STEM School Highlands Ranch
Minutes
Board of Director's Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday June 3, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Location
8920 Barrons Blvd
P-TECH Mechatronics Room
Highlands Ranch, CO 80129
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Directors Present
C. Gustafson, D. Lomelino, E. Quigley, G. Wing (remote), I. Kalra, R. Lukez
Directors Absent
None
Ex Officio Members Present
M. Cartier
Non Voting Members Present
M. Cartier
Guests Present
A. Cardinal, Adelita Campbell, Chris Damour, Cory Wroblewski, Kevin Leung, L. Kovalesky, Laurie Veldhuizen (remote), M. Pritchard, Ryan Alsup, S. Milner
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
C.
Pledge of Allegiance
D.
Reciting of the Mission Statement
II. New Terms - Community and Parent Members
A.
New Community Member terms
B.
Class A Parent Election
III. Approve Meeting Minutes
A.
Board Meeting May 12th
B.
Special Board Meeting May 21st
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| E. Quigley |
Aye
|
| G. Wing |
Aye
|
| D. Lomelino |
Aye
|
| R. Lukez |
Abstain
|
| I. Kalra |
Abstain
|
| C. Gustafson |
Aye
|
IV. CIO Annual Review
A.
CIO Annual Evaluation
B.
CIO Employment Agreement Renewal
- Originally, contract was missing PTO agreement; additional day per service year and roll over/pay out to align with Colorado law and organizational practice.
- Remove July 5th as paid holiday to be consistent with rest of organization.
- Granted sick leave, not accrued, not paid out if unused.
V. Community Members - Fill Vacant Seats
A.
New Community Members - filling vacant seats
All following votes include new board directors (but they are not listed on BOT, yet).
VI. STEM School Highlands Ranch Updates
A.
STEM ED Presentation
2024-2025 ended with 1379 students
2025-2026 projected enrollment increasing 11% (1543); there might be some loss over summer; budgeted at 1530
Hiring updates:
MS English, GT, IAs, In-house substitute
SAC Survey results summarized, trends are positive, admin working on goals based on feedback (GT, staffing, class sizes, class space, etc.)
B.
2025/26 Parent/Student Handbook and Fees
Update on Technology student fees for (damage to technology), any surplus will roll over to technology budget to buy new equipment.
(Correction: Grades 6-7 should be $275). Recommendation to be clearer about technology fee for Grades 1-5 and Grades 6-7 and Grade 8 to clarify no technology fee
Question about how many repairs are made in house? 119 repairs for 6th grade laptops last year;
Goal is to minimize time for admin, IT, staffing, etc.
C.
Present Preliminary 2026/2027 School Calendar
No changes, will be shared with staff/families, will move forward to vote in October
VII. KOSON Schools
A.
CIO Update - Strategic Updates
Replication Application
- Disappointment for denial by DCSD
- Frustrations around changes in strategy/land use by district
- Challenges around extended timeline, letters of interest (100 in 2 days), flexibility
- Invited to reapply next year with more documentation
Core Values
- Updated nouns to verbs to make it more of actions
Board Retreat
- Mission/Vision discussion
- Review strategic plan
- Network growth - board governance
- Committees - roles/responsibilities
- Priorities for 2025/26
B.
DCSD Replication Application
Will discuss/explore additional strategies at Board retreat
C.
Littleton School District - Letter of Intent
Met with superintendent and board director, zoning/planning
Stressed that we're expanding with existing students to new space
Need to focus on community relations/communications
Seconded by Cory
D.
Lease Agreement - Office Space
Update on office lease and shared services move; update on master plan and flexible space.
Time frame around September 1, ~$50k
E.
Board Officers for 2025/2026
The following officers were approved for 2-year terms June 4, 2024. New officers will be elected in June 2026, with the plan that the Vice Chair will transition to Chair (maybe)
President/Chair - Carla Gustafson
Vice President/Vice-Chair - Erin Quigley
Treasurer - Darrell Lomelino
Secretary - Ishmeet Kalra
VIII. Consent Agenda
A.
Vote for Consent Agenda Items
Seconded by Adelita Campbell;
Kevin abstained; everyone else voted yes
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| E. Quigley |
Aye
|
| I. Kalra |
Aye
|
| G. Wing |
Aye
|
| D. Lomelino |
Aye
|
| R. Lukez |
Aye
|
| C. Gustafson |
Aye
|
IX. Board Committee Updates
A.
Academic Excellence Committee Update
Update on Academic Excellence
Edits to curriculum policy
Novel adoption process
Social Institute partnership (using AI responsibly/PD)
B.
CIO Support & Evaluation Committee Update
No additional updates
C.
Finance Committee Update
Update on budget ($400k surplus)
Supplemental budget for DCSD due July 30th
Darrell highlights Finance Committee Report for board to look through, will update next board meeting
D.
Governance Committee Update
Revised Community Use of Facilities policy
Will allow new board members to weigh in, board approval at August meeting
Ish will reach out to Cory about bylaw edits
E.
Growth Task Force Updates
No updates
X. Public Comment
A.
Public Comment Sign up link
No public comment
XI. Oath of Office - New Board Members
A.
Amy and Carla will fix the form and get it notarized at Board Retreat
XII. Board of Director's Updates
A.
Preview of Next Meeting
Online training, Carla will send out links and add as goals to BOT
Board Assessment
XIII. Closing Items
A.
Adjourn Meeting
- EOY CIO Summary Report_May 2025.pdf
- June Board Presentation 24_25.pdf
- 2025-26 STEM Student Fees.pdf
- 2025-2026 STEM Parent Student Handbook .pdf
- Preliminary - 2026-2027 STEM Academic Calendar- opt 1.pdf
- CIO Board Presentation 20250603.pptx.pdf
- Lighthouse Bylaws_Approved_20250521_signed.pdf
- Written Resolution of the Board of Directors (Lighthouse) v1.pdf
- Supplemental Budget FY 24-25 presentation.pdf
- 24-25 BODResolution - Supplemental.pdf
- Supplemental Budget DCSD 24-25.pdf
- Policy_Community Use of Facilities_2025.pdf
Summary of CIO Annual Evaluation Report