Gilpin School Board election coming up
Three candidates running
Gilpin County School District’s Board of Education has four of its five seats opening in November. As there were two individuals (Craig Holmes and Brook Ramsey) who petitioned to run for the two seats with two-year terms, they will be appointed to the Board. However, there were three individuals who petitioned to run for the two four-year seats. In November, the voters of the school district will be asked to decide who will win those seats. All three of these candidates have previously served on Gilpin’s School Board and two (Hardy and Taylor) have children, now grown, who attended Gilpin School.
Rusty Hardy
Rusty Hardy is seeking his second term on the School Board. He was originally appointed to the Board, as no one ran against him. He said he considers it a good sign to see enough candidates for an election this year. Hardy is a mid-County resident who has been in Gilpin 15 years. His vocational training was in mechanics which now serves him well in his administrative role as Fleet Manager for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department. He’s used his experience in handling a $2.6 million budget and personnel management while serving on the School Board. His work experience also includes several years in law enforcement with Gilpin County, Black Hawk and Central City. When he’s not working, he spends his time with his children (his youngest graduated last spring) and grandchildren.
Hardy sums up what he wants to see in Gilpin School’s future: “more money for teachers, more vocational and other opportunities via Red Rocks Community College, more offerings in art, music and band, more technology in the classroom, a continuation of the four-day school week and changing the sign at the entrance to the school so that it isn’t so brightly lit. Hardy is a strong supporter of the elementary Montessori program and would like to see it expanded into more grade levels. He’s also a proponent for the alternative program in the secondary and thought it worked best when it was in a separate building. “Many kids don’t do well in the classroom but are very good at self-paced programs,” he noted. He thinks a separate alternative school works better for students who are returning after dropping out and/or may be dealing with substance abuse problems, dysfunctional home situations or are working. Those students don’t always mesh well with those in the regular classrooms, he commented. “The concern is education,” he said, and we should do whatever it takes.” Hardy is proud of the alternative programs the school has offered and the current A+ program. “We’ve graduated 4-5, some years 9-10, kids who would not have done it otherwise,” he said. He said he was also proud of the number of Gilpin students who go to college and stick with it. Hardy has been the Board’s representative to the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) which coordinates and provides education mainly for special education students in several school districts. Hardy has found the BOCES experience very rewarding, noting “These are the most vulnerable people and they respond the most-it’s a tremendous change, the students just blossom.” Hardy is also frequently spotted at Gilpin’s athletic events, “I go to a lot of them,” he said. He’d like to see event fees eliminated for parents and siblings of the athletes. “We could offset that with the advertising,” he said, referring to the banner space being sold to businesses. He’d also like to see the senior citizens in the county come to events and favors eliminating their admittance fees to encourage that.
Hardy is very pleased to have a new superintendent at Gilpin School this year. He was very vocal about making that change and very public about not supporting renewal of the previous superintendent’s contract. “We have a terrific superintendent now,” he said, adding he really supports her and appreciates her keeping all Board members informed of what’s happening at the school each week. He’s enjoying her follow-through on what the Board directs her to do. Once the Board makes a decision, he makes it a point to support it out in the community, he said. “The top priority is to be accessible,” he said, “and to listen to parents and the community.” Hardy voted to keep the four-day school week because of what he heard from parents, students and teachers. He puts a lot of stock in the staff, “The teachers, principals and cafeteria do a terrific job,” he said. Bringing back programs, creating new ones or expanding existing programs mainly comes down to money. Last year the city of Black Hawk dedicated funds generated from a municipal sales tax to the school to be used for programs and teachers. “The Black Hawk money makes a big difference,” Hardy acknowledged.
Bob Masslich
Bob Masslich is also seeking a second term. His work experience includes three decades with the State of Colorado managing various employment offices. He said he helped start the first Montessori school in Colorado (Fort Collins) and strongly supports that program here. Masslich is a mid-County resident, active with his homeowner’s association and has served as past president of the Gilpin County Public Library’s Friends of the Library organization. He had been heading up the District Accountability Committee (DAC) five years ago, when the seat on the Board opened. Masslich was a strong supporter of the superintendent at the time, Ken Ladouceur, who was looking for someone to oppose Brady Lovingier, said Masslich. Ladouceur persuaded him to run. As it turned out, Lovingier decided not to run and Masslich was appointed.
Masslich said it takes an incredible amount of effort and a long time to get a new Board member up to speed on school issues. He takes a very global view of education, noting the United States ranks 17th of the 25 developed countries in quality of education. He is critical of fellow board members, “making decisions without doing their homework or understanding the bigger global issues.” He cites his broader life experience, past School Board experience and his good business relationship with the mayor of Black Hawk as assets he brings to the Board. He is proud of his work to have the county schedule the Connector bus route as a way for children to get to Gilpin School in time for classes.
Community involvement is important, Masslich said, and he would continue the community meetings initiated by former Board member, Ron Slinger. Masslich would like to see more student participation in meetings, including Board and DAC meetings. “We’ve got to get the kids involved,” he stated. Masslich said he had started the first “Nutrition and Wellness” committee and wants to continue his work in that area. He thinks the district should have complied with state nutrition regulations immediately instead of phasing them in over the several years as allowed. “We can’t let this slip,” he cautioned. He’d like to see the cafeteria staff putting together more fresh foods on site but acknowledges that will be more costly. His goal is to see not just students eating in the cafeteria, but to see the teachers and administrative staff wanting to eat there.
The district owns approximately 85 acres of forested land around the buildings. Masslich has repeatedly pushed the district to do fire mitigation on those acres to increase the value of the property. He’ll keep pushing. He feels strongly the property is an asset that could be sold in the future, if that’s what the district decided and cleaning it up would bring a better price.
Traffic congestion in the school’s driveway and parking areas, especially at the beginning and end of each school day, is a current concern for Masslich. Several years ago, the district had volunteers (including Masslich) to direct traffic at those times. For a while the district paid a custodian to do the additional duty but has since discontinued the practice. Masslich said it’s time to address it again.
Last year Masslich supported Ladouceur’s recommendation to change from the current four-day school week to one of five days. He doesn’t see a need to increase the number of classroom hours but would like to see them spread out more. “Shorter days but more of them,” he explained. He’d like to see the district explore multiple options, like year-round school with frequent vacation breaks. Shorter days would allow more family and homework time for students, he said, and would make participation in extracurricular activities easier for them. He wants kids to have time to be kids. The current hours of school “are killing our extracurricular activities,” he said, noting the district doesn’t have a lot of them. “We need to focus on sports to have better teams and participation,” he said. The community did not agree with adding a day to the school week and that didn’t happen. Ladouceur’s contract was not renewed. Masslich said his was the lone voice on the Board, to keep Ladouceur. “He was one of the best superintendents in Colorado. It was a real mistake, letting him go,” he said. The district has since hired a new superintendent, Tina Goar. “She’s a tremendous communicator,” says Masslich, “and off to a great start.”
“I have a passion for bringing Gilpin’s student achievement levels to a much higher level,” Masslich said, “I want to see this be a great school and want to be part of what makes that happen.” He said the district “has an awful lot to sell if we’re going to make this work,” and pledged to do his best to get things done.
Charlotte Taylor
Charlotte Taylor has been in Gilpin County since 1977 and currently lives in Russell Gulch. She holds Bachelor’s degrees in Journalism and in Women’s and Gender Studies. She described herself as a “voracious” reader with a taste for science fiction and mysteries. She’s also passionate about teaching students good writing skills, which she sees as a way to be able to access information and of organizing what is known. She is a former editor of the Weekly Register-Call and currently works in the County’s Clerk and Recorder’s department. She’s also a “doting first-time grandmother,” she said, beaming.
Taylor served on the School Board in the 1990’s and has since been involved at the school on the District Accountability Committee (DAC) off and on since the mid 1980’s. She’ll rely on some of her past experience with former superintendent John Weiser, she said, who taught her about team-building (“Everyone he came in contact with felt like part of the team.”), program evaluation (“Not every program will be a winner; you have to tweak and sometimes abandon.”), and how to work with people whose ideas differed (“Keep in mind you want the same thing, it’s just the details.”) She recalled a time when school spirit was “huge” in the community. It wasn’t about money, she said, it was dedication. People tend to expend the most effort when there’s something to oppose, Taylor observed, “We should expend more effort to create what we want to see.”
With a new superintendent on board, Taylor sees lots of opportunity to build on the good things at Gilpin School, such as the small class size, the long distance learning and partnerships with Red Rocks Community college. Not everything can be offered on campus, she said, but just because Gilpin’s small, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t provide choices. “We need a little more quantity (in courses),” she said, “but we’re in a position to emphasize quality.” She believes the district can meet college entry requirements and still have space for doing other things. As a product of a small school, she understands scheduling difficulties but believes offering students educational choice is important for them to experiment and learn what they like and what they’re good at. Elective offerings have been whittled away over the past few years, she noted. “Basic skills are not the be-all, end-all, and education isn’t one-size-fits-all,” she said. Taylor strongly supports the Montessori program in the elementary and the alternative program in the secondary.
She said there had been “a bit of a disconnect between the community and past administration, and that was troubling.” She thinks the new superintendent is very interested in facilitating reconnection to the community and said she strongly supports those efforts, “The Board could do the same.” The community’s wishes should carry a lot of weight, she said. She believes School Board members and administrators should be accessible and responsive to constituents, especially students. Along with that, the community needs to let school officials know when they’re moving in the right direction. As a Board member, Taylor said it would be her job to help set the direction via policy and guidance to the administration. She would express her opinion during the meeting session basing it on the greater good versus personal preference. Then it’s the Board member’s obligation to support the decision out in the community. She would also want to hear what the community thinks and bring that back to the Board. “It’s time to pull together in this district because we all want the same thing,” she said. For Taylor, that’s a school that instills students with the belief they have the resources and ability to learn anything they want and to know they can accomplish anything they want to do.
The school district is planning a Candidates’ Forum which has been set for October 27th at 7 p.m. at the auditorium at Gilpin School in which community members will have a chance to hear the candidates’ views and ask questions.