Anne Scarffe, Gilpin County. On June 2, 2020, the Gilpin Board of Education met remotely to talk over the proposed budget for the remainder of 2020 and the coming school year of 2020-2021. The meeting started at 6:35 p.m. to present the budget and the reasons for changes. The Covid-19 situation changed a lot of the revenue and expenditure planning previously forecasted.
Each agenda item was read, discussed and approved. Each board member had a good grasp of the reasoning used by Terry Schang in creating the budget, though some items are still not accounted for. Reasons for budget changes included questions about savings due to not using the buildings, several grants possible and taxes from the casinos will be not realized until later this year. All attempts have been made to balance the budget. The state has predicted a 12 percent funding reduction.
Superintendent David MacKenzie suggested that the next few years may be tight financially. The Covid-19 situation started remote learning challenges, and lower student counts have been estimated for several years. MacKenzie congratulated all faculty and students for going “above and beyond,” with everyone working together well.
He wants more statistics about in-person versus remote learning as he has been told regular flu season or a resurgence of Covid-19 may cause in-person learning to revert back to remote. He wants more input from principals and faculty about class expectations of how in person versus remote can be fashioned.
MacKenzie thanked everyone for the removal of personal items left by students planned with safety and social distancing that went smoothly. Summer cleaning has started in preparation for the next school year.
MacKenzie was a part of a superintendents’ meeting with Executive Director John M. Douglas, Jr. with Tri-County Health Department. Douglas was asked about class size, which is recommended as nine students and one teacher to a classroom. The Board asked if going to 50 per cent of the normal class size, like restaurants, could be possible; however, he would not agree to that.
The June 16, 2020, meeting is canceled. The next meeting will be July 28, 2020, at 6 p.m. to review the budget again. The meeting will be done remotely; however, the board wants to try to meet together with social distancing in mind. Meetings of the School Board are planned for the first and third Tuesdays of each month.
(Originally published in the June 11, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)
