SEE WISE - Issuu

from Parker Chronicle 120321

Beyond navigating COVID-19, the DCSD was also implementing an equity policy aimed at ensuring “access to equitable and rigorous educational opportunities” and “an inclusive culture,” as the district puts it.

And a national debate about critical race theory in classrooms — something that DCSD insists it does not teach — was contributing to tense debates about the role of equity in education.

Around the time a string of area superintendents were leaving their posts, Wise was stepping up, throwing in for the permanent role at DCSD after serving as a co-leader and then interim superintendent following the departure of former Superintendent Thomas Tucker. He was named permanent superintendent in April and his term commenced May 12.

School Board President David Ray said near the school year’s start that Wise faced a climate where any decision he’d make would leave some people unhappy.

“Anybody that would step in at this time would have signifi cant challenges,” Ray said. “Our community is a community that really is very polarized about lots of different issues.”

That trend tracked throughout the fi rst six months of Wise’s tenure as permanent district superintendent. But now he’ll be working under new leadership — a board majority that has vowed to steer DCSD in a different direction.

Myriad issues culminated this November in a heated school board election that fl ipped the board majority from one willing to instate masking mandates and pursue equity in education, to a slate largely opposed to those issues, ones Wise had also advocated for.

“It’s a tough, tough job in education right now,” said Rick O’Connell, a former district superintendent and mentor to Wise. “Not just for superintendents.”

Navigating challenges

O’Connell began mentoring Wise as he grew interested in a superintendency. Both are longtime district employees. O’Connell was the district’s superintendent for two decades and Wise has spent the entirety of his 26-year career with Douglas County Schools.

Throughout the years, O’Connell has watched Wise’s ascend district ranks. Wise began as a student teacher in 1996 and within a few years went from teacher to assistant principal to principal. In 2007, he opened Legend High School before transitioning to work as an executive director of schools.

While Wise mulled pursuing a superintendency, O’Connell’s advice was for him to stay true to his values, “regardless of the political consequence.”

School board directors across the county have been subject to everything from intense scrutiny to unfettered vitriol during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Douglas County, school district leaders including Wise have shared in the brunt.

As the district followed a TriCounty Health Department maskwearing requirement for students ages 2 through 11 in August, when Tri-County still oversaw COVID-19 policy in Douglas County, emails showed mounting pressure on Wise to fi ght the health order. That included promises of protests or voting for school board candidates who would consider removing him.

One person said they were organizing a pact of families who would refuse to comply, and that families would protest the policy by keeping children home on days the state conducted enrollment counts that determine DCSD’s per-pupil funding.

“Corey and leadership looks really bad right now,” another person wrote.

Come October, Wise stood fi rmly behind the district as it launched a federal lawsuit against the newly formed Douglas County Health Department, initiating a legal battle aimed at protecting the district’s ability to mandate masks. The health agency was formed amid opposition by county commissioners to Tri-County Health COVID policies that they regarded as too stringent.

“The choice is this: Are we going to ignore the recommendation of medical experts everywhere and put the lives of vulnerable students in jeopardy? Or are we going to give all children a fair shot to succeed in person, in school, where they belong,” Wise said in a statement announcing the district had fi led suit.

The long-simmering mask debate reached a fever pitch as Election Day drew near. At the last board meeting before polls closed, numerous people opposed to masking mandates called for the resignations of the full board and Wise.

One meeting regular sat in the middle of the audience periodically holding a sign above his head calling for Wise to resign.

The four board members elected Nov. 2, all of whom have questioned some district policies, said on Election Night they know Wise has taken different stances than they have but that they want to get to know him better. Each promised to work with Wise.

One of the election victors, Becky Myers, said the district has seen too much turnover in the superintendent’s offi ce.

Myers echoed a comment Ray has made: That Wise is “homegrown,” someone who has been in Douglas County and the district for a long time and knows the community well.

“The district does not need another superintendent gone,” she said.

O’Connell, the former DCSD superintendent, said Wise is “the right leader for Douglas County, now and in the future. He’s the right person for the job.”

To people close with Wise, he’s the leader who stays behind to help custodians clean up. He prioritizes maintaining relationships with employees at every level of the system.

Wise also isn’t the sort to think he has all the answers, Ray said, and as a leader “he relies heavily” on the team around him.

Wise moved people from the building-level into his cabinet. Ray said that choice “solidifi ed that fact, that we have great people in our organization who should be in those higher-level positions.”

Right away, some of Wise’s most important tasks would be addressing the trauma that students experienced during the pandemic and their learning loss, Ray said.

Looking at student performance would mean sending staff and teachers to delve into data troves, looking at which students need additional academic support and brainstorming about how to get it to them.

“That’s a big one,” Ray said.

Wise’s priorities

And in that vein, Wise and district leaders have held multiple meetings about grade-level performance among students and bolstering social-emotional programming in schools.

Excellence in reading is a priority for him, Wise told Colorado Community Media, and foundational to all other learning.

Wise sat down with a CCM reporter roughly three months after being named superintendent to discuss his background and goals for the district.

His late-summer days were fi lled

A man holds a sign at a Douglas County School Board meeting calling for Superintendent Corey Wise’s removal. PHOTO BY JESSICA GIBBS

with prepping staff for the start of a new school year. Teachers were coming back from summer break. He called it exciting. The energy of being with people is “a cornerstone of what, you know, makes school great,” he said.

The 48-year-old educator from Parker spoke about fostering a strong professional learning community within the district. Teaching is a professional job, he said. Giving educators the ability to do their work in a meaningful way means giving them the time. He’d look at everything from the full academic year calendar down to the bell schedule to accomplish that, he said.

Wise’s philosophy is that “strong leaders lead through” challenging times, he said. He described himself as passionate. A strong personality. Relational. Education is not just a job, he said. He sees the field as a lifestyle.

“I always knew what I wanted to do. And I wanted to teach,” he said.

Wise got into education because of the example set by his parents, both teachers.

“I grew up in a middle school,” he said.

There was also inspiration by way of educators who taught him as an “Aurora Public Schools kid.” He remembers them by name.

In college his studies focused on special education. When it came time to student-teach, he sought out “the best teacher I ever had,” who happened to be at Ponderosa High School.

Wise interviewed to student-teach there while working toward his master’s degree in severe cognitive education, although he’d later switch to pursuing a master’s in administration, then was hired on as a full-time teacher.

He tried to stay heavily involved in his year-and-a-half at Ponderosa High School, he said, because “that’s what great teachers do.” He coached, took on hall duty, went to plays and musicals.

Then as the district prepared to open Chaparral High School, Wise saw it as an opportunity to help establish a school’s culture and influence instructional decisions.

He applied for a head coach and teaching role and stayed at DCSD’s fifth high school for a decade. After three years of teaching, he moved into administration and left as an assistant principal to open the district’s ninth high school, Legend, as its founding principal.

Wise left the classroom because school leadership urged him to consider roles in administration, he said. He was young to be an assistant principal, and young to become a principal when he applied to lead Legend, he said. He still feels young as a superintendent, he said.

He hoped he could help bring the community together to tackle the district’s challenges, like boosting teacher pay to help recruit and retain the best educators. Wise said his goal would be forging a legacy as someone who took Douglas County Schools to the next level.

“My adult life, Douglas County has been in my life,” he said. “It’s who I am.”

Public Health Improvement Plan (PHIP) Community Meetings

Join us for a series of community meetings on prioritized health topics - Dec. 6, 7, and 8. The meetings will be held via Zoom. Learn more and how to participate at douglas.co.us/health-

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Information nights are free and open to anyone interested in learning about foster care and adoption. Join via Zoom Dec. 13 from 6-7:30 p.m. For more information call 303-636-1KID or register online at collaborativefostercare.com and select Information Night.

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Head lice are ‘defi nitely back,’ says a professional delouser

BY RAE ELLEN BICHELL KAISER HEALTH NEWS

The Marker family of Parker opened their door on a recent evening to a woman dressed in purple, with a military attitude to cleanliness.

Linda Holmes, who has worked as a technician with LiceDoctors for fi ve years, came straight from her day job at a hospital after she got the call from a dispatcher that the Marker family needed her ASAP.

According to those in the world of professional nitpicking, Pediculus humanus capitis, the muchscorned head louse, has returned.

“It’s defi nitely back,” said Kelli Boswell, owner of Lice & Easy, an Arvada boutique where people in the Denver area can get deloused, a process that can range from minutes to hours depending on the method and the infestation. “It’s a sign that things are coming back to normal.”

Colds and more serious bugs like respiratory syncytial virus, better known by the shorthand RSV, are also back. That may leave some to wonder: With all the covid prevention measures in place, how are kids sharing these things?

Like the coronavirus, all these bugs depend on human sociability. Unfortunately, the measures that many reopened schools have taken to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 — masks, hand-washing, vaccination — do little to deter the spread of the head louse.

However, physical distancing, such as spacing desks 3 feet apart, should be helping, if it’s actually happening.

Lice are, in theory, harder to spread than the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 because proximity alone isn’t enough: They usually need head-to-head contact. If a kid gets lice, odds are it means that kid spent some quality time close enough to another kid for the parasite to make its move. (Researchers tend to agree that transmission via inanimate objects like combs and hats is minimal.)

The head louse is not known for its fortitude or athletic prowess. It’s basically the couch potato of pests. Adults can’t survive more than a day or two without snacking on blood. Their eggs can’t hatch without the warmth of a human head, and will die within about a week if not in those cozy conditions. The bugs can’t jump or fl y — only crawl. The one thing going for the head louse is its highly specialized claws, evolved to grasp human hair.

Unlike the body louse, the head louse isn’t known to spread disease. An infestation doesn’t indicate anything about a person’s hygiene. (In fact, the lore of delousers says that the bugs prefer clean hair because it’s more grabbable.) And despite common misconceptions, they can colonize people of all ages, races and ethnicities.

COVID lockdowns were not great from a louse-world-domination standpoint. But the critters have been bonding with us for tens of thousands of years. A little lockdown wasn’t going to end the romance.

Federico Galassi, a researcher with Argentina’s Pest and Insecticide Research Center, found that strict early covid lockdowns did, indeed, lead to a decline in head lice among kids in Buenos Aires, but the bugs came nowhere close to being eliminated. His study found prevalence dropped from about 70% to about 44%.

And one thing is clear: When people shut their doors and hunkered down in early lockdowns, the lice were right there hunkered down with us.

When SaLeah Snelling reopened the doors of her Lice Clinics of America salon in Boise, Idaho, in May, she said, “the cases of head lice were heavier than we’ve ever seen.” And it wasn’t just one or two people in the household with lice, but the entire household.

Now, Galassi and American louse workers say, infestation rates are back to pre-lockdown norms, despite school covid protections.

Nix, a brand of anti-louse products, publishes a map that claims lice are bad right now in Houston, most of Alabama and New Mexico, plus Tulsa, Oklahoma. The map directs people to locations that carry its products since many parents use a DIY approach once they spy the critter on a child’s head.

Richard Pollack, chief scientifi c offi cer with pro-bono pest-identifi cation service IdentifyUS, said most claims about louse prevalence are “marketing nonsense” from a largely unregulated indus-

Professional delouser Linda Holmes combs through the hair of 8-year-old Huntley Marker on a weeknight in late October in the girl’s home in Parker. Business is back up for Holmes and other nitpickers after a lull during the height of the pandemic.

PHOTO BY RAE ELLEN BICHELL/KAISER HEALTH NEWS

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try focused on apparent infestations that often turn out to be just dandruff, glitter, hair spray, grass-dwelling springtail insects, innocuous fungus or even cookie crumbs.

It’s possible that the recent increase in business for professional nitpickery suggests that people are now comfortable seeking help outside the home rather than its being a sign of a surge in the bugs.

While little research exists to confi rm whether there is a rise in lice, Boswell, Pollack and even the National Association of School Nurses agree: The bugs aren’t likely spreading in the classroom because in-school louse transmission is considered rare.

Instead, Boswell said, it’s more likely that as other activities resumed — sleepovers, play dates, summer camp, family gatherings — the bugs prospered once more.

Pollack once wrote in a presentation slide, “Head lice indicate that the child has friends.” Preschoolers tend to get the infestations the most “because they’re more cuddly,” said Julia Wilson, co-owner of Rocky Mountain Lice Removal in Lafayette. But she has also noticed a rise among teenagers, which she ascribes to taking selfi es with pals.

“You say to them, ‘Have you touched heads?’ and the teenager’s like, ‘No, never,’” said Wilson. “And then all of a sudden, they’re literally taking a selfi e photo with their friends.”

The Marker family isn’t sure where third grader Huntley’s lice originated. Perhaps a close friend or her dance team? The Markers spent more than $200 to get the four-person household checked — eyebrows and Dad’s beard includ-

tions that often turn out to be just dandruff, glitter, hair spray, grass-dwelling springtail insects, innocuous fungus or even cookie crumbs. nitpickery suggests that people are now comfortable seeking help outside the home rather than its being a sign of a surge in the bugs. lice, Boswell, Pollack and even the National Association of School Nurses agree: The bugs aren’t likely spreading in the classroom because in-school louse transmission is considered rare. resumed — sleepovers, play dates, summer camp, family gatherings — the bugs prospered once more. that the child has friends.” Preschoolers tend to get the infestations the most “because they’re more cuddly,” said Julia Wilson, co-owner of Rocky Mountain Lice ed. Her dad and her preschoolRemoval in Lafayette. But she has aged brother were free of nits. But Holmes did fi nd a couple of nits on Huntley’s mom, Paris. “You can just burn my whole head right now,” said Paris. After combing each head carefully, Holmes ended the session by hugging her customers goodbye,

Professional delouser Linda Holmes’ tools of choice for nitpicking her customers’ heads are extra-virgin olive oil and a set of fi netoothed combs. Other methods involve tools that run the gamut from special gels to devices that heat the head at a temperature thought to kill louse eggs. PHOTO BY RAE ELLEN BICHELL/KAISER HEALTH NEWS

proof that she trusts her work.

This story is from Kaiser Health News, a nonprofi t news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affi liated with Kaiser Permanente. Used by permission. For more, visit khn.org.

Du y family fosters 35 children in 5 years

BY CHANCY J. GATLIN-ANDERSON SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

November is National Adoption Month, a time to highlight adoption success stories and encourage adoption from foster care. To celebrate this month, the Christie and Maggie Duffy family of Elizabeth was honored in a virtual awards ceremony by the Colorado Department of Human Services for their dedication to working with Colorado’s foster system.

One foster/adoptive family from each Colorado county was nominated for the annual award and fi ve were honored as foster/adoptive families of the year, including Elbert County’s Duffy family. The award thanks families for their hard work in fostering and adopting Colorado kids, and is also intended to promote fostering and retain foster parents throughout the state.

After becoming foster parents fi ve years ago, Christie and Maggie decided to pursue adoption in order to keep sibling groups together. In addition to caring for more than 35 children and youths in foster care over the years, they have adopted eight children younger than age 7 and continue to care for young people in foster care.

In addition to having a house full of children, Christie and Maggie provide a home to fi ve dogs — including a trained service dog — and many farm animals. Christie and Maggie say the presence of animals is therapeutic for the children.

Christie and Maggie Duffy moved to Elbert County in January 2016, deciding that the rural lifestyle would be best for their future family.

“All of the kids came with some sort of trauma, like homelessness or domestic violence,” said Christie Duffy. “The rural life is so therapeutic. We feel that it is so great and rewarding for the kids.”

Christie answered questions about her family’s experience with fostering and adoption in a Nov. 8 interview with the Elbert County News:

What made you decide to be foster/adoptive parents?

We actually got married in April 2016. We had talked about possibly of having biological children but because of the move to Colorado, job transfer, and the recent loss of my dad, I was afraid.

We kind of looked at each other at the end of the day and decided that fostering and adopting was our best option. We fi gured we could start with fostering and get our feet wet before jumping into adopting. We could learn how to be parents without fear of “what if I’m not good at this”?

We had so much support from people to teach us how to do this whole thing. We fostered 20 to 25 foster kids during our fi rst two years!

Why did you choose to adopt siblings?

We moved to Elbert County so we would have more space to foster siblings. We learned that sometimes the foster system would actually separate siblings. We had four siblings put with us.

We now have three sets of siblings now. Eight of them have been formally adopted. We have made it our duty to provide for them. If we get calls and they need our support with a placement, we will be there. Our thought is “see a need, fi ll a need.” We knew that if we fostered siblings and they could stay together, why not do that? We made it our purpose.

What are some of the highlights of fostering and adopting?

Our favorite highlight that we love is watching the kids overcome their adversity. We have a kiddo that we were told was never going to walk. Well, he’s walking. We were told he was never going to talk. Well, he’s talking.

All of our kids have special needs. They’ve either been exposed to drugs and alcohol in utero, have experienced domestic abuse, and generally have various traumas. We love when they fi nally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Graduating from various therapies, be it occupational, verbal, emotional, etc. It is so exciting!

What are the challenges you’ve faced with fostering?

Our biggest challenge was when biological families found out that their kids were with an LGBTQ+ family. There are also a lot of people out here who don’t have a lot of experience with LGBTQ+ families, especially with various services. It’s hard to fi nd support in a small, rural, conservative place.

What advice do you have for potential foster/adoptive parents?

I recommend fi nding a good support system. Find people that know what the system is like. Find an agency who will support you and fi ts your needs. If you are an LGBTQ+ couple, fi nd a good fi t for you. If you are looking to go from foster to adoption, or not, there are agencies for you.

Below are Colorado adoption and fostering statistics:

Adoption from foster care in Colorado • Since January 2021, 551 Colorado children and youths in foster care have been adopted. • Currently there are 436 Colorado children and youths who are waiting for a family/adoption. • There are 3,878 children and youths in foster care or another type of out-of-home placement. • Colorado has 2,559 certifi ed foster and kinship (relatives, friends, neighbors, etc.) families.

To read the state’s CO4Kids blog about the Duffy family and their foster and adoption experience, visit tinyurl.com/duffyfamily.

For an FAQ on Colorado adoption, visit tinyurl.com/adopt-foster-faq.

To follow the Duffy family on social media, you can fi nd them on both Instagram and TikTok as TheDuffyDozen.

Six girls of the Du y family.

COURTESY OF THE DUFFY FAMILY

All of the Du y kids are involved in extracurricular activities, including football and cheerleading.

Christie, left, and Maggie Du y.

Confident.

Raising a family as a single father, Michael wanted his kids to have a stable home and great schools in a safe community. With help from people like you, they are now living a life filled with love, hope, and purpose.

THANK YOU

Lisa Schlichtman will oversee CCM’s 8-county news operation

STAFF REPORT

The next editor-in-chief of Colorado Community Media is Lisa Schlichtman, an experienced, award-winning news executive and an industry leader.

CCM Publisher Linda Shapley made the announcement Nov. 29.

“I’ve been familiar with Lisa’s award-winning leadership for a number of years, and to have someone with her passion and talent guiding our journalists at Colorado Community Media will mean great things as we look to grow our brand,” she said.

Schlichtman, until recently the editor of the Steamboat Pilot & Today newspaper, joins CCM on Jan. 3.

“I am thrilled to join Colorado Community Media and take on the new role of editor-in-chief,” Schlichtman said. “I look forward to sharing my years of experience in the newspaper industry with CCM’s talented team of reporters and editors with the goal of connecting the communities we serve through engaging, locally-focused content and impactful journalism.”

Schlichtman will lead the news teams of CCM’s two dozen Colorado newspapers and websites as well as other publications. CCM was sold earlier this year by Jerry and Ann Healey to The Colorado News Conservancy, a partnership of The Colorado Sun and the National Trust for Local News dedicated to fostering community journalism.

CCM newspapers serve Adams, Arapahoe, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Jefferson and Weld counties.

“Our publications have tremendous potential and reach, and it is exciting to be part of the newly established Colorado News Conservancy,” Schlichtman said.

Schlichtman succeeds Mark Harden, who retired as CCM editor last fall but has been serving on an interim basis since July while the search was underway for a permanent editor. Harden steps down Dec. 16.

“Lisa is just the sort of dynamic, innovative, experienced news leader who can help CCM reach its greatest potential,” Harden said. “I am so pleased she has agreed to join us and I wish her great success.”

Since July 2013, Schlichtman has been editor of the Pilot & Today, a daily newspaper founded in 1885 and serving Steamboat Springs and Routt County.

Schlichtman and her staff received the Colorado Press Association’s 2020 News Leader of the Year award for a multiplatform, in-depth reporting series, “Indivisible,” which focused on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in Routt County and efforts to bridge divides. CPA named the Pilot & Today the state’s best newspaper in its size class for 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. And the newspaper under Schlichtman also received the 2019 Presidential Award from the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance for its eight-week “In Our Shoes” series on sexual assault.

Schlichtman previously was an editor, co-publisher and co-owner of various publications in Missouri, including the Monnett Times, Cassville Democrat and Wheaton Journal newspapers as well as Ozarks Outdoors and Connection magazines. She began her career as a reporter and assistant editor at the Cassville newspaper.

In addition to her professional career, Schlichtman has been active in helping to support journalism and the news industry.

She is a past president of the Colorado Press Association, the statewide news-media trade group, and is a board member of the Colorado News Collaborative, or COLab, a Denver-based organization that serves as a local media resource hub. Previously she was a vice president and secretary of the Ozarks Press Association.

Schlichtman also has been engaged in community roles. She is a graduate of the 2014 Leadership Steamboat class, a past chairperson of the Cassville Planning and Zoning Commission, and a past board member of the Cassville and Monett Area Chambers of Commerce.

A St. Louis native, Schlichtman holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She and her late husband, Mike, have two grown sons who live on the Front Range.

CCM publications include the Arvada Press, Brighton Standard Blade, Canyon Courier, Castle Pines News-Press, Castle Rock NewsPress, Centennial Citizen, Clear Creek Courant, Commerce City Sentinel Express, Denver Herald, Douglas County News-Press, Elbert County News, Englewood Herald, Evergreen Lifestyles, Fort Lupton Press, Golden Transcript, Highlands Ranch Herald, Jeffco Transcript, Life on Capitol Hill, Littleton Independent, Lone Tree Voice, Northglenn/Thornton Sentinel, Parker Chronicle, South Platte Independent, Washington Park Profi le and Westminster Window, plus two shoppers, the AdCo Advertiser and 285 Hustler.