Full house
The Gilpin RE-1 boardroom was full for the Meet and Confer meeting with staff at the October 1, 2024, board of education meeting.
GILPIN COUNTY – There was both good and bad news presented at the Gilpin RE-1
Board of Education meeting on October 1, 2024. The good news was that students were meeting
state academic expectations based on the Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS)
testing last year. The bad news is that reading and writing skills need improvement, and that
district finances will be stretched in the coming years.
Tami Velasquez was the only board member absent from the meeting, which was
presided over by Board Chair Sarah Swanson. Superintendent David MacKenzie and staff
members were all present for the first Meet and Confer meeting of the 2024/2025 school year.
The Meet and Confer portion of the meeting involved some disagreements over what
was appropriate for staff to discuss with the Board. Operational and personnel issues were
rejected as items of discussion. MacKenzie reiterated several times that Meet and Confer
meetings should focus on policy issues such as the school year calendar or improving exit
interviews.
Board member Kirsten Goodlett, in a passionate plea for cooperation, said: “We are all
colleagues. We are all a team for the same building with the same goals intended and that in my
opinion is to be a school of excellence, where everybody feels comfortable and recognized.”
Elementary School Principal Patrick Linnehan reported that elementary school students
had Academic Achievement of 73% overall on last spring’s CMAS tests, which earned the
school a “Meets Expectations” designation. The measure for Academic Growth for the
elementary school students was 50%, which earned an “Approaching Expectations” designation.
The elementary school students scored highest in science and math. English language arts
scores were the lowest. The Medium Growth Percentile (MGP) for English Language Arts was
25% which does not meet expectations. The mathematics MGP was 52%, which does meet
expectations.
To address the gap in reading and writing, Linnehan is implementing a series of practices
to help students catch up, including after-school tutoring using the Orton Gillingham phonics
curriculum; identifying students with scores below the 40th percentile; creating a Multi-Tier
Support System (MTSS) profile; and reaching out to parents.
Goodlett asked about support for high achieving students. Linnehan replied that there are
programs in place to help them accelerate their learning.
Secondary School Principal Sarah Reich reported that overall performance on CMAS
testing was 78% for Academic Achievement, which meets expectations; and 55% for Academic
Growth, which is approaching expectations.
Reich said that staff were working to strengthen core instruction, and to streamline the
MTSS system to help with reading and math interventions in order to help students who are not
meeting standards.
Reich was also working to use supportive systems to build a positive school culture and
create a sense of belonging and purpose for all members of the learning community.
The last segment of the board meeting was a review by MacKenzie of the 2025/2026
Salary Schedule Draft Proposals. The projected salary schedules contained A and B schedules
for Licensed Educators.
MacKenzie said that the sewer project was now estimated to cost around $9 million with
interest. With increases in operating costs and benefits, MacKenzie warned, finances going
forward would be tight and there might come a time when the District wouldn’t be able to pay
100% of staff health insurance benefits.
The next RE-1 Board of Education meeting will be on October 15, 2024, at 7 p.m., in the
school boardroom.
The agenda and documents for this meeting are on the RE-1 website (gilpin.k12.co.us)
under the Board of Education Agendas for October 1, 2024. There is a video of the
October 1, 2024, meeting on the GCSD YouTube channel. Click on the link on the agenda to
access the video.
