Author Archives: Matt G

Merit Academy not paying for transportation services

UPDATE – it’s been pointed out to me that there may yet be an agreement written to split costs (a Merit board member says there will be one at some point).

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The district made a big deal about expansion of transportation services to Merit Academy students, and emphasized that it would not add any cost to the district. What they failed to mention is that Merit Academy isn’t paying anything themselves for this service (apart from, presumably, the $50 per kid per year fee parents pay for this service) – the money is coming out of funds used to educate the children of the transitional public schools alone. This was evident in a CORA request I just received results for. The actual text of the CORA request was:

Please provide the district’s contract with Durham bus services for the following school years: 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024. Please also provide the contract, amendment, or other agreement(s) with Merit Academy covering their use of transportation services through Durham Bus Services.

source

I did receive the contract with Durham, and one amendment to that contract. But that’s it, no written agreement between the district and Merit. When I inquired as to whether that was omitted in error, this was the reply:

All documents responsive to this request were provided.

The relevant section from the Merit Academy charter contract is section 5.2, as follows:

5.2. Transportation. The District and the School acknowledge and agree that transportation will not be provided by the District to students attending the School unless otherwise mutually agreed in writing. Any transportation of students to the School shall be the sole responsibility of the School, with all costs borne by the School. The School and the District agree to meet on an annual basis to discuss how the Parties might collaborate to provide transportation options for students of the School.

source

So, Merit kids get a free ride…the public school kids pay for the busses, leaving Merit kids with more money per pupil to be used for educational purposes. Let’s hope the board decides to instead enact an agreement that fairly splits costs…a board director has told me that no written agreement is needed for this transportation issue, but I’m hoping that’s not the final word.

I’ve asked for recent invoices from Durham so we can put some exact numbers on this…but with the Durham costs being fixed, the fewer the kids paying for it, the more each kid pays. For example, if you and three friends eat out and need to split a $100 bill, that’s $25 per person. But if one of those people doesn’t contribute, each of the remaining people have to pay $33.33. That’s the situation here…the bus bill is not being split equally amongst all the students covered by it. Parents do pay $50 per child to participate in this service, but that only covers a small fraction of the actual costs.

WPSD Academic Achievement Update (March 2023)

In the March DAC meeting, a presentation was given showing the WPSD academic achievement. It took the district eight days to finally send it to me (the legal limit under CORA is three days for a single document); you can view it below.

Some of the highlights:

  • High School PSAT/SAT Achievement Gains
  • Achievement for 8th Grade Math & Reading (16% and 19% over state proficiency)
  • Growth for 5th Grade Math at Gateway Elementary (73% tile)
  • Graduation Rate for Student with Disabilities (95%)

Well done, WPSD!

Check out the full report here.

Detailed information on the effect of refusing grant money this year

The school board and interim superintendent Ken Witt chose not to apply for most grants for the upcoming school year. We’ve struggled a bit to really and truly quantify what this means for the district…how to translate grants into job positions and benefits for the students. Thanks to the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA), we’ve learned quite a bit. There are some outstanding CORA requests for more information, but for now, here’s what we’ve learned.

  • the grants received by the district for the ‘21-22 school year;
  • here’s the ‘22-23 school year info. Note the ‘ESSER’ grants are what’s often referred to as Covid money…temporary federal grants that are going away this fall.
  • Here’s a conversation via email about what grant topics are to be pursued for next year.

The real treasure trove of useful facts though, comes from an email exchange between Ken Witt and Laura Magnuson, the district mental health supervisor and a co-author of the mental health presentation given to the board on 12/21. Laura outlines how grants are being used, and later in the email summarizes a discussion she had with Witt on this topic of grants. Read this email for yourself, there is a LOT of information in there, only some of which I’ll be summarizing below.

  • The Substance Abuse Block Grant funded two social work positions and had additional funding for prevention. This grant was up for renewal; it would have been easy to renew this and maintain that funding.
  • The grant money she expected to be lost was about $1.2 million annually, funding fifteen jobs.
  • The School Health Professional Grant currently funds five school social workers (‘with significant additional program funding’).
  • Witt’s approach to mitigation acts of violence is to rely upon campus security, rather than fixing this problem at its source (mental health).
  • When asked how the schools would continue their work to prevent youth suicide, Witt replied that WPSD will prioritize academic success.

Sadly, Laura closed her email by stating her intent to not return to WPSD next year. Her email makes clear her dedication and caring for the students, and the community should be greatly concerned at not only her loss, but the reshaping of our district which has pushed her and others like her out.

Please read her email in its entirety for yourself. It’s our best insight to date on the use of grant money for social programs in the school district, and what we’ll be losing out on next year due to this board and interim superintendent.

Parents protesting ‘critical race theory’ identify a new target: Mental health programs

As school districts struggle to address accusations that administrators are indoctrinating students in progressive ideas about race, gender and sexuality, the same parents and activists making the claims have begun targeting school initiatives centered on students’ mental health and emotional well-being.
— Read on www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/parents-protesting-critical-race-theory-identify-new-target-mental-hea-rcna4991

District grant information, ’22-23 school year and partial info for ’23-24

With Witt deciding to not apply for grants this year, the question is, what impact does that have? To help understand how the district uses grant money, check out this list obtained under CORA of all the grants the district has accepted for this current school year:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZNqFUJDeQBV-OVIL15FmVeF7P-gG97C4/view?usp=share_link

As for next school year, we’re still trying to get comprehensive data. For now, we do have this email from Witt seeking confirmation that the follow grants were written, so we presume he wants these:

  • Funding for enhanced after-school options for students
  • Funding for enhanced tutoring support

While not saying he will reject the follow ones, it sounds like that’s the plan, as he does ask for “the exact personnel that will be affected by the decision not to write” the ones below:

  • Funding for social workers in our elementary school buildings
  • Funding for the family school liaisons that assist families with connecting to outside resources
  • Funding for school-based therapy to assist families that are unable to access support outside of school
  • Funding for enhanced truancy tracking and support
  • Funding for student and staff wellness

He makes no mention of:

  • Funding for enhanced career and college support for students and families

On that one though, the career start program is continuing unchanged, so I suspect that grant had already been applied for with his knowledge, hence no mention of it.

The religious influence in school board elections

This fall, the Woodland Park RE-2 school district will vote on three new board directors, potentially shifting the balance of power of the current five-strong board. As we enter this season, it’s important to remember the influence religion had last time. Check out this article from Religion Dispatches. Andrew Wommack, with his Truth and Liberty Coalition and bible school Charis were at the center of this then…and we can expect even more this year. Pay attention, it’s going to get messy.

What had been, until recently, sleepy school board races across the state and the country, this year became political hot potatoes. The Colorado media generally cast these contests as battles between conservative groups and teachers unions, and that the results were mixed. But lost in this framing was the quiet electoral pilot project of the Truth and Liberty Coalition, the other arms of Wommack’s political and educational empire—and their out-of-state partner, the Texas-based Wallbuilders organization. 

Judge orders release of Woodland Park School District surveillance footage to parent – Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition

A judge Wednesday ordered the Woodland Park School District to disclose video surveillance footage showing three school board members talking with a candidate for superintendent after a public meeting last December.

Teller County District Court Judge Scott Sells said he was not persuaded by the school district’s argument that the recordings either aren’t public records as defined by the Colorado Open Records Act or could lawfully be withheld under CORA’s discretionary exception for records revealing “specialized details … of security arrangements or investigations.”
— Read on coloradofoic.org/judge-orders-release-of-woodland-park-school-district-surveillance-footage-to-parent/

Woodland Park School District expands bus route for Merit Academy students | KRDO

Woodland Park School District (WPSD) is now offering students at Merit Academy the same district school bus transportation offered to all other WPSD schools. 
— Read on krdo.com/top-stories/2023/03/21/woodland-park-school-district-expands-bus-route-for-merit-academy-students/

We’ve submitted a CORA request to learn to what extent Merit will be paying for this service.

The WPSD exodus begins

We’ve feared what impact this board, and especially interim superintendent Ken Witt, would have on staff in the Woodland Park School District RE-2. Last year, we saw the beginnings of that…and this year, we need to call this what it is: a mass exodus of instructional talent leaving this district.

Having a student in the High School here I’m a bit biased and focused on that school, so forgive me that, but let’s talk about that High School. Normally, staff turnover would be no more than 5%. We’re in mid March, and already, turnover is at 25% (where will we end up by summer?). The overwhelming majority of those leaving mention the board and interim superintendent are creating an untenable circumstance for them to continue. It is possible that seven different AP courses are affected by these resignations…replacement teachers for those are not straightforward and will require extra training ($$ for the AP side of things, and the college MA degrees that would yield concurrent and dual credit for students).

How will the district attract qualified teachers to fill these open positions? How many teachers will want to accept a position in a school district that is, by anyone’s measure, chaotic and unsettled (to put it mildly)? The board states that one of their core beliefs is, “Developing professional educators that engage and inspire students through positive ethical leadership.” They are not developing professional educators…they are driving them out.

This school board and superintendent have massively failed at their most important task, managing the public schools to foster a safe, stable place of learning for our students.