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Saturday, 26 January 2008 |
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Finally, through the bulldog efforts of S.O.S. Boulder Valley and numerous citizens still asking BVSD the reasoning behind the closures of Mapleton and Washington schools, Jean Paxton has asked for, and since received, a response from BVSD about the closures. Jean sent a "Request for Information" form to Chris King December 10th , 2007, and received a reply January 3rd, 2008, the respondents being Glen Segrue and Bill Sutter. Click on this link to download and read the reply from BVSD. We also have a document that S.O.S. Boulder Valley sent out at the time of the closings, refuting much of the public reasoning BVSD had for the closures. Click here to read their statement on why BVSD should have kept the schools open. BVSDWatch.org supports the efforts of S.O.S. and we hope this is first of many questions BVSD board members will be asking about the closures. We feel the reply from BVSD this month has some important holes and non-truths in it and we recommend you read for yourself. Some comments from BVSDWatch.org members after reading the BVSD report: • Closure decisions were based solely on the BVSD staff assumption that enrollment was declining. Enrollment has actually increased. • This report says that the closure decision was not made on projections of enrollment for any single neighborhood but instead on the determination that Mapleton and Washington did not have the "benefit" of full-time principals and other specialists. This is re-writing history. This issue was never raised by staff. Any parent with kids at Mapleton or Washington will tell you that part-time specialists worked well and were never so problematic that the schools should be closed. • We find it interesting that BVSD staff still states that Foothills, Flatirons and Whittier can take the overflow from the closures of Washington and Mapleton. Whittier has a lengthy waiting list and has had one for years. Foothills has had and still does have portables, and there was a very well attended meeting at Flatirons last week to address the large class sizes. If you have questions about the report please contact your BVSD representative from the link to the left. |
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Saturday, 26 January 2008 |
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Due to BVSDs move to Channel 22, we are no longer able to deliver BVSD board meetings to our website as easily as before. Through Channel 8 (the previous channel Boulder Valley could watch the BVSD board meetings on) we could capture the video through our computer since Channel 8 webcast their programming. Channel 22 does not webcast their programming and we would have to contact BVSD and order a DVD of the meeting, usually encurring a delay of a few days (and travel time that is hard to work into our schedules). No fault of BVSD at all, just the way things have turned out. We will do our best to figure out alternatives. If you have suggestions, or would like to volunteer to capture the BVSD board meeting and FTP them to our site, please contact us. |
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Sunday, 20 January 2008 |
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There are issues that Boulder city residents care about, and then there are the ones that they REALLY care about. Reading The Daily Camera article from January 19th, 2007, we can see how many Boulder citizens are concerned about keeping the integrity of the Boulder cityscape. Here is a direct link to the .PDF file with the distribution pattern of petition signatures from around Boulder. We at BVSDWatch.org hope this trend of fighting back for the integrity of one's neighborhood (and its' schools) will continue, and we also hope BVSD and the City Council are paying attention. If you add the contentious Louisville Middle School preservation issue to this one, we have a feeling this could be just the beginning.... |
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Sunday, 20 January 2008 |
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Chris King has reconsidered the construction plans for Louisville Middle School and requested the advisory team assigned to approve plans for the school to also reconsider the total demolition of the historic school and think of alternatives. King asked they reconsider their current plans and think how they could keep the historic facade. Here is the link to the Dail Camera article from January 19th, 2007. We applaude Chris King's efforts to have the advisory team reconsider their decision and we hope they make the right decision and keep the school's facade, as the Louisville community has so vehemently expressed. |
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Monday, 17 December 2007 |
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A new group who is concerned about how BVSD is implementing their "Green" initiatives relating to last year's 3A bond for capital improvements is taking them to task. This kind of oversight is important and we hope you, our readers, will assist this group by paying attention to what is going on in your local neighborhood school, and reporting back to them and us what you see as unfulfilled promises. Don't let any of the money promised to your school slip away. Pay attention and ask questions. Here is a statement from this new group: Greening Boulder Valley Schools
A group of parents, teachers, administrators and concerned citizens has come together because we believe that BVSD’s capital improvement program (which will renovate many of our schools with funds from last year’s bond measure) is not living up to the language of the bond. The measure calls for “implementing cost-effective, environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient design and construction strategies.”
While most of the projects incorporate green elements, trade-offs between necessary improvements, such as classroom space, and green features, such as high performance windows, have meant that many green features have been dropped from school wish lists.
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Read more...
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Thursday, 06 December 2007 |
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Here is a good letter to the Broomfield Enterprise paper about BVSD's decision to have high schools decide for themselves in ..."recognizing valedictorians or salutatorians based solely on cumulative GPA rankings."
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Wednesday, 05 December 2007 |
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For those interested, here are the BVSD student enrollment numbers as of October 2007. The October Count reports can be found on the web in three parts:
Current Year Head Count Summary (PDF)
- Funded Student Count by school and grade
Current Year FTE Summary (Web Link)
- Full Time Enrollment count by school and grade
Current Year Special Programs Summary (PDF)
- Breakdown of school programs by school and grade
The above links, as well as other BVSD budget related items, can be found here: http://www.bvsd.org/Budget/default.aspx |
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