Key Communique

On Friday, May 7, the Colorado General Assembly ended the 2007 session. Below is a summary of some of the public education bills that were passed. Full details of the bills and how legislators voted is available on the General Assembly Web site (http://www.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2007A/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/3F9EF23B488A1A5D872572610064DEF3?Open&file=1244_rer.pdf).

Senate Bill 26 authorizes a school district to submit a ballot question for voter approval for an additional mill levy to fund excess costs of full-day kindergarten programs. It also allows the ballot question to include an additional mill levy of a stated amount and limited duration to fund the capital construction needs of full-day kindergarten.

Senate Bill 215 regarding online education programs, creates the Division of Online Learning in the Colorado Department of Education and provides for a nine member advisory board to provide oversight, quality standards, and encourage collaboration between online programs and districts. Online programs that intend to offer instruction within a learning center will need to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU), with the school district in which center is located. If school district chooses not to enter into a MOU the online program may proceed with opening and using the center before public hearings are held.

House Bill 1048 directs the governor to appoint, and the State Department of Education to convene, a new technical advisory panel to assist in developing a longitudinal growth model to measure the academic growth of students.

The governor has signed House Bill 1118 , which requires the State Board of Education to adopt by 2008, a comprehensive set of guidelines to be used by local boards when developing graduation requirements. The governor will appoint a 12-member Graduation Guidelines Development Council to advise the State Board of Education. The guidelines will address the multiple and diverse pathways to diplomas offered by school. The new graduation guidelines will be applicable to students enrolling in ninth grade beginning August 1, 2008.

House Bill 1292 requires school districts, and teen pregnancy prevention programs that offer instruction regarding human sexuality to adopt science-based content standards for instruction. Minimum requirements include encouraging parental involvement; emphasizing abstinence from high-risk behaviors, teaching that sexual abstinence is most effective way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and infections. School districts are encouraged to involve parents and community members in the development of the content standards.

House Bill 1345 concerns revamping the School Accountability Reports (SARs). It modified previous restrictive requirements for type/font size and formatting. SARs should be primarily a source of information about a public school for parents and the information provided and language used should be easily understood by parents. The bill specifies what type of information should be included in the accountability report, including teacher qualifications, school demographics, and assessment scores. SARs should be available online.

House bill 1091 states that if a teacher in an alternative training program is unable to finish due to unforeseen circumstances the employing school district may extend for one year the completion requirement. The school district must send written evidence to the Department of Education that the teacher will finish with the one-year extension.

State law regarding the display of flags has been changed by House Bill 1050 . Only a U.S. flag or a Colorado state flag may be flown on a permanent flag pole. (Displays in schools of flags of foreign nations may be handled differently). Exception are made for prisoners of war and missing in action flags, or other appropriate veteran commemorative flags, and the display of flags of foreign nations for special, occasional, ceremonial purposes when displayed in accordance with 4 U.S.C.SEC 7 . A local Board of Education shall have the power to adopt a policy for the display of flags in public buildings of the school district.

House Bill 1244 requires a school district, to serve every gifted child . It requires school districts to develop and implement a program for the education of gifted children. Requires school districts to ensure that schools make available appropriate special provisions for gifted children; however, there is no requirement that a school district implement a program plan if funds are not available.

Board of Education public budget hearings on the 2007-08 proposed Jeffco Public Schools budget will be held during regularly scheduled Board of Education meetings on Thursday, May 31. Final adoption of the budget is scheduled for the board meeting on Thursday, June 14. All meetings will be held at 6 p.m. at the Education Services Center Board Room.

After much thought and discussion, the district has decided that Brady Exploration School will be re-structured from a K-12 school to a high school, serving grades 9 – 12 for the 2007-08 school year. Brady was put on a school improvement plan by the Colorado Department of Education. That means the district must show significant improvement in achievement scores in the next three years, or the school will be converted to a charter school. Because of the time constraints placed on Brady by this plan, significant improvement within that timeframe is almost insurmountable. Parents of Brady students were sent letters regarding the change. Questions are being handled by the Community Superintendents Office.

Was this information helpful regarding this issue?

As opinion leaders, the district depends on you to educate the community about important school district issues. At the same time, the district needs to hear from its Network on the effectiveness of this important communication program.

As of May 18, only 16 percent of the Network has completed the annual Key Communique survey. The district is asking for all Key Communicator's to take a few minutes and complete the online survey. Your feedback is extremely important, so if you have not done so already, please complete the 2007 Key Communicator's Survey.

Key Communicator Celebration of Excellence event

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, October 16 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. (Education Center, Board Room) for the third annual Key Communicator's Celebration of Excellence.

This reception is a way to say thanks to our Key Communicators and to celebrate the accomplishments of students, teachers, staff and our Jefferson County community. This wonderful evening includes individual and group represention of the best of the best in academics, athletics, arts, teachers, staff and community service. We will also again have student entertainment and demonstrations that are among the best in the state.

Military recruiters, postsecondary institutions and prospective employers recruiting

Provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requires educational institutions to provide military recruiters, institutions of higher education and prospective employers, access to secondary school students' names, addresses, and telephone listings. Colorado law states that school district's have 90 days to comply with any military recruiter's request for this information.

NCLB also states that a secondary school student or the parent of the student may request that the student's name, address and telephone listing not be released without prior written consent, and the educational institution will notify parents of this option. In response, Jeffco Public Schools has enacted a new policy, KLMA , to provide high school students with an appropriate way to obtain accurate information regarding potential careers, employers (including the military), and postsecondary educational opportunities, and to provide students convenient access to recruiters representing organizations which provide these kinds of opportunities.

Letters regarding the district's policy and the NCLB requirement will be distributed to all 8th through 12th grade students. In addition, Jeffco Public Schools will provide a form on the district's Web site for students or parents who want to opt-out of providing information to recruiters. Recruiting and opt-out information and forms will also be included in registration packets sent to Jeffco Public School students who will be registering for grades 9 -12 during high school registration in the summer 2007.

Parents or students who have questions about the recruitment opt-out policy should contact their high school student counselor for further information.

What do you think about this new policy?

Upcoming Board of Education meetings

The Board of Education holds study/dialogue sessions (Seminar Room, 4th floor) and business meetings (Board Room, 5th floor) at the Educational Services Center, 1829 Denver West Drive, Bldg #27, Golden, unless otherwise noted.