Herald HRH 10-17-2013
Highlands Ranch
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 26, Issue 48
October 17, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourhighlandsranchnews.com
School election: Big issues at stake Vouchers, pay protocol among controversial reform efforts By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com The Douglas County School District is in the midst of what Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen recently called “the most rigorous transformation plan in American
public education.” voring the board’s reform efforts The arguments surrounding and four looking for a change in that effort are varied, some dis- direction. tinct to Douglas County Controversy has surand others similar to rounded almost every inside those surrounding edustep of the major eduTurn to pages 9 and cation reform nationcational reforms intro10 for Q&As with wide. duced by DCSD, startthe school board That makes the Nov. ing with the voucher candidates and 5 school board elecprogram in 2011. page 11 for a look tion — which could sigThe many other at the major issues. nal a shift in the school reform pieces board’s direction — the include a refocus of national attendesign of the tion. The race for four teachers’ payseats on the seven-member board for-performance system features eight candidates, four fa- first introduced in 1993,
and a market-based pay scale believed to be the first in the nation implemented at the K-12 level. District officials and reform supporters say Douglas County is leading the way, with programs and systems that will serve as a model for other districts across the country as the United States attempts to restore its academic record. The plans also give parents control and choice over their individual child’s education, a role reformers see as logical and appropri-
ate. Some community members who see DCSD as a test case for the nation question the level of research behind and validity of the changes, their implementation, lack of community input, and teacher morale they say is declining in the reforms’ wake. They also question the ultimate goal, with some speculating the current method of reform will lead to socioeconomic segregation and underfunded public schools. Bill Mathis, managing director of the Boulder-based National Election continues on Page 31
HRCA panel proposes 2014 budget Largest assessment hike since 2003 considered By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com
Peter Kim, 4, of Highlands Ranch, picks out a pumpkin at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. All proceeds of St. Luke’s annual pumpkin sales go to help fund youth mission trips. The pumpkin patch is open daily through Oct. 31. Photos by Ryan Boldrey
Halloween happenings take over Attractions include haunted forest, pumpkin patches, more By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com Haunted hayrides, a haunted forest, scary movies in the middle of the woods, trick or treating, a spooktacular dance and pumpkin patches — yup, it’s that time again. With two weeks until Halloween casts its magical spell on Highlands Ranch, there is plenty to do to get into the spirit beforehand. The Highlands Ranch Community Association continues to add program for its residents and friends while bringing back some of the favorites, such as the Haunted Forest, which Backcountry Wilderness Area Supervisor Mark Giebel said just gets bigger and better by the year and will feature some new scary elements in 2013. “Along with our third year of the Haunted Forest, we are also offering a family movie night and scary movie night on a portable screen in the woods,” Giebel said, adding that moviegoers get to take a short, horse-drawn hayride to the secluded movie site. The Haunted Forest is from 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 25 and 26, and will depart from the parking lot of Rocky Heights Middle School, 11033 Monarch Blvd. in Highlands Ranch. Tickets are $8 in advance and $12 at the gates of the forest.
Those same nights, families will also have the opportunity to climb aboard a haunted hayride at Plum Creek Stables, 7479 W. Titan Road, as professional storytellers narrate and six-gun-carrying cowboys and Indians battle it out around the bend. Half-hour ides take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 25 and 6 to 9:30 p.m. Oct. 26. If you want to take a spooky ride through the backcountry to catch a film, hayrides will shuttle guests from the Highlands Ranch Law Enforcement Training Center off Santa Fe Boulevard to the site of the screen in the woods at 6 p.m. Oct. 28 and 29. The first night will be a family night, featuring Disney’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” while the second night the feature will be “The Village.” Both nights will include marshmallow roasting and s’mores after the movie. For the younger kids, Monsters, Monsters Everywhere is a chance to dress in costume and make fun monster crafts from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at Southridge Recreation Center, 4800 McArthur Ranch Road. This event is for ages 2½ to 5.
Halloween fun around tHe rancH Oct. 17-31: Pumpkin Patch at St. Luke’s Oct. 21: Monsters, Monsters Everywhere Oct. 25: Spooky Animals Oct. 25: Halloween Spooktacular Dance
Oct. 25-26: Haunted Hayrides Oct. 25-26: Haunted Forest Oct. 26: Trick-or-Treat Street
Spooky Animals, a special Highlands Ranch Metro District Parks and Recreation Program, is geared for ages 3-5 and will take place from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Oct. 25 at 3280 Redstone Park Circle. To learn about the area’s owls, snakes and coyotes, visit www.highlandsranch.org to register. Trick-or-Treat Street, for ages 12 and younger, will take over Eastridge, 9568 University Blvd, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Oct. 26. The cost is $1 and the line closes at 1:15 p.m. Each trick-or-treater also gets to pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. Speaking of pumpkin patches, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 8817 S. Broadway, has pumpkins, ranging from 50 cents to $80, for sale from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. on the weekends through Oct. 31. All pumpkin sales benefit the church’s youth missions, which this year are solely focused on helping Coloradans affected by the numerous disasters that have struck. Feel like dancing? The Halloween Spooktacular Dance benefits the HRCA’s Therapeutic Recreation Program and gives party-goers ages 16 and older the chance to don a costume and dance from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 25. An RSVP is required by Oct. 19. For more information on the variety of the HRCA’s Halloween events or to register for any of them, please visit www.hrcaonline.org. Make sure to register in advance, as many of the programs are starting to fill up.
The Highlands Ranch Community Association finance committee has approved what would be the largest assessment increase since 2003 if it is approved this November by the HRCA’s delegate body and board of directors. The committee voted 8-2 at last week’s board working session — with unanimous, yet unofficial support, from the HRCA board of directors — to approve a budget that would increase assessments 6.3 percent, raising the bill for residents $32, or $2.67 per month, to $540 annually. “Nobody likes to raise assessments, but if you look at this organization and where it is at in its life cycle, we have been scrubbing (the budget for) the last three years,” said board chairman Scott Lemmon. “We can’t continue to run this operation handcuffed. People come to Highlands Ranch and spend a lot of money on houses and they do that because of what we give them. “I am afraid if we don’t do an assessment increase of this scale we will be woefully behind, more behind than we are today. We can’t just keep fixing things. We need to start saving for our capital improvements.” Finance committee chairman and board member Jeff Suntken said he would have liked to have seen a larger increase in order to meet the needs of the community and stated there was a lot of compromise in agreeing on the proposed budget. One of those compromises was agreeing not to hire any new staff with assessment dollars in 2014. Another was creating a $250,000 capital improvement fund to support the five-year plan, rather than opening the fund with $500,000 instead. “If I am still in this position next year, and I may not be, I will probably fight for another assessment increase,” Suntken said. “We have been maintaining for far too long. We need to start improving.” HRCA controller Harry Daughters presented the proposed budget at the Oct. 7 board working session prior to the finance Budget continues on Page 31
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