Category Archives: News

Is the Middle School overcrowded? A look at the numbers.

When discussing his decision to move sixth grade out of the Middle School, Ken Witt has consistently referred to overcrowding in that school. So let’s visit that point, and see what the facts say about space in the Middle School.

Last year, the board used a study from Cooperative Strategies to justify partitioning the Middle School into two schools, making room for Merit Academy. According to that report, the Merit Academy side of the school has capacity for 471 students, while the Middle School side has capacity for 432 students. These numbers do not take into account present or potential future modular buildings on the north side of the school build (Merit’s side).

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) has data available on their website for attendance in all schools in the state. Merit Academy has 331 students, of which only 292 are onsite (the rest are homeschool enrichment); the Middle School has 391. The data shows Merit is at only 70% capacity; the Middle School is at 91% capacity (which is a bit below the 94% capacity the board predicted it would be at when it made the decision to split the building for Merit). The data does not show overcrowding at present.

Enrollment numbers for the ’23-24 school year are unknown, so nothing to base any decisions upon. However, we’ll look at what we know. Merit shows 27-41 students per grade. They are new to high school, and really only have a 9th grade this year. Assuming all their kids ‘bubble up’ into higher grades, they’d potentially be adding around 40 kids. Maybe they’d flush out some of the other grades closer to that 41 number. I consistently read that 90% facility usage is a nice target to shoot for, so let’s assume that (and ignore that our board wanted to put the Middle School at 94% capacity). Merit has a capacity of 423 students at 90% capacity, or an increase of 131 students (not counting the homeschool enrichment enrollment) – an increase of 45%! Perhaps they’ll hit that number, we just don’t know at this point.

I know the board is applauding Merit for ‘growth’ in the school district, but as page 17 of this presentation shows, 293 district students chose to go to ERBOCES (which Merit Academy was a part of at that time) in the ’21-22 school year – part an increase of 352 students opting out of the district compared to the previous school year. It’s clear, Merit pulled students from the district when they opened, then brought them ‘back’ into the district once the district absorbed Merit. This was not some radical growth in the district, it was just shuffling kids around, and to assume that Merit can now find 131 new students? Perhaps they’ll draw some from the Public Schools, but considering they’ve already been around for two years now, I question how many there left to get that haven’t already made that switch.

How does enrollment look for the Middle School? If we assume all current fifth graders move on to the Middle School, that’s 113 students being added, while 121 eighth graders leave for the High School. This bumps Middle School capacity down to 89%.

Actual attendance numbers for next year are unknown. What IS known is that the ‘overcrowding’ argument is based on very ambitious recruitment goals for Merit Academy; whether they’ll succeed is a bit question. If they needed more capacity, they do have existing modular structures on the north side, with space to add more. Perhaps they’ll need more space in the Middle School in the future, but for the ’23-24 school year, the data does not support any radical changes to the makeup of that building.

What this analysis is lacking – firsthand reports, that boots on the ground perspective that only the staff at the school can provide. Given the hostility Witt has shown towards them, I felt it best to not approach staff with questions and to just lay out the facts here instead. I also realize this doesn’t not take into account things like classroom size or number of rooms per grade, though when it comes to analyzing Merit, since they have control over those factors (they can limit enrollment, unlike the Middle School) I felt it OK to leave that part out.

Does Woodland Park have a bullying problem?

Do the Woodland Park schools have a bullying problem? Let’s take a look at district policy JICDE, which states in part:

Bullying is the use of coercion or intimidation to obtain control over another person or to cause physical, mental, or emotional harm to another person.  Bullying can occur through written, verbal, or electronically transmitted expressions (i.e., cyberbullying) or by means of a physical act or gesture. 

https://z2.ctspublish.com/casb/browse/woodland-casb/woodland/z20000296

Given that definition, how would you characterize this email, from a manager to his employees?

This is coming from a guy that fired an educator at the Middle School, and eliminated the position of the high school librarian in retaliation for the protest her students organized in December.

Would you consider this bullying? Is our interim superintendent setting a good example for students?

School board and Ken Witt move to restrict free speech in Woodland Park

The Woodland Park school board, and interim superintendent Ken Witt, have made several moves to clamp down on the speech of teachers and other staff in the district.

First was last December…the board blamed Sara Lee, a teacher at the High School, for the student-led protests. After placing her on administrative leave for about a month, they finally just cut her position at the highs school and moved her to Gateway Elementary (but then had to hire someone to do the position she was cut from…).

In January, the board adopted the American Birthright Standards. The Colorado Sun reached out to social studies teachers to learn more about this; one Middle School teacher asked district administration if it’d be OK if he talked to the Sun about this and Witt used policy KDDA to prevent him from doing so. Later, Witt used the newly adopted American Birthright standards to ban a book from a high school elective class.

What does policy KDDA say? Or rather, what did it say in January (it later changed…)? Here’s the January copy:

Also in January, the board reduced the public comment section in regular board meetings from 60 minutes, to 30 minutes.

Next up was the news about moving sixth grade to the elementary schools. After the middle school teachers protested this by staging a sick day protest, following by a massive public protest the following morning, Witt took charge. First, he fired a Middle School staff member, again citing policy KDDA and seeming to point blame at her for the sick day protest:

Next, Witt sent an email to Middle School staff warning of further retaliation if staff were to do something like this again:

Finally, we received word that policy KDDA had been updated…or rather, expanded, to silence teachers from saying just about anything about the district. Here’s the latest copy (we’re not sure if the 2/28/23 revision date is accurate or was back-dated; no announcement of this policy change was made):

So if a teacher has a kid in the district…they can’t talk to the press about their own kid even.

Is this legal? There are, naturally, differing opinions on this topic. If you read about the Supreme Court’s decision in Pickering v. Board of Education, though it really makes this seem like an unconstitutional move on the part of the board and Witt. The Brechner Center studies this issue more in this link. It’ll be interesting to see if our board ends up in the courts over all this.

Update on Curriculum Review

With Tina Cassens leaving the district, it raised the question of, who will be reviewing the curriculum as dictated by our board to make it comply with the American Birthright Standards?

The answer is Lis Richards, who is charging us $4700 for this work. You can read the description of the work to be done in this proposal (note, only phase one has been authorized at this point). Or read the highlights here:

Attend an introductory and organizational meeting at the district in regard to
the curriculum alignment to the American Birthright Standards.
• K-6 Review – Evaluate the vertical alignment of curriculum to the American
Birthright Standards, their relation to the Colorado Academic Standards thus
assisting the District in demonstrating that they are following the prescribed
educational program approved and are meeting or exceeding state standards.
• 7-12 Review – Evaluate the vertical alignment of curriculum to the American
Birthright Standards (ABS), their relation to the Colorado Academic Standards
thus assisting the District in demonstrating that they are following the
prescribed educational program approved and are meeting or exceeding state
standards.
• Provide a report to the Superintendent which would include:

• Grade level report on social studies curriculum providing a matrix of
completion toward vertical alignment and any lacking content (Some content
may be covered in different grade levels and this may be noted.)
• Recommendations to the Leadership provided in writing.

This work is being done through Lis’ consulting company, Helping Schools Thrive.

But wait, there’s more!

Lis Richard is also the president of the board for ERBOCES, the company for which our interim Superintendent Ken Witt works for as Executive Director.

What’s going on?

  • Fiscal recklessness
  • Plummeting teacher morale; firings and reassignments
  • Attacks on traditional public education
  • Dismissing student concerns
  • Lack of communication and community involvement
  • Lack of professionalism within the school board

Click to learn more

Parents stand up for middle school staff

Thursday morning, around 80-100 parents, students, and concerned citizens showed their support for staff at the Middle School by lining the sidewalk as teachers arrived for a scheduled meeting with interim superintendent Ken Witt. This comes a day after nearly two dozen middle school staff members called in sick in protest of Witt’s decision to move the sixth grade classes back to the district elementary schools. This was NOT a decision the board had discussed with the public, though surveys in November did ask this question…with the answer (on page 5) clearly showing the public did NOT support the idea of splitting sixth grade off from the middle school like this. This was not a decision made in collaboration with staff at any of the schools, and elementary school staff has expressed uncertainty about how to fit the extra kids in place. There are also unanswered questions about less opportunity for sixth graders with this move, especially band and forensics.

Wednesday, in response to the staff’s sick day, Witt sent this following email threatening action if this were done again:

The teachers appreciated this show of public supported, though ultimately the day ended on a sour note as Witt fired one middle school staff member for alleged interactions with media, as explained (without much detail) in this letter below:

So, what’s next? Well, when the middle school was partitioned last spring, a feasibility study showed Merit being given a bit more than half the space when viewing student capacity…theoretical capacity of 471 students, vs. the Middle School’s theoretical capacity of 432 students. With 331 students enrolled this year, Merit did not seem to need more space. The middle school, at 391 students, was full but not quite capacity. So how does this change make sense? Especially since it will leave the Middle School at around 270 students (based on current 6-7th grade enrollment).

This screenshot shows the division of the school between Merit (top) and the Middle School (bottom):

Witt said this change was being made to provide more space for Merit…and looking at this map, it’s not clear what will change to accomplish that, easily. What we actually expect to happen next is 7-8 grades to be moved to the high school, and the entire Middle School building to be given to Merit.

And therein lies one of the biggest complaints about this school board…they are not up front about their plans. They are not telling the whole story here, there are blanks yet to be filled in, as their story about moving sixth grade to the elementary school buildings just doesn’t add up on its own.

Leading Education Groups (but not Woodland Park) Celebrate Public Schools Week, Feb. 27 – Mar. 3, 2023

Families, educators, school leaders, and public education advocates across the country are joining together in celebrating public schools, Feb. 27–Mar. 3; a week designated to highlight and show support for our local public schools.

Public Schools Week 2023 (#PSW23) is part of a larger  campaign—#HerefortheKids—one that brings together families, educators, and community members to shine a light on local public schools and share the stories of the positive things happening in classrooms and school buildings nationwide. The teaching and learning in our local K-12 public schools positively impacts students and families, the neighborhoods, and communities they live in, and our nation as a whole. With commitment, creativity, and critical thinking, educators and school leaders continue to provide welcoming and engaging learning opportunities for our children.

“Public Schools Week 2023 provides a much-needed opportunity to showcase success stories and public-school champions—those who have gone above and beyond to meet students’ social, emotional, and academic needs—particularly in these extraordinary times and circumstances,” said Richard Long, executive director of the Learning First Alliance.

The weeklong #PSW23 celebration includes two live webinars and a twitter chat. 

  • Live Webinar: Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2-3 pm ET “Advancing Teaching and Learning Post-Pandemic” 

This webinar features national education leaders in a discussion about how districts, schools and education professionals are creating conditions to advance teaching and learning. 

  • Twitter Chat: Wed., Mar. 1, 7-7:30 pm ET “Engaging Your Community” 

In this best practice exchange of ideas, join parents, educators, school and education professionals in an online conversation about promising approaches to strengthen family, school, and community engagement.

  • Live Webinar: Thurs., Mar. 2, 2-3 pm ET “Why Storytelling Matters”

In this webinar, education and communications experts share insights and tools to enhance your storytelling skills.

#PSW23 is supported by members of the Learning First Alliance; leading education groups, representing more than 10 million members, including American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education; AASA: The School Superintendents Association; American Federation of Teachers; American School Counselor Association; Consortium for School Networking; Learning Forward; National Association of Elementary School Principals; National Association of Secondary School Principals; National Education Association; National PTA; National School Boards Association, and National School Public Relations Association. 

Joining the #PSW23 celebrations are Discovery Education, Association of School Business Officials International, and the Council of Administrators of Special Education. Visit this webpage for the complete list of supporters. 

About Public Schools Week, Feb. 27-Mar. 3

Visit www.publicschoolproud.org for more information about Public Schools Week and social media messages and graphics that you can use to show your support for your local public schools. 

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About the Learning First Alliance

The Learning First Alliance is a partnership of leading education organizations with more than 10 million members dedicated to improving student learning in America’s public schools. Alliance members include American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education; AASA: The School Superintendents Association; American Federation of Teachers; American School Counselor Association; Consortium for School Networking; Learning Forward; National Association of Elementary School Principals; National Association of Secondary School Principals; National Education Association; National PTA; National School Boards Association, National School Public Relations Association, and PDK International.

Teachers need our support!

The teachers need our support! Yesterday, Witt announced the sixth grade will be moved out of the Middle School and back to the elementary schools. This was done with zero collaboration with teachers or parents in the district…it was a surprise to all.

The majority of Middle School staff called in sick today (we’re told 29+).

Witt met with staff at Summit Elementary this morning. It did NOT go well. He’ll be meeting with staff at Gateway this afternoon.

Tomorrow morning (3/2), Witt will be meeting with staff at the Middle School at 7:30AM. We need to show the teachers we support them; we need as many people as possible lining the sidewalk outside the middle school. Bring signs if you can; we’ll have some extras. Do not block the roads; do not block pedestrians using the sidewalks. Please arrive early, by 7:00 if possible.

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.

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.