Kirk C. Watkins, Boulder. The Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) District Accountability Committee (DAC) meeting took place on January 5, 2021, via Zoom.

The DAC Chairperson, Ralph Frid, called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. and a motion to approve the minutes from the December 1, 2020 meeting was approved. 

Committee Comments: Nicole Rajpal, DAC Vice-Chair gave the committee a space to comment on non-agenda items. Concerns raised included:

The date of the student reintroduction, January 19, 2021, being the day of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, and possible action taking place on that day. January 26 was proposed as an alternative. 

Updates on BVSD teachers and employees receiving vaccines.

Receiving or accessing feedback about the SRO subcommittee work, and other DAC initiatives.

Classroom monitors vs. “real” teachers during online learning. 

The Board of Education Report (BOE) from Kitty Sargent, board liaison, updated priorities set for Spring 2021 at the recent BOE meeting. They included:

In-person student reintroduction. 

Contract negotiations with BVEA (Boulder Valley Education Association).

Transportation Study.

SRO (School Resource Officers) community conversation. 

The school budget for 2021-2022. 

Phase I and phase II strategic plan initiatives.

New Vista construction update.

Meeting with all of the town councils for all of the towns that BVSD serves. 

Continuing the ongoing board policy review, scheduled to be completed on a five-year cycle. 

Approval of redistricting boundaries. 

Extended contracts for some charter schools. 

Updated policies KFB and KF, which deal with public use of schools and standard rental rates for all organizations, reviewed a plan for Alicia Sanchez, and yearly financial reports. 

Question raised by DAC members included: 

Cooperation between BVSD and the YMCA childcare in regard to rental rates. 

Relationships and goals in meetings between BVSD and the city governments.

The district priorities for the state legislative platform. 

Funding priorities and repeal of the Claire Davis Act.

Implications of the redistricting process.

In the superintendent’s report, Dr. Rob Anderson reported the district had returned to in person learning and is one of the first districts to do so. He said that the district had one of the lowest numbers of reported cases, according to Boulder County Health and Broomfield County Health, which was a leading factor in making the decision. He reported that the Governor had downgraded all districts from Level Red to Level Orange. He introduced “above and below the line,” which outlines prioritization for vaccines, and updated vaccine sources and efficacy. He said that the district will continue to follow the guidelines of the state health experts.

DAC members posed questions for the superintendent. 

They asked about loss of enrollment numbers and how many were kindergarten students, and possible Covid-19 relief funding for the schools. He said that the vast majority of students were kindergarten students and that the district would adjust future staffing numbers accordingly. 

Counseling will be available to students upon return for SEL (social-emotional learning) and academic issues. 

The reintroduction will be based on the Strategic Plan and its goals. And it will be based on district wide standards, rather than individual schools. 

What will be the expectations when vaccines become available? 

When vaccines become available to staff, they will be expected to take them without exemption. There will be more testing sites set up specifically for staff. Teachers and staff are prioritized after critical care workers for vaccinations. 

Why hadn’t ILC (Intensive Learning Center) children returned to school with the rest of the students?

They will return on a case-by-case basis, but they should have already returned.

Margaret Crespo, the assistant superintendent for the southwest schools, introduced the BVSD student support services team and gave the mental health update. 

Mike Lowe, Katie Romero, and Tammy Lawrence make up the team. They spoke about the goals of the team and brief backgrounds for each. They are tasked with counseling the students in both academic and mental health aspects during the reintroduction. They will work with engagement specialists and attendance advocates, supporting families during the transition. The safety, security, and threat assessments for students and families will be included in their purview. 

A question was asked about the RISE (Resilience in Schools and Educators) program. 

As a result of receiving a Kaiser Permanente grant, and working with CU Boulder, the team has been training in this program. They will be incorporating the program into district schools. They have successfully placed counselors in schools that previously had none and have secured funding to support that endeavor. They are working on ways to assist the highest need students, continuing from before the shutdown. 

A question was asked how to identify struggling students in an online environment.

They have been working to create options for students and families, like clubs and other activities to engage students. 

A question was asked about prioritization of mental health at the high school level. 

Adding mental health support and increasing resources are the methods being employed. A ninth-grade peer support program will be launched. 

UIP (Unified Improvement Plan) update by Jonathan Dings, the executive director of assessment and program evaluation. 

BVSD provides a UIP to the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) every other year. Dings presented the strategies used to create the next UIP. 

The presentation included Priority Performance Challenges, Root Causes, and Major Improvement Strategies. 

The district has moved towards a data driven model for addressing weaknesses in its system. They are using this to modify disciplinary practices, to create equitable learning experiences throughout the schools. 

BVSD is striving to create a system wide standard for data gathering.

BVSD hopes to use the data to bridge long-standing achievement gaps, as well as academic losses sustained during remote learning.

The UIP will be finalized for submission in the coming weeks and is currently being implemented.

Feedback and advice for development was requested from the DAC. 

The budget recommendations for 2021-22 were presented next. 

The priorities in order were developed using a survey that was distributed to schools in the district. 

Tiered system of support

Aligned and viable instruction

Positive and inclusive culture

Resource allocation

School-family connection

Community partnerships

The recommendation based on the survey:

Recommendation 1: Instructional Infrastructure to be modified to reflect high achieving schools.

Recommendation 2: Culturally responsive teaching.

Recommendation 3: Transparency and accountability.

School metrics were presented. 

Achievement scores conversely related to occurrence of free and reduced lunches, and directly related to percentage of white and Asian students.

Achievement gaps are possible to shrink based on data collection.

The gaps shrink at middle school level due to student consolidation.

The achievement gap in BVSD between white and black students is consistent with national average. 

Difference between equality, equity and justice explained.

DAC recommended resetting the order of budget priorities in the draft to reflect updated prioritization.

Data that is being collected can help to improve school accountability. 

A motion from the floor to accept the budget recommendations drafted by the Budget and Finance committee was raised, and the resolution was passed. The draft will be presented to the BOE on January 12, 2021. 

The next online DAC meeting will take place on February 2, 2021, from 6:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.