At their Tuesday meeting, the Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 school district heard updates about the district’s BOCES withdrawal status, the approval of the mill levy ballot language and the need for core curriculum at the high school.
Tom Burris told the board that the playset at MCMS is complete and construction around Kemper and Mesa is “essentially complete.”
Burris updated the board on the district’s second attempt to pull out of San Juan BOCES, sharing that they preparing their financial submission, which is due Oct. 1.
They are also testing a technical design at the high school that will help keep all the rooms warm this winter.
“We are looking forward to a much more stable system this winter,” Burris said.
Last, Burris said the mill levy ballot language has been submitted to the county clerk for the November election. He plans to visit all the district schools to provide more information about the mill levy.
During the public comment period, Lisa Passell told the board that she and others have repeatedly asked human resources for data about resignations, terminations and hires, most recently at the last meeting.
“The promise was made that we would get a copy of the report. I could not find that anywhere for the last month, so I made a CORA request,” Passell said.
Passell added that her request had been made on Sept. 9 and the district had three business days to get back to her.
When the district did not reply, she reached out and was told that Burris had rejected her request.
“What I asked for was the number of hires, regular and J1 provider breakdown by each type, the number of resignations and the number of terminations by month for 2024. I didn’t ask for personal information, department … anything like that. I just asked for the numbers, and it was denied,” Passell said.
Passell said this lack of transparency with the community concerns citizens about the upcoming mill levy.
“You are asking millions from this community on a mill levy, and yet we don’t have any trust in you,” Passell said. “I hear over and over and over that all of us support our teachers, we all want them to have raises, yet they don’t want this administration and this board to be in charge of the mill levy, because they don’t trust you.”
On Thursday, HR Director Justin Schmitt told The Journal that Passell’s request was denied because the record she had requested did not exist. “CORA laws do not compel agencies to create documents,” he said.
Nikki Crowley, who spoke about Tuesday’s lockdown at the high school and how parent communication was handled by the district.
Crowley said she had email notifications turned off, but did not receive a text alert, like previously.
“We did not receive phone calls, we did not receive texts. Last year, we did.” she said. “I don’t know what has changed in our program, but I feel we need to get that back. Not everybody is connected to email at all times.”
She also disputed the district’s claim that it cannot livestream all meetings, including special meetings and work sessions, because it does not have the technology.
“I have seen tech support here at every single meeting,” she said. “All of our other governing bodies that we elect broadcast all of their meetings, and I would like to advocate again that this board do that.”
In action items, the board discussed the district’s need for curriculum. According to high school Principal Jennifer Boniface, teachers are using their own money for their own curriculum and sixth grade-level books are being used in advanced English classes because they don’t have the appropriate books.
Boniface and Burris said they were seeking the board’s approval to get started, and hoped to pick a curriculum before Christmas.
The board said that the high school did not need the board’s approval to start the process, but still needed to go through the proper channels. Asking for $250,000 before the curriculum was even selected felt like approving a “blank check.”
Board President Sheri Noyes expressed surprise that the topic of the high school’s curriculum had not been brought up sooner.
The curriculum was removed from action items with the rejection of the money request, but the high school was asked to acquire and present curriculum to the board for approval.
“A key component in improving student outcomes is having curriculum aligned to state standards. Some of the curriculum we have at the high school is over 15 years old, which means the alignment is questionable,” Burris told The Journal on Thursday. “We want to be able to put a book in every student’s hands within the classroom and have an e-book for every student.”
in a statement provided to The Journal, Boniface said the lack of curriculum and similar resources keeps the high school from meeting the updated Colorado State Standards that were established between 2018 and 2022.
“As a result, teachers have had to take on the additional responsibility of creating their own curriculum, often relying on outdated materials and online resources,” Boniface said. “In some cases, they have even purchased these resources out of their own pockets. We are committed to attracting and retaining high-quality teachers; however, we currently have limited resources to provide them upon their arrival at our school.”
Administrators will collaborating with teachers, parents and students to find curriculum, she said.
“Our primary focus will be on English and math, as these are the subjects assessed in the SAT/PSAT. Additionally, we aim to develop curriculum for social studies, science, and our Career and Technical Education programs,” Boniface said.
Boniface acknowledged that the high school has raised its test scores to the “improvement” level, but noted that overall, scores have remained fairly stagnant. She added that staff was optimistic they would “achieve steady progress in the coming years.”
The next school board meeting is Oct. 16 at 6 p.m.
