Sentinel Lakewood
August 29, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourlakewoodnews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 90, Issue 3
Bark SplASh AND
Jeffco 5 begins push for ballot measure County commission comments on change By Amy Woodward
awoodward@ourcoloradonews.com
The fall tradition of Lakewood outdoor pools giving the last days of summer to area dogs – not only from Lakewood, but from Arvada, Wheat Ridge and Golden – was alive and well Aug. 24-25 at the Morse Pool Park, 8180 W. 20th Ave. All types of dogs showed up to enjoy the water, play a game of fetch and meet other dogs.
Owners had just as much fun as their pets at the annual Bark and Splash event. Tennis balls and other toys were in abundance for the dogs to fetch, and owners were able to catch up with their neighbors and fellow dog-lovers. The last Bark and Splash event of the year will be at Carmody Recreation Center on Sept. 7.
Photos By ClArke reAder
As Jeffco municipalities prepare for this year’s elections, there will be some early discussions on potential ballot initiatives involving county affairs for 2014. A grassroots organization known as the Jeffco 5, founded by Golden resident and former Councilwoman Karen Oxman, has been proposing an increase of county commissioners from three to five and a possible redistricting of the county. She said her initiative was first presented to Jeffco commissioners more than a year ago. The proposal was most recently discussed at the county commissioner level during the Aug. 27 commissioners’ staff meeting. The initiative presents two possible options for voters — county districts would increase from three to five districts, and residents within each district would vote for a county commissioner from that district; or to keep the county in three districts, but residents would elect one county commissioner from each district, and elect two at large commissioners for the whole county. According to state statue, when a population of a county is more than 70,000, a county may increase the number of county commissioners from three to five — no more, no less. The United State Census Bureau’s 2012 estimate reported 545,358 people living in Jeffco. Differences in opinion involving adequate representation and transparency have been points of debate between some of the county commissioners, and members of Jeffco 5; with county commissioners making the argument they are representatives of all of Jeffco, and handle requests accordingly, with Jeffco 5 members arguing that county commissioners are stretched thin when handling matters for a large population. “What’s broke?” said Dan Rosier, county commissioner for district three, whose opMeasure continues on Page 17
inBloom debate blossoms over new student data program Parents vocal in concern about pros and cons of system By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com Parents packed a feisty Jefferson County Public Schools Board of Education meeting Aug. 22 to hear the pros and cons of a student data gathering system that the district is expected to pilot sometime next year. Supporters hailed the system, called inBloom, as a long-time-coming classroom enhancement intended to help teachers better tailor instruction through a centralized student database. But inBloom detractors are concerned primarily about the privacy and security of children’s school records and personal information, and how the new system might end up mining and utilizing that data. It was clear which side of the issue the majority of the audience was on, judging
from their often boisterous reactions to comments that were made by a panel of education experts. “If this is a great idea, and there are really are no privacy concerns, give the parents the right to choose whether their children take part,” said Barmak Nassirian of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, through Stevenson audience applause. Nassirian participated in the panel via video from Washington D.C. He was one of several panelists to give their opinions of inBloom, a $100 million system that is being funded primarily by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. inBloom will provide the “middleware” in a data dashboard system that will collect student information in a single database that supporters believe will better assist teachers in developing a specific curricula
for individuals in the classroom. Colorado is one of only three states to pilot inBloom, with Jeffco being the lone district in the state expected to try it out, beginning in the 2014-2015 school year. The program will not cost Jeffco anything until 2015, if it chooses to continue using the system after the pilot project. After that, the cost to the 86,000 student district will be $3 to $5 per student. The system has been the subject of controversy across the U.S., as some states that initially had committed to pilot the system ended up backing out because of privacy and security concerns. inBloom is capable of storing demographic information, such as race, economic status and other metrics. However, the district is adamant that the dashboard will only include data fields that are relevant to academics.
‘Critical’ need or ‘too few safeguards?’
Panelists that included David Millard,
a fifth-grade teacher at Jeffco’s Webber Elementary School, touted the dashboard’s capability of allowing teachers to better personalize instruction through a more efficient data storage program. “Quality instruction is driven by data,” Millard said. “Data is critical. The formative data that I collect on a daily basis, that’s my bread and butter.” Millard said that teachers often spend much of their time logging in and out of databases that aren’t connected to one another, which he said takes away time for classroom instruction. Debate continues on Page 17
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