WPSD adds armed guards to schools

This email was sent out to parents earlier this morning:

Dear WPSD Families,

We want to update you on an important aspect of our ongoing commitment to ensure the safety and security of our students and staff members.

In line with our unwavering dedication to maintain a secure learning environment, the Board of Education and District Administration have diligently reviewed and updated our safety protocols. As a result, we are announcing a significant step to enhance the safety measures within our school district.

After careful consideration and consultation with law enforcement professionals, we have integrated trained and certified armed security personnel into our safety and security plan. These dedicated professionals must have completed rigorous training programs from law enforcement or other specialized training, ensuring they possess the necessary expertise to respond effectively to potential security situations.

It is important to emphasize that these security personnel are highly trained professionals dedicated to upholding the highest safety and security standards. Their presence will complement the efforts of our existing security measures and will be an additional resource to ensure a rapid and coordinated response to any potential threats. Please know our students’ and staff members’ safety remains a paramount concern.

We understand that the introduction of armed security personnel may prompt questions or concerns. We share your commitment to providing a safe educational environment for our students. This decision is part of a comprehensive strategy that aligns with our overarching goal of maintaining a safe learning environment for students and staff.

Thank you for your continued support as we work together to provide the safest possible environment for our students and staff members. We remain committed to ensuring our school district remains a safe place to learn.

For questions, please contact Aaron Salt, COO, at asalt@wpsdk12.org.

On the surface this might seem OK, but there’s a significant open question about the training and backgrounds of these personnel. Have they been trained to deal with a school full of children? Have they been trained to know when *not* to shoot, or has their training been focused merely on eliminating a target (such as military training might focus on)?

When asked for details, the district replied with:

Thanks for your email and your interest in security in Woodland Park. The security personnel will be highly qualified district employees hired specifically for security detail. We have an experienced military trainer to conduct vetting and hiring. We do not announce specific training, as that’s protected information due to security concerns, but the training does involve law enforcement experts. 

The district has refused to work with the city police chief on any level of SROs for our buildings. It appears that was due to this other plan they’ve been working on since spring.

Letters to the Editor – August 9th, 2023

From the August 9th edition of the Pikes Peak Courier:

No longer volunteering against

I’m a working mom to two kids under three. As any parent knows, free time at this stage is hard to come by. But after wrapping up my workday and navigating the nightly ritual of dinner, playtime, and bedtime routines, I take up my other role: campaign volunteer.

For months, I’ve dedicated my cherished free time to the school board campaigns of Keegan Barkley, Mike Knott, and Seth Bryant. I admit that at first I was volunteering against something: against the incumbents’ cronyism and self-interest; against my kids being the guinea pigs in some experiment; against being locked out in the freezing rain at what should have been a public meeting.

But after getting to know these candidates deeply and personally, I find myself volunteering for something:

I’m volunteering for Keegan, whose HR background and keen ability to spot the root of a problem will return the board to respectful disagreement and ethical conflict resolution.

I’m volunteering for Mike, whose honesty and discipline give me confidence that every penny of the district’s resources will be spent with intention and care.

I’m volunteering for Seth, whose thorough understanding of local issues will ensure the board meticulously considers a variety of creative solutions to any given problem.

I’m no longer volunteering against the wrong people for the job. I’m volunteering for three public school parents who I am absolutely convinced are the right people for the job. Please join me in supporting Keegan, Mike, and Seth for the school board this November.

Sarah Voget, Woodland Park

School board addresses routine topics after emotional public comments | Pikes Peak Courier | gazette.com

School board meetings in Woodland Park are often contentiousness and always emotional, and the Aug. 9 gathering was no exception — at least during the public comment portion.

The line outside the district’s administrative offices had 25 people in it by 5 p.m., a full hour prior to the scheduled start time. It had reached 38 by 5:15.
— Read on gazette.com

WPSD BOE votes to give entire Middle School building to Merit Academy, and cut fees charged to Merit

The August 9th school board meeting contained a vote on changes to the Contract and the Facilities Usage Agreement with Merit Academy. The board did not read the changes, did not present them in the meeting, and did not make them publicly available prior to the meeting. Nevertheless, the board packet contained very detailed redlines of the proposed changes, as learned via a recent CORA request.

When you look at the actual changes, it becomes pretty obvious why the board hid this information. Their decision to move 6th grade out of the Middle School this past March created quite a stir…and if people realized what the board did for Merit, I suspect there’d be even more of an uproar. Here’s what the new FUA says:

As Merit grows, the new FUA gives them whatever space they need, with no regard for the 7/8th graders currently occupying that portion of the building. They’re currently expanding one grade level per year as each cohort moves up; they might add preschool in the future. The BOE put in place a legal agreement which will squeeze the 7/8th graders out of that building. More importantly though, they have not disclosed any plan for what will happen to the 7/8th grades currently in that building.

Here’s the currently floorpan for this ’23-24 school year:

On the financial side of things, the BOE gave Merit two sweet deals. First, Merit will no longer be asked to share the district facilities costs on a per-pupil basis. Instead, their share will be computed based upon the square footage they are using.

The district has unused building space, but Merit won’t have to help shoulder the cost of that – they get the benefit of using a district building rent-free, but get special treatment compared to the tenants (schools) of the other buildings. Second, their administrative withholding decreases from 5% to 3.5% (this is expected to give Merit about $61k, though final amount depends on pupil count).

Obtained via CORA, you can view the new Facilities Usage Agreement or the new Contract.

Woodland Park School District, Board of Education sued for violating teachers’ right to free speech | KRDO

A federal lawsuit against the Woodland Park School District and Board of Education said its recently adopted policies silenced teachers, violating their First Amendment rights.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday by the Colorado Education Association, a state-wide labor union representing more than 39,000 educators, including in the Woodland Park School District. They said the lawsuit is to “remedy violations of the constitutional rights” of Woodland Park School District teachers.
— Read on krdo.com/news/2023/08/11/woodland-park-school-district-board-of-education-sued-for-violating-teachers-right-to-free-speech/

Woodland Park school board has ‘chilled’ free speech and violated open meetings law, according to Colorado teachers union lawsuit | Colorado Public Radio

Colorado’s largest teachers union and its local affiliate have filed a federal lawsuit against the Woodland Park School District and the district’s board of education.

The lawsuit alleges the district and board have “chilled” teachers’ First Amendment rights to free speech and free association and violated state open meetings laws when it revised a district policy and effectively instituted a gag order against teachers.
— Read on www.cpr.org/2023/08/11/woodland-park-school-district-teachers-union-lawsuit/

Resignation Letter from a Gateway teacher

With the gag order in place (policy KDDA), teachers have rightfully felt afraid to speak up. Every now and then though, we see one of them expressing their frustrating when (sadly) resigning…the latest was Rebecca Johnson, a teacher at Gateway for the last 10 years or so, who resigned last month. She emailed a very well-written and detailed letter as her resignation, and I finally obtained a copy via CORA. Please, read it for yourself to gain some insight into what our teachers have been going through in our district.