Anne Scarffe, Gilpin County. Secondary Principal Alexis Donaldson and Elementary Principal Heather Huntoon assured the Gilpin County School Board of Education at the 7 p.m. September 15, 2020, online meeting that they and their teaching staff are ready to get back to school on September 21, 2020. Safety is important, and detailed plans for everything from health-check locations to recess and lunch locations have been made.

Board President Steve Boulter stated his analogy of “Building an airplane as we are flying it.” Age appropriate Center for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/communication/guidance will be followed, with monthly re-evaluation by Superintendent Dr. David MacKenzie. He will report back to the Board starting with the October 6 Board meeting.

Secondary classes will be in a block schedule with four one-hour-and-45 minutes classes.    Plexiglas, hand sanitation stations and hand sinks have been installed in each classroom. 

Masks will be required in the classroom, with mask breaks in the hall. Some secondary classes are about 20 students, with a minimum of three feet of separation in each classroom.  Elementary class sizes are much smaller. 

 Huntoon also has safety as priority, with health checks when children arrive daily. Kindergarten through fifth grade averages 15 students to one teacher, and lunch is planned with students six feet apart in the multi-purpose room or outside on good weather days. Only preschool and Montessori students with their smaller class sizes will lunch in their rooms. 

Fourteen students are currently enrolled in the 2/2 hybrid learning in elementary, and eight in the secondary school. The Board reiterated and approved all the choices available for learning, beginning September 21, 2020:

In-person Learning Program with Gilpin teachers in the school building four days a week, Monday through Thursday.

Hybrid Learning Program is a combination of remote distance learning and in-person in the school building with Gilpin teachers one (25/75%), two (50/50%), or three (75/25%) days a week.

Remote Distance Learning Program with Gilpin teachers four days a week Monday through Thursday.

Gilpin Online Learning Program offered through the school year.

Late Start days were eliminated in favor of teacher and student instructional days for the first semester with Board approval.

The Board approved matching funds for a Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) Administrative Grant from the 2020/2021 General Fund to begin the designing and construction planning of a connecting sewer line to the Blackhawk and Central City Sanitation District. MacKenzie will work with the Sanitation District on an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) by the next Board meeting on October 6.

Board Vice President Sarah Swanson announced the new website at https://yes4gilpinkids.org/ about the Mill Levy Override on the November ballot. She encouraged all on the Board to write letters to the editors of the local newspapers to show support for 4A. 

“Due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including state funding cuts and a decrease in gaming revenues, the School District is seeking a small mill levy increase in order to recruit and retain quality teachers and keep class sizes low,” according to the website.

The 4A Ballot Initiative is seeking a yes vote for a 1.54 Mill Levy Override, but because the School has an IGA with the City of Black Hawk, which provides funding through the educational enhancement tax, and limits the school’s overall Mills to 8.0 or less, the district would only increase the current mill levy by .94 mills in 2021 and would commit to keeping its mill levy at 8.0 or below while the Black Hawk IGA is in place, so the school district is seeking a small mill levy increase that would bring our current mill levy of 7.06 mills up to 8.0 mills.”

Board Member Joe Marr recalled from his youth a quotation, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” There are still immense challenges to this school year, but he said a lot of great work has been done. Principal Huntoon said: “We must get over the anxiety of coming back. There will be a learning curve for all of us.”

The October 6, 2020, Board meeting is planned as in person, in the school auditorium, at 7 p.m., with all expected to wear masks and socially distance for safety.

(Originally published in the October 1, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)