At their Monday night board meeting, the Southwest Open School school board discussed the end of the school year, parent surveys and more.

The board discussed their upcoming portfolio night for seniors that will take place on Thursday, April 25, requesting that as many on the board be present as possible to celebrate the seniors’ achievements.

After giving updates about the school’s finances as they near the end of the school year, the board heard about some upcoming trips students will be taking before the summer.

Some of the trips mentioned were a mountain biking trip, rafting trip and a history trip that will take students to various skate parks in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The board also received funds from the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey and a grant called COSI, which will help seniors make plans for their transition after high school.

In Director Casey Simpson’s director report, the April monthly focus areas were shared (facility annual report, parent and community communication annual report and technology report), and the recent parent survey was discussed.

The facility annual report showed that concrete on the south side of the volleyball court needed to be replaced, as well as replacing stairs on the Dolores patio, repainting the Vallecito, putting awnings over the doors and doing the landscaping around the new building.

The parent and community portion covered the parent survey, which received 15 responses.

In the technology report, Simpson shared that 60 new Chromebooks will replace existing Chromebooks, and the old ones will be kept on hand to be used by students as they are needed.

They also upgraded their internet and are installing Promethean smart boards in the classrooms that don’t have them yet and installing vape detectors in bathrooms that are without sensors.

Attendance was at 89% verified attendance so far for the spring semester.

Many of SWOS’ teachers will return for the 2024-2025 school year, and Simpson said they are working on hiring two STEM teachers to fill those open roles.

On Wednesday, two days after the meeting, Simpson told The Journal that they had offered a position to one of the STEM applicants, and she accepted. Now, they only have one more STEM position to fill.

Right now, the school has 115 students, down from 135 at the start of the school year. The board shared that all the students who had been on the wait list at the beginning of the year had been able to come into the school. In total, SWOS had about 60 new students at the start of the 2023-2024 school year.

They attributed the students leaving due to “attrition and life stuff.”

Because 19 seniors are graduating this year, the school will be have around 39 open school slots to fill to their maximum of 135 students.

Toward the end of the meeting, the board discussed adding new members to the board. As of this time, they only have one open board position, if the new candidates come on as planned.

One board member told the others about her discussions with the Southwest Education Collaborative, sharing that SWOS had been put on their radar and SWOS students can now be part of the collaborative’s activities, internships and more.

The next SWOS board meeting is Monday, May 13, at 5:30 p.m.