News-Press Douglas County 5.9.13
Castle Rock
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 11, Issue 7
May 9, 2013
Free
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourcastlerocknews.com
Teachers mostly happy, survey says Union official says results don’t extend to district By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com A state-directed teacher survey shows Douglas County educators feel supported by their communities, happy in their workplaces and empowered as instructional leaders. That, district officials say, is cause
for celebration. But others say the results reflect only conditions at the school level, and that satisfaction with the Douglas County School District overall is poor. The state education department’s Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) survey is an anonymous statewide survey of educators, conducted every two years and designed to assess teaching conditions at the school, district and state level. More than 70 percent of DCSD’s teach-
ers participated in the 2013 survey, giving high marks to support for schools from their communities, clarity of policies and expectations, the work environment, professional standards and the curriculum. In total, 84.7 percent agreed their school is a good place to work and learn. “We were really pleased,” DCSD spokeswoman Cinamon Watson said. “We had lots of teacher participation, and we improved in two-thirds of the data points over 2011. Some of those important ones I’d say (are
that) teachers are empowered as instructional leaders in their classrooms. Teachers feel there’s a real sense of collaboration and trust. Our teachers feel very supported by the community.” On most questions, DCSD teachers’ satisfaction exceeded the state average. “The TELL survey was very positive about teacher satisfaction in Douglas County,” Watson said. “That’s great news for our schools and our community.” Survey continues on Page 12
Election overhaul advances Republicans incensed over proposed changes By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com
Other recipients of the green outreach are Wellspring Community, which provides programs for adults with special needs,
A major Democrat-sponsored overhaul to how elections are conducted in Colorado passed the Senate on May 2, much to the chagrin of incensed Republicans who uniformly object to the effort. House Bill 1303 — the “Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act” — would make substantial changes to the state’s voting and registration process, primarily by allowing residents the ability to register to vote all the way up through Election Day. Also, every registered voter would receive a ballot in the mail. That includes socalled “inactive voters” — those who currently do not receive mail ballots because they did not vote in the Report previous election. The bill essentially does away with polling precincts as we know them, and instead sets up “polling centers” where any eligible voter can show up to cast a ballot. Democrats believe the bill modernizes elections and allows for greater involvement in the voting process. “At the end of the day, all we will find is that more people who are registered to vote will do so,” said Senate Majority Leader Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora. Democrats are touting this as a bipartisan piece of legislation, because the vast majority of county clerks in the state support the measure, including those who are Republican. But Republicans senators were apoplectic over the bill, which they dubbed the “Voter Fraud Act.” They argue that allowing same-day voter registration opens the door to more cheats casting ballots. “I have not talked to one clerk and recorder, except for maybe two, who think that same-day voter registration is a good thing, and that we should be allowing this huge open door for voter fraud to come to the state,” said Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch. Harvey also blamed Democrats for
Plants continues on Page 31
Election continues on Page 31
CALF assistant Denise Bassett, in red, stands in the CALF hoop house with Mary Lou Fenton, executive director of the Wellpspring Community. CALF is starting 15,000 seedlings for this year’s planting season, and many will go to community gardens. Photos by Rhonda Moore
CALF takes gardening to next level Community plots define group’s focus for 2013 By Rhonda Moore
rmoore@ourcoloradonews.com The Colorado Agricultural Leadership Foundation is stepping up its effort to make agriculture a part of everyday life, with hundreds of starter plants to distribute among Castle Rock’s community gardens. CALF, a Castle Rock nonprofit with a mission to connect people to agriculture, has for three years started seedlings in its hoop house, which can hold 15,000 starter plants, said Brooke Fox, CALF executive director. In years past, many of the starters made their way to the CALF production garden, where produce is sold to raise money for CALF’s educational programs. This year, the production garden was scaled back and the seedlings will travel beyond the boundaries of the CALF garden into at least three community gardens throughout Castle Rock. Among the recipient gardens are the Castle Rock community garden in Glovers
Participants in the Wellspring Community gardening program help assemble flats for starter plants, which will germinate in the CALF hoop house on Lowell Ranch. Each flat holds 72 plants. Park, the Real Community Garden at The Rock church and the community garden under construction at the Castle Rock Adventist Health Campus.
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