Mike Miles, the founder of the Third Future network of charter schools in Texas and Colorado, appears to be considering opening another charter school, this one in Woodland Park. On Saturday 1/15, Illingworth and Witt gave him tours of several district buildings – Columbine Elementary, Gateway Elementary, and the Middle School (well, what’s left of it after it was carved up for Merit Academy). Board President Rusterholtz was unaware of this and no announcement was made, and it was only through keen observation by community members that we were even made aware of it.
His two local schools are Coperni 2 and Coperni 3, both in Colorado Springs. Witt helped bring Coperni 2 to that district through his work at ERBOCES (though back then it was called Colorado Digital BOCES).
The Thompson School District Reform Facebook account has a great writeup, with lots of links, summarizing where we’re at, and how we got here. Check it out below.
After the shitshow that was the 12/21/22 board meeting, this one proved only slightly calmer (link to agenda). Though the police were called to this one when one audience member spoke up and refused to leave. Tensions were high leading up to this…not only was it going to be Witt’s first appearance as the new interim superintended, but he was going to presenting some unknown policy changes (first reading, not a vote). Also, the board was going to take action on a “Social Studies Academic Standard Resolution” to be read by board director Sue Patterson. What resolution, you say? We didn’t know, that’s all the info we had and there had been no discussion leading up to this.
So, prior to the meeting, we reached out to Patterson and Rusterholtz, asking if they could share any information about that resolution. They didn’t reply, but the board secretary did, sending us the name of the standard and a link to it – it’s the American Birthright standard. We turned to Google to educate us further…and wow, did we find a lot! But we’ll write up something different about that. Needless to say, people kinda freaked out that this might be adopted in our district, and attendance at the meeting was high.
– Some great speeches in the public comments! Listen to this, it’s actually pretty short as the board cut the allotted time to 3 minutes per speaker.
– Some minor policy changes proposed, including one making it sound like the agenda wouldn’t have to be written by the superintendent and/or board president (we’ll need to read the exact words on this one).
– Some BIG policy changes proposed by Witt around charter school process. Not sure why they care when they didn’t follow district process with Merit Academy? But what they are proposing now would allow charter schools to apply at any time of year (previously just fall) as long as the superintendent was OK with it. I expect we’ll get a new charter school before the end of the school year.
– As expected, the board voted to adopt the American Birthright standard, which does not align with Colorado standards and was rejected by the Colorado Board of Education last fall. But more on that in the coming days!
It’s a common refrain: “Radical Socialist Democrats” are ruining our country. Red-faced, angry pundits, community leaders and everyday citizens, foaming at the mouth, screech scorching rhetoric primarily designed to fire up those that agree with them. This behavior is heartily embraced by conservative leaning members of our community, particularly in regard to the WPSD.
A Jan. 4 letter to the editor by Curt Grina is an excellent example. Breathlessly wailing about the “Invasion of LGBTQ Zealots,” he calls critics of the current school board and interim superintendent a “cabal,” “socialist bullies,” questions the integrity of anyone who dare have the audacity disagree with him, then ends his letter with a demand that those who don’t agree with him shut up.
Also, you can read the students’ latest update at their change.org petition.
Director Illingworth views these kids as pawns, being used as part of a phantom union-led campaign. He couldn’t be further from the truth…I know some of those kids, and this is entirely their own effort. I also think any parent of teenagers knows that the stuff these kids are doing is not something any adult could direct…these young adults are free thinkers and should be admired for the strength and courage they’re exhibiting.
This latest episode of the Have You Heard podcast, Youth Power, is worth sharing with kids in the district. It dealt with students in Michigan dealing with a variety of school issues, displaying impressive growth and learning how to advocate for what they believe. I think kids in our district might find it inspiring…they are not alone, they are not acting inappropriately, they are not powerless.
You can listen to it at the link above, or find it in your favorite podcast app (link for Apple users).
Local resident and charter school supporter Curt Grina (he donated money to Merit via the Pikes Peak Regional Education and Health Association he’s a director on), submitted this letter to the Pikes Peak Courier…and surprisingly, the Courier actually published it, with its incendiary language:
School board controversies are nothing new in Colorado, and I believe that by studying what has happened elsewhere in the state, we can gain some insight into where our school board may be heading, and what things to watch out for. That’s where this article in the Boulder Weekly from back in 2015 is helpful. It talks a lot about what happened in Thompson School District, but also Jefferson County and Douglas County. Our school district has one special aspect though…the board is united and has put in place a Superintendent who will join them (or even lead them?) in their reformist goals.
Note the one common element in all of these is Brad Miller (and to a lesser extent, his associate Bryce Carlson). If you didn’t already know, the first thing our board did when elected in 2021 was to hire Brad Miller, and he’s been an active participant ever since.
