retired teacher from our district and

[12:02] when she saw the news

[12:04] that the district was off the clock she

[12:08] was just elated while going through some

[12:10] of her own personal issues keep her in

[12:14] your prayers and stepson who lost a home

[12:17] in that fire in paradise she said do you

[12:20] know order a nice flower arrangement and

[12:23] send it to the board and send me the

[12:25] bills and just

[12:33] [Music]

[12:37] and she's been a great supporter a good

[12:41] friend of yours Dena long time found the

[12:46] foundation - prior to her leaving who's

[12:48] the vice president yeah she her heart is

[12:52] always didn't even though a marriage

[12:56] last year - an old high-school flame

[12:59] took her to Washington she still stays

[13:04] up with everything around awesome nice I

[13:07] was very kind of her alright moving on

[13:09] to board discussion board reports board

[13:15] do you have anything to add it seems

[13:18] like we've met in like summer break that

[13:23] we had the whole we've had the whole

[13:24] month off I think but we haven't just a

[13:28] couple of things the Veterans Day

[13:31] celebration that I attended it at Flynn

[13:34] it's always a wonderful event in it it

[13:37] was again done very very well and one of

[13:41] my one of my favorites so hats off to

[13:46] the folks at blend for a really nice day

[13:52] congratulations to to the team who

[13:55] helped pass our our bond and excuse me

[13:59] our mill levy that was really a as we

[14:03] said many many times it was the best run

[14:07] campaign since the early 90s

[14:09] and really from finally the board took a

[14:14] step back and that dedicated parents and

[14:17] Friends of the district run things and

[14:19] they did a spectacular job so thank you

[14:22] very much for that

[14:23] Christine Nick Amanda Fran Rosie Matt

[14:27] Duran I'm sure I'm leaving out a whole

[14:30] bunch but it was just a job well done

[14:34] and maxed to your point and you started

[14:38] saying this back in I think May I

[14:40] thought I remember it during graduation

[14:43] that if not sooner

[14:46] how

[14:46] you notice just a change in the district

[14:49] from staff and teachers and parents and

[14:53] neighbors that you talk to and and you

[14:56] started talking about that in in May and

[14:58] sure enough you you had it pegged from the get-go so thanks for the

[15:04] positive vibe you you were one of the

[15:06] early early on who said let's let's do

[15:09] this

[15:10] so thank you and and Ryan - thanks for

[15:12] your leadership it it was really a job

[15:15] well done

[15:16] I think what I want to add and we talk

[15:20] about this all the time is it's it's the

[15:22] people who grew up in this district I

[15:24] was excited to see and Graaf there you

[15:28] know I grew up in Ann's neighborhood but

[15:30] it was also great to see Christine's

[15:32] parents who for many many years were in

[15:35] the district Christine went through this

[15:37] district her husband did too and it's

[15:39] for us it's important to get these

[15:41] people back here and helping us in our

[15:43] district because when we go out and in

[15:46] to our community and do that and people

[15:48] see and you have somebody walk up and

[15:50] says I graduated from the school and my

[15:52] kids go to the school now and I'm I'm

[15:54] indebted in to this district to work and

[15:56] help this district I think that goes a

[15:58] long way in getting these votes and I

[16:00] don't know was this one of the better

[16:03] elections we've had well we have it

[16:06] passed the mill levy since 2002 so this

[16:09] was a long time coming and also to win

[16:13] by almost 1500 votes is quite a

[16:16] statement of confidence I believe it try

[16:18] to imagine we did not pass any state tax

[16:21] or any increase in anything so the

[16:23] people basically talked and said we

[16:26] don't want any tax state tax to pass but

[16:28] we want all the local ones most of our

[16:30] local taxes passed so that's telling a

[16:33] lot about our community saying we want

[16:34] to keep it local we want to make sure

[16:36] that we work with our schools in our

[16:38] special districts fire districts and

[16:40] everything so great and my hats off

[16:43] Christine to everybody who helped you

[16:46] know like Ken said who helped in this

[16:48] and it it again reassures us that we

[16:50] have a great community that we we live

[16:53] in we work in and we have our school

[16:56] district here so thank you and one thing

[16:58] I had

[17:00] there was a lot of talk before the

[17:02] election that amendment that was have

[17:06] helped education on the state level was

[17:07] actually interfering with passage of our

[17:09] local mill levy increase and as you saw

[17:12] that went down in flames by about 20

[17:14] percent so it was really nice to again

[17:17] the people that were working on this -

[17:19] drove at home that this was about our

[17:20] community and our people so thanks again

[17:23] to all of you who did that

[17:25] my other mention again like since we've

[17:27] been off for a month it's hard to

[17:28] remember but the fall play that was held

[17:31] here at the high school was a great

[17:32] production I got to see the actually the

[17:35] middle school matinee cuz I was out of

[17:37] town for the rest of it but it was none

[17:39] of the black box

[17:40] terrific job can't wait to see what what

[17:42] they're doing in the spring so I just

[17:44] wanted to give kudos to that yeah I went

[17:48] one night also and I really well-done I

[17:51] enjoyed it very much

[17:53] do you know anything just to echo really

[17:57] a lot of what max said this was an

[17:59] election about people saying they want

[18:02] their money to stay in their communities

[18:03] where the decisions are made not the

[18:06] state I did not support amendment 73

[18:11] personally because it was a very bad

[18:14] amendment it wasn't about money for

[18:16] education there were so many poison

[18:19] pills in it that it actually was

[18:22] probably going to wind up costing

[18:23] districts money and I think the voters

[18:25] saw through that you know maybe you get

[18:29] another million and a half dollars the

[18:30] problem is they're gonna tell you where

[18:32] you have to spend two million and that's

[18:35] not right so this was a great it was a

[18:40] great victory for local control the

[18:43] election certainly brought a referendum

[18:45] against Washington particularly 1600

[18:50] Pennsylvania Avenue we'll see what

[18:52] happens next I hope the two sides can

[18:55] figure out how to get along because

[18:57] there's about four and I too meant saw

[19:03] the play and I tend not to like to be in

[19:06] the de box I have issues being in

[19:09] enclosed spaces but the kids were more

[19:12] a bowl it was very different it was 16

[19:14] and 10 I believe was the I love it there

[19:17] was a series of vignettes of really high

[19:20] school life and it was very hard acting

[19:25] because of what they had to do

[19:27] particularly the young lady who was

[19:30] having a conversation with her dog and

[19:34] there was no actual dog she was kind of

[19:37] miming it and she did a fantastic job

[19:39] our new theater director did a fantastic

[19:41] job and it was not one that had the

[19:45] biggest marquee billing but it had good

[19:48] attendance they tried some different

[19:50] things with different times and that

[19:51] brought in middle schoolers and it was

[19:53] really it was really a very positive event yesterday we had our

[20:00] monthly Education Foundation meeting and

[20:04] things are going alright

[20:06] all organizations in the u.s. right now

[20:08] are watching their portfolios very

[20:11] quickly or very closely excuse me

[20:14] because stocks bonds everything is in a

[20:18] bit of flux so we have good counsel and

[20:23] you know we're well positioned it was

[20:26] nice to walk into the room and give the

[20:27] report and say you know we had a good

[20:29] month in the district so thank you to

[20:35] everybody and we also part of why you

[20:38] haven't seen us for a while as we

[20:40] attended the annual ina call conference

[20:42] in Nashville and a lot of great

[20:47] collaboration from people all over the

[20:49] United States and Canada and a couple

[20:51] other parts of Europe I believe this is

[20:54] the largest organization where they

[20:57] discussed blended learning we had a team

[21:01] that was presenting Jenny Jenny got Oh

[21:03] dr. grant um a couple of our principals

[21:06] and honestly of all the sessions I

[21:10] attended I attended about a dozen I

[21:12] think it was the hottest room everybody

[21:15] was very very active very inquisitive

[21:19] and even after the session many people

[21:22] stayed

[21:23] and we're asking our team more and more

[21:25] questions but it's very clear that

[21:28] competency-based style of education is

[21:32] the future of Education and we're well

[21:35] ahead of that curve and the biggest

[21:37] takeaway I had was one of the the

[21:41] morning longer sessions it was actually

[21:45] somebody who was not an educator but she

[21:47] came from the medical industry and now

[21:49] works in education the number one thing

[21:54] in education is growth and we need to

[21:57] continue to hammer that with the state

[21:59] especially when you're dealing with

[22:03] persons who have any sort of challenges

[22:06] be they poverty language barriers social

[22:10] issues other trauma all of that it's

[22:13] growth if you try to measure somebody by

[22:18] what they can achieve at a set point in

[22:21] time as opposed to when they're ready to

[22:23] achieve it you'll absolutely achieve

[22:25] failure and that's not acceptable

[22:27] and that's why we are very big

[22:29] proponents of growth in this district

[22:31] and will continue to push the state we

[22:34] just have to educate them there they're

[22:35] a little behind where we're at but we'll

[22:37] get them there so that's all I have

[22:39] thank you I think it'd be remiss for us

[22:42] not to acknowledge that

[22:43] chancho restaurant for all the

[22:46] volunteers for who supported the mill

[22:48] and who are out there even when we told

[22:50] Don and Donna not to give us any food

[22:52] that hey we'll get through this meeting

[22:54] without anything they they would show up

[22:56] with food and feeding the hungry

[22:57] volunteers and we appreciate that and

[23:01] everyone this is where I will I will

[23:04] plug them visit their restaurant because

[23:05] they didn't have to support us that way

[23:07] and they didn't have to support the

[23:09] volunteers and continue to move that

[23:10] down the line so it's nice to have a

[23:12] family a community restaurant that

[23:15] supports local issues and so that I

[23:17] appreciate that greatly I do want to

[23:21] acknowledge the board in regards to the award we're receiving I say we're

[23:26] receiving that because it's a it's a

[23:27] district award I think we all agree with

[23:29] that it's a community award even though

[23:31] the five of us get to stand up on stage

[23:33] and hold that it's because of our

[23:34] teachers

[23:35] our staff our administration who make us

[23:38] look good and you've done a lot of work

[23:41] and that doesn't go unrecognized and

[23:42] this board appreciates everything that

[23:45] all of you have done III think that's

[23:47] there's one of the reasons why we were

[23:48] able to pass this mill as well there was

[23:51] a lot of great energy in the community

[23:54] people want to support education in our

[23:58] community and that was that was clear when we were knocking on

[24:02] doors and talking to community members

[24:03] and you know you're always gonna get

[24:05] those individuals who said you know a

[24:07] number of them who didn't want to

[24:08] support any tax increases ever and

[24:10] that's okay but they know that we're

[24:12] doing good things in this district and I

[24:14] think all of you for that

[24:15] I would like to also acknowledge and I

[24:17] know we're doing it in December but

[24:18] praise in public the Martinez family for

[24:22] all your support

[24:23] grant especially you I saw you draw on a

[24:26] lot of those postcards man they look

[24:28] good I think I got yours I was looking

[24:31] for a zombie eatin the for a but but I

[24:34] got something else I'm not sure what it

[24:35] was but I'll talk to your principal

[24:37] about your art program the also again

[24:42] the chancho family again all of you were

[24:44] there in full force really appreciate

[24:46] that and and seeing you in every every

[24:48] meeting and walking that was great also

[24:51] the case bolts case bolts their

[24:54] daughters about to graduate and move on

[24:56] and as far as a family member of theirs

[25:00] seeing the impact of this funding that

[25:03] will not happen with them and so the

[25:05] fact that they were there knowing that

[25:06] both of their children are out of the

[25:07] district and was still championing this

[25:09] district that's something that was

[25:11] pretty amazing and and they wanted to

[25:12] make sure that they were part of that so

[25:14] that's that's something that was that

[25:15] was exciting I'd also like to

[25:17] acknowledge my brother Nick McCoy he's a

[25:20] little bit less better-looking than I am

[25:22] but that's all right that's all

[25:23] subjective no but Nick and Nick was

[25:27] voluntold bike in that he was going to

[25:29] be one of the co-chairs of this

[25:30] committee and Nick if you know him has a

[25:33] really hard time telling anyone no and

[25:35] he took it and he he led with such

[25:38] compassion and and grace and I say grace

[25:41] because there were times where I knew he

[25:43] wanted to reach across and strangle his

[25:45] little brother for ideas or a different

[25:46] insight that we wanted to move forward with but but the reality

[25:50] is you know Nick saw the bigger picture

[25:52] of what this was going to accomplish for the kids of the district and so

[25:55] thank all of you for that and thank you

[25:58] district this is going to be a fun a few

[26:01] years to come and it'll be a lot more

[26:03] work on the board and future boards

[26:05] plate of looking at how these funds are

[26:08] disbursed and mr. per bone

[26:10] he asked for a document the sheath that

[26:13] we were passing out that does the

[26:14] breakdown of how we're spending the

[26:15] funds and that is available online but

[26:18] I'll make sure that we get that out

[26:19] there because we do want it's the

[26:20] community needs to be involved in every

[26:22] aspect of education and that means they

[26:26] need to see how we spend our money that

[26:27] means that they need to take a moment

[26:29] and hold us accountable as a board as

[26:31] well and I think that's important and we

[26:33] expect that and we respect that and so I

[26:35] want to make sure that that that's

[26:37] communicated as well because as elected

[26:39] officials you got to crack the whip on

[26:41] us if we get out of line so make sure

[26:43] you do that so thank you all right

[26:47] audience comments Veronica we don't have

[26:51] any comments no comments all right

[26:53] moving on to my favorite part of every

[26:55] board meeting is the educational reports

[26:58] we have Sunset Ridge elementary with dr.

[27:01] Oliver Grinham please introduce our

[27:04] speaker mr. president members of the

[27:07] board and dr. Swanson tonight represents

[27:10] the fifth round of school presentations

[27:12] regarding achievement results

[27:13] improvement efforts and goal commitments

[27:15] for the 2018-19 school year and by the

[27:18] way next week marks the beginning of our

[27:21] scantron testing were by the beginning

[27:24] of January we will have a progress check

[27:26] in terms of year two in our management

[27:27] pathway plan in preparation for

[27:30] tonight's presentations you've already

[27:31] received in your board packet an

[27:33] executive summary about each school that

[27:34] describes its progress and improvement

[27:36] to date as well as data regarding

[27:38] student and staff demographics along

[27:40] with achievement data now we will hear

[27:42] from Sunset Ridge elementary school led

[27:44] by principal Roger Verdean who is

[27:46] current in his fourteenth year as

[27:48] principal principal 15 even better

[27:52] principal Dean has been at Sunset Ridge

[27:55] that entire time which is a record for

[27:58] us in this millennium

[28:01] are deserving and WPS silvadene was an

[28:06] elementary school assistant principal

[28:07] for three years and an elementary

[28:09] classroom teacher for nine years in

[28:10] Aurora Public Schools one thing you may

[28:13] not know about principal Verdean is that

[28:15] he served as a volunteer in the Peace

[28:16] Corps for three years as a community

[28:18] developer and an agricultural extension

[28:20] agent in Cape Verde West Africa and I

[28:24] know he's looking forward to sharing his

[28:26] school's achievements story tonight

[28:27] principal Verdean please tell your story

[28:37] mr. president members of the board and

[28:40] dr. Swanson thank you for giving me the

[28:43] opportunity to share with you our story

[28:45] at Sunset Ridge a year ago I presented

[28:50] to the Board of Education and I shared a

[28:53] video with you highlighting the

[28:54] commitments our school staff had made to

[28:57] each other to our students into our

[28:58] community before I shared the result of

[29:01] our work last year I want to review some

[29:03] of those commitments and assure you that

[29:06] those are ongoing commitments and they

[29:09] guide our work this school year we

[29:11] continue to work hard to deepen our

[29:13] understandings of CMOS English language

[29:15] arts and math tests we have aligned our

[29:18] expectations with CMOS rubrics and

[29:21] lessons are created using the CMOS

[29:24] performance descriptors we routinely

[29:26] consider the depth of knowledge when

[29:29] constructing tasks and questions to

[29:31] challenge our students thinking we

[29:33] strategically provide intervention

[29:35] support for our students based on data

[29:39] students are regrouped to ensure

[29:41] individual learning needs are met

[29:44] goal-setting and action planning are

[29:47] routine processes at Sunset Ridge along

[29:50] the way we look for ways to recognize

[29:53] and celebrate our successes every day we

[30:00] look for intriguing ways to engage our

[30:02] students in their own learning we have

[30:05] had great feedback from our kagan

[30:07] trainings and Keg instructions are

[30:09] routinely observed in our classrooms we

[30:12] definitely have high student engagement

[30:14] since orig our staff does a great job of

[30:17] working together and prefers

[30:19] professional learning communities staff

[30:21] members meet regularly to plan lessons

[30:24] and share ideas every month professional

[30:27] learning teams shared data with me

[30:29] highlighting how our students are

[30:31] performing in reading writing and math

[30:34] in order to learn from each other

[30:36] staff members take advantage of

[30:38] opportunities to visit each other's

[30:40] classrooms one key to our success is

[30:46] that Sunset Ridge parents are shown ways

[30:48] to help their children at home every

[30:51] student has a home reading goal and a

[30:53] home math goal our parents are invited

[30:56] and encouraged to attend parent

[30:58] engagement events events like our Summer

[31:00] Bridge challenge and math game night are

[31:03] very popular with our families

[31:05] we also encourage our parents to use

[31:08] empower to monitor the progress of their

[31:11] children I am happy to report that

[31:17] Sunset Ridge moved back into the

[31:19] performance category for the 2018 2019

[31:22] school year we earned a total of 54

[31:25] point 3 out of a possible 100 points for

[31:28] academic achievement we earned the

[31:31] approaching expectations rating for

[31:34] academic growth we earned the meets

[31:36] expectation rating we tested all of our

[31:39] 3rd through 5th grade students and we

[31:41] met expectation for accountability

[31:44] participation in the fall of 2017 dr.

[31:49] Swanson set a performance challenge for

[31:51] all schools Sunset Ridge performance

[31:53] challenge goals for ela and math were

[31:56] set at 725 Scale score points this fall

[32:00] our staff was very excited to celebrate

[32:02] our school results in math we achieved

[32:05] 725 point 8 points and in ela we scored

[32:10] 729 point to point I am very happy to

[32:15] report that Sunset Ridge met the 2018

[32:18] performance challenge for ela and math

[32:21] achievement on this slide you can see

[32:26] the data trend for cents

[32:28] Ridge for the past four years these are

[32:31] the four years of park and sea mass

[32:33] testing on the English Language Arts

[32:35] this year we had an eight-point increase

[32:38] for students meeting or exceeding

[32:40] expectations we also posted our highest

[32:43] growth percentile for math the 52nd

[32:46] percentile this represents a 10

[32:48] percentage point increase from 2017 we

[32:54] are very proud of all of our students

[32:56] here you can see how some of our student

[32:59] groups perform last year on see mass

[33:01] compared to performance in 2017 growth

[33:05] in math from each one of our

[33:07] disaggregated groups equalled or

[33:09] exceeded the state average for all

[33:11] students I am very proud of the history

[33:17] of performance at Center Ridge I give

[33:20] all credit for our success to our

[33:22] teachers staff members students and

[33:25] community some of the sunset ridge staff

[33:28] members are here tonight on this slide I

[33:34] am sharing the 7 year history of state

[33:36] accreditation ratings for Sunset Ridge I

[33:41] am also sharing the accountability

[33:43] ratings for two Adams 12 schools that

[33:46] are located within a mile radius of

[33:49] Sunset Ridge we share a northern border

[33:56] with Rocky Mountain elementary school

[33:59] and we share an eastern border with

[34:04] federal Heights Elementary School as you

[34:08] can see Sunset Ridge has a distinguished

[34:11] reputation for producing very positive

[34:14] outcomes for students over many years we

[34:19] have set Simas goals for the 2018-2019

[34:23] school year for math we set a goal for

[34:27] 728 scaled score points with a growth

[34:30] percentile in the 50 at the 55th

[34:33] percentile and for ela 731 is our goal

[34:38] for achievement in ela with a growth

[34:41] percent

[34:42] gholem in the 55th percentile and for

[34:44] science we've set a goal of 532 scaled

[34:48] score points as part of our unified

[34:52] improvement plan we have identified a pathway to support our

[34:57] continued success in writing our focus

[35:00] for primary grades is guided by right

[35:03] from the beginning and beyond and our

[35:05] focus for intermediate grades is driven

[35:06] by the seem a scoring guides for writing

[35:09] in reading our focus for primary is

[35:12] dibbles early learners literacy skill

[35:14] attainment in our intermediate grades we

[35:17] are using the Marzano assessment items

[35:19] for English language arts to confirm our

[35:22] students mastery of reading skills in

[35:24] math we have been learning about seven

[35:27] high yield maths routines to strengthen

[35:31] our students number sense our wrote our

[35:34] works with our staff to promote

[35:35] problem-solving strategies and math

[35:38] critical thinking we have 42 students

[35:41] involved in after-school tutoring four

[35:43] days a week in reading and math we have

[35:49] also identified other specific actions

[35:52] that are aligned to our unified

[35:53] improvement plan goals I will let you

[35:56] read the highlights I would like to

[36:03] conclude my report with a few comments

[36:05] on our new social skills initiative

[36:07] random acts of kindness at Sunset Ridge

[36:14] we are all about showing kindness to

[36:17] each other using resources from the

[36:20] random acts of kindness foundation our

[36:22] teachers explicitly teach students how

[36:25] to be kind to each other and the

[36:27] importance of showing kindness to

[36:29] everyone

[36:31] kindness is one of those happiness

[36:34] paradoxes meaning we become happier by

[36:37] showing other people and making other

[36:40] people happy showing and receiving

[36:42] kindness has a positive effect upon

[36:45] personal relationships leads to better

[36:48] health and research shows boosts

[36:51] performance through a series of levelled

[36:54] lessons

[36:55] rich students are learning 12 kindness

[36:58] concepts we give our students many

[37:00] opportunities to apply these kindness

[37:02] concepts and we celebrate with our

[37:04] students when we notice expressions of

[37:07] kindness an example of our school-wide

[37:12] random acts of kindness project is our

[37:15] Cubs program cub stands for children

[37:18] understanding buddy strength every

[37:21] primary classroom at Sunset Ridge is

[37:23] buddied with an intermediate classroom

[37:25] through Cubs our students get the

[37:28] opportunity to share kindness with each

[37:30] other while working together to form

[37:33] positive relationships teachers and

[37:37] students are doing a great job sharing

[37:40] kindness across our school I am

[37:43] confident that this work will have

[37:45] lasting effects on all of us thank you

[37:50] again for the opportunity to share with

[37:53] you and this concludes my report thank

[37:57] you

[38:08] [Laughter]

[38:14] I have so many recorder Roger we got so

[38:21] many sink-or-swim questions for you

[38:23] right now yeah okay that was all in love

[38:30] yeah that was our that was our support

[38:33] for you you know I will tell you you're

[38:36] the you're the one school ongoing and I

[38:38] even knew this before I joined the board

[38:40] through your leadership and your staff

[38:42] there that I've never really had to

[38:44] worry about sunset I've always thought

[38:46] so you guys as a as a pillar of

[38:48] excellence and which is why we can have

[38:51] fun with you I think you have a long

[38:53] enough relationship with the McCoy

[38:55] family you can take a jab but but we

[39:01] have a number of questions for you are

[39:02] you ready for this you did tell me in

[39:04] Nashville that that you said Dino and

[39:06] Ryan asked really tough questions all

[39:08] the time so I hope you're ready for this

[39:11] okay Joe Kinney

[39:13] I wonder Max you want to start well

[39:16] first of all I want to say that you're

[39:19] just getting along swimmingly with your

[39:21] staff and students and your scores are

[39:25] really off the deep end this year you

[39:29] know just just keep swimming I

[39:32] appreciate that and say thank you Joe

[39:39] you guys have any question I do have a

[39:41] question so I didn't say you've been

[39:42] there long enough I don't think you're

[39:43] wet-behind-the-ears anymore so so I do

[39:51] have a serious question okay so I'll

[39:52] start there okay when you were talking

[39:55] about parent engagement I've always I

[39:56] mean I've seen the parent engagement and

[39:58] sunset for a long time and you talked

[40:01] about the reading goals that you set

[40:04] with the parents and the students yep

[40:06] as well as the math goals can you go a

[40:07] little bit more in depth sure that for

[40:09] me so all of our students have a reading

[40:12] goal based on if in their classroom and

[40:14] those are based on levels so it could be

[40:16] numbers of minutes to read at home it

[40:18] could be a number of books to read and

[40:21] they need to complete the reading and

[40:24] fill out for whatever the teacher needs

[40:26] in terms of accountability it could

[40:28] the parent signs off or maybe they're

[40:30] filling out a reflection form so each

[40:34] teacher sets their own goal and then we

[40:36] recognize kids at the end of the

[40:38] semester we have it a semester awards

[40:40] assembly and we give out awards for the

[40:42] kids that have met that reading goal and

[40:44] then all classrooms also have a math

[40:46] goal and those math goals are usually

[40:48] based on a math fact fluency goal in

[40:51] terms of being able to memorize and

[40:54] learn their their math facts and every

[40:58] kid will will have one and we have a kid

[41:01] back here grant he can probably even

[41:02] come up here and and hopefully tell you

[41:04] his what his goal is and hopefully he's

[41:06] on his way to meeting that goal because

[41:08] they only have about three weeks left

[41:09] what he was coming down perfect see I

[41:16] have more students like that meeting the

[41:19] goal than we have kids who don't which

[41:21] is awesome so how do you how do you keep

[41:25] this your staff motivated I mean you're

[41:28] in you're out you guys are you guys are

[41:30] moving it forward you're producing it

[41:32] and you know what do you guys do to

[41:33] rally your team um

[41:35] yeah good question you know I think that

[41:38] the the magic had sensibly you know

[41:40] lives within the community that we've

[41:42] built

[41:42] um a lot of a lot of us have been there

[41:45] a long time you know I'm not the only

[41:47] one who's been there you know 15 years

[41:49] there were a number of people that were

[41:51] there when I came and have stayed you

[41:55] know all those 15 years that I've been

[41:56] there and others you know that I heard

[41:58] in my first couple of years that have

[41:59] you know have stayed with us you know

[42:01] and we've stayed together as a team and

[42:03] it it really does you know success

[42:05] breeds success and when you do have a

[42:07] team that that likes to work together

[42:08] and that enjoys you know coming to work

[42:10] together it's easy to stay we don't have

[42:13] a lot of turnover on most the times when

[42:15] I do have turnover you know I have

[42:17] student teachers that we have just

[42:18] either had in the fall or the spring and

[42:21] you know with help of HR you know we're

[42:24] getting them letters of letters of

[42:27] intent Thank You mr. ledee you know very

[42:29] quickly you know we would put a letter

[42:31] of intent on with the teacher in

[42:33] February of last year who's now a first

[42:37] year teacher at Sunset Ridge

[42:39] so Roger you talked about

[42:42] working with the parents to use in power

[42:44] so tell me some obstacles you've met

[42:46] with that is it is it been an an easy

[42:49] challenge or has it been real tough to

[42:50] get the parents to work with it yeah you

[42:53] know it's it's not easy to get our

[42:56] parents always to look at empower our

[42:58] best communicators foreign power or our

[43:01] kids right and if you look at a an

[43:04] empower report that might say how many

[43:06] parents have actually looked at in power

[43:08] it might be pretty small but I can

[43:10] guarantee you that our parents were a

[43:12] lot of times we'll be looking at empower

[43:13] through their kids account because

[43:15] they'll say hey you know what show me

[43:17] what's going on so the kid will lock in

[43:19] login under their account and they can

[43:21] then see what are what they're doing so

[43:24] a lot of our kids share with their

[43:25] students or with their parents you know

[43:27] what they're doing in empower in three

[43:29] four five we have empower screens up a

[43:31] lot you know we have all interactive TVs

[43:34] you know I go into classroom and I see

[43:35] and power up because you know we're

[43:37] looking at it we're entering things in real time so kids do know what's

[43:42] there especially in three four or five

[43:44] that's it's a k-12 it's more of a you

[43:48] know it's more of an uphill challenge

[43:49] but we're working we continually work on

[43:51] you know having our kids take ownership

[43:53] set goals based on things that they need

[43:55] to learn to go to the next higher level

[44:00] any other questions comments yes

[44:05] dibbles what does it stay indicator of

[44:16] basic early literacy skills I can't

[44:24] believe I got that question

[44:26] would you like a more complex no that

[44:29] was as hard as they should could get

[44:30] okay so my whole time really the two

[44:36] there have been two or three constants

[44:38] in the district you Cindy and Shannon

[44:43] and you're just kind of you've stayed

[44:48] put there thank you

[44:52] I surely believe that

[44:55] part of the success comes from having

[44:57] stability and leadership and we're

[45:00] seeing it grow in many of our other

[45:01] schools over time which is really good I

[45:05] think you have a really good cadre of

[45:07] principals in our district right now but

[45:11] you're often called upon to mentor new

[45:15] and incoming principals what are some of

[45:20] the lessons you have for them and what

[45:22] are some of the things you're learning

[45:23] from them so you know when you're when

[45:26] you're a new principal you you're your

[45:29] eyes are wide open and you're looking at

[45:30] what everybody else is doing and it's

[45:32] really easily to get yourself bogged

[45:35] down by saying well I got to do that and

[45:37] I need to do that and I see what they're

[45:38] doing I need to do that and as I was

[45:40] talking to one of my principal

[45:41] colleagues actually the just at the

[45:43] beginning of this meeting I said you got

[45:45] to pick a finite set of things that

[45:46] you're going to do well doing everything

[45:48] at this level you know this thin level

[45:50] is not going to get you anywhere and you

[45:52] just have to know even people like

[45:53] myself who've been doing this for a long

[45:55] time I look at what other people are

[45:57] doing and I say wow I can't believe

[45:58] they're doing this at this level and how

[46:01] well they're doing this over there but I

[46:03] know in my heart and I know what a sense

[46:05] that Ridge you know we're doing these

[46:06] things and we're doing these things

[46:08] really well and you just have to tell

[46:11] yourself and remind yourself that you

[46:12] pick the things that you believe are

[46:14] gonna be the best things for your kids

[46:16] and stick to those guns regardless of

[46:19] what's you know comes this way these

[46:20] things are your constants and the other

[46:23] things if you get to them that's great

[46:25] but don't water stuff down to to do

[46:28] everything no pun intended opponent into

[46:35] it I know that good so so so so other

[46:43] than luxuriating in a body of water what

[46:46] are you doing well I appreciate that

[46:48] thank you no I said what are we doing

[46:57] well you know my staff is behind me here

[47:00] so you know they they know that I'm

[47:02] about data if you saw the first

[47:06] reiteration of this this presentation

[47:08] there wasn't a picture in it right it

[47:10] was all data the whole thing was you

[47:12] know charts and things that I was going

[47:14] to talk about dated because that's what

[47:15] I'm about my staff will know that do

[47:17] they meet with me a lot they share a lot

[47:19] of data with me

[47:20] I believe you know we make data informed

[47:23] decisions you know we look at our data

[47:24] we make changes based on you know how

[47:27] our kids are doing we make changes based

[47:29] on things that we're learning from our

[47:31] data so I think that's one thing that we

[47:33] do well and then we trance we transfer

[47:35] what what I asked my teachers to do to

[47:39] the kids so if I ask our teachers to set

[47:41] goals they're asking our kids to set

[47:43] goals if I'm asking our teachers to do

[47:45] action plans and share data they're

[47:47] doing the same thing so we model I model

[47:49] for them what I expect them to do and

[47:51] model with our kids is that what you

[47:56] were doing in the fool modeling that's

[47:57] what I'm clearly not but then how my

[48:01] picture got taken that's all right any

[48:06] other Roger we appreciate it

[48:08] sunset always a pleasure to hear your

[48:10] report all right great your time thanks

[48:12] for your smiling being a good sport

[48:20] Thank You principal Verdean for being

[48:22] such a good sport and now we will hear

[48:25] from principal and Dibble Dibble Doc's

[48:27] who joined Westminster Public Schools in

[48:29] July of 2015 this is her first year as

[48:32] principal at FM day Elementary School

[48:34] and indeed it is her first year as

[48:36] principal however prior to this school

[48:38] year she served admirably for three

[48:40] years as a culturally and linguistically

[48:42] diverse education coordinator across

[48:44] this district

[48:45] before coming to Westminster Public

[48:47] Schools principal Dibble docks served in

[48:49] Denver Public Schools as an elementary

[48:51] assistant principal an instructional

[48:53] coach and as a classroom teacher

[48:55] principal Dibble Docs has several

[48:57] degrees endorsements and qualifications

[48:59] focused on language learning but an

[49:01] interesting point to note is that

[49:02] principal Dibble Docs is multilingual in

[49:05] english spanish and german and even a

[49:07] bit of japanese thrown in principal

[49:09] Dibble docks please come forward and

[49:11] share FM day's achievement story

[49:19] good evening mr. president members of

[49:22] the board in dr. Swanson someone once

[49:25] said that there's a difference between

[49:27] interest and commitment when you're

[49:29] interested in doing something you do it

[49:32] only when it's convenient but when

[49:34] you're committed to something you accept

[49:37] no excuses and only results as you can

[49:43] see from this picture I committed to

[49:45] teaching even before I could really and

[49:49] every day when I step into fm day I felt

[49:53] honored to work alongside a staff that

[49:55] is dedicated if things get hard

[49:59] I have 355 little faces that remind me

[50:03] the importance and joy of this calling

[50:07] in our school performance framework we

[50:11] rated us improvement but 52.7% we were

[50:16] only 0.3% from being a performance

[50:20] school most of the score came from our

[50:24] growth seventy one point two and the

[50:27] rest 25% came from our from our

[50:29] achievement as you can see FM they

[50:34] experienced exceptional growth this

[50:36] exceeded not only the district's already

[50:39] impressive growth but also the states if

[50:43] you look at our literacy scores you can

[50:45] see there our students grew 60% our

[50:48] English language learners who compose

[50:50] more than half our population scored

[50:55] five percent higher than the district's

[50:57] average and 13 percent higher than the

[51:00] state's average in math we saw some of

[51:04] our biggest growth from the previous

[51:06] year as you can see in 2017 our overall

[51:10] growth was 30% and in 2018 it was fifty

[51:15] five point five that is a 25 point five

[51:19] percentage point gain in just one year

[51:21] in addition our English language

[51:24] learners went from 29 to 57 percent in

[51:28] the same time frame

[51:32] FM Dae has been on an upward Spath in

[51:35] the last three years going from 35.4 in

[51:39] 2016 to 52.7 in 2018 this year were

[51:45] working hard to exceed our performance

[51:47] from previous years even though we don't

[51:51] want to lose momentum and literacy when

[51:54] we analyze her data we saw that math was

[51:57] our biggest challenge we have set our

[51:59] growth goal at 55% to continue that

[52:03] growth across the content areas and

[52:06] we're aiming at increasing our points by

[52:09] 5 so that we can jump into the

[52:11] performance category so how are we doing

[52:14] this we're doing it by embodying the

[52:18] districts learning model at F&A we

[52:24] continue to emphasize kagan strategies

[52:27] and to Marzano and the culturally and

[52:29] linguistically diverse professional

[52:31] development we are focusing on writing

[52:33] clear and concise learning objectives

[52:36] and lessons we have also restructured

[52:40] our response to intervention team which

[52:42] allows us to target supports to students

[52:46] in a more effective manner

[52:49] what CBS any student that is new to our

[52:53] school has his or her records evaluated

[52:56] by our blended team we also continually

[52:59] assess and monitor students not only in

[53:01] English but also in Spanish to ensure

[53:04] correct placement in progress in terms

[53:09] of leadership at FM de we take a shared

[53:12] leadership approach so teachers often

[53:14] facilitate professional development they

[53:17] also mentor their peers they co teach to

[53:20] meet the needs of all our students and

[53:23] with springboard tutoring math wizards

[53:26] and Volunteers of America we give

[53:28] students a more individualized attention

[53:31] partnerships like the one that we have

[53:33] with Denver University allow us to

[53:35] collaborate and share ideas with other

[53:38] schools across the metro area

[53:42] leadership also includes a partnership

[53:44] with our incredible community this

[53:48] featuring oh it's dark was taken at 11

[53:50] o'clock at night in the parking lot of

[53:52] our school as parents were finishing

[53:56] their float for our first ever

[53:57] participation in the homecoming parade

[54:00] and that's the finished product parents

[54:05] also took turns volunteering their time

[54:08] for our book fair for a week

[54:11] they also bet our teachers every day

[54:13] during parent-teacher conferences and

[54:16] also helped provide safe activities for

[54:19] our students during Friday night our

[54:22] community liaison has worked hard at

[54:24] improving continuing education for

[54:26] parents and has also brought enrichment

[54:28] activities for our students our

[54:34] bilingual program is what makes us

[54:37] unique and that's why I love the school

[54:39] in a society that it's becoming

[54:42] increasingly global I've on lingual

[54:44] students are ahead of the game because

[54:46] they can communicate with over 435

[54:49] million people that speak Spanish across

[54:52] the world knowing a second language

[54:56] expands our students horizons it also

[54:59] improves their cognitive abilities as a

[55:03] second language learner myself I know

[55:05] the power and influence of a school that

[55:07] sees cultural differences in knowing a

[55:10] second language as an asset rather than

[55:12] a deficit una persona B lingua Valley

[55:17] por dos loosely translated it means that

[55:20] as a person that knows two languages has

[55:23] two souls to support our students we

[55:26] have bilingual licensed teachers in

[55:29] grades pre-k through 4th grade and we

[55:32] also have a spanish title one

[55:33] interventionist we recently partnered

[55:37] with the global ambassadors program to

[55:39] recruit native speakers speaking Spanish

[55:42] teachers for our school this summer we

[55:46] also train our teachers in no-nonsense

[55:47] nurturing which has happened has cut

[55:50] suspension rates by more than half this

[55:53] year already

[55:55] we also participated in a workshop

[55:57] called trauma-informed practices to

[56:00] provide the emotional support that our

[56:02] students need instead of in terms of

[56:08] learner centered classrooms this year we

[56:10] have we had student-led conferences

[56:12] where students discuss their data

[56:14] notebooks and progress with parents our

[56:17] special-needs students also spend more

[56:19] time in mainstream classrooms and once a

[56:22] month students participate in Friday

[56:24] roundup which showcases students

[56:27] achievement effort in attendance none of

[56:33] us can do great things alone but

[56:35] together we can do wonderful things

[56:37] therefore I would be remiss if I didn't

[56:40] think the learning services director my

[56:43] fellow principals that have offered

[56:45] continuous support the incredible staff

[56:49] that I have and the FMV community for

[56:54] their support thank you thank you

[56:57] questions we'd add your own photo there

[57:02] at the end all right board yep board

[57:06] questions comments a lot of notes being

[57:13] just curious

[57:17] coming into a school that's been through

[57:20] four or five principles in the last ten

[57:23] years and I know there's a couple of big

[57:30] sets of shoes though to fill as well

[57:31] along the way with an upward trend in

[57:39] some volatility also over the years how are you talk to me about picking up

[57:45] or mr. Boucher left off and continuing

[57:49] while also charting your own course and

[57:51] keeping your teachers and families and

[57:54] everybody focused on the bigger picture

[57:56] I think a lot of the credit for that

[57:59] growth is due to the staff because

[58:01] despite the changes in leadership they

[58:04] still manage to be a close-knit

[58:05] community it really feels like a family

[58:08] and I wanted to make sure that when I

[58:10] came into the building I honored their

[58:12] work I also take the leadership the

[58:15] shared leadership approach quite

[58:16] seriously because they are wonderful

[58:19] resources for our students they know our

[58:22] families really well they know what has

[58:24] worked well in the past so just allowing

[58:27] them a platform to share those ideas and

[58:30] discuss them because it's not just a me

[58:33] show we always have to do everything and

[58:35] keep every single decision and we always

[58:38] ask ourselves if that's what's best for

[58:40] students I think what has helped too is

[58:43] that being a second language learner

[58:45] just having that connection with the

[58:48] community has been very helpful because

[58:51] it provides them a voice I have similar

[58:55] backgrounds so that also allows them to

[58:57] come I have a lot of parents that come

[58:59] and just sometimes just want to vent

[59:01] about their personal lives or just

[59:03] things because they can do it in their

[59:05] language and that's something wonderful

[59:06] because it's intimidating to come to a

[59:09] school and not speak the language and

[59:10] talk about the concerns that you have

[59:12] for your child so honoring the strengths

[59:16] that parents bring and knowing what

[59:18] they're capable in making sure that they

[59:20] feel that just like the staff feels like

[59:22] a home that that is also their home

[59:26] I like that comment honoring the

[59:29] strengths that the parents bring like

[59:33] you've been doing this for a long time

[59:35] that was a good comment the like you

[59:39] didn't miss a beat at all no no

[59:43] can you talk you talked about when

[59:46] you're reviewing the results you have

[59:47] blended teams that review the results

[59:51] I'm assuming the data the student data

[59:53] yes and the blended team has been very

[59:55] active not only the blended team the

[59:58] building leadership team and every

[1:00:00] single teacher has taken a leadership

[1:00:02] with ideas so one of the things that

[1:00:05] it's important that when you come in

[1:00:07] into a school as a second language

[1:00:09] learner you already come with something

[1:00:12] you have to look at the student from

[1:00:14] what they already bring in that what

[1:00:16] they're lacking so our blended services

[1:00:18] team we have a psychologist that it's

[1:00:21] is bilingual our speech therapist is

[1:00:23] also bilingual and some of our teacher

[1:00:25] representatives are there so we look at

[1:00:27] their records that they bring either

[1:00:29] from Mexico or Central America to make

[1:00:32] sure that we're not missing anything

[1:00:34] because sometimes the language might not

[1:00:36] be there but the content knowledge is

[1:00:38] there so we take a look at carefully of

[1:00:41] those records we also have interviewed

[1:00:43] parents because parents are our first

[1:00:45] source of knowledge and what has gone

[1:00:48] when students have interrupted schooling

[1:00:51] so we also do that

[1:00:52] our CLD teachers have been incredible

[1:00:55] because they have come through many

[1:00:57] years of records to clean them up to

[1:00:59] make sure that we've had home language

[1:01:02] is correct that we've placing students

[1:01:05] correct that we're taking all tests into

[1:01:08] account you also mentioned there's

[1:01:13] co-teaching transpiring can just give me

[1:01:16] an example of CLD teachers is a great

[1:01:19] example because we 90 95 percent of our

[1:01:24] students are Hispanic and more than half

[1:01:26] close to 60% of our students are second

[1:01:28] language learners so to reach not only

[1:01:30] the students that meet language but we

[1:01:32] also have to monitor the students that

[1:01:34] have been exited out of the program the

[1:01:36] best way to reach them is when they go

[1:01:38] in and participate in plan and co-teach

[1:01:42] with our mainstream classroom teachers

[1:01:45] so that also allows the mainstream

[1:01:47] classroom teachers to build their

[1:01:48] capacity because we have to build that

[1:01:50] capacity and experience what second

[1:01:52] language learners so working as a team

[1:01:54] in approaching every single student not

[1:01:57] only from the language which many of our

[1:01:59] students even though they're English

[1:02:01] speakers need that language but also

[1:02:04] from the content so they do do that in

[1:02:09] our coaches and our title teachers also

[1:02:11] push in into the classrooms instead of

[1:02:14] pulling students out are you still doing

[1:02:20] the immersion program at FM day yes and

[1:02:24] it's a transition on native language

[1:02:26] instruction in the the way it works for

[1:02:30] it to be a true bilingual program we

[1:02:32] would have to also sustain an English

[1:02:34] tract right now we don't have the

[1:02:36] population to do that so we're trying to

[1:02:38] ensure that our transitional native

[1:02:41] language program is solid so that it's

[1:02:44] why we have Spanish speakers in all

[1:02:47] grades all the way through fourth grade

[1:02:48] so with that said we can maybe in the

[1:02:52] future look at really making it up

[1:02:54] bilingual tract but we need for that we

[1:02:56] also need the same amount of students

[1:02:59] that are just English speakers so that

[1:03:02] they can also learn Spanish and our

[1:03:07] students in this transitional native

[1:03:09] language instruction program are exited

[1:03:11] around second grade but we still provide

[1:03:14] support in Spanish when they need it in

[1:03:17] our Title one interventionist can't

[1:03:20] provide also additional reading support

[1:03:22] in Spanish for those students and fourth

[1:03:24] and fifth grade and you said you have a

[1:03:27] parent enrichment programs that's the

[1:03:29] school Canadian we have a wonderful

[1:03:31] community liaison this year and she

[1:03:34] provides nutrition classes she's

[1:03:37] starting at the dance class too

[1:03:38] she provides English classes for our

[1:03:41] parents and that's a great resource

[1:03:44] because I can they meet at the school in

[1:03:46] the morning so I can also talk to

[1:03:48] parents about some of their concerns or

[1:03:49] with coffee with the principal or during

[1:03:52] PTAs so they also expressed some

[1:03:54] interest in for instance things like

[1:03:56] discipline so we'll bring some workshops

[1:03:58] about how to establish good routine set

[1:04:02] at home how to discipline your child how

[1:04:04] to look beyond elementary and into

[1:04:07] college that's great any other questions

[1:04:11] or comments I've one for dr. cranum

[1:04:17] being the oldest member of the board in

[1:04:20] terms of service but certainly not

[1:04:23] nearly as old as mr. Verdean as I recall

[1:04:29] when I was coming in FM de was receiving

[1:04:32] federal pig money were they one of the

[1:04:35] schools or and/or tea dip they were one

[1:04:37] of the five elementary schools that were

[1:04:39] identified in 2010 so they were one of

[1:04:42] those schools yes okay and are there any

[1:04:45] of those monies still

[1:04:47] lingering within those funds were

[1:04:50] expended in the time period allotted for

[1:04:51] that particular grant and it looks like

[1:04:54] well yes sigh I will say from mr.

[1:04:58] Anderson's leadership although to miss

[1:05:01] double docks and through an amazing

[1:05:02] staff has weathered a lot of storms my

[1:05:07] hats off to all of you

[1:05:10] truly truly yes applaud them there they

[1:05:13] deserve it

[1:05:14] I mean there there was a time we

[1:05:20] destabilized that school with the notion

[1:05:23] of a k-8 partnership with Scott that

[1:05:28] didn't quite work out so well and it's

[1:05:32] nice to see that that money has gone to

[1:05:35] good use and it's nice to see the the

[1:05:38] scores and the achievement and the

[1:05:40] growth doing what it's doing because as

[1:05:43] I recall and I started they were in the

[1:05:45] red otherwise they wouldn't have

[1:05:48] received that money but a lot of other

[1:05:50] schools outside of our district who have

[1:05:54] received similar monies are still in the

[1:05:57] red that is so you are all a model for

[1:06:02] what my eighth grade science teacher

[1:06:06] called stick to activity so keep it up

[1:06:11] all right we look forward to watching

[1:06:13] you grow in that role it was great to

[1:06:16] watch you on the I think it was your

[1:06:18] first day bring in the community in and

[1:06:19] I try to talk to you but every parent

[1:06:21] wanted your ear and you provided that so

[1:06:24] I look forward to seeing you continue to

[1:06:27] move let's go forward mr. president I

[1:06:30] just like to comment that you know I

[1:06:32] tell the staff a lot that there are

[1:06:35] great teachers and then there are

[1:06:36] Westminster Public Schools teachers

[1:06:38] there are great principals and then

[1:06:40] there Westminster Public Schools

[1:06:42] principals and Elaine has definitely in

[1:06:45] her in her tenure here in the district

[1:06:48] shown that she's a Westminster Public

[1:06:50] Schools leader but she also has a sense

[1:06:51] of humor so at the back-to-school

[1:06:53] barbecue there was a little dance

[1:06:56] activity line dancing going on and then

[1:06:59] at the

[1:06:59] case the other night I just couldn't

[1:07:01] even hold a straight face so you saw a

[1:07:03] little bit of that sense of humor in

[1:07:05] here but she's she's not all

[1:07:07] businesslike you just heard thank you all right moving on to our

[1:07:25] business items of the evening mr.

[1:07:28] Kirkland a with personnel matters and if

[1:07:32] you've noticed no one is leaving at this

[1:07:34] particular point usually you clear the

[1:07:37] crowd and through the house take a photo

[1:07:44] the president members of the board and

[1:07:47] dr. Swanson I've prepared for you a

[1:07:48] personnel report containing items 1.0

[1:07:51] 3.0 and 5.0 for your consideration and

[1:07:55] approval thank you

[1:07:59] board do we have a motion mr. president

[1:08:07] I move the Board of Education approved

[1:08:08] personal matters as presented on items

[1:08:10] 1.0 3.0 and 5.0 we get a motion in a

[1:08:15] second any comments no comments or

[1:08:18] annika please pull the board mr. john

[1:08:20] cho yes

[1:08:21] mr. David okay mr. math I'm abstaining

[1:08:24] because I have a nephew that's on this

[1:08:28] list and again it comes back to a kid

[1:08:33] who's coming back to his community where

[1:08:35] his mother graduated from so I'm proud

[1:08:37] to have him here so what you're saying

[1:08:39] is being hired in spite of you and mr.

[1:08:47] Valenti

[1:08:48] I'm sorry mr. McCoy I mr. Valenti I all

[1:08:53] right thank you all right moving on to

[1:08:56] miss sandy knees for the audit and I

[1:09:01] believe we're just receiving it not

[1:09:03] hearing about it just yet until no not

[1:09:06] yet the auditors are here yeah

[1:09:09] good evening mr. president members of

[1:09:11] the board dr. Swanson tonight you had

[1:09:13] before you the district's fiscal audit

[1:09:15] report also known as the comprehensive

[1:09:18] annual financial report Colorado state

[1:09:21] statute requires that the annual audit

[1:09:23] be conducted of all funds by an

[1:09:24] independent auditor each fiscal year

[1:09:26] Edie and Bailey is the current

[1:09:29] district's auditing firm to assist the

[1:09:31] district in completing this report

[1:09:32] accompanying the report is a management

[1:09:35] letter in which the auditing firm

[1:09:38] provides suggestions and procedural or

[1:09:41] process improvements if needed the goal

[1:09:44] of the district of an independent

[1:09:45] auditor is to provide reasonable

[1:09:47] assurance that the financial statements

[1:09:49] of the district are free of material

[1:09:51] misstatements the district's audit

[1:09:54] provides an overview and analysis of

[1:09:56] financial activities for the year ending

[1:09:58] June 30th 2018 at this time the school

[1:10:02] district is in good financial standing

[1:10:04] it is recommended by administration that

[1:10:07] the Board of Education accept the annual

[1:10:09] audit report and management letter for

[1:10:11] the June 30th 2018 audit as presented we

[1:10:17] have a motion mr. president I move that

[1:10:20] the Board of Education received the

[1:10:21] annual audit report and management

[1:10:24] letter for the June 30th 2018 audit

[1:10:28] second we have a motion and second any

[1:10:31] comments just one in Sandy everyone I

[1:10:34] want everybody know what it really takes

[1:10:37] to get a nod at that and how hard your

[1:10:41] group has to work to make sure we get no

[1:10:42] findings in an audit and that we come

[1:10:44] out of that clean so I want to tell you

[1:10:46] thank you to you and your group for

[1:10:49] doing this because it's huge to get this

[1:10:52] to get a good audit that comes out

[1:10:54] because it's part of us being

[1:10:55] transparent and putting our our budgets

[1:11:00] in our and how we spend our money out

[1:11:01] there so thank you to everyone it worked

[1:11:05] Veronica please pull the board mr.

[1:11:08] chancho

[1:11:09] yes mr. David deck all right mr. math

[1:11:11] all right mr. McCoy

[1:11:13] aye mr. Valenti aye all right ladies and

[1:11:16] gentlemen the next regular meeting of

[1:11:17] the Board of Education Westminster Public Schools in advance at

[1:11:21] a credit

[1:11:22] zatia will be Tuesday December 11th 2018

[1:11:25] at 7:30 p.m. the regular meeting will be

[1:11:28] held in the lecture hall of Westminster

[1:11:30] high school notices of meetings are

[1:11:31] posted in the window of the main

[1:11:33] entrance of Westminster high school and

[1:11:34] on board docks 24 hours prior to each

[1:11:37] meeting Veronica the time is now 744 and

[1:11:44] we are adjourned

[1:11:45] as mentioned please join us for cake

[1:11:48] [Music]

November 27, 2018 Board of Education Meeting

Transcript