Latest news with #PoudreSchoolDistrict
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Longest-serving member of Poudre School District Board of Education announces resignation
Carolyn Reed, the longest-serving member of the Poudre School District Board of Education, is resigning May 27 after 11 years and with six months remaining in her current four-year term. Reed notified the school district of her resignation May 20 and confirmed it May 22 in an interview with the Coloradoan. The Board of Education scheduled a special meeting May 27, before it's regularly scheduled meeting that night, to formally accept the resignation. The school board can then begin accepting applications to fill the position on a temporary basis until the November 2025 election. 'I feel like the district is in good hands,' Reed told the Coloradoan. 'If I thought that things were going to go sideways, I would hang in there. Improvement in reading, mental health and on-time graduation rates, opening of a new (integrated learning services) center, a move toward the trades and (career and technical education) being better supported — those were all things that were important to me when I got on the board.' On May 20, 2024, the school board approved moving its integrated learning services Transition Pathways programs for adults ages 18 to 21 with special needs into a portion of the building at Prospect Road and Stover Street that houses Poudre Global Academy beginning with the 2025-26 school year. Reed, 65, said she wants to spend more time with her family, including some trips this summer. She and her husband, David Johnson, have five adult children and seven grandchildren. 'I think it's time to start focusing on my family,' Reed said. 'I lost a son two years ago, and I was sitting in a board meeting one year ago when a brother died. I have a sick sister now, too. The last two years, as far as loss goes in my family, has been hard.' The legal settlement the district reached May 13 with the victims of former bus attendant Tyler Zanella and their families, in which the district agreed to pay $16.2 million, also played a big role in her decision, Reed said. 'I've been thinking about this for a while,' Reed said. 'I thought that I needed to stay on the board until we settled the Zanella case, because I felt that started under my leadership, and I should stay until it was finished.' Reed was originally appointed to the District E seat on the Board of Education in May of 2014 to fill a vacancy created when another member, Nicholas Holian, resigned to accept a job in Florida. Reed was elected to a two-year term in November 2015 and to four-year terms in November 2017 and November 2021. Term limits would prevent her from running for reelection in November 2025, when her current term expires. One candidate, Andrew Spain, has already announced plans to run for the District E seat in the November 2025 election, and Reed expects others to come forward, as well, as news of her resignation spreads. PSD's seven board members must reside in the district they represent but are elected by a voters throughout the district. Reed grew up in Wellington, where she still lives, and graduated from Poudre High School. 'It feels strange to be leaving,' Reed said. "My finger hovered over the 'send' key for quite a while. I had tears coming to my eyes and had to walk outside afterward and had to really clear my head. After you've done something for 11 years and really poured yourself into it, it's difficult to leave. But like I said earlier, I know the district's in good hands.' Reporter Kelly Lyell covers education, breaking news, some sports and other topics of interest for the Coloradoan. Contact him at kellylyell@ and This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: PSD school board member announces resignation
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Vietnam Wall, flag displays returning Memorial Day weekend to Spring Canyon Community Park
A traveling Vietnam Wall and Field of Honor will both be on display Memorial Day weekend at Fort Collins' Spring Canyon Community Park. The traveling Vietnam Wall, sponsored by Veterans Plaza of Northern Colorado, pays tribute to the 58,267 service members who died during the Vietnam War from 1957 through 1975. The traveling Vietnam Wall will be on display at the park from May 22-26, with a ceremony and reading of the names planned from noon to 2 p.m. May 25, according to a news release from the Fort Collins Breakfast Rotary Foundation. The Field of Honor is a panorama of 500 American flags that fly in formation in honor of the nation's heroes: veterans, active military, first responders, medical workers, community leaders and personal heroes, the news release said. The display is set up by the Fort Collins Breakfast Rotary Foundation and will be available for public viewing from 3 p.m. May 23 to 3 p.m. May 26. Short essays written by Poudre School District third and fourth graders about their heroes will be available to read in binders at the Field of Honor, the news release said, with the three winning essays of a contest highlighted near the Rotary booth. Individuals wishing to honor a hero with a medallion on a flag at the Field of Honor may do so online at Funds raised through medallion sales, community supporters and donations go to the Fort Collins Breakfast Rotary Foundation to support local nonprofits that provide services to veterans and first responders as well as other nonprofits and service projects undertaken by the foundation, the news release said. Coloradoan reporter Kelly Lyell can be reached at KellyLyell@ Follow him on and This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Memorial Day displays returning to Spring Canyon Community Park
CBS News
06-04-2025
- CBS News
Six men imprisoned for 39 thefts from Colorado construction sites
Six California men who made regular trips to Colorado to steal tools and construction equipment from Front Range building sites have all been sentenced to 10 to 20 years in state prison. The men stole more than $1.1 million in property from 39 construction sites over three years. Law enforcement called the investigation into the scheme "Operation Wrecking Ball." The criminals hit sites in construction sites in Monument, Aurora, Broomfield, Northglenn, Denver, Greeley, Fort Collins, Firestone, Arvada, Loveland, Brighton, Lafayette, and Commerce City, according to the "Operation Wrecking Ball" indictment. The men, it stated, ventured into Colorado and scouted construction sites during daylight hours, then returned at night to break in. The Lafayette Police Department learned significant information about the men following a pair of construction site burglaries there on October 29, 2021. Several of that department's search warrants produced evidence that was common to both break-ins. Further investigation connected the men to other burglaries in other communities. Those included two burglaries in the Fort Collins area. There, the Poudre School District was building Wellington Middle-High School. The suspects broke into 14 storage containers, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office. The construction company reported losses of more than $136,000 in that one burglary alone. To the southeast of that property, a new campus was being built for Ascent Classical Academy of Northern Colorado, an independent charter school. Construction crews at the school reported losses of $43,200. The six men were captured in California in January 2023. A month later, a Boulder County grand jury recommended organized crime charges against all six that accused them of racketeering, which is defined as a pattern of illegal activity seeking profit that is carried out by a criminal syndicate. Carlos David Campos, 33, was indicted on 76 counts. He was sentenced in October of last year to 20 years in the Colorado Department of Correction on a single racketeering count. A total of 18 years was added on burglary and theft counts. Samuel Armando Arevalo Aguilar, also 33, received an identical sentence a month later. Ricardo Antonio Quevedo Rios, 38, was sentenced to 16 years in the state prison on the organized crime count. That was the same term given 26-year-old Bayron Arturo Moreno Gomez in July. Francisco Garcia Argueta, 27, was the first of the group to be sentenced (more than a year ago). He received 10 years on the organized crime count alone. Oscar Orlando Herrera, at 60 the oldest member of the group, was the last man to be sentenced (three months ago). He got 12 years. All but Argueta were ordered to pay money back to their victims - more than $32,000 each from Campos, Aguilar, Herrera and Rios, and almost $2,800 from Gomez. The total amount of restitution ordered falls notably short of the value of the items they stole and the damage caused why stealing them.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
School buses are hard to come by these days, so this district bought one off Craigslist
Chief Financial Officer Dave Montoya wasn't kidding when he said Poudre School District was looking far and wide for available school buses to upgrade its aging fleet. While discussing a purchase order for 17 new buses — at a cost of more than $2.5 million — with the Board of Education at its meeting Feb. 25, district officials acknowledged that PSD found a used school bus locally on Craigslist last spring that is now being driven more than 170 miles a day. 'Yes, PSD just acknowledged that it bought a bus on Craigslist; we're proud of it,' Superintendent Brian Kingsley said. New school buses have been hard to come by in recent years, said Montoya and Dan Weaver, PSD's vehicle maintenance manager. PSD is still awaiting delivery of five buses that were ordered more than two years ago, Weaver said. So, the opportunity to purchase a bus that could be put on the road immediately was more appealing than ever when a technician in the transportation department saw the listing on Craigslist and brought it to Weaver's attention. Weaver scoffed at first but then took a closer look. He had seen this particular school bus from the road while driving past the Rist Canyon Inn in Laporte and said it looked to be in good condition. 'Then I started reading about it,' Weaver said. 'It had low mileage, it had a Cummins engine, Allison transmission — all the things that we look for in lasting products — and, basically, it was like I'm going to give it a shot.' More: Poudre School District shares plan for allocating mill-levy money to support small schools It also had wheelchair accessibility with a wheelchair lift, engine braking, automatic tire chains and seats on track rails, allowing them to be reversed or removed, as needed, for different seating configurations. Allan Liebow, the owner of Rist Canyon Inn, agreed to allow PSD to take the bus to its shop in April 2024 and spend as much time as it needed to look it over. Weaver was also able to contact the previous owner, Aurora Public Schools, and discuss its maintenance and repair records with people in its transportation department. The Aurora district had received a good deal on a large quantity of new gasoline-fueled buses and needed to offload some of its existing diesel-fueled fleet, and sent this particular bus — a 2013 Freightliner Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner C2 rear-wheel drive, with a wheelchair lift and capacity for up to 56 passengers, according to the 2022 auction listing — to public auction with others. The sale price was $13,500, Liebow and Weaver each said, about $150,000 less than what PSD would pay for a comparable new bus. And it only had 80,810 miles on it — more than 100,000 fewer than the average bus in PSD's aging fleet. Liebow said he was praised like a hero when he went to PSD's transportation offices to complete the paperwork on the sale. He found two other buses at public auction that he has modified and now uses to shuttle guests to and from local hotels to weddings and receptions at Rist Canyon Inn and was glad he could help the district 'save some money and fill a need,' he said Feb. 26. Liebow 'was a really nice guy, really helpful, and he was proud it was going back to a school district and being put to good use,' Weaver said. 'We've been using it as one of our go-to vehicles.' The bus, No. 320 officially, but better known as 'Craig,' is serving one of the longest routes in PSD, picking students up along U.S. Highway 287 within a half-mile of the Wyoming border and bringing them to Poudre High School and back each day. In between the morning pickup and afternoon drop-off, driver Jon Pixler also picks up students at Putnam Elementary School and drives them home to various locations in north Fort Collins, stretching as far east as the Maple Hill neighborhood just west of the Anheuser-Busch brewery. Pixler says he's put about 20,000 miles on the bus this school year, driving more than 170 miles each day. 'It drives pretty much like any other bus,' Pixler said after dropping students off at Poudre High on Feb. 26. 'It's been a good bus so far.' Voter-approval of a debt-free mill levy in November has allowed PSD to begin updating its aging fleet of school buses. The average PSD school bus is 16 years old and has 183,000 miles on it, Weaver said. By the end of the school year, the average mileage will increase to 198,000. About 30% of PSD's buses are more than 20 years old, noting the Colorado Department of Education recommends but does not require buses that are more than 20 years old to be taken out of service. PSD owns 179 school buses, Weaver said, including 12 that have been taken out of commission because they need expensive repairs that aren't worth making on buses that old and eight others that are out of service undergoing long-term repairs. PSD buses drove more than 2.1 million miles during the 2023-24 school year, Weaver said, while serving a district that spans more than 1,800 square miles — or about 1 ½ times the size of the state of Rhode Island, First Services transportation consultant Colton Graham told the Board of Education during a remote presentation Feb. 25. Working with Montoya, Weaver began developing a replacement plan designed to refresh PSD's bus fleet over the next 10 to 15 years, using money from the debt-free mill levy that was approved to help cover the costs of maintenance and replacement cycles. The goal, he said, is to make what is now the average age of the fleet — 16 years old — the maximum age through a gradual update. Replacing too many buses at one time, Montoya said, could create a problem for others 15 years or so down the road when they would all need to be replaced again. So, the plan is to upgrade the fleet incrementally, beginning with the 17 on the purchase order that was approved unanimously by the seven-member school board during the Feb. 25 meeting. Lingering supply-chain issues that began during the COVID-19 pandemic continue to limit the availability of new school buses, Montoya and Weaver said. As a result, PSD abandoned its plan to stick to a single supplier while soliciting bids in January for new buses. Availability was a significant factor, even if it meant paying a bit more money. And what the district chose to buy are 17 buses from three different vendors, made by four different manufacturers. Here's the breakdown: Five 77-passenger 2025 Thomas Class C diesel buses from Midwest Bus Sales, equipped with engine-braking systems and automatic tire chains, for $144,860 apiece. These buses can be delivered within 60-90 days of receipt of the order, the vendor said in its bid. Five 47-passenger 2026 Blue Bird Class C diesel buses from Colorado West Equipment, equipped with front air-conditioning, integrated five-point harnesses, engine braking systems and automatic tire chains, for $151,332 apiece. Buses will be delivered within 6-8 months of receipt of the order, the vendor said in its bid. Five 33-passenger 2026 Blue Bird Class C wheelchair-accessible buses from Colorado West Equipment, equipped with air-conditioning, integrated five-point harnesses, engine-braking systems, automatic tire chains and track-mounted removable seats for versatile configuration options, for $166,797 apiece, Buses will be delivered within 6-8 months of receipt of the order, the vendor said in its bid. Two 14-passenger 2025 Collins Class A gasoline buses from Davey Coach Sales, with air-conditioning and integrated five-point harnesses, for $109,848 apiece. These buses should be delivered within 4-5 months of receipt of the order, according to the bid. All of the buses come with five-year or 100,000-mile engine warranties, and all but the 14-passenger buses come with seven-year unlimited-mile transmission warranties. The transmission warranty on the 14-passenger buses is for five years or 100,000 miles. Weaver expects the five buses PSD ordered in January 2024 to be delivered within the next month or so, he said. Two of those buses are 77-passenger International Class C diesel buses, and the other three are 33-passenger Blue Bird Class C buses, he said. Montoya said the district continues to work with Highland Electric Fleets about the purchase and maintenance of two electric school buses through an Environmental Protection Agency grant that the district was awarded in January 2024. PSD has not entered into any contracts through that grant, Montoya said Tuesday night, and the status of the grant funding under the administration of President Donald Trump is not clear. Reporter Kelly Lyell covers education, breaking news, some sports and other topics of interest for the Coloradoan. Contact him at kellylyell@ and This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: PSD turns to Craigslist in search for available school buses to buy
