The Gilpin Board of Education and Gilpin County School teachers discussed possible solutions for future teacher salaries and the financial state of the district at a routine study and dialogue session on Tuesday, February 7.

The meeting began with an overview of the school’s finances from Joseph Tinucci, the Certified Public Accountant. Tinucci highlighted the fact that the school has seen a decrease in revenue due to declining enrollment. He told attendees that funds from Black Hawk are “saving or helping us right now” but that those funds are likely to be on a future ballot issue and are a precarious source as it may be voted out. The current economy has also increased operating costs at the same time that changing laws and increasing pressures on schools.

Board President Joe Marr said proposed salary caps were necessary in order to keep more of the lower tear salary positions. Many teachers are concerned that the caps will incentivize teachers to leave or cause them to halt education enrichment courses. They said that experienced teachers will be most hurt by caps. Teachers suggested that the Board use half of the $2 million the board keeps in reserve for emergencies to boost salaries. They also suggested some form of reimbursement for college courses that teachers should take.

Board members said that the $2 million was essential for any future fiscal emergencies. Board President Marr offered the example of the sewage plant the school is reliant on, which is currently 20 years into a predicted 10-year life span. He said that if something were to break and the school was unable to repair buildings back to standards, the school would be shut down, and then all staff would be without work. The Board also pointed out that if education funds from Black Hawk were to cease, as is feared to be likely, those funds would be the only thing keeping the school open for another year.

One teacher stood up to share his story with the Board, trying to use his situation to illustrate the situation he and other Gilpin teachers have or have had. After amassing thousands of dollars in debt to get a degree in teaching and biology, this teacher moved to Gilpin in hopes of finding a place that valued teachers. He described living in his dream house in a state he loves and yet only being able to rent out the basement because he could never afford to buy it now, even as an adult well-established in his career. He said his lifestyle is extremely “frugal” as he tried to save the money to pay for the training that would help him take care of his students and help him move up Gilpin’s staggered salary bracket. He’s taken on three coaching positions in order to pay off debt and keep taking the suggested supplemental teaching classes. Unable to afford trash bags and unwilling to pay dumping fees, this teacher said he’s been using plastic grocery bags for his trash and dropping them off at dumpsters behind gas stations.

The past year’s relentless inflation pushing up food prices and rent have only put further strain on the situation. This teacher, like 50% of Americans in a recent Gallup poll, said he felt worse off now than he had at the beginning of the year. This particular teacher admitted that he understood why the Board is reluctant to dip into school savings, but he said the idea of sparring money in case a building breaks down or some other rainy event was “discouraging.”

“It’s raining now and I don’t know how much I can take,” he told the Board.

Other teachers asked why their current financial situations didn’t count as “rainy days.” Marr responded that the Board wasn’t “hoarding” money. Board members said they had to raise the starting salaries in order to remain competitive with other districts and keep pay equitable between departments. The Board members expressed sympathy as former educators.

The Board also discussed requested stipends for outdoor overnight trips. The Board said that with stagnant revenue, it’ll be difficult to compensate teachers for overnight trips although they could try to continue to shift funds from elsewhere. Both the Board and teachers ended the meeting by agreeing that they were all working towards the same goal of doing what was best for the students at Gilpin.

The Gilpin County School Board meets bi-monthy on the first and third Tuesday of the month. Board meetings are held in the Gilpin County School Board Room at the Gilpin County School at 7 p.m. and are open to the public.