Superintendent Update-11/12/2023
Thank you
Through quality education our students will achieve personal success
The Telluride School District will support all students in striving for their highest potential through quality academics while addressing individual needs within a safe and healthy community.
November 12, 2023
Dear TSD Families,
Gratitude - As we enter the week before Thanksgiving Break, I want to express my sincerest gratitude to the the entire community for your support in our Board of Education elections and ballot measures.
New board member David Lavender and newly elected incumbents Ryan Robinson and Cheryl Carstens Miller begin four-year terms this month. These three board members join Stephanie Hatcher and Jill O’Dell, who each have two years remaining in their four-year terms, to form our five-member board. I am incredibly excited and fortunate to work with this board in the upcoming years.
I am extremely grateful for your support in helping to pass ballot measure 4A, which will provide funds for employee housing and much needed infrastructure improvements. This will help us to continue to provide the best possible education for the students of our district. Thank you to the staff and community members who supported this effort in the weeks leading up to the election.
I also want to express gratitude to the voters in our community who supported ballot measure 4B, which allows us to annex the Rico community into the Telluride R-1 School District on July 1, 2024. This provides students from Rico the guarantee of attending our schools, which they have never had in the past. Members of the Rico community, the Dolores County School District, and our own community were instrumental in providing the information voters in our district and the Dolores County School District needed to make an informed decision on this issue.
With over 2300 votes cast on each of our ballot measures, I am grateful to serve in such an engaged community, and it continues to be my honor to serve as your Superintendent.
Substitute Appreciation Week – Continuing on the theme of gratitude, Friday, November 17 is Substitute Educator’s Day. As the saying goes: “There is no substitute for a great substitute teacher!”. We are so thankful to the members of our community who dedicate their time to serving our students and supporting our teachers. In my days in the classroom, I hated being absent for many reasons, but having a talented and reliable substitute definitely helped.
New website and communication platform – Many of you have received communication related to ParentSquare, our new communications platform, and thank you to those of you who have already subscribed to ParentSquare. This platform will allow us to streamline our communications and reach you in the ways that work best for you. If you are not a parent or staff member, you can click here to join “Community Groups” at TSD through ParentSquare. Associated with ParentSquare, we will be rolling out a new website platform with a planned rollout date of November 20. Our new platform should be easier to navigate and will be easier for us to maintain and update. You can preview the new website, and provide any feedback, by clicking here.
Weather Related Procedure for Closing School – We are excited that Winter is coming, with all of the fun that it brings. In the event weather conditions are such that the safety of the children may be compromised when busing students to or from school, the following procedures will be followed.
MORNING CLOSING:
1. Director of Operations (Ken) and Facilities and Maintenance Coordinator (Brandon) will evaluate the road conditions in the school district, by driving the roads and contacting the Sheriff and County Transportation Director when deemed necessary.
2. If conditions are such that a decision must be made to possibly cancel school, the Director of Operations will confer with the Superintendent, who will make a final determination. If the
Superintendent is unavailable, the Director of Operations will contact Principals. The final decision will be made by the Director of Operations if the Superintendent is not available.
3. A decision to cancel school will be made by 6:00 a.m.
4. An email will go out to all staff.
5. Notifications will be sent to all family contacts, subs, coaches, and community organizations in the contact lists.
6. KOTO (728-4333) will be contacted to ensure that news of school cancellation will be broadcast in a timely manner.
7. Family notifications should be completed by 7:00 a.m.
MORNING DELAY:
1. In the event that a determination is made that conditions are unsafe for a normal start, but they are expected to improve to allow for a safe delayed start, the process above will be followed to communicate a two-hour delayed start. Bus routes will run exactly two hours later than normal. Each Principal will develop a schedule for their building reflecting a two-hour delay.
EARLY DAYTIME CLOSING:
1. In the event that developing conditions might prompt early closing of the school, the above procedures for determination and notification will be in effect.
2. Early closing will only take place if it is determined buses will be unable to travel safely at the time of normally scheduled runs but will be able to travel safely by leaving earlier.
Illuminate Education Data Breach - In my May 21, 2022 communication, I included information about a security incident potentially impacting student data involving Illuminate Education, which is the parent company for the Educlimber student software that we use for our student data warehouse. We have recently been informed by Kirkland & Ellis, the legal firm representing Illuminate Education and their third-party software provider Progress Software, that their investigation indicates that student data may have been accessed in May 2023 related to this 2022 security incident. We sincerely regret any concern or inconvenience this incident may cause. Families of students whose data was potentially accessed will be notified directly by Illuminate Education or their representatives over the next few weeks with next steps and support contact information.
This has been a wonderful Fall in our schools. Students have been engaged in great learning activities. Besides day-to-day academic instruction in our classrooms, there have been great experiential opportunities including field trips, amazing drama productions, athletics, PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) activities, and more. Teachers are engaged in Professional Learning Communities, exploring ways to improve teaching and learning. The hard work of our staff (and students) and the support of our community organizations helps to make our district something I am proud of. I hope that everyone in our community has a safe, restful, and enjoyable Thanksgiving.
Sincerely,
John Pandolfo
Superintendent
970-369-1213
John Pandolfo
Email: jpandolfo@telluride.k12.co.us
Website: tellurideschool.org
Location: 725 West Colorado Avenue, Telluride, CO, USA
Phone: 970-369-1213