The Buena Vista Board of Education Feb. 28 meeting contained the usual mix of potentially far-reaching topics as well as staff updates. Three items made up most of the meeting time: House Bill 22-1002, District realignment, and additional input on Chaffee County High School (CCHS) and its future relationship with Buena Vista High School (BHVS).
House Bill 22-1002 Proposes Changes to the ASCENT program
Board member Brett Mitchell presented House Bill 22-1002, in which the state legislature proposes extending financing for a fifth year of high school for qualifying students, a program known as ASCENT.
In their fifth year, qualifying students could take college classes at the expense of the school district. According to a letter another school sent to the state, “Colorado currently ranks 50th out of 50 in per-student dollars given to K-12 schools,” Mitchell reported.
“That is one of the major reasons that a large percentage of our schools have moved to a four-day school week,” he said. “It doesn’t save the schools any money, but it does make it easier to recruit teachers from out of state…I personally feel that if Colorado is interested in taking care of our kids, we need to start at the bottom, not at the top, and we need to put the money in where it’s going to do the most good long-term, as opposed to the few kids that are going to get a little extra for college.”
Mitchell also said that “ASCENT students are not eligible for state or federal financial aid, including state or federal work-study, during their year.” They also aren’t eligible for merit scholarships, he continued, and full-time tuition is paid by the school district while families pay for general student fees, course fees, textbooks, and housing/meals.
The bill also removes the existing requirement that students reimburse the district for failed or dropped classes. Mitchell said he’d like to see the board come to a decision and write a letter to the state opposing the bill.
“Low-income kids are the ones that are getting the scholarships, they’re the ones getting the work-study,” he said. “But if this is correct, and this came from Western Colorado University, now they don’t get those fees from scholarships…I think we need to take care of our kids in K-through-12.”
Superintendent Lisa Yates said the Colorado Rural Schools Alliance (CRSA) and the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE) would like to see the bill amended as opposed to full opposition to the bill.
“Their biggest question right now is, ‘Why would you change it?’” she said. “Everyone gets the idea that we want to make sure all students can have access to post-secondary education, but to do it in a way where you’re dipping into K-12 funding…is that really what we want to do?”
Yates also clarified that the money for ASCENT would stay with the state to pay tuition costs and that the district would get three percent of the student’s costs to reimburse them for non-tuition costs, adding that rural students have very different access to associates’ programs than more metropolitan or suburban students.
Board president Suzette Hachmann said she was concerned about the ASCENT funding coming out of K-12 funding. Board member Tracy Storms agreed, adding that she also had read that Colorado is the 50th state in comparing per-student funding to the cost of living.
Mitchell moved to draft a letter of opposition to the bill, which carried unanimously. The board agreed to share the writing task and contribute ideas to the letter.
Director District Adjustment
Buena Vista and Salida School Board director districts as of January 2022. Courtesy of the Buena Vista Board of Education.
The board also discussed adjusting their director districts, to ensure they have at least five and no more than seven in the school district. A review of census data resulted in the proposed Resolution 2022-06, where Chaffee County would adjust precincts in the school district from four to five. After a few wording adjustments, the board voted to pass the resolution, adding one director district.
This will also result in an additional vacancy for the November 2023 Board of Education election to align with the five director districts and two at-large positions.
CCHS and its relationship with BVHS
Superintendent Yates reported that she and Board President Suzette Hachmann visited the Sprung Building with Chaffee County High School (CCHS) students and gave the students and a few community stakeholders updates on the process and shared how things are going.
“They did have a few specific questions…about the program,” Yates said. “I didn’t realize how many questions the students still had about what CCHS would be like, so it was great to be able to exchange and answer some of those questions…There will be questions about staffing until we get all the positions filled.”
In unfinished business, Board Member Mitchell circled back to CCHS, saying that there are some students who see that they can get their diploma faster at CCHS to graduate sooner because they may not want to go to college.
“I’m curious that, moving CCHS closer to BVHS, and working more closely with both systems, … is it going to be a potential to have multiple tiers to graduation?” he asked. “If you’ve got kids that are going to the military and just need to graduate, they want to get it done in three years so as soon as they turn 18 they can go to the military, get on a path, without jumping into another school, to get their degree and move on?”
Board Member Tracy Storms said that students can already double up at BVHS to graduate early, but Mitchell said you’d have to be a top performer. Storms clarified that you don’t have to be a top performer – you just have to pass the class.
“It’s an appropriate question,” said Yates. “CCHS is an alternative education campus designed for at-risk students. Someone who is wanting to get out of high school quickly isn’t necessarily at-risk…You can graduate a semester early, but graduating a year early would be more challenging…BVHS could have multiple pathways to graduation, but that’s a big conversation.”
Yates also pointed to how it might impact the culture at BVHS. CCHS principal Christine Bailey has shared how multiple pathways have impacted culture at CCHS. The board closed on the note that they’d decide whether to make this a future work session or a discussion item.
Other Reports
Technology Coordinator Matt Brooker then reported on the district’s technology department. The district currently has 115 staff desktop computers, 145 laptops, and more than 20 servers. There is also a projector or interactive display in every classroom.
For students, the district currently has 57 student desktops in Buena Vista Middle and High School (BVMS, BVHS), 20 laptops for BVMS and HS Art, 20 laptops for BVMS and HS Drafting. There are 75 student laptops at Avery Parsons Elementary (APES), as well as 411 student laptops in circulation at BVMS and HS and more than 20 student laptops in circulation at CCHS.
The Technology Department is focused on ensuring the laptops are ready for NWEA and CMAS student assessments as they will be given online this year.
Finally, Yates reported that masks are no longer be required on BV school buses, as Chaffee County meets the low/medium COVID levels described by the CDC. The district will be continuing with its current mitigation and exposure protocols.
The board’s next regular meeting will be held on at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, March 14, 2022, at the District Administration Building, located at 117 North Court Street in Buena Vista. Agendas and information packets can be found on the board’s page on the district website ahead of the meeting.
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