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January 8, 2015 VOLU M E 1 1 3 | I SSU E 1 0 | 7 5 ¢
DouglasCountyNewsPress.net d o u g l a s C o u n t y, C o l o r a d o
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Vying to have voices heard
Saving money: Prices at the pump in the South Metro area are $1 per gallon less than this time last year. See Page 2
Inventive technique: A new workshop at Heritage Fine Arts Guild teaches Water Coloring and Webbing . See Page 12
Gary Colley, right, signals school board president Kevin Larsen, seated at left, his wish to speak during the April 1 Board Unplugged meeting at Castle Rock’s Mesa Middle School. File photo
Some say school district not always on target with communication efforts
Get strong: Highlands Ranch business offers coaching, training for triathletes. See Page 17
By Jane Reuter
jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com
POSTAL ADDRESS
news-press
(ISSN 1067-425X) (USPS 567-060) Office: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 Phone: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Englewood, Colorado, and the towns of Castle Rock, Parker and Larkspur, the NewsPress is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media and additional mailing offices. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO and additional mailing offices.
The Douglas County School District’s fiveplus years of education reform have made national headlines. But some community members say the district’s extensive communications effort accompanying the changes glosses over their deep concerns, drowning them under a tidal wave of multi-channel messages to parents, district employees, students and county residents. To try to make their voices heard, parent and teacher groups have launched their own Facebook pages and websites, established groups, invited education experts to speak in public venues, filed lawsuits, organized protests, made innumerable open-records requests, filed formal complaints and devoted countless volunteer hours to broadcasting their own story. At the same time, the district’s communications department has grown in size, budget and sophistication. The department’s adopted 2014-15 budget, which includes salaries for 14 full-time equivalent positions, is about $934,000. That’s an almost 80 percent increase from five years ago, when the 2009-10 total communications budget was $524,500. DCSD’s communications department uses
emailed parent and employee newsletters, its website, a cable TV channel, radio program, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to relay information to students, parents, staff and community members. The picture painted in DCSD’s messages doesn’t always match what the community is seeing, critics say. “Our polls show a lack of support” for the major reforms, said Gary Colley, a retired teacher who launched the Community Ac-
Voices continues on Page 11
Deputies join mourners in New York Thousands line streets after slaying of officers
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By Mike DiFerdinando
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mdiferdinando @coloradocommunitymedia.com
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countability Committee for DCSD and who’s asked the board to ensure the community agrees with changes before implementing them. “We’re just trying to get some reasonable responsiveness from our elected officials.” School board members believe they are being responsive, but also staying true to the reform path on which they were elected.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Lts. Tommy Barrella and Adam Cataffo made the trip to New York City Dec. 27 for the funeral of NYPD officer Rafael Ramos. Courtesy photo
There were police hats as far as the eye could see. The streets were lined with officers from around the county and world who flocked to New York City on Dec. 27 to stand with and for their fallen brothers. NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were shot and killed as they sat in a marked squad car in Brooklyn on Dec. 20. The suspect in the shooting then shot and
killed himself. “They’ve been through so much in the last month in New York,” Douglas County Sheriff’s Lt. Tommy Barella said. “They’ve had a lot going on politically and socially and to have two of their brothers assassinated in broad daylight, it was nice to go out there and stand shoulder to shoulder with agencies from all around the country, and to just look across the street and see the New York officers staring back at us was special. They sought us out before and after to thank us for coming and supporting them. It was an honor.” Barella and friend Lt. Adam New York continues on Page 10