The Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) District Accountability Committee (DAC) meeting took place on May 4, 2021, via Zoom.

Policy IKC (weighted grades) states that the only courses going forward to be weighted will be AP, IB, or certificates with industry licensing or recognition.

School calendars have been modified and accepted to reflect “equal school day” changes which will move teacher development days to Mondays.

BVSD superintendent Dr. Rob Anderson presented updates, including contract negotiations with employees represented by the Boulder Valley Education Association (BVEA), using the “consensus process.”

The district continues to follow the guidance from the health partners in dealing with COVID-19 and plans on having five-day, in-person school days next year which will require specialized approaches.

The use of Dashboard apps for schools to access accountability data will allow school administrations to have full access to relevant data and allow the district to create media to inform schools, to include PDF reports for schools to have “snapshots in time,” and for administrations to have data necessary to generate reports for school accountability committees to analyze information.

Contracts have been modified and an MOU is being developed to change the language in the contract that creates barriers in hiring candidates of color.

Anderson outlined a plan to address what he calls “systemic issues” in the district’s special education programs and the reorganization that will create better quality control.

He said that the funding for Individuals with Disabilities Education and special education in Colorado is some of the lowest in the country and will be addressed in the reorganization process.

Assistant Superintendent of Operations, Rob Price, introduced the committee which presented information regarding Resolution No. 20-33, addressing Equitable Discipline and Approaches to Student Conduct and the transition away from SROs (School Resource Officers).

Kathleen Sullivan, Legal Counsel for BVSD, gave a timeline for replacing the current SRO program. It includes moving from exclusionary disciplines to the restorative intervention model, as well as school safety initiatives. She talked about the strategic plan in relation to Resolution 20-33.

Sullivan said they had received feedback on the bullying policy enacted in 2020, created processes for what investigating and responding to bullying looks like, provided bullying prevention professional development, and developed a curriculum Scope and Sequence on bullying prevention. So far, over 500 teachers have been trained. A “vortex team” of two administrators from each school meet once a month to review data gathered to advise changes and review hypothetical scenarios, provide schools with alternatives, train staff to be culturally responsive, develop appropriate classroom management, and increase schools’ abilities to use restorative practices.

The district discipline policies put into place May / June of 2020 have been updated on the Infinite Campus data management system. BVSD adheres to Colorado Department of Education (CDE) definitions, as well as the Office for Civil Rights data categories, which require the district to report on allegations of harassment of protected classes to develop categories that explain and describe student conduct.

The data dashboard Vizlab was created to display conduct and discipline data. A discipline matrix has been developed for schools to use to find alternatives to the exclusionary disciplines.

Tammy Lawrence spoke about student support services and the introduction of elementary school counselors to foster Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Future plans include adding two Mental Health Advocates at the elementary level and increasing numbers at the secondary level. MHAs help train staff in the RISE program (Resilience in Schools and Educators), which focuses on nurturing student and staff SEL and fostering better relationships in academics. Feedback from schools has been positive, indicating that it helps in dealing with the pandemic. The next goal is to implement it district-wide.

Funding is proposed for a Restorative Practices district coordinator. New Vista currently uses these practices and has developed programs to support it. Relationship, respect, responsibility, repair, and reintegration are the “pillars” of restorative practices, to restore damaged relationships with students. There are small group supports for students and parents alike.

Elton Davis spoke about Engagement Specialists. Their job is to build quality relationships that will engage “disengaged” students and families using a culturally responsive and trauma responsive lens to best ensure academic achievement while removing barriers that negatively impact students and families. They work with schools to provide support with SEL and academic growth while working towards graduation.

As School Resource Officers transition out of the schools, the district is building infrastructure to manage safety in the schools, relying on the Safety and Security departments as well as student support services for this transition.

Brendan Sullivan spoke on agreements with law enforcement partners. Several law enforcement agencies and two district attorneys fall within the BVSD footprint. BVSD will be working on Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) which will outline civic responsibilities and define how to operate, as well as providing guidance to school leadership involving law enforcement in the future. These will be used to handle human and natural disasters and will be continually updated according to Colorado revised statutes.

Individual plans will be developed for each school according to specific operational practices, roles, and responsibilities within an event. Training will be provided for the school-based safety teams. This will include fire response, EMS, and law enforcement for emergency preparedness in the schools.

The election for next year’s DAC executive was held, and the board was voted in unanimously. The board will consist of Chairperson Jorge Chavez, Vice Chairperson Chris Haynes, Membership Officer Jamillah Richmond, and Secretary John Clasby.

Dr. Anderson updated discipline data. Discipline events in the last year were much lower than the years before. This year there were 811 incidents compared to the previous three years’ totals of 6,807, 6,108, and 4,825. The top event over the last year proved to be academic dishonesty. This led to a high number of restorative interventions and warning conferences, which are counseling- based responses.

The policies surrounding student discipline, dress code, and student use of drugs and alcohol have been discussed and recommendations have been given to the school board. The goal is to make the policies the least punitive and most restorative allowable by state law and to make policies reflective of safety concerns rather than other subjective values. The policies affected are JDDA, JDDA-R, JRDC and JRDC-R.

The policy recommendations were put to a vote and were passed unanimously.

This was the final DAC meeting for the 2020-2021 school year.