BOE hears praise, talks budget


CREEDE — With all five members present, the Creede Board of Education handled a range of issues during their meeting on Nov. 27, beginning with comments from the public.
Although she works at the school two days a week, Honey Strecken spoke up as a parent of two students in the building.
“I’m here to speak praise of the school and community,” Strecken said. “As a parent, my kids started coming last semester, and they had challenges. But now those challenges are gone since they started here.”
Suffering from a rare condition called Propionic Acidemia, Strecken’s first-grade daughter requires careful monitoring throughout the day. Strecken said the Creede educators have been providing excellent care and instruction since she moved to the school.
Strecken works for the Center for Restorative Programs, helping resolve conflicts in schools throughout the San Luis Valley. In Creede, Strecken works under Collin Vinchattle, Dean of Restorative Services for the school.
“It feels like me kids are going to a really exclusive private school,” Strecken added. “The nurse is looking after her. I just can’t say enough. Thank you.”
President Damon Gibbons said, “Thank you for the positive feedback.” Gibbons noted that people often speak up with bad news, and it’s refreshing to hear good comments on occasion. He said the Deep Creek Road is in great shape, but he hasn’t had time to personally thank the road crew for the improvements.
Sherry Scallan, director of finance and human resources, presented a financial report concerning employee health insurance, bank loan payment plans, grant financial updates, and budget progress before the Jan. 31 deadline.
Vinchattle followed with a disciplinary report. Only three incidents required disciplinary action this past month, one a recurring problem with a student who was in his office every other day but has not been back in three weeks. Another student is on a Tier 2 Restore plan for multiple offenses offending people, and Vinchattle reported progress. Two other families received letters from the dean concerning chronic absenteeism.
Vinchattle also noted that students have challenged the dress code. So the children now have responsibility for researching dress codes in other districts and forming a committee to present their ideas to student council for further consideration.
Praising Science Night, Vinchattle said the elementary students enjoyed the interactive displays. The attendance was high, and parents indicated they’d like to see the event repeated. Also, middle school and high school students enjoy a range of events, but the elementary school could use more activities like Science Night.
Vinchattle added that he’s working with Strecken to update the student handbook.
Superintendent Lis Richard praised sponsors for Veterans Day activities, but she said her presentation would be short because most of the issues would be addressed later in the meeting.
Gibbons followed Richard with the first reading of 12 district policies for improvement. Some policies would be consolidated, others updated and some remain unchanged. The long list will take months to update, but the board worked through the first readings. Later in the meeting, they conducted second readings of 11 other policies.
Throughout the meeting, the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program received attention for excellence. Although it’s costly, the CTE program has been very successful, not only for the school but the community as well. Mineral County Sheriff Fred Hosselkus received help from CTE students engraving his custom-designed drinking glasses for the Second Annual Creede Arts and Crafts Festival during the 2018 Creede Chocolate Festival.
During financial discussions about different school district funds and assets, creating a sustainable CTE program remained a consistent theme. If the school could legally charge for automotive and other services, the program could fund itself. But laws prohibit the school from competing with local businesses.
Before voting to draw on funds from the district’s Whitney Newton Account, the board agreed to consider other options first and wait until budgets are finalized and posted by Jan. 31, 2019.
Also on the agenda, the board weighed issues surrounding the sale of school property at 308 La Garita Avenue. Estimated values range from $170,000 to $210,000, and the board agreed to send out a Request for Proposal to conduct a real estate market analysis first. But the site has historic value as well, so the board agreed to approach the sale carefully with the Creede community in mind. Realtors will be asked to submit RFPs before the next Creede Board of Education meeting at the school on Dec. 18 at 1 p.m.
The board also discussed working with the District Accountability Committee to add a parent survey for analysis. They passed a motion charging the DAC of its duties to provide recommendations on evaluation tools and other issues for the board.


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