Arvada Press 032113

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ArvAdA 3/21/13

March 21, 2013

A Colorado Community Media Publication

ourarvadanews.com

Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 8, Issue 43

Sequester comes to Jeffco

Tap inTo The spiriT

State and county cuts affect vulnerable By Glenn Wallace

gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com

Carli Floyd, assistant manager of the Arvada Beer Company, pours a green version of Arvada Beer’s Ralston’s Golden Ale during the St. Patrick’s Day Festival on Grandview Avenue in Olde Town Arvada March 16. Arvada Beer celebrated the day by providing festival attendees with green beer and Irish Red during the festival. Photo by Sara Van Cleve

Student overcomes adversity Martinez garners ‘My Student, My Hero’ award By Sara van Cleve

svancleve@ourcoloradonews. com Dominic Martinez may seem like an average high school senior as he walks the halls of Pomona with fellow students. He’ll turn 18 in May; he has played football since he was in third grade and runs track in the spring; his favorite subject is math, and he’s taken a slew of advanced placement and honors classes in a variety of subjects. What sets Martinez apart, though, is that he has been able to accomplish all of these things

while taking care of himself by himself. Martinez’s mother died from breast cancer in 2010 when he was just a freshman in high school. “I find my motivation from my past and upbringing prior to her passing,” Martinez said. “She instilled in me hard work and passion for everything you do.” Martinez’s motivation and determination both in and outside of the classroom caught the eyes of his teachers and counselor, who nominated him for the Jefferson Foundation’s “My Student, My Hero” award. Martinez and other winners were

Pomona High School senior Dominic Martinez was selected by the Jefferson Foundation as a recipient of the 10th annual My Student, My Hero award. Martinez was nominated by his teachers and counselor for his drive and determination both in and outside of the classroom. Photo by Sara Van Cleve recognized during a ceremony on March 16. “You can react negatively

or positively,” Martinez said. “I Student continues on Page 28

The most vulnerable in Jefferson County, including the homeless and the developmentally disabled, will be among those most affected by automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration. Jefferson County Community Development Director Kat Douglas said programs offering rental assistance and homeless shelters face immediate cuts. She said the county would be cut between $100,000 to $150,000 for 2013. “The people who are hurting the most are those who need those services,” Douglas said. Douglas said once the Department of Housing and Urban Development decide on how to apply the budget cuts, they will hand off the reduced funding to states, who then in turn will have to decide how to divvy up the reduced funding to counties and cities. “And so far, nobody has any answers for us,” said Douglas. The only news so far is not encouraging. The state will fund Jeffco at 50 percent of its usual allocation, and hopefully increase that amount once HUD has decided what it is doing. Douglas said the county usually signs grant contracts with area nonprofits at the start of March, but have had to reduce those contracts in half, or not offer them at all this year. A similar air of uncertainty surrounds education funding. According to the White House, sequestration will result in $16.5 million less money for Colorado students this year. Roughly half of that money would have gone to Title One programs — targeted at lower income students who qualify for free or reduced lunches. The other half would be for children with disabilities. “These are populations we care deeply about and we want to do everything we can to give them a bright future. They’re hard cuts to make,” said Heather Beck, chief academic officer with Jeffco Public Schools. The Jeffco school district enrolls about 10 percent of the state’s children. “But I don’t know if the state is just going to hand down a straight percentage of cuts to us or not,” Beck said. The new academic fiscal cycle begins July 1, which should be when the cuts go into effect, though Beck said she had not received confirmation of that. She says even if the cuts do come down, the district has enough reserve funding budgeted to forestall any reduction to teaching staff or services for one year. Beck said that if sequestration is not reversed, the district would be looking at $9 million in less revenue over the next five years. “That will mean teacher loss, program loss,” Beck said. Across the state, sequestration cuts will hit many sectors. An estimated 12,000 Department of Defense employees will face furloughs. Army and Air Force spending will be reduced by $65,000. Program funding for children, seniors, veterans and law enforcement will also be effected. Beck says for now at least, all that can be done is to wait and see, and keep fingers crossed. “We’re sticking on the optimistic side of things and hope Washington can figure these things out.”

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