Poudre School District board approves Head Start annual report, addresses bus safety deficiency and approves $4.5M controls contract

Poudre School District R-1 on Tuesday approved the 2024–25 Head Start and Early Head Start annual report and took three additional votes including affirming the superintendent's monitoring report and approving a facility controls contract for Fossil Ridge High School.

The board unanimously approved the Head Start report after a presentation from Rebecca Benedict, director of early childhood. Benedict told the board the district served 874 pre-K students in 2024–25, of whom 292 were Head Start-funded and 153 were Early Head Start; she said the district manages roughly $6 million in federal Head Start funds and about $4.7 million in state and local (UPK) funds, for a combined early childhood budget of about $11.5 million.

Benedict described the program—s family supports and screening results: Early Head Start home visits totaled about 3,000 last year, prenatal visits were 711 and Head Start home visits about 1,300. Staff logged 2,821 community referrals for families (housing and mental health among the top needs) and reported 478 families attended at least one engagement event. She said the program reached 98–99 percent of students for vision, hearing and developmental screeners and that dental coverage was 100 percent for Early Head Start and 96 percent for Head Start.

"We are paying attention to the new federal fiscal budget that's hopefully going to be passed this month," Benedict said. She also noted Head Start is administered through the federal Department of Health and Human Services and that programs must meet Office of Head Start rules and reporting requirements.

Why it matters: The Head Start program is a major early-childhood provider in Larimer County and the district's largest early-childhood budget line. The annual report informs the board's federal-grant oversight responsibilities and highlights safety, health and enrollment metrics that affect kindergarten readiness and district budgeting.

Bus safety deficiency and corrective steps

Benedict told the board Office of Head Start issued a deficiency this summer after a transportation incident in which a child was released from a bus and spent about a minute unsupervised with a sibling on a playground. The deficiency was issued July 7; Benedict said the district requested an extension because many employees were off contract during the summer and staff expect to submit the corrective evidence by Oct. 1.

She outlined immediate corrective steps: updated parent-facing videos and forms about bus pickup and identification requirements; retraining for drivers, substitute paras and site staff; monthly meetings with transportation staff; Buster the Bus child-safety presentations; and increased use of route-level photo/ID lists so substitutes have a visual aid. "We don't mess around with safety," Benedict said.

Program trends, capacity and funding constraints

Benedict said Head Start enrollment has been strong and the program is "bursting at the seams," noting the district currently operates in roughly 20 elementary sites and has —925 available seats systemwide. She described barriers to rapid expansion: facility modifications (bathrooms, hard-surface flooring and diapering stations), licensing requirements, and the need for additional operating revenue. Benedict said federal Head Start cost-of-living increases have been limited and that state UPK increases have been modest, leaving most of the program budget (about 95 percent) devoted to staffing costs.

On instructional minutes, Benedict said Head Start requires 1,020 minutes per year for full-time students and that UPK requires 30 hours per week and 900 hours per year; the mismatch between early-childhood federal requirements and elementary schedules complicates scheduling and funding eligibility.

Public comment and board discussion

The board heard multiple public-comment speakers before business items. Career and technical education teacher Elisa (last name used in the record) described recent cuts to Code 29 allocations, said consumable materials budgets for CTE were cut and asked the board to restore about $15,000 she said was lost when student fees were eliminated. "If you believe in your strategic plan, please fund it," she said. Nicole Alvarado, speaking for the Poudre Education Association executive board, urged more educator representation in district committees: "Listen to us. Trust us. We are professionals," she said.

Other public commenters urged protections for LGBTQ students, proposed a dyslexia task force, and urged attention to special-education supports and transitions.

Votes at a glance

- Monitoring policy EL 2.9 (superintendent's internal monitoring report): Board motion that the superintendent reasonably interpreted policy EL 2.9; seconded by Jim Brokish; vote 7-0, motion passed.

- Approval of the 2024–25 Head Start & Early Head Start annual report: Moved by Connor Duffy; seconded by Jessica Zamora; vote 7-0, approved.

- Building automation controls contract (Fossil Ridge High School): Moved by Kevin Havela; seconded by Jim Brokish; board approved expenditures in excess of $250,000 to execute a contract with Long Building Technology for approximately $4.5 million to replace control panels, sensors, actuators and wiring and upgrade the automation server and graphics; vote 7-0, approved.

- Executive session: Board entered executive session under CRS 24-6-402(4)(e)(I) (collective-bargaining strategy) with invited staff; motion seconded by Andrew Spain; vote 7-0, motion passed.

What the board decided and next steps

- Head Start: the board approved the annual report and Benedict said the district will submit corrective evidence to the Office of Head Start on the transportation deficiency by Oct. 1. She recommended continued attention to health, family referrals and mental-health supports as early indicators for later outcomes.

- Facilities: the building automation contract for Fossil Ridge is intended to modernize HVAC and lighting controls to improve comfort, operational efficiency and lifecycle risk management; staff said work may proceed across two years and is part of a longer effort to rationalize controls across district sites.

- Governance/monitoring: the board affirmed the superintendent's interpretation of EL 2.9 in his internal monitoring report.

Context and follow-up

Board members praised community partnerships highlighted by Superintendent Brian Kingsley earlier in the meeting, including the Bohemian Foundation and Larimer County—s investments in an advanced manufacturing lab and an adolescent care unit at the Longview campus. Directors asked staff for additional data on early-childhood capacity, and superintendent and early-childhood staff flagged funding constraints and capital costs for new classrooms (Benedict said an example bathroom/classroom retrofit previously cost roughly $65,000). Board members also asked staff to quantify likely energy or cost savings from the controls upgrades; staff said they would return with estimates.

Speakers quoted in this article are drawn from the public record of the Sept. 23 board meeting.