Board of Education

Each of Colorado's 178 school districts is governed by a Board of Education comprised of people elected by the residents of the district. It is the Board's responsibility to establish and maintain a system of education in the district, as prescribed by the constitution and laws of the state. School board members are community volunteers who give freely of their time to govern public schools. Durango School District 9-R is governed by a five-member board.

Coherent Governance model

The Durango School District 9-R Board of Education chose to use Coherent Governance as its governance model in 2013. This model helps to clarify the roles of both the Board (policy-making and oversight) and the superintendent (academic and management leader).

Under Coherent Governance, the Board is responsible for clearly defining what students should know and be able to do by the time they graduate from high school. The Board consciously stays out of the district's day-to-day management decisions and adopts policies that give the superintendent the authority to select the resources, teachers, and educational programs that he or she believes best serve student-learning needs. The Board also defines expectations for how the superintendent exercises authority in the Superintendent Expectations Policies. These policies give the superintendent wide latitude to make decisions. The Board takes a strong oversight role by holding the superintendent accountable for ensuring that students are making reasonable progress toward meeting the district's educational goals.

The board’s policies also require the superintendent to involve stakeholders in decisions that would result in significant change, and they require the superintendent to provide annual monitoring reports that demonstrate compliance with policies and student learning goals.

Board minutes, agendas, and policies

Visit the BoardDocs website to review information on current and past board meeting agendas, copies of board minutes, and district and board policies.

BoardDocs logoPublic participation

Under Durango School District 9-R’s governance system, the Board seeks public opinion to understand community values, and then incorporates those values in the academic goals it sets for students.

The Board charges the Superintendent with the responsibility of creating the environment and selecting the academic programs that will ensure students meet those goals. As part of that charge, the Board requires staff to take reasonable steps to involve students, parents, and the community to gather sufficient information to make good decisions, and the Board is held accountable for our decisions by reporting annually on student progress.

Because Board policy requires significant public participation, the district has developed a number of ways for our community to be involved in decision-making, including town-hall meetings open to anyone who may have a concern or idea; focus groups on specific topics; surveys; committees and task forces; and public participation during board meetings, to name just a few.

Public comment

A total of 30 minutes is allocated for the public participation portion of each Board of Education Regular Meeting. Public participation will be at the beginning of the meeting unless otherwise noted in the agenda.

  • Registration for public comment will open a half hour prior to the start of the monthly board meeting.

  • Sign-up is limited to 10 speakers and registration is first-come, first-served.

  • Comments are limited to three minutes per speaker.

If you have questions, please call the District Office at 970-247-5411, ext. 1448.

Other ways to get involved

School Accountability Committees

Parents, teachers, and community members ensure that curriculum, budget, and resources are aligned with district, state, and federal student achievement goals. They also serve as sounding boards for school and district initiatives.

District Accountability Advisory Committee

This community group reviews each school’s assessment data and action plans, conducts parent surveys and, during 2004-05, assisted with the development and implementation of a plan to accredit each school based on student performance. The accreditation informs parents about their school’s success in meeting student achievement goals.

Each year, teachers, parents, and administrators review one or more of the district’s academic programs, compare district practices with the latest research, modify the curricula as needed to improve student achievement, and recommend changes to the Board’s academic goals.

Finance Advisory Committee

The Finance Advisory Committee reviews and monitors the district’s financial operations, acting as an external monitoring committee to help ensure continued financial safety and soundness.

Contact board members

The Durango School District Board of Education welcomes comments and correspondence from district residents. The following guidelines are provided to assist you with your correspondence.

  • Please use the e-mail address below. Your correspondence will automatically be forwarded to all Board members.

  • Any response will come from the Board President or designee.

  • Only the Board President may speak on behalf of the Board as a whole.

If you need translation supports, please email [email protected] to request this service.

Board Member

Position

District

Email

Phone Number

Erika Brown

Vice President

District A

[email protected]

970-375-3819

Kristin Smith

President

District B

[email protected]

970-375-3819

Rick Petersen

Treasurer

District C

[email protected]

970-375-3819

Katie Stewart

Member

District D

[email protected]

970-375-3819

Andrea Parmenter

Secretary

District E

[email protected]

970-375-3819