District Parent Council Meeting
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Board Room
The Wednesday, January 24, 2007 DPC meeting was chaired by Tron Welch and
convened at 6:38 p.m. J. Marie Sage took minutes.
Legislative Update - Dr. Garcia, Robert Hammond
* On January 9, the Board of Education adopted the Boulder Valley
School District 2007 Legislative Platform which contains a statement of
beliefs and guiding principles and specific legislation items.
. The district's new lobbyist is Tanya Kelly-Bowry.
* Robert Hammond monitors and coordinates legislative items and is the
liaison to the lobbyist.
* Legislation updates are sent to people who wish to receive them.
Feedback is welcome and parental support in the form of testifying and
sending letters is sometimes needed.
* 98 bills in 2 weeks related to education. The district had
tremendous success last year; monitoring 138 bills and being actively
involved in 53.
* The 6 components of the platform (Beliefs and Guiding Principles,
Governance, School Finance, Charter and On-line Schools, School Improvement/
Accountability, and Employment) were reviewed.
* The 2007 Legislative Platform and two recent legislation updates
were distributed. (attached)
A sheet was circulated for those interested in being a DPC representative in
the Superintendent's search interviews.
Internet Safety Update (follow-up from last meeting) - Robert Hammond, Dave
Williamson, Len Scrogan
* Clarity on incorrect information given at the last meeting was
provided.
* A historical perspective of BVSD student internet and computer
access since 1994 was reviewed.
* 94% of students do not use nor have access to a BVSD email address
* Only 4% of our students have used their e-mail accounts two or more
times.
* 7 out of 31 elementary students and 9 out of 12 middle students are
active users (5+ users).
* If approved by the parent an email account is created for a student
providing access to the BVSD file system, documents and the internet.
* District email employs two levels of web filtering to prohibit
inappropriate sites.
* There is concern with students going using public email from the
district system and blocking it is being considered. IT has talked with
cabinet and middle school principals, and will meet with elementary and high
principals.
* Emailing out from BVSD would not be prohibited but logging into a
public system would.
* Middle and high schools want internet access for students. Access
for elementary is not necessary except for special class projects.
* Our system is safer than outside systems.
* BVSD student email accounts have not been promoted but will be.
* Feedback is being sought from high school principals.
* Parental permission will be required.
Round Robin - Dr. Garcia
* There is a principal search at Platt Middle School.
* Capital improvements are prioritized by greatest need. There is an
outline of projects that principals are aware of.
* The equity presentation at Columbine was praised.
* Some cities have been more affected by ice and snow on the roads
than others.
* Snow days are allocated according to level and the time of
instruction per day. The district is ok with the snow days taken even with
the mountain schools having one more.
* Following a long process and a lot of interest the 2007/2008 and
2008/2009 calendars were approved by the Board of Education.
* One-third of families are choosing to open enroll outside of their
neighborhood school. There are fewer seats open in open enrollment for
South Boulder than in the past in some selected schools.
* The Board of Education approved a superintendent oversight committee
which includes Tron Welch.
* Seven parents from DPC will be on the superintendent search
interview committee. Representation is needed from elementary, middle and
high levels as well as from north, south and east Boulder. Names were drawn
and DPC representatives are: Kimberly Copanas, Alise Jackson, Wendy Fielder,
Rosalynn Gill-Garrison, Julen Thom, Melinda Gillespie, and Chris Halteman.
Break
Safe Schools Presentation - Craig Christopher and Lisa Cech
* The Safe Schools Coalition was formed in 1999 and is within the
district's equity department.
* Patty Smith is the coalition's Board of Education liaison.
* Craig Christopher is a retired principal and the coalition's chair.
Lisa Cech is a staff member in the equity office and the Safe and Drug Free
School coordinator.
* Meets the third Wednesday of each month, reports to the
superintendent and Board of Education, supports the district
nondiscrimination policy, offers workshops and advocates for students and
staff members.
* It is important schools indicate that they are accepting of
diversity and are as welcoming as possible to students, parents and entire
community.
* The coalition was formed to provide a safe school climate, provide
diversity education, and because LGBTQ issues impact many students and
families.
* Three to nine students in a class of thirty are directly impacted by
LGBTQ issues.
* Need to deal with isms in schools.
* Gender identity is not included in the district's non-discrimination
policy.
* The district can and does deal and accommodate cross dressing.
* Including transgender in district policy will be pursued.
* There are great disparities in risk behavior between the LGBT and
heterosexual students.
* It is unknown how many parents of LGBT students don't know their
child's sexual orientation.
* Coalition does not support the idea you can change a person or in
reparative therapy which research shows as damaging.
* There is a Denver magazine that lists businesses that are
gay/lesbian friendly.
* Fifth grade health curriculum is physiological and does not include
sexual orientation.
* The coalition works primarily with district staff.
* Coalition produced Everyone Counts for administrators and teachers.
It is given to every principal to review and be familiar with, as well as
have available in their school library. The publication provides info about
school climate from different points of view.
* The 2005 Boulder County Youth Risk Behavior Survey results were
discussed.
* Name calling on playgrounds is common. Some students don't know
what the words mean but know the words will get a response and are meant to
be hurtful.
* Principals and staff need to stand up and say this will not be
tolerated.
* Coaches need to address student use of derogatory terms.
* It was noted that not all support the coalition's stance and it can
be controversial.
* There is a difference between identity and behavior.
* Dr. Garcia was thanked for his work with equity in the district.
* Patty Smith maintained that parents can not be hesitant in
supporting a safe school climate as it doesn't have to be their own child
and anyone can be bullied.
* Appreciation for the district's willingness to talk about these
complicated issues was expressed.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:03 p.m.
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