a strong voice for kids 2nd Congressional District
a strong voice for kids 2nd Congressional District
DEHOFF: Welcomed Jane Goff to the SBE.
HUDAK: I had the first public meeting with the Graduation Guidelines Development Council; it was in Frisco. People from Summit County and Eagle County attended, although not very many. A very good discussion took place. Along with other SBE members, I attended the CASB Legislative Conference, and we presented a good workshop on the legislation that the SBE is following. Along with Dr. Ed Steinberg, State Representative Judy Solano, and others, I was a presenter at the Adams County Special Education Summit. I reviewed changes to the ECEA rules that the SBE made recently. Dr. Steinberg and Cindy Dascher from CDE explained the new procedures and developments in implementing RTI, Response to Intervention. The Special Education directors from five of the school districts in Adams County told about what they have been doing with RTI. I participated in Read Across America and read to a kindergarten class and a 4th grade class; the latter had been studying branches of government and tried to guess which branch the SBE is in – they guessed the right answer last. I mentioned that the SBE had a dinner meeting with the Anchor Group recently, which allowed for a good amount of communication and sharing.
LITTLETON: Attended the Character Education Symposium in Colorado Springs; CDE co-sponsored it. It showed that people recognize that kids need to develop things like personal responsibility and integrity – it’s nice to see these things "making a comeback." Presented at the El Pomar Leadership Conference and got a lot of interesting feedback on how money is spent in Colorado – prevention and intervention were their focus. Attended some of the other meetings that other SBE members attended.
SCHAFFER: Welcomed Goff to the Board.
SUCKLA: Welcomed Goff and said that she would not make a report because we were short on time.
Commissioner Jones said that he is very pleased with the support and knowledge shown by Jane Goff so far and is pleased to be working with/for her.
Mark Stevens, Director of Communications, introduced the newest member of CDE, replacing Tanya Price as Assistant Director of Communications (since Price was promoted to Chief of Staff) - Megan McDermott. She has a B.A. from Drake University in Journalism and Communications. She worked in Africa in the Peace Corps. She was Director of Communications for Gamma Phi Beta.
Commissioner Jones made the Board aware of a significant report, "Profiles of Success," done by CDE with funding from the Donnell-Kay and Piton foundations. It identifies 39 schools in Colorado that are "beating the odds" in student achievement for three years in a row despite having over 50% students who are high-poverty. Eight schools were targeted for further research. There were 10 commonalities among the 39, which can be considered best practices:
The Legacy Foundation will be putting together a best-practices guide on eight of these schools, and the schools will be recognized at the Commissioner’s Cup on June 25.
We got a brief initial budget review from WestEd yesterday. We will be getting the next steps soon with their final report, with further alignment with Forward Thinking. Coloreado has the least amount of state funding in the country. Our funding is a "hodge-podge" of various funding sources. He is looking at re-doing job descriptions because of concerns about how we’re using federal funding for various state positions, such as Regional Managers. In April we will receive a full report of plans for changes in CDE.
Jones is very pleased with the significant support of the JBC on CDE’s budget, despite the cuts in SBE funding. They did support $1.8 million for closing the achievement gap - the first time they have funded this. They agreed to fund 5 content specialists (in Math, Social Studies, Science, the arts, and closing the achievement gap). They added one FTE for Data Program Manager. This is a total of 6 new FTE, which will make a difference in federal funding, since it is additional state funding. The $1 million allocated for the Colorado Virtual Library will provide infrastructure for several statewide services like a statewide catalog searchable in all public libraries and some school libraries, access to AskColorado, and access to a statewide newspaper collection service (which goes from historic newspapers to current, allowing students to access articles from numerous papers in the state). Also they allocated $160,000 for a dropout prevention grant and $4.3 million for the facility summer-school programs. In total, it was an addition of over $8 million to CDE, as well as increases to School Finance.
CDE just released a report on the full-day kindergarten phase-in plan. Currently there are 36,000 kids in half-day kindergarten, plus 22,787 in full-day provided by districts’ funding (funding comes from tuition, other PPR funding, or grant funding). There are 2,454 in the Colorado Preschool and Kindergarten Program slots for kindergarten. A little over 40% of kids in the state attend full-day kindergarten. Over the last 3 years, there has been an increase in the number in full-day kindergarten. Many districts - 107 – said that 100% of their kindergarten students would enroll in full-day kindergarten if it were available. The main reason given for why students would benefit from full-day kindergarten is language development. Prioritizing of which students could access full-day kindergarten would be for most at-risk and special needs children. Districts expressed a need for facilities to provide full-day kindergarten – 130 said they already had the space, but 28 needed new classrooms (mostly urban/suburban districts). There were 22 districts that said they needed substantial renovation in order to use available classroom space for kindergarten, at a cost of $133 million. The largest need was for rest rooms for kindergarteners. Three districts – Brighton, Sterling, and Greeley – felt that they could not move forward with full-day kindergarten because of lack of money and the cost of new teachers primarily. There were 34 districts that said they could implement full-day kindergarten immediately, and 126 are already doing it; however, 16 would need a year or two to prepare facilities and staff. Districts that are already paying for full-day kindergarten would like to be able to access funding, if it becomes available. Telluride and Big Sandy said that they would rather implement a literacy program or smaller class sizes.
Jones assured the SBE that staff is listening to us; Herrmann is putting together a work group to study the issue of "seat time" vs. proficiency as the basis for school funding. They will try to pilot the plan. The group is very narrowly focused – they are NOT taking on the School Finance formula. The first meeting has not occurred. The group includes people from the Education Commission of the States, Paul Teske, Deb Gotschell, Tracy Rainey, Nina Lopez, Augenblick, Jim Christensen, and superintendents from small, medium, and large districts, as well as representatives from CASE, CASB, and CEA. Also, John Watson, an expert on online education, will participate. This effort is necessary, because the ability to determine course completion or seat time is getting "muddier all the time" ith more students in post-secondary enrollment options, supplemental online, and full-time online programs. The main impetus, however, comes from discussions the SBE had when the issue of funding passing time came up. Berman suggested they identify what the policy, funding, and educational issues might be, as well as looking at research that has already been done. Schaffer said he is glad that this is happening.
Jones is meeting with each of us individually for a mid-year review, to see if we are on course and making meaningful use of his time and the department’s. He will be doing the same thing with staff. He will do it with Cabinet members, and unit managers are encouraged to do the same with their staffs. He will do an all-staff retreat to follow up on the one they did 6 months ago; they are doing it at a minimal cost, using Adams 12’s facilities. He knows that staff feel like much is going well – excitement about getting out of silos; working with outside groups, such as the business community; really focusing on student achievement; being able to see the big picture; feeling valued and like we are all in this together; seeing the Legislature get better information about CDE’s work; and being able to reflect on past practices. They would like to see districts calling us more for help; get help developing skills for engaging in cognitive conflict rather than emotional; find ways for staff to supply input more; communicate more about CDE’s service and support to districts; and more access with the Commissioner.
(1) EDUCATOR INDUCTION PROGRAMS
Approved or re-approved the educator induction programs as follows:
[The Educator Licensing Act requires school districts hiring new and new-to district licensed educators to implement induction programs approved by the SBE. In addition, the SBE rules require a cyclical review of induction programs. The proposed program has been determined to meet State Board of Education requirements for school district induction programs.]
(2) DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS
(These remain confidential until action is taken by the Board.)
Approved notice of a hearing on April 10, 2008, on the permanent rules for the Administration of the Supplemental Online Education Grant. [Rules are required by SB07-1066 for the Supplemental Online Education Grant, specifying the procedures and time frames for applying for the grant, approving the form of the grant application, the information the grant applicant must provide, and any other criteria for awarding the grants.]
Instructed department staff to issue an initial educator license to an applicant.
(1) CONTINGENCY RESERVE LOAN FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT
Decided to provide an interest-free loan to the Bennett School District in the amount of $149,480.31, to be repaid to the Department no later than June 30, 2009, from property tax collections that will be recoverable through an abatement levy. [The SBE has the authority to make supplemental payments to school districts experiencing financial difficulties. In FY 2007-08, the appropriation for the State Public School Fund Contingency Reserve totals $4,439,728. Adams County School District 29J (Bennett) was informed by the Adams County Assessor that property owned by Great Lakes Aviation was omitted from amounts included for the 2007 certification of assessed valuation under abatements. Therefore, following discussions with the State Property Tax Division, Adams County has agreed to include the abatement of $149,480.31 in the 2008 certification of values as an abatement. Due to the consistently low percentage of collection of property taxes by Bennett (approximately 93% of total), the District has requested assistance from the State Public School Fund Contingency Reserve.]
(2) AMENDMENTS TO RULES FOR BUDGET LAW
Approved amendments to the rules for Budget Law, as discussed during the rulemaking hearing on February 14, 2008. [Rules for Budget Law have not been updated since 1994. Legislation has been passed that has affected various elements of the rules for Budget Law. Significant changes have occurred in this section of law with the expansion of choice involving charter schools and the Charter School Institute and related reporting requirements. Additionally, FY2003-2004 legislation drove multiple changes in budget law due to financial deficiencies in two school districts. The proposed rule revisions incorporate all of the statutory changes and bring the rules into compliance with current accounting practices. Also of importance is that the statutes referring to the budget law are cited within the Accreditation Indicators, again elevating the importance of bringing these rules into alignment with statute. The proposed rule changes have been reviewed by the Financial Policies and Procedures Advisory Committee with recommendation to forward the proposed changes to the State Board. The State Board held a hearing on the proposed rules at the February 14, 2008 meeting.]
(3) AMENDMENTS TO RULES FOR ACCOUNTING AND REPORTING
Approved amendments to the rules for Accounting and Reporting, as discussed during the rulemaking hearing on February 14, 2008. [Rules for Accounting and Reporting have not been updated since 1994. Legislation has been passed that has affected various elements of the rules for Budget Law. Significant changes have occurred in this section of law with the expansion of choice involving charter schools and the Charter School Institute and related reporting requirements. Additionally, FY2003-2004 legislation drove multiple changes in budget law due to financial deficiencies in two school districts. The proposed rule revisions incorporate all of the statutory changes and bring the rules into compliance with current accounting practices. Also of importance is that the statutes referring to the budget law are cited within the Accreditation Indicators, again elevating the importance of bringing these rules into alignment with statute. The proposed rule changes have been reviewed by the Financial Policies and Procedures Advisory Committee with recommendation to forward the proposed changes to the State Board. The State Board held a hearing on the proposed rules at the February 14, 2008 meeting.]
(4) FACILITY AND SAFETY PRIORITIES FOR CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION
Adopted "facility and safety priorities" for public school capital construction. [SB07-041 establishes within the department an Advisory Committee for Public School Capital Construction to develop "Facility and Safety Priorities" and execute a priority assessment of school buildings and facilities in small rural school districts. The Advisory Committee was established by the State Board on August 30, 2007. The attached "Facility and Safety Priorities" have been developed by the Advisory Committee and will be used as a foundation to review grant applications and assist in conducting the Grant Priority Assessment of Colorado School Facilities. The resulting Grant Priority Assessment database will be applied by the advisory committee with review of Capital Construction Grants to help ensure that grant moneys will be used to accomplish viable top priority projects at a reasonable cost for recommendation of award to the SBE. The Capital Construction Grant Program began as a result of the Giardino vs. the Colorado State Board of Education lawsuit in 1999. This lawsuit was settled through passage of SB 00-181 which became law in 2000 creating the Capital Construction Grant Program. This program has successfully distributed funds across Colorado for school facility remodels and new construction since 2000.]
Recognized the accomplishments of the Title I Distinguished Teacher Bonnie Staack and the Distinguished Principal Paul Urioste. [Each year the Consolidated Federal Programs unit collects nominations for a Title I Distinguished Teacher. And for the first time, nominations were collected for a Title I Distinguished Principal. There is a detailed nomination process which requires data documenting their success in the classroom or school building to be submitted to the review team. Each recipient received a $5,000 award and recognition ceremony at their school. This year, the Title I Distinguished Teacher is Bonnie Staack, who is a 1st/2nd grade teacher at Ellis Elementary School in Denver Public Schools. The Distinguished Principal is Paul Urioste from Billie Martinez Elementary in the Greeley School District.]
Windler said that these people are "beating the odds" in student achievement. He said that the opportunity is through NCLB funding and programs (i.e., Title I).
Paul Urioste, along with Renae Dreier, Greeley’s Superintendent, spoke with us. Urioste’s experience says that people who work in schools like Billie Martinez Elementary want to make a difference in children’s lives, especially highly impacted kids. It is an honor and humbling experience to work there, and he truly believes there are others who equally deserve the award. He has had great support from teachers, community members, students, and the superintendent. Why does he think his school won? It has aligned curriculum, even with after-school programs. Teachers meet to discuss kids and data. They talk about kids. Their full-day kindergarten program is very important. They have before-and after-school programs. Title I funding, for things such as full-day kindergarten, makes the difference. Accountability is a key piece in the system. Dr. Dreier said that two years ago Paul was at a different school, and she asked him to move to this school. The school has been known as a school with great challenges. She said he has the will to do this work; it’s one thing to know how to do it, but having the will despite the challenges is important. The community is very proud of the school’s improvement. Leadership is essential, to pull it all together. Schaffer said that the success of the Greeley district is famous.
Bonnie Staack, along with Khoa Nguyen, principal of Ellis Elementary, spoke with us next. Staack said its success is due to knowing that students know they are important. Skills learned in 1st grade will be used for the rest of their lives. It is a joy to work with young children. She has high expectations. She takes small steps and builds on them continuously. She works a building community in the classroom – so students develop self-control and self-responsibility. The Title I funds help address diverse needs, helping to develop a professional learning community, provide substitutes so teachers can attend conferences, and provide additional curricular supplies. The students in the school speak between 25-28 languages; many are refugees from war-torn countries. Their parents work several jobs. The school takes the responsibility to provide enrichment and make up for what was missed in the kids’ first 5 years of life. Economic circumstances and hard home life aside, they encourage kids to feel successful. Some kids speak English, some are learning it, and some are new and speak no English. Every child is respected for what he or she is. They stay focused on the needs of all students. Ellis has weekly meetings, for sharing data and helping staff work collaboratively. They tap into individual strengths of all teachers. The RTI model is used. They share ideas and strategies that have worked. Teachers strive to have the same vision and good teamwork. They teach kids respect, self-control, and responsibility. A strong classroom builds a strong foundation. Nguyen said that Staack was a semi-finalist for Teacher of the Year and that she is truly a teacher leader. He asked us to visit the school. Both said how honored they are to be here today. Suckla said that Staack embodies the perfect teacher, giving students love and inspiration.
CDE has been named as a defendant in litigation filed by the Mesa County Board of County Commissioners and others concerning the constitutionality of SB07-199. This legislation directed that, for many school districts, the local mill levy used to fund the local share of education costs be frozen at 2006 levels. The SBE did not take a position on the so-called mill levy freeze when the legislation was being considered. The lawsuit asserts that the mill levy freeze violates Article X, Section 20, of the Colorado Constitution (known as TABOR) since there was no statewide election in connection with the adoption of the legislation. The lawsuit as filed named only the CDE as a defendant. Since then, the Governor and the State have intervened in the lawsuit. The Department filed a motion to dismiss with the Denver District Court asserting that the Department is not a proper defendant. Judge Habas denied that motion.
The SBE has directed its counsel to proceed with defending the lawsuit on the merits. While this was a decision of a majority of the Board in order to gain clarity on an important constitutional issue, it does not mean that all individual members of the Board believe that the mill levy freeze is constitutional.
Approved emergency Type III educator authorizations for 12 initially and 3 renewals on a vote of 5:2 (DeHoff and Littleton dissented). [Local districts may request Type III Emergency Authorization to employ non-licensed teachers, principals, administrators, or special services providers if they agree to provide an induction program. The SBE’s approval is based on consideration of whether the district has demonstrated a shortage of licensed personnel and the employment of non-licensed personnel is essential to preserving the instructional program and to the well-being of the children enrolled.]
Approved the emergency rules for the Administration of the Supplemental Online Education Grant. [Rules are required by SB07-1066 for the Supplemental Online Education Grant, specifying the procedures and time frames for applying for the grant, approving the form of the grant application, the information the grant applicant must provide, and any other criteria for awarding the grants. Emergency rules are being adopted so that the grants can be given out as required by the statute.]
Adopted the emergency and permanent rules discussed yesterday at the March 5 meeting for the Administration, Certification, and Oversight of Colorado Online Programs. [The SBE adopted emergency rules at the January 2008 meeting to meet the requirements of SB 07-215. At the February meeting, a hearing was held to review the emergency rules and consider additional amendments. The rules create Quality Standards to apply to any agreement entered into by a multi-district online program and a school district, as well as timelines and processes for application, reporting, certification, and monitoring of online programs. Approval for the location of a proposed Learning Center is contingent on any and all conditions listed therein. The version of the rules submitted today have been revised based on recommendations from the Online Advisory Panel, interested persons and entities, and public comment accepted at the February 14 rulemaking hearing, including those comments following the rulemaking hearing up to February 19, and publicly extended to February 21 because of the Presidents Day holiday.]
Adopted emergency and permanent rules heard yesterday at the March 5 public hearing for the Administration of the Longitudinal Analysis of Student Assessments. [The Governor’s Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) for the Longitudinal Analysis of Student Assessment has been directed under HB 07-1048 to recommend to the SBE a statistical model appropriate for measuring student academic growth and an improvement award method. The growth model shows how much growth students make in one year and how much growth is necessary for them to be Proficient or Advanced on CSAP. Growth percentiles are planned to be used for accountability purposes (SAR, Accreditation, etc.)]
(1) Adopted the Administrative Law Judge’s Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law found in paragraphs 1-4, 5-6, and 9-11, and rejected the Conclusions of Law found in paragraphs 7-8 and 12 of the Initial Decision, and furthermore, accepted the Exceptions filed by the Board’s counsel and entered a Final Agency Order reflecting that Candace Hoff’s substitute teacher authorization application should also be denied on the basis that her felony convictions render her unfit to perform the services authorized by the license and that Candace Hoff’s substitute teacher application should be denied on the basis that she is guilty of unethical behavior as she has several criminal convictions and she failed to disclose all of the convictions of her application.
(2) Rejected the Exceptions filed by Sandra Guilford and adopted the Administrative Law Judge’s Initial Decision in its entirety as the Board’s Final Agency Order.
Instructed department staff to issue an initial educator license to the applicant (vote was 5:2; Littleton and Schaffer dissented).
HB 1335 – We voted on the Board’s position on the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) bill. Suckla renewed her request that our support be conditional on an amendment be signed to the settlement of Giardino lawsuit. Littleton said that while she supports the essence of the bill, she is concerned that the SBE does not have full power over the agency overseeing the program, because it is a Type 1 agency with rulemaking authority. Suckla said that she has the same concern, but it is not enough to prevent her from supporting the bill. She said it’s taken 130 years to build the Permanent Fund to its current level, and we should continue to push on our agenda for School Trust Lands. Berman urged all of us to support the bill, because a unanimous vote would be stronger and show our support for school capital construction, which is very much needed in the state. The vote was 6:1; Littleton dissented.
HB 1204 – We voted on the Board’s position on the Eligible Facilities bill. The fiscal note has been drastically reduced and CDE staff is "comfortable" with it. Littleton asked if it is possible to implement the timeline for appointing the board, which is by November 1, thus we would have to do it at our October meeting. We can ask for a change of the date by which the SBE must assign the board in the bills. The vote to support the bill was unanimous.
SB 129 – We voted on the Board’s position on the School Nutrition Beverages Policy. Berman said that she agrees with DeHoff’s concern about government "intrusion" on certain issues, but she said that it is not disputable that there is an increasing problem of childhood obesity – it has tripled or quadrupled in the past few years, largely because of consumption of soft drinks. In this case, it is about the school system providing unhealthy beverages. She thinks it is appropriate for the SBE to weigh in on kids’ health. I said it is important to limit the amount of sugar – regular soda pop has an average of 12 teaspoons of sugar, which makes it hard for students to sit still and concentrate. Also, bad nutrition and excess of sugar has been linked to ADHD. DeHoff said that he is concerned about the government replacing parents’ responsibilities; he does not think that it is necessary to limit beverages sold at schools and that people should have the choice. Littleton said that she concurs with DeHoff. Suckla said that it should be a matter of individual choice and she fears this would impact districts’ finances. The vote was 3:4 (the Republicans dissented). Therefore, the SBE position is to oppose the bill.
We decided to revisit the issue of our meeting schedule for discussing legislative matters. We are considering meeting every other week. Suckla asked if a Monday morning meeting is better or a Friday afternoon meeting. Barkis said she prefers Fridays; however, it would make it harder for her to prepare up-to-date information because the House and Senate Education Committees meet on Thursday afternoons. She would like to give us information at least 24 hours in advance. We decided to meet every other week, on Mondays, except for April, as follows: March 17 and 31, April 9 and 18, and May 5. The April 9 meeting will be during the SBE Work Session and the meeting on the 18th will be in the afternoon.
L. MORROW: Has been working on a fuel cell issue for a long time. Looking at start-up costs of $100,000 to bring in $3 billion. [He went on and on about technical details.]
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