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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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Budget Priority Meeting Minutes
10-31-17
Christa Gilstrap, Michelle Mandair, Cathy Lees, Gigi Whalen, Amy Stanton, Alan Fulte in attendance and Rachelle Smith via speaker phone.
The District asked the SAC to complete the Budget Priority Questionnaire launched by the DAC. Prior to the meeting everyone watched the districts 2017/18 DCSD Budget Videos posted on the districts YouTube page.
The possible budget priorities are:
- School Based Budget
- Staff and Teacher Compensation
- Mental Health Support
- Capital and infrastructure repairs/enhancements
- Safety/Security
- Technology
- Transportation
After discussing the needs of the school it was decided unanimously to rank each priority as follows:
1. Staff and Teacher Compensation
2. School Based Budget
3. Mental Health Support
4. Safety/Security
5. Technology
6. Capital and infrastructure repairs/enhancements
7. Transportation
· Staff and Teacher compensation was everyone’s first choice.
· Having a school based budget was chosen next because it made the most sense to let the school decide how its budget should be allocated.
· Mental Health Support was ranked next because having a full time Counselor would be more beneficial to the students than the current part time Counselor.
· Safety and Security was ranked fourth because the school would like to maintain what we have now with the Sherriff’s Department.
· Capital and Infrastructure, and Transportation were ranked last because the school had undergone a renovation in recent years so the need for improvements is low, and most of the transportation needs are currently being met.
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Coyote Creek Elementary School
School Accountability Committee
2018 – 2019
Date: August 30, 2018
Time: 6:30pm
Location: CCE
Agenda
1. Welcome & introductions – (Alan Fulte)
2. District Accountability Committee (DAC) report – (Michelle Mandair)
3. Meeting Dates – (Alan Fulte)
4. Preschool Bathrooms – (Alan Fulte)
5. CCE Community Facebook Group – (Christa Gilstrap)
6. Bond / MLO – (Presentation by Michelle Luenberger from Bright Futures for Douglas County Schools)
7. 2016/2017 Staff Survey -- (Gigi Whalen)
8. Unified Improvement Plan – (Alan Fulte)
9. Principal’s wrap-up – (Gigi Whalen)
10. Open forum for guests – (Alan Fulte)
- Safety concerns
- Community concerns/input
- Three minute time limit accord to DCSD bylaws
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