Herald
ENGLEWOOD 1.3.13
Englewood
January 4, 2013
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourenglewoodnews.com
Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 92, Issue 47
Charter school backers not giving up Elected officials gave thumbs-down to first application By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com The Englewood Academy founding board of directors is not giving up its effort to establish a charter school in the community. “Our board decided we won’t appeal the Englewood School Board’s Dec. 11 decision not to approve our application to establish the community’s first charter school,” said Mary Zachariah, founding board president. “But we still want to establish a charter
school in Englewood, so we are continuing the process. We listened to the school board’s comments and we have already started work on refining the applications that should address many of the school board’s concerns.” She said, for example, plans are to address the school board’s concern that at least 50 percent of the planned eventual enrollment of 400 children should live in Englewood. She also said there are plans to refine the entire application, including more clearly defining the charter’s goals. “We plan to spend several months working on the license application,” Zachariah said. “Our goal is to resubmit the application in August and, if it is approved, we plan to open the school in August 2014.” The Englewood Academy proponents submitted their application on Oct. 1 to the Englewood School Board, requesting the
board approve the application and grant the group a license to open a charter school in Englewood in August 2013. “Our school district followed the staterequired process when considering a charter school application,” said Brian Ewert, school superintendent. “We had the application reviewed by the district advisory community, held two community meetings and had three pro charter school consultants review the document.” The school board met Dec. 11 to consider the application. Members first went into closed-door session with their attorney so the attorney could inform them of their legal obligations as they considered the license application. The result was that the board unanimously voted to deny the application and listed 10 reasons for the decision. Reasons included statements that the
school was not tailored to the district community, the lack of transportation and food services for the students, concerns about the budget and not having a building identified for the school. Zachariah said some of the concerns can’t be answered until the license request is granted. “The school board said they were concerned we don’t have a building,” she said. “We have looked at several buildings but we can’t execute a lease on a building until we know we will be permitted to establish the charter school.” The school board also listed a lack of transportation as a reason for not approving the license application. “We don’t see this as an issue,” she said. “I checked with numerous charter schools and none of them provide student transportation. Generally, that is handled by parents and by car pools.”
Knife-carrying suspect robs postal carrier
SAYING GOODBYE TO 2012
Man got away with small amount of mail By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com
In one of our Images of the Year, kindergartner Jazmyn Blair pushes her mother Jennifer Kearn’s hair back as the girl waits with Bishop Elementary School classmates for the first day of school to begin in August. For more photo highlights from 2012, turn to Page 4. File photo by Tom Munds
Rep. Kagan anticipates busy legislative session Amendment 64, guns seen as big issues By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com State Rep. Daniel Kagan says a full slate of major issues means the Legislature faces a very busy schedule in 2013. “We have our work cut out for us this year,” said the Cherry Hills Village Democrat, who represents District 3. “While we must continue to focus on promoting job growth, economic development and issues including school funding and health care, we also must pass legislation dealing with implementation of Amendment 64 that legalizes sale of marijuana. We also will deal
with the governor’s call for gun control.” Voters passed Amendment 64 in November, legalizing the possession and eventual retail sales of marijuana. Kagan said a governor’s task force is scheduled to send recommendations for legislation Kagan to the Colorado General Assembly by February. “Once we get the recommendation, I imagine we will begin work on the issue almost immediately,” the state representative said. “Early action is needed to give the state department of revenue time to make specific rules and regulations based on the legislation we pass.”
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Kagan’s district includes the cities of Sheridan, Englewood, Greenwood Village and Cherry Hills Village as well as parts of Littleton and unincorporated Arapahoe County. He said the legislature must deal with how to manage the escalating costs of Medicare and Medicaid. “The continued rising costs of Medicare and, for the state, Medicaid, mean the programs cannot be sustained using the current revenue sources,” he said. “The legislature must begin serious discussions of how to deal with the challenge of being able to pay to provide the services people expect.” Other areas he said need to be addressed includes improving the child welfare system, returning full funding for public schools and for higher education, civil unions, and measures to protect people and the environment while allowing energy companies to engage in “fracking.” He said he is preparing a bill to help victims of rape get the medical care they need when they need it. “I also plan to sponsor a bill to make sure legal counsel is available for those who can’t afford a lawyer as they deal with a plea bargain in misdemeanor cases,” he said. “I also have the concepts for a couple more bills, but those are still on the drawing board and I am not ready to talk about them at this time.”
U.S. postal inspectors have developed a composite sketch of the man who used a knife to rob a postal carrier in Englewood. “The postal carrier was delivering mail about 6:30 p.m. Dec. 24 near the corner of West Dartmouth Avenue and South Delaware Street when he was robbed by a man with a knife,” Postal Inspector Pam Durkee said. “The postal carrier was standing by his vehicle when a man came up, brandished a knife, grabbed a small amount of mail and fled east on Delaware toward the alley.” The suspect was described as a Hispanic male with a noticeable Spanish accent. He was 35 to 40 years old, about 5 feet, 9 inches tall with a thin build. He had slightly receding Sketch of suspect hair, sideburns, was unshaven and had a tattoo on the left side of his neck. He was wearing a dark-colored zipper-front sweatshirt and blue jeans. She added that the Postal Inspection Service, the section of the Postal Service that investigates mail theft, is taking the case very seriously. “We are treating the robbery with the utmost priority within our agency,” Durkee said. “This is a violent crime and we want to track down the suspect.” She said the Postal Service determined the area where the stolen mail was to be delivered and have notified the residents of that area that their mail may have been stolen. The postal inspector added that this case is unrelated to the knifepoint robbery of a postal carrier that happened Dec. 17 in Denver. There is a $50,000 reward offered for information leading to the arrest of the suspect in either robbery. Anyone with information about either incident is asked to contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455 (Select Option 2).