GILPIN COUNTY — With the end of the school year in sight, the Gilpin County RE-1 Board of Education enjoyed a night of student presentations and celebrations at their May 18, 2026, board meeting. The Board also unanimously approved on second reading the fee schedules for the 2026-2027 school year and updated the policy on public information requests.

Board member Victoria Edwards and Secondary School Principal Sara Reich were absent from the meeting.

The discussion regarding the updated fee schedules revolved around affordability. Board Member Jill Peterson spoke about the need to keep the sport fees low enough to encourage participation but not so low that the programs collapsed for a lack of funding.

Board Member Joe Stranaly spoke about recruiting more parents as volunteers to help with events at home and away.

Superintendent David MacKenzie addressed the issue which was brought up at the first reading by adding a 20% discount for families with multiple athletes or students who play more than three sports.

 The pricing of Chromebooks was also discussed and how the older equipment gets recycled or replaced.

The fees on the use of the facilities by the public remained largely unchanged.

The Board voted unanimously (4-0) to approve the new fee schedules.

The updates to the policy (KDB) on information requests by the public consisted of raising the cost after one hour for staff time from $33.58 to $41.37 to be in line with state statute. The Board voted unanimously (4-0) to approve this policy update.

Third grade students Phillip Kriegbaum, Daihlyn Johnson, and Sadie Elpers talk about their artwork that was turned into illustrations for Sadie's grandfather's book "Floppy the Dinosaur Chicken."

Photo by Wes Isenhart

 Art teacher Olivia Regester started the student presentations with a video that highlighted the drawings of middle school students Cam Burrow, Maddie  Cline, Blakeley Parten, Ava Schroth and  Isis Simon. Their artwork is being displayed on the back wall in the boardroom. In the video, the students spoke about what they learned about themselves or art in general through creating their pieces and what they liked about their artwork.

Autumn Ramsey and Ellianah Raynes were also recognized for their art projects. Ramsey and Schroth were at the meeting and discussed their art projects with the board.

Phillip Kriegbaum, Daihlyn Johnson, and Sadie Elpers from Kellie Bayne’s third grade class showed the Board their drawings that became illustrations in a children’s book titled "Floppy the Dinosaur Chicken." Elpers' grandfather Bill Ragland wrote the book which is a tale of a dinosaur egg that hatches and is raised by chickens. The students explained how their drawings went from rough drafts to final illustrations. Ragland’s book can be purchased from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Ragland has written a second book in which the students are also contributing illustrations to it.

The final presentation by students was called the Probability Carnival and involved middle school students from Heather Fuller’s math class building math games based on the probability of a successful outcome. Students participating in the presentation were: Olivia Albrecht, Shilo Councilman, Bella Harman, Kenzie Oliver, Autumn Ramsey, Eowyn Peterson, Koraleigh Polizzi, and Hanna Thompson. After demonstrating their games and how they worked, the Board were given tickets and given a chance to beat the odds.

During the public participation section, Phil Gibbs, who is the chair of the Gilpin County Democratic Party, thanked the board for the assistance he received by staff to set up the Democratic Party caucus in March. Gibbs was appreciative of the use of the facilities and the cooperation of the staff.

Elementary School Principal Patrick Linnehan gave the Board an update on his current school year progress and what he intends to focus on in the next school year.

Linnehan reported that in collaboration with the Blue Sky Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), they have setup a systematic framework for referring students through the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) process detailing exact expectations for classroom teachers, Tier II interventionists, and special education providers. The process and framework will be rolled out in the next school year.

The next board meeting will be Monday, June 1, 2026, at 7 p.m. in the school boardroom. The board will receive the District Accountability Committee Year End Report and discuss the 2026-2027 meeting schedule and agenda posting location.

Documents for this meeting, including the new fee schedules, the KDB policy and a link to the District YouTube recording of this meeting can be found on the District website (gilpink12.co.us). Click on the About tab to access the Board of Education materials.