In October, the Roaring Fork School District (RFSD) held two regular Board of Education meetings and a special session, Oct. 15, for a superintendent review. The board conducted its annual review of Dr. Anna Cole’s performance in the role. Next week, district voters will elect two new board members for four-year terms.
Oct. 8 meeting
During the superintendent report, assistant superintendent Dr. Stacey Park presented a review of the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education (CLDE) program review with Amy Fairbanks, the district’s director of the program. This included data and analysis of the program for each school plus action plans for future years. RFSD shows consistently higher English language learning access across the district, with an average of 6% higher access across grades and some grades showing 10% to 17% higher access than state averages.
For the remainder of this school year, the district’s goals for language teaching focus on strengthening rigorous learning for all students and improving consistent lesson design for emerging bilingual students. Priority performance areas are: attendance, math testing performance and elementary early literacy. Following the data presentation, Park and Fairbanks shared an introduction to a recommended deep dive on district CDLE programs to build background knowledge for board members for more informed decision-making.
The board heard a second reading of several policies for revision ahead of final hearing and approval scheduled for the Oct. 22 meeting. These included: school board member compensation, expenses, insurance, liability; a board resolution accompanying a stipend change; relations with state and federal agencies and specifically relations with federal immigration officials. The board also held a first reading of policies around accreditation, superintendent recruitment and school administration.
Oct. 22 meeting
During the second regular October session, Dr. Anna Cole and director of student and family services Kelly Medina presented updates on strategic priorities for student-centered partnerships and operational excellence. In addition to supporting family and teacher communication, the district is increasing leadership-level community outreach through social media and superintendent “coffee talks” with Dr. Cole. RFSD intends to increase trust and collaborative relationships between teachers and parents, and improve two-way communications between schools and families.
The board shared a memo and discussion about the Oct. 15 superintendent review special session. Ahead of the mid-October performance evaluation, the district surveyed families and employees. An online survey was available to the entire community between Sept. 16 and Oct. 3. There were a total of 426 responses, with over half of input from parents, followed by 27% of respondents identifying as certified employees. Around 14% of responses came from middle and high school students.
Survey results were majority positive, with an average of 70% approval and 15% to 20% impartial responses. The survey was in both English and Spanish for maximum accessibility. The overall evaluation of Dr. Cole’s performance was positive and appreciative of her work and growth in the position.
Using the survey input and other metrics, the school board identified several desired areas for growth for Dr. Cole moving forward. These include accelerating efforts to close persistent achievement gaps, expanding engagement with Spanish-speaking families and diverse community partners, continuing to plan proactively for declining enrollment and financial challenges and strengthening systems of instructional leadership to ensure consistent progress across all schools.
The November RFSD Board of Education regular meeting takes place on Nov. 19 at 6:15pm in the Colorado Room of the Carbondale District Office, 400 Sopris Avenue. Given the observance of Thanksgiving later in the month, it will be the only meeting in November. RFSD board meeting agendas are always available on the board website. Meetings are livestreamed on YouTube and recordings become available afterward for public accessibility.