GILPIN COUNTY—At their regular board meeting on October 15, 2024, the Gilpin RE-1 Board of Education approved a resolution promoting academic achievement and growth, discussed better ways to meet and confer with staff, and reviewed the different proposals put forth by the Colorado Association of School Districts (CASB) to be voted on at the next CASB convention.

All Board members were in attendance with Sarah Swanson presiding. Senior Faith Ramsey was celebrated as the student of the month.

Art teacher Curtis Halsted presented the Board with artwork from Forrest Lindenthaler. Halsted praised Lindenthaler’s work, called “Baroque Still Life Drawing,” which used a proportional enlargement grid technique.

The Board also heard from students who are participating in the Bobby Jones Peer Purpose Mentorship Program. Four students addressed the board about using Jones as a resource to help them deal with the complex emotions and issues of growing up.

Elementary Principal Patrick Linnehan reported that the Elementary Color Run raised $13,749 for the 100 Elk field trip.

In terms of academics, Linnehan reported that beginning of the year benchmark testing showed improvements in reading and literacy for all grades. Reading was a strong suit, with six assessments showing over 60% of the students scored above the 50th percentile.

Math scores weren’t as high, but Linnehan was enthusiastic about the new Math Bridges curriculum and felt that scores would improve as staff and students got more familiar with it.

Secondary Principal Sarah Reich reported that she is auditing classes and finds herself staying longer than scheduled because she enjoys watching the interactions between the teachers and students.

Superintendent David MacKenzie told the Board that the District has always been focused on academic achievement and growth but also strives to get kids ready for whatever comes next both socially and emotionally.

In new business, the Board unanimously approved a resolution reaffirming the District’s commitment to providing challenging instructional programs that will be continuously monitored against the Colorado Academic Standards through the use of valid and reliable measures.

The Board had an extended discussion on how to improve the Meet and Confer process with staff to make those meetings more productive. The primary strategy suggested was to have written suggestions submitted ahead of time so there was time for the Board to review them before the meeting. MacKenzie also stressed that operational or personnel issues should be taken to a supervisor first.

The Board’s final action of the evening was to review the various resolutions and proposals from the October 19, 2024, CASB Delegate Assembly. Board member Kirsten Goodlett is the District’s delegate.

The next RE-1 Board of Education meeting will be on November 11, 2024, in the school boardroom at 7 p.m. The agenda and documents for this meeting are on the District website (gilpin.k12.co.us) under the Board of Education Agendas for October 15, 2024. The F.1_Elementary Principal Report_10.15.24.pdf has graphs of STAR test scores. The academic achievement resolution is I.1_Resolution_High_Achievement_Growth Expectations_10.15.24.pdf.

There is a video of this meeting on the GCSD YouTube channel. Click on the link on the agenda to access the video.