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Woodland Park citizens line up to show support for Gateway families and staff

In response to the surprise announcement that Gateway Elementary School will be closed, dozens of people showed up early Monday morning to greet staff and families before school as a show of support (picture from the Concerned Parents of Teller County Facebook Group). This is the second school the district has closed this calendar year, neither time with any community or board discussion or input. Most people I’ve talked to expect Ken Witt to announce a new charter school for next year to be occupying this building, though another possibility is it’ll be part of a BOCES that Brad Miller is said to be creating. Regardless though…Gateway’s days as an anchor of public schools in Woodland Park are over.

Gateway Elementary is closing

Here’s the press release from today:

Woodland Park, CO – 03/01/2024 – The Woodland Park School District (WPSD) announces a strategic consolidation of elementary schools. Columbine and Summit Elementary schools will expand enrollment space next year to accommodate those students currently attending Gateway Elementary; classes will not be held at Gateway in the Fall. After carefully examining enrollment and staffing, this decision aims to ensure the sustainability and enhancement of the district’s educational offerings while right-sizing facilities and staffing for current enrollment.

The district continues its proactive review of the current educational landscape, including facilities utilization and efficiency, recognizing the necessity of adapting to changing circumstances. The district is grateful for the recent collegial dialogue with City Council to continue the sales tax funding for WPSD. Even with this commitment by the city to maintain the sales tax, the district has determined that consolidating elementary schools is a prudent and necessary measure to effectively allocate resources and enhance the overall quality of education for its students.

“Making the decision to consolidate our elementary schools, closing the Gateway campus, was an incredibly challenging process we did not undertake lightly,” said Ken Witt, Superintendent of Woodland Park School District. “We have carefully analyzed enrollment trends and staffing considerations to ensure we are best positioned to provide our students the highest quality education and resources.”

This consolidation will create a more appropriate balance between staff and students, optimizing resources to provide an enhanced educational experience with highly qualified teachers. This decision reflects the district’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of education while navigating financial responsibilities.

WPSD understands the impact this decision has on the Gateway Elementary community and is dedicated to supporting students, families, and staff during this transitional period. The district is working collaboratively to ensure affected staff members have opportunities to contribute their skills and expertise elsewhere within the district.

Starting from the 2024-25 academic year, students who would have attended Gateway Elementary can enroll in either Summit Elementary or Columbine Elementary. The district is focused on implementing measures to facilitate a smooth and positive transition for all stakeholders involved.

“We are confident this strategic consolidation will enable us to provide a more robust and sustainable educational experience for our students,” added Superintendent Witt. “While this decision is undoubtedly difficult, it is essential to adapt to the changing dynamics of education and continue delivering the highest quality learning environment for our students.”

Some students in Columbine are already eating lunch at 10:30 due to capacity issues; it’s not clear how the extra kids will be accommodated. There are currently 207 students enrolled at Gateway (273 at Columbine; 310 at Summit).

WPSD hires new MS/HS principal for ’24-25 school year

The district has hired a new principal for the combined middle school / high school (grades 7-12) for next school year (’24-25). They chose Dr. Tory Richey, who is currently principal of The Home School Academy in D20. As its name suggests, that school “supports home school families with weekly enrichment (non-academic) programs.” Its enrollment focuses on lower grades; there are currently 173 7-12th graders enrolled there (599 total students). Exactly what makes him a great choice to lead Woodland Park’s combined MS/HS, with 789 students this year, is unclear. Note that Aaron Salt, the Woodland Park School District’s HR director, is also the president of the board in D20, where Richey currently works.

Here’s the press release:

Dear WPSD Families,

We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Dr. Tory Richey as the Secondary Campus Principal over Woodland Park Middle and High Schools, effective July 1, 2024. Dr. Richey brings a wealth of experience and dedication to education, and we are confident he will be an excellent addition to our Woodland Park Schools community.

What makes this announcement even more special is that Dr. Richey is an alum of WPHS. Also, you may remember him as he previously served as an assistant principal at WPHS from 2006 to 2009. After his time at WPHS, Dr. Richey continued to expand his career and expertise in education, including serving as the Cripple Creek Junior Senior High School Secondary Principal (2014-2016), Assistant Superintendent/Secondary Principal (2016-2018), and Superintendent/K-12 Principal (2018-2020) before taking his current role as principal at Home School Academy in Colorado Springs.

Dr. Richey is eager to reconnect with familiar faces and meet new members of our staff and families. In his enthusiasm to get to know everyone, he has expressed his intention to start working on these introductions as soon as possible. Although his official start date is July 1, 2024, he wants to ensure a smooth transition and build strong connections within our community.

Returning to Woodland Park holds a special place in Dr. Richey’s heart, as his parents still reside here. He is excited to contribute to the success and growth of our great Woodland Park Middle and High Schools and serve the wonderful community that has always been close to him.

We look forward to a bright future under Dr. Richey’s leadership and invite you to join us in welcoming him back to the Woodland Park School District.

Theology of arrogance | Guest column

From the 2/21/2024 Courier:

Values guide our lives, both individually and inside a community. Generally, we agree that “strong” values are a good thing and should be promoted. However, defining values is both nebulous and easily misconstrued. We often hear about conservative values, liberal values, Christian values, or secular values. The problem is no one person defines these labels the same. We each have different backgrounds, different life experiences and different families that help us define such terms. I believe that how we express these values is what is important, not how we define them.

I have been thinking about the value of arrogance and how it appears to be displayed in this community. When one person or small group believes they have the right or mandate to dictate how a whole community should look, behave, think and educate, then it becomes a value system of arrogance. And arrogance leads to power and lending to an attempt of dominance by a few. It also can promote the idea that “the means can justify the end”. Name calling and false accusations from the pulpit and on podcasts are only some methods used. In other words, it doesn’t matter how one acts or states their aforementioned values, as any means to get to the end goal is justified. How can this be?

I propose that such a value of arrogance comes from the lack of respect for others. Often this arrogance is given in the name of Christianity, whereby anyone who disagrees is considered evil and therefore must be overtaken and destroyed. One’s politics becomes one’s religion and vice versa. I was raised in a strongly conservative Republican and staunchly Christian home. I spent K-12 in a Christian School and went on to receive a Bachelors in Bible and Religion from an accredited Christian College. In all of those experiences, I was taught the value of diversity both in communities and thought. I was taught that political ideas could differ because that is American democracy, but we are still family. I was taught humility. I was taught “…. if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have no love, I am nothing.” And so now, in Woodland Park, I am considered evil and not worthy of respect and a place at the table because I think differently and have a different life from those who want dominion over this community. Which “Christian” value is this really representing?

Darlene Schmurr-Stewart

Letters to the Editor — Feb. 21, 2024

From the 2/21/2024 Courier:

Discussion is overdue

I write to express my support for the recent discussions within the Woodland Park City Council concerning the allocation of sales tax revenue within the school district. Trust in governmental entities handling tax dollars is a delicate matter, and this discussion is long overdue.

Budgets should reflect realistic expectations, and adherence to them is crucial. The Woodland Park School District revised its fiscal year budget on Feb. 14, after an earlier revision in January. They’ve made significant errors, including overestimation of appropriations, which were reduced from $40,779,649 to $37,513,556. Questionable accounting practices involved charging expenses to old grant accounts without corresponding revenue or budget. The federal COVID relief funds budget, initially at $858,241, mysteriously decreased to $542,157, resulting in an overdrawn account. The recent budget discussion concluded with the admission that further revisions might be necessary, as not all changes could be explained during the board meeting.

Amidst this financial uncertainty, it is disconcerting that the board awarded superintendent Ken Witt a new contract (which included a raise and an annual bonus) without conducting a performance review. Trust is earned, especially when it comes to managing public funds, and the school district has yet to instill confidence in its financial stewardship.

I commend the efforts of the Woodland Park City Council in holding the school district accountable for the responsible allocation of our sales tax money. It is imperative that the community remains vigilant and engaged in ensuring fiscal transparency and accountability within our local institutions.

Matt Gawlowski, Woodland Park

’23-24 enrollment numbers

The CDE published enrollment data for the current ’23-24 school year on their website; Woodland Park RE-2 enrollment is down from 2122 last year to 2015 this year, a -5.04% decrease and loss of 107 students. 554 Woodland Park kids are choosing to go to school outside of this district, up from 473 last year. While most of those kids are opting in to Manitou Springs (173), another big winner was Ken Witt’s ERBOCES, which attracted 96 Woodland Park students (presumably, online school?). Woodland Park also saw more students opting IN to the district from other districts, up from 210 last year to 259 this year. The net loss of the district was 295 students, versus 263 the previous school year.

Federal Covid relief grant sharing in WPSD

Interestingly, in the last fiscal year (ending June 30, 2023), the district made a last-minute transfer of $270,155 of COVID relief funds to Merit Academy. Merit submitted the invoice on 6/30/2023, though it wasn’t processed and paid until August. I can’t find any mention of it in the FY23 budget…you’ll note other passthrough money, like the sales tax revenue, is noted as “Charter school allocation”. It’s not clear why the district didn’t do the same for this federal grant money.

Chief Academic Officer leaves for Elizabeth school district

UPDATE – Kimberly Moore’s resignation letter is dated February 5th, two days after the job opening was supposedly posted. Why it didn’t appear in the board packet for the 2/14 meeting is unclear.

Chief Academic Officer Kimberly Moore is leaving Woodland Park, to take a similar role in the Elizabeth school district. News first broke on February 3rd of her departure, though the rumor mill pegged her for a principal position in Elizabeth. While that position didn’t pan out, the destination proved correct and she’ll be starting there after spring break (according to an email from the Elizabeth superintendent to staff there).

One interesting thing to note is the job posting for her position was just posted a couple days ago (around 2/14), yet it’s dated February 3rd:

One local parent, in attempts to raise visibility to our understaffed SPED program, posts weekly updates on Facebook of the job openings in the district. In her post on Monday February 12th, this position was not listed:

Additionally, Moore’s resignation is not noted in the board packet from the February 14th school board meeting as would be typically done.

It’s unclear why the district would advertise that the position was posted February 3rd, when all evidence suggests this is not the case.

Updates on Intergovernmental Agreement on use of sales tax revenue by the school district

In last Thursday’s city council meeting, the council discussed the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) regarding use of sales tax funds by the Woodland Park school district. You can watch it in the council meeting recording, starting about 1:26:40. They’ve been seeking to update the IGA since it’s been more than five years since it was last updated. Council felt like the district had stonewalled them on this issue, so is offering an ultimatum, where if an agreement on an updated IGA cannot be reached, the council would vote on whether to end the 1.09% sales tax dedicated to the schools.

Since that meeting, the school board has agreed to meet to discuss this issue, and that public meeting is scheduled for 5:00 on February 29th in the city council chambers. It will be live-streamed , but public comment is not planned.

The next city council meeting is scheduled for Thursday February 15th; I suspect they’ll be talking about this more as council had directed the city attorney to draft a resolution or ordinance regarding this, for the event where an agreement could not be reached.

With no public comment in the work session on the 29th, it’s important to get any comments to council ahead of that time. Contact info for the council members can be found on the city’s website.