The District 14 board of education began its Monday, Dec. 13, work session with a mid-year update from the salary and compensation subcommittee of the District Accountability Committee.
The committee reported that it has made strides in leveling out district salaries. Members have also worked to investigate teacher concerns and increase pay for substitute teachers. The committee’s goal for 2022 is to evaluate classified employment compensation to help the district attract and retain qualified classified staff and pay them a living wage.
Next up: the capital improvement subcommittee. The members who’d planned to speak had other commitments; Superintendent Elizabeth Domangue, a committee member along with board vice president Natalie Johnson, spoke in their stead. Domangue said the committee has worked to find the highest areas of need, as well as brainstorming funding and grant opportunities.
The committee will explore alternatives to address safety needs that were intended to be resolved with the bond measure that failed in November. Additionally, members plan to create a bond advisory committee to address why the bond failed and how the district could be more successful in future measures.
The feedback and evaluation subcommittee, which has been assessing the district staff evaluation system, presented last. Members have examined what components of the evaluation promote growth and what areas need improvement. The next goal is to assess if revisions are needed to the existing criteria.
The work session also included a COVID-19 update. Domangue has met with Johnson, school nurses and other stakeholders to discuss the latest information from the El Paso County Department of Health.
The new guidance notes that schools won’t be able to require group quarantines in the event of positive cases. However, Domangue explained, schools can still require isolation for infected people.
The superintendent said that she and her team recommended that the district move to “masks strongly recommended” status in January. She also said she would make the same recommendation at the next City Council meeting, as the city still has a mask mandate in public buildings.
Domangue and board director Jack Sharon discussed what jurisdiction council has over the district in case of disagreement on mask policies.
Domangue said that would not be a part of the conversation at this time.
During the official meeting, Principal Chris Briggs-Hale reported on the status of Ute Pass Elementary School. He opened his presentation by praising his staff’s hard work over the past 18 months.
“This group of people is the toughest, most loving, tenacious group you’ll ever work with,” Briggs-Hale said.
Ute Pass teacher Eric Wester updated the board about the school’s efforts to increase outdoor learning opportunities. He is the outdoor education instructor and helps teachers incorporate the outdoors into their lesson plans.
Wester provided one example, with teachers helping first- and second-grade students blend writing skills and time in nature by journaling outdoors. He also noted that science teachers have leveraged this time to expand their lessons outside the classroom.
Librarian and art teacher Kate Kettler joined Wester to discuss the Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight Words (SIPPS) program. The elementary school is working to advance reading capabilities and meet the needs of students who may be left behind by a one-size-fits-all curriculum.
Wester explained that, when teachers observed the school’s data on reading scores and abilities, they realized that even high-level readers still had gaps in their skills.
Kettler shared that Read Naturally, the school’s computer-based intermediate reading program, has also helped the district improve student reading fluency.
“We’re starting to see that some of our higher-level fourth-grade readers are ready to graduate from this program and move on to something else,” Kettler explained.
She added that other students who have not reached advanced levels are still improving exponentially.
The board moved on to guest Emily Pyle of Children’s Hospital Colorado. Earlier this year, Children’s Hospital declared a pediatric mental health state of emergency based on emerging trends in youth behavioral health visits.
Pyle provided information about youth mental health in southern Colorado, noting that the Colorado Springs Children’s Hospital experienced a 145 percent increase in youth behavioral-health visits early in the year.
She discussed the Children’s Hospital youth behavioral-health program called Building Resilience for Healthy Kids. Pyle’s presentation noted that the program aims to: “Ensure all children have the opportunity to survive and thrive in the face of life’s inevitable and predictable adversities through an upstream approach delivered at age 11-12, which has been determined by pediatricians as the ideal age for building resilience.”
She said that the program, in its third year, continues to show that students are increasing their resilience and coping skills. Additionally, depression and anxiety have decreased for some students.
Domangue then briefly reviewed the district’s 2021-2022 action plan, described as a “roadmap to success and system of accountability.” It includes a brief list of outcomes the district would like to achieve by 2026, such as that all students will read at grade level and beyond and that the school will continue to “recruit, retain and develop the best staff.”
Chief Financial Officer Suzi Thompson requested to certify the mill levy total of 50.887 mills, which was discussed during the work session.
In a letter posted on the district website, Thompson wrote, “At the December 13th Board of Education meeting, the Board certified a total mill levy of 50.887 mills. This total mill levy includes a total program mill and voter-approved mill levy overrides.”
The letter also clarifies how the mill levy and mill levy override work. It can be read in its entirety by going to mssd14.org and searching for “mill levy.”
The board then moved to a closed executive session to discuss an undisclosed personnel matter.
The next work session and meeting will take place at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 24, in the SILC building and streamed live at us02web.zoom.us/j/89221170233.