BSVDWatch.org

Broomfield High School students and staff were exposed to airborne asbestos after a boiler rupture last November. BVSDWatch Broomfield representative Louise Benson, MD, asked BVSD Communications Director Briggs Gamblin a series of questions about the district's response to this incident, and grades BVSD on it. The overall grade is less than satisfactory.

The following is from John Gless the frontman for the Washington School group:


The petition drive obviously generated a wave of media coverage and one-on-one community visibility that we have ridden a long way.  Unfortunately, it hasn't yet lead to any real breakthroughs.  So as this continues to slog along, we need to continue building community support even while the project work is under the public's radar.

This is what the Kloberdanz/Smoke video project is all about - (see their initial installment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOI3pySNC6o)   community outreach that generates community support.  I checked www.crowdfunder.com today and it shows us averaging $100 per day with 23 days left to fund the video project.  Not bad for CrowdFunder, but also not enough to get this video off the ground.  In case you don't know how CrowdFunder works, if an item doesn't reach its target amount ($5,000 in this case) then none ($0) of the money that's pledged is actually conveyed from donors to recipients - it's a non-transaction.  So unless the average approaches $200 per day the rest of the way, there won't be any money to help produce this video, and that would be a shame.

Our video will document the rather disgraceful and ingenuous politics behind the closure decision and the struggle to keep the site from being unnecessarily defaced.  The great thing about that is the coverage of the struggle from here on out will be done in real time, not as something strictly from people's memories. 

This could be documentary filmmaking with both immediacy and purpose, and it can get done with very little money and very high quality due the skills of the producers and the ideas and energy from all of you.  I'm sure we'd love to get it done for zero money, as that's basically been the WSNA way up until now; but we can't get by forever just on freebies.  So please contribute by visiting CrowdFunder to make a pledge, and ask your friends who aren't on this list to do the same.  Isn't it worth a few bucks to have a direct impact on something that touches so many people and so many public policies? 

Disregarding the wishes of many Louisville community members, the BVSD committee in charge of overseeing the rebuilding of the Louisville Middle School has decided to not keep any portion of the 1930's building.

Click here for the Feb. 12th Daily Camera article.

Click here for the Feb. 12th Denver Post article. 

BVSDWatch.org is disappointed that this issue did not have more time and community input. There is obviously a disconnect between BVSD and their constituents east of Boulder. The Louisville Middle School is a community landmark of emotional and historical significance that cannot be brushed off with a wave of the hand. If money is the main issue (as talked about in the Camera article), we would like to see more effort by BVSD to talk with the leaders in Louisville to see if and how that could be overcome. We also recommend anyone interested in keeping the issue alive to contact Chris King and the Louisville city council members and express their disappointment.

Chris King, 303.447.5100, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Louisville website for council contact info. 

Don't forget there is also a Louisville website where you can go for updated info on the issue. 

Video: 

"Rob Smoke interviews John Gless about the current debate over the future of the Washington School in Boulder, Colorado. January 30th, 2008"

Letter in today's Daily Camera about BVSD's response to north Boulder school closures:

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/02/no-headline---02elet/

BVSDWatch has been concerned about the use of Zero Tolerance discipline in BVSD,
which is defined as the use of harsh school and legal consequences for a wide
range of student misbehavior. We began a dialogue with BVSD with the Commentary
by BVSDWatch member Louise Benson (click on the Commentary tab above). Dr. Benson has
raised the issue in BVSDWatch's bimonthly meetings with new Superintendent Dr. Chris King,
and in recent email conversations.

(Click the "Read More..." button to the right to continue the article.)