The East Grand School Board met for less than an hour Tuesday, Oct. 18, and voted to endorse ballot issue 6A, which would establish a property tax to fund the Fraser River Valley Housing Partnership. President Ed Raegner brought the item to the board at their last meeting, Oct. 4, but they did not vote then.

At that Oct. 4 meeting, Board Treasurer Chris Raines opposed voting on the issue because he had not had time to read the ballot measure. The endorsement passed 5-1, with board member Ted Reade voting against endorsing the measure.

Raegner fielded questions from his peers about the backlash the measure has received, saying it centers around the measure adding another tax. He spoke about the election forum Destination Granby held Monday at Middle Park High School and said he talked about measure 6A at the event and heard some opposition.

Board members also asked Raegner why the proposed property tax is the right way to fund the housing partnership. He talked about issues he sees with other methods like impact fees and taxing short-term rentals. Raegner said the measure is not perfect, but after discussing it with the board, they approved their resolution to endorse it.

Other business

• During its celebrations, the board heard about the Middle Park High School Colorguard, which is made up of students in a club similar to JROTC called Army Star.
• Board members approved the minutes from their Oct. 4 meeting.
• Students from Middle Park High School’s Pride Club gave a presentation to the board about the research they did that backed the school’s decision to change the color of their graduation robes. Robes used to be purple and white, with the colors divided by gender, but to be more inclusive, the school will only have purple robes this year.
• Superintendent Brad Ray talked about upcoming discussion items and events and thanked the Granby Police Department and the Grand County Sheriff’s Office for their help with recent situations. The Granby Police Department investigated a threatening social media post from East Grand Middle School earlier this month.
• The principals from East Grand’s four school gave reports during a roundtable, mentioning parent teacher conferences, upcoming events like second- and fourth-graders going ice skating, the success of the middle school and high school cross country teams and the upcoming Granby ARTWalk.