by Conor Orr
LA VETA —With the start of a new school year just around the corner, it was a familiar scene at the Aug. 9 meeting of the La Veta Board of Education as they discussed how school will run this year in the context of COVID-19.
Superintendent Bree Jones presented results of this year’s SCAP survey of stuents and staff which has been done twice a year since FY 2018-19. The results were mixed, some data pointing to areas of concern, and with enough data to begin identifying trends.
For instance, this year 35% of the student responders said that they disagree with the statement “in general, I like school a lot.” While concerning, it is important to recognize it is an improvement in student satisfaction from 2018-19, when 63% of students disagreed with that statement.
The board also discussed policies on keeping school open, mask usage, and vaccine recommendations. The district is proud of staying open so much last school year, and the plan this year is to open the school fully for in-person learning. In fact, district RE-2 will not offer hybrid or online options at all. Further, although medical-grade masks will continue to be provided, mask usage will only be recommended, not required, even for students and staff who are not fully vaccinated.
In light of lessons learned from COVID-19 in general, and especially considering the implementation of these policies in our county with a relatively low vaccination rate, it will be very important to keep any individuals showing any sign of illness away from school, Jones said. “For years we’ve bucked up and gone to school or gone to work when we’re sick and we just need to change that culture,” she said.
There was hearty discussion surrounding these matters, and the board is far from unanimous about the safety of the vaccine. While director Ed Donovan was outspoken that the safest thing to do would be to insist all staff get the vaccine, directors JP Nix and Larry Morgan both were adamant the vaccine is unusual and suspicious, and that they would not be in favor of mandates.
Dr. Donovan rebutted, saying that this is “a kind of school where losing a teacher or two (because they get sick) is really going to hurt,” and that “none of the negatives that anybody is talking about are anywhere near the negative that is associated with the injury of one of our students.”
In regular business, the board approved hiring of JJ Autrey as boys’ varsity basketball coach, and Sarah Martinez as a para-professional for FY2022. They also approved the SC-BOCES operating agreement and the intergovernmental agreement concerning election services for the 2021 election.
To run for school board, interested applicants must get a blank petition from executive secretary Sue Smith, obtain at least 25 signatures (but ideally closer to 40) from residents of the La Veta School District who are registered to vote, and bring that signed petition back to Smith by 4 p.m. on Aug. 27.
The board also approved purchasing a 14-passenger bus on the recommendation of facilities manager Mike Zanolini, and discussed purchasing a larger bus in the near future. The current buses are quite old, and if the sale on the kindergarten building goes through, the additional funding may be put to very good use with a set of upgrades.
In other news:
Eight new staff members were given orientation and training for their new positions this week — Anne Altemeir, Lon Goemmer, Jake Hafner, Dr. Cynthia Harrelson, Kathryn Jackson, Stephanie Masinton, Sarah Martinez, and Aaron Northrup.
There is currently an active contract for sale on the Pre-K and K building and the district expects to close on Aug. 30.
The board approved a letter stating intent to participate in the CHPS program (Colorado High Performing Schools), required for BEST grant funding.
