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Meeting Minutes
Coyote Creek Elementary School – School Accountability Committee
Date:
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Start Time:
6:30 PM
End Time:
8:45 PM
Attendees:
Alan Fulte, Chair; Christa Gilstrap, Vice-Chair; Scott Caruthers; Michelle Mandair; Kirsten Sola; Gigi Whalen, Principal of CCE; Gretchen Pellegrin; Annemarie Behrens; Tamara Higgins; Amy Holcomb; Stephen Holcomb
Meeting Notes:
1. Introductions and attendance among members
2. Statement from Chairman Fulte re: focus on going-forward and turning the page on history as goal of chair and committee
3. Update re: new Douglas County School District Superintendent, Dr. Thomas Tucker – focus will be on school finance matters, improving teacher pay, and overall district effectiveness/results
4. Update re: District Accountability Committee – priorities are: 1) explore changes to school boundaries; and, 2) finance matters (MLO and bond)
5. Meeting dates: Chariman Fulte to communicate with PTO on dates, with focus on optimizing schedule to coordinate with PTO meetings but to have a separate time/space for SAC – update forthcoming
6. Pre-school and sixth grade bathroom: increased enrollment has caused space-allocation issues; Principal Whalen has done everything possible to accommodate the increased enrollment and class configurations while seeking to provide optimal teacher coverage for classes (IEP minutes and early-year bathroom needs)
7. Community, non-school-sanctioned Facebook group: parent-administered, closed group tailored toward positive, productive feedback re: CCE; there was considerable discussion re: the intent and focus of this page/group
8. Bright Futures for Douglas County Kids, a Colorado-registered non-profit organization, made a presentation in support of school finance initiatives, namely: 1) mill levy override and bond offering; and, 2) community outreach efforts to pass these initiative in Nov. ’18. Among the topics covered by Bright Futures were:
a. Negative: Douglas County has the lowest mill levy among competitive set districts; capital expenditure needs have ballooned due to disinvestment; teacher salaries lag competitive set districts; and, turnover is higher relative to competitive set districts, among other negatives.
b. Positive: Douglas County has maintained a 90%+ graduation rate despite macro district issues; STEM has grown despite turbulence; the district maintains an excellent core of teachers; and, the district has been able to maintain academic excellence and keep pace operationally despite funding challenges
c. The bond issue proceeds, if passed, are anticipated to cover Tier 1 capital items (most necessary) in the district capital budget
d. Bright Futures views the MLO & bond as the most realistic way to allow for teacher pay increases, increased retention, and funding the district capital needs
9. Principal Whalen provided an update on Coyote Creek-specific matters, mainly:
a. Presentation re: teacher/staff turnover across the district – this is not a phenomenon unique to Coyote Creek
b. Review of TLCC staff survey from Jan. ’18 – conversation re: binary nature of district survey causing ambiguity in scores/trends relative to prior surveys, so Gigi commissioned a separate, more qualitative survey subsequently and shared all the input/feedback and results internally – upshot of survey process was: 1) focus on improving culture & climate; 2) focus on literacy and segment improvement; and, 3) shift to PBIC positive behavior feedback loop
c. Review of year-over-year scores: some cyclical lags and rolling issues across classes, but overall there has been marked improvement across segments and time – to the extent there were teacher/staff issues, many of those have been addressed pursuant to district-standard personnel guidelines
10. Gary Colley, a community member and head of Community Accountability Committee for Douglas County School District, Colorado, a Colorado-based 501(c)(3) non-profit, offered some feedback and observations re: CCE SAC meeting and function:
a. Increase meeting frequency to address issues in a timely and effective fashion
b. Few schools blend PTO & SAC; split meetings are a good approach
c. Encourage SAC outreach to all stakeholders & foster greater communication
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