I'd like to call to order this regular
meeting of the Boulder Valley School
District Board of Education for Tuesday,
April 21st, 2026. Board members may
attend and participate in meetings
remotely in accordance with board policy
BMEA and state law. Laura, can you
please call the role?
>> Booker here.
Chavez
Medler
Quinn Linua
>> here. Rajp Paul
>> here.
>> Teamuading
>> here.
>> Adding
sorry Anger
>> here.
>> Thank you.
like to encourage folks to turn their
attention to the screen for the land
acknowledgement this morning.
The Boulder Valley School District
resides and operates on land that is the
ancestral homeland and unjustly and
illegally taken territory of the Ute,
Puebloin, Arapjo, Cheyenne, Apache,
Navajo, and 48 other tribal nations
historically tied to this land who have
called this land home since time and
memorial.
We acknowledge the atrocities committed
here, including the painful history of
genocide, forced assimilation, and
efforts to alienate the indigenous
inhabitants from their homeland,
supported by the policies of the United
States government.
BBSD is aware of the many indigenous
peoples, past and present, and their
dignified nations and cultures, who care
for this land with strength and
resilience.
BBSD recognizes the histories of the
land in Colorado and the survival of
many nations that carried their rural
traditions into the present.
It is BBSD's responsibility to educate
ourselves, our community, and our
students so that we can embrace the
wisdom and knowledge of indigenous
peoples
and actively stand together to address
injustices.
In offering this land acknowledgement,
we affirm and honor the history, wisdom,
oral traditions, and resilience of
indigenous people, and recognize the
responsibility to care for and
appreciate this land together.
I'd like to make a note for the board
secretary that board member Chavez is
now present.
And after that, I'd like to The mission
of the Boulder Valley School District is
to create challenging, meaningful, and
engaging learning opportunities so that
all children thrive and are prepared for
successful civically engaged lives. Good
morning, everyone. We're happy to have
you here uh participating in our meeting
this morning. At this time, is there a
motion to approve today's agenda? Moved
by Lenia, seconded by Anna. Laura, can
you please call the motion?
>> GR.
>> Yes.
Chavez,
>> yes.
>> Medler,
Quinnlanda,
>> yes.
>> Raj Paul,
>> yes.
>> Tuading,
>> yes.
>> Anger,
>> yes.
>> Motion passes.
>> Today we have one item on our agenda for
under work session study. We're going to
take a deep look at BBSD strategic plan
and UIP. I'll turn it over to Dr.
Anderson for introductions.
Thank you, board president Rajpal. Board
members, good to see you all this
morning. Uh excited to give the board
another update on our strategic plan and
begin to talk about the development of
our next UIP uh here in April. Um we've
got a uh lots of folks on our team here.
They're going to be talking um about
different aspects of the strategic plan.
And with that, I'm going to turn it over
to Dr. Dea Cruz who will do
introductions of the team and get us
started.
>> Good morning, President Rashpaul,
members of the board. So good to be here
again to provide an update on our
strategic plan altogether for all
students and also information about the
UIP development for the next uh two-year
cycle of the UIP. And with me today are
members of our team who will be sharing
from their expertise. I have Chris
Brock, director of strategic
initiatives, Dr. Jessica Alzine,
executive director of accountability and
evaluation. Across from me, Dr. Nativity
Miller, chief academic officer, Dr. Emma
Herszog, uh, executive director of
academics, and Dr. Bianca Gigos,
executive director of strategic
partnerships.
Today, we're going to be touching on our
current work within the four strategic
priorities of Al together for all
students, of course, no limits, next
best step, valued and included, and
define the destination. You'll also hear
information about the UIP development
process threaded throughout various
parts of today's conversation with UIP
connections discussed in a few different
places this morning. And as part of
define the destination and the CTE
update discussion, we have a treat.
We're going to be taking a walking work
session to tour our CTE center at Apex
to see the CTE pathways expansion with
student ambassadors. And we'll have
lunch at the culinary center where the
students will be preparing and serving
lunch. And this is actually perfect
because right now they're studying back
of the house hospitality and culinary
experiences.
And as the board knows, we have a cycle
of reporting to you all every year. And
of course, here we are in April with an
update on strategic priorities and also
the UIP development since we're entering
a new 2-year UIP cycle next year. And up
next, Chris is going to draw some
initial connections to our all together
for all student strategic plan and
updates about the third cohort of the
strategic plan support team.
Good morning, board president Raj Paul,
members of the board, thank you for
having us. Um, you all have seen this
slide before just uh to kind of anchor
us into a structure for today. Similar
to previous work sessions, we'll walk
through some updates for each of these
objectives. They will be slightly out of
order because we're going to end on
define the destination as we walk into
to Apex and do some CTE um exploration
there. But just wanted to give you some
sense of structure for the rest of the
day. But first uh want to talk about how
we are expanding our strategic plan
support teams into cohort three. Uh that
will result in 30 schools in three years
receiving this targeted support. Uh also
incredibly excited about the fact that
with our focus around the implementation
of datadriven instruction and leadership
support from that team. We do feel like
that we are at a critical mass of the uh
datadriven instructional practices
across the system. a great foundation
for us to continue to build on within
our strategic plan.
As a reminder, we have defined success
within our strategic plan
around increased achievement growth for
all and historically marginalized
students. Appropriate growth for
students receiving academic
interventions. Proportional rate of
students identified for special
education and gifted and talented.
Increased percentage of students who
graduate and obtain at least one grad
plus recognition.
increase fidelity to the BBSD discipline
framework and to decrease out of school
suspensions while reducing
disproportionality. So, as many of you
know, we have so many celebrations
already within our long-term objectives
within the strategic plan. We're going
to continue to build on that in the next
iteration of the UIP.
This is also a reminder for you all. Uh
we talked about this in a previous work
session on how our work around the
development of the district UIP trickles
down into the specific short cycle
improvement that you're going to see in
schools. Uh so want to make sure we
highlight that. So the district UIP
centers around the identification of
student performance priorities and major
improvement strategies that the district
will take. We align those within each of
the four strategic objectives and then
action plans are created using a
two-year improvement cycle through the
district UIP. So right now we are
concluding the first iteration of that
which was fall 2024 to spring of 2026
and we are moving into the development
of the UIP for fall 2026 through spring
of 2028.
Then as schools develop their 90-day
plans, their short cycle improvement
strategies, we ask that they align those
specific performance priorities to the
district UIP. That way we ensure
alignment all the way up to the things
that we know uh we want to prioritize
and hold dear as we uh try to achieve
the different metrics within the strat
plan.
>> So to start off we're going to talk
around no limits and I'm going to hand
it off to Dr. Miller.
>> Good morning. Um yeah so um Dr. Herszog
and I will be sharing an update on no
limits specifically around the
professional learning that we have
continued to do with our leaders um for
grade level standards and how we've
connected that to the curricular
resources that we've adopted and then um
a brief update on how we're utilizing
our district coaches that um Chris
talked about for DDI implementation.
So first we want to share the work that
we have continued to do with
professional learning and grade level
standards. um we've been grounded in
this quote, what does mastery of each
standard look like and what do students
need to know and be able to do and what
is the rigor required. So the work that
we have done from the academics
department has been through the lens of
continued professional learning on
cognitive lift and web stuff knowledge
which is what we talked to you about in
the fall. Um and so just as a reminder
we shared um that what that means is how
do we address instruction for the and
increase students level of thinking on
various levels throughout their day. We
have worked to provide learning to
leaders so they can lead teachers by
identifying what mastery looks like for
each standard and our teachers ability
to understand what students need to know
and be able to do for all the standards
in which they teach. Over the course of
the year, we have provided our leaders
with professional learning and would we
have directly connecti tied that to the
curricular resources that we've adopted
because we know that those curricular
resources are aligned to grade level
standards and we've worked to um create
a system so that we are raising the
level of cognitive lift through the
depth of knowledge in their daily
instruction. So through their
professional development, we've been
teaching them so that they can teach
their teachers and we've been connecting
that with their curricular resources so
they can identify where to do that in
the tools that they have. Um we've also
had the opportunity to highlight several
of our leaders who've begun this work in
a variety of starting points. We've
really tried to emphasize as an exec
team that the starting point for every
leader is different based on the work
what that's in their 90-day plan. um you
know the climate and culture of their
building all those things but we've just
asked them to start and so what we've
done is we've highlighted I think the
first session we highlighted four
different leaders that highlighted
various different starting points to do
this work with their staff and actually
this afternoon we're going to be
highlighting two more leaders who've
just chosen different paths but what
again our point is that you can start
wherever that needs to be we just would
like you to start
>> nativity I have a quick question and so
for those um for the professional
learning around this and the the leaders
that are finding where to start. Is that
within those cohorts that are already
predetermined or is it in all schools
across the district and all grade
levels?
>> This is not specifically to the SPST
schools. This is the professional
learning that we're providing at PK-12
with all leaders.
>> All right.
>> Building on that and in connection with
our professional learning, I feel like
this mic's on the wrong side, so I'll
flip it for next time. Um, as you know,
we're continuing to adopt highquality
instructional materials that support our
strategic plan initiative of students
experiencing grade level standardsbased
instruction. Across the content areas
listed on the slide, we've adopted
highquality core instructional materials
within the last four years. For example,
in math across K12, we have a new core
curricular resource over the last three
years. In ELA, across K8, we have a new
curricular resource over the last three
years. In science, we have STEM scopes
for kindergarten and FOS kits for grades
one through five. And in social studies,
we're currently in an adoption for
middle school. We're also editing our
existing K5 social studies units to
ensure they're aligned with updated CDE
standards and updating links that no
longer work. Um, making sure that we're
using highquality, nationally known
resources.
Every time we begin with a new
curricular resource, our content teams
design implementation plans to support
that resource. Implementation plans
include principal and teacherf facing
professional learning, school-based
learning walks, and other forms of
individual school-based support like
sitting with a team to plan or co-eing
with a teacher to help them understand
how to use the resources in alignment
with grade level standards. Our work as
an academics team is to support
implementation, but before an adoption
even starts, it's also become our role
to partner with educators to help create
the conditions of readiness for new
materials, particularly at the secondary
level. To do this, our teams have
engaged in listening tours at every
building with those department teams and
then have created working groups that
both address some of the key takeaways
from those listening tours and plan for
how to continue to improve and refine
our standards aligned course offerings
going forward across buildings. In
social studies, for example, that doing
that work was critical to help us ensure
readiness at the middle level for middle
school adoption. Because once we got
there, teachers were clear on what
standards needed to look like and sound
like and our shared beliefs as a
district for what social studies
instruction should look like in middle
school.
While we're proud of all the work that
has been done over the past several
years in partnership with educators and
proud of how we're leveraging
high-quality core curricular resources
as helpful tools to get to the depth
required of each standard. We also know
we have more work to do as we continue
to improve and refine our instructional
resources and teaching practices.
All right. In the last section before we
share a little bit of data is our
continued work to again grade level
standards through the utilization of
datadriven instruction and the use of
assessment. Um for data driven in
instruction as many of you already know
we have district DDI coaches that cover
are embedded in our schools and they
cover about 25 schools currently and
that's between the academics team and
the SPST teams. Their role is to support
schools and guide them through
implementation. As coaches and
facilitators, they work on building
understanding of standards mastery as
well as guiding the teachers and leaders
through the the long-term implementation
of DDI. So the academics team, district
coaches have been this is I think we're
in our fourth year. Um and we're cycling
through many of them have moved to our
goal always is to build the capacity in
the school. So many of them have moved
to coaching the coaches and coaching the
leaders. And so they're no longer
facilitating the meetings, but they're
they're observing and providing feedback
on a consistent basis.
An essential part of the DDI process um
is to unpack a standard as we've
mentioned and identifying what students
need to know and be able to do which is
the foundational work to un to ensuring
our students have access to grade level
standards. Additionally, we've been
working on refining our assessment
calendar for greater standards
alignment. Over the course of the last
th few years, we have had vendor
assessments and platforms as part of our
calendar, but now we are working to also
view and pull data on the embedded units
that we're using within our curriculum.
For example, we now have K through five
into reading and six through eight into
math because ultimately we want them to
do is instruct, assess, instruct,
assess. and that's part of their DDI
cycle. We continue to increase clarity
and understanding systemwide. For
example, we've recently engaged um our
middle school math task force to
generate two common assessments aligned
with the major work of their grade. We
are working to improve and refine our
common assessment structures. And it is
the first time we have had standards
data in connection to core resources in
various content areas which again allows
for educators to leverage the datadriven
instruction cycle at a high level
because they have the assessments that
are aligned to the standards that they
are teaching.
Now that we've heard a little bit of our
status implementation for professional
learning, curricular resources as well
as datadriven instruction, uh Dr. Dr.
Herszog will provide a quick update on
some data that we have right now for
April.
>> So given all of that information um a
question that we were asking ourselves
is what have we seen from beginning of
year to middle of year and as a result
what might what might we expect as a
result for end of year. So to support
school leaders with their middle of year
data Dr. Alen and her team reviewed
common assessment data from beginning of
year to middle of year. Um for math the
team used K5 and NWA MAP 68 and for
literacy ELA MCL class for K5 and common
lit for 612. They found through that
that the percentage of students scoring
at or above benchmark increased by 3 to
6% across literacy assessments and
increased by 2 to 5% on math
assessments. We know that our leading
indicators show we're continuing to make
progress. What we don't know yet is how
that progress will will correlate with
CAMASS scores. Once our CAMASS scores
come out next fall, Dr. Alen and her
team are planning to analyze those
scores in connection with our common
assessments so that we have local data
to inform how our common interim
assessments are correlating with our
CESS results. On our academics end, when
middle of data comes in, our academics
content teams review the data and they
use it to adjust where they're offering
additional targeted supports to schools
throughout the year. For example, our
math team has a menu of options for
coaching that they offer elementary
schools in phase one as part of
illustrative math implementation.
However, after middle of your EXL data
comes in, they have additional
follow-ups with school leaders who may
have had lower student data to partner
in figuring out what sorts of support
are best needed for that school from the
math team to improve results going
forward. I'll now pass it over to Chris
who will talk about our UIP process and
future considerations.
>> Thank you. So, uh, as Dr. Herszog
mentioned, uh, we obviously aren't going
to have the lagging indicator data until
we get the CAMASS results in the fall to
be really specific on what those UIP
targets might be. However, we do want to
be able to identify some opportunities
and considerations within each of the
four objectives uh, so that we can begin
the planning process now uh, and then as
we get that data in in the fall, we'll
be able to identify more specific
targets. So, uh, building off of the
data that Dr. Herszogard just mentioned
as well as the data that we are aware of
from last year's CAMASS data. Uh we have
an opportunity to address inconsistent
growth in math and a few of the
considerations as we develop this UIP
are around uh the current district-wide
implementation of math at all levels. So
we are in some phase of implementation
of new math materials across the entire
district. We anticipate that that will
continue to support uh the math growth.
We also know that the development of
DDI, as I mentioned before, we feel like
we're at a critical mass of DDI uh best
practices across the system. However, we
may have schools that are very focused
in on literacy within DDI. Uh we can
encourage them to expand that focus into
math focus with DDI and we can obviously
continue to support secondary schools
with math teams as they implement their
data driven instructional practices as
well. And then what you're going to see
at every one of for each of these
objectives is our ongoing support of
schools in their 90-day plans. So as
they identify specific targets uh and
leading indicators to support their math
growth and achievement within their
buildings, we'll be able to walk
alongside them and provide the necessary
support that they can reach their
individual student goals. So some
potential UIP indicators to think about
uh could be administrator learning
walks, observation of math retaches. So
that's uh one of the the things that we
would all want to be able to see in
schools as a part of our DDI practices.
Uh continued PD on depth of knowledge.
Uh as Dr. Miller mentioned, this is
something that we're going to continue
to support schools in the understanding
of uh so that we can identify the best
um instructional practices to observe
across the system.
There we go.
We'll pause for questions.
>> Thank you for that overview on the first
uh no limits portion of the strategic
plan. Board members who would like to
begin with questions or comments?
Dr. Anderson.
>> Uh, I just want to start by saying how
proud I am of the work that that our
district has done to have a
strategic planning process driving
outcomes in classrooms, driving
professional development. to have
revamped our curriculum to have high
quality instructional materials across
the board to have a balanced assessment
system to have uh measures of progress
that we that that are meaningful. I just
I I reflect on uh when we started uh in
2019 developing this strategic plan and
uh some of the aspirations that we may
have had uh seven years ago watching
them um be ingrained in the culture of
our school district is incredibly
powerful and um I just want to thank
this team for all the work that you've
done and um uh I just I'm just really
really proud of of where we are and we
have that um a set of district
conditions that allow that's allowing
educators and schools to thrive. Uh and
I'm just really appreciative.
>> I have a couple questions. I was
wondering um the comment was made about
continue to to improve instructional
resources, teaching practices and DDI.
Can you speak to and then so then we
kind of had that UIP flash of maybe some
math focused stuff but I was just
wondering if you could expand on where
do you feel like the next place we need
to focus particular on instructional
resources that our investment in those
the the curricular materials has been
significant all the alignment work the
professional learning but where do you
feel is the next place that you or next
two places where you feel like that
improvement it needs to be most targeted
>> thank you for the question um we've
started but where we really see some um
continued need is uh high school social
studies, secondary science um and high
school ELA. And I and I think, you know,
I initially actually had that in my
narrative and then I took it out because
I think what's so important about that
is it needs to be in partnership and
co-constructed with teachers through
that process that I described, right? We
have teachers at all of those grade
levels doing amazing things. And so the
power of these task forces has really
been to bring that together, deepen
shared understanding of what's required
by the standard for excellence and then
say like okay what are the key
experiences in each of these courses
that we value as a district and how do
we put that together? One example is we
don't have a core resource in 68 science
but we've started the task force work on
that. Um we already had our first day,
we have our next day coming up next
week. And um our steam director and
science coordinator have done an
incredible job. And that's the like I
believe one of the the first time where
educators have been in a room to try to
norm across the district what does this
science course look like and sound like.
And what it will allow us to do from
there is right now we have a repertoire
of supplemental resources that are used
in different ways in different buildings
to different degrees. But once we can
agree on what are the key standards,
what what are the scope by semester and
what are the key learning experiences,
then we'll be able to do an analysis of
the supplemental resources we have,
decide what is a fit to support that
work, what might we discontinue, and
what does that mean going forward for
any sort of core highquality adoption.
Um, we've been doing a little bit of
that work bes behind the scenes in
literacy. Our new literacy director
who's phenomenal, Stephanie Anderson,
um, has been inventorying all all of our
supplemental platforms. and we had one
supplemental platform that was uh
repetitive with the purpose of some
others, didn't have high use, and was a
significant cost. So over time, as we
look to phase things out to free up some
dollars, we can then work with teachers
to be be strategic about how do we want
to repurpose those dollars for our
shared vision of what each of these
courses should be like at secondary.
>> And I think just to add a little bit, I
think one of the things that we've felt
grateful for and what Dr. Anderson
support is we we are taking the time to
what I always say do the back of the
house work with sometimes doesn't speed
up the process but I think what we've
learned is if we implement something
without having done that we're going to
be fighting the battle on the other side
and so we've really taken time to unpack
what is actually the problem and then as
Emma said we've built a structure where
engaging teachers for a a year or half
of a year to calibrate that and then
adopting a resource has really um
actually increased our momentum when
we're when we go to implement, but it
does take a little longer on the back
end.
I totally agree and I appreciate that.
Anecdotally, those would have been the
three areas that I would have based on
feedback that I hear would have thought
that that's where next steps would be.
So, I'm really excited to see where that
kind of takes shape and how that
unfolds. My other question was on slide
12 where you showed K12 literacy
increasing by 3 to 6%, K8 math by 2 to
5%. Are you those are big that's a lot
of students in there and there's
probably I'm wondering is that are there
areas where you're not seeing
increases in those ranges? Are there
areas of concerns or hotspots in there?
I just don't want to make sure we're not
blanketing over some some areas of that
might not look like that.
>> I don't have that at my fingertips at
this moment, but we do have some slides
that I can pull from and see and get you
an answer to that.
>> Thanks. And then my last question was
really around slide 13 and some of like
as we're thinking ahead to the new UIP.
I mean UIPs as you said at the outset
are really structured around a priority
performance area. We have implementation
benchmarks. We have action steps. Um are
you thinking
that like I'm trying to put this slide
into those that the constru the
construct of a a traditional UIP and I'm
wondering what the priority performance
area would be. Is it just inconsistent
growth of math and that's going to be
the one we're going to focus on or um
how are you how are you seeing this? And
I know we have some UIP slides at the
very end as well. So if if you don't
want to wait for that, but just know
like when I look at all of these summary
slides on UIP considerations, that's
what I'm I'm having spent a decade
looking at UIPs.
>> It's that's where my mind goes and I I'm
excited to just get a little bit more um
shape in what we're thinking about
because October will be upon us pretty
quickly and we're not going to have a
lot of time to see that UIP before it um
really has its shape. Yeah, it's it's a
great question. So, these slides are
very intentionally uh drafted in in
terms of considerations. Uh the student
performance priorities, obviously, we
want to be able to have a hard data
point to identify what the the
appropriate smart goals is that we can
set around each of those things. Uh so,
the opportunity that we've outlined is
really us looking at previous historical
data, what we've had last year at the
end of uh when we were able to look at
CMAS data in the fall. uh this was one
of the opportunities that we identified.
Uh that doesn't mean that we won't see
uh significant increases in the fall and
we may have to rightsize that. So this
is very much just an opportunity that we
are considering right now and we want to
be really prepared once we do have that
data and and identify the right targets
for it. It doesn't mean that we're
closed off to other opportunities within
the within no limits to identify the
right UIP target based on what that data
shows us in the fall. And it might also
be because we are so tightly aligned to
the strategic plan, we can we can wait
until a little till we get some of that
postmortem CMASS data to really refine
where in years past because the UIP has
been a standalone document that's not
tightly aligned to the strategic plan.
Um the process has been a little bit
different and so I hear that and I think
that CMAS data is going to be really
important for to inform. I'm just, you
know, and so that's just
trying to get from one process to the
new process and just thinking it
through. So I appreciate that.
>> Yes. And Jessica will um foreshadow some
of that today in some initial thinking
around draft growth and achievement
goals for UIP for your feedback. And
we'll undoubtedly be looking at student
groups as we develop the UIP as well as
um English language arts.
Alex,
>> first I apologize for my tardiness. Um
uh some stuff out of my control and also
huge kudos to the entire team uh for
what I think is amazing stuff from
before I came to the board of starting
to see the benefits of like many years
of really hard and intentional work. So
I really do think uh celebration is in
order. Um uh I have a couple questions.
Um I and I am interested in more data
than those that are getting over the the
you know the standard benchmark. I'm
really interested in knowing you know
like what the standard deviation is
between schools and you know the uh to
what Nicole was talking to of
understanding you know where it's strong
and where where it's harder. I'm also
interested in knowing about the growth
by students at different levels in our
achievement spectrum because we really
do want to make sure we are still
accelerating and differentiating and
finding every student where they are
with this new curriculum, not having any
sort of bubble kid, you know, uh,
dynamic going on. And so, as we get
deeper in the implementation of all
these materials, I really am interested
in the full spectrum of our kids and
their needs and the subpopuls and the
school by school variation and
implementation. And I realize that's a
lot. So I'm not saying do more, but
that's the kind of stuff I'm sure your
DDI teams are working on. So if there's
something that we can roll up from that
that's appropriate for a governing board
to look at, I'd love to love to see it
at some some level. Um, and I have a
question. Uh,
well, I have a comment. Um, I am curious
of all the people working on this that
are in schools every day working on DDI,
how many might be coded as being central
administrative staff that a reporter
would get wrong and how many are working
every day in our schools that aren't
schoolbased employees in our accounting.
That's one sort of uh pet peeve. Uh but
the other one is really to get at like I
see this as a total culture shift for
this district to have centralized
curriculum and an instructional support
system. Right? So I am curious to know
what are sort of the obstacles we still
have in sort of a changing district
culture to do this and how is that trans
it must be working because we're getting
it to happen and that would have been
pretty much impossible 15 years ago. So
what are we doing to really win district
culture to do this is my question.
>> Um I too would comment on on your I
think what I can say for support in
schools is everybody under the academics
team is in schools at some point. So
Emma and I have an internal uh
deployment dashboard that I don't need
to bore you with the details of.
However, we know how many school support
structures we have every month, every
week. Whether that's principal coaching,
teacher coaching, professional learning
in schools, our teams like we've we're
able to quantify that on a regular basis
and know, you know, and we also look at
themes. So, if we're getting multiple
requests for math, for example, then
what I can do is go to Dr. de la Cruz
and say it looks like we need to do
something at a universal level because I
have 30 requests on X topic. So we've
used that internally but everybody on
our team is in schools at some point
during their week whether they're doing
any of those things and or providing
professional learning. So that's first
and then I think um in what can you say
your last question again in terms of
building the culture? Yeah, I just think
um having a centralized instructional
infrastructure is kind of new and a big
change from where we were 10 years ago
as a district. So I'm curious what the
obstacles are and what what are the
assets we're able to leverage as we move
towards having a strong district culture
about a shared focus on outcomes and
learning for everybody.
>> I mean I think the one challenge that we
face in academics is time as everybody
for professional learning. So we we are
prioritizing everything to the strategic
plan. But as you know, many things fit
in the strategic plan, but we are having
to be very creative on how we're getting
to teachers and providing training
because we don't have a very robust
professional learning calendar with
teachers. And so we have limited time to
be able to take all the things and
provide that learning with them. um we
because we have principles on a regular
basis monthly we can build their
capacity which we're trying to build
capacity so that they can build capacity
in the schools but in but I would say
one of our greatest obstacles I think is
the the time that we have with teachers
to get deep in this work and if I may I
would add that um an intentional step
we've taken over years to build the
culture across BBSD has been to really
lean into leading through the tenants of
implementation science and looking
toward how we can close the knowing
doing gap and also incremental
improvements over time so that we get
really good at foundational structures
and practices and then keep building
from there. We get stronger with each
new instructional practice and structure
and then we build from there. And that
really has allowed us to build the the
climate and culture across the district
where there is much more ownership and
understanding about these practices.
>> Jorge,
>> thank you for this. It's great to see
the progress that's being made and like
the efforts, you know, to really target
the DDI and to get to a standard
curriculum and make sure we're teaching
those standards. Uh I'm curious as a
part of this where where does
differentiation fit in like um what kind
of support is available in PD to address
this as we move towards that
standardization to make sure that we're
supporting those students that needed
additional help and how does that kind
of fit into this part of that as part of
the DDI coaching and as part of the PD
um that that's in here in the mix.
>> I would say that it fits in all of it.
Right. So what we're really working
towards is implementation of the MTSS
framework because those are the
structures that allow us to intervene
with students who aren't who aren't who
need more support and or accelerating
students who are and so I think the
implementation of both the MT MTSS
framework um structures as well as
datadriven instruction those consistent
cycles allow teachers and leaders to
identify where we're still needing where
students are needing support and where
we can accelerate Right. And then
obviously also connected is assessments,
right? So having those assessments that
we need to be able to identify what are
the skill gaps and or where are the
enrichment areas. Um professional
learning wise, I think what where we're
starting to get is how can we
differentiate for schools in a way um
through our leadership academy that will
be coming up in June. we're already
working with the executive directors on
planning that so that we can start doing
a little more differentiation for
support for them because of where they
are. Um the other pieces I think that
fit in the strategic plan but aren't
necessarily named is we are also still
providing um co-eing support for our um
English language development. So we have
a whole sustainability plan that we're
working on in schools. Um my whole CLLDE
team has been out in schools all year
long coaching at schools every two
weeks. So they spend a week there
observing coaching giving feedback on um
providing you know linguistic supports
and teaching and co-eing throughout this
whole year. It's not named in here but
we're still doing that work and it is
aligned in my opinion to the work that
we're still doing. So that those that's
that would be like another example. The
only other thing I would add to my
wonderful boss to my left um is you know
I think we've probably all been in
situations where if you don't have
strong core instruction with deep
understanding of the standards you get
to different differentiation really
quickly and all of a sudden you have 80%
of your class that's in a small group
for some sort of intervention where it
wasn't an intervention or a
differentiation problem. It was a core
tier one problem. So that's not to say
we can't do any differentiating until we
get core where it needs to be. But I you
know I think from across the country
we've learned that once you have a
strong core aligned with standards the
differentiation becomes decreased just
like we would want it to both for
acceler like for acceleration and
intervention. Um and so I think the the
caution pieces it can be hard if
teachers are diagnosing a student needs
intervention before they deeply
understand what mastery of that lesson
or that week looks like. So it really
has to happen in tandem.
>> And then I'll add to my amazing card
here. I think the other piece in
connection to what you're saying is that
we need that we're working on with
teachers is understanding that
differentiation and or acceleration is
not a person or a place. We need to
build the skills of our teachers in the
classroom so that we can do it within
our c within our structures so that we
don't have to send kids somewhere or we
don't need another person but we do need
to build their skills to be it's hard it
is very hard but we that's something as
we get through implementation as um
board member Medler mentioned
teaching um teachers the stuff that's in
the box takes time and it's it can be
overwhelming because there's a lot of
resources but once we get past that.
What we really are working on focusing
on is the teaching and learning part and
how that they can use the curricular
resources as a foundation and know we're
getting to standard, but also how do I
differentiate for a student in my
classroom because it might just be on
that one standard. It doesn't mean
forever, right? And so we have to teach
them how to do that within the CLA. I it
can happen outside, but I just I'd like
people to not think it's always a person
or a place to go.
Thank you. I really appreciate that kind
of thoughtful response and the question
I ask it because I know it's happening
and I know it's an important component
of it and that meeting to standards
actually helps all of our students,
right? So addressing that and given our
strategic plan highlighting that we it's
bringing everybody along, right? And
making find ways to kind of meet them
where they're at and support them. And
so in my mind, figuring out how we can
kind of emphasize that and kind of bring
it into the UIP to better align it and
to make it more visible because we're
doing that extra work. Um, and it's
important for folks to recognize that
that's actually happening in the
classroom. That's where it needs to be
happening. And the additional supports
matter and as we look at, you know,
thinking about our schools for next
year, right? That to the degree that we
can kind of right size our schools,
it'll be easier to do that sort of work
is is is important to kind of emphasize.
>> Yeah.
>> Thank you,
>> Dr. Anderson, then Anna, and then Deian.
I'm trying to listen for a hand up
remotely, but if there's questions that
come up, um, please let me know.
Thanks, Bo President Raj Paul. I I just
want to lift something up that um that
may be going under the radar for some
folks. I know for our team this is at
the core of what we do. Um when it comes
to district improvement, school
improvement, sequencing matters
and when we talk about change, we
constantly talk about
pace and cadence,
>> scope and scale.
And if you you can have you try to do
all the right things. This is just just
my perception of of what it is I think
that we're doing differently that's
allowing us to to achieve at the levels
that we are. It's that we have taken
what we know the research says works,
right? And then we've sequenced it in
the right ways, right? And then we've
rolled it out at the right pace with the
right cadence with the right scope with
the appropriate scale. So when Laura
says that we keep getting stronger and
stronger and stronger, it's by design.
It's not by happen chance. And if you
have an autonomous school district with
schools that are trying to set all those
things in isolation without the support
of a district, the district conditions
and infrastructure, what you get is
haphazard implementation. What you get
is some kids be based on where they live
or the school that they happen to attend
get something very different than
somewhere else. So, as we think about
improvement plans and the alignment and
all of the things we're talking about, I
don't want to miss this opportunity to
really lift up not just to our community
and to this board, but for others who
might be watching how are we continuing
to be successful year in and year out.
sequencing
and a level of change management that
has allowed us to unfreeze the things
that weren't working. Change the
practices that we know are best and now
we're in the refreeze where we are
culturally embedding how we do business
across the system and uh and so I just
kind of wanted to lift that up. I I get
I get really excited to watch, you know,
but I want to make sure that we're
telling that story.
Uh first I do want to say just how
impressive it is to see the cohesion and
the improvement that you all are doing
for all of these core curriculums. Um I
do want to know how you are thinking
about how this is going to incorporate
into magic school.
>> Good question on the road map that's
coming.
So I mean you know as we mentioned uh
with the AI update I I think we have to
be honest in saying that with all these
curricular resources that we've been
quickly adopting we have not looked into
their connection to you know the
utilization of AI but also like how can
it support student learning and um you
know reimagine so to speak or their
experience with instruction and that is
part of our goal in academics is now
that we have these curricular resources
is um I think AI the magic school up to
this point has been a tool right for
teachers some teachers as you all saw
that Lynn presented um um some ways in
which they have worked to engage
students uh we have not currently
connected that with any of the
curricular resources that we have
adopted and we need to we've been
thinking about like what does that mean
for our teams because I don't know that
my teams yet are fully up to speed I
think we have pockets of people so we've
been talking about what does that look
like for them? Where are they where do
we need to get them up to speed so that
they can lead and integrate in the time
that they already have because as I
mentioned their time for professional
learning is limited. So we're going to
have to embed it in the in the in that
space that we have. So more to come and
definitely work that we need to do.
Just as a followup, I think sometimes it
can even be as simple as you're bringing
together all of these core resources and
bringing this cohesion um for that
uniformity in that um core core um
instruction. And it sometimes can be as
easy as like the the document that you
have of like the instruction that can be
easily uploaded and you tell it like
this is the the way that we want you to
know this kind of curriculum. Um so it
can be as simple as the the docs and
Excel sheets that you already have. Now
um I think it's just thinking as you are
building it thinking that you are going
to tell the AI at some point this is
what you want and have.
>> I think totally agree with that and I
think something that we've talked a lot
about too is with our limited teacher
learning time. AI for teachers will work
best when it doesn't replace their own
knowledge and understanding of what
excellence looks like in the classroom.
Right? because they need to leverage it
to hit their vision, but they can't have
the vision of what it is if we're not
all clear on what that grade level
mastery looks like. So, I think part of
it too is how do we make sure we're
getting educators clear and aligned?
Many are, right? But just like AC across
our our system for what that looks like
and then how do we insert AI into that?
Because the flip is if we move too
quickly and AI is spitting out this is a
DOK3, but we haven't built the
understanding of like is it then we
could be going down a path that we that
we don't want to go down. But what I
hear you saying is like there's also a
way to use it for teacherf facing
planning and resources as well as the
student facing experience. So point
totally heard. Yeah.
>> And I know there was just some
nationwide um statistics released that
about 50% of teachers nationwide or
educators are saying that they're using
AI in some way. And Lynn Gershman when
we were all uh last together shared the
the high number of uses by teachers of
magic school in BVSD. and we know that
some or many of our teachers are using
it to align standards or come up with
standardsbased practices in their
classroom, but we have a lot to build
on. So, I appreciate your input.
I heard Deian raise her hand. I'm going
to give Laney and Jason a time to ask a
question if they want to and then we're
going to move on as I'm watching the
clock. I know this is going to be um
this is an exciting topic for all of us,
but I'd like to go Deian, Alex or Jason
and Elaine if you have anything and then
we'll keep carrying on. So, Deian,
>> hello.
>> Hello everyone. I'm sorry I can't be
with you today. Um I am curious about
how the coordination of all this
curricula
um helps which I'm assuming that it
really helps new teachers coming into
the profession and how is that part of
their um onboarding?
>> Yes, it does. I would say it helps um
because again I think our role in
academics is to provide curricular
resources that can help them teach the
areas in which they're teaching at a at
a standards level. Um I think part of we
collaborate with Katie Mills his uh
director of professional learning for
NEO so new educator orientation. Um we
also she also builds in u mentors that
are in the buildings for new teachers.
And then we've we're working on
onboarding plans. So if somebody gets
hired new next year, thinking about
what's the onboarding for them with the
math that they just missed this whole
year. And so it's an added layer to the
way in which we have to implement
because we'll have basically like three
phases going on. But it is something
that um we are keenly aware of that we
need to make sure that we're doing with
new teachers.
>> Thank you.
Mellia,
>> would you dive just a little bit deeper
into the task forces that you use on the
front end? That is, um, to me it seems
like a way that we are shifting culture
by coming together at the beginning um,
building
those relationships and I'd just be
interested on who's on those task forces
and how they work.
>> Yeah, thanks for the question and to Dr.
Anderson's point. I think it's been
frankly something that as we've sort of
looked at what's needed from a change
management perspective, it became clear
and I really credit um our director of
steam Jen Scarbella really started it
with with her folks and now it's
spreading because we're seeing a track
record of success. So a couple examples,
math, social studies, science at
different levels have all all gone
through a rhythm of first we do a
listening tour of every department
whether it's 612 91 12 68 whatever sort
of the area we're looking at is to just
really understand what's the feedback
from those folks. Then we look at the
feedback uh typically me with with
whatever subset of the steam team we're
we're talking about um and we try to
sense make like what are the key things
that are coming up both positive and
areas for growth. what's the work that
we're looking at that we need to do in
alignment with the strategic plan and
often also like what's coming from CDE
like changed math standards or locally
like third-year math and science
requirements and how do we think about
creating a group that has a very
articulated scope of work and purpose to
both address some of what's come up in
the listening tours and then also bring
in what we know we need to be working on
um and I think the relationship point is
huge um to's point having the district
come and just sit with you to learn from
I think really sets a tone of
collaboration and input. And so
depending on the scope of work right now
that looks different ways. Um we have a
secondary math task force that's
happening right now at high school where
the where the focus is thinking about
third-year math graduation requirements,
thinking about upcoming math standards,
like what courses do we offer and why?
And so to do that, it's a lot of shared
understanding of what do we value in
math at high school? What does that look
like and sound like? um what does our
data say about who's taking which
classes and who's not and why? What does
our post-secary national data look like
and how are we connecting with that or
not? Um I was sitting in the room where
um Mora Dudley, our our ma one of our
math coordinators had each high school
map out their math pathways and then do
a walk. And so I think the power of the
task forces has also the power of the
task forces has also been bringing
bringing teachers in to do that learning
with us because I think when you're when
you're at this view you see it all and
when you're in your building you see
your piece that's your job and so part
of the task force work has been to bring
educators in to help understand dissect
the problem and then co-construct the
solution which to Dr. for Miller's point
then helps us move because we already
have done the shared learning together.
Um typically task forces are a mix of
educators ideally from all buildings if
not that's hard sometimes most and then
a couple administrators. So in our math
one we have two high school principles.
>> Thank you for sharing that. And that is
really impressive to me that that piece
of change management is being um so
mindfully
engaged. So thank you. I I appreciate
that and I can see the benefits coming
into form now.
All right. For um next best step, this
last fall, the board received a large
update regarding MTSS implementation and
our work to support schools in each of
the components. Um today we're actually
under M the umbrella of MTSS provide a
quick update on the work in reducing
special education identification
disproportionality
um and it's and how it's connected to
MTSS.
So as part of um the next bestep share
is a celebration of our significant
disproportionality data um BVSD has no
areas of significant disproportionality
as of December 1st 2025. So for the
first time in years, we have not been
flagged for a year one or year two
disproportionality. So CDE typically
gives you like a three-year track. And
over the course of the last several
years, we've been either in year one
watch or year two watch. And going into
2026 school year, we will not be on
watch for any areas. So celebration um
uh we have we h we know that special
education identification has been an
ongoing issue concern for many years in
BBSD and I want to be clear that we're
not working to prevent identification
for students who need an IEP but we are
working to be mindful about not
overidentifying in our in areas either
based on language or other
um our sped team in collaboration um
work very closely with our MTS PSS team
and a culturally and linguistically
diverse department and they've done
significant work with our special ed
teams at the school level as well as
with school leaders. Um we know and
understand that we've not while we've
not been flagged for this next school
year, uh we continue to engage our
educators in long-term sustainability
and we do have a plan for continued next
steps. So we definitely are not in a
space where we're like we're not
identified, we're good. We know that we
have lots of work to do and we have to
keep that pace and cadence um going and
we have to keep the work going to in to
make sure that we are following the
proper steps and not over identifying.
So a part of that work for us is monthly
monitoring through vislab of current
trends of subgroups. So um I also don't
want this to be just a special education
thing. So we have a team of people my
special team monitors the data like
weekly actually monthly and we're look
watching and identifying those subgroups
we're in collaboration with other
departments so that we're watching that
um we know that our um SLD so
significant learning disability for
Hispanic identification is increasing
and while we are not at the risk ratio
that the state has given us we we are
very aware that we need to continue
working on that and so Currently, my
team is working on a plan in
collaboration with my CLLD department to
ensure that we're addressing that with
schools. Um, part of that learning is um
and we want to revamp the district
consultation process for evaluations.
So, when a student is identified who is
a multilingual learner in the past, we
have it's queued up a consult with our
language department to go through the
data, look at progress of language
learning and those types of things. And
what we've noticed in our data is we've
had a significant amount of decrease in
those consultations. And so we're
currently working on
understanding the problem. Why have we
had a decrease in those consultations?
Um you know, what data can we look at?
And then how do we increase the
consultation? So that again, not to
gatekeep that a student can't be
identified if they need it, but to make
sure that it's not a language issue.
We are also working on a plan for
professional learning for specifically
for our speech language pathologists.
They are their language experts in BBSD.
So what we want we're working to do is
ensure that they understand the
differences between language the
language differences and a disability.
So for some collaborative professional
learning with my special education team
and my um culture and linguistically
diverse team on working with our speech
pathologists to understand that they
have the knowledge that they need to
look at that data when that comes up at
their school level. And then we're also
working to ensure that we continue our
systemwide efforts. Um and this work
should and be incorporated into the
strategic plan and our MTSS
implementation focus. Again, for me,
this is not a special education
initiative. This is a all initiative and
I think the implement continued focus on
our implementation with MTSS will
continue to help us not over identify
students. But for now, we are
celebrating that we are not on watch for
the next uh three years or two years
actually.
>> And just to add that comes with
significant um
>> yes
>> financial implications as well. So if a
district is is found to be significantly
disproportionate, then it locks up some
of the funding that we can we can deploy
in the ways that we need to to support
students um and has to be used for
specific purposes.
uh and you know we are still
disproportionate and I think that you
know that's important to recognize that
we've reduced significant
disproportionality and a question I
asked the team and I don't know if they
have the answer to that is how many
districts are actually not significantly
disproportionate in the Front Range in
the Denver metro because I think it's a
very I I think not being where we are is
is the exception not the norm
>> and I did talk to our executive director
on that and in his I think four school
districts around us there are that's why
they do a three-year watch because most
districts sometimes are hitting the
threshold at some point in an area. Um,
so I think it's something we have to be
mindful of and again I think we don't
ever it never is not an a work item for
us like it always has to be whether
we're identified or we're not
>> Jason and then Deianne
>> I just had a question on this chart uh
you know I know it you know it shows I
guess no significant areas of disproport
personality but how does this compare to
last year with the improvement And then
what are those like if I look at the
dots on the left versus the dots on the
right what is the gap and what does that
still show like to Dr. Anderson's point
that we still have um disproportionality
but how like what is this graph showing
us?
>> So that black line on the side is the
CDE risk ratio which is 2.08 and you
have to be under that to not be
identified. So for us in any disability
where we were where we were like right
on the mark is for black and
African-American and we were at 1.95.
Um I actually have a a um briefing that
I'll send to all of you this week that
gives a lot more than this has. But over
the course of the last three years in
2023 we were at 2.10
and this is specifically for this. Um in
2024 we were at 2.17 and then this year
we were at 1.95.
Now obviously our end like the end size
changes too right? So as we as we exit
students those types of things kids
graduate kids move in. So that is why
it's it's that this data is actually
pulled on a monthly basis and then the
CD c the state uh pulls and gives you
your rating at December count.
>> Deian and then Alex.
Uh, I know this is a specific CDE data,
but I'm wondering if we have the same
kind of data about um the number of
students with disabilities by
socioeconomic status.
>> We don't I don't see that. We don't have
that report from the state per se, but I
don't know if that's something we can
get or not.
It it might be an interesting thing to
look at um as we're trying to make
improvements and um looking for
patterns. If if this data isn't giving
us significant patterns, maybe it is
socioeconomics
that creates the difference.
>> We can look into that. I don't
>> question.
>> Yeah, I don't know that it's built into
the dashboard at this moment, but we can
look into it.
>> Sure. Thank you.
>> Yeah. Um, thank you. I mean, I'm I'm
delighted we're making progress. I'll
I'll amplify Deianne's question about
whether uh economic affluence plays a
role because I know so many parents I
know are spending a lot of money that
have the money on services that should
come from a district in most cases
ideally. So, there's a lot of family
supplement of tutoring and services and
therapy uh for families that can afford
it in this district. So I do think the
FRL and the cross tabs even across race
and ethnicity for FRL are really pretty
important for us designing an equitable
system. I will add slide 16 is I've done
this before but this is not an
acceptable slide in terms of a graphic.
Uh there's so much here that's not
labeled that without the last 15 minutes
of discussion I really don't know what
anything is. And so uh I would update
graphics like this in the future. Label
things, make numbers readable, say what
they are. Because otherwise, you have to
be an expert to understand what this
means.
Okay. So when we are looking at our next
UIP considerations around next best
step, this is really us taking a a look
at these very specific student groups to
identify how we can improve our
consistent growth across all student
groups. Um to Dr. Miller's point, this
is really around our change management
and our implementation science around
MTSS. So you will the board will
remember that last year uh we were able
to engage in an MTSS review led by our
director of multi-ter systems of support
Shannon Gamble and her amazing team and
uh this has allowed us to be able to
take some steps both specifically at the
school level as well as at the district
level. So continuing to build on that um
and identifying the areas based on that
review of areas that they could improve
within multi-ter systems of support and
then we can do that as a district level
as well. Uh Shannon Gamble is also
leading a district group to help us
identify what those focus areas could
be. Uh one of those identified focus
areas is uh intervention implementation
data tracking. Uh so how we can become
uh the most accurate we can be with
students progressing through
interventions and how we can continue to
support that to ensure that we're
meeting adequate growth across all
student groups.
You'll see DDI implementation part just
like our previous conversation. when we
think about DDI implementation as tier
one of that multi-ter system of support
and how we're ensuring that that's
supporting um all of our students so
that we can identify when when and where
to intervene and how to support through
the different tiers of of that system.
So ongoing support of that is still
going to be a part of this uh next
bestep initiative as well. And then
again in every one of these objectives,
how we're supporting schools in their
very specific 90-day plans of which that
could be improvement within areas that
were identified in the MTSS review and
we could be able to target our support
of schools in doing that as well. So
some potential indicators would be an
MTSS progress update using the MTSS
rubric and as we identify specific
implementation data around intervention,
we can report out on that as well.
Board members, any additional questions
or comments on the next best step
or steps?
Seeing none, we can carry on.
>> All right, we're going to transition to
valued and included uh before we go on
to define the destination in our walk at
Apex. uh valued and included as everyone
on the board will remember
implementation around this initiative
was around cultural competency
implementation of the discipline
framework increased use of restorative
practices and MTSS as it's applied to
behavior.
What makes uh our work and valued and
included uh both difficult and the very
right work is the guidance from this
board as well as other members of our
team where we have said we know that
there are different areas three real
main components of the valued and
included initiative and we've seen
unbelievable unprecedented success
within two of those areas specifically
around how we are adhering to the
discipline framework
and our reduced dis disproportionality
and suspensions and our reduced
suspensions overall.
The other point that's in here is our
increased use of restorative practices
across the district. That was the focus
of our previous UIP. We saw tremendous
success as a result of that. What we see
as an opportunity right now is what's
highlighted within this first bucket,
which is that students feel valued and
included within their learning
environments. And this board as well as
our team has continued to grapple with
what that needs to look like in terms of
the right metric for a UIP. uh how we
can identify the right action steps to
ensure that we're making progress within
this area. Um as well as looking at
research across um you know research
best practices as well as what the state
is supporting around student well-being
and belonging.
So again we identify the opportunity as
students feel valued and included in
their learning environments that first
component
when we talk about multi-ters of support
we also use the term MTSSB. So what is
MTSS as it applies to behavior within
that we had identify professional
learning on deescalation techniques for
staff
and professional learning for school
leaders on implementing schoolwide
positive behavior systems.
We also have the recommendations from
our partners at the crown institute on
be well. So we have year one action
items that we have shared with the board
that we will continue to support and and
um meet those action items identified
from those recommendations. Those
primarily focus on our communication
processes, data collection and
programming consolidation that we have
in place.
again supporting schools as they
identify climate culture goals any uh
any goals that would fall within value
included which may include climate and
culture may include bullying may include
discipline um any of those specific
identified goals that they have how we
support them in doing that one thing I
want to point out in this too is that
the majority of our schools as we did a
review of 90-day plans last year do have
a valued and included goal in alignment
with within their 90-day plans. So
continue to support those those efforts.
Some indicators could be PD completion,
percentage of 90-day plan goals
associated with valued included,
school-based belonging efforts that we
can capture and highlight and then use
as um as strategies that we could share
out with other schools, and then
completion of Bwell uh year one action
steps that we've identified and shared
with the board.
>> Pause here for questions.
>> Yeah, thank you. Yeah,
>> Jason and then Melania.
>> Yeah, thanks Chris. I just have a
question on the professional learning uh
side of this. I know Dr. Miller talked
about time being such a limitation and
obviously across so many things that
teachers that we need to you know where
we need to have professional learning.
Can you talk about kind of what this
looks like? What's the time? And then
what is the if we know kind of what is
the feedback on the back end? Do
teachers feel like they, you know, after
x number of hours of professional
learning this that they know these
techniques, they can implement them like
what's the what's the uh what's the
result of this?
>> I can speak to that. Um so in guar in
regards to the deescalation techniques
that actually this p over the course of
this past year through through a couple
um venues that we have our leaders in
our schools was a technique that came up
as a need. Um what we're seeing is some
overall need in schools of escalated
behavior. And again, we have if you
aren't, you know, specifically trained
in certain areas, it's not necessarily
an area that we've provided um all
teachers in the general education as
again what the way I think about it is a
tool in your tool belt, right? It's not
the full CPI training. It's just like
what are some skills that I can use as
an adult with children and or with
adults, right, to deescalate. And so um
as yes I have mentioned that we have
limited professional learning time but
we are we get creative. So what we're
doing is we have we are building teams.
I'm currently in this right now. We are
building teams um with between my MTSS
team
special education specialist our student
support teams. Um we are building teams
of trainers. Um, we have a training that
we have used with schools from my MTSS
team and we're revamping that and then
getting input from a variety of
different stakeholders because it also
came up um in negotiations as a need.
And then what we'll do is uh we surveyed
all the schools to ask them what kind of
training do they want? Do they want a
three-hour training over the course of
three days? Do they want a ver like a
video a 45minute video? because some of
our schools have been deep in
implementing MTSSB and to um uh board
member Chavez's point on
differentiation, we want to ensure that
we're not assuming that they want a
certain it a certain way. So, we're
coding all of those schools right now. I
have about 36 schools who would like a
2hour training. Um and what we'll do is
we'll build teams of two, I believe, and
they'll have case loads of schools. And
then what they'll do is work with the
school on when they want that training.
We're building the training right now.
We'll get feedback and it should be
it'll be ready to launch in the fall.
Then they'll work with the schools on
where they want to implement it. Do they
want it at a staff meeting? Do they want
it at a late start? Where do they want
to build it in? And then each team will
have like two to three schools that
they'll that they'll do the training at.
And then we're also working on building
a virtual video um that would be about
45 minutes that teach that we'll build
the script for and then that leaders can
use when they when they would like to
roll it out at their in their schedule.
So again, our goal with that was to
respond, right? That came out as a need
from schools, but also to again, we
don't feel like there's any harm in
building teacher skills and how to
deescalate kids or um in those types of
situations where they have high-risisk
behaviors, those types of things. So
that's that's how we're building it out
for that specifically. And then for
professional learning for MTSSB, um Emma
and I were just talking about this
yesterday. We will launch that with our
prof with our uh June leadership academy
with leaders and then we'll be working
on um we're we're already building the
arc of learning for late start for next
year and then also thinking about what
does that look like throughout PK-12 the
rest of next year with our with our
principles and I will add that while not
on this slide specifically when we think
about professional learning around um
our most important end users who are our
students and the young people in our
schools and their experiences Dr.
Miller, Dr. Gyos, and myself have
interacted with a lot of our high school
students and our young people are
telling us that they believe they would
like to be part of shaping professional
learning in terms of serving on panels,
building understanding from their lived
experience, and they're offering to lend
their voice and experiences to this. So,
there are some other ways to embed
professional learning into the school
day and beyond the school day for our
educators and our leaders.
Lenia and then Alex.
>> I have two different questions. First on
this part about students feeling valued
and included. Can you remind me of the
Be Well year 1 actions? Just a little
recap of that. I'm sorry. I maybe I
should have that in my brain better, but
I don't.
>> Sure. And and I'm happy to to reshare
all of the identified year one action
steps. There was across five
recommendations. Um and within those
actions it was primarily around
communication structure. So working with
our communication teams uh to identify
ways that we can support uh parents and
staff and students all being aware of
what resources are available making sure
the ease of access to those are there.
Uh also where we feel like we have
redundancies or where we have gaps
within the resources that are there uh
and ensuring that we're that we're um
consolidating where needed and expanding
where needed uh is the primary outcomes
around those.
>> Okay. Thank you. And then um when I go
back to slide 21, I know that we feel we
have progress in restorative practices
and I'm really proud of our district on
that. I would not like to miss the boat
here though after we've had these
restorative practices I continue to ask
the question of
did they work
you know is what does recidivism look
like for folks um when they're
experiencing a restorative practice and
as we look at UIP considerations for
2628
I would I just would hate to miss the
boat on having done these restorative
practices and then not looking at what
long-term impact would look like. Um
though I do understand the focus on the
students feeling valued and included.
>> Yeah, I'd like to um amplify that a
little bit. I I'm really interested in
finding out what the outcome datas are
that are associated with this that would
be included in 90-day plans and schools
UIPs and the district's UIP. Uh I find
the two metrics we have in the
district-wide strategic plan totally out
ofd and not up to speed with what the
action is now that's going on. So it
looks like we made a big change on out
of school suspensions and
disproportionality, but now it's kind of
stabilized and we moved on to other
things, but it's still our metric. Same
with the proportion of kids in
restorative justice. Uh without knowing
how good that is, I don't even know if
that's a good thing. Um so I want to
know more about those outcomes that
Lennena is talking about. And in
general, I'm going to say as a retail
politician who takes meetings with
anybody who wants a meeting and then
tries to sit in that meeting until
people are done talking, this is an area
where our parents and our staff say a
different story than uh we tell when we
talk about what we've done. The teachers
I've talked to, including some who sent
us a recent letter, uh, describe really
difficult, challenging environments in
their classrooms with disruption, with
disregulated students, with not feeling
supported when, you know, things go very
poorly. And the the parents are aware of
this, the other kids are aware of this,
and our discussion about this seems
pretty processoriented rather than
getting a sense of the stories. I and I
recognize that as an elected official,
we put ourselves out there. we're
supposed to hear those things. So people
who have a a gripe are right to contact
us and talk to us. And maybe that's
disproportionate for what we hear. But I
hear a very different story from both
parents and teachers. And it is of uh
challenges with disregulated students
with not feeling supported. This lines
into the declining enrollment where we
don't have enough adults and staff to
help respond when something goes very
poorly. So I'm looking for support from
the district. Here's my to-do. My
request would be I'd like to know what
are the concrete measures that people in
schools can put into their UIPs and
their 90-day plans that are about the
outcomes of this. As a governing board
member, I really want to know how many
kids involved in restorative justice
exit our district within the next two
years. How many kids who are a victim of
bullying or accused of bullying leave
our district in the next two years?
What's the demographics and of FRL and
race and ethnicity of those figures? Um
uh so I think uh we were making great
progress. I know a lot of work's going
on, but I still hear on the ground of
things that really need to get better.
And again to the sequencing and cadence
point of what you do, like you do the
first stuff first. But I'm I want to
know as we continue to do that how
people on the ground are feeling about
it because the stuff I get as an elected
official is disconnected from this
discussion. I was wondering if anybody
could talk to that and tell me what some
of those metrics are that are being used
and and how's that data look.
>> Dr. Anderson, raise his hand and then
Deian, I just want to acknowledge that
after Dr. Anderson's response, I did
hear your hand go up. Um, and so I will
be calling on you,
>> Alex. Thanks for that. I actually think
two things can be true. That anecdotally
we can collect information and that at a
district level the information can tell
a different story. I think two things
can be true at the same time. And I
would say that um we're just compiling
we just we just completed a bullying
survey um that we've been doing for the
past several years. And then I don't
want to speak to those results because I
know Jessica's compiling that the
results that we're seeing is telling a
different story than we might be hearing
anecdotally where for the past couple of
years students reporting being bullying
or students seeing bullying has gone
down. uh that doesn't mean anytime
something like that doesn't happen, it's
not emotional and it's not hurtful. And
you know this, you know, we we've talked
about this idea of recidivism as a
measure and a metric. And I think that
we just have to really think about um to
the extent that restorative practices
can um
eliminate recidivism or maybe reduce
recidivism. Um I'm not I'm I think that
we just need to think about what the
measure might be. I'm not saying that
our measures are 100% right. Uh because
Alex the stories you hear we all hear
right and um every parent who whose kid
has a negative experience in a school in
a school is a responsibility of ours to
try to learn from that and try to
respond. And I would say over the past
several years, I think that there's
times where we haven't gotten it right.
And we've tried to make those things
right. And there's times where where we
have gotten it right. And when we get it
right, we don't hear about it. And when
we don't get it right, we hear about it
magnified because it hurts. Like we we
hear from people that are hurt. When
their kids get a bad experience, they're
hurt. So, I want to I want to
acknowledge what you're sharing and I
also want to reflect upon um you know,
yeah, maybe the data goes up and down
and we we have sus the suspension data
we have is is 10 times better than any
any school district around. Uh but
there's other there's other sides to
this and we have to always strive to get
better. Um and sometimes it's
quantifying that and sometimes and and
maybe you know where we need to really
begin to focus is when we have these
instances where the system misses
right where the system misses for one
reason or another sometimes it's an
individual it's an employee right misses
or sometimes this when the system misses
how do we fix the system to be more
responsive so I'll I'll say that um to
the extent that we're working on being
valued and included as as as a prior
priority. Um I think in some areas and
with some subgroups of students we're
doing really really well. Some subsroups
of students we've made progress in some
subgroups of students. I think about our
neurodiverse students and I think about
our twice exceptional students where uh
they're not they're not feeling the
benefits of maybe some of the
improvements we've made that other
subgroups are. So I just want to
acknowledge that uh the system isn't
perfect. We haven't eradicated bullying.
we haven't eradicated, you know, our
systems aren't 100% foolproof and and we
can um but they're better and I think
we're focusing on the right things and
we'll continue to strive to think about
metrics to tell that story without
leaving out the the reality that
anecdotally like if somebody has a their
kid has an experience an unacceptable
experience for them I don't doesn't
matter how many graphs I show and all
the progress we're making they've had an
unacceptable experience
Dian,
>> uh, very briefly, I am not familiar with
be well recommendations
and so could you send me a link to
something that I could educate myself
about uh, what that?
>> Absolutely. I'll send that back out to
the board. We can actually include that
in news and notes this week for everyone
to have a refresher.
>> I have a question about this the value
didn't include it in a little bit to
Alex's point and one one thing that is
challenging is our strategic plan is a
five-year plan, right? We lock that plan
in for five years. The UIP is an
opportunity for us to continue to tinker
on a two years within that five-year
plan and then those 90-day plans even
more frequently. Looking at our
dashboard, I just pulled up our
dashboard. on the climate survey results
that we use as metrics for feeling
evaluated and included. I I just there's
differences. I feel like if you look at
elementary school students, 87% 88%
report feeling evaluated included. High
schoolers 86%, middle schoolers 81%. And
so like the opportunity there and
helping our schools identify the ways in
which their unique community or their
their age group and these new UIPs can
be hone in and get more specific. So a a
a goal might look different at a middle
school level or the need might be
different at a middle school level than
a high school level. How can we use
leverage the UIP strategically and our
district UIP goal to allow some
flexibility at our site level to really
get at the root cause at our sites and
again this is going back to like how I
think about the structure of the UIP and
the benefit is like that root cause
analysis is really critical and I just I
I think it is outstand actually I think
86% of our kids 88% of our kids feeling
valued and included that metric does
feel pretty it feels good that's a
significant proportion of our students.
And I agree, there is still some work to
do. I don't think we'll ever get rid of
bullying. That'll never go down to zero.
There's some developmental age. There's
just kids are kids. There's some
learning to be done there. But I do
wonder as you're looking toward the UIP,
how
designing and crafting those goals to
continue to work towards this 5-year
plan that we will be in until we renew
it and helping dial helping individual
schools be able to dial in ways that is
really meaningful so we can continue to
see forward improvement that's
meaningful so our community feels that
in meaningful ways. Dr. Anderson,
>> I want to be realistic. um we have a
different challenge around valued and
included that's coming and that's
declining enrollment because we're going
to be shifting student schools we're
going to be shifting our footprint so uh
there'll be a new baseline that that we
will have to know and and understand
right so as I think about the things
getting uh that are potential risks
right if we do a risk analysis of where
we are I think that comes to me as top
of mind so um and and and and actually
that um you know the work we're doing
around declining enrollment. To the
extent that we can do that well and
bring people together the ways that
we're doing now, which is by listening
and hearing where people's values are, I
do think there's a risk of it
overshadowing a UIP.
Does that make sense? Right. So, to the
extent that we're going to have
different school configurations, some
schools won't be here, other schools may
go bigger, we're going to be bringing
community communities together, right?
and um and then we have these
aspirational highfunctioning
like systems AC that it should help
insulate us from some of those things.
But uh I think we do also need to know
and understand that uh depending upon
how that process ends up playing out um
could significantly impact things like
valued and included. Um, and uh, um, I
think that, uh, you know, there's going
to be kids who I I just think that
there's a ton of dynamics that I do not
want to let go of. And I'll be very
clear with you as board members and our
community. We know that. We understand
that, right? And some of it's going to
be unavoidable if we're going to close
and consolidate schools.
That it's just true. So uh so as we
think about building this UIP and
building it in ways that are thoughtful,
right? Um I think that there is some
other things that we haven't been
considering that we need to probably uh
begin to realize are going to be
impacting us and uh to the extent that
we're able to hold things together, move
things forward um in the midst of what
will be probably some of the most
significant changes in our school
district in 20ome years, we just need to
understand that.
Alex.
>> Yeah, I really want to thank you for
that, Dr. Anderson. I agree 100%. And um
and that's why one of the reasons I
continue to be really impressed by our
community engagement process and one of
the things I really take away from it is
the depth of our parents engaging and
having a studentbased like a student
focused approach to the whole thing
because at the end of the day, 1200
elementary school kids will be moving
from one school to another because of
this probably and each of that is an
opportunity to be excited or you know
have a really bad time and experience
trauma disrupts everything else and the
scale of that for ele elementary schools
is huge and that's why getting at and
that's not just for the sending schools
the receiving schools are going to have
their challen their culture be
challenged by new students new parents
with expectations they had in an old
school so I really think that transition
year for the sending and receiving
schools is huge for investment and
support and adjustment of what we do so
that those elementary schools are
primarily helped with managing that
transition as well as possible and
that's where I want to make that we're
capturing uh the outcome data that gets
that whether or not whatever we do in
those two years, let's say the year of
planning and the first year at least of
implementation that we're keeping track
of how the students are feeling and how
they're doing and not just tracking
whether we did the process that we
picked four years ago and that the
implementation is moving along. So it's
it's exactly to your point is why I want
to accelerate or amplify the
outcomebased approach at least to our
elementary schools for the student
well-being and valued included because
there's great opportunity for kids to
not feel included when they get there
and there's challenges for parents who
have thought their previous school was
serving their kids need and not sure the
new school wants to serve them or is
able. So that's the kind of stuff I'm
worried about.
U we are going to move on to define the
destination. Before we do, this is such
a good conversation. I appreciate all of
the input, the questions, and the
discussion. And just a time check that
um Apex is expecting us around 11:15
and the culinary center is expecting us
at around noon and we might not make
those exact deadlines, but just a time
check.
>> Thanks for that. Yeah, we can move
through and board members, we can hold
some.
>> That was a very kind way to say
Hello. So, um I'm really excited to be
able to uh share an update on define the
destination.
We ground our work of define the
destination in BBSD's grad plus
framework. This framework is a key part
of the district's vision to ensure every
student graduates with more than a
diploma, equipped with real world
skills, exper uh meaningful experiences
and multiple pathways for success beyond
high school. Rooted in BBSD's commitment
to preparing students for an evolving
future. The grad plus framework expands
opportunities for students to earn
college credit, industry certifications,
the seal of biiteracy and engage in
authentic work-based learning
experiences. You can see our
implementation um benchmarks there on
the right.
Together, these four quadrants help
students connect their learning to their
interests and future goals while
building confidence, skills, and
credentials that matter in college,
career, and life. The Grad Plus
framework reflects BBSD's belief that uh
success after graduation is not a
one-sizefits-all, but built through
multiple and flexible opportunities
starting at ear as early as elementary
school and continuing on through
graduation.
First, I'll share about work-based
learning as part of the grad plus
framework. In BVSD, we use Colorado's
work-based learning continuum starting
in preschool all the way up through the
12th grade. The continuum is designed to
intentionally build students awareness,
exploration, and preparation and
training for future careers, starting
with early exposure in elementary school
and culminating in real world hands-on
experiences like internships in high
school. The work-based learning uh
continuum experiences help students
graduate with not only academic
knowledge but also the skills,
experiences, and connections needed to
thrive in college, career, and in our
community.
The Dare to Dream program brings
work-based learning experiences at every
to ensure every elementary school
student begins exploring their f future
early, not by chance, but by design.
Through career weeks, guest speakers,
and hands-on experiences, students
connect what they're learning in the
classroom to realworld possibilities,
hearing directly from professionals
across a wide range of fields, and
imagining themselves in those roles. As
part of our broader work uh based
learning continuum, Dare to Dream sparks
curiosity, builds relevance, and helps
students begin to see uh their
interests, strengths, and identities and
how those can shape a future full of
possibilities.
This slide shows how we are scaling
work-based learning experiences across
the PK12 continuum. At the elementary
level, you can see the rapid expansion
of Dare to Dream from just 2% of
students participating during the 23 24
school year to 15% last year and
reaching 100% of uh students in the
elementary school this year, ensuring
universal early career exposure. In
middle school, IAP IAP completion
continues to grow steadily, reflecting
stronger systems to support students in
exploring and planning their future
pathways. IAP stands for individual and
career academic plan. This is a
personalized multi-year process that
helps students explore their interests,
set goals, and map out the coursework
and experiences needed to succeed in
college, career, and life. At the high
school level, participation in
work-based learning experiences is also
increasing significantly from over 600
experiences last year to an anticipated
4,000 plus this year. High school
work-based learning participation
includes course enrollment, job shadows,
industry sponsored projects, workplace
tours, and on the on the job training,
career speakers, and BBSD facilitated
internships. The overall trend is clear.
We are rapidly expanding access and
ensuring more students engage in
meaningful work-based learning at every
level.
The next quadrant that I'll share about
is the seal of biiteracy. The seal of
biiteracy is a formal and nationally
recognized seal that graduates earned by
demonstrating proficiency in multiple
languages, preparing them for success in
a global workforce and diverse
community. The seal of biiteracy matters
because it signals to college and
employers that a student has valuable
multilingual skills. It provides it
promotes cultural awareness and global
competence and it recognizes and honors
students linguistic assets especially
for multilingual and heritage language
speakers. This slide highlights progress
in students earning the seal of
biiteracy across student groups.
Overall, we continue to see growth
across nearly all groups with especially
strong gains among Hispanic and Latino
students and students from dual language
homes who are projected to be over
represented by about 7% this year. This
reflects the strength of our
multilingual programs and the assets our
students bring. We've also significantly
expanded to a larger range of languages
from awarding the seal in 15 languages
last year to 23 languages this year,
exceeding our goal of providing 20
languages.
Of great importance to note, by the end
of the school year, nearly all student
groups are expected to be
proportionately represented among SEAL
earners. Overall, the data shows both
growth and increasing access. more
students from more backgrounds earning
recognition for bilingualism and
biiteracy.
The next grad plus uh quadrant that I'll
highlight is college before graduation.
There are five ways that BBSD students
can earn college credit before ever even
stepping on a college campus as a
full-time student. The Grad Plus team
has worked really hard to make college
level examination program testing
available for BBSD students right here
in our own district without having to
test at a college campus. These tests
are similar to AP exams in that they are
run through the College Board and are
accepted at most post-secary
institutions nationwide. Here in
Colorado, all public post-secary
institutions accept CL KIPP exams for
college credit.
Advanced placement and international
baloric classes provide college level
courses right here in our high schools.
Dual and concurrent enrollment both
allow high school students to earn
college credit, but they differ
primarily in location and instruction.
Concurrent enrollment features college
level courses taught at the high school
by qualified high school teachers. Dual
enrollment refers to courses taken on a
college campus taught by college
faculty. We are committed to continue
making these opportunities accessible to
students. Earning college credit while
still in high school can mean real
savings in time and savings in tuition
down the road. High school students who
earn college credit are significantly
more likely to go to college and finish
a degree, making it more of a uh making
it one of the most impactful college and
career readiness strategies used
nationwide.
This slide shows the results of college
credit attainment before high school
graduation in action. Looking at the
left chart, AP remains our highest
volume program, followed by concurrent
enrollment. What's encouraging is that
across most every category, our overall
anticipated 2025 2026 numbers are
holding steady or growing. The chart on
the right tells an even more compelling
story. We're projecting a jump to 52% of
high school students earning college
credit this school year. That means that
more students are taking advantages of
this of these opportunities than ever
before.
And this slide breaks down college uh
credit attainment by racial and ethnic
group. The good news is that nearly
every group is trending upward and in
the anticipated uh in the anticipated
2526 data. Asian students continue to
lead at 67% and American Indian and
Alask and Alaskan Native students show a
notable jump from 14 to an anticipated
33% which is meaningful growth. Hispanic
and Latino students who make up 21% of
high school population are earning
college credit at a rate of 34%. These
proportionality patterns are something
we monitor closely and we think um about
all the time as we ensure uh continue to
ensure equitable access to these
opportunities.
All right. And the last quadrant that
I'll present on is industry
certifications. We have taken the seal
of climate literacy under the grad plus
wing and it's part of the industry
certifications quadrant. This spring we
will be celebrating the second
graduating class to earn the seal of
climate literacy. The seal of climate
literacy is a national recognition which
is an additional endorsement that is
connected to the high school diploma.
The seal of climate literacy is awarded
to students who demonstrate a strong
understanding of climate science,
sustainability and environmental action.
The seal of climate literacy matters
because student who earned the seal have
shown knowledge of climate systems and
human impact, understanding of
environmental justice and
sustainability, and the ability to apply
learning through engagement and action
projects.
In order to earn the seal of climate
literacy, students complete two climate
related courses and a portfolio of
experiential learning and action
experiences.
These can include industry
certification,
additional coursework, work-based
learning, and other actions related to
local climate prog programs.
We are excited to honor 20 graduating
students
last year, which was our first year, and
we are more than doubling that in year
two. In addition to our 70 students
earning the seal of climate literacy
this year, there are more than 110
students in grades 6 through 11 who are
already working toward earning their
seal of climate literacy. To support the
seal of climate literacy, we have
provided the following opportunities as
students um portfolios can include
industry certification, additional
coursework, workbased learning, and
other actions related to the climate
problem. Over the last two years, we
have added five climate uh related
courses to our course catalog, offered
12 certifications, participated in 46
work-based learning opportunities,
including jobs, internships, and
volunteer opportunities, offered eight
courses where students earn college
credit before graduation, supported
interest in climate uh literacy in the
middle school through a junior seal
experience, and of course, we continue
to support green youth Booth Council
students across our district are earning
industry certified experience uh
certifications through career and
college education reimagined in BBSD as
accelerate. Before walking through the
specific Accelerate pathways available
to our district and in high school
websites in our course registration
materials, I want to highlight an
important shift in how we think about
this work. Accelerate is more than a
rebrand. The name reflects both rigor of
a programming and the opportunities it
creates for students to accelerate their
futures, their careers, and their
passions.
These pathways equip with uh equip
students with the skills of real world
experience and need to success to
succeed after graduation.
Unlike traditional vocational programs
which are often designed to narrow a for
designed for a narrow slice of students,
Accelerate is built for everyone. We
believe every student can thrive in
rigorous relevant learning. Through
these pathways, students earn industry
certifications and college credit while
engaging in hands-on work-based
experiences.
And as the board is aware, thanks to our
voters, we are expanding and improving
spaces where students engage and
accelerate pathways in BBSD. Along with
the beautiful new spaces that are being
built, we are working alongside our high
school leadership teams to ensure that
we have robust and clear Accelerate
pathways that align with our local
economic needs and student interests in
these spaces. On this slide, you are
able to see the pathways of investment
that our bond dollars have renovated and
improved. Given the state requirements
for defined CT pathways, we are
providing schools with their ver we are
supporting schools in their various
stages of implementation and
strengthening these pathways.
All of our accelerate pathways are now
published and visible to our community.
Parents can find information on all
Accelerate pathways on our district
website as well as on their high school
uh websites directly. Our community can
see pathways organized by schools as
pictured on this slide or by pathway
topic. We have a clear course
progression published information on the
available college credit within each
course as well as the industry
certifications that students can earn in
their courses. We also created printable
one-pagers available both in English and
in Spanish that outline all of the
information for schools to leverage
during the course selection pro process.
We have also ran a feature in the uh
February uh spot highlighting all of our
pathways and the benefits that they
offer to students. We will continue to
leverage these websites and print
materials during district events,
enrollment nights, and course selection
to ensure our students and community
knows all that we have to offer.
We are expanding our accelerate pathways
at Apex over the next uh two school
years. Again, with the generous support
of our voters, Apex has uh been
undergoing massive construction and
upgrades that will um allow us to offer
additional new programs. You can see
which programs will be added in this
slide. As Dr. Dea Cruz mentioned, um at
the end of this presentation, we will
have the opportunity to tour Apex. I do
want to highlight something important.
Um, Apex and Accelerate Pathways provide
students with the opportunity to engage
in the big three, which are Colorado
Department's education's priority
outcomes to ensure every student leaves
high school with either college credit,
industry uh, uh, recognized credentials
or work-based learning experiences,
setting them up for success beyond
graduation. I'm proud to share that BBSD
is ahead of the curve as related to the
big three thanks to our grad plus
framework which has already been
providing students with these valuable
opportunities for college and career
readiness.
>> Board members, I think maybe we have
time for two very brief questions and
then we'll move on to the last section
of this presentation. Any questions?
Anna,
>> uh, I do just want to give a big kudos.
Uh, Bianca and I did have a chance to
talk about um, some of the, uh, ways
that students are able to attain, uh,
college credits uh, while still in high
school. And just the on the ground, um,
uh, participation that they have with
the students was just remarkable to hear
about and to learn about. Um, this just
makes me really excited and it it brings
me to my uh other hat as a commissioner
uh on higher education on figuring out
how we can move it to the next step on
potentially um guaranteed admissions,
whether it's to a school or whether it's
to a program. Um and so I um am just
opening up the invitation to work
further um to make sure that we connect
both of those um to to ensure that all
of these programs get connected to the
correct or to the proper um institution
of higher education.
>> Thank you. That's def definitely
something we want to continue to build
upon and that's something that's in the
works. So I'm excited to hear your
offer.
Okay, we'll move on to the UA. Oh, one
last brief question, Alex.
>> Yes, actually I just again want to
congratulate the district's leadership
and Bianca and her team for everything
on this. It's just an amazing sign of
progress. I I don't have time for my
questions, so I'm going to email some
questions and I would love some written
response and information for those
later.
>> Thank you.
All right, moving on to um spending some
time on UIP development, which I know
we've touched on throughout the
presentation.
In terms of the development timeline, as
we look toward developing a new UIP, we
anticipate recommendations from DAC in
the spring that we embed into our
development process. And that process
typically occurs throughout the summer,
leading to the team bringing a draft of
the UIP to the board in early fall for
feedback that informs potential
revisions and finalizing the UIP um as
it is due to CDE in October, followed by
progress updates to the board. Jessica
has been working on envisioning and
configuring growth and achievement
targets and KPI dashboards um with input
that has come from the board and she's
going to provide that that draft
information next.
Okay. Um so before we kind of jump into
as Chris named it earlier the
considerations that we're talking about
for growth targets for the next UIP
cycle I just want to start with high
level reminding us grounding us in
median growth percentiles or an MGP. So
every year the state anchors an MGP of
50 as for a district to think about an
MGP of 50 meaning on average your
students are growing at a rate that's
comparable to their academic peers. If
the MGP is higher than 50, you're
outpacing or growing at a faster rate.
And if it's lower, you're growing at a
slower rate. And that's always thinking
about globally all students, not taking
into account any particular group that a
student might be a part of, whether
that's a racial ethnic group or being a
multilingual learner, etc. So that's
important to keep in mind as I walk you
through this table. So, what we've been
talking about is setting a growth
standard for groups of students and all
of those growth standards meeting or
exceeding that that benchmark of 50 of
average. Um, and thinking about that
differentially based on the historical
performance of students in the district
as well as the targets that we have for
them specifically. So, um, thinking
about all students in the district
overall, our Asian students, gifted and
talented students, multi-racial, and
white. These are the groups here in BBSD
that have historically been high
performing. Um, we've we're talking
about an MGP threshold or a minimum
growth rate of 55 or higher for those
groups. Uh, and compared to the state,
these groups are also tend to be higher
performing. In the state, these groups
tend to have an average MGP of 54. So,
we're setting proposing setting this
target at one point above. Um, in the
BBSD context, that's actually not
looking for an increased growth rate.
It's looking for them to maintain a
growth that is above the state average.
And to I just want to make sure we
conceptualize this well. So, I have a
loose analogy to the Boulder Boulder
that we have coming up. So, if we think
about the Boulder Boulder, all the kids
in Colorado are running the Boulder
Boulder. If we're at an MGP of 55, we
are running ahead of the pack already.
And we also think about the fact that
every year all of the school districts
and across the state, we're all trying
to serve our students better. We're all
trying to work um to help them achieve
the best that they can. So that MGP of
50, conceptually, even though it's a 50
every year, conceptually it can move
around. And so when we're suggesting we
stay at an MGP of 55, we're saying we're
continuing to run faster than the
average in the pack. And that running
faster might actually be harder as
others are continuing to improve what
they're doing. So just conceptually
thinking about even though that box says
a plus zero know that maintaining
something above the state average at a
55 is statistically difficult for a
system the size of BVSD. So that is a
challenging standard that we are setting
there. For the next groups of students
our FRL eligible Hispanic multilingual
learners and our students with IEPs
we're looking at an MGP threshold of 52
or higher in the state. For these groups
they tend to perform at an MGP of about
46. So we're setting this target at six
points higher than where these groups
are in the state. And for our BVSSD
context, that's looking at accelerating
growth from two to four points depending
on the subject or the student group. So
we're setting an ambitious gap closing
pace for these groups of students. We
are not wanting them to stay where they
are. We're wanting them to speed up,
catch up, move up in their Boulder
Boulder race.
And then this last group of students,
um, the American Indian, Alaskan Native,
or our black African-American students,
if you were here in the fall when I
talked about the CAMASS results, we
talked about how for these groups, uh,
growth tends to be bouncy. It's
instable. It moves around. And that's
just mathematically what happens when
you have a small group in a system. So
our our goal for these students is
saying we know there's going to be some
some instability but can we get that
instability to happen at or above 50 so
that we are growing and maint
maintaining above the state average. Um
and then for these groups that's a
four-point increase and in our BBSD
context again looking at these students
to move up in the pack um from one to
four points as far as how we're setting
growth targets.
Now we know that growth comes before
achievement. So because we have these
growth targets, we have related
achievement targets. So when we're
talking about achievement, this is the
percentage of students that are meeting
and exceeding grade level standards for
that uh first those first groups. We're
looking at steady Oh, thank you. I
forgot I was the one in charge. Steady
incremental gains. Um looking to
increase the percent needs for 1 to 2%
overall and then in these particular
groups. Um and then for those groups
that we're looking to challenge uh to
increase their growth rate to move them
up in the pack, we're we're aiming for
high velocity growth there as well,
looking to close those achievement gaps,
looking for four 4% increase over the
UIP timeline. And then lastly for those
last groups, um resulting looking to um
grow that percent meet exceeds for 2%.
Um now all of this is based off of the
2425
school year. So when our most recent
year of results come in, we'll come back
to these numbers and think about does
this still make sense with what we've
seen, but kind of how we're thinking
about it based on the data we have
available to us right now.
Okay, there's only one slide left, so we
can pause for a couple. I I think I saw
Lenia and then Lan's hand for sure then.
Okay.
I'm wondering if there's been any
thought of pulling out gifted and
talented students
uh as a student group
uh because I would think that growth
targets may be able to be different for
that particular group achievement as
well. But, um,
I guess I'm not sure about the lumping
all of those groups together.
That's a good point. So, uh, gifted and
talented students are are challenging
when thinking about these sorts of
things, right? Because we hit a ceiling
effect. Um, so last year we had, uh,
92.4% of that group meeting or exceeding
grade level standards. So, what does
growth look like? what is reasonable for
seeing a lift in their percent meet
succeeds. Um, so that's that's a good
point we can take back to the table and
think about if we want to think about
them differently from how they are here
now.
>> Thank you.
>> And just to note too, I think if we
think about them different, we have to
we have to the gift and identified
students are gifted in all areas. So it
might not be literacy or math. It could
be something else too. So if we if we
comb it out, we'd have to look at who's
identified in what.
One thing to piggyback. I mean,
traditionally when the board has seen
the UIP, it's been without the gifted
addendum. Like there's typically an
addendum to the UIP for gifted and
talented identified students. It might
be helpful to see that when we get the
draft UIP back as much as we can just to
give some context and understanding
around those students. Alex,
>> yeah, that was my question. on on this
chart are is each row a separate like
grouped together thing or are those five
subgroups in the first row that we're
tracking each of I'd like to know what
the subgroups are doing not some
aggregate of that toennia's question
>> yes so we are looking at them separately
the targets are just kind of set
similarly for different
>> those different bands
>> yeah and another thing I think would be
useful in the presentation of this one
uh or the previous slide I always think
it's helpful to for public or people to
know what the distribution curve looks
like for how many% above and below 50
actually most schools and populations
are. So like it's not a really wide
curve and so when you get six or eight
you know percent above 50 you get to 56
it's a small tale of schools that get
there and people are thinking oh it's
just average so five over 50 is not a
big deal. It's like well actually that's
a huge deal in terms of the numbers of
schools. So at some level translating
this into what's the percent of schools
that are growing at that level would
really I think make this more meaningful
to a lot of the public or to me as a
board member. Um again I I like these
goals. I like to break out as many of
them as we can. Um I think when it gets
to uh our gifted and talented it's good
to break out actually the 2E stuff and I
remain really interested in a cross tab
of our IEPs by FRL status. So knowing
what's the difference when it comes to
affluent parents of kids with IEPs and
less uh privileged parents of kids with
IEPs.
>> Thank you.
>> I just want to say I appreciate the
thoughtfulness that went into
establishing some level of increase over
time versus compared to the state
average and our average in the not that
long ago. I felt like sometimes there
were these really ambitious targets of
like 6% growth and you're like how are
we going to get there? So I like I
appreciate some thoughtful targets.
You addressing the fact that based on
when we get those CAMass scores, there
might be some finessing depending on how
our students did last year. And just
also all of the work that we've done in
the background creating the
instructional infrastructure, creating
the the systems that we have in place
are going to help us continue to be
increasingly thoughtful on me in our and
improves our ability to meet these
targets in a realistic fashion. So kudos
to everybody involved. Kudos to Dr. Dr.
and sort of rethinking our approach to
our UIP targets and across the board. I
do it's all coming together very nicely
in a way that is really going to do
nothing but benefit our students.
>> And then one last Thank you. Maybe you
should never have given me the clicker.
Uh one last thing, we received some
really good feedback about the KPI
dashboard and looking for some um
refinement and improvement there. So,
um, just for clarity, we're not looking
at redoing the whole thing. There's just
a few key visuals that we're looking to
update. And this is just a mockup. It's
not meant for you to see all the
details. I just want to give you a
preview of coming events, the
conversation that we've been having. So,
what you're looking at here, the top is
currently how we're displaying the
percentage of students who meet and
exceed grade level standards, and the
bottom is kind of the draft revision.
And two things I really want to point
out. Um, you'll you'll maybe can see
because it's small, I know, um, some
horizontal bars. Those horizontal bars
would be the UIP targets directly onto
the KPI dashboard so that you can see at
first glance how that progress is
happening. Um and then uh the two green
bars and then the two orange bars would
immediately without hovering or going to
a different view being able to see how
are the um percentage of students
meeting and exceeding based on their FRL
status or um for uh Hispanic Latino
learners versus non-Hispanic Latino
learners. So just trying to um make
things more easily readil readily
accessible for meaning making without
needing to necessarily use all the
different hovers and um happy to have
conversation about the other updates
that we're looking at but hoping to kind
of roll this out al together with the
new school year when our next results
come out the new UIP cycle and the new
goals.
>> I think that is a great update. I also
like the reminder of what what our goal
is on those charts so we can see if
we're meeting, exceeding, falling behind
the targets we've internally
established. So, thank you for that.
>> Thanks.
>> Okay, board members, any last burning
questions or comments before we move
over to Apex?
Go ahead.
And as we shift to Apex, I just want to
say that we'll be seeing the newly
renovated CTE spaces. And those that are
completed so far in the bond project
include biomedical science, pharmacy
technician, medical assisting, sports
medicine, physical therapy, emergency
medical technician, and emergency
medical responder, criminal justice and
crime scene investigation, and the
teacher academy. And the work that's
underway for expansion um include
computer science, film and video arts,
aerospace, quantum manufacturing, and
optic engineering. And there will also
be renovations to existing spaces in the
construction trades, auto collision and
welding. So you can see there's a lot in
place and a lot underway.
Thank you for that. Thank you team for
this update. It was really helpful.
Looking forward to see how the UIP
shapes up as we head to the fall. for
the public and anybody tuning in. We
will be heading over to Apex Center and
having lunch in our culinary center. So,
our business meeting within this room is
adjourned. Thank you. Have a great week,
everyone.