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Roaring Fork board reviews limited-scope equity audit; superintendent outlines recruitment, housing and communications next steps
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Anna Cole presented a current-state equity audit conducted by PROMISE 54, acknowledged the audithad limited scope, and described district follow-ups focused on staff recruitment/retention, housing, H-1B support, pay equity, data transparency and internal communications.
Dr. Anna Cole, superintendent of Roaring Fork School District No. Re-1, briefed the board on a current-state equity audit produced by PROMISE 54 and outlined next steps on recruitment and retention, staff housing, and district communications.
Cole told the board the district asked PROMISE 54 to focus the audit on staff diversity, recruitment and retention, equitable allocation of resources, and policy and regulatory review rather than student outcomes or curriculum. She read the districtdefinition of equity from Policy ADB and said the district would align recommended actions to its strategic priorities.
The nut of Cole's presentation was that the audit had a narrower scope than some board members hoped but nonetheless produced recommendations the district can act on. Cole said much of PROMISE 54feedback aligns with initiatives already in the district strategic plan and listed several areas for additional work, including a staff culture survey, clarifying pay-equity placement for new hires, stronger HR capacity and system integration, expanded use of H-1B visa best practices, and improved transparency about how funds are allocated to schools. She also noted supports for newly immigrated students had depended on short-term Colorado Department of Education funding that has since ended.
Board members pressed for detail about the contractor relationship, sample size and next steps. Director Ramirez said the district paid about "between 60 and 70,000" for the audit and asked how the district would change scope or procurement for the next audit. Cole said Promise 54 was selected for its recruitment-and-retention expertise and that the district will be more prescriptive about scope and expertise in future RFPs, and expects an on-cycle audit before the next strategic-plan cycle.
On recruitment and retention, Cole described work already underway: a 10-year housing master plan (due by the end of the year), an H-1B working group, an HR employee feedback survey (report forthcoming), and launched classified and administrative Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB) processes with updates expected in April. She added the district will present an annual DEIA impact statement aligned to Policy ADB to the board in May.
Board members asked for an audit that more directly examines student outcomes and programs; Cole clarified that the district had separately contracted Attuned for a classroom- and curriculum-focused diagnostic last year and that the current PROMISE 54 work deliberately examined other organizational levers. Several directors urged faster timelines and clearer benchmarks for a future comprehensive audit, and one director recommended bringing a separate, focused audit of culturally and linguistically diverse education (CLDE) programming in the next year.
Ending: Cole said the district will bring a DEIA impact statement to the board on May 12 and an updated strategic-plan schedule reflecting audit-driven adjustments. She reiterated that lessons from the limited-scope audit will inform a more comprehensive, on-cycle audit before the next strategic-plan refresh.
