2/19/23 Weekly update

Last week:

Here’s what’s coming up this week:

  • The next scheduled board meeting is Wednesday, March 8th. However, they’ve been on a pretty regular two-week interval for much of the past year, so be on the lookout for them to possibly add a meeting for this Wednesday at 6:00.

Report: Colorado’s education system is in crisis, and teachers are feeling it | Colorado Public Radio

Colorado’s education system is in a state of crisis, leaving many teachers feeling overworked, underpaid, not respected and worried that large, systemic issues connected to underfunding are hurting their students.

That’s according to the annual State of Education report from the largest teacher’s union in the state, the Colorado Education Association.
— Read on www.cpr.org/2023/01/31/colorado-teachers-report/

It’s not a battlefield, it’s a school district | From the Editor

This article was originally published in March of 2022 but is worth bringing up again as it’s a reminder of what this district has been going through for the past year or so. Things have only gotten worse since this was published.

https://gazette.com/pikespeakcourier/its-not-a-battlefield-its-a-school-district-from-the-editor/article_be9d1514-a23a-11ec-a1ce-c7872ee20f33.html?fbclid=IwAR1AC-Bd9lY-Wph36vAELiL8Wc-0BjgUJVyo4zUBoG69FIoAu-7pjwBYvtQ

District statement on NCAA class eligibility

A parent in the district recently noticed that because of the district’s adoption of the American Birthright standards, some classes at the high school no longer met NCAA eligibility requirements. The district’s response is below, in an email sent to parents today. In summary, they’ll be submitting the new class info for review this summer, and also note the timeline for that review is uncertain. It doesn’t sound like parents will get an answer in time to decide whether to enroll their student here or elsewhere for this next school year, though it’s expected there will be online classes offered that would meet NCAA requirements.

Yet another example of the avoidable chaos that this school board and interim superintendent seem to embrace.

Are the Bad People Really Winning?

You are the one who can step from the shadows and tell the darkness that it has had the run of the house for long enough; who can send the brilliant floodlight of hope streaming into the shadowed places from where it had been vanquished.

It is only a matter of opening your mouth and releasing the truest of your truth without fear or hesitation or decorum. It is in you moving from looking for hope on the horizon and to finding it in the mirror.

— Read on johnpavlovitz.com/2023/02/09/are-the-bad-people-really-winning/

Conservative program meets inclusive standards in this Colorado school district – Colorado Newsline

More about Woodland Park’s implementation of the American Birthright standards. This is mostly information we’ve already posted here in other articles, but one new bit of information that’s come to light is that many classes no longer have NCAA approval…students that need this eligibility will, we believe, have other course options available to them, them just need to be careful when making class decisions and might be stuck with an online-only class.
— Read on coloradonewsline.com/2023/02/16/conservative-program-meets-inclusive-standards-in-this-colorado-school-district/

Podcast – Have You Heard, episode #151: Divide, Scatter, Conquer

Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider talk about Woodland Park in their latest episode of their Have You Heard podcast! They talked to many parents, students, and some teachers for this one. Check it out on Apple Podcasts or Soundcloud!

Please note, the podcast erroneously states that Sara Lee has made the decision to leave the district. That decision has not been made at this time.

Del Garrick gives two weeks notice!

Longtime district employee Del Garrick has given his two weeks notice! guy literally grew up in this town and went to these schools. 22 years working in this district. He’s been serving as HR director and, I believe, finance; he and Tina were co-superintendents before Witt was hired.

And now he’s out.

We’ve been fearing there would be a mass exodus of teachers at the end of this school year. If any of them were on the fence…seeing Del leave is not going to convince them to stay.

Talk Out of School (podcast)

Looking for a good podcast about charter schools nationwide? I previously recommended episode #150 of Have You Heard; here’s another one just released from Talk Out of School. Our board has not articulated their vision for this district in any detail, but seeing them engage Third Future last month makes it clear they’re working towards decreasing the traditional public schools in this district. There is a nationwide effort to do so; podcasts like these are useful to understand how this is playing out elsewhere and where it seems to be leading.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talk-out-of-school/id1490313171