School scores high in S-CAP review

Students aren’t the only ones scoring high at Holyoke School District.

At the April 5 meeting of the board of education, Superintendent Kyle Stumpf reported that after a March 7-8 Student-Centered Accountability Program review, the district received the best scores it’s ever gotten during its five years in the program.

The program uses a cross-district approach to accountability and improvement, which means that peers from other school districts were on site for two days to evaluate Holyoke School District in the areas of curriculum/instruction, leadership/vision, learning climate and professional learning.

Some high points from the executive summary include:

— Students wanted to be challenged; they didn’t want to settle for the minimum.

— 98% of students were always engaged in the classroom.

— There’s a lot of pride in maintaining the building, and that carries over to education.

— The alternative school, life skills classes and adaptive classes are all huge assets.

— The leadership team looks at the big picture and toward the future.

— Holyoke has a strong sense of community and relationships.

— There’s a lot of positives in the district.

“If we put time, money and effort into something, we see growth,” said Stumpf.

He said part of the S-CAP review included showing a body of evidence for strategic priorities. The district prepared and uploaded hundreds of documents online.

Staff member Stefan Betley was instrumental in the online process, and he was at the meeting to show board members what that process looked like.

“I feel blessed to be behind the scenes and see this all the time,” said Betley, noting all of the positive things that were brought to light during this year’s S-CAP review.

On the heels of the S-CAP discussion, the board moved into some brainstorming about goals for the board, which may need to be tweaked from past years so that the district is continually improving.

“Let’s move the finish line a little bit,” said board president Dusty Sprague.

Additionally, the board discussed new legislation that allows school board members to receive compensation. If board members choose to participate, they would be full-blown employees with all the paperwork that comes with it.

“It’s a duty we serve. I don’t think there’s a need to be paid,” said board member Summer Maloney.

“I don’t have any interest in being paid, but will it hold people back in the future?” asked board member Justin Clayton.

The board decided to shelf the topic for now.

Wrestling parents share concerns

Jake Adler, Eric Luedke, Anthony Rosane and Jason Frost, who are all associated with Holyoke’s youth wrestling club, were at the April 5 meeting to share concerns with the school board.

Adler, president of the wrestling club board and assistant coach, said the program has made a lot of progress in the last three years, growing from 25 kids in 2019 to 38 in 2022. They also have an elite program for more advanced wrestlers.

He said the youth wrestling coaches also coach other sports in an effort to recruit more wrestlers and to participate in the kids’ activities outside of wrestling.

One of Adler’s concerns was that the youth wrestlers aren’t making the transition to junior high and high school wrestling programs, and the local programs offered through the school are shrinking.

“I don’t think it has to do with the kids, I think it has to do with what the junior high and high school programs have to offer,” said Adler.

He said he knows it takes time to build up a program, but he would like to see some changes made with urgency. “Whatever it takes to get the train back on track,” he said.

Adler thanked the school district for the recent updates made to the wrestling room.

Other business

In other business at the April 5 meeting, the board:

— Approved the purchase of practice wrestling mats not to exceed $21,000 to replace mats that are 40-50 years old.

— Approved probationary teachers, nonprobationary teachers and classified staff for the 2022-23 school year as recommended.

— Approved resignations from JR/SR high science teacher Hannah Peterson, effective at the end of the 2021-22 school year, and JR/SR high special education paraprofessional Melisa Hunter, effective March 31.

— Approved the second reading of Colorado Association of School Boards policies: Nondiscrimination/Equal Opportunity and Federal Procurement.

— Discussed the Housing O2 LLC business model for employee housing.

— Discussed graduation plans.