LA VETA — At the July 13 meeting of the La Veta School Board, Gaye Davis reported the construction company is making good progress on the Garland Street project. According to Davis, weather has not interfered with the work, and substantial completion is planned by August 15. However, some alterations to the original plans have been made, and instead of constructing three crosswalks, only one will be constructed, which will go from the high school to the elementary school. There will also be only one ADA ramp instead of two, and no ramp will be built up to the music room, because, “It would go up to stairs.” The board approved employment renewal for Judy Fisher as check and connect coordinator, with compensation provided by the IOG Grant and benefits funded by the school district. The school board also accepted the resignation of Samantha LaGow “with regrets and best wishes.” The board approved the second reading of policy CBI_E3, which is a self-evaluation form for the school superintendent. It also approved the first reading of a new draft for policy CBI, an evaluation of the school superintendent. The school board plans to wait until the Garland Street construction project is finished to do more work on the pending energy assessment. Representatives from the State of Colorado Energy Office are
set to come and look at the La Veta campus. According to Jim Moore, secretary and bookkeeper for the board, the representatives may be able to help find funding sources to carry out some of the improvements needed to save energy at the campus. The board members are optimistic. The school accountability committee, composed of community members, parents, students, teachers and Superintendent Bree Lessar, met on June 20. Lessar discussed the exit survey, which is an honest review by high school seniors of their experiences at La Veta schools. The survey asks how students feel after leaving high school, and this year all 15 students reported they were ready for what is next. “They all feel like they’re ready to go,” said Lessar. Most of the senior students felt positive about their experience at La Veta and felt safe at school. They also indicated they believed they were taught valuable skills for the future, such as personal finance, time management, and goal setting. “The only disagreements we got were about foreign language,” Lessar said. “I’m not surprised to see that reported from the kids.” The school is currently looking, in conjunction with John Mall and Aguilar, for a Spanish teacher the three schools can share. There was some discussion about the goals of the school aligning with the goals of the students’ families, and committee member Regina Griego told the board that families need to be more involved with what the school is encouraging the students to do. “It bothers me that the parents are saying one thing and we’re saying another,” said school board president Ed Donovan. “That puts the kid in a really tough spot.” Lessar agreed, but said, “This is one of the purposes of the accountability committee. We want families to get their foot in the door.”
