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FARMERS’ MARKET April 30, 2015 VOLU M E 1 4 | I S SUE 1 5
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GETTING THE BUGS OUT Students at Riverstone Education in Lone Tree marked Earth Day on April 22 by releasing thousands of ladybugs back into the environment on plants, flowers and trees. The preschoolers wore red and black in honor of the ladybugs. Students learned that ladybugs feed on insects that are harmful to gardens, trees and shrubs.
PHOTOS BY JANE REUTER
DOUGLAS COUNTY SCHOOLS
Bond issue drives debate Presentation on capital needs draws supporters, detractors By Jane Reuter
jreuter@colorado communitymedia.com
Tyler Cridlebough of Parker carefully carries his ladybug to the flower pots into which they were released. The release was part of Riverstone Education’s Earth Day event.
Gracie Richardson of Castle Pines, who dressed as a ladybug for the day, frees the last of the 1,500 ladybugs released.
Castle Rock’s Brady Grospitch watches a ladybug perched on his hand during the Earth Day celebration.
Lone Tree’s garden ready to bloom Community and school to grow and learn from city’s latest amenity
After 87 meetings with more than 1,000 community members on the school district’s long list of facility concerns, the Douglas County School Board said more work should be done before it can decide whether to put a capitalneeds tax issue on the November ballot. The school district has a final opportunity in November to ask taxpayers to maintain tax bills that would otherwise go down this year. If voters approved the proposal for a new $200 million bond, their school tax bill would remain unchanged instead of dropping by about $36 a year. After deciding not to put the question to voters in 2014, the board charged its Long Range Planning Committee with educating and getting feedback from the public about the $275 million in unmet capital needs. Committee members and financial staff gave a detailed presentation to the board about their findings during the April 21 board meeting. Surveys and comments they gathered from community members show support for funding those needs with a bond or some form of tax. “We heard the recognition of the need for a bond; we heard a concern about a long-term strategy to address our capital needs,” said committee chairman Todd Warnke, adding they also heard a desire for “quick and decisive action” to address the unfunded capital needs. “One thousandplus people came out, on snowy nights, on school nights, to sit there thoughtfully and give us very good feedback.” Warnke repeated the committee’s concerns for the increasingly grave condition of many district
Ballot continues on Page 9
By Jane Reuter
jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com
HOW DISTRICTS COMPARE
The squares of dirt are neat, smooth and untouched, framed in freshly cut wood. But they won’t stay that way for long. In just a few weeks, Lone Tree’s new community garden will blossom with life. Garden plots still are available for summer lease in the recently completed garden. The deadline to file is May 1, and an organizational meeting for prospective gardeners is from 9 a.m. to noon May 2 at Lone Tree Elementary School. Plot fees are $35 for a 6-foot-by-12-foot space. Most of the work on the plots on the school’s east side is complete. Volunteers still plan to build a shed and a human sundial, among other details.
Douglas County receives among the lowest per-pupil funding in the Denver metro area. In 2014-15, that amount was $6,763.59, according to the CDE.
Garden continues on Page 9
Kay Tucker, left, 21st century learning specialist at Lone Tree Elementary, and city planner Jennifer Drybread stand in the city’s new community garden. Photo by Jane Reuter
Neighboring Littleton Public Schools is also on the low end of the state funding list, getting only $1.66 more per-pupil than Douglas County in 2014-15. The CDE shows its per-pupil funding at 6,765.25. Littleton’s per-pupil state funding rank did not dissuade voters there from passing a refinancing mechanism similar to the one proposed in Douglas County in November 2013.