GILPIN COUNTY - At the Gilpin County RE-1 Board of Education meeting on April 15, 2025, the Board heard about student activities that stretched the imagination and took them to exotic places in a foreign land.

The business part of the meeting saw unanimous approvals of the 2024/2025 Supplemental Budget, the 2025/2026 Adopted Budget, and updates to a number of policy revisions on a second reading.

Ezekiel Bloom and Gretchen Osteboe sat with the Board as the student engagement participants. Osteboe was also recognized as the High School Student of the Month. Hanna Thompson was the Middle School Student of the Month, while Zoe Scott was the Elementary School Student of the Month.

The first student presentation was a review of the spring break trip to Japan by Kellie Bayne, who was one of the group organizers and chaperones. The group toured shrines, gardens, museums, bamboo forests, and beaches. They rode bullet trains, ate traditional foods, and toured Osaka.

Students in the audience who went to Japan were enthusiastic about the trip and their experiences. Board member Tami Velasquez encouraged the students to continue to travel and explore all the different places that the world has to offer.

The students who are involved in the spring play, Bridge to Terabithia, spoke to the Board about their enjoyment of theater and the challenges of being involved in non-sport extracurricular activities, which can sometimes get overlooked. They spoke about the time, dedication, and teamwork that it took to be in theater.

Elementary School Principal Patrick Linnehan’s report highlighted the current CMAS testing for 3rd through 5th grade students. He thanked the Gilpin Elementary PTA for organizing and serving breakfast to all the students on testing days.

Upcoming events for elementary school students include a Scholastic Book Fair from April 28 to May 1; the Buddy Bison field trip to the Majestic View Nature Center on April 29 for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students; and the annual Open House on April 30 from 4:30 - 7 p.m.

Secondary School Principal Sarah Reich’s report highlighted the “Day Without Hate” event scheduled for April 24, 2025, to recognize an initiative to promote nonviolence, unity, respect, and mental health awareness in schools. A number of student activities are scheduled for the event.

Superintendent David MacKenzie had one item to present to the Board for his report. The Board will start getting another report in their monthly finance packet showing bank transfers or ACH payments for the month along with the check register.

MacKenzie also spoke briefly about the District Amazon account that has been set up to help teachers needing classroom supplies. The account will consolidate purchasing for minor supplies and has an authorization process. On an upbeat note, teachers should no longer have to personally pay for classroom supplies.

During the New Business section, Joe Tinucci from the Business Office was available to answer questions from the Board regarding budgets for the current school year and the next school year. Both budgets were unanimously approved by the Board.

Tinucci stressed that the budget process for 2025/2026 focused on long-term viability by analyzing individual line items and the impact of the sewer project loan. The loan will mature in 2027, at which time the Board can consider an early payoff to reduce the interest expense.

Looking at projected revenue, Tinucci said that the District is now using the Black Hawk Educational Enhancement Tax revenue for operational expenses. Revenue has increased since COVID but so have expenses.

The District is also looking to replace their 2008 bus in the future.

 Board President Sarah Swanson thanked Tinucci for the reports, while Board Member Kirstin Goodlet thanked him for making them readable for non-accountants.

All the budgets were approved unanimously on first reading.

The final business of the night was to pass on second reading the updates and revisions to twenty District policies. The updates were unanimously approved with no discussion.

The next RE-1 school board meeting will be on May 6, 2025, at 7 p.m. in the school board meeting room.

The agenda and documents for this meeting are on the RE-1 website (gilpin.k12.co.us) under the Board of Education Agendas for April 15, 2025. There are spreadsheets for the 2024/2025 Supplemental Budget and the 2025/2026 Adopted Budget.

All of the updated policies are also available for review. There is a complete video of this meeting on the GCSD YouTube channel. Click on the YouTube link to access the channel.