Monthly Archives: February 2023

Sixth graders being moved out of Middle School

This afternoon, the Witt administration and our school board announced that sixth grade would be moved out of the Middle School building, back down to the elementary school buildings. This is being done to provide more space to Merit Academy. The feasibility study a year ago showed the capacity for Merit’s side of the building to be 471 students, so it’s not clear how this move is actually necessary. Especially considering the costs incurred with partitioning the school last year. This is probably just a preemptive move in anticipation of losing this fall’s school board elections and facing a board more friendly towards traditional public schools.

Merit’s 2022-23 enrollment is 331 students; if they add a grade next year that’s an increase of 30-50 students. So, still well under the 471 capacity number. In the 2022-23 school year, the middle school had 136 sixth graders (391 total students). So, a 17% increase in students in the three elementary buildings. (spreadsheet link with data)

The superintendent also announced that the district will continue to use the Summit Learning Platform for 7th-10th grades.

There was no public meeting. No public announcement.

Parents have not been notified of this change yet.

What is Social Emotional Learning (SEL)?

We’re hearing more and more about Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in our schools across the country. It’s become a rallying cry for extremist groups such as Moms For Liberty (M4L). Unfortunately, groups such as M4L are spreading misinformation about SEL, so please take the time to educate yourself properly on this issue.

A good starting point is, Five facts: What does social and emotional learning really mean?, and also the video below.

Also pay attention to, What Does the Research Say?

Ken Witt’s contract details

In the interest of transparency, we wanted to make available Ken Witt’s contract with the district, and to summarize some key points here.

  • Salary: $155k (on an annual basis) from our district (Neal was compensated at $152k)
  • Cell phone allowance: $100 per month
  • Auto allowance: $500 per month
  • 15 days of paid vacation per year
  • Termination without cause requires 120 days advance notice and financial compensation equivalent to four months of base salary.
  • Contract allows Witt to continue to work as Executive Director of ERBOCES.
  • $4000 annually provided for professional growth/development

In addition to Witt’s contract with Woodland Park RE-2, his contract with ERBOCES remains in effect. Under the terms of that contract, Witt receives:

  • Salary: $155k (annual) plus up to 12% bonus (his bonus paid in May 2022 was $15,500).
  • Auto allowance: $500 per month
  • Cell phone to be provided at ERBOCES’ cost
  • 22 days of paid vacation per year, plus 10 days of paid sick leave per year
  • Termination without cause requires 30 days advance notice and financial compensation equivalent to 90 days.
  • $2400 annually provided for professional growth/development

So combined, taxpayers are paying Witt:

  • $310k annual salary, plus a bonus of up to $18,600
  • Free cell phone, plus $100 a month
  • $1000 monthly auto allowance
  • $6400 for professional growth/development
  • 37 paid vacation days per year (though it’s not really 37 total days, as it’s combined between two full time jobs…), plus 10 sick days

Sources:

2/26/23 Weekly Update

With the district being on winter break of most of this past week, things were pretty quiet. However, the one piece of news that broke was significant…Tina Cassens is leaving the district after being here 28 years. This is shortly after Del Garrick made a similar announcement a couple weeks ago. The loss of these two well loved and experienced educators is a huge blow to this school district and undoubtedly a sign of more to come.

In other news:

Here’s what’s coming up this week:

  • The next scheduled board meeting is next week, March 8th. It wouldn’t be surprising for them to schedule a work session for this week to further some policy change plans, so be on the lookout for that.

Tina Cassens is leaving!

Tina Cassens is moving on from the district, see her email to staff below. She’s been a valuable member of the staff and will be sorely missed.

This comment was posted to a Facebook group…I think it’s worth reposting here to help people understand what this all means:

Unless you’ve personally seen Tina in action, I don’t think you can grasp how big of a loss this is for our district. She’s an amazing educator, maybe the best, who EARNED the respect of her peers through consistent authoritative inclusive leadership, a constant growth mindset, creativity in solving incredibly difficult problems, and a truly giving heart. I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to work with her.

Elizabeth School Board meeting reveals tensions in district | Elbertcountynews.net

The Elizabeth School District, a generally conservative district in western Elbert County, is experiencing extreme turmoil that is radiating through the entire Elizabeth community. Members of the school board are feuding over the perceived threat that critical race theory (CRT) and social emotional learning (SEL) might appear in district classrooms.
— Read on elbertcountynews.net/stories/tense-elizabeth-school-board-meeting,422282

2/19/23 Weekly update

Last week:

Here’s what’s coming up this week:

  • The next scheduled board meeting is Wednesday, March 8th. However, they’ve been on a pretty regular two-week interval for much of the past year, so be on the lookout for them to possibly add a meeting for this Wednesday at 6:00.

Report: Colorado’s education system is in crisis, and teachers are feeling it | Colorado Public Radio

Colorado’s education system is in a state of crisis, leaving many teachers feeling overworked, underpaid, not respected and worried that large, systemic issues connected to underfunding are hurting their students.

That’s according to the annual State of Education report from the largest teacher’s union in the state, the Colorado Education Association.
— Read on www.cpr.org/2023/01/31/colorado-teachers-report/

It’s not a battlefield, it’s a school district | From the Editor

This article was originally published in March of 2022 but is worth bringing up again as it’s a reminder of what this district has been going through for the past year or so. Things have only gotten worse since this was published.

https://gazette.com/pikespeakcourier/its-not-a-battlefield-its-a-school-district-from-the-editor/article_be9d1514-a23a-11ec-a1ce-c7872ee20f33.html?fbclid=IwAR1AC-Bd9lY-Wph36vAELiL8Wc-0BjgUJVyo4zUBoG69FIoAu-7pjwBYvtQ