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EVIE’S BOARD NOTES – SEPTEMBER 2006

Welcome to another edition of Hudak’s Board Notes.

SBE Work Session (Wednesday, September 13, 2006)

SBE LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES – We continued working out the wording of our Legislative Priorities for the 2007 session. We added to what we had decided on last month, including items regarding post-secondary education options, online education, and early childhood, as well as increased funding for libraries, school capital construction, and the "categoricals" (special education, gifted/talented education, English language acquisition, vocational education, and transportation).
FOX WORKING FOR CDE – Commissioner Moloney announced the hiring of Phil Fox, formerly the Executive Director of CASE (Colorado Association of School Executives), to work as a liaison to superintendents in the state. He will chair the newly formed Colorado Superintendents Advisory Council, which is to be made up of the chairs of the various state superintendents groups. Fox said that they will advise CDE on issues related to data, the shortage of special education teachers, and declining enrollment.
ACCREDITATION CHANGES – Gerry Difford, Special Assistant to the Commissioner, reported that he and Assistant Commissioner Gary Sibigtroth will have a proposal for the Board to consider by December for changes in the rules for Accreditation. They have been meeting with various education stakeholders and gathering suggestions. The plan is for the SBE to pass the new rules early in 2007; districts would then have until June 30, 2007, to create their new Accreditation Contract for our approval.
ADAMS 14 PRESENTATION – John Lange, superintendent of the Adams 14 School District in Commerce City, made a presentation about what the district has been doing to improve student achievement. The district serves a student population with about 80% on free/reduced lunch and with 61% whose parents have not graduated from high school. The district, which has been one of the lowest-performing in the state, made a number of changes to raise their student achievement, including increased art and music programs in elementary school through high school, the Positive Behavior Support program, research-based literacy programs, and teacher pay incentives for improved test scores.

SBE Regular Meeting (Thursday, September 14, 2006)

AMENDMENT 39 – We did not reach consensus on passing a resolution opposing Amendment 39 (the ballot issue putting into the state Constitution the requirement that districts spend 65% of their funding on a few specific items) or Referendum J (the ballot issue which amends state statute to mandate 65% spending for several specific items). Every member of the SBE expressed opposition to both Amendment 39 and Referendum J. However, the Commissioner warned us that we might have a conflict of interest if the proposals pass and we then have to write rules to implement them. The decision was to have CDE staff write "talking points" about the financial impacts of both proposals.
CSAN AWARD TO SIBIGTROTH – I called upon my fellow members of CSAN (the Colorado State Accountability Network) to present with me the 2^nd annual Roscoe Davidson Accountability Award to Assistant Commissioner Gary Sibigtroth. Dr. Sibigtroth has been instrumental in facilitating CSAN’s regional trainings for district accountability committees around the state during the last two years. Dr. Davidson, who retired from CDE last year and received the award last year, came in person to commend Sibigtroth for receiving it.
MOU WITH CCHE – The SBE approved a Memorandum of Understanding with CCHE (Colorado Commission on Higher Education) required by state law for the adoption of a policy to share student data; the document given to us for approval had been drafted by CDE and CCHE staff. Polis and Middleton both said that there were some changes they would like to be made in it, so I suggested that we delay approval until those changes are made. Nevertheless, a majority of the Board wanted to approve it immediately and send it on to CCHE for their approval, so we agreed to write a letter to CCHE explaining the changes we propose.
POWERBALL SPILLOVER FUNDS – We approved a list of school capital construction projects totaling $4.9 million to be paid from the Powerball "spillover" funds. The total amount of Powerball funds that can be used for capital construction this year is $12.5 million. CDE staff will solicit additional applications for the balance of the funding. The requirements for these funds are the same as those for the Giardino lawsuit settlement funds.
CONTRACT FOR CSAPA – We approved the contract with CTB/McGraw-Hill for the Colorado Student Assessment Program Alternate, in an amount not to exceed $1 million for the first year. The CSAPA is given to students in grades 3-10 with significant cognitive disabilities.
CSEAC ANNUAL REPORT – The Colorado Special Education Advisory Committee made its annual report to the Board. CSEAC is required by state and federal law to advise CDE on matters relating to special education. Colorado has about 85,000 students in special education. This past year, CSEAC worked on creating the following position statements: "Response to Intervention (RTI) in Colorado Schools," "Recruiting and Retaining High Quality Special Education Teachers," and "Individualized Transition Planning and Services for Students with Disabilities." Ed Steinberg, Assistant Commissioner for the Exceptional Student Services Unit, told the Board that CSEAC has greatly appreciated my work with them during the past 6 years, as the State Board’s liaison to the committee.

Charter School Appeal Hearing (Wednesday, September 13, 2006)

In the Ridgeview Classical Academy Charter School’s appeal of the unilateral conditions imposed on it by the Poudre School District for the renewal of the charter, the SBE voted to remand the matter back to the parties for continued negotiations. The vote was 5:1 (I dissented; Munn was absent, and Schaffer "excused" himself because his son attends the school).

UPCOMING EVENTS

October 4-5 – SBE Work Session and Regular Meeting at CDE (note that this is one week earlier than usual, so that we can attend the annual conference of the National Association of State Boards of Education during the second week of October).