D38 Parent and Community Advisory Committee, April 8 – Discussion of Priority 2 academic excellence, superintendent search

• Board of Education update
• Priority 2: academic excellence

By Harriet Halbig

The D38 Parent and Community Advisory Committee (PCAC) (formerly District Accountability Advisory Committee) discussed Priority 2 of the district’s strategic plan involving academic excellence, the continuing search for a new superintendent, and plans to relocate programs from Grace Best Elementary School at its April meeting.

The meeting was held at Lewis-Palmer Middle School and began with a presentation by Principal Courtney Harrell and student presenters.

The school, with a student population of 755, stresses academic growth, a positive culture, and effective communication between students, staff, and families to ensure that all are informed of activities.

A recent student survey confirmed that students value a variety of elective offerings such as forensic science, photography, journalism, medical detectives, and speech and debate. Drama, band, and choir are also valued, as well as a wide variety of athletic offerings.

The school rates very high in achievement in science and meets requirements for student participation in testing although a significant number of families opt out of the testing.

Board of Education update

Board liaison Dr. Patti Shank reported on the March meeting of the board.

Among the subjects discussed were the future location of the Home School Enrichment Academy (HSEA) and the Transitions program. The HSEA occupies a large space in Grace Best and would require either the lease of an alternate structure or the construction of a new structure.

When the cost of purchasing an existing building, building a conventional stick-built structure, and building a metal structure were compared to the possibility of creating a prefabricated structure, the prefabricated option was by far the most affordable.

This structure would include 10 classrooms and a multi-purpose room and have an estimated lifespan of 40 to 50 years.

One committee member commented that the stick-built structure would last longer.

Shank also reported that the fire marshal offered the opportunity for the HSEA to occupy a portion of Grace Best for several months until the new structure was available. He would cordon off areas which are dangerous due to water leakage and other damage.

The Transitions program will be housed in the new Career and Innovation Center building along with the robotics program.

Regarding the search for a new superintendent, the board announced that two finalists will move forward in the selection process: Palmer Ridge High School Principal Adam Frank and Interim Superintendent Amber Whetstine. Both the PCAC and the Staff Collaboration committees gave input to the board, indicating that listing the position internally was a preferable alternative to having the previous search organization do an additional search.

Part of the motivation behind this recommendation was that there were relatively few finalists in the previous search and several of them were district employees. Also, it was felt that a new superintendent should lead the district in the way it had been led rather than imposing a new system.

The board voted 4 to 1 to post the position internally. When asked, Human Resources Director Alicia Welch said she did not intend to apply and therefore creating the job description and other activities would not be a conflict of interest.

Shank also reported on the timing of the search and that there would be greater community involvement this time and possibly some interviews would be in public.

One committee member expressed concern that current interim Superintendent Amber Whetstine is also the director of curriculum. Whetstine commented that the position of director of curriculum would be posted soon.

Priority 2: academic excellence

Director of Assessment Dr. Michael Brom reported on the district’s performance on state standardized assessments in the last school year.

Regarding English Language Arts, Brom said that the goal by 2027 would be to have students at all grade levels reach the 85th percentile, with a special emphasis on third-graders. The test indicating performance in this area is the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) test.

Showing performance results for the past three years, the elementary and high school scores achieved this goal with the middle school reaching the 83rd percentile.

The goal for growth is to reach the 50th percentile each year, which would indicate maintaining grade level proficiency. Looking at a chart indicating performance among elementary schools, four schools exceeded the benchmark, two were at 50th percentile and the middle school was at the 38th percentile.

Brom also reported on achievement in math with the goal of reaching 85th percentile and at least median growth at all grade levels.

Action steps to achieve this would include improving math instruction through examination of programming, resources, assessments, and scheduling, sharing best practices among instructors, offering alternative courses, and ensuring equitable math placement as students transition from elementary to middle school and middle school to high school.

State assessment results (including PSAT an SAT scores in addition to Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) showed elementary students at 84%, middle school at 81%, and high school at 85%. Only the high school results indicated an increase from the previous year.

In terms of growth, only Palmer Lake Elementary and Ray Kilmer Elementary exceeded the 50% rate.

To improve the matriculation rate in the district, action steps included establishing a facility and program infrastructure to include new courses and industry partnerships, aligning programs with student interests, developing academic pathways (training teachers, identifying partners), and engaging stakeholders in the community.

Currently, 25% of District 38 graduates are already enrolled in concurrent enrollment or other programs for college credit before graduation, 70.9% are enrolled in a two-year, four-year, or Career Technology course and 3.8% are entering the military.

To view the PowerPoint of this presentation, go to lewispalmer.org, family resources, district committees, meeting content by date.

Subcommittees of PCAC gave brief reports of their activities.

Because of time constraints and the fact that funding for the 2025-26 schoolyear has not been determined, the committee will hold a special meeting at the district learning center on May 13 at 6 p.m. to discuss the budget.

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The next meeting of the Parent and Community Advisory Committee will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13 in the district’s learning center, 146 N. Jefferson St. For further information, contact tmckee@lewispalmer.org.

Harriet Halbig may be reached at harriethalbig@ocn.me.

Other D38 Parent and Community Advisory Committee articles

• Parent and Community Advisory Committee, Jan. 13 – Continued discussion of board Priority 2, Academic Excellence, report from Monument Academy (2/4/2026)
• Lewis-Palmer D 38 Parent and Community Advisory Committee, Nov. 18 – Accreditation discussion; post-election report (12/4/2025)
• D38 Parent and Community Advisory Committee, Oct. 14 – Board goals feedback; work toward maintaining academic excellence (10/30/2025)
• Lewis-Palmer D38 Parent and Community Advisory Committee, Sept. 9 – Committee discusses plans for relationship with Board of Education in upcoming school year (10/2/2025)
• D38 Parent and Community Advisory Committee, May 13 – Budget priorities, 2025-26 committee goals discussed (6/7/2025)
• D38 Parent and Community Advisory Committee, Feb. 11 – Selection of new superintendent, treatment of Grace Best Elementary School, budget process discussed (3/1/2025)
• D38 Parent and Community Advisory Committee, Nov. 12 – Reports on school year calendar, safety and security, and social and emotional wellness (12/5/2024)
• D38 Parent and Community Advisory Committee, Oct. 8 – Grace Best Elementary School, Career-Innovation Center plans discussed (11/2/2024)
• D38 Parent and Community Advisory Committee, Sept. 10 – Committee discusses strategic plan, assessment results, bylaws change (10/5/2024)
• D38 Parent and Community Advisory Committee, April 9 – Reports on human resources, fiscal stewardship, superintendent search, and possible new charter school (5/4/2024)