Description:  The Board Chair will call for Public participation. 

Description:  Elementary parent-teacher conferences have been moved from October 1 to October 8 due to the conflict with Homecoming Activity Day and the community parade. Elementary students will attend school on October 1, allowing them to participate in Homecoming activities, and will not attend school on October 8 while parent-teacher conferences are conducted.

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Transportation Department — The Board and Superintendent recognize Todd Beanland and the Dolores County School District Transportation Department for their commitment to student safety and for their work to ensure dependable transportation for students, athletics, and activities as we begin the 2026-27 school year.

Charlene Buffington — The Board and Superintendent recognize Charlene Buffington for her compassion and willingness to support a neighboring school district during an extraordinarily difficult time following the tragic loss of a student. Her actions demonstrate the care, service, and sense of community we value in Dolores County School District.

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Bulldog Way Update — September 2026 Board Meeting

Bulldog Way Year 2: From Introduction to Consistent Practice

The district has moved into the second year of the Bulldog Way, with this year’s emphasis shifting from introducing the expectations to consistently reinforcing them throughout our schools, classrooms, activities, athletics, and daily interactions.

The six Bulldog Way expectations remain:

Choose Positivity • Show Respect • Actively Practice Teamwork • Be Dependable • Demonstrate Grit • Value Integrity

Beginning-of-Year Implementation

Bulldog Way was incorporated into the opening of the 2026-2027 school year with both staff and students. At the secondary level, students participated in a school wide expectations assembly followed by grade-level rotations throughout the building. These activities provided students with clear expectations for classrooms, common areas, athletics, activities, and school organizations.

District leadership is emphasizing that Bulldog Way is not intended to be a stand-alone program. It is the common language we use to describe the behaviors and character traits we expect throughout the district.

Student Support & SEL

Our student-support efforts are being intentionally connected to Bulldog Way and Bullpup STRONG. Charlene Buffington's work with students includes development of skills in:

• Positive and appropriate communication
• Conflict resolution
• Relationship building
• Working through peer disagreements
• Making responsible choices
• Seeking assistance before problems escalate

Individual and small-group support provides another layer of intervention when students need additional assistance.

Athletics & Activities

Bulldog Way expectations have also been extended into athletics and extracurricular activities. This fall, the district has strengthened expectations for coaches, athletes, parents, and fans.

Posters, banners, home-game PA announcements, and away-event sportsmanship reminders reinforce a consistent message:

Support our athletes. Respect the officials. Let the coaches coach.

Be Loud. Be Proud. Be Respectful. We Are Dove Creek.

This work reinforces the expectation that students and adults represent Dove Creek appropriately both at home and when traveling to other communities.

September Focus

Our next step is consistency. The goal is for students to experience the same Bulldog Way language and expectations regardless of the classroom, building, activity, athletic event, or staff member with whom they are interacting.

During September, administration will continue monitoring implementation and looking for opportunities to recognize students and staff who demonstrate Bulldog Way expectations in their everyday actions.

Moving Forward

As we move through Year 2, we need to begin gathering evidence about whether Bulldog Way is influencing district culture. We will look at student behavior and discipline trends, attendance, student and staff feedback, recognition data, and observations from our schools.

The long-term goal is not simply for students to know the six expectations. Success will be when the Bulldog Way becomes an observable part of how we treat one another and how we represent Dove Creek.

Bulldogs Do the Right Thing.

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AG Shop / BEST Grant Project Update

Construction Progress

• Concrete footers for the new Agriculture Shop have been poured.
• Excavation for the stem-wall forms has been completed, allowing foundation work to move into its next phase.
• Curb and gutter and the V-pan have been poured along Main Street.
• Crews are currently forming the new sidewalk along Main Street.
• Construction progress, scheduling, site safety, and contractor communication continue to be monitored throughout the project.

BEST Grant Questions and Clarifications

Two questions were recently raised regarding the project and are worth clarifying for the Board and community.

Who ensures the VoAg Shop is built correctly and is safe for students?
The project has multiple levels of professional oversight. The Neenan design-build team includes architects, engineers, construction personnel, and project management professionals. Plans are subject to required state approval, and inspections occur during the different phases of construction. The project must ultimately satisfy final inspection and occupancy requirements before the new facility can be opened for student use. Engineering and design professionals also have responsibility for ensuring construction conforms to the approved plans and applicable requirements.

How was the project bid?
The district followed BEST Grant procurement protocols in selecting the Owner's Representative and the design-build team. Those requirements meet or exceed the district's normal procurement procedures. Because this is a design-build project, Neenan manages the procurement and hiring of subcontractors. The Board approved the district's required matching amount through capital expenditures, and those funds are used to pay the district's share of budgeted project costs.

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September 2026 Academic Review

Dolores County School District RE-2J
Board of Education — September 16, 2026

Purpose

The September academic review provides the Board with a district-level look at student achievement trends and establishes the academic baseline for the 2026-2027 school year. The Board calendar specifically identifies Academic Review and Curriculum Update as September reporting items.

This initial review is primarily based on the district's 2020-2025 longitudinal reading/NWEA data. Because this source predates the current school year, the findings should be treated as the historical baseline against which 2026-27 performance will be monitored—not as current-year achievement results.

Executive Summary

The longitudinal data presents a mixed but encouraging academic picture. Several cohorts are performing above the district's historical averages, middle-school performance is relatively stable, and there is evidence of strong growth among some elementary cohorts. At the same time, achievement is not consistent across grades, and several cohorts require closer monitoring.

The Spring 2025 comparison identifies 2nd, 5th, and 8th grades as the strongest cohorts relative to district historical performance. Fifth grade was 4.1 RIT points above the historical average and eighth grade was 2.3 points above. Grades 6 and 7 were within 1.5 points of historical averages.

The most significant areas requiring attention were 1st and 4th grades, each approximately seven RIT points below the district's historical performance.

Spring 2025 Reading Snapshot

Grade	Mean RIT	Historical Average	Difference	Status
1	168.1	175.4	-7.3	Priority
2	188.6	185.0	+3.6	Strength
3	188.6	192.3	-3.7	Monitor
4	196.0	203.0	-7.0	Priority
5	211.3	207.2	+4.1	Strength
6	210.5	210.8	-0.3	On Track
7	213.4	214.8	-1.4	On Track
8	220.9	218.6	+2.3	Strength
9	220.7	222.0	-1.3	Monitor
10	221.5	223.8	-2.3	Monitor

The source's full-school analysis characterizes 2nd, 5th, and 8th grades as performance leaders, with 6th and 7th showing stability and 9th and 10th slightly below historical averages.

Areas of Strength

Elementary growth. Second and fifth grades were above their historical averages. The longitudinal analysis also reports particularly strong recent growth among elementary cohorts, including a +9.1 RIT increase for the cohort identified as current third graders in the source.

Middle-school stability. Grades 6 and 7 were close to historical averages, while eighth grade exceeded its historical comparison by 2.3 points. This provides an encouraging transition point into high school.

Language usage. The source identifies particularly strong eighth-grade language performance, with an eighth-grade Language Usage score of 224.5 RIT, which the analysis reports as exceeding the national expected norm used in the document.

Areas Requiring Attention

Early literacy. First grade was 7.3 points below the district historical average. The existing analysis identifies foundational skills and phonics as an area warranting closer examination.

Fourth-grade reading. Fourth grade was 7.0 points below its historical average. The source identifies informational-text complexity as a possible area for deeper review.

High-school growth. Grades 9 and 10 were only modestly below historical averages, but scores across grades 8-10 were tightly clustered. The source recommends examining whether students are continuing to make sufficient academic progress once they reach high school.

These findings should be treated as questions for instructional review, rather than conclusions about individual teachers, programs, or curriculum.

2026-2027 Academic Focus

The next step is to move from historical analysis to a consistent district academic monitoring system. For 2026-27, administration should establish baseline information and then report progress using multiple measures rather than relying on a single assessment.

I recommend organizing Board academic reporting around four questions:

1. Are students achieving?
Review achievement by grade, cohort, and content area.

2. Are students growing?
Follow the same cohorts over time so that growth is distinguished from a single-year proficiency snapshot.

3. Where are the gaps?
Identify grades, cohorts, standards, and instructional areas requiring intervention or additional support.

4. Are our actions working?
Connect identified needs to instructional responses and then return to the data to determine whether those actions produced improvement.

Measures to Include During 2026-27

The district should progressively incorporate:

• NWEA/benchmark achievement and growth
• CMAS and state assessment results
• SAT/PSAT results where applicable
• DIBELS/early-literacy measures
• Classroom/common assessment evidence
• Course performance and grades
• Graduation/readiness indicators
• Attendance
• Discipline and student-engagement indicators

The secondary handbook already identifies multiple demonstrations of graduation readiness, including SAT, ACT, ACCUPLACER, ASVAB, concurrent enrollment, and industry certificates, providing an opportunity for future academic reports to extend beyond standardized reading achievement alone.

Board-Level Conclusion

The historical data does not indicate that the district should treat academic performance as uniformly strong or uniformly weak. Instead, it shows meaningful differences among cohorts.

Strengths: 2nd, 5th, and 8th-grade historical comparisons; middle-school stability; strong eighth-grade language performance.

Watch areas: early literacy, fourth-grade reading, and continued academic growth through high school.

The most important improvement for 2026-27 will be establishing a repeatable academic reporting cycle that allows the Board to see achievement, growth, identified needs, district response, and subsequent results.

Recommended Board Status: ?? MONITOR

There are clear areas of academic strength, but there are also identifiable achievement gaps that warrant continued attention. The September review establishes the baseline. Future reports should show whether those gaps are closing, remaining stable, or widening.

Next Board Academic Update: Present current 2026-27 baseline data once the district's beginning-of-year assessment cycle is complete.

Description:  This comprehensive inventory outlines the academic curriculum and digital software licenses utilized across elementary, middle, and high school levels. The documents detail specific expiration dates, vendor information, and budgetary allocations for core subjects such as mathematics, literacy, science, and social studies. Key administrative data is also captured, including renewal timelines for specialized education programs and essential technology infrastructure like Google Workspace and PowerSchool. Furthermore, the records track the transition between physical consumables and virtual platforms, ensuring teachers have continuous access to instructional materials through the 2030s. This centralized tracking system serves as a strategic roadmap for fiscal planning and educational resource management.

Description:  Date Changes for Elementary PTC from 10/1 to 10/8