On Tuesday, the Mancos RE-6 Board of Education decided to pursue a mill levy override and not a bond, per the recommendation of its MTSS District Implementation Team.
The board also accepted the resignation of Superintendent Todd Cordrey.
At the start of their meeting, the board acknowledged the retirement of longtime elementary teacher Tara Willburn, with a speech by Elementary Principal Seth Levine.
“You have changed a generation of lives, including my own children,” Levine said as his children presented Willburn with a bouquet of flowers.
After the DAC, CASB and BOCES reports, the board was given a presentation by the district’s MTSS.
The MTSS District Implementation Team, represented by Levine and district MTSS coordinator Angela Guiles, shared their evaluation of the mill levy override and bond as potential initiatives on November’s ballot.
The group, which includes Cordrey, unanimously recommended that the board try to pass one initiative in November, rather than two.
“We humbly recommend that the Mancos RE-6 school district tries for only one initiative, the mill levy override, for this election cycle to maximize our chance of successfully increasing staff salary as much as possible,” the letter said.
Levine shared that the team thought salaries were a priority, saying, “Our staff are incredible.”
The board also received a presentation from Magellan Strategies about a potential parent and community survey. The board reviewed the Magellan survey and provided insight and feedback.
Board president Emily Hutcheson-Brown emphasized the need for transparency in the survey, and the board expressed their interest in using the survey to understand why some families in the district choose to home-school their children.
Hutcheson-Brown said it was important to know why decisions were being made that took funding away from the district.
The survey is set to be launched in April and the data will be presented at the board’s April meeting.
Before heading into executive session at the end of the meeting, the board accepted Cordrey’s resignation, expressing their sadness at his leaving. He has superintendent for three years.
The next school board meeting is April 21 at 6 p.m.
