Thank you, Durango, for allowing me to serve on the 9-R school board. It was tremendously rewarding and enriching community service.
The board, under Dan Snowberger’s leadership and capable team, has accomplished important goals: increasing student engagement with student-centered learning approaches and authentic ways to assess student knowledge; increasing career options and salaries for teachers and staff; making our athletes safer with a new playing field; making everyone safer in our schools with enhanced security measures that include SROs employed by local law enforcement agencies; using homegrown master teachers to share best practices with peers; learning from the community’s advice through monthly linkages; and passing a widely-supported mill levy because our citizens still deem education a public good.
We partner with our charters, sharing mill levy funds, and experienced the budgetary dilemmas resulting from living in a low-tax state gripped by the talons of TABOR.
My esteemed colleagues – all but a single one of us parents, by the way – have a breadth of experience and a work ethic that inspired me to do the heavy thinking and extensive homework required to be effective. Never complacent, we never rubber-stamped projects. The sausage-making happens in work sessions – attend them, Durango, and see the deep examination we insist on before formally voting.
While the learning curve is quite steep, Kristin Smith undoubtedly will bring the same energy and dedication to the actual job as she did her spirited campaign.
Congratulations to Kristin and thanks again to Dan, the 9-R family, and my terrific board colleagues.
Stephanie MoranDurango
