The Board of Education last night approved members of the new Secondary School Reform Commission, a group charged with exploring changes to improve the district’s graduation rate and lower the district’s dropout rate.

The 21-member commission is holding its meeting today (Friday, May 21) from 8 a.m. to noon at Young Americans Bank, 3550 E. 1st Ave.

The commission will make recommendations, among other things, for the best use of the $2 million (approved by voters in November as part of the mill levy initiatives) that’s earmarked for reform of secondary schools.

Under a charge approved by the Board of Education in April, the commission will study the issues inhibiting student success and graduation rates in secondary schools and recommend needed policy and programmatic changes to ensure that students successfully transition to postsecondary education and the workforce.

The resolution approved by the Board that sets the commission in motion cites a national report showing that academic growth for students slows in high school compared to earlier grades; achievement gaps widen between White and African-American/Hispanic students; and achievement of students in the United Stated declines in high school compared to the achievement of students in other countries.

“By any measure,” the resolution states, “the number of students who enter DPS high schools but fail to graduate is unacceptably high; and the gap in achievement, graduation and college attendance between high performing students and lower performing students is of great concern.

“Denver Public Schools has been named the most improved school district in Colorado for two years in a row, yet achievement gains in secondary schools have not kept pace with the district as a whole; and the future of our community depends upon a well-educated population who can participate as citizens in the democratic process, contribute to the economic vitality of the region and provide economic security for their families.”

The commission will be chaired by Board of Education vice-president Lucia Guzman and Dorothy Horrell, president of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation.

Members include:

• Hank Baker, senior vice president of marketing, Forest City Stapleton, Inc.
• Brian Barhaugh, executive director, YouthBiz, Inc.
• Dana Bryson, director of the Office of Accountability and Reform, City and County of Denver
• Leanna Clark, co-owner and principal, Schenkein Public Relations
• Ariel Cisnerso, senior advisor, Community Affairs Office, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
• Judy Diaz-Bonacquisti, director, Minority Engineering Program, Colorado School of Mines
• Reverend Regina Groff
• Maria Guajardo-Lucero, director of the Office for Education and Children, City and County of Denver
• Debbie Jessup, president, Key Banks
• Christine Johnson, president, Community College of Denver
• Steve Kaplan, Kaplan Hirsch & Rockwell LLP
• Jesse King
• Ginger Moloney, Dean, University of Denver School of Education
• James Mejia (former member, Denver Board of Education)
• Rick O’Connell (former superintendent, Douglas County Schools)
• Bill Ritter, Denver District Attorney
• Esther Rodriguez, director of development, Education Commission of the States
• Penfield Tate (former state Senator)
• Al Yates (former president, Colorado State University

Ex-officio members will be Jeff Buck, teacher, South High School; Ann Greenfield, principal, Merrill Middle School; and Mario Williams, principal, George Washington High School.

For more information, call the DPS Public Information Office, 720-423-3414.