From the Board, April 25 2024

Thank you to everyone who attended our board meeting on April 25 at the District Office/Learning Opportunities Center. Our “Shine the Light” this week was with our Nutrition Services Department. I cannot say enough good things about this department. The total food volume is hard to comprehend and appreciate until you see the numbers. Since the beginning of school, our team has served almost 400,000 meals to students and staff. The one person who is designated to the warehouse has single-handedly moved over 600,000 pounds of food. We are always looking to utilize local sources of food wherever we can and continue to look for even more sources. I would like to thank everyone in the nutrition services department for all their hard work in making sure every student who wants fed gets fed.

We had the opportunity to hear from Nate Miller and learn about the International Baccalaureate program at Rifle High School. It was a great opportunity to learn about this program, and the discussion was great for everyone in attendance. I only hope that this program continues to produce the type of young adults who will be the future leaders of our community. The demanding, rigorous, and rewarding workload that this program requires teaches students the value of hard work, dedication, and perseverance. I would like to thank Mr. Miller for taking the time and showing the board his enthusiasm for this program. While Rifle High utilizes the IB program, it is important to note that Coal Ridge High School has the AP (Advanced Placement) program. Both programs are designed to push students to achieve and offer college credits for classes they can use to fulfill graduation requirements.

If you haven’t already, please visit our newly revamped website and take a look. Anything you could ever wonder is available somewhere on our site. From school menus to student achievement data. (www.garfieldre2.net)

The board received our quarterly financial update. If someone is looking for rockstars, look no further than our finance department. Everyone from building secretaries to our CFO is absolutely killing it. This team is the reason why our projections look as good as they do. This is no easy task. Garfield Re-2 employs over 800 people with an annual budget of 63 million dollars. Yes, that’s a lot of money. Yes, it’s good hands with this team. With the projected growth in our district, having a solid financial footing is imperative for success.

Thank you to all our employees and volunteers for their hard work in tackling our common goal of High Student Achievement. Being a newly elected board member, I have the privilege of serving with four other devoted members who share the same goal. As a community of such different backgrounds and with different world views, I believe we have to start where we all agree and work out from there. I believe that the starting point is student achievement. With that being said, I look forward to engaging with anyone who shares that goal. Let’s finish this year strong. Have a safe weekend thank you, Garfield Re-2.

Chance Jenkins
Board Member District D