Last Thursday, ten public school supporters spoke up in the public comment period of the Woodland Park, Colorado city council meeting. They did a fantastic job of explaining many of the community’s concerns about this school board and interim superintendent. Check out the video below:
Gag orders on teachers, cutting mental health support, operating in the dark — what’s happening in Woodland Park? | Colorado Public Radio
By most accounts, the school district in Woodland Park in Teller County was doing well.
Test scores were up, more students were participating in activities, the school climate was better than ever. There are schools with gardens. Good athletic programs. A fine drama program.
But two years ago, voters swept in a new school board with new and different ideas for the district. They enacted a series of lightning-speed policy changes — big ones that include mental health staffing and social studies curriculum and a gag order on teachers.
Now, many educators are feeling demonized and quitting, and parents are feeling demoralized and leaving. They say the nationwide culture war has come to roost in Woodland Park, just northwest of Colorado Springs, home to about 8,000 people.
— Read on www.cpr.org/2023/04/20/woodland-park-school-board/
Board director Sue Patterson’s thoughts on grants
Here’s what Sue Patterson had to say to a parent in the district about the district’s decision to not apply for grants funding Social Emotional Learning or other social-focused roles in the district.
Religion in School Boards
The separation of church and state is a legal concept that’s been around for a long time. Based on the First Amendment, the idea is that government should do nothing to favor any one religion over another. That would extend to even the idea of religion, as some people do not believe in a Higher Power or Supreme Being. A 2021 Pew Research study found that only 19% believe the government should stop enforcing the separation of shurch and state.
What does our school board think of this concept? Board member Mick Bates said this about it in January:
This separation of church and state has been around a long time but, it’s backwards. It was intended to keep the state out of religion, not religion out of the state. And that has been convoluted over the years, over the many years.
Timestamp 11:00 in this video
Board President David Rusterholtz has been accused of crossing this line several times. In the January 11, 2023 board meeting, he even took to the podium during the public speaking portion to offer prayer (video link, timestamp 28:00).
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has sent two complaint letters to the district outlining other examples of what they view as a violation of separation of church and state. The first letter, from November, addressed the board opening an October meeting with a prayer; you can read the letter here or watch the incident in question here (about 3:55 into the video).
The second complaint letter is in regards to a March 9th email Rusterholtz sent to other board members, where he said:
Good afternoon everyone. I see we are being requested information about the
American lie Fairplay and other books. I’d like to let you know that my heart goes
out to so many of these people. Many of them have completely rejected Jesus in
any way other than a historical figure I would like everyone to know that Jesus
came because he loved the world so much!
Sin has separated us from God, and our hurts our habits, and our hangups often
times get in the way of us returning to him.Jesus died on the cross for each one of us, if we would receive him as our savior,
we can spend eternity in paradise with him.
He loved us so much that he came and died on the cross to pay the penalty for our
sins if we will only receive his free gift of salvation.
I would invite anyone who reads this letter to give me a call if they would like to
receive Jesus as their savior and start a new life with him.
Ask yourself this question if I were to die today, where will I spend eternity….
with a loving and gracious God, in paradise, or for eternity, separated from him in
hell.source
I would like to ask you, to receive him as your savior today, I look forward to
hearing from you. Also, if you would like to join me in church, I go to Impact
Christian church on 67 north of Woodland Park. Services start at 9 AM and 1030.
Let me know and I will meet you at the door.
The letters from FFRF (letter1, letter2) are worth reading as they dive into the legal justification behind their complaint and the idea of separation of church and state.
Controversy over Woodland Park School District moving sixth grade to elementary schools | KRDO
Controversy over Woodland Park School District moving sixth grade to elementary schools | KRDO
— Read on krdo.com/top-stories/2023/03/01/controversy-over-woodland-park-school-district-moving-sixth-grade-to-elementary-schools/
Parent speaks out against Woodland Park 6th grade changes
Parents of students in the Woodland Park School District were informed Wednesday that starting next year, their fifth graders won’t be graduating to middle school.
— Read on www.kktv.com/2023/03/02/parent-speaks-out-against-woodland-park-6th-grade-changes/
Woodland Park School district officials speak out against proposed student mental health bill
Under the proposal if a school chooses to participate in the program parents can opt out. But the bill would allow students 12 or older to give their own consent to a mental health screening.
— Read on www.kktv.com/2023/04/15/woodland-park-school-district-officials-speak-out-against-proposed-student-mental-health-bill/
4/16/2023 Weekly Update
Last Week:
- This was a relatively quiet week. Most of the activity centered around the board meeting, highlights of which, along with the meeting view, can be viewed at this link.
Here’s what’s coming up this week:
- No meetings are currently scheduled.
- We think the odds are very high of a performance-based pay scale being implemented for teachers and announced soon – but this is only a rumor, treat it as such.
4/12/2023 School Board Meeting Recap
If you missed the 4/12/2023 school board meeting, you can watch it here:
Highlights:
- There was some interesting public comment (including a reference to the ‘rich and powerful teachers unions’, LOL), though only a handful of those who signed up actually got to speak, due to the board limiting public comment to 30 minutes total.
- The board included an amendment to Merit Academy’s contract in the consent agenda. The public was not informed of the content of this amendment until the district sent an email out on 4/14 stating, “The board also approved the Merit contract amendment to eliminate charter school liaison charges.” This amendment was not discussed nor read in the 4/12 meeting.
- The board announced a $1500 retention bonus for teachers, and approved a resolution declaring May 8-12 Teacher Appreciation Week. It’s nice to see them mirroring the declaration of the National PTA group.
- Witt gave a few updates on the transition of sixth grade to elementary schools, though they still haven’t worked out all the details.
- The board approved a resolution opposing Colorado House bill HB23-1003, School Mental Health Assessment. Interestingly, it is virtually identical to the resolution that D49 in Colorado Springs passed the next day at their board meeting.
- Interim Superintendent Witt talked briefly about the Academic Achievement report previously shown to the DAC. He didn’t show any slides in this meeting; if you want to view the report you can see it here.
- The board hired Amy Ryan as CFO, and Bill Phalen was promoted to be the new Middle School principal for next year.
- There were two professional photographers taking pictures at the meeting, and more than one reporter observed in the room.
The truth about enrollment numbers
Our board has liked to tout the ~16% jump in enrollment this school year, presenting it as a sign they’re doing the right thing. While it’s an encouraging sign for sure, what they’re not mentioning is the number of students LOST when Merit Academy opened under the direction of ERBOCES. Meaning, the Woodland Park RE-2 school district is not experiencing large growth…it’s a shell game. We’ll need to see how the next couple years pan out to really determine if we’re on the right track.
Enrollment numbers, from the CDE (direct link to XLS):
- 2018-2019: 2380
- 2019-2020: 2284
- 2020-2021: 2055
- 2021-2022: 1832 (Merit’s first year)
- 2021-2022: 2119 – if you include the 287 Merit students
- 2022-2023: 2122
So, it’s clear that in 2020-2021, parents were opting out of the district, and Merit was a choice that brought them back. But the board has failed, so far, to attract new people to the district (well, three technically).