GILPIN COUNTY — On August 3, 2026, in a marathon session that lasted over three and a half hours, the Gilpin County RE-1 School District Board of Education, unanimously approved switching health insurance providers and revised the policy on cellphone use by students while at school.

The board also heard a presentation on a cooperative home school proposal for next year and issued a communique on the continuing efforts to deal with the resurfacing of Highway 119 stemming from the wastewater interconnect project.

The school district will switch health insurance coverage from Cigna to Aetna/Gravie starting on September 1, 2026. In a letter to staff included in the agenda packet, Superintendent David MacKenzie stated that Cigna health plans for the 2026/2027 school year were expected to be renewed with a 9.4% increase. The increase was attributed to the group’s use of insurance benefits that exceeded the annual amount of premiums paid by the group.

The District instructed Assured Partners Brokers to solicit other bids with plans that were comparable to the benefits provided Cigna. The broker recommended the Aetna/Gravie plans, which increased costs over the current Cigna plans by 5.6%.

The District will continue using Metlife Dental, EyeMed Vision, and One America for Life, Accidental Death and Dismemberment, and Long-Term Disability plans for the 2026/2027 school year.

The switch to the Aetna/Gravie plans will raise the monthly employee-only insurance contribution by the District to $800, with the following breakdown: $751.12 for medical; $42.03 for MetLife Dental; and $6.85 for Eye Med Vision. Employee monthly premiums will vary depending on the selected plan (HSA, Co-Pay, Comfort).

When questioned about alternatives, MacKenzie said that the only other option would have been to have no insurance coverage on September 1, 2026. The Board voted unanimously (5-0) to switch from Cigna to Aetna/Gravie for medical coverage.

In a second motion, the Board voted unanimously to raise district monthly contributions to the new premium levels.

The use of cellphones or other personal technology devices (PTD) while on school property is regulated under district policy JICJ. The Board voted unanimously to approve the revisions to the policy as defined by JICJ-R, which aligned middle school use regulations with the high school regulations.

The objective of the policy is to encourage responsible use of cellphones and other electronic devices while in public. The revised policy stipulates that personal devices are turned off and stowed away during classes.

Middle school and high school students can check their devices between classes but are expected to be on time to their next class. Texts or calls can be delayed until lunch or after school. Devices can be used during lunch, but students will be encouraged to move around during break periods.

Elementary school students will have their phones turned off during the entire day. Parents needing to get hold of an elementary student during the day will need to call the school.

Photos and recordings of others using PTDs is strictly regulated, with immediate penalties for inappropriate use.

There will be an escalation of consequences for students violating the revised PTD use policies.

Patti Navillo proposed establishing a Universal Language Academy so that home-schooled kids will have access to specialty classes on the campus during the school day. Trevor Miller, Director of Homeschool Enrichment Education reEnvisioned BOCES attended virtually for support.

The pros and cons of working together to allow homeschooled students to have access to classes on the campus and splitting the costs was discussed for almost an hour. An agreement to operate a part-time homeschool program with the District and a signed contract would need to be negotiated before the next school year (2027/2028).

At the end of the discussion, Board President Joe Marr suggested that the board members would identify concerns, aggregate them and forward them to Navillo for future discussions.

The last issue on the agenda was a statement regarding the wastewater interconnect project. The communique that was sent to the local newspapers acknowledged continuing issues with the resurfacing of Highway 119 after the sewer pipe was laid.

The District is working with the parties involved (ESCO Construction and CDOT) to find long-term solutions. The statement didn’t define any specific solutions that are under consideration and offered no timeline for resolution.

No vote was taken on the statement, but it will be distributed to the District's various media platforms. During the discussion of the wastewater interconnect project, the Board made no mention as to when the next phase of construction will begin or when the new sewer line will be operational.

Documents for this meeting can be found on the District website (gilpin.k12.co.us). Click on the About tab and then the Board of Education tab. Click on the YouTube link on the agenda to access the recording of this meeting.

The discussion regarding revising the policy on using personal devices while on school property begins at 1:17:40 of the YouTube recording.

The discussion regarding the establishment of a program that allows homeschool students to use the RE-1 facilities during the 2027/2028 school year starts at 2:32:30 of the recording.

The discussion of the wastewater interconnect project begins at 3:28:00 of the recording.

The next Gilpin RE-1 board meeting will be on Monday August 17, 2026, at 7 p.m. in the school boardroom.