Budget Picture Taking Shape

The Board of Education tackled difficult budget choices this week during a day-long retreat April 22 and again during a regular work session two days later.

The plan reduce the 2003-2004 spending is starting to firm up. About $30 million in reductions (about 6 percent of current spending) must be made to make ends meet.

Two major pieces of the puzzle are outstanding – final direction from state lawmakers on K-12 funding and completed contracts with labor groups, including the Denver Classroom Teachers Association.

But the Board agreed in principle to many ingredients that will ultimately make up the budget-fixing recipe.

The most-discussed item was class size – more specifically, the formula that is used to fairly allocate budgets to schools.

Board members agreed to leave current formulas in place for all elementary school grades (kindergarten through grade five). But the Board accepted the staff recommendation to reduce the number of teacher allocations at middle school (grades 6-8 in elementary and middle schools) and high schools.

At the middle school level (to include grades 6-8 in K-6, K-7 or K-8 schools), the funding formula would increase from one teacher allocation per 25 students to one teacher allocation per 26.5 students for regular classes.

The formula for TNLI (Transitional Native Language Instruction) classes in grades 6-8 in the elementary schools will increase from one teacher allocation per 24 students to one teacher allocation per 25.5 students. The formula for English Language Acquisition (ELA) classes in the middle schools will increase from one teacher allocation per 18 students to one teacher allocation per 19.5 students.

At the high school level, regular classes increase from one teacher per 26 students to one teacher per 28.5 students and ELA classes increase from one teacher per 18 students to one teacher per 20.5 students.

The allocations have a direct impact on class size, but schools have some flexibility to adjust actual class sizes through other decisions, too, including schedules, course offerings and how all staff is deployed.

The decision to keep elementary grades at current staffing levels costs $1.4 million meaning other cuts have to be found. The Board agreed to solve some of that by asking the Department of Facility Management to reduce district-wide custodial services by $.8 million. A $.6 million question remains.

The class size savings at the secondary level generates about $3.1 million in savings.

Other budget ideas agreed to in principle by the Board include reducing central administrative spending by $8.25 million, raising $1 million through Early Childhood Education tuition for some families, saving $1 million by restructuring summer schools, and saving $4 million by delaying planned maintenance and repairs.

The class size issue, said Superintendent Jerry Wartgow, “is a very, very difficult and tough topic because this does impact schools on a daily basis…But my commitment is that we not let this process detract us from our mission...and that we have not lost the positive momentum that the district has gained and that we can feel in the community.”

Board member Les Woodward worried about the potential public relations damage of raising class sizes at the elementary level. Final class sizes are a “mixture of events in each school,” Woodward said, but the issue also involves “symbolism for parents about whether they are pleased with how the schools are being directed and managed.”

Board member James Mejia agreed. “This is a barometer that everyone knows,” he said. “I would like us to go the other way and not touch class size. I think we need to make tough decisions in other areas.”

One of those “tough decisions” might be reducing the number of buses rolling. Board members showed interest in looking for savings in the budget for high school transportation. Savings here are complicated because reducing the total number of buses to maximize efficiency would also require that 25 to 30 elementary schools start their day earlier at 7:30 a.m. Middle schools would continue to open earlier than most elementary schools – allowing each bus to make two rounds of deliveries to schools in the morning and two deliveries home in the afternoon.

Next Steps On Budget

The discussion this week by the Board of Education provided some consensus about some key budget issues and means schools can begin planning for 2003-2004. But the formal budget approval process is still ahead:

• May 15 – Proposed budget presented to the Board of Education and posted on the district’s website
• June 5 – Public hearing on proposed budget
• June 19 – Budget adoption by the Board of Education, including utilization of Amendment 23 funds

 

 

 

Board Ponders Enrolling Younger Kindergarteners

The Board of Education this week tentatively agreed to push back the cut-off date for determining age eligibility for students to start kindergarten.

Children must turn five years old on or before September 15 to be eligible for kindergarten under the current policy. The new policy would move the date to November 15.

The change could mean more than 900 additional kindergarteners enrolling in August.

Only five states allow school districts to make their own determination about the cutoff date for kindergarten enrollment. Nationwide, entrance ages range from June 1 to December 31.

No matter where the entrance date is set, there will always be a younger group of children within a given classroom and children with greater and lesser academic preparation. The district’s literacy program is structured to address the needs of students with a range of skills.

“We are very fortunate that a strength of Denver Public Schools is early childhood education and kindergarten,” said Chief Academic Officer Sally Mentor Hay. “We have teachers who have the capacity to serve children with a broad range of abilities.”

Among the rationale presented by the Department of Early Childhood Education is that research shows early intervention with young children increases the likelihood that those children will not need later remediation. Preschool and full-day kindergarten programs have the greatest impact with children at risk based on such factors as poverty, birth to a teen parent, abuse and neglect or low birth rate. A substantial number of DPS students meet one or more of these criteria, with about 70 percent of elementary students qualifying for free or reduced price meals.

“The earlier that developmentally appropriate learning experience are provided for these children, the higher the likelihood that they will experience later school success,” said Mentor Hay.

Wayne Eckerling, Assistant Superintendent for Research, Planning and Special Projects, said a number of administrative details will have to be worked out. The change could mean some parents would change their minds about starting a child in kindergarten this coming school year, he said, and that could mean enrollment pressures in some schools.

Virginia Rockwell Honored For “Spirit, Endless Energy”

The Board of Education on Thursday honored the memory of former DPS Board member Virginia Rockwell, who passed away recently. Virginia Rockwell was elected to the Board of Education in 1975 and served with distinction for six years. She was a prominent and dedicated leader in the Denver community through a lifetime of work with a variety of civic organizations.

“Ginny served on the Board during a term of great controversy regarding school desegregation,” said Board President Elaine Gantz Berman. “She believed firmly that only desegregation would provide equal educational opportunities for all children in Denver Public Schools.”

A resolution approved by the Board recognized Rockwell’s first interest as civil rights for minorities, women and children. In 1990, she and husband Bruce Rockwell received the first annual Martin Luther King Jr. award for their support of civil rights. A conference room in the Denver Public Library is named for the Rockwells. Virginia served as commissioner of the library for two administrations and helped arrange financing for the new central library and rehabilitation of 20 branches. She was also the proud mother of three DPS graduates.

Former DPS Superintendent Evie Dennis attended the Board meeting to honor Rockwell’s memory. “She was known for doing the things that were right for all of the children of Denver Public Schools,” she said. “Ginny struggled with us to open the Denver School of the Arts, and I know that she would be proud of the many young people at the school today who will go on because of her dream.”

The resolution states that the Denver Public Schools Board of Education honors the life of Virginia Rockwell as a mother, wife, daughter, sister, grandmother, friend, volunteer and leader, and affectionately acknowledges that she touched the life of the entire Denver community with her spirit and endless energy. Further, the Board of Education recognizes that Virginia Rockwell was, and remains, one of the most prominent and influential individual members of the Denver Public Schools community.

“Ginny was very, very special in the life and history of DPS,” said Berman.

 

Board Approves New CDM Purpose

The Board of Education this week approved several recommendations submitted in March by the Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) Commission, accepting as policy a modified scope and purpose of CDM committees.

Under the new policy to become effective in the 2003-2004 school year, CDMs would not be involved in day-to-day school operations or personnel issues, but rather in supporting school improvement plans. The purpose of CDMs would be to enhance student achievement and provide strategic direction in support of the school’s mission and vision as stated in the School Improvement Plan.

The Board also approved the commission’s recommendation that the CDM process be removed from the negotiated agreement between the district and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA), directing staff to negotiate changes in the agreement by removing all language referencing CDMs. The final vision is subject to current negotiations, but if agreed upon, schools also would create a School Personnel Committee to replace the former CDM Personnel Subcommittee.

To signal the change and the true focus of the committees, the Board approved the proposal to rename Collaborative Decision Making committees consistent with the revised scope.

The CDM Commission – four teachers, four parents, two principals, one Board member and one central office administrator – spent six months reviewing the governance, structure, roles and accountability measures of the decade-long CDM program.

 

Board Notes...

In other action this week, the Board of Education agreed on first reading to consider a change in the policy that governs how facilities are named. The policy includes criteria for choosing the names of district facilities.

In other action this week, the Board of Education approved:

• A $1,085,701 comprehensive school reform grant opportunity from the Colorado Department of Education for seven participating middle schools in the district.
• A $180,000 comprehensive school reform grant from the Colorado Department of Education for the Challenges, Choices and Images Literary and Technology Charter School.
• An amendment to the charter contract with Colorado High School Charter School to allow the school to serve 20 additional students in a night school program.
• An amendment to the charter contract with Community Challenge Charter School to allow the school to eliminate services to seventh graders and reduce the maximum enrollment to 65 students.

 

 

 

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