MONTE VISTA— Melissa Harlan was named Monte Vista School District’s Classified Employee of the Year at the Thursday, Feb. 16 school board meeting. Harlan has served the school for the last 17 years and in different capacities. She is currently the Monte Vista High School librarian.
Harlan herself is a 1987 graduate of Monte Vista High School and has been an intrical part of school functions. High School Principal Scott Wiedeman sent a letter of commendation which was read aloud during the school board meeting.
“She has always been a strong supporter of the district and has brought the same pride as an employee. She has been the campus guru for quite some time. She’s always willing to help students, teachers and community members while looking out for their best interests. She is truly a PIRATE, through and through. She currently runs our library, master schedule, peer mediation, SHOCK Club, monitors our online credit recovery classes and any other thing I could think of. She’s happy to do it. More importantly she does what is best for kids. I truly believe she would do anything for the district,” wrote Wiedeman.
Members of the school board each thanked Harlan for her service, and she was presented with special tokens of appreciation.

Comments
During the public comments portion of the meeting board member Gary Wilkinson took the opportunity to thank Superintendent Robert Webb for taking time to answer a student’s letter. Wilkinson shared that his grandson had wrote a persuasive letter asking the district to consider returning to a five-day school week. “I thought it was really neat that Bob took time to respond and what he wrote,” said Wilkinson.
Wilkinson also shared that he was impressed with the environment at Bill Metz Elementary School. He is helping with the elementary science fair and as a result has had the opportunity to witness how Bill Metz is run. “When I’m in the building I’ve been able to see what’s going on at Bill Metz and that place is amazing. You can see that kids and teachers are engaged and everyone is happy. Things are going on there and kids are progressing. I’m really impressed,” he said.

Other board highlights
The board accepted the resignation of Colleen Vanderpool as the high school volleyball coach. The board approved Bryce McCracken as middle school wrestling coach. Also approved were Sara Billman (upon receipt of authorization), Jocelyn Boyd and Rachel Miller as a guest teacher (certified). The board approved Krystal Manzanares as a guest (classified).
Tom and Orpha Atencio requested a quitclaim deed from the school.
Superintendent Robert Webb reviewed the budget with the board and answered any questions that arose. He discussed a proposal the district received from Clean Energy who is willing to present at our March meeting. On Feb. 27, there will be an on-site Support System Review, which is conducted by colleagues from other S-CAP schools.
The board approved the minutes of the Jan. 12 and Jan. 25 meetings, December 2016 financial reports, quarterly financial reports, quitclaim deed requested by the Atencios, policy revisions and a policy repeal. The board went into executive session to discuss the superintendent’s evaluation.
Webb reported that the city/district conversations were very beneficial and well worth the time. BOCES is reconfiguring their budget.
School Board President Dr. Matt Nehring presented on CDE’s Accreditation module and how the current module could negatively impact districts with demographics similar to ours. Questions were answered as they arose. Nehring is planning to meet with CDE in April to go over this presentation. The board also reviewed and discussed a number of policies.
The next regular Monte Vista Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 9 at 6 p.m.