Rodríguez: Gratitude for school board
January is School Board Recognition Month. Every year, we take this opportunity to publicly thank our elected board members for volunteering their time and talent to the Roaring Fork Schools. Kathryn Kuhlenberg, Jasmin Ramirez, Natalie Torres, Maureen Stepp, and Kenny Teitler spend countless hours every month to make public education the best it can be in our district, and our school district is better because of their individual and collective efforts.
Over the past year, our board has hired a new superintendent, updated dozens of policies, passed resolutions of support for LGBTQ+ students and Hispanic Heritage Month, regularly visited schools, and engaged a board coach to improve our school’s governance practices.
Our board makes tough decisions on complex issues that affect our entire school community. Board members bear responsibility and oversight for an annual budgeted appropriation of $100 million, 6,300 students in 14 schools, and 1,000 employees across our district.
Being a board member is never easy, but it has been especially challenging these past few years during a global pandemic and in the face of other controversial political issues. Each board member has been tasked to make difficult decisions as school community members called for contradicting actions. They handled these challenges with grace, diplomacy, wisdom, and compassion.
Thank you to each of our board members. We are grateful for your service and leadership. With three of five seats up for election on Nov. 7, we hope you will join us in thanking our board members for all that they have done for our school-district community over the years.
Jesús Rodríguez
Superintendent, Roaring Fork Schools
