BSVDWatch.org

BVSD is part way through an independent consultant's study of the district's student food practices.  The Daily Camera did a solid job of summarizing the preliminary "scathing" reports (http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/aug/04/bvsd-takes-food-criticism/).  But, should you want to learn more, please skim the interim reports themselves. We have a new link in the left column, "BVSD Documents", there you will find a folder with the two reports (blocked out words are those censored by BVSD).

Here are some highlights:

-- Food: Read about "the ubiquitous 'Juice Alive,' a neon-colored slushie" which counts as a fruit by Federal guidelines for reimbursable meals,  "ramen soups which are an ala carte mainstay at all grade levels, which are known by their nick name of 'Sodium Soups'," and "4 mini pancakes in a cellophane wrapper that is heated in a warmer and served with maple flavored high fructose corn syrup...a very poor excuse for a nutritious breakfast..."

-- Sanitation: But "the primary area of concern" in these reports is that "basic food safety practices...are spotty."  There are concerns about lack of hair nets and aprons as well as inappropriate food service employee clothing, lack of temperature logs, no consistent linen and towel cleaning services, and inadequate practices with respect to cleaning dining rooms.  "The fact that various schools are passing Board of Health inspections means nothing, as it was clear from talking to long time managers that the Board of Health inspections are brief and perfunctory."  Sanitation is a serious problem now even when "the menu does not require much actual cooking", but becomes an even more serious problem as the district forges ahead with its fresh food salad bar program.

-- Management: "The degradation of the overall skill set both at the hourly worker level and the site managerial level has resulted in an uneven quality of service throughout the district."  A consistent theme through the reports seems to be lack of coordination between BVSD departments, such as between the Nutrition Services Department (NSD) and IT, between NSD purchasing and the warehouse, and between the janitorial services and NSD.  It appears to us that achieving the necessary significant improvements in food safety and operations may well require that Superintendent King explore meaningful changes in the administrative organization.

Many parents who read these reports will probably start packing a lunch for their students.  Unfortunately, its those children in our district who rely on school meals (i.e. those on "Free or Reduced Lunch" programs) who will suffer the most from the inadequacies of BVSD's food practices.  Its a population that seems to frequently get the worst part of the deal within BVSD.

We are also dismayed by the fact that this is not an area that has been neglected by the BVSD Board, but one that Board president Helayne Jones has worked on diligently for many years.  Well over four years ago, Helayne gave constituents an update on "my campaign priority of highlighting the importance of proper food and nutrition in our schools", explaining that "these efforts have resulted in the formation of district task force (sic) that will bring recommendations to the Board for ensuring that each student has a healthy lunch and creating district wide nutrition policies."  (Source, which was available for viewing as of the date of this posting:  http://www.helayne.org/NL_April.htm)  If proper food and nutrition has been a "priority" since the election in '03 and these preliminary reports represent BVSD's progress into '08, then we must question the Board president's credibility and ability to perform.

We are pleased to see that BVSD management has taken a small, but positive step toward addressing the numerous criticisms and recommendations outlined in an outside audit of the BVSD Information Technology organization in Spring, 2008 (see links below to the detailed audit reports). The issue BVSD addressed is the failure of IT decisions to reflect the needs of instructional curricula.

By way of background, in November, 2005, BVSD citizens passed a referendum authorizing approximately $3 million per year for computer purchases and technology support. Shortly after passage, BVSD management changed its long-standing policy of allowing schools to determine what technology should be purchased, based on curriculum-driven needs at individual schools. Instead, BVSD management mandated that all future computer purchases would be IBM-compatible PCs from a single vendor: Hewlett-Packard. At the time, more than three-fourths of BVSD computers and associated software were Apple Macintosh based. The announced reason for the rather dramatic shift in policy was to save money by purchasing computers from only one supplier; curriculum needs were not a consideration.

This decision created a significant uproar among teachers, as well as many citizens. BVSD later announced that exceptions could be made, based on individual requests to the IT organization, with an appeal process to then assistant superintendent Dr. Chris King. The reality was that requests were summarily denied by the IT organization and appeals were required for deviations from the new BVSD policy. Very few exceptions were granted.

The external IT audit, conducted by the CELT consulting firm, recommended that future technology decisions be curriculum driven. And this summer, we were excited to hear about the first such decision occurring at Boulder High. Multiple labs currently using Macintosh computers were slated for replacement with PCs. Boulder High presented convincing evidence that this would negatively impact curricula in multiple departments. In addition, Boulder High recommended, and BVSD accepted, the replacement of a current PC lab with new Macintosh computers, again, to address curriculum needs.

Curriculum-driven decision making is only one of dozens of significant recommendations within the audit report. Hopefully, this recent action is not an isolated instance, but rather the beginning of change within BVSD toward addressing the many issues within the BVSD IT organization addressed by the audit, as well as toward addressing the many other challenges facing BVSD in the future. We’ll see. For now, BVSDWatch chooses to remain cautiously optimistic.

We recommend anyone interested to download and read the reports given to BVSD by CELT.

Links to the CELT audit of the BVSD IT organization:

Board of Education Briefing: http://agendapublic.bvsd.org/AttachmentViewer.aspx?AttachmentID=1151&ItemID=1231

Performance Audit Executive Summary: http://agendapublic.bvsd.org/AttachmentViewer.aspx?AttachmentID=1198&ItemID=1231

Performance Audit Full Report: http://agendapublic.bvsd.org/AttachmentViewer.aspx?AttachmentID=1153&ItemID=1231

Since you all have an active interest in the Boulder Valley School District, we want to share with you something very important and potentially one of the most dramatic effects we could have as a community on BVSD.  

For the last few years there has been a quiet movement growing that would like to make BVSD a smaller school district. We have been talking about it at BVSDWatch.org for a while, and over the last six months we have decided that now is the time to move ahead and support such an effort. This is not an idea we take lightly, and we believe any questions you may have, we have the answers. Much of the logistical, economic and technical details are completed and ready for your review. Please visit www.bvsdcape.org for more information. In a nutshell, we feel BVSD has become too large to manage, and at this point we do not think BVSD is reaching its full potential, and therefore neither our the kids in their charge. We are mobilizing a petition drive this summer, throughout Boulder County, to bring the issue to the voters this fall.

Here is what we could have with a smaller school district:

    • Higher performing students (nationally proven).

    • School boards and management who are accountable and responsive to the community, rather than dismissive of it.

    • More involvement by parents and community members, rather than being shut out.

    • Reduced impact on traffic and community services.

The Boulder Valley School District is changing in many ways, placing greater challenges on managing it, and greater stresses within the communities it serves. Size has become the greatest obstacle to improving the quality of our schools and the education of our children. Here are some examples of how BVSD is no longer serving its constituency:

    • Louisville M.S. and Casey M.S. remodel controversies.

    • The closure of Mapleton and Washington schools, and the sale of Washington.

    • Failure to improve conditions for our ESL population.

    • “Big box, one-size-fits-all” approach to school construction and operation without regard to diverse student needs.

    • Poor management of technology, as indicated 2008 audit by outside auditors.

Please join us by starting a public discussion. This document provides additional detail on the motivation for this petition, the process, and a list of a few of our current supporters. If you are willing to support this, please allow us to add your name to that list, and be willing to sign the formal petition when it begins circulating.

We have lots of great support from fellow Boulder Valley citizens (east and west sides of the county), city council members (past and present), teachers, and many other movers and shakers within the community already. We have been on the phone for the last month gathering support and I feel we have enough support at the top of the community food chain to allow for a serious discussion. Now we need your help. Please let us know what you think. When this petition drive gets going (and we are 90% there) we will also need active supporters, petitioners, and donations. If you can help in some way let us know. This won't get far without local support.


Thanks for your time and I hope we can earn your support.

Mike McDaniel

BVSDWatch.org

Lots of neighbors and community members pitched in last Sunday to help clean up the park around Mapleton School. Many hands and many tools made for quick progress, just a couple of hours! Thanks to everyone who participated in the event, and a special thanks to Kelly Wyatt who put the event together!

Here are a few photos:

Great Turnout! 

Mapleton Alumni

Pulling the Weeds 

 The best part!

Our own Louise Benson has a guest opinion in Tuesday's Daily Camera about how the trend towards school consolidation has backfired from its original theory of saving money and creating a better education for our kids. We know this is a trend BVSD subscribes to, however BVSDWatch agrees with Louise that small is better (plenty of stats to support that idea too).

Click here to read the full article.

Article intro: 

"When small Boulder schools closed in 2003, many in Broomfield approved, thinking, "Finally some east-west equity," and some of the savings would come our way. Others here yawned, thinking, "That's not us." Our schools had been bursting at the seams for years, and had older textbooks. Our son's elementary school had 700 children, and his fifth-grade class had 33 kids with a beleaguered teacher who gave little homework.

Our aging subdivision had district-owned land for an elementary school that never got built; we got a K-8 after Broomfield threatened to form its own district with the new city and county. This K-8 school was five miles away by bus. So for middle school, we open-enrolled in a charter school promising small classes and rigorous academics, and some neighborhood kids enrolled to the existing middle school and rode their bikes.

Alas, our charter school adventure turned out poorly, and along the way I became a school activist and learned a tremendous amount about educational ills and reform, both locally and nationally. I began to see that small neighborhood schools with small classes, adequate resources and good teachers were the real answer to achievement and safety."

Click here to read the complete article.

This Friday PLAN Boulder County is having a public meeting (in a panel format) and we encourage people interested in hearing about the process moving forward with Washington School to attend. Jim Leach will be there as well as other interested parties. This is not an event to complain about the process, but to listen and participate in a civil discussion.

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Please join PLAN-Boulder County this Friday, April 18th for our Friday Noon Meeting.

Topic:
“Whither Washington School: Where it has been, where it is now, and where it is going.”
 
Panel:
Allyn Feinberg, Community Elder
Mary Young, Washington School Neighborhood
Jim Leach, Wonderland Hill Development Corp.
Charlie Zucker, Senior Urban Designer, City of Boulder
 
LOCATION:
Boulder Public Library – MAIN BRANCH
Creekside Room
 
When: Noon to 1:30 p.m.
 
This is a brown-bag event.