At the East Grand School District Board of Education meeting Tuesday night, the principals of the district’s four schools gave updates to the board about the start of their school year. The board also discussed several items, including a second reading of policy changes and strategic planning.

The principal roundtable started with Middle Park High School’s Cindy Rimmer, who mentioned several upcoming events surrounding homecoming week, which starts with a pep assembly Sept. 26.

“Wednesday is our most well-attended event of the entire school year, the Iron Man game at 7 p.m.,” Rimmer said. “The young men of the school play volleyball against each other, and it’s just really hilarious — really fun.”

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Rimmer also went over the upcoming athletic schedule for the high school and told the board about events like FAFSA Night that the school will host during College Week Oct. 3-6.

Jenny Rothboeck, the East Grand Middle School principal, spoke next and mentioned the upcoming parent teacher conferences and a recent Parents’ Advisory Committee meeting.

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“It’s a small but mighty and supportive group of parents,” Rothboeck said. “It’s always fun to hear their feedback and thoughts and lots of positive comments about the beginning of the year.”

At a professional development program for schools and teachers, Rothboeck said she heard about difficult problems other districts face that made her feel fortunate to be in East Grand.

Fraser Valley Elementary principal James Chamberlin went next and talked about the Fraser and Granby Elementary choirs singing the national anthem at the Sept. 11 Rockies game. He also mentioned two new programs the school is implementing: Open Court Reading and a new intervention model.

“It’s called the WINN model, What I Need Now,” Chamberlain said. “We are up and rolling with that with a 45-minute designated intervention block for each grade level, where a team of teachers come in, and kids fluidly move through different groups and get the direct intervention support or extensions that they need during that time.”

Principal Kelly Martin rounded out the group with updates from Granby Elementary School. She expressed gratitude for high school interns who help at the school, including one who helps translate in kindergarten and first grade classrooms to work on her Spanish. Martin also mentioned a mountain biking program that the school started this year.

“Super cool that our kids are getting this lifelong — something you can do your whole entire life, specific to our area,” Martin said. “It allows fourth and fifth graders to kind of get that more intensive ride. Third graders will do a town ride in the spring, and then we’ll have a bike rodeo.”

The bike rodeo will include first through third graders as usual, but kindergarteners will join for the first time by riding Striders — bikes without pedals that help children learn balance. 

Other business:

• During the celebrations part of the meeting, Raegner gave special recognition to Rimmer and custodian Kurt Spellerberg for the work they do in the district.
• A woman spoke during public comments to ask a question about one of the new board policies that the board read for the first time at their last meeting.
• The board approved the minutes for their Sept. 7 meeting
• Board members discussed current job openings, including some custodial staff positions and a technology director job yet to be listed.
• Ray gave a second reading of the new and updated policies with a change to LBD-R that establishes Aug. 31 as the deadline for charter school applications. He also further explained the proposed change to GBAB, which was the policy a woman asked about during public comments.
• The board approved changes to the list of people able to sign for the district’s bank accounts. Changes included adding Ray and removing former superintendent Frank Reeves on multiple accounts.
• Board members discussed the possibility of hiring a third party to assist with strategic planning. Ray said he has spoken with other superintendents who have hired strategic planning companies and were happy with their decision.
• Ray gave an update on the board and superintendent working agreement.
• Ray told the board about his experience meeting with town managers and county officials about possibly standardizing how developers across the district pay new development impact fees. The board also discussed the fees in general and the district’s ability to accept land instead of money.
• The board discussed District Accountability Council charges, or items for the council to discuss, including dress code and data-based evaluations. 
• In his superintendent’s report, Ray talked about visiting classrooms in the Granby and Fraser Valley Elementary schools, his goal to attend every fall sport at least once, upcoming events including homecoming activities and the emergency response training at Middle Park on Friday, the high school’s Career and Technical Education building groundbreaking, an upcoming District Accountability Council meeting and Colorado’s Family and Medical Insurance Leave program.