On Dec. 14, the Thompson School District (TSD) Board of Education held its last business meeting of 2022. All members of the board were present except Dawn Kirk. The board then moved unanimously to adopt the agenda and approve the minutes of the past two sessions.

TSD Superintendent Marc Schaffer then began to report on the achievements and operations of the district. One of his first points was to remind parents that choice enrollment for the next school year ends on Jan. 12, 2023. Choice enrollment is available for students outside of a school boundary area who wish to enroll at a different TSD school. The deadline has been extended due to system maintenance on the website.

Schaffer then highlighted the Thompson Valley High School co-ed cheer team who won the 4A state championship. Before turning over to other TSD staff, Schaffer reminded everyone that winter break for schools would run from Dec. 19 to Jan. 4.

Danielle Feeney, principal of High Plains School in Loveland spoke next about the achievements of the early childhood to 8th-grade school. Students at the school requested grant money from the Colorado Department of Education for a ‘buddy bench’ at the school and received state funding. They then applied those grant-writing skills to assist in building a $500 well in central Africa.

Next, athletic and activity achievements in the district were presented by Director Kevin Clark. Highlights for the fall season included Berthoud and Loveland High School’s success on the football field as well as Thompson Valley High School’s varsity girls volleyball team repeating as 4A state champions.

During the board reports, members discussed what they learned and took away from the recent Colorado Association of School Boards convention held at the start of December in Colorado Springs.

Public comments started with two members from Moms for Liberty discussing their concerns about transparency and accountability from the district. Berthoud resident Heather van Benthem was next with a seasonal reminder of the magic of childhood with a reading of “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” by Francis Pharcellus Church from 1897.

Action consent items were then approved unanimously along with the approval of the 2023 mil levy certification. The last two items of note were the $6.3 million outperformance of the previous year’s budget and a potential move in 2023 to hold only one business meeting a month.

The first reading for using the excess budget from the last year will be held at the next meeting. A $2.1 million increase in TSD staff salary was the largest outlay in the proposed uses of the surplus.

The other item was the board considering moving to one business meeting a month instead of two after learning that most other Colorado school districts only hold one a month. The idea would be to then use the other meeting as a study session. The next business meeting of the TSD Board of Education is set to be held on Jan. 4.