Tribune Tri Lakes 7.31.13
Tri-Lakes
July 31, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
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Tri-Lakes Region, Monument, Gleneagle, Black Forest and Northern El Paso County • Volume 48, Issue 31
D-38 seeks a mill levy override in November District has made $11 million in cuts over past few years By Lisa Collacott
lcollacott@ourcoloradonews.com The Lewis-Palmer School District 38 Board of Education voted unanimously to seek a mill levy override in the upcoming November election. During discussion at a special meeting on July 26 board of education members said the district has been dealing with budget cuts for the past five years and it has come to the point where the district needs to take some action. The district has cut approximately $11 million from its budget over the past five years. An MLO is something that the district has talked about for years and with fees going up, the implementation of a bus fee and cuts to many programs the time to ask for an MLO has come. The district is one of the top in the state having been named to the Advanced Placement Honor Roll three years in a row, is Accredited with Distinction and more than 85 percent of students go on to post-secondary education. But with cuts to programs and teachers and class size going up there is concern that students will not be afforded what former students have had. D-38 Superintendent John Borman and the board of education have spent the past year sharing their story with the community and Borman often shares a story of a student who struggled in his early educational years and was on an Individualized Education Program. But because of the programs D-38 offered and the exceptional teaching staff he graduated valedictorian and is now in medical school. “In order to do right by our kids we need help from our community,” Borman said. D-38 board member Mark Pfoff said that the district has tried their best to maintain their budget and still provide the level of education to the students that the district is known for. “We’re not known for providing an education. We’re known for providing an exceptional education to our kids,” D-38 board member Mark Pfoff said. “At this point, in going through this, we feel because of these cuts that we’ve made over the last few years, not because we thought it would be to make it better but because we had to, we can tell by looking at the trends and looking at the numbers and the data that’s coming to us and talking with students and parents and community members we know that the educational experience at Mill Levy continues on Page 7
POSTAL ADDRESS
Master carver Sheldon Roberts carves an eagle out of a burnt tree at Edith Wolford Elementary School in Black Forest. Bill Fee, owner of Nature of Things Chain Saw Art in Manitou Springs, and his team were asked by Academy School District 20 to make some carvings of woodland creatures out of a few of the burnt trees in the playground to greet students when they come back to school in the fall. Photos by Lisa Collacott
Woodcarved animals welcome students back Animals carved from burnt trees bring new life to forest around school By Lisa Collacott
lcollacott@ourcoloradonews.com
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tudents at Edith Wolford Elementary School in Black Forest have had a traumatic summer and when they go back to school in the fall there will be some sense of normalcy. There will probably be some burnt trees around the school as the fire came within feet of the building but waiting to greet them will be some friendly little critters. These critters aren’t of the furry kind but rather the wooden kind. Chainsaw artist Bill Fee of Nature of Things Chain Saw Art in Manitou Springs and his team went out to the school, at the request of Academy School District 20, and carved woodland creatures into some of the burnt trees. “We’re going to give them a second life,” Fee said. Fee has been a chainsaw artist for 18 years and has turned burnt trees in the Hayman and Waldo Canyon burn areas into works of art. At Wolford he has carved two squirrels, which is the school mascot, and two other trees measuring eight-feet high will have multiple animals carved on them such as eagles, raccoons and owls. “This will get the students talking about nature in their science classes and I hope to provide some inspiration to the art students,” Fee said. Fee said he doesn’t touch trees that may come back and aren’t dead. “These are black and burnt trees. There’s no doubt they are dead. Our hope is some of the growth comes back in the other trees,” Fee added. Fee said after a fire many people just want to cut all the trees down but some people are really attached to their trees and having a tree carved helps preserve it. Polyurethane is applied to the woodcarving so it does not decompose. He hopes that residents will drive by the school and see the carved woodland
A squirrel, which happens to be the mascot of Edith Wolford Elementary School, awaits the students when they come back to school. Four carvings were made by Bill Fee, a chain saw artist and his team. animals and get the idea to do the same with some of the trees on their property. “We’re really hoping that this catches on with Black Forest,” Fee said.
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