Silverton School won rave reviews in an independent efficiency audit report, but the consultants also recommended some changes, including adding a dean of students position to take pressure off the district’s superintendent.
The report also pointed to the challenge the school faces in improving its high school curriculum with such a small student body and staff. Currently 65 students are enrolled at Silverton School, nine of them in high school.
But the 11-page report issued by Portscheller and Associates said the school district is doing an excellent job overall on academics and finance.
And the consultants even suggested Silverton School should be held up as a model of success and should be sharing its strategies with other school districts.

The audit was prepared by Peg Portscheller, former superintendent of schools at Leadville, and Ava Lanes, former superintendent at Rifle. It was discussed at a school board meeting on Thursday, Aug. 7.
Lanes said the Exploratory Learning model employed at Silverton School “is outstanding. It serves the community well, it serves the students well, and, I think, the teaching staff well.”
Portscheller noted Exploratory Learning is not an easy model to follow.
“The teachers are not just following a textbook, and that takes a lot more effort,” Portscheller said.
Lanes and Portscheller said they were amazed at how well the school district is doing serving lower-income children, noting more than 60 percent of Silverton students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches at school.
“You are beating the odds,” Lanes said.
Portscheller said success in school is often correlated on “which side of the tracks you live on” and poverty rates. “That dynamic isn’t true here. It is a credit to the community, which seems to place a high value on its children.
“You beat schools that look like you. That doesn’t happen by accident,” Portscheller said. “It is eye-popping how you don’t let poverty drive student success.”
“People will want to come here to see how you’re getting these kinds of results,” Lanes added.
Lanes and Portscheller also had praise for virtually the entire staff at the school — the school board, Superintendent Kim White, the teachers and the business office.
“We really think some combination of people here should go on the road,” Portscheller said. “The teachers here should be demonstrating how to get kids engaged in learning. Kim (White) should be giving seminars on how schools can beat poverty.
“You are kind of rock starts,” she said. “What you guys have put together here is extraordinary.”
The consultants suggested hiring a dean of students to handle student behavior and discipline problems, scheduling, manage facility issues and other matters.
School board member Cliff Pohlman agreed with that suggestion.
“In my opinion, this is one of the most important things that has to happen,” Pohlman said.
The consultants also pointed to the “relevancy” of the high school program as “probably the biggest challenge.”
“It’s big enough that it will be an ongoing theme for the community,” Portscheller said.
“The high school is the least efficient of your operations,” Portscheller said. “You have high costs and few students. Eventually you will probably need to find more kids for the high school.”
She suggested the school market its success and the alternative Exploratory Learning it offers to draw students in from outside the district.
The increase in the student body could then allow the district to expand its curriculum.
The consultants also pointed to what they saw as “a little disconnect” between the school and community. They noted only 40 families in town have children in the school.
The consultants did have some serious concerns about the school building itself.
The building is not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and will need a new furnace and energy-efficient windows.
The report also pointed out “an immediate safety issue related to the entrance of the building. Presently anyone could enter the main door and not be noticed.”
The report said “a security system that allows for identification or detection should be implemented as soon as possible.”
The consultants also pointed out that grant monies may be available for improvements to the school’s facilities.
 Superintendent White said she “appreciates the commendations as well as the recommendations” in the efficiency audit, which cost the district about $4,000. “It’s good to have people with an outside perspective come in.”
Pohlman said he was impressed by how thorough the report was.
“It gives me confidence of the job the whole staff has been doing,” Pohlman said. 
Board member Keri Metzler noted that a lot of the recommendations have been topics for discussion among the board for some time.
“It’s good to see we were on the right track,” Metzler said.
Parent David Zanoni said the audit was an eye-opener for him, noting some of the criticism of the school that he hears from time to time.
“To say the least, it’s a feather in your cap,” Zanoni told school officials. “Kudos, you guys.”