Gilpin County RE-1 School Board approved audits, budgets, and a tax support resolution at its April 7 meeting.
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John Culter from John Culter and Associates joined the meeting virtually to answer questions about the three financial audits from 2023-2025 that his accounting firm completed.
GILPIN COUNTY — The Gilpin County RE-1 School District Board of Education on April 7 unanimously approved three years of audits, two budgets, and a resolution supporting the Black Hawk Educational Enhancement tax. They also had a conversation about the Meet and Confer meetings with staff.
Board member Kristen Goodlett started the meeting with congratulations to the Gilpin County Education Foundation for their 2026 Scholarship Dinner Fundraiser at Monarch Casino (monarchblackhawk.com) on April 4. She reported the foundation has been successful to the point that they can provide scholarships for any graduating senior who applies.
After speaking with John Culter from John Culter and Associates, the new auditors who finished the financial audits for years 2023 through 2025, the Board voted unanimously to approve the audits. Cutler made a few recommendations about setting up budgets for transportation and student activity funds and expressed confidence that going forward the audits would be easier to complete.
The Board also unanimously approved without any discussion all of the 2025/2026 Supplemental and the 2026/2027 Adopted Budgets. The 2025/2026 Supplemental Budget stands at $9,045,665. The 2026/2027 Adopted Budget starting in August is $9,526,847.
Business Analyst Joe Tinucci advised the Board that the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) is revising how students are counted for reimbursements. A student averaging formula will be used to freeze student counts for three years.
The 2026/2027 Adopted Budget will aside $2,000,000 rather than the previous $1,000,000 for a contingency reserve.
It was also a unanimous vote to approve the 2026/2027 salary schedules.
A resolution detailing support for the Black Hawk Educational Enhancement Tax passed 5-0. The resolution is scheduled to be posted on the District website (gilpin.k12.co.us). There is a resolution from 2024 already on the website. Click on the About tab to find the resolution.
The Board also unanimously approved a contract with Tracy Krug to provide 4th Grade students with the Maxwell Leadership Habitudes Framework Program Curriculum.
Superintendent’s report
Superintendent David MacKenzie started his report with details about the Student/Parent Orientation Night on April 29, 2026, starting at 5 p.m. It will be a change in format from previous spring Open Houses, with orientation classes for incoming 6th graders and freshmen.
The next phase of the sewer line connect project will be the actual connection of the school with the sewer pipe. The Request For Proposal (RFP) document is being reviewed and will be published shortly. It will be a separate contract and is estimated to cost about $700,000. The work is scheduled to be completed this summer.
The last phase of the project is to decommission the current onsite wastewater plant to be in compliance with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment water quality standards. There is no immediate timeline to complete this phase of the project.
MacKenzie also gave an update on hiring new educators. Fewer college students are choosing teaching as a career so there is a shortage of graduating candidates. MacKenzie spoke about workarounds, like helping with teacher licensing or alternative professional training for qualified members in the community. The District is also looking at electronic alternative course work.
The District sent out a notification regarding Whooping Cough, reinforcing that students and staff need to stay home if they are sick.
The District has applied for several grants. One was to buy walkie talkies for staff with connections to the Sheriff’s Office for emergencies. Another was to upgrade technology in the school like the CAT-5 cables to boost transmission speeds and address cybersecurity concerns.
Meet and Confer
After the Superintendent’s Report, the Board engaged in a lengthy conversation on feedback from the various Meet and Confer meetings that board members conducted with different groups of staff. The discussion wasn’t part of the published or amended agenda, but no decisions were made during the discussion.
The next regularly scheduled meeting will be on Monday, April 20. The meeting will feature principals’ reports, student/teacher demonstrations, and the first reading of the 26/27 Fee Schedules.
The documents regarding this board meeting can be found on District website (gilpin.k12.co.us). Click on the About tab and then Board of Education to find the agendas. The April 7 Agenda has a link to the YouTube recording which is active for 90 days. The Meet and Confer discussion starts at 2:00:45 of the recording.
