HUDAK’S BOARD NOTES – APRIL 2008

NEW SBE WEB ADDRESS

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VACANCIES ON GIFTED ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The State Advisory Committee for Gifted and Talented Education has vacancies for 3-year terms beginning July 2008 in Congressional Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 for the following positions: 3 community members, 2 parents, and 1 educator. The committee meets 4-5 times per year. Each nominee must submit a letter of intent and a brief biography or resume. Application information is available through the Membership Committee of the State Advisory Committee and on the Gifted Education web page: http://www.cde.state.co.us/gt/gtadvco.htm.

SBE Work Session (Wednesday, April 9, 2008):

• PRESS REGARDING SBE MEETINGS – Chairwoman Pam Suckla made a statement to set the record straight about meetings of the SBE that the press alleged were "secret" and in violation of the open meetings law (also known as the "Sunshine Law"). She explained that these meetings were executive sessions, which are legal for us to hold with our attorneys concerning disputes that are the subject of pending or imminent legal action.　 Our executive session on March 6 followed the court’s denial of our request to be dismissed from the lawsuit on the mill levy stabilization; we needed to discuss with our attorneys what should be the next steps in litigation. Because of the high visibility of the lawsuit and the public interest in the SBE's decision about the ongoing suit, the statement read into the record following the March 6 meeting (and summarized in my Board Notes for March) provided information about the Board's decision to defend the suit on the merits. Suckla said that it is not appropriate for Board members to disclose confidential information from an executive session. She said that although individual SBE members have chosen to express their views about the SBE's collective decision regarding this lawsuit, an individual Board member may not waive attorney-client privilege without the entire Board's approval. Suckla emphasized that the SBE tried to extract itself from the lawsuit, but the plaintiffs, "who claim to be concerned about　state resources, could have agreed to the motion and saved the taxpayers the legal bill that this case will require."
• HEARING ON RULES FOR ACCREDITATION – We held a hearing on the proposed amendments to the rules for the Accreditation of School Districts. The amendments were based on feedback received from the field, changes in law, and goals of the Commissioner’s Forward Thinking plan. Also, the rules were reorganized to be clearer, with sections specifying the Accreditation Indicators that need to be reported, the Accreditation Categories, and the components of the Accreditation Contract. The categories have been changed to Accredited, Accreditation Notice with Support, Accreditation Probation, and Nonaccredited. The District Accreditation Indicators will include achievement of student outcomes that will be determined annually from data on CSAP and ACT scores and graduation rates. I succeeded in adding two provisions: (1) merging the requirements for annual improvement planning in the Accountability Act and the Accreditation rules into one Educational Improvement Plan, and (2) requiring "evidence of parental and community involvement" in the development of the plan.
• CHANGES TO THE SAR – Because of bills passed last year, CDE is working on making changes to the School Accountability Reports (SARs). The most substantive change is in the calculation of the Academic Growth Rating, which will now be based on longitudinal growth according to the rules passed by the SBE last month. Many of the charts and tables on the SAR will change in terms of information presented. The panel "Questions Parents Should Ask" will be replaced with "School Information." The new SARs will be released this December.
• RESOLUTION ON ABSTINENCE EDUCATION – Peggy Littleton asked to have a resolution added to the agenda that "seeks Title V funding for teacher training and staff development related to comprehensive sexuality education that emphasizes relationship skills, parental involvement, and abstinence as primary prevention for sexual health, and encourages parental involvement and includes healthy family formation." CDE staff researched the answers to questions about the program posed by SBE members. They found out that Title V is for abstinence-only education, and that the Governor would be required to support an agency’s request to run the program, which Ritter has declined to do. An informal poll of SBE members on the resolution showed a 3:3 split, with Berman, Suckla, and me opposing it (Jane Goff was absent this week because of a trip out of the country that had been scheduled before she was appointed to fill the vacancy).
• RESOLUTION ON SBE EXPENSES – Bob Schaffer asked to have a resolution added to the agenda that "directs the Colorado Department of Education to post the Board’s operating expenditures on the Internet for public inspection" so that "the report format clearly state reimbursements and expenditures made on behalf of individual Board members broken down on a member-by-member basis." Suckla said that she would like this to be discussed in the context of our discussion about CDE’s budget at the Board Retreat in May. Elaine Berman said she is concerned about the resolution because some members, like herself and Schaffer, do not ask for reimbursement of expenses, and it could make the members who need to do so look "bad."

SBE Regular Meeting (Thursday, April 10, 2008):

• MOTION REGARDING MILL LEVY LAWSUIT – Schaffer attempted to add an item onto the agenda for us to hold a public vote on whether or not the SBE should defend itself in the mill levy stabilization lawsuit. (According to the SBE’s operating procedures, items cannot be added to the agenda at the last minute without a unanimous vote.) Randy DeHoff said that the vote would "set a dangerous precedent in waiving attorney-client privilege." He said it’s our duty to uphold the law, not to make the decision about whether the mill levy freeze was Constitutional – "that will be done by the court." He pointed out that we have never before taken a vote on whether to defend ourselves in a lawsuit, citing both the Giardino and the Lobato lawsuits, in which "there may have been a majority of the Board who agreed with the plaintiffs." The vote on Schaffer’s motion was 2:4 (only Schaffer and Littleton supported it), so it failed.
• POSITIONS ON BILLS – We voted to take positions on several bills. On HB 1384, Improving the Retention of Quality Educators, we were split (3 to oppose, 2 to monitor, and 1 to support), so we will monitor it. On HB 1370, Increasing School Counselors in Secondary Schools, we decided unanimously to support the bill. On HB 1386, Creation of a School Leadership Program Within CDE, we decided to support the concept of the bill but ask for amendments to improve the funding and to eliminate the provision of a board to run the program. We also received a briefing on HB 1388, the School Finance Act. PLEASE NOTE: The SBE meeting to discuss legislation scheduled for Friday, April 18, has been changed to Monday, April 21, at 11 a.m.

APPEALS ON MOU DENIALS OF HOPE ON-LINE LEARNING ACADEMY

• COLORADO SPRINGS DISTRICT 11 – The majority decision of the SBE was in favor of the Hope On-Line Learning Academy (HOLLA) regarding the refusal of Colorado Springs School District 11 to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding for HOLLA to operate a learning center within the boundaries of the district. The vote was 4:2 (Berman and I dissented; Goff was absent).
• HARRISON SCHOOL DISTRICT – Regarding the refusal of the Harrison School District to enter into an MOU for HOLLA to operate a learning center within the boundaries of the district, we ruled unanimously in HOLLA’s favor, because the Harrison board of education failed to formally vote on whether to enter into the MOU.

GRANTS OF EXCLUSIVE CHARTERING AUTHORITY

On votes of 4:0 (DeHoff recused himself, Goff was absent for the meeting, and Schaffer was temporarily absent during this part of the meeting), we granted exclusive chartering authority for one year as follows:

• For these districts with no discernible history of authorizing charter schools – Delta, Mapleton, Englewood, Garfield, and Fountain Fort Carson.
• For these districts with greater percentages of students on Free/Reduced Lunch in their charter schools than the district – Colorado Springs District 11 and Montrose.
• For these districts with more than three percent of students in charter schools, above the state average of 6.62 percent – Cheyenne Mountain, Greeley, Brighton, Adams 12, Lewis-Palmer, and Academy District 20.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• April 16 – I will make a brief speech greeting the attendees of the Reading First Conference, 8 a.m. at the Doubletree Hotel on Quebec Street in Denver.
• April 21 – The SBE will meet at 11 a.m. to discuss legislation (NOTE change of date).

• May 5 – The SBE will meet at 9 a.m. to discuss legislation.
• May 12 – The annual Reading Summit will be held, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Adams Mark Hotel in Denver.
• May 14 – SBE Work Session, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• May 15 – SBE Regular Meeting, with hearings on contested grants of exclusive chartering authority.
• May 16 – SBE Retreat, at a location to be determined.
• June & July – No SBE meetings, unless otherwise announced.