District 11 to brief state on plan to keep Mitchell High open, seeks outside instructional partner

Superintendent Goll told the Board of Education at a special meeting April 16 that District 11 will present a plan to the Colorado State Board of Education on May 14 asking to keep Mitchell High School on innovation status while adding an external academic management partner to boost classroom instruction.

The superintendent said the district’s preferred path is to “continue with our innovation status, but we want to bring in an external management partner” — the same partner the district has used in other turnaround efforts — to provide on-site coaching and alignment across schools. He added, “I do not think it is healthy for our community to recommend the closure of Mitchell High School.”

The Board received data showing modest reading gains and lagging math performance, attendance improvements and ongoing staffing work. Principal George Smith said attendance has trended upward since 2021 and that the school is “currently sitting right around in 88%,” a figure he described as…