Direction 38! Summer “Get Educated” Forums Are Back
Last year, Direction 38! hosted four “Get Educated” forums to discuss topics of interest. Over 200 people attended. We met the brightest and most knowledgeable of our state, county, and local elected representatives, school administrators, educators, and other leaders. And we met many of our neighbors, all willing to contribute to the important discussions
Over the next few weeks, we’ll keep you informed regarding developments for the two planned forums for the 2012 summer series. We’ll publish biographies, handouts, planning guides, and other material to make sure you’re kept in the loop.
DIRECTION 38!’s Forum #1 – Mill Levy Override (MLO) is scheduled for Monday, June 11, 2012, in the Tri-Lakes YMCA Community Room. Our discussion leader is El Paso County Assessor, Mr. Mark Lowderman
Hope to see you there.
Parents See School’s Improvement Plan Up-close
For more information, contact:
Janelle Asmus, 303-866-6822 or
Megan McDermott, 303-866-2334
CDE Communications Office
All district and school improvement plans now posted online
Parents and communities can now take a closer look at their school’s performance and specific plans for improving academic results. That’s due, in part, to the state’s accountability system which now has all school improvement plans posted online and available to the public. To find school and district improvement plans, visit http://www.schoolview.org/performance.asp, select the district, then school and click “Improvement Plan.”
“Find a Book, Colorado”
NEW TOOL AIMS TO KEEP
STUDENTS READING THIS SUMMER
Colorado Commissioner of Education Robert Hammond and the Colorado State Library are urging educators and families to help students retain and develop academic skills by reading during summer vacation. The free online “Find a Book, Colorado” utility at http://www.lexile.com/fab/colorado provides a way for parents and children to quickly and easily search books that match a child’s reading level and interests as well as to locate the local library carrying each title. “Developing early literacy skills is a priority in Colorado. We must work together to encourage children to read throughout the summer,” said Commissioner Hammond. “Summer reading is a key to building knowledge and to preventing students from losing hard-earned progress gained during the school year.” Users of the search tool can also find appropriate books with a Lexile measure or without through a search using the child’s grade level and comfort with the typical reading materials at that grade level. A Lexile measure indicates the reading level of an individual or book. The search utility will produce a starting Lexile range that can be further refined. “Find a Book” also offers a Spanish option that allows users to search all of the titles with Spanish Lexile measures. Librarians, who have long promoted summer reading, are also encouraged to use “Find a Book, Colorado.” Library staff can assist parents and students with the “Find a Book” utility to help them find appropriate books that children will really enjoy reading over the summer. “Many of our Colorado libraries have outstanding summer reading programs, and the `Find a Book’ search tool complements those efforts by locating books that children might be interested in reading and directing them to local libraries that carry those titles,” said Eugene Hainer, executive director of the State Library. For more information on “Find a Book, Colorado” and other summer reading programs, visit http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/index.htm # # #
D-38 School Board Meeting Agenda for May
LEWIS-PALMER BOARD OF EDUCATION
THURSDAY, May 17, 2012
6:00 pm – The Learning Center
District Administration Building
Colorado bond companies’ role in school campaigns raises questions
The following news article was published in the Denver Post.
When Colorado citizens vote to borrow money to build new schools, a library or a recreation center, the crusader behind the curtain is often the investment banker who gets paid to sell the bonds. For those pushing bond issues in a tough economic climate, help from a bond underwriter can mean the difference between election day success and defeat. But the prevalence of bond house involvement — everything from polling to designing yard signs — also raises concerns from critics who worry they exert undue influence in a campaign. At worst, critics and experts say, governments pay bond companies extra to help pass tax increses, a potential violation of Colorado law. “It does seem like a backdoor way of using public funds (to finance campaigns),” said Colorado Ethics Watch director Luis Toro. “To say there’s no chance of corruption is totally out of touch.” The Denver Post analyzed 15 successful Colorado bond campaigns backed by large contributions from investment banks. In every case, the bank that helped finance the campaign sold the bonds. The Post found that individual school districts took as much as $137,500 from a single bond company, and that in six of the 15 campaigns, bond company donations amounted to a majority or nearly half of all contributions. By comparison, no person can give more than $1,100 to a Colorado gubernatorial candidate, and corporate gifts to state candidates are forbidden.
Read more: Colorado bond companies’ role in school campaigns raises questions – The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20603705/colorado-bond-companies-role-school-campaigns-raises-questions#ixzz1ugXPKCET
Read The Denver Post’s Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse
LEWIS-PALMER BOE MEETING HIGHLIGHTS April 19, 2012
April 19 Board of Education Meeting Highlights
The April Board of Education Meeting Highlights have been posted on the LPSD#38 website
Three Colorado schools named among first-ever U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, together with White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, announced that three Colorado school have earned the prestigious national Green Ribbon Award.
Flagstone Elementary School (Douglas County School District) in Castle Rock, Denver Green School (Denver Public Schools) in Denver and Wellington Middle School (Poudre School District) in Wellington are among 78 schools named by the U.S. Department of Education as its inaugural Green Ribbon Schools. Colorado is among 29 states and D.C. with schools receiving the first-ever awards.
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