District 6 rolls out staff volunteer pilot and outlines community partnership plan

Greeley Evans School District 6 presented a pilot employee volunteer program titled D6 Gives Back and outlined a draft Community Partnership Plan to expand and standardize school–community partnerships.

Nelson Rodriguez, Community Partnership Administrator, and Annette Overton, assistant superintendent of human resources, described the pilot that ran Oct. 7 through Jan. 31. The district invited 40 organizations to apply; 12 partnered in the pilot. Twenty-two staff members volunteered, contributing more than 80 hours of service to organizations including the Weld County Food Bank, Meals on Wheels and United Way.

Annette Overton said the pilot allowed the district to refine a process for staff to use eight hours of paid time off to volunteer. "We had 12 organizations finalize participation and 22 staff were part of the pilot," she said. The district plans to design one-time volunteer opportunities better suited to teachers’ schedules and to expand the program next fall.

District communications staff described work to formalize student volunteer tracking using Xello, the district’s career and college planning tool. The presentation included aspirational targets: by September 2027, the plan aims for 10% of students to engage annually in community service, 100% of schools to run an annual community-service project, and 10% of staff to participate annually.

The board asked about participating organizations and staff feedback. Officials said the pilot included focus groups and feedback surveys for both employees and partner organizations and that partner lists are posted on the district website.

Board members expressed support for tracking student volunteer hours and for recognizing staff participation. The district will pilot the Community Partnership Plan with a selection of schools at each level in 2025 and continue outreach to expand partnerships.