District Parent Council
May 20, 2009

District Parent Council

April 15, 2009

Leslie Smith, vice president school board – Leslie has two children at Platt Choice.  She offered to answer any questions from this group.  The group asked her to tell Ken congratulations for being elected president.  She will pass that on. 

 

The board is currently discussing Columbine.  The goals for the visioning committee and the goals at Columbine are goals for all schools, destratification and closing the achievement gap.  At the last four board meetings there have been presentations so the board can better understand ESL, bilingual, and dual emersion programs, as the board doesn’t yet fully understand the difference in programs.  Budget is coming to the board as well. 

 

Michele DeBerry, director of athletics. activities and student discipline.

 

There was recently a high profile weapons case in Cherry Creek where a student was expelled for having drill team equipment which contained a wooden rifle in the back window of her car.  Michele introduced the following panel of experts to address how discipline is handled at BVSD:

 

Wendy Stogner – School Resource Officer (SRO), Centaurus High School:  Wendy is a patrol officer for Lafayette Police Department currently assigned to the school.  In this position, she can be beneficial and proactive.  Her positions allows her to have good relationships with kids, not necessarily kids in trouble.  The City of Boulder has five SROs, Louisville has three and, Broomfield one.

 

Adrian Van Nice, Deputy District Attorney – Adrian works general felonies, drugs and gangs; prior to that she supervised juvenile prosecution

 

Scott Cawfield – Assistant Principal Monarch High School

 

Christina Hart, Interventionist who has spent eight years as an intervention specialist at two high schools.  Christina is not a BVSD employee, but serves like a school-based therapist, the benefit being she can keep student information (unless life threatening) confidential. 

 

Every year BVSD publishes a Parents Rights and Responsibilities handbook which has great quick references to board policies.  Our policies are a duplication of state law. 

 

A principal can suspend from one to five days, and one to ten days on more serious suspensions. 

Some offenses are expellable offenses.  An option BVSD utilizes frequently is deferred expulsion contracts we make with students and families where they waive rights, under certain conditions and are brought back to school.  If they violate the contract, they are automatically expelled. 

 

Christina – Start early with drug and alcohol prevention and intervention.

Practice communication early and often and be aware of how easy it is for students to access substances; how do you respond- now what?  In the elementary years empower kids to think for themselves.  State your expectations/hopes and be true to your family values whatever that means to your family.  Be clear and consistent.

 

Middle School – start to anticipate kids will have increased temptation.  22% of kids have tried alcohol by the time they are 13.  Ask them if they have you heard their friends talking about it.  Teach them how to say no.  Give them scenarios to practice saying no (i.e., at a party how would you respond?).

 

High School – It’s pretty much a guarantee that your student  has been exposed to alcohol.  Ask them so you have probably been confronted.  What did you do?  Do you need any help?  No child is immune.   Just know that any child, any time can make a really bad decision. 

 

If a student perceives parent disapproval, this is a powerful deterrent, so your opinion is very important. 

 

In high School substances are available. Have a 24 hour I will pick you up agreement.  22% of students reported riding with a driver who had been drinking.  The most common way kids get substances or alcohol is someone gave it to them.  How do you respond?  PLEASE RESIST DENIAL!  The sooner you do intervention, the less chance a long term problem.  Have clear consequences.  Talk about your expectations ahead of time.  Express your disappointment.  Know your resources ahead of time. 

 

Scott Cawlfield – Schools have their own policies in place regarding cell phones.  Any time student is in an academic area, cell phones are turned off.  After a warning, the teacher has the right to ask for the cell phone.  (At Monarch).  After the second time parents are called to pick up the cell phone.  After that, student can’t have the cell phone for the remainder of the semester, with understanding and/or exceptions. 

 

Academic part of cell phone violations can be – taking picture of test, photographs of athletes drinking and therefore violating CHASSA rules.  Photographs have even been sold.  Bullying and harassment can occur via cell phones.  “Sexting” is another way students can get in trouble and could in the worse case actually be charged with child poronography. 

 

Communication – Students have to know the possibilities and be responsible enough to own their behavior. 

 

Wendy – looks at intent, which can involve mediation. 

 

Adrian Van Nice – Sexually explicit materials and conduct or

Possession COULD be considered felony.  No case is the same.

 

A juveniles convicted of unlawful sexual behavior could have to register as a sex offender. 

 

Legally a child under 18 cannot consent to other people having the photo.  This can have serious ramifications. 

 

To get the message out to all the students Monarch was a good example and had the conversation in the fall and did follow up during Freshman Seminar and had SRO’s go to the school.  These subjects are discussed in health class in middle schools.  Elementary schools teach boundary lessons. 

 

Sexual harassment is defined by touching with intent to annoy.

 

Sexual bullying – grabbing butt, genital area, breasts or verbal sexual bullying.

 

If things happen on the weekend, the school doesn’t get involved UNLESS the issues land at school, which they very often do. 

 

Addictive personality – look at family history (learned or behavior) and pay attention to all of those Trust your instincts and look at family instincts.  Convey to children this is really why I’m concerned about you.

 

 

District Parent Council
February 18, 2009

Bond Update – Tron serves on the Citizen’s Oversight Committee (CBOC).  This is a committee that meets every other month and it’s an opportunity for the public to comment about the bond and any deviations between how money is laid out to be spent.  Proposals go to CBOC and they make recommendations to the Board. 

Community  Montessori – An assessment of this school was done when the population was lower.  Phase I is almost complete.  After the project is complete and we are further along in the bond process, we will go back to CBOC  and ask for supplemental funds.  Before that happens we need assurances we have money to do what we said we would do.  As we get near completion of the bond program, we can redefine the scope of work (approximately a year from now).  BVSD’s chief financial officer will recommend to the Board to compress the bond from three phases to two phases and save money, which can enhance projects, add value, and include projects.

Bond – Some projects are completed (Crest View, Lafayette Elementary, Summit, Boulder Prep, Justice High) and have been accepted by the Board.  Boulder High, Centaurus, Fairview, Foothill, High Peaks, BCSIS, and Manhattan are almost done.  The rest will be completed this summer.  BVSD staff had never managed a bond before.  We developed all contract language, protocols, etc.  Things are going very well.  The reasons to accelerate are that it is a good market right now and bids are under what was projected.  Enhancements to technology are included in the bond work. 

Regarding Design Advisory Teams (DAT), the school principal handles most of the selection.  There is a great amount of information about the bond projects on the BVSD website.

Ghita Carroll – Sustainability Coordinator – Presented a large amount of existing programs in BVSD:  recycling projects, the use of biodiesel in all busses and district vehicles, walking and biking to school initiatives, environmental clubs and practices, energy audits, supplementary subjects (Sombrero Marsh), solar energy, and wind.

When complete, Casey will be a LEED school.  BVSD has done some synthetic fields and will be doing more.  These fields require no watering, reduces maintenance, etc.

Round Robin

Adjourn at 8:45 p.m.

District Parent Council
January 21, 2009

Briggs Gamblin – Legislative Policy and Communications Director

Anyone interested in receiving legislative policy information should
add their name to the list being passed around, or contact him at
briggs.gamblin@bvsd.org. Briggs will be sharing information on the
BVSD website as well. This year the legislature is facing a 700 –
800 million dollar shortfall. Colorado requires a balanced budget.
Governor Ritter has proposed 600 million dollars in cuts to this
year's budget, including two million from education. Revenue
forecasts happen quarterly. In January we are going back to do 08/09
budget (cuts). February going to be a federal stimulus package to
the states in the form of block grants 39 billion grants for K-12 and
higher education. March will be the normal budget process for 09/10
fiscal year.

The House will be broadcast live this year on TV. Stay tuned from
Briggs and the Superintendent for updates.

Parents are critical stakeholders. BVSD has a Legislative Platform –
Board members Patti Smith and Jean Paxton are legislative platform
liaisons for BVSD. They serve as the interpreters for the Board and
give us direction on how to proceed on issues. Tanya Kelly-Bowry is
our lobbyist. Briggs said it is important for parents to send
letters because if someone has taken a lot of time to send a letter
it has impact. When legislators hear consistent messages, it's
powerful.

Briggs is working with the BVSD budget director and monitoring
information from the governor's office to try and determine district
level impacts. He understands we are on a tight timeline and we will
have more information shortly.

In Colorado, the Governor gives his recommendation to a committee of
six legislators who determine what the packages of cuts are for this
fiscal year. 98% percent of the state budget is decided by this
committee. The federal government will be providing a stimulus to
the Governor and he will decide how to use it.

Superintendent Chris King – Board Update as it Relates to Budget

Board Update – We have a subcommittee to look at Board polices and
find relevance in what they are doing and community engagement; to
create purpose and mission and get out in the community more, to hear
from you. How would you prioritize the values?

Board Community Engagement – Patti Smith – Board Member

We are elected officials that represent you. There has been a long-
term issue of trust in this district. We are implementing a formal
process to get us deeper into the community.

Jean Paxton – Board Member said anytime you want to talk, email or
call and the Board would be happy to talk to you. This is an
election year for board members. Please be thinking about people
that might be interested or learn more about school board to lend
your support to candidates. There will be a school board candidates
forum in the fall 09.

Chris King – Mid Year State of the District – budget themes dominated
as follows:

BVSD is in negotiations with the teachers' union, we have implemented
a modified freeze, which includes not filling some education center
jobs, no new initiatives, and limiting travel to conferences. We are
concerned about budgets.

We will be conducting budget forums in the schools and encourage
everyone to participate because we are going to be making some value
decisions, for example class size. One student is a million dollars
to budget and a large part of BVSD expenditures are teachers.

Bond – The February meeting will be dedicated to a bond
presentation. As of last week 96 million of 296 million dollar bond
has been spent, wrapping up lots of phase I projects. Although
Crestview was somewhat problematic (contractors issues, over budget),
and Boulder High School missed a deadline, the vast majority
(Broomfield High, Louisville Middle, Manhattan, Foothill, etc.) have
gone exceedingly well.

Healthy Foods Initiative – In March Ann Cooper, nutrition expert will
be consulting with BVSD. We believe there is a direct link to what
kids eat and academic performance. The initiative is 100% funded by
external sources (a private donor and Whole Foods).

Goals – BVSD has revamped the look and feel of the Goals Booklet,
which is our report to the public on the attainment of how we set
BVSD goals, and how we measure goals.

BHS bomb threat recently –We are getting a new phone system. Our
Meridian system is very old. New system might have the capability to
track calls.

Sara King – Columbine Read several pages of concerns related to
Columbine.

District Parent Council
November 19, 2008

Foreign Exchange Opportunity - Bev Campbell, administrator for the International School to School Exchange (ISSE) taught 34 years at Mesa Elementary and now coordinates the exchange program at Angevine.  The program started at Mesa with a principal exchange program.  ISSE is for students 10-12 years old.  Last year was the first year Angevine participated, doing a half experience.  They traveled to Peru last year with a total of nine students and two teachers.  This year they are doing a full exchange with the country of Ecuador.  Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, China, Mexico and U.S.A.  are the countries that are a part of this international program.  The reason we chose this age group is they are young, moldable, with no prejudices.  During this three week experience students live with a family in the school they are exchanging with.  The cost to parents is an airline ticket.  Once the child reaches the county, they attend classes with their new brothers or sisters.    Ecuador will be sending students to Angevine soon and Angevine students will go to Ecuador in April/May 09. This program is for 6th graders that are good ambassadors.  The host school decides how many children they can host.  Scholarships are offered with fundraisers.  ISSEONLINE.com is the website for this program.

 

 

Lucy Houlihan, a student at Angevine, recently participated in the program and lived with a family in Peru, ate their food, attended Prescott (a private school) and was amazed at how different another country could be.  Lucy went to elementary school at Pioneer, which is a bilingual school so she was able to practice her Spanish;  the family’s host mom spoke all Spanish.  Schools that don’t have dual language will practice a few key words for a couple of months.  Lucy remembers the school she attended got two recesses in which to eat lunch and snacks with her friends. 

 

On another day, Lucy visited a public school in Peru one day went to public school on outskirts of city and consisted of three shacks; all kids inside ranged from ages 4 – 7 years and all sat on the ground and listened to the teacher, who had big papers.  Students from  Angevine brought school supplies (colored pencils and notebooks) as gifts for the students in Peru.  Lucy remembers how the students in Peru were so grateful for the opportunity to attend school. 

 

Crisis Management Plan - Steve Hoban, Director Operations and Environmental Services

BVSD is reviewing and revising its crisis management strategy.  Homeland Security is the federal office to make sure the nation is working with the National Incident Management System (NIMS).  The Incident Command System is the structure inside of NIMS so we are all doing the same thing to organize disaster response and recovery.    Senate Bill 181 says school districts will adopt NIMS and ICS by July 2009.  BVSD implemented the requirements in August 2008. BVSD has conducted preparedness trainings and provided floor plans to our public safety partners.

 

Parents should check with their schools to ensure their emergency contact information is current and correct.

 

For additional questions or comments, please contact Chris King or Steve Hoban, BVSD.

 

Heatherwood University  and the Heatherwood Math Program – Tricia  Dessel -  These are two parent run organizations that are after school programs available 1st through 5th grades to expose students to variety of activities.  This is the fourth year CU has science discovery programs in Heatherwood.  CU comes with arts and animal programs, bringing skins and having discussions.  Parents have coordinated, yoga, beading, cooking, karate, dance, etc., and expanded out the idea to build community across the grade levels.  Heatherwood Buddies has cross graded collaboration in a fun way.  They did have to work with teachers, principal, office staff and coordinate with all other programs at school and figure out when to not interfere with other programs.  An Edward Jones representative is scheduled to do a money management class as well as two high school skippit world champions performed.  The cost is usually $5 – $10 per student and scholarships are available.  Students are never turned away because of lack of funds.  Programs are typically 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.  Sometimes parents are asked to supervise. 

 

What does it take to set up?  One volunteer to coordinate, research class, schedule class with school office and master calendar and when can the organization present the class, create class, promote it, registration and promote through the website and newsletter.  BVSD programs must go through Community Schools which require a permit to rent out any space in BVSD schools for $20 per hour.  An organization has to have insurance, which can be negotiated through Community Schools or can be homeowners policy with a rider.   

 

Heatherwood Math – Another parent organization at Heatherwood, which began with some CU students at Heatherwood and a professor that was gifted in math who felt the curriculum at the school wasn’t challenged and started after school and math.  The program started with six kids, went up to 20 students the next year, then 30 students and now has 93 students.  The math club is parent run, with parents as math coaches.  It’s open to everyone, bolsters child’s enthusiasm, compliments curriculum and provides additional and alternative curriculum.  The cost is $40 per year, meets twice a month at night, and kids have books.  25% of the student population participates and this is the sixth year for the program.    

 

 

District Parent Council
October 15, 2008

Tron introduced Chris King, who answered the following questions:

 

Q:  Why are some schools air conditioned and others aren’t?  Why can’t BVSD make the schools more equitable in heat mitigation?

 

A:  All of our high schools are chilled, cooled, or air conditioned, except for New Vista.  Broomfield High is slated to get cooling in the bond.  Nederland doesn’t have air because it’s not necessary; our middle and elementary schools are more spotty.  Cost analysis revealed it would cost $30 million to cool all schools.  Newer schools are cooled but older schools never were.  Initially the school calendar was after Labor Day.  Even if we had $30 million would that be a good expenditure?  This is a values discussion.  We have put money aside to do heat mitigation, including window coverings, trees, roof surfaces, and other greening effects which are much less expensive for the two to three week window that heat can be a problem.  We use portable swamp coolers and close curtains certain times of day.  When prioritizing bond money requests, cooling didn’t work its way to the top priority.  The Facility Master Plan has all the cooling plans.  Citizens Bond Over-site Committee (CBOC) governs implementation.  We recognize heat issues impact learning and comfort of employees and students. 

 

Q:   I’m concerned the items voted for in the last bond are not the ones on the final list of improvements.  Where is the accountability? 

 

If you have concerns money isn’t being spent as promised, come to the CBOC meetings.  Citizens Bond Over-site Committee (CBOC) governs implementation.  There are times what was voted on aren’t practical at this time.  An example is Boulder High School has a one-way bridge.  The bond had an allocation for a second bridge; however, this plan was not implemented.  CBOC voted on and gave recommendation to board. 

 

Q:  How do we increase parent involvement in the TIES process? 

 

 

A:  We went through the TIES process with all schools and the Board of Education last year.  TIES works well as a protocol for teachers to look at data and build goals, but didn’t work as well for parents.  We recognize that as one of the flaws in TIES.  Prior to TIES, we never saw the same accountability process used for two years in a row.

 

Q:  Broomfield County is in six school districts which makes for a very divided community.  Current state legislature states that there must be a majority vote in a school district to make a new school district thus making it nearly impossible for Broomfield to ever look into becoming their own school district.  This law was put into place to ensure a large district wanting to break into two had a majority vote but did not take into account the issue of a county like Broomfield that is spread across six.  Do you support the possibility of a state law change regarding this? 

 

A:  Only two school districts, Adams 12 and BVSD actually have schools in the County of Broomfield.  BVSD thinks it would be detrimental.  Top performing school districts are the larger districts; they have a better pay scale, and are able to attract better teachers.

 

Q:  Can you do more thorough background checks for volunteers on overnight trips?  (i.e., Calwood)?

 

A:   With a few exceptions, we don’t do background checks on volunteers.  We’ve been talking a lot about chaperoning a dance where a lot of people are present vs. an  overnight trip at Calwood.    There are systems that do background checks in which volunteers pay for their own.    This conversation is continuing at the cabinet level. 

 

School Board Update – Jim Reed - This group is an advisory board to Chris.  The board is going to rotate board members through these meetings.  Another community engagement process are Board of Education meetings.  The next Board meeting will be October 28 at 6:00 p.m. (Board meetings are the2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month).

 

Q: When are we getting a report on healthy lunches? A:  The report is just one piece which will be presented to the Board on October 28th.  We have a consultant charged with helping us change our practices and teaching people how we want our kitchens to operate.

 

Bond Update - Each school has its own page on the bond website.  The DPC November agenda will be dedicated to bond action and issues. 

 

 

Chris provided the BVSD Organizational Chart:  BVSD has 150 administrators district-wide, including 44 new hires this year.  Almost 1/3 of BVSD administrators were either hired or promoted into their jobs this year mostly due to retirements. 

 

Chris introduced three new Cabinet members

 

André Lanier, Exec Director of Institutional Equity – BVSD has a student population of approximately 28 thousand students, 20 thousand of which are closer to where we want them to be than the approximately eight thousand that could be doing better (CSAP, graduation rates, etc.).  We are looking at the barriers and evaluating the interventions.  Our goal is for every student to be successful.  André regularly meets with liaisons and determines how we evaluate to meet the needs of students.

 

Von Sheppard Assistant Superintendent for school leadership – Von came to us from St. Paul, Minnesota arriving  two weeks ago. He’s  met 17 principals and gone to some of the schools.  Von feels fortunate to be in BVSD where great things are going on.  The support he has received thus far is second to none and he looks forward to working with you.    

 

Karen Daly, Executive Director for Student Success – Karen has been with the district since 1989, serving as principal at High Peaks and Martin Park, and then opened Creekside, where she served as principal for eight years.  During the BVSD reorganization last year, Karen was appointed to her current position, Executive Director for Student Success, which oversees  Literacy and Language, Special Education, and all Title I services (receive federal funding based on free and reduced lunch).  Her work is geared toward instruction and improving services. 

 

Chris said at first glance the organization chart appears to have a lot of administrators; however, BVSD serves 28 thousand students, has four thousand employees, covers 500 square miles, has 55 school sites, and 60 buildings.  We teach, transport, feed,  have an in-house attorney, communications department, have a deputy for teaching and learning (which is a chief instructional officer in some districts) who oversees four  assistant superintendents, Von Sheppard and Sandy Ripplinger (15 elementary schools) Deirdre Pilch (21 secondary schools).  Judy Skupa, assistant superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction develops the curriculum.  We also have a large Human Resource Department which deals with payroll and other personnel issues.

 

When Chris became superintendent and the chief financial officer went to CDE, Chris reorganized and flattened the organization and eliminated the chief operational officer and supervises his direct reports.  This hands-on approach is more reflective of Chris’ leadership style. Background on the instructional side are typically former teachers and other highly trained psychologists, attorneys, and people with strong human resource backgrounds.  We eliminated some coordinator positions that we felt were another administrative layer that we didn’t think was nimble and responsive to our current model and put that staffing into the schools. 

We are tracking the effectiveness by looking at student achievement of all kids in the system and reduction of the achievement gap we have.  The Board of Education has set very ambitious goals for Chris driven by student achievement.  The targets will measure over five years, but there are measurable benchmarks along the way.  The short answer is student achievement. 

 

Karen Daly - BVSD website – Check out the  Student Success portion on the BVSD website, which includes information about response to intervention, which is a much more formal way to track student achievement.

 

Chris - Student climate is something we monitor very carefully and we are watching the Student Climate Survey very closely. 

 

We have risk management divided amongst human resources (insurance), legal office,  operations for safety of grounds and facilities people.  We are part of a self-insurance pool with other districts and get technical assistance. 

 

Round Robin

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District Parent Council and Candidate Forum
September 17, 2008

Neil Fishman, co-chair welcomed everyone and because of the candidate forum tonight, asked anyone with issues to write them down and submit in writing.

Chris King -  BVSD had a busy hiring and out of 160 administrators (ed center staff, principals and assistant principals), approximately 1/3 of those positions were filled this summer.  22% percent of which were people of color.  This statistic roughly mirrors our student and community population (one in five).  This is an important milestone in our efforts of excellence and equity. We are working on similar goals in teacher hiring and have strategies in place to accomplish that goal. 

Parent Handbook - You will be receiving this publication in the mail on or before October 1.  This information has been gleaned from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey which assesses risk factors for kids and is attempting to provide parents with resources and best practices.  This publication is also on the BVSD website in English.  There will soon be a Spanish version.  Please provide any feedback you have. 

If you have any questions or needs, call Chris. 

Question:  Why did BVSD replace 1/3 of their administrators?  What was the trend?  Chris responded it was not one factor; however, the biggest reason was baby boomers retiring. 

College Preparation ACT Test -  Are we looking at writing portion of this test?  This is a question for candidates tonight; they are responsible.  Educators would like to see the writing portion as well. 

Background checks for volunteers -  The idea came up as a middle ground cross referencing volunteers against registered sex offender list. 

Is it true no BVSD high school met annual yearly progress?  Yes; however, we have highest performing schools in the state.  These are questions for these candidates. 

 
Laurie Albright – Laurie is new on the Board (last November).  Two years ago Laurie was here asking for support for the 3A Bond. We heard last spring and summer that schools are positive about the improvements being phased in.  CBOC (oversight committee) reporting is positive.  The Board recently voted to put the proceeds from the sale of Washington School into a Columbine rebuild and the Board is excited about that change occurring in North Boulder. 

 
BVSD has decided to start Board meetings ½ hour earlier (6:00 p.m.) starting mid- October.  People can still speak at 6:30 because it’s important to hear from the public.  We were pleased the City of Lafayette and BVSD gave historic landmark status to Pioneer Elementary School.  This Board is working on the TIES process and three goals set last fall (achievement, equity and organization) and looking at data to see how we are doing with our goals.  We are driven by data to ensure our district is on target with goals.  The Board will be considering SAFE initiative (Amendment 59), which is a savings account for education.  This initiative has been endorsed by a long list of educational organizations. 

Questions for Laurie:  Date of next Board Meeting Tuesday 9/23; 6:00

Are Bond Issues Changing?  There are  very minor changes and all information is on the website.  Tron  said there is a bond oversight committee which oversees300 million dollars.  There have been small changes to the original plan such has Boulder High Schools decision not to build a secondary bridge and Columbine will be a rebuild instead of a remodel; however, bond money will not be used for Columbine.

Asbestos - Where does the money come from?  Answer is that BVSD made assumptions and pulled out 30% for contingency going in.  If there is money left over from the capital improvements, the money goes back to the district to take care of contingencies.     

If there is a surplus, it will go before the BOE for decisions/shifting of projects, but cannot exceed what was stated in the bond. 

Douglass PTO meeting - Improvements scheduled for June have been moved out to November and April.  How do we get a status?  Tron suggested talking to the person running the DAT or call Don Orr, director of the bond project.  Chris King said to email him as well and he will forward comprehensive information.

 

Candidate Forum:

17 candidates running for positions that touch BVSD were invited to speak tonight, ten of which responded yes.  All candidates were asked: What do you think is largest issue facing education in the next two to five years and how do you propose to help? 

Dan Lucas, attorney:  Would fund K-12; would have voted for SB 130; thinks it’s good to have innovations zones where school districts can be creative and supports hiring minorities.

Katie Witt:  Energy independence and a world class education for our kids.  She wishes to catch the rest of the state up to Boulder Valley.

Matt Cho on behalf Diane Primavera: Diane  finished her first term in which members of the House are trying to accomplish health care and create a Colorado adult stem cell fund. They have heard from constitutes with children with autism and will form a commission to help streamline what each agency is working on with other agencies.  Diane is a cancer survivor and sponsored a bill to create a recycle system to get cancer medications to people that need them. 

Joe Whitcomb - Education is the first pillar of his campaign.  He’s been an Army ranger; spent ten years in the military; after which he attended University of Denver Law School.  He is running for the state senate to continue his public service.  He wants to focus on math and science and look at magnet schools, and create centers to improve scores.

Claire Levy, An attorney who has spent time on the planning board, worked on affordable housing issues; served on the Boulder County Parks and Open Space Committee.  Her legislative interests revolve around environmental and energy issues.  She has worked on rebate programs, energy audits and making voting easy.  She is looking forward to talking more about education issues.

Nick Kliebenstein – Has been involved with the Bal Swan Children’s Center, which is a preschool for special needs and regular needs children in Broomfield. He believes we have a multi-million dollar investment in education and wants to see it go to the classroom and not administration.

Brandon Shaffer – Was born and raised in Denver, attended Stanford, received an ROTC scholarship.  He has been deployed twice to the Gulf.  After getting out of Navy, he moved to Boulder and got law degree and does transactional work.  His philosophy is good teachers, adequate resources, and kids ready to learn. He’s worked on all three of these areas.

Robert Houdeshell – Both of his parents were educators; he’s worked for Mark Udall, is a firefighter and a state senator.  He’s sponsored 26 bills and passed 22.  He is working for nutritional and beverage standards for kids and is a champion of education issues.  He wants to hear from us on how we can work together. 

Dickie Lee Hullinghorst – She retired in December as intergovernmental relations director for Boulder County for the past 23 years.  She has worked with state legislature, federal government and has a good background in public policy.  She will work to move Colorado into the 21st Century in education, transportation, the environment and energy sustainability. 

Paul Weissman - Reads the state Constitution and believes it’s the authority for instruction which lies at the school board level.  He believes the state figures out financing and let local school districts do the programming for the community.  He wants to move from CSAP to P20.  We are going to track kids like other countries setting quasi graduation standards.  A state school board doesn’t function very well.  Do we really need a state school board?  We need to look at ways to cut out overlapping agencies and give it to local school boards. 

Jack Palmer – Agrees and believes a widening achievement gap is morally and politically the biggest problem facing school districts.

Joe Whitcomb –Doesn’t look for a silver bullet approach.  Children get pigeon holed very young.  We need a balance between uniform and thorough.  We also need to look at energy costs, which in some cases could pay a mortgage on a new building. He also likes magnet schools which give us options for gifted students and gives them an avenue to excel.

Dan Gibbs – Major challenges are funding within the district so teachers can live in their communities.  Transportation needs are challenging schools.  We need to explore ways to increase the pie for education funding.  We need to give tools and resources to students to prepare them for their world.

Claire Levy:  Public education is an equalizer and we must close the achievement gap.  We have very high expectations of public schools and we need to give you the resources to do the job we ask.  She doesn’t want to set policy; that’s the job of the school board.  She would like to pass amendment 59 which will allow us to put more money into education. 

On Funding
Dan Lucas:  We have excellent students in BVSD.  The challenges are fiscal crisis,  reprioritize spending at capital and focus on economy and health care.  We have a shortage of higher education funding along with infrastructure problems.  Parents want education to be a priority. 

Jack Pommer – The achievement gap is the biggest problem.  Most kids are doing well; however, there are students doing very poorly and that’s not right.  The political system set up to perpetuates this gap because only affluent parents tend to vote. Also political choice will take away opportunity from certain groups.

Katie Witt:  Would like all the other school districts to where BVSD is.  She is in favor of nationwide standards because it’s not us setting the standards, but it’s the world.  She would like to extend the school day.  Our kids spend 22 hours per week in school and South Korea spends 30.

Dickie Lee Hullinghorst – The major issue facing districts is adequate funding.  She encourages everyone to vote for Amendment 59. Amendment 23, which provided additional funding for education will repeal in 2010.  If we don’t find a way to continue Amendment C to invest in things like education, we are going to be in a world of hurt for funding for schools.  We need to reform our tax system to invest in education and health care, or funding for schools will have to compete with transportation, health care, sustainability, etc. 

Nick Kliebenstein:  Never underestimate a small group of people to change the world.  We need local control of our schools and empower teachers to teach in the classroom, which comes down to taking away administration.  Standardized testing doesn’t necessarily need to be the answer.  We need accountability.  No Child Left Behind was a bad solution to a very real problem. 

Brandon Schaffer:  Our biggest challenge is jobs.  We are importing laborers and scientists. We need to retool our education system so local kids get jobs. He would propose a free ride to college with the commitment to give back and teach for four years. 

Matt Cho:  Solution is Amendment 59 which will protect education funding from challenges that will come.  Transportation and health care is also a priority.  Funding is first, then testing.

Paul Weissman:  Financing Ref. C at legislature.  The School Finance act said mil levels don’t go down when properties go up.  Since then school districts said let us keep the money from taxes and spend locally.  State has been back filling money.  Amendment 59 will protect funding.

District Parent Council Meeting Notes
August 20, 2008, BVSD Ed Center, Aspen Room

Steering Team - Neil Fishman, Tron Welch, and Kimberly Copanas (chairing)

Business:  It turns out for technical reasons Topica is no longer a good choice as a list serve so the Steering Team will be making some decisions and you should get an email about becoming a member of this group.  DPC will need to look at their bylaws, update and adopt in the near future.  If you are interested, contact Kimberly. 

Overview:  This group meets the third Wednesday of the month.  Your role is to represent your school community and be the conduit between the school community and the district office.  You will receive minutes from this meeting, which should be forwarded to your school, who will then forward to the school community.  If you can’t be at a meeting, you are welcome to send someone to represent you.

Chris King, Superintendent:  Thanks for coming.  Chris has many thousands of parents in the district, but this group is his conduit.  This is Chris’ very first meeting in this space, which houses four conference rooms that can open to one very large room.  This space used to be the district media center.  The district was paying to rent space for professional development trainings that can now be accommodated in-house. 

Food Service:  The district commissioned a firm from Berkeley that specializes in school lunch programs, tastier, healthier, home grown foods from scratch.  This is a very comprehensive program.  We are putting systems in place, changing purchasing patterns, and looking at how we use government subsidizes.    We believe food impacts academic performance.  This is slow, expensive, complicated process.  If you want to know more, please email Chris. 

The Parent Handbook:  Will be going to all BVSD households the first week in September.  It’s an “owners manual” for kids, addressing issues about substances, sexuality, at risk behaviors, homework, and relationships.  There are about 50 contributors, all of which are local experts in the field, drawing on best practices. We are asking schools to keep this project in front of people and keep talking about successes and challenges.  Our best successes will be with healthy households.  Our intent is to have extra copies for kids that come in late.  This will be a two year publication cycle. There is a kickoff event  September 9th.  Invitations are going out to groups, DAC and DPC.  If you don’t get an email and you are interested, Chris will get you an invite to a luncheon at the Dove House. 

Enrollment:  We are watching headcounts, class size and enrollments, in every school (i.e. crowded classrooms).  We are funded by headcount.  If people are concerned about class size, please have them call Chris. 

Bond:  A lot of construction projects.  Every school did open on time. 

Split the District:  Chris has been meeting with proponents of this movement and has been learning about the issues.  The district has had constructive conversations trying to find common ground. The next step would be a petition drive and then it would be studied for a couple of years.  Speaking for the District, the issue is dormant at this point because we are trying to find common ground. 

Sustainability Coordinator:  For the first time, we will have a sustainability coordinator. Ghita Carroll, Ph.D., will be looking at energy consumption and “greening” of the district in order to save money while reducing the carbon footprint we are leaving.  Even a little bit of sustained energy adds up to serious dollars.  The person we hired is a recent graduate of CU School of Environmental Design who has experience in an educational setting and will be taking the campaign to the kids.  Phase II and III bond projects will be “green” sensitive

Hiring:  The district did a lot of hiring this summer.  Chris sits in on every hiring decision.  We filled 40 administrative positions.  Only about ten of them were actually new to the district.  One person we hired was previously an associate superintendent in Minneapolis, MN and a principal in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Chris was asked if he filled Robert Hammond’s position.  He explained his leadership style is more flat than the previous administration.  He studied other school districts up and down the Front Range and prefers department heads reporting directly to him.  He promoted Leslie Stafford as CFO. 

New structure in Special Education.  This was part of the flattening and restructuring.  We had coordinator positions, which served as compliance officers.  We eliminated the positions and put the FTE back into the schools and put additional responsibilities on principals and assistant principals.  We want our principals to be knowledgeable and engaged with special needs kids.

New School Hope Online (at the Family Learning Center).  They find local agencies to sponsor them.  This is an online educational system geared toward at-risk kids.  They are charter schools, but not BVSD charter schools.  We can’t prevent them.  They get funding from the state.  There is a different funding schedule for online students. 

Our school board set $200,000 aside to pilot online classes for our high school kids.  We will make some decisions about whether to buy the courses or create them ourselves.  Higher education is really getting into online.  Professional development in the workplace is going online rapidly. 

Who is going to replace Robert’s function to oversee legislative process?  Briggs Gamblin, who had prior experience. 

Who will identify the need for the Thrive Handbook in Spanish.  Schools will provide names of Spanish mailings.

School representatives shared information in a round robin.

District Parent Council Meeting Notes
December 18, 2007

School representatives reported their news.

Patti Smith:  two new board members.   This is Patti’s last meeting with DPC.  She will now hold a legislative platform position.  Laurie Albright will be the board liaison for this group. 

Chris King – Board recently went on retreat to Colorado Springs and developed priority goals (handed out).  Schools all have TIES teams to look at data and make decisions regarding the data.  We are now doing this as a district.  TIES is a formal protocol to force us look at information and reserve judgment and let the data talk.  What is different from the strategic initiative in the past is these goals (achievement goal, equity goal, organizational goal) can be measured.

 In order to achieve our goals, Chris has been talking with the fourteen cabinet members.  There will be some changes in duties.  Ellen Miller-Brown, Deputy Superintendent, will be giving up directly supervising schools and focus her full attention on the achievement gap and equity goal.  Deirdre Pilch is picking up middle schools (in addition to high schools). Sheri Williams will supervise K-8s.  Ellen will focus on special education and literacy and language (second language learners) and kids who come from poverty.  We have 20,000 kids doing very well in our district and about 8,000 kids being underserved. If you want more information, presentations, or talk individually contact Chris. 

Climate Survey – The reports show favorable and unfavorable results.  We might be able to report that out differently.  We have several years of results of that survey.  There are advantages of keeping the survey as well as advantages of eliminating it.  It’s been a pretty good instrument over time.  We can’t adjust it too much or we can’t compare years.  If you would like Jonathan (data guy) to come and talk about it, he can do that. 

Middle School Task Force:  Recommending to Board to restate middle school mission.  Up until the mid 90’s middle schools had 5 classes and the same amount of planning time.  Then mid 90’s middle school went to six classes with less planning time.  This stirred up equity issues among middle school teachers. This fall we had a task force working on these issues and they have come up with recommendation to restore back planning time, but the problem is it is very expensive.  They also have other proposals, which Chris has not seen yet, but will analyze before it goes to the Board.  There is not a time table, mandate or final recommendation that will go to the Board.  Middle schools are all over the board with advisories, which is the cornerstone of the middle school movement. 

Bond Update:  Susan Cousins –Bond Communications; Don Orr – Director of Bond; Bill Simmons – Director Operations; Robert Hammond – Executive Director of Operations

There are competing forces and compromises.  Action at schools is the design advisory team (DAT).   This is a decentralized project.  BVSD has made a strong commitment to communications.  The bond website (upper left; logo with hardhat on homepage) addresses a lot of questions and is updated regularly. BVSD is committed to greening when and where ever possible. 

Round Robin – Schools reported.

Notas de la Reunión del Consejo de Padres del Distrito
18 de diciembre de 2007

Los representantes de las escuelas informaron sus noticias.

Patti Smith: dos miembros nuevos en la junta.   Esta es la última reunión de Patti con DPC.  De ahora en adelante Patti va a trabajar en una plataforma legislativa. Laurie Albright será el enlace de este grupo con la junta. 

Chris King – La junta se fue de retiro recientemente a Colorado Springs y creó metas prioritarias (repartidas).  Todas las escuelas tienen equipos TIES para ver los datos y tomar decisiones sobre ellos.  Nuestro distrito está haciendo esto ahora.  TIES es un protocolo formal que nos fuerza a examinar la información y reservar opiniones dejando que hablen los datos.  Lo que es distinto de la iniciativa estratégica en el pasado es que estas metas (meta de rendimiento, meta de equidad, meta de organización) pueden ser medidas.

Para poder lograr nuestras metas, Chris ha estado hablando con los catorce miembros del gabinete.  Habrá algunos cambios de responsabilidades.  Ellen Miller-Brown, Diputada, dejará de supervisar directamente a las escuelas para centrarse de lleno en la brecha de rendimiento y en la meta de equidad. Deirdre Pilch se encargará de las escuelas intermedias (además de las preparatorias). Sheri Williams supervisará las escuelas k-8.  Ellen se centrará en educación especial y en lectoescritura y lenguaje (estudiantes de un segundo idioma) y en los niños que proceden de entornos de pobreza.  Tenemos 20,000 niños que van muy bien en nuestro distrito y unos 8,000 que no reciben los servicios necesarios.  Si quieren más información, presentaciones o hablar en persona, llamen a Chris. 

Encuesta Sobre el Clima Escolar – Los informes son favorables y desfavorables. Es posible que podamos informar de otra manera.  Tenemos varios años de resultados de esta encuesta.  Hay ventajas de guardar y desventajas de tirar.  Ha sido un instrumento bastante bueno a lo largo del tiempo.  No podemos modificarlo demasiado o no podremos comparar años.  Jonathan (el encargado de los datos) podría venir para hablar sobre esto si lo desean. 

Grupo de Trabajo de Escuelas Intermedias: Recomendación ante la Junta de que se replantee la misión de la escuela intermedia.  Hasta mediados de los años 90, las escuelas intermedias tenían 5 clases y la misma cantidad de tiempo de planificación.  A partir de esos años, las escuelas intermedias pasaron a tener seis clases con menos tiempo de planificación.  Esto creó problemas de equidad entre los maestros de escuelas intermedias.  Este otoño tuvimos un grupo de trabajo estudiando estos problemas y acabaron recomendando que se restablezca el tiempo de planificación, pero el problema es que esto resulta muy caro. También tienen otras propuestas que Chris no ha visto todavía pero que analizará antes de que sean presentadas ante la Junta.  No hay un calendario, mandato o recomendación final que vaya a ser presentada a la Junta.  Las escuelas intermedias difieren entre sí en cuanto a asesorías (advisories), las cuales son el pilar del movimiento de la escuela intermedia.

Noticias sobre el Programa de Bonos:  Susan Cousins –Comunicaciones; Don Orr – Director; Bill Simmons – Director de Operaciones; Robert Hammond – Director Ejecutivo de Operaciones

Hay fuerzas y compromisos que compiten.  La acción en las escuelas es el equipo asesor de diseño (DAT).  Este es un proyecto descentralizado.  BVSD ha hecho un fuerte compromiso para comunicar.  La página web del programa de bonos (lado superior izquierdo; logotipo con casco en la página principal) responde a muchas preguntas y es actualizado con regularidad.  BVSD se ha comprometido a ser ecológico cuando y donde sea posible.   

Round Robin – Informe de las escuelas.

District Parent Council Notes
February 19, 2008

Mary Pittman, Math Director – CSAP and state data.  We do have a drop, but not nearly as much as the rest of the state.  The drop is consistent across the country, so we must rethink how we get growth in math and not loose kids along the way. 

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP – They only test certain districts and BVSD is not one of them.   


Formal math training - symbols, verbal and quantity (formal representations). 


What kids do naturally or informally is where parents can make huge impact. 


A lot of our schools are now giving math assessments.     


Mary passed out note cards and if this group has questions they can write their questions on the note cards.  Send questions to Kim.  If it’s a general question, Kim will put on Topica.   


Katy Fleming, District Health Coordinator:  Talked about comprehensive health curriculum.  When we wrote the curriculum, we looked at 5th grade girls developing earlier than the turn of the century (hormones and nutrition).  We looked at skills both boys and girls need (i.e., media, respect one another, who to talk to).  It used to be about physical changes.  Schools cannot achieve their primary mission of education if students and staff are not healthy and fit physically, mentally, and socially.  In 2004, curriculum was updated for the first time since 1984.  Health Education answers to education and also to public health.  We are trying to create healthy kids and communities.   


Skills we want our children to have:  conversation skills about who to go to and what to talk about; how to handle media messages, critical thinking; body images; choosing health behaviors to manage stress, and balance in life.  We do a Youth Risk Behavior Survey every year.   


The state of Colorado does not have state health standards.  BVSD adopted the National Health Education Standards.  Our curriculum is designed so students are seeking the information.  This is an opportunity to examine what makes my values and communicating effectively.   


There is a 90 hour requirement of health for health teachers in BVSD.  Health Education has now become a national certification process. 


Robert Hammond and Tonya Kelly-Bowry gave legislative update:  This is a very active legislative session.  We are currently tracking 81 bills that could impact our district.  If anyone in this group wishes to participate in the process, please contact Robert Hammond.   


Tonya:  Works with Joint Education Committee to assess and monitor state legislation.  Boulder Valley is well represented in this effort.  

District Parent Council Notes
March 18, 2008

District Parent Council (DPC) is looking for additional leadership for next year.  The current tri-chairs don’t know if they will serve next year.  It’s not a huge commitment.  Agendas are planned one month in advance.  Three people put the agendas together.  One concerning thing about this committee  is the first month there is a full house and every month after that declines.  Please contact one of the tri-chairs if you are interested in serving.

Input – not getting agendas out timely; website disrictparentcouncil.org

Meetings are typically the third Tuesday of the month; however the day will change for next year.  

Changes to agenda:  Positive Parenting Involvement (PPI)  will not be presented tonight.  

Helayne Jones and Evie Hudak:  Helayne is a member of the State Guidelines Council looking at Graduation Guidelines Development Council (GGDC).  They are looking at guidelines, not necessarily the requirements.  We have 178 school districts in Colorado and not all school districts have the same high standards that we have in Boulder Valley.
Part of the plan is assisting the state in coming up with consistent guidelines.  The work is to make a recommendation to the state board by May 1, 2008.  They have created an online survey to collect input.  The link is    http://ggdc.pbwiki.com/

At the state level we have to incorporate 21st Century Graduate and career planning, and the final thing is preparing students for more than just college by aligning preschool, k-12 and post secondary.  The survey will be online until approximately 4/13.  We can put a link in the superintendent’s corner.  We can send out to principals.  

Evie:  State Board decides what the guidelines should be.  What should students know and be able to do when they finish high school.  The law says the state must decide by July 1.  The council has until May 1 to make the recommendations and the state has until July 1.  Colorado Achievement Program for Kids (CAP for K) bill will be released tomorrow in its introductory form.  One of the things the state board convinced the governor to do is move the deadline from July 1 to December or January of next year.  

We are moving to a system of looking at student’s growth over time, not just CSAP.  We had a bill passed saying we measure where students start and how they grow which is a better measurement.  We have a way to measure the growth of kids over time, which is CSAP.  Eventually the SARs will have the growth rating and not necessarily performance rating.  All schools must be accredited and meet indicators or they loose accreditation.  If you are interested in reading notes from state board meetings they are online on Evie’s state board website, which is www.hudak.org.  

School Finance:  There is a lawsuit filed against the State Board of Education because lat year the legislature passed a freeze of the mil levies and the amount of the check written by the state was unconstitutional.  The provision of the state constitution that created the problem is TABOR, which has many provisions.  School Finance Act (School Finance Act) is a formula that is put together to tell how much money everyone is entitled to on a per pupil basis (PPR).  Prior to 1998 the legislature decided how much money they would give schools and most of that money came from property taxes (mils), assessed valuation done by the county assessor.  Property taxes are based on mils.  Factors are the cost of living and there are adjustments for that.  Also, it’s more expensive to run a small school district and at risk (poor) school districts.  Base + factors = PPR (and categories SPED, TAG, etc.) where you get extra money for kids in those categories.  

Amendments:  Gallagher Amendment, which made sense at the time, and said businesses property taxes were too high.  Gallagher said 45% of the property taxes that go to a county should be residential and 55% from business/non-residential.  For example Arvada (bedroom community); businesses were taxed unfairly.  As the value of homes goes up, you pay more taxes, but the mils decrease.  The amount that comes from property tax has dropped.  The state share has increased because the local share has decreased.  

Amendment:  6% limit.  Growth and inflation have in some cases exceeded 6%.  Amendment 23 passed in 2000: Said you can’t spend less than the year before because of recession and school funding not keeping up with inflation; and an additional 1% through 2011, will be back to school level of 1988, adjusted for current economy.

Last year there was a mil levy stabilization or freeze.   They said mills below 27 can’t drop anymore.  As a result, the property taxes did not keep dropping and the state had more money in the general fund than they originally planned.   This year there is more money so the state will spend on education in areas that had been cut previously.  

We became 49th in funding after TABOR and Gallagher.  

Round Robin

Uni Hill – Early stages of garden to table program.
So. Hills – 4/3 having parent community construction meeting; 5/1 starts bond constructions; 4/22 is groundbreaking ceremony.
Ryan – Jim retiring, lots of parents want involvement in choosing the new principal.
Pioneer – Principal search, have had two interim principals; had a fundraiser event and made 4,000 tamales; Get Harvest Bar in April.
Monarch K-8 - PTA sponsors nutrition program, fully funded by PTA; USDA has created educational programs about nutrition, parent volunteers come in and teach it; finished spring fundraiser (read-a-thon); a lot of positive feedback after Chris and school board did Relationship By Objective (RBO) meetings;.  Is all day kindergarten happening?  Chris said we will be getting money from state to fund some full day kindergarten, there will be a slow roll out (Sanchez, Columbine Uni Hill, Community Montessori)  If you want more information, email Chris King.  Is district PTA still meeting – no
Manhattan:  Recently held groundbreaking and over 300 people showed up, PTO has grown.
Louisville Middle – will start construction soon and there will be a community celebration for a look back for anyone that ever attended the school with a live band and community participation; live and silent auction will be April 8 and proceeds will go to non-academic classes.
Kohl –Reviewed the spelling curriculum at SIT meeting and ran into a problem because they don’t teach spelling as a separate subject.  They can’t make copies of the workbooks and it costs too much money to get new workbooks every year.  One of the other options has been difficult to implement so they are stuck.  How is that going with other schools?  They are not happy with the choices.  This is part of the Language Arts Materials Adoption.  Chris King will talk to Judy Skupa talk to Cindy Kaier about this
Flatirons – First round of CSAP testing and the whole school was involved; garden to table next year; second grade class followed idarad dog race.
Fireside- Held math-a-thon and made a lot of money; getting ready for science fair and 1/3 of school participating.  Also doing an annual Niki run for a child that passed away and proceeds go to Children’s Hospital.
Fairview – Looking into serious issues and trying to turn them around; busy time of year at high school; fundraising activities.

Community Montessori - Got green star designation.  They literally have no waste.  They  did a carnival and  had 140 local businesses donate to the auction.  They are  looking at ways to increase their volunteer base and have room teams (4 people).  They are doing outreach specifically to Hispanic community and have 8 soccer teams run by parents.
Columbine:  Two moms and another parent have been working on a documentary called Elementary Education Insightful Feature, which is high Latino, low income, school in town of Boulder and will air 4/26, at the  Nomad Theatre.  There will be flyers at next month’s meeting.  At every PTA meeting people ask Lynn what’s the deal with the new building and the answer is always we are waiting for Washington to sell.  Chris King said we cannot commit to a new building unless Washington sells.  The April 8th closing should go through and we will have the funding  as soon as that happens.  If this transaction doesn’t go through we will go forward with the remodel with Columbine.  Chris will talk to Lynn to ensure she understand timeline issues.

Broomfield Heights Middle School:  Recently divided PTO and SIT which makes for clearer goals.  They are happy with their principal, Nancy.
Platt – Attended first Faculty Folies (time with teachers).  Teachers put this show on and charged $5.00 per person. The commitment of the teachers is impressive.  There is ongoing anxiety about the upcoming merger with the other middle school coming our direction, traffic issues being the biggest concern.

Tron – Statewide funding is an issue. Boulder Valley School District is supposed to be the best educated county and it’s up to parents to add the sprinkles on the education.  We can add the non-educational, really important items and get some folks together for kids.      

Notas de la Reunión del Consejo de Padres del Distrito18 de marzo de 2008

El Consejo de Padres del Distrito (DPC) está buscando más personas para puestos de liderazgo para el próximo año.  Los tres presidentes de comité actuales no saben si podrán seguir trabajando el próximo año.  No se trata de un gran compromiso.  La agenda se prepara con un mes de antelación.  Tres personas se encargan de prepararla.  Una cosa preocupante de este comité es que el primer mes cuenta con mucha concurrencia y a partir de ahí va decayendo poco a poco.  Por favor llamen a uno de los tres presidentes de comité si están interesados en servir.

Comentarios – no salen las agendas en el debido tiempo; página web: disrictparentcouncil.org

Las reuniones suelen ser el tercer martes del mes; sin embargo ese día cambiará el año que viene.

Cambios a la agenda: No se presentará esta noche al grupo Positive Parenting Involvement (PPI).

Helayne Jones y Evie Hudak: Helayne es miembro del Consejo de Normas Estatales que estudia el Consejo del Desarrollo de Normas para la Graduación (GGDC).  Están estudiando las normas y no necesariamente los requisitos.  Hay 178 distritos escolares en Colorado y no todos llegan al alto nivel de estándares que tenemos en el Valle de Boulder.  Parte del plan es asistir al estado a desarrollar normas consistentes.  El trabajo consiste en presentar una recomendación al consejo del estado antes del 1 de mayo de 2008.  Han creado una encuesta en línea para recoger opiniones.  El enlace es:   http://ggdc.pbwiki.com/

Al nivel de estado tenemos que incorporar el Graduado del Siglo 21 y la planificación profesional y lo último es preparar a los estudiantes para más cosas que solamente ir a la universidad alineando preescolar, k-12 y actividades de postsecundaria.  La encuesta permanecerá en línea hasta el 13 de abril aproximadamente.  Podemos añadir un enlace en el rincón del superintendente.  Podemos enviárselo a los directores de las escuelas.

Evie: El Consejo del Estado decide cuáles deberían ser las normas.  Lo que los estudiantes deberían saber y poder hacer cuando terminen la preparatoria.  La ley dice que el estado debe decidir para el 1 de julio.  El consejo tiene hasta el 1 de mayo para hacer las recomendaciones y el estado tiene hasta el 1 de julio.  La ley del Programa de Aprovechamiento para los Niños de Colorado (CAP for K) será publicada mañana de forma introductoria.  Una de las cosas de que el consejo del estado convenció al gobernador es cambiar el plazo del 1 de julio a diciembre o enero del próximo año.

Estamos pasando a un sistema para estudiar el avance de los niños sobre tiempo, no solo el CSAP.  Se aprobó una ley por la que medimos el nivel de los estudiantes al empezar y luego seguir su progreso que es una mejor medida.  Tenemos una forma de medir el avance de los niños sobre tiempo que es el CSAP.  Eventualmente los SARs tendrán el índice de crecimiento y no necesariamente el de rendimiento.  Todas las escuelas deben ser acreditadas y cumplir los indicadores o perderán acreditación.  Si están interesados en leer el acta de las reuniones del consejo del estado, pueden encontrarlas en línea en la página web de Evie: www.hudak.org.

Financiación Escolar: Se ha presentado una demanda contra el Consejo de Educación del Estado porque el año pasado la legislatura congeló la recaudación de impuestos y la cantidad del cheque del estado era inconstitucional.  La provisión de la constitución del estado que creó el problema es TABOR que en sí tiene muchas provisiones.  La Ley de Financiación Escolar (School Finance Act) es una fórmula compuesta para indicar la cantidad de fondos a los que todos tienen derecho por cada alumno (PPR).  Antes del año 1998 la ley decidía cuánto dinero dar a las escuelas y la mayoría de esos fondos procedía de los impuestos de la propiedad (mils), valoración hecha por el asesor del condado.  Los impuestos sobre la propiedad están basados en mils.  Los factores son el costo de vida y hay ajustes para eso.  Asimismo es más caro operar un distrito escolar pequeño y distritos escolares de riesgo (pobres).  Base + factores = PPR (y las categorías Educación Especial, TAG, etc.) en las que se recibe más dinero por los niños que hay en esas categorías.

Enmiendas: La Enmienda Gallagher, que tenía sentido en su momento, y que decía que los impuestos por la propiedad empresarial eran demasiado altos.  Gallagher dijo que el 45% de los impuestos sobre la propiedad que van a un condado deberían ser residenciales y el 55% empresarial/no residencial.  Por ejemplo Arvada (comunidad dormitorio); las empresas fueron tasadas injustamente.  Según va aumentando el valor de las viviendas, pagamos más impuestos pero los mils disminuyen.  Los fondos procedentes de los impuestos de la propiedad han disminuido.  La parte del estado ha aumentado porque la parte local ha disminuido.

Enmienda: Límite del 6%.  El crecimiento y la inflación han excedido en algunos casos el 6%.  La Enmienda 23 aprobada en el año 2000:  Decía que no se puede gastar menos que el año anterior debido a que la recesión y los fondos escolares no van a la par de la inflación; y un 1% más hasta el año 2011 regresará al nivel escolar de 1988 ajustado a la economía actual.

El año pasado hubo una estabilización o congelación de la recaudación de impuestos.  Dijeron que los mils inferiores a 27 no pueden bajar más.  Como resultado los impuestos sobre la propiedad no continuaron bajando y el estado tenía más dinero en el fondo general de lo que había planeado originalmente.  Este año hay más dinero por lo que el estado lo gastará en las áreas de la educación a las que se les había cortado fondos anteriormente.

Después de TABOR y Gallagher, pasamos al 49º lugar en cuanto a fondos.

Round Robin

Uni Hill – Primeras fases del programa del jardín a la mesa.
So. Hills – 4/3 habrá una reunión con los padres de la comunidad sobre los planes de construcción; 5/1 empiezan las obras; 4/22 ceremonia de inauguración de las obras.
Ryan – Jim se jubila, muchos padres quieren participar en la elección del nuevo director.
Pioneer – Búsqueda de director, han habido dos directores temporales; hubo un evento de recaudación de fondos y se hicieron 4,000 tamales; Introducir el Harvest Bar en abril.
Monarch K-8 - PTA patrocina un programa de nutrición totalmente financiado por el PTA; USDA ha creado programas educativos sobre la nutrición, padres voluntarios van a la escuela y lo dirigen; acabó la campaña de recaudación de la primavera (maratón de lectura); muy buenos comentarios después de que Chris y el consejo escolar hicieran las reuniones Relación por Objetivo (RBO).  ¿Va a haber programa de kindergarten de día completo?  Chris dijo que vamos a recibir fondos del estado para financiar algunos programas de kindergarten de día completo, habrá un lento lanzamiento (Sánchez, Columbine Uni Hill, Community Montessori).  Si desean más información, diríjanse a Chris King por e-mail.  ¿Sigue reuniéndose el PTA del distrito?  No.
Manhattan: Recientemente celebraron la ceremonia de la inauguración de las obras a la que asistieron más de 300 personas, ha crecido el PTO.
Intermedia Louisville – comenzarán las obras pronto y habrá una celebración de la comunidad para la que se buscará a antiguos alumnos y que contará con una orquesta en vivo y con la participación de la comunidad; la subasta será el 8 de abril y los fondos recogidos irán en beneficio de las clases no académicas.
Kohl –Revisaron el currículo de ortografía durante la reunión del SIT y se encontraron con un problema por no enseñar ortografía como una asignatura separada.  No pueden hacer copias de los cuadernos de ejercicios y cuesta demasiado dinero comprar cuadernos nuevos todos los años.  Otra de las opciones ha sido difícil de implementar por lo que se encuentran estancados.  ¿Cómo va ese tema en las otras escuelas?  No están contentas con las opciones.  Esto forma parte de la Adopción de Materiales para Artes del Lenguaje.  Chris King hablará con Judy Skupa y con Cindy Kaier sobre esto.
Flatirons – En la primera ronda de las pruebas del CSAP participó toda la escuela; del jardín a la mesa el próximo año; la clase de segundo grado siguió la carrera de perros Idarad.
Fireside- Mantuvo un maratón de matemáticas y recaudó mucho dinero; preparándose para la feria de las ciencias en la que 1/3 de la escuela va a participar.  También están haciendo una carrera anual bajo el nombre de Niki en honor a un niño fallecido y cuyos beneficios irán al Children´s Hospital.
Fairview – Se enfrentan a serios problemas y están intentando solucionarlos; momento muy ocupado del año en la preparatoria; actividades de recaudación de fondos.
Community Montessori – Designada como escuela “green star”.  Prácticamente no producen desechos.  Hicieron un carnaval y 140 empresarios locales hicieron donativos para la subasta.  Están buscando la manera de aumentar el número de voluntarios y de tener equipos de aula (4 personas).  Están intentando llegar a la comunidad hispana concretamente y tienen 8 equipos de fútbol soccer dirigidos por padres.
Columbine: Dos madres y otro padre han estado trabajando en un documental titulado Elementary Education Insightful Feature, que trata de una escuela con gran número de latinos de bajo nivel económico en la ciudad de Boulder y que será estrenado el 26 de abril en el Teatro Nomad.  En la reunión del próximo mes habrá impresos publicitarios.  En cada reunión del PTA la gente pregunta a Lynn qué es lo que está pasando con el nuevo edificio y la respuesta es siempre que estamos esperando a la venta de Washington.  Chris King dijo que no podemos comprometernos a construir un nuevo edificio a no ser que se venda Washington.  La firma el 8 de abril no debería tener ningún problema y entonces tendremos los fondos.  Si esta transacción no sale adelante, pondremos en marcha las reformas de Columbine.  Chris hablará con Lynn para asegurarse de que entienda los temas relacionados con las fechas.
Escuela Intermedia Broomfield Heights: División reciente entre el PTO y el SIT lo cual facilita la claridad de las metas.  Están contentos con su directora, Nancy.
Platt – Asistió al primer Faculty Folies (tiempo con los maestros).  Los maestros prepararon un show y cobraron la entrada a $5.00 por persona.  El compromiso de los maestros es impresionante.  Hay una constante ansiedad sobre la futura fusión con la otra escuela intermedia que viene a nuestra zona, siendo los problemas de tráfico la mayor preocupación.

Tron – La financiación en todo el estado es un problema.  Se supone que el Distrito Escolar del Valle de Boulder es el condado mejor educado y que depende de los padres que se añadan o no más prestaciones a la educación.  Podemos añadir cosas no educativas pero muy importantes y reunir a algunas personas para los niños.

District Parent Council Notes

April 15, 2008

Negotiations – Becky McClure (Human Resources Executive Director) and Mark Chavez (Boulder Valley Education Association president).  Mark has 26 years in BVSD as a science teacher and now as a union representative. 


Relationship by Objective (RBO) – RBO is a federal program that provides a way to look at district relationships and how to improve them.  Negotiation times used to be rough.  We brought in federal help and they introduced RBO, which is a systematic, collaborative way to look at the way we operate.  Trainings have occurred with the school board, principals, everyone together, and it has made a big difference.  We work through our issues now.  Becky and Mark have a good relationship with each other.  RBO has guided us and created venues to deal with building issues in transparent and collaborative ways.   


Middle Level Task Force – The task force has come up with some solution and is in a lot better place than a year ago.  Mark has a negotiations team and any recommendations the team has goes through the executive board that then answers to the school.  Mark is the voice of the teachers.  Contracts have to be ratified by teachers (1800 teachers; 82% are union members).  There are other groups involved in negotiations (food service, clerical, paraprofessionals, etc.).   


Becky - RBO is a sponsored by federal mediation center in Washington D.C.  Their work spurred interest across the country in negotiations process, united around public education.  Solutions can be reached when everyone is involved in the process.  This process revolves around trust.  We have done trainings with each school (faculty advisory committee) to use in building problem solving as well as negotiations.  Some other negotiation issues still being worked on are caseloads (SPED) and class size for some teachers (art and PE).   


Benefits – BVSD’s medical benefits are self-funded (manage own health benefits).  The cost is lower than in the past.  We are looking at an Employee Assistance Program (counseling).  We have wellness programs at some of the schools.  


Middle Level Task Force - Recommendations will go before the Board of Education at their next meeting on April 22.  We put $200,000 in the budget to compensate middle level teachers for student support programs. The issues have to do with the amount of planning time teachers get.  Middle school teachers teach six classes.  Student support programs (advisory) erode their planning time.  High school teachers have five classes, causing an equity issue among middle and high teachers.  The short-term solution is $200,000 to provide short-term relief, which will amount to a stipend to compensate for extra time.  This will work until we can find a long-term solution.  The task force looked very deeply into the issue over the course of a year.  Because different schools handle advisory in different ways we had to find a way to compensate all teachers.  What we have done is short-term.  Studies say it will take 6.6 million dollars to get equity for teachers between middle and high schools.    


Open Enrollment – Kathy Mitze (open enrollment coordinator) and Mike Wilcox, (assistant director for student enrollment). 


Roman spoke about sibling preference and disclosed his son didn’t get his open enrollment choice. Roman alleges discrimination against only children in the BVSD open enrollment system. 


Kathy Mitze – OE for 2008/2009 is not done and the numbers are not yet solid because not everyone will accept their OE offer.  We continue to accept applications until August 29, 2008, and charters through September.  Late applicants will drop to the bottom of the wait list.  Initially siblings are broken out by elementary, middle and high.   


Each charter school (there are three in the district) has an individual contractual agreement with the district.  Charter schools choose their own OE preferences and are not aligned with the district or each other.  There are sibling preferences at both charters to keep families together in a school.   


Further discussion by the group concluded that if siblings were not given a small preference, more families would choose not to open enroll because the chances of having their families enrolled at multiple schools would increase thereby giving only children an OE advantage, so either way OE is not a perfect process.  OE is mandated by the state, but how OE is carried out is up to individual school districts. 


Nutrition – Chris Houston, registered dietician - Chris is a Monarch K-8 parent who helped bring the Integrated Nutrition Project to that school.  This program is to educate kids to become healthier.  The program encourages fruits and vegetables, grains and dairy and is funded through Department of Agriculture for schools that qualify (must have 50% free and reduced lunch to get funded through Department of Agriculture).  Chris wrote a grant to fund Monarch K-8.  The teachers love the lessons that are done right in the classroom and incorporate other lesions (math, science, etc).  The curriculum is public through U.S.D.A.  Chris presented a sample lesson on seeds to DPC.   


Next Month: 

Bill Sutter presenting proposed 08/09 budget (We proposed that DAC join this group for the next meeting).
Fran Raudenbush, consultant on the Parent Handbook. 
Susan Kidd, teacher at Gold Hill (who has an aviary in her classroom, will present butterfly presentation.  She wrote a grant.)
Elections for tri-chairs for District Parent Council. 

Notas de la Reunión del Consejo de Padres del Distrito

15 de abril de 2008

Negociaciones – Becky McClure (Directora Ejecutiva de Recursos Humanos) y Mark Chavez (Presidente de la Asociación Educativa del Valle de Boulder).  Mark lleva trabajando 26 años en BVSD como maestro de ciencias y ahora es representante sindical. 


Relación por Objetivo (RBO) – RBO es un programa federal que ofrece la forma de examinar las relaciones del distrito y cómo mejorarlas.  Los tiempos de las negociaciones solían ser duros. Trajimos ayuda federal y nos presentaron RBO que es una forma sistemática de colaboración para ver la forma en que operamos.  Se ha entrenado a los directores del consejo y a los directores de escuela juntos y ha hecho una gran diferencia.  Ahora podemos resolver nuestros problemas.  Becky y Mark tienen una buena relación. RBO nos ha servido de guía y ha creado medios para resolver los problemas de los edificios de forma transparente y en colaboración. 


Equipo Especial de Trabajo de Intermedia – El equipo de trabajo ha ofrecido una solución y estamos mejor que hace un año.  Mark tiene un equipo de negociaciones y cualquier recomendación que haga el equipo pasa por la mesa ejecutiva quien después responde a la escuela.  Mark es la voz de los maestros.  Los contratos tienen que ser ratificados por los maestros (1800 maestros; el 82% son miembros sindicales).  Hay otros grupos involucrados en las negociaciones (servicios de comida, administrativo, para-profesionales, etc.). 


Becky - RBO cuenta con el respaldo del centro federal de mediación de Washington D.C.  Su trabajo despertó el interés de todo el país en el proceso de las negociaciones unido en torno a la educación pública.  Se podrá llegar a soluciones cuando todo el mundo participe en el proceso.  Este proceso se basa en la confianza.  Hemos llevado a cabo sesiones de entrenamiento en todas las escuelas (comité asesor de maestros) para resolver los problemas de los edificios así como de las negociaciones.  Algunos problemas de negociación en los que continua el trabajo son la cantidad de casos de estudiantes (Educación Especial) y el tamaño de clase de algunos maestros (Arte y Educación Física). 


Beneficios – Los beneficios médicos de BVSD son auto-financiables (manejar los propios beneficios médicos).  El costo es menor que en otros años.  Estamos estudiando un Programa de Asistencia a los Empleados (asesoría).  Tenemos programas de salud en algunas de las escuelas. 


Equipo Especial de Trabajo de Intermedia – Las recomendaciones serán presentadas al Consejo de Educación durante su próxima reunión del 22 de abril.  Hemos añadido $200,000 al presupuesto para compensar a los maestros de educación intermedia por los programas de apoyo a los estudiantes.  Los problemas tienen que ver con la cantidad de tiempo de planificación que reciben los maestros.  Los maestros de intermedia tienen seis clases. Los programas de apoyo a los estudiantes (orientación) les quitan tiempo de planificación. Los maestros de preparatoria tienen cinco clases, lo que causa un problema de equidad entre los maestros de ambos niveles. La solución inmediata es que los $200,000 proporcionarán un alivio a corto plazo lo que significa un estipendio para compensar el tiempo de trabajo adicional.  Esto funcionará hasta que encontremos una solución permanente.  El equipo de trabajo estudió el problema durante el curso de un año. Dado que las escuelas manejan la clase de orientación de distinta manera, tuvimos que encontrar la manera de compensar a todos los maestros.  Lo que hemos hecho funciona solo a corto plazo.  Los estudios dicen que se necesitarán $6.6 millones para igualar a los maestros de intermedia y de preparatoria. 

Inscripciones Abiertas – Kathy Mitze (coordinadora de inscripciones abiertas) y Mike Wilcox, (subdirector de inscripción de estudiantes). 


Román habló sobre la preferencia de hermanos y anunció que su hijo no recibió la escuela que habían elegido.  Román alega que el sistema de inscripciones abiertas discrimina contra los niños de BVSD que son hijos únicos. 


Kathy Mitze – OE para 2008/2009 no ha terminado y los números no son todavía sólidos porque no todo el mundo va a aceptar la oferta de OE.  Seguimos aceptando solicitudes hasta el 29 de agosto de 2008 y para las escuelas autónomas hasta septiembre.  Los solicitantes que lleguen tarde serán colocados al final de la lista de espera.  Inicialmente los hermanos son separados por escuela primaria, intermedia y preparatoria. 


Cada una de las escuelas autónomas (hay 3 en el distrito) tiene un acuerdo contractual con el distrito.  Las escuelas autónomas eligen sus propias preferencias de OE que no son paralelas con las del distrito ni entre sí.  Las escuelas autónomas dan preferencia a los hermanos de sus estudiantes para mantener a las familias juntas en una misma escuela. 


Otras discusiones del grupo concluyeron con que si los hermanos no recibieran una pequeña preferencia, más familias optarían por no usar el sistema de inscripciones abiertas porque la probabilidad de tener a sus hijos inscritos en distintas escuelas aumentaría, dando con ello ventajas a los niños de OE.  De cualquier forma OE no es un proceso perfecto.  OE es un proceso obligado por el estado pero la forma en que se maneja depende de cada distrito escolar. 


Nutrición – Chris Houston, dietista licenciado - Chris es un padre de Monarch K-8 que ayudó a poner en marcha el Proyecto de Nutrición Integrado en esa escuela.  Este programa es para educar a los niños a vivir de forma saludable.  El programa fomenta la consumición de frutas y verduras, granos y productos lácteos y el Departamento de Agricultura lo financia en las escuelas que califican (deben tener el 50% en el programa de comida gratis o a precio reducido para recibir fondos).  Chris escribió una propuesta de beca para financiar a Monarch K-8.  A los maestros les encantan las lecciones que se dan en la clase e incorporan otras lecciones (matemáticas, ciencias, etc.).  El currículo es público a través de U.S.D.A.  Chris presentó un ejemplo de lección sobre las semillas al DPC. 


El Próximo Mes:

Bill Sutter presentará la propuesta de presupuesto para 08/09 (Propusimos que DAC se una a este grupo en la próxima reunión).
Fran Raudenbush, consultor del Manual para Padres.
Susan Kidd, maestra en Gold Hill. Tiene una pajarera en su clase y va a hacer una presentación sobre mariposas.  La Srta. Kidd escribió una propuesta de beca.
Elecciones para los tres puestos de presidente del Consejo de Padres del Distrito.

District Parent Council Minutes

May 21, 2008 

Tron Welch, Kimberly Copanas and Neil Fishman were voted in as the new steering team for the 08/09 school year. 

DPC meetings will be moved to the third Wed. of the month. The first meeting is Aguust 20, which is the first week of school.  The time will remain the same (6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. 

Butterfly Pavilion project:  Sue Kidder (teacher) and Gay Paxton (co-teacher) at Gold Hill Elementary presented the Butterfly Pavilion project, which illustrates life cycle and interconnectedness to kids ages kindergarten through second grade. 

By rotating years with the life-cycle projects (honey bee project, the butterfly pavilion and chicks and ducks) children learn the interconnectedness, and balance in nature.  Building on what came before can be really powerful. Impact on Education gave Gold Hill a grant for this project and the PTO donated $250.   

To contact Sue:  Sue.kidder@bvsd.org 

DAC joined DPC for the budget presentation:  Bill Sutter, Budget Director, Leslie Stafford, Chief Financial Officer, and Dave Swanson, Budget Manager

Chris King – $400 million dollars next year’s budget.  The process to develop the budget involves schools, focus groups, and reporting to Board January through May.  We try to align expenditures with our district goals.  90% of our General Fund is human resources/people.  Other funds include transportation, charters, general, athletics, grants, community schools, etc.  We get inflation of 2% + 1. Last year’s rate funds this year’s budget.  BVSD employees 1,800 teachers; and a total of approximately 4,000 employees.  We have been flat in our student enrollment. We increased .3% in student headcount, to 28,600 students that are funded by the state on a per pupil basis.   

Bill Sutter:  Budget subcommittee DAC collects data, did electronic survey and put together recommendations for the Board of Eeducation on district expenditures.   

Leslie Stafford:  BVSD is looking at improving food services for next year. 

DAC Feedback:  Fuel expenses are going up.  A budget is only a plan.  We try to build in a margin of error to protect us.   

One time funds are available and applied to priorities:  There should be approximately $4.7 million left at the end of this year.  Excesses of revenues can be used for one-time purchase the following year.    Half of the $4.7 million has been identified (Read to Achieve, staffing anomalies, bond support transition, freshman seminar, middle level advisory).  One time money is similar to grant money and doesn’t sustain programs for longer than one year. 

Do we know how many and why we BVSD is loosing students to private schools?  Glen Segure is a full-time demographer for the district and works with municipalities to monitor this subject.   

Amendment 23 – How do we do financial strategic planning beyond next year?  Because of our flat enrollments, our revenues are predictable.   

Charter Schools – How to replicate the charter experience in our BVSD schools?  BVSD has lots of focus schools and IB programs. High Peaks, Montessori, Summit and Peak to Peak have college prep programs.  Charters can have a different kind of parent engagement.  Charters have a governance structure that appeals to some parents.   

TAG – BVSD schools have quite a bit of autonomy; we are tight on goals and loose on strategies of how schools spend money they get.   

Marketing:  BVSD test scores, and the bond, is some of the best marketing.   

Compensation based on performance: There have been conversations around that.  Other districts have had significant failures in public education around pay for performance.  So far, we can’t find the right way to do that but conversations continue to happen.   

Funding for health and safety items:  We can look at hand sanitizers and hats in schools.   

Salaries/employee costs 90 % of budget. Service groups changed union affiliation.  They are the only group that changed. This has no impact other than to negotiate with a different union that had been done in the past.  

Fran Raudenbush – Hired as a consultant for parent handbooks that will be a resource in the fall.  Substance Abuse Task Force focused on risky behaviors and resources, which evolved into Parent Engagement Network (PEN).  Each school has a representative.  

Parent publication will be mailed to all parents, including charters, all teachers, administrators, principals and the table of contents is geared around parent information and health curriculum (mental health, violence, safety, wellness, nutrition, fitness, depression, and suicide).  Newsletter will be translated into Spanish.  Each school will have book clubs around this publication. The publication is grounded in a survey that Boulder County Health Dept. conducted with our students telling us what they are doing.  This book isn’t to scare or shock, but is full of resources with contact information for the issues kids face. 

The publication will be linked to the BVDS website.  It will be in the mail around the beginning of September.