The Lake County High School Performing Arts Department is happy to announce their production of the timeless classic THE WIZARD OF OZ.The production is supported under the support of Community Banks of Colorado as the Title Sponsor. Sponsors include REMAX Aspen Leaf Realty, Independence Realty, Centennial Real Estate, The Elks Lodge #236, The City of Leadville, Treeline Kitchen, Leadville Colorado and Southern Railroad, City on a Hill, and The Leadville Arts Coalition.

Follow the yellow brick road in this delightful stage adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s beloved tale, featuring the iconic musical score from the MGM film. This beloved tale, in which a Kansas farm girl travels over the rainbow to discover the magical power of home, has entertained audiences for generations.

The principal cast includes Jude Hill as Dorothy, Annie McFee as Hunk/Scarecrow, Troy Baker as Zeke/Lion, Merritt Baker as Hickory/Tinman, Luke Finken as Professor Marvel/The Wizard of Oz, Molly Coleman as Aunt Em/Glinda, Justyne Pereida as Miss Gulch/The Wicked Witch of the West, Rodolfo Perez as Uncle Henry/Guard, and Hazel as Toto.

The ensemble includes Raelyn Boeve, Alison Bujanda, Nate Dailey, Nico Eubanks, Helen Fiedler, Mae Finken, Alyssa Griego, Ruby Harkness, Ryden Hofer, Layla Horning, Chloe King, Clara Kirr, Tilly Kirr, Elena Lebedeva, Kelten Littlepage, Hattie Mallozi, Emma McCoy, Lia Mulcey, Mallory Negrete, Evelyn Northcraft, Lizeth Ordonez Ruiz, Jude Peters, Matthew Peters, Faith Pongrekun, Michael Pongrekun, Samantha Reap, Wrenn Renner, Calvin Sandoval, Liam Sparkman, Finnley Stanek, and Sylas Westendorf.

Scott Carroll, who will serve as the Stage Director, heads the production and design team. Celesta Cairns will serve as the Musical Director. Dylan Rodwick will serve as the Choreographer. Violet Hill will serve as the Assistant Director and Stage Manager. Zitlalic Almeida will serve as an Assistant Stage Manager. Todd Howe will serve as the Technical Director and Sound/Lighting Designer. Carl Schaefer will serve as the Scenic Designer. Melissa Hill will serve as the Volunteer Coordinator. Ashleigh Baker will serve as the Costume Coordinator.

Tickets for the entire run of the production are currently on sale by calling 486-6958 or by logging onto (https://lakecountyhs.booktix.com). Adult tickets are $12, senior tickets are $10, and child/student tickets are $8. Online ticket sales will end two (2) hours prior to each scheduled performance. The box office will open one (1) hour prior to each scheduled performance. Doors to the theatre will open thirty (30) minutes prior to each scheduled performance. Ticket prices will be $2 more at the door and we only will be able to take cash or check.

Lake County High School Performing Arts Artistic Director Scott Carroll says, “We are so thrilled to be back and producing musical theatre here at Lake County High School! Everyone is working extremely hard to bring this production to life. We look forward to welcoming our entire community back into the theatre May 12-14. We hope you can join us and journey down the yellow brick road.”

Dear Students, Parents, Guardians and Lake County Community,

We are excited to have candidates for the Cloud City High School principal vacancy joining us on Wednesday, May 18th from 4:00-5:00 pm.

We would love to have you participate in the process! All activities will take place at Cloud City High School at 315 West 6th Street.

Community Meet & Greet/ Q & A Session (4:00-5:00 pm)
If you wish to participate in the Q & A Session, we ask that you arrive to the Cloud City High School cafeteria by 3:45PM to receive directions and information about the process so that we may direct you to the appropriate location. You will have the opportunity to provide feedback,

You do not need to sign up in advance to participate! Interpretation will be provided.

Thank you in advance for your interest in participating in this process as we look for the next principal of CCHS!
Hope to see you on the Wednesday, May 18th!

Lake County School District

May 5, 2022

Dear Parents, Staff, and Members of the Lake County Community,

We wanted to provide our staff, families, and community a response to a recent social media post that is organizing a rally in support of increased Teacher salaries.

As Board Members and Administrators, we are first and foremost parents ourselves with children attending Lake County Schools. Each day we send our children off to a Lake County School where we know that they are being shown endearment, kindness, heartfelt care, and are being challenged by our staff to thrive at their own personal passions.  This wouldn’t be possible without the devoted teachers and staff members who daily give of themselves to  make this a reality. We are grateful for the patience and kindness that each of them continue to provide day after day. 

Yet, we realize that words of appreciation alone do not provide for the living wage that so many of our staff across the District are struggling to obtain, especially considering the exacerbated economic situation caused by raising prices in the past 18 months. It is a reality that many people across our community are struggling financially and many businesses have had trouble retaining staff. Our organization is no different, and we currently have numerous support staff positions open as well as teaching positions in our special education and mental health departments. This year we have had unfilled positions in social worker/counselor, maintenance and bus drivers.  We also currently have two classrooms being taught by long-term instructors under the supervision of a teacher of record or certified mentor teacher. We are grateful that we have been able to fulfill these two recent teaching vacancies with a “grow-your-own” model while we support non-certified instructors to pursue alternative license processes. 

We pay our teachers with funds that mostly come from taxes, with a significant portion being property taxes in our county. Unlike a business, we have little say in how much funding we receive, and must be very careful on how it is spent. All of our finances are publicly posted on the District  “financial transparency” website page, which is available for anyone to review https://www.lakecountyschools.net/about-us/financial-transparency/. For next year, the state has estimated they will give us an additional $600,000. All of this money is committed to fund staff pay raises. In addition, the District has worked to secure an additional $300,000 for staff raises,  by receiving grants and through potential efficiencies. This is a significant increase in funding to support staff salaries/raises, and as a District  we want to ensure that is distributed fairly to all staff, both unionized and non-unionized.

Each spring the District  enters into negotiations with the Teachers’ Union. This year, because of the boost in funding we received, the District and the Board of Education was excited to propose to the Union a 12.5% raise for teachers (a raise from the current $36,360 starting salary to $40,890 for a brand-new teacher). This also included a commitment to review and distribute any savings from our anticipated budget in the form of a bonus. This year, with this strategy, we gave all staff a $1500 bonus. Yet, after several weeks of discussion, we were unable to meet the Union’s request of a 21.5% raise, as we do not have the recurring funding to support this raise for certified teachers and extend a raise to non-unionized staff as well.

In negotiations, the Union requested that we use money from our reserves (a state-allowable emergency use savings account, of which some money is restricted and cannot be used for this purpose) to pay for salaries.  However, this is not sustainable, as the money in this account can only support a short-term solution, and it will quickly run out. Once it is gone, we would no longer afford to pay our staff at the higher salaries, and would be forced to cut pay or even fire staff. Additionally with the reserves depleted, the district would be unable to pay for emergency repairs to facilities, including the aging LCIS building.

On Friday, May 6th,  we will again go into a public meeting of negotiations and offer a revised proposal that has already been shared with the Teachers’ Union. This proposal considers the use of other funds to increase the average teacher pay even more than 12.5%. As a District  , we would encourage all stakeholders to stay informed, and listen to the negotiations on Friday using the zoom link on the District website.  

In the coming weeks, the District and Board of Education will be finalizing wage adjustments and raises for other employees who are not negotiated for by the Teacher’s Union.  These will be discussed at upcoming Board meetings, including Monday, May 9th.

As we all rally behind and support our school staff, we appreciate hearing kind words of affirmation or endearing stories that are shared throughout our community that recognize the hard work and effort of many of our staff that often go unnoticed day by day.

Sincerely,

The LCSD Negotiations Team – Bethany Massey, Cheryl Talbot, John Baker, Kathleen Fitzsimmons, Katie Pongrekun, and Paul Anderson