The following questions were those that were provided during the virtual Town Hall on Thursday, July 31, and were unable to be answered due to time constraints. The questions were copied as provided.

With teachers and students arriving so early will the district office be increasing their hours as well? Meaning someone will be available for elementary early in the morning and available for the high school at the end of the day?

The district’s central services staff work a variety of hours depending on the specific needs of the position. The District Office will continue to operate from 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. to encompass elementary start times (7:30 a.m.) and high school end times (4:05 p.m.). All departments have an on-call process should there be emergent needs outside of this window.

What about year round school schedules for retention of both teachers and bus drivers and to offset childcare challenges for parents? 

A year-round school schedule does not increase the number of school days or teacher days. The breaks are just spread out through the year, but the actual school days do not change. 

When you considered community preferences as to where we need the childcare and which start times are preferred: these sound like assumptions. Is there a way that we can do an outreach survey to make sure we really are making choices that benefit the majority of our community?

This is an idea we will bring forward to the Task Force to evaluate and consider for recommendation moving forward.

I know field trips are a small (but impactful) portion of education but I’m wondering if these changes will affect transportation when planning field trips?

Field trip hours are 9:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., a slight reduction in the afternoon from previous years. 

Does the calculation of minutes of contact for middle school include them having to bring breakfast into their first class?

Calculations are based on the bell schedule. Breakfast consumed in class after the start of the school day counts for instructional time. Breakfast at the middle schools is a “grab and go” model. That could be in the classroom, hallway, outside, in the cafeteria, etc.

Long Range Committee meetings used to occur every year with updates given at a board meeting yearly. Why are these no longer happening? Can we start them again? We are told our district is only growing, especially in the west Greeley area so buses are going to need to be addressed.

Our Long Range Planning Committee last met in March 2022. Subsequent meetings have been on pause until all named projects in the 2022 Bond are substantially complete. We will meet this goal as of fall 2025, and look to resume Long Range Planning Committee meetings during the 2025 - 2026 school year.

Would a 4-day schedule help cut costs? Extending the day a little longer to reach the allocated hrs, giving teachers Fridays for enrichment, and one less day for need for transportation.

Based on feedback from other districts, implementing a four-day work week should not be done for cost savings, as this is very difficult to quantify. Some staff would see longer work days to offset the lost hours on a non-school day. However, bus drivers could potentially lose hours as they would still have a morning and afternoon route, but only four days each week. 

Looking to the future, how are the schools prepared to handle any tardiness and/or potential late pick ups from working parents during this transition? Considering leeway and flexibility for our parents and students could relieve some of the tension these schedule changes are created?

We know that an important aspect of your child’s success at school is arriving on time and ready to learn. We look to engage and support our families in various ways with on-time school attendance. Please work with your school to develop options to support your family if attendance is a challenge.

There was no discussion of students that do not take the bus? How many of these are impacted?

The impact to all students was considered when making this decision, and it was not one we made lightly. In 2024 - 2025, 2,931 of 6,261 students utilized transportation services, approximately 47% of our student body. After analyzing a variety of scenarios, constraints, and factors, we determined the bell schedule change was the best scenario. However, we recognize that each family’s circumstances are unique. We understand that this change may be ideal for some and challenging for others. 

What about the construction on 7th st? Will that be a factor for the school start times?

The Town of Windsor is optimistic that construction on 7th Street will be complete prior to the first day of school.

You spoke about the average of 2% pay increase for teachers and how you worked hard to ensure those raises were given. What was the average raises that went to the district office executives over the same time from?

The 2% average salary adjustment was provided across the board for all of our employee groups — Certified staff (ex: teachers), Classified staff (ex: bus drivers), and Administrative-Professional-Technical staff (ex: principals, district office executives).