The Buena Vista School Board held its regular meeting on November 8, 2021. Jacob Fisher, a senior at Chaffee County High School (CCHS), started the meeting with a brief presentation on his service-learning project, power-washing the school.
“I saw the attention that our school needed, and decided to pursue it,” Fisher shared. “I also did this to encourage others to help out the community around us.”
Views of Collegiate Peaks from BV High School Library at the open house January 11 (Photos by Taylor Sumners)
Principals’ reports focused on project learning on the fourth of the district’s Seven Cs, “Constructive.” At the Grove, preschoolers deconstructed, played with, and learned about pumpkins during the fall season.
“When you dig down deep into what ‘Constructive’ is, it’s not just Legos, it’s not just building, it’s actually making sure that you’re creating something with a goal,” said Liz Barnaby, principal at the Grove Preschool. Barnaby also shared how teachers have been creating intentional play for their students.
At Buena Vista High School, Principal Jon Ail and the staff did a “hallway walk” during their Professional Learning Day and discussed the celebrations and suggestions they had for their walls, feedback was also present with students. The Student Council made a few pitches for updated designs and decorations for the school’s hallways, including logo decals for the stairwell.
“We’re acting with the purpose of building a positive result, and I think that’s the thing we can focus on right now,” Ail said. “I want to celebrate the thinking of our students. They’re very excited about what we can do going forward.”
Buena Vista Middle School (BVMS) Principal John Emilsson shared how their students have been focused on all sorts of construction. Social Studies students are working on Revolutionary War reports, and in Art Class students have been focused on the idea of design. In one Spanish class, students built their own shrines for Dia de Los Muertos. Emilsson also reported that the middle school’s BV Strong week is this week, and the school will be running a canned food drive, hosting a Veteran’s Day assembly, and having a school dance.
Superintendent Lisa Yates reported that BV schools are trending between five to eight percent of school population with illnesses, though not all are COVID-related. The Grove and CCHS both have one new case, Avery Parsons Elementary has eight new cases, BVHS has two new cases, and BVMS has three new cases of COVD-19. Additionally, more than half of these cases are staff members.
“A majority, at least half are staff and are pop-up cases,” Yates said. She also explained that household transmissions have been leading to positive tests among students ready to return to school. “As we’re trying to get kids to return earlier, or at the time you can with a negative test…there is a good amount of these [students] that we’re seeing getting positives that have been home because someone in their household has COVID. They’re ready to come back, they don’t have symptoms, but they’re testing positive.”
Facilities Director Kevin Hargrove provided an update on some of the department’s highlights and focus areas. The department has begun changing filters in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems semiannually, with five HVAC systems and 25 air handlers requiring over 200 filters. The department is also pushing to switch all external lighting from gas bulbs to LED lights, which use less power and fail less often for a safer environment.
Hargrove also reported that the HVAC systems in the Red gym and the Industrial Arts buildings have required constant attention to stay functional, and the flooring in the White Gym has been splitting due to humidity changes. The facilities team has been working with the contractor to repair the floors.
Yates also updated the board on a number of updated policies and language changes from the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB). There was a clerical change for graduation guidelines, changing IKF-2 and IKF-2 E to IKF and IKF-E. House Bill 1055 removed restrictions on compensation for board presidents and vice-presidents and allows for the compensation of all members. Another change requires schools to accept a base address to demonstrate residency for inbound active duty military members and requires districts and charters to grant guaranteed automatic matriculation to children of inbound active duty military members while the child is in school and give priority preference for younger siblings in subsequent school years.
Colorado House Bill 1108 modified the definition of “sexual orientation” to no longer include “transgender status,” and adds the terms “gender expression” and “gender identity” to statutes prohibiting discrimination against members of a protected class. “Sexual orientation,” “gender expression,” and “gender identity” are now separately defined. The last change involves the timeline for a district to notify the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) if an employee is dismissed or resigns as a result of an allegation of a sexual act involving a student who is eighteen years of age or older, regardless of whether the student consented to the sexual act. The board may either comply with the 10-day timeline for all allegations or set a different timeline for allegations involving students eighteen years of age or older.
The board adjourned to an executive session at 7:05 p.m. to discuss surplus properties and CCHS properties. The next regular board meeting will be held on Monday, December 13, at 6:00 p.m. and will include the swearing-in of recently elected board members Lynn Montoya, Nancy Best, and Jessica Crites. The meeting will be held at the District Administration Building, located at 113 North Court Street in Buena Vista.
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