Echoes from Cañon
Examples of Excellence
Dr. Mark Guthmiller and Jamie Murray were on hand at our November 14th board meeting when we honored our school psychologists for outstanding work and dedication.
On Monday November 14th the Cañon City School District board of education took recognized the outstanding work our cadre of school psychologists do on behalf of our children. Jamie Murray, Katrina Matos, and Mark Guthmiller provide expert guidance to CCSD regular and special education staff members toward the development of Individualized Education Plans. They also facilitate troubleshooting meetings and collaborating to improve academic and social emotional education outcomes. Great school psychologists are difficult to find and can be a true asset to schools. We are fortunate that ours have been willing to work quietly in the wings on strategies that allow every child the opportunity to reach their true potential.
Also discussed at our November 14th board of education meeting were the mid-year accomplishments surrounding our early literacy grant. District literacy coordinator Gina Gallegos was on hand to share her team’s work in support of classroom implementation of our new reading resources. She clearly outlined the goals of the grant, while sharing stories about how students and staff members are responding positively to gains being made through Lindamood-Bell small group interventions. I was impressed with the engagement of our board on this subject. Their questions and comments are a clear indication of how knowledgable they have become about literacy acquisition, and a reflection of how important this work is to each them.
Also discussed at our November 14th board of education meeting were the mid-year accomplishments surrounding our early literacy grant. District literacy coordinator Gina Gallegos was on hand to share her team’s work in support of classroom implementation of our new reading resources. She clearly outlined the goals of the grant, while sharing stories about how students and staff members are responding positively to gains being made through Lindamood-Bell small group interventions. I was impressed with the engagement of our board on this subject. Their questions and comments are a clear indication of how knowledgable they have become about literacy acquisition, and a reflection of how important this work is to each them.
District literacy coordinator Gina Gallegos reported to the board on progress made toward achieving the goals of our early literacy grant.
The Focus of Our Work
CCHS principal Bill Summers presents information on upcoming changes to graduation requirements.
On November 14th our board of education accepted our fiscal year 2015-16 audit report from Hoelting and Company. Thanks to the good work of director of finance Buddy Lambrecht and his entire staff we were given an unqualified opinion with no findings. This is exactly what a public organization hopes to attain through its auditing processes. Our audit showed a total of 37.7 million dollars in revenues for the fiscal year, with 3.3 million dollars of that being secured through grant writing processes. Indicators of district fiscal health include fund balances such as general and capital reserve. The audit showed our general fund ending balance increased by $157,000 to 1.68 million dollars, while our capital reserve project fund dropped by $10,000 to 3.27 million dollars. Though each of these funds appear to be healthy, standard auditing practices suggest organizations such as ours set aside 90 days worth of operating reserves in the general fund. Right now we have just under 25 days. Additionally, though we maintained a 3.27 million dollar balance in our capital reserve fund, only $700,000 of that is actually uncommitted, with 2.6 million of this targeted toward paying off long term debt related to past capital improvements made through low interest qualified zone academy loans and multi-year lease purchases. It is my opinion the Cañon City School District has been doing amazing things for children despite the fact that it receives roughly 3 million dollars per year less than Amendment 23 constitutional requirements. This funding gap, which has been in place for 6 years now, has made it difficult to fully staff our schools and departments, purchase updated instructional resources aligned to current standards, renew instructional technology, maintain and upgrade our buildings, and offer competitive compensation in line with other school districts in our region.
At this same meeting Cañon City High School principal Bill Summers shared updates regarding outcomes so far achieved through the implementation of academic work sessions. He also updated the board on his staff’s work aimed at transforming CCHS to a career pathways education model. This information touched on the type of daily schedule that will be need to be employed, the number of pathway options that might be available to students, and new graduation requirement decisions that will soon have to be made by the board of education. I want to thank Bill for guiding this difficult work and being so transparent about these potential changes.
At this same meeting Cañon City High School principal Bill Summers shared updates regarding outcomes so far achieved through the implementation of academic work sessions. He also updated the board on his staff’s work aimed at transforming CCHS to a career pathways education model. This information touched on the type of daily schedule that will be need to be employed, the number of pathway options that might be available to students, and new graduation requirement decisions that will soon have to be made by the board of education. I want to thank Bill for guiding this difficult work and being so transparent about these potential changes.
The Last Two Weeks
Chief Schultz shares some digital citizenship resources with a gathering in Fort Morgan on November 19th.
On November 14th I met with Harrison administrators about their school behavior plan, I reviewed a simply outstanding 1 million dollar Safe Routes to School grant application written by Lincoln School of Science and Technology principal Tammy DeWolfe, I checked in on the progress of our literacy grant initiative by meeting with district literacy coordinator Gina Gallegos, and then attended a board work session and regular meeting. On Tuesday the 15th I met with Fremont County director of human services Steve Clifton, held a SAC meeting, met with operations manager Jeff Peterson about our upcoming BEST grant application, then held a monthly instructional leader PLC. On Wednesday the 16th I attended the Fremont County Regional Wellness Committee quarterly meeting and participated in a former colleague's doctoral study about the implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act in my role as a superintendent of schools. On Thursday the 17th I drove to Denver to participate in an education visioning session. Upon my return to Cañon I met with director of technology Shaun Kohl and director of instruction Adam Hartman to prepare for an upcoming district technology visioning committee meeting. I ended Thursday attending a meeting with folks interested in attracting a YMCA to Cañon City. On Friday I traveled through the snow and ice to Fort Morgan to share lessons learned from our November 2015 sexting incident along with Cañon City Police Chief Paul Schultz at a gathering of regional educators, law enforcement officers, and human services workers. During the week of November 21-25 I took leave time to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my family in Tucson, Arizona.
This Week
Among the many things we'll be pondering at our upcoming Technology Visioning meeting will be how to easily rotate a pdf document that displays in a sideways format.
I’ll spend Monday catching up on office paperwork and general communication. I’ll also meet with director of special services Lynnette Steinhoff about parent special education concerns, and then attend a district literacy team PLC, followed by a touching base meeting with literacy coordinator Gina Gallegos. Tuesday begins with our weekly Superintendent’s Advisory Council meeting. I’ll then meet with Buddy Lambrecht about a process by which we might better track and analyze our district expenditures. I also have a follow-up meeting with the Office of Civil Rights on Tuesday, a focus session on the future of the Colorado Online Academy, and a district Technology Visioning committee meeting. On Wednesday I’ll travel to and from Pueblo for a Southern Superintendent's Association meeting. I'll also attend a few Early Literacy Grant check in meetings with principals and director of instruction Adam Hartman. On Thursday I’ll have my monthly communication meeting with RE-2 superintendent Rhonda Roberts, and then a construction planning meeting with operations manager Jeff Peterson and folks from GE Johnson Construction Company. My Friday morning will be spent in Fort Carson at the monthly Pikes Peak Association of Superintendent’s meeting. So far my Friday afternoon schedule is pretty open.
Thanks for listening once again. Have a great week!
George S. Welsh
Thanks for listening once again. Have a great week!
George S. Welsh
