1
October 22, 2014 VOLU M E 53 | I S S UE 42 | 7 5 ¢
PikesPeakCourier.net T E L L E R C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
A publication of
Bowman brags on district Superintendent reveals results of task force By Pat Hill
phill@coloradocommunitymedia.com With $1 billion cut by the legislature from K-12 education in Colorado, the Woodland Park School District is relying on recommendations of a task force to beckon more students. Along with the cuts, the district has lost 100 students this year. “We are the only metro-area district that has a decline like we do,” said Superintendent Jed Bowman. “They’re not all going to Manitou, despite popular theory, but what’s really happening is that many families are moving.” Speaking to business people Oct. 15 during a luncheon in the administration office, Bowman reported the results of the recommendations of the 23-member committee. “We asked the task force to help us think about our future,” he said. Bowman delivered the bad news first. “”We’re seeing more
POSTAL ADDRESS
staff leave, so we’re falling further and further behind,” he said. “We’re trying to contain benefits like any business has but health care just keeps going up. In order to accommodate that, you have to decide at what level you can provide benefits to your employees.” In other bad news, Woodland Park teachers are at the low end of the pay scale, with first-year teachers, just out of college, earning $30,225. However, the district implemented many of the recommendations of the task force, marketing the schools, for instance. “We were able to hire Stacy Schubloom as our marketing and grant-writing specialist,” Bowman said. “We are under-selling our district.” As well, the district added the robotics programs in the high school, with equipment donated by Exostrategies, a local company. “We’ve had a major increase in access to technology, laptops, computers, etc,” Bowman said. Another plus is that the task force was influential in the district’s offering full-day preschool, Bowman said. Other bragging points for the district: Girls’ softball team won the League of Champions two years in a row Forensic team has gone to national competitions for 23 years Columbine Elementary School offers enhanced environmental education as a result of the partnership with the Catamount Institute. As well, Columbine fifth-graders are spending one day a week at the Catamount Center in Woodland Park. Partnership with Pikes Peak Community College, which teaches environmental classes at the high school on Mondays
The Woodland Park RE-2 School District hosted a luncheon last week for members of the Greater Woodland Park Chamber of Commerce. Lauren Stuart and the district’s Junior Chefs prepared the lunch, which included homemade rolls and pumpkin mousse cream puffs. Photo by Pat Hill • District offers concurrent enrollment classes with PPCC. “Theoretically, a student who leaves here can have one, two, or three semesters of college credit,” Bowman said. • District offers course in gaming (not gambling) • District teachers with master’s degrees have the opportunity to be adjunct professors associated with PPCC • Programs such as the Watch DOGS at Gateway where fathers have the opportunity to make a difference by volunteering their time • Columbine offers master classes taught once a week by
professionals in the community • Professional-development opportunities for the staff While the luncheon with the business community is an annual event, this year’s was focused on results as well as the connection between commerce and education. “We cannot have a healthy community in Woodland Park without strong support for our local businesses and strong support for our educators,” said Nancy Lecky, a school board member. Commenting on the leakage of students to other districts, Lecky said, “I know that as a business you try to keep people up here
rather than going down the pass and, as a school board member, I feel strongly that I want families to use our schools up here.” Bowman added that the current board has recently gone political, Bowman said. “Not partisan, but political,” he said. The school board passed resolutions supporting the aquatic center and one that opposed Amendment 68, which would allow casinos at racetracks in three Front Range counties. The luncheon was sponsored by the Greater Woodland Park Chamber of Commerce; the lunch served by Lauren Stuart’s Junior Chefs.
WP Public Works wins award PIKES PEAK COURIER (USPS 654-460)
OFFICE: 1200 E. Highway 24 Woodland Park, CO 80863
2015 shaping up as busy design/ construction season By Norma Engelberg
PHONE: 719-687-3006
Contributing writer
A legal newspaper of general circulation in Teller County, Colorado, the Pikes Peak Courier is published weekly on Wednesday by Colorado Community Media, 1200 E. Highway 24, Woodland Park, CO 80863. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT WOODLAND PARK, COLORADO and additional mailing offices.
For the second time in just a couple of years a Woodland Park Public Works project has received an award from the American Public Works Association Colorado Chapter. Two years ago an association’s award went to the Shady Lane Drainage Project that fixed drainage issues in “The Hole” near Country Lodge. This time an award for innovation and excellence went to the Fountain Creek Channel Improvements Project. Public Works Director William Alspach unveiled the association plaque at the Oct. 16 Woodland Park City Council meeting. Until this joint Federal Emergency Management Agency/ Woodland Park project was completed, Fountain Creek between the Safeway Plaza and Sheridan Avenue was badly eroded. The new project ended the erosion by sending the creek underground. Alspach added that these
POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 DEADLINES: Display: Thurs. 11 a.m. Legal: Thurs. 11 a.m. | Classified: Mon. 10 a.m. G ET SOCIAL WITH US
P L EA SE R ECYC L E T H I S C OPY
A culvert designed to repair heavy erosion in Fountain Creek is being covered with soil. Instead of more erosion, the creek bed is now a part of Woodland Park’s trail system. The creek-improvements project has earned the city an award from the Colorado Chapter of the American Public Works Association. Courtesy photo kinds of projects aren’t the only way Woodland Park excels. The city’s pavement management plan, which is updated every five years, has kept his department well ahead on street maintenance and repairs. Keeping up with maintenance saves money because maintaining streets is cheaper than replacing them. “We’re only one of about six municipalities across the state
that is pro-active on street maintenance,” he said. Council had only two cases on its agenda. A conditional use permit ordinance was approved on first reading that, if approved after the Nov. 6 public hearing, would allow William Page to transform some of his empty offices in Gold Hill Square North into three apartments and then add four more apartments to the
other rooftops in the square. The city codes call Page’s proposed apartments “extended stay residential dwellings” because they will be rented out for longer than 30 days but usually not longer than six months or a year at a time. The other case was Jay Baker’s requests for a conditional use permit, a special use permit and a site plan review for his plan for Teller County Waste to provide contractor services, vehicle repair and maintenance and a recycling collection center at a location on Teller County Road 231 (West Street). Because a document from the county arrived too late to be placed in councilmembers’ agenda packets, the case has been tabled to the Nov. 6 meeting. Brian Fleer, director of the city’s Office of Economic Development and executive director of the Downtown Development Authority, gave council his monthly update. He has been on the job for two years and said he is seeing a lot of progress, especially for 2015. “(Robert and Carol) Korzekwa are making progress with their
Award continues on Page 5