Anne Scarffe, Gilpin County. The Gilpin County School Board met at 7 p.m. on February 2, 2021, at the school auditorium with some concerned folks there and on a YouTube broadcast. Superintendent Dr. David MacKenzie and the Board discussed Covid, Black Hawk tax contributions, reduced enrollment and how these have affected the District’s budget.

Dr. MacKenzie cited a January 26, 2021, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that the Covid transmission rate in schools is low with mitigation in place; therefore, the CDC report found that in-person learning is okay.

A concerned teacher wrote an email to the superintendent, asking about testing in the school, instead of at Gilpin Health, which is temporarily not testing. Gilpin Health had been using a PCR mouth swab test, which was giving false positives about two weeks ago.

Dr. MacKenzie suggested using Covidtest Colorado as he thinks that “the school is not in the testing business.” He said that no set date has been made for Gilpin Health to come to the school to issue the Covid vaccine for staff, though he hopes soon. He has to provide Gilpin Health with how many staff want the vaccine to assess if Gilpin Health has enough vaccines for the Moderna vaccine, which will require a second dose 28 days after the first. 

With the principals, Dr. MacKenzie has created a remote learning distance plan, in case of a quarantine or heavy snow day. He said the District has had 67 straight days of in-person learning since September, with zero Covid among staff or students. Regular deep cleaning will continue throughout the school to maintain diligence. In-person student numbers are at 80 per cent for secondary and 75 percent of elementary students.

Basketball season has started. The boys’ team has two wins and one loss. The girls’ team is one and one. Some games have been canceled. The board congratulated the teams.

The Board has begun researching and discussing possible raises for staff, to bring the District in line with Boulder schools’ pay grid to balance declining enrollment and loss of Black Hawk casino tax revenue. They are looking at several plans to help keep and recruit teachers. With declining enrollment and loss of gambling funds from Black Hawk, caution is needed before any decisions are made; however, the current budget is in line with projections. Benefit Enrollment has been moved to August for staff convenience.

The Board is looking at plans to increase enrollment to make the school attractive to potential students. The football field and track were cited as examples.

Federal government reimbursements have helped provide 1,700 free meals of breakfast and lunch per week.

The Board meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at the school auditorium at 7 p.m., with available Youtube access. 

The next meeting is February 16, 2021.  

(Originally published in the February 11, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)