The Buena Vista Board of Education is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. on August 14 at 113 North Court Street. Up for discussion and action are the District Accountability Committee (DAC) Charge, the annual ADD-E Safe Schools Report, additional fees needed for the architecture firm Treanor HL’s (THL) engineering services, and Medicaid Priority Results based on a five-year local service plan. A linkage between the Board and the Strategy Team will precede the meeting at 4:00 p.m.
Buena Vista School District Logo courtesy bvschools.org
DAC Requires Updated School Board Responsibility Statement
The DAC is requesting the board define their responsibilities for the upcoming year by detailing the scope, timeframe, and desired focus to present to the Board for the 2023-24 school year. The Board outlines the focus for the committee every year in addition to the DAC’s state-required duties surrounding budget, calendar, and curriculum review and monitoring accountability.
Last year the DAC was charged with studying effective communication tools and to determine where communication gaps might be in the community.
According to the meeting packet, there are two additional charges for the committee: “The Board’s continued interest in ensuring graduation credits are appropriate and meeting the needs of our upperclassmen” and “study guidelines, procedures, and policy for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the teaching and learning process.” The consideration of AI in school would include learning from three school staff who participated in a summer-long study of AI in schools.
Safe school reporting requirements
Safe school reporting requirements are outlined in the Colorado Revised Statutes. Essentially, this is a policy requiring the principal of each public school to submit an annual written report to the board of education about the learning environment in the school for the duration of the year.
According to the Colorado Revised Statutes, “The board of education of the school district shall annually compile the reports from every school in the district and submit the compiled report to the department of education in a format specified by rule of the state board. The compiled report must be easily accessible by the general public through a link on the Department of Education’s website homepage.”
The report includes items, such as total enrollment for the school, average daily attendance, dropout rates for grades seven through twelve, average class size (the total number of students enrolled in the school divided by the number of full-time teachers), the school’s bullying prevention policies and programs, the number of conduct and discipline code violations, and more.
Progress on Preschool Design
On July 10, 2023, the School Board directed Superintendent Lisa Yates to work with Treanor HL (THL) and other firms to assess and provide concept design and cost estimations for a preschool in a remodeled maintenance building. The cost for this work was not to exceed $50,000, including the cost to move the maintenance building before October 31, 2023. THL agreed to complete the work on the project.
There will be an additional fee of just over $25,000 for the work. “Because of the historical preservation needs of the project and structure of the building, additional consultants are needed for hire by THL and additional time from their in-house historical assessment team,” stated the memo in the Monday, August 14 meeting packet. Because of this, Yates is requesting that the Board provide the authority and approval for an additional $30,000 to pay the architecture firm for the project.
Medicaid Funding for School Nurses
Medicaid funds have been used by the school district to provide school nurses. Every five years, the district must conduct an assessment to ensure funds are being used to serve the highest priority needs in the district and the community. Community surveys and interviews alongside by Medicaid review team Shaundra Moss, Kelly Chandler, and Lisa Yates, led to a submission for the continued use of Medicaid funding for a school nurse.
According to a memo from Yates, “The accessibility of a school nurse at the elementary school meets many of the identified needs of supporting student and family access to preventative screening, providing resources to families, and connections to our community medical and health practitioners.”
The requested action from Yates to the Board is to acknowledge the submission of Buena Vista School’s Five-Year Local Community Service Plan as a requirement for receiving the funds.
Communication reports scheduled for this meeting include the Principal Reports: Priorities, Superintendent Report (which includes a debriefing from listening sessions), and Board reports from BOCES, DAC, the Elementary/Preschool Campus Committee, board member correspondence, and Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB) Conference and Delegate Representative.
The consent agenda is focused on personnel. It includes the approval of contracts for licensed personnel, notification of employment agreements, and notifications of resignation or retirement.
The agenda indicates that the Board “may move into Executive Session for reasons allowable pursuant Colo. Rev Stat. 24-6-402 (4)” at the end of the meeting.
The next meeting of the Buena Vista Board of Education is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday, August 28. A link to the full meeting agenda is available online at the school district’s website here.
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