Board pulls student field trip from consent agenda over cost concerns, then approves it

The Blackhawk School Board on Oct. 17 removed an education field trip (agenda item 10.1) from its consent agenda after Director Jose raised concerns about costs and district spending on temporary staffing, then approved the trip in a separate vote.

Chair (voice S1) opened the regular voting session and, after roll call and routine reports, asked for a motion to approve the consent agenda. Director Jose (S6) said he wanted item 10.1 pulled for separate consideration, citing substitute-teacher costs and broader budget pressures: "We already... spent $60,000 just this month" on Kelly Services and "if we go to the index at 0.54, your margin's like... $210,215,000 dollars," he said, warning of limited fiscal leeway if healthcare and borrowing costs rise.

Supporters of the trip, including the communications representative (Clyde, voice S3), said the outing is an educational tour and that students had already raised money to attend. S3 noted about 80 students had signed up and defended the trip as "time well spent and money well spent at very little cost to the district," adding that students would make up missed classwork through the district's virtual platforms.

Board members discussed whether the trip could be rescheduled to a weekend to avoid missing instructional time and whether substitute costs could be reduced; staff and other directors said rescheduling was unlikely because planning and fundraising were already advanced and the trip was only weeks away.

After debate, the board voted to remove item 10.1 from the consent agenda and then took a separate motion to approve the education committee field trip requests. The motion to approve was moved by Board member Shope (voice S4) and seconded by the member who handled roll call (voice S2); Chair called for verbal 'Aye' responses and the motion passed. The transcript records the affirmative voice vote but does not include a roll-call tally.

The meeting concluded with brief director remarks: one director praised the school yearbook and another raised a memorial-bench fundraising item for a deceased former student; staff said donations will be processed through the district and more details will be presented next month. The board moved to adjourn at the end of the session.

What happened next: The board approved the field trip after discussing scheduling, fundraising, instructional continuity and district staffing costs; the transcript does not record any formal roll-call vote breakdown for the field trip approval.