CDM Commission Begins “Pivotal Role”

The Board of Education and Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) this week jointly announced the membership of the CDM Commission, a group that will recommend changes to the district’s approach to site-based management.

“We are at a very pivotal point,” said Board President Elaine Gantz Berman. “This is a very important task that you’ve been charged with.”

The CDM Commission will hold its first meeting Thursday, September 26 in the Board Room at the administration building, 900 Grant St. The meeting will run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. All meetings are open to the public.
The Commission includes four parents, four teachers, two principals, a member of the Board of Education and a staff representative.

Board member Michelle Moss said she and DCTA President Becky Wissink interviewed 23 parent applicants who offered many enthusiastic points of view about CDM (Collaborative Decision-Making) teams.

The CDM concept was born in 1991. CDM teams bring together the school principal, teachers, parents, staff, and community members to manage school budgets and other issues, including teacher hiring. When the Board and DCTA renegotiated a new contract last spring, both sides agreed to ask that potential changes to the CDM concept be studied in depth.

“This is one of the more significant things we are doing and could set the course for how this district behaves for the next 10 years,” said Superintendent Jerry Wartgow. “This is very important.”

The recommendations from the CDM Commission will ultimately be the subject for teacher contract negotiations since the CDM teams were formed within the contract at the outset, in 1991. The commission expects to finish its work in a few months.

Among the questions being given to the new Commission are: Because the CDM process involves administrators, teachers, parents, students and classified employees, should it remain part of the Agreement? Should the CDM Committee become a collaborative advisory Committee? If the CDM Committee became advisory in nature, how would the remainder of the Agreement be affected? If shared decision making remains the function of the CDM Committee, what is the system of shared accountability? Since each school is not an independent unit but part of a larger system, which decisions should be made at the school and which decisions should be made centrally in the interest of improving the achievement of all students? What is the appropriate role of the CDM Committee in the selection, evaluation and retention of principals?

As part of the new DPS literacy program, the district launched a full visibility campaign this week, asking community members and parents to help students achieve the goal of reading one million words a year.

To help students achieve the goal, DPS is working with the Denver Public Library, community groups and the faith community. All schools are working on the goal with special bulletin boards, events and activities. Each school has a lending library that students may use.

“To reach their million-word goal, students will have to read at home as well as at school. Parents, we need your help,” said Superintendent Wartgow. The district is providing brochures and fliers about the program to parents as well as sending home tips on how to encourage children to read.

Reading one million words means 25 chapter books per year for a fifth grader or about four books per day for a first grader.

“Reading one million words is a worthy and reasonable goal. If students read one million words every year, they will develop their fluency in reading and improve their vocabulary,” said Sally Mentor Hay, Chief Academic Officer.

Families are encouraged to obtain library cards, and school and public libraries are working together on special events. Every DPS student will receive a Million Word bookmark, and posters are being distributed to all schools and around the community.

Why one million words? Research indicates that a good way to increase student achievement is by encouraging reading. A 1994 study by R.C. Rogers showed that frequent readers showed higher reading achievement. A 1999 study (John Guthrie, Allan Wigfield, Jamie Metsala and Kathleen Cox) showed that reading volume predicted reading comprehension achievement.

A 1988 study of out-of-school reading by R. Anderson, P. Wilson and L. Fielding showed that fifth grade students who achieved in the 90th percentile read 40 minutes a day and 2.3 million words a year. Students at the 50th percentile read 12 minutes or 600,000 words; and students at the 10th percentile, two minutes and 50,000 words.

Business or community groups that would like to help with the Million Words Campaign should call Christine Smith, School Community Partnership office, 720-423-3580

Revisions To School Design Policy

The Board of Education has taken under consideration a revision to its policy on school design to streamline requirements. When a school wishes to vary substantially from the educational programs established by the Board, they do so by school design. School design may include subject matter taught, programs and methods of instruction, assessments, use of staff, organization of the school year and day, and school-based rules. Under the new policy language, the superintendent will develop timelines and procedures for school design proposals.

The timeline for school design proposals is being moved up because the choice period for the 2003-04 school year is being moved up by two weeks. The first round of choice period will be Jan. 6-31, 2003. Parents who have submitted choice forms by Jan. 31 all have an equal chance of securing a seat in a school that interests them; lotteries are held if there are more applications than seats available. Choice applications received after Jan. 31 will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis.

For schools wishing to make design changes for 2003-04 school year, the timeline for submitting school design proposals will be:

Oct. 4
• Notification to Area Superintendent
Oct. 24
• Proposals received by Area Superintendent
Oct. 30
• Area Superintendents email proposals to Superintendent’s Office
Nov. 5
• Staff analysis prepared and presented to Cabinet
Nov. 18
• Report to Superintendent’s Office
Nov. 21
• Presentation of Report at Board meeting
Dec. 5
• Board of Education public hearing
Dec. 19
• Board action

Schools wishing to change from a traditional year to the district-approved continuous year calendar (or vice-versa) will complete a revised form that explains staff, parent, and community involvement in developing the proposal, including a survey of families and CDM approval. Schools wishing to adopt a different change in design will use the current form for 2003-2004.

Board Approves Two Grant Proposals for At-Risk Students

The Board of Education has approved the submission of two grant proposals under Services for Expelled Students and Expulsion Prevention Programs through the Colorado Department of Education.

Student Services Proposal:
The Department of Student Services is applying for a grant of $365,342 to target at-risk DPS middle school students. The grant will establish a districtwide alternative middle school, Positive Alternative Learning, and provide school-based prevention activities.

The alternative school will serve 40 students per quarter for a maximum of 250 students per year. Students will receive intensive daily social skills training and strong academics. Parents will be required to attend an eight-week Parent Empowerment training, reaching 300 to 400 parents per year.

The school-based prevention activities will take place at all middle schools identified as at-risk for expulsion. As many as 1,080 students will receive weekly social skills training and will attend Parent Empowerment training with their parents.

All middle school staff would be offered the following trainings: Aggression Replacement, Parent Empowerment, Life Skills; Restorative Justice and Olweus Bullying Prevention.

Collaborating partners include Community Accountability Board of Denver District Attorney’s office, the Mental Health Corporation of Denver and Center for Safe Schools and Communities.

Cole, Kepner and Randolph Proposal:
Cole, Kepner and Bruce Randolph Middle Schools applied for a grant for $159,445 to collaborate with YouthBiz, Earth Force and Summer Scholars in a year-round plan focused initially on incoming sixth graders. The program goal is to reduce truancy and suspensions and improve academic achievement of about 260 students. All three schools will implement Rock ‘n Read, a six-week, full-day, intensive summer literacy program for 100 incoming sixth graders who read below grade level.

During the school year, each school will also focus on increased parent involvement and reducing truancy rates. They will create a buddy, peer mentoring system with older students who are academically successful. The program will also include home visits, service learning opportunities and after-school classes.

Board Notes...

In other action this week, the Board of Education:

• Approved a 2.2 percent salary increase for the Denver Federation for Paraprofessionals effective Sept. 1, 2002; the reclassification of campus security officers; and a benefit allowance supplement of $22 per month effective July 1, 2002.
• Approved the expenditure of $50,000 in additional contingency funds for the Steele Elementary School cafeteria addition and renovation.
• Accepted on first reading a revision to the policy on staff ethics/conflict of interest. The addition to policy prohibits an employee of the district from hiring, supervising or evaluating any employee who is an immediate family member. Immediate family members are defined as: spouse; children, stepchildren and their spouses; brothers and brothers-in-law; sisters and sisters-in-law; parents and parents-in-law; grandparents and grandparents-in-law; grandchildren and their spouses; and members of the immediate household. Any familial relationship between employees within a department or school should be disclosed to the employee’s direct supervisor.
• Approved the appointment of Patricia Kuhn as principal of Stapleton Elementary, set to open with the 2003-04 school year.
• Heard a presentation about the district’s involvement in “Colorado On The Move,” a statewide health program designed to promote the health and weight-loss benefits of walking.
  

Denver Public School
Board of Education

Elaine Gantz Berman, President
Lucia Guzman, Vice President
Sue Edwards, Secretary
Kevin Patterson, Treasurer
Michelle Moss, Board Member
James Mejia, Board Member at Large
Les Woodward, Board Member at Large

BoardNews is published after each Board Meeting. For a free subscription contact the DPS Public Information Office 900 Grant St., Room 402, Denver, CO 80203

Phone: 720-423-3414 • TTY/TTD: 720-423-3741 • Fax: 720-423-3413