On Tuesday, September 19, 2023, the Gilpin County School District RE-1 Board of Education met at 7 p.m. for a regular meeting. All members of the Board (Cherokee Blake, Kirsten Goodlet, Joe Marr, Joe Stranaly and Sarah Swanson) were present. Gilpin RE-1 Superintendent Dr. Dave MacKenzie presided over the meeting.

The meeting opened with recognition of the Student of the Month Freshman Zoey Paul who was given a seat at the table with the board members. Board members asked her good-natured questions about her school experiences and listened to her feedback on being a part of a close-knit community.

The Board also got to hear from two sixth graders who talked about what it was like to start middle school. Erin Schwettman and Addison Myre were at the meeting with their teachers Ann Myers and Darren Newberg. They talked about the transition from elementary to middle school. They thought it was stressful at first but felt it was getting easier. They appreciated the support from the older students and their teachers.

Elementary Principal Patrick Linnehan’s report to the Board included comments about the new STEAM Accelerator Curriculum, the Benchmark Workshop Reading Curriculum, a Class Dojo positive behavior point system, new lunchroom policies, a revamped Multi-Tier Student Support (MTSS) process, election of student council members, and results from the Colorado’s Measure of Academic Success (CMAS) testing.

Elementary students completed beginning of year benchmark assessments in reading and math as well as the beginning of year writing samples. CMAS testing showed above average scores for 3rd grade reading, 4th grade math, 4th grade reading and 5th grade reading. Scores are below the state averages for 3rd grade math and 5th grade math. Linnehan said that the Math Expressions curriculum is outdated so they are piloting a new 1st grade curriculum called Bridges Math which is free to the school district for this year.

The ClassDojo point system rewards good behavior with students earning points for rewards like sticker packs. Top point earners so far are Asher Mayer, Cayson Brubaker and Reilly Thompson. The Regulation Station in the principal’s office is for a five-minute regulation reset. The principal has only had a few so far and is tracking reasons for the time out. He noted that a lot of times students are just hungry and calm down after getting a snack. He stressed that it isn’t punitive, and the students can return to class as soon as they calm down.

The Elks fundraiser bake sale raised over a thousand dollars for the upcoming elementary school field trip. The board is also going to collaborate with the Gilpin Community Center for the communitywide Halloween celebration on October 20, 2023. The school will also hand out the candy as part of their candy drive.

Secondary Principal Alexis Donaldson’s report also highlighted CMAS results with overall achievement at or above average in 14 of 15 areas. Donaldson said that Bobby Jones had given his first lesson on emotional awareness and presented it to all grade levels and had met with individual students. Donaldson said she had heard a lot of positive remarks about Jones from the students. Secondary school staff have worked through the MTSS process and focused on Tier I interventions in the classroom. Middle school students are currently taking their STAR fall benchmark assessments.

MacKenzie started his superintendent report by discussing some issues with the RE-1 accreditation rating. He noted that the rating included students who should have been excluded from the totals and thought that it was a data entry problem. He was making corrections to the dataset so that the ratings could be recalculated and a better accreditation report for 2023 could be reissued.

The district has received all the back ordered Chromebooks and has distributed them to the 6th through 9th graders for the next three and four years. To the best of his knowledge all the students now have a school-issued student device.

MacKenzie gave an update on the capital construction projects to improve the ability of students and parents with disabilities to get around the campus. MacKenzie was also expecting to have a pre-bid meeting on the sewer pipe project and get bids on running an internet cable to the football field press box.

The Board unanimously approved the June 6, meeting minutes, the August 8, Study and Work Session Minutes, the 2022/2023 fiscal year financial audit and the September 19, Human Resources Report. The Board also unanimously approved the District Accountability Committee Charges 2023/2024 on the second reading.

There were a number of resolutions to review for the Colorado Association of School Board (CASB) conference that will be held in Glenwood Springs in October. The Board generally supported resolutions that asked for additional state funding for mandated programs or local control over curriculum choices.

The meeting ended at 9 p.m.

The next school board meeting will be held October 3, 2023, at the Gilpin County School at 7 p.m. More information on school board activities can be found at gilpin.k12.co.us.