Board unanimously adopts housing‑instability awareness resolution; district highlights new prevention pilot with local rescue missions

The Poudre School District Board of Education voted unanimously Nov. 4 to adopt a resolution recognizing November as Children and Youth Experiencing Housing Instability Awareness Month and heard a presentation on a new homeless‑prevention partnership.

Director Jim Brokesh moved the resolution; Director Connor Duffy seconded. The vote was recorded as 7‑0 in favor. Clerk record calls show all seven board members voting "yes." The resolution affirms district support for awareness activities during November 2025. (motion and roll call 05:43–05:56)

District Director of Language, Culture and Equity David Autenreid spoke to language changes in the resolution and framed the effort as aligning with “people‑first” language and McKinney‑Vento supports. Autenreid described McKinney‑Vento work and presented a district scale of need, saying the district has “about 14,100 students” in the McKinney‑Vento program in recent reporting and that figure represented an approximately 18% rise versus pre‑pandemic levels as discussed in the meeting. He also summarized partners that support students and families, including Matthews House, Homeward Alliance, La Familia, Catholic Charities and others. (presentation 05:44–05:51)

Representatives from the Fort Collins Rescue Mission and Denver Rescue Mission — Seth Forwood and Jonathan Sawade — described a new pilot to provide one‑time funding and case management to families facing imminent housing instability. Forwood cited examples where brief payments (car repairs, a short housing hold‑over when a parent is hospitalized) can prevent an otherwise stable household from losing housing and becoming eligible for emergency shelter. He described the pilot as an early intervention intended to reduce repeat homelessness and avoid emergency shelter placements. (presentation 05:50–05:54)

Board members and the superintendent thanked the presenters and acknowledged recent community needs, including a local shelter fire noted during the meeting. No budget or ordinance change was enacted at the meeting — the action taken was a resolution of support and awareness and the pilot was presented for information; staff told the board they would return with data on pilot outcomes at future meetings.

Vote detail (as recorded in the public roll call): - Motion: "I move the board approve resolution in support of children and youth experiencing housing instability awareness month, November 2025." (mover: Jim Brokesh) - Second: Connor Duffy - Vote: Jim Brokesh (yes); Kristen Draper (yes); Connor Duffy (yes); Kevin Havela (yes); Scott Schoenbauer (yes); Andrew Spain (yes); Jessica Zamora (yes). Tally 7 yes, 0 no, 0 abstain. Outcome: approved.

Quotes (verbatim as stated in the meeting): "Language matters...we wanted it to be more reflective of that," David Autenreid said, explaining the resolution’s updated wording (05:46:15). "We are getting in front of this issue and being able to provide one‑time funding for families," Seth Forwood said, describing the rescue missions’ pilot (05:50:38).

Context and limitations: the presentation provided high‑level program descriptions and examples; staff characterized program scale and need during the meeting but did not provide a multi‑year budget or program evaluation at the time of the vote. Staff said they would return with data on the pilot’s outcomes in a later report.