Approving policy revisions and updates was the main topic of business at the Gilpin County School District Board of Education meeting on September 3, 2024, in the school boardroom.
The Board also met with District Accountability Committee (DAC) Chairperson Victoria Edwards and discussed progress on a number of Board initiatives.
Kristen Goodlet was the only member absent from the meeting, which was presided over by President Sarah Swanson.
Edwards gave the first presentation, a review of draft 2024/2025 changes. She also discussed the need to recruit volunteers for the DAC, as the terms of most of the parent members are expiring. The Board and Edwards discussed ways to encourage participation, including opportunities for parents to get involved with the school.
Superintendent David MacKenzie reported that his big push at the moment was rolling out the new student information system (Powerschool) and connecting students and parents to it so it can be fully functional.
MacKenzie stated that the two capital improvement projects (ADA and sewer) are progressing, and the contractors are providing weekly updates on their progress. The school was having trouble with the heating and air conditioning when school started but MacKenzie said that an HVAC vendor has been working on resolving these issues.
The key issues for the night were the revisions and updates to school policies. Revisions to both sets of policies were unanimously approved.
The final discussion of the evening involved previous Board initiatives. The consensus was that there had been progress on Strategic Communications and Board/Student Engagement. The Board will continue to produce a newsletter and have student recognition and participation at future meetings.
Student and Staff Mental Health Supports and District Climate and Culture were two initiatives that the Board felt needed the involvement of the two school principals.
The next Board meeting will be on September 17 in the school boardroom at 7 p.m. A DAC meeting will be held the same night at 5:30 p.m. The Board will engage in recruiting parents to take over the DAC committee positions. The DAC meeting is a public meeting and open to all parents.
The agenda and documents for this meeting are on the RE-1 website (gilpin.k12.co.us) under the Board of Education Agendas for September 3, 2024. There is a video of the September 3 meeting on the GCSD YouTube channel. Click on the link on the agenda to access the video.
