June 26, 2014
50 cents Jefferson County, Colorado | Volume 30, Issue 52 A publication of
wheatridgetranscript.com
Adopting an increase in funding Jeffco Board of Education accepts the 2014-15 budget By Crystal Anderson
canderson@colorado communitymedia.com
At left, Learning how to make teepees was just one of the skills students learned during the Indian Education summer program. Above, The Indian Education summer program teaches Native American students about their culture and history, as well as mathematics in things like bead work. Courtesy photos
SUMMER STUDIES
Indian Education program bridges heritage and culture gap By Clarke Reader
creader@colorado communitymedia.com Summer enrichment can sound like a drag, but for participants in Jefferson County’s Indian Education program, it’s an opportunity to get in touch with their
heritage and pride. The two-week program will be at Wheat Ridge 5-8 school for the first two weeks of June and covers all types of activities, from bead work and teepee construction to lacrosse — which is a Native American sport that has been played more than 400 years. “We want to show that traditions and cultures evolve and grow — they have to,” said Thompson Williams, coordinator for Indian Education. Williams said there are around 600 students with a Native American
background in Jeffco this year, but that the Indian Education department needs students to fill out an 506 eligibility form to get the funds to keep the program running through the Title 7 program. The summer program had 25 students from kindergarten through middle school, with high school students who served as mentors to the younger students. “Their exposure to their cultural Studies continues on Page 4
Amenities for 38th streetscape outlined Plan approved by council City staff and Denver-based design and planning firm entelechy, unveiled the streetscape design for 38th Avenue at the June 16 study session. Council decided to move forward with the design. The 38th design stretches east from Upham to Marshall and Newland. The design highlighted amenity zones, seating, parking, street lights and signage on 38th and leading to the corridor from other streets. Deana Swetlik the owner and director of urban design and planning at entelechy presented details on the project. The design includes the installation of new traffic lights with new pedestrian buttons and countdown lights. An information center
and map will be included in the bus stop shelters along 38th. Swetlik said the design would also feature pedestrian-level lighting as well as street lights and would possibly feature artwork on the curbs. The amenity zones will have planters, bicycle racks and outdoor chairs. Swetlik said entelechy decided to go with chairs instead of benches to make it less uncomfortable for people who don’t want to sit on a bench next to a complete stranger. The project also features bulb outs at certain intersections, in which the curb extends further into the street allowing for more amenities such as a group of chairs arranged in a circle for a more intimate setting. The design also allows for business own-
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ers to create outdoor cafes and patios for their businesses where space is available. 38th Avenue will allow for on-street parallel parking on both sides of the street from Upham to High Court and then only on the south side of the street east of High Court for 150 feet. The total cost estimates put the project at $9.3 million, with $5.3 million being used on the Upham to Pierce section and $2.7 million used on the stretch from Pierce to Marshall. The remaining $1.3 million will be used for improvements and changes to private property along the corridor. Even though the estimate allocates 30 percent for contingency expenses, District Two Councilman Zachary Urban asserts that the city can’t afford to pay $9 million and even if it did, the project only covers a small portion of 38th avenue. “The design and primarily the price tag associated with it is ludicrous,” Urban said. “$9.3 million, you’re out of your mind. There’s no way that we can afford that. Not to mention if we took that same, let’s create it out of thin air again, the $9.3 million and helped the businesses thrive on the curb in, we’d be a lot further down the road literally than just this tiny block area.” Council elected to move forward with the design with councilman Urban dissenting.
Debates over charters schools and kindergarten funding created tension over the adoption of the 2014-2015 budget. On June 19, the Jefferson County Board of Education majority (John Newkirk, Julie Williams and Ken Witt) voted 3-2 to adopt the $1 billion budget for the 2014-2015 school year. Led by the majority, the board made two key changes, giving an additional $4.8 million to the teacher compensation placeholder and $1.85 million to charter school equalization, prior to adopting the budget. This year, Jeffco’s budget received a 3.2 percent increase from last year’s $952 million. Moving into this next school year, the district will spend nearly $650 million for general fund expenditures and other uses, which is an increase of approximately $25 million from last year. Of that, approximately 79 percent of the general fund is used toward compensation, which with the additional $4.8 million given toward a 2.5 percent step increase for teachers, totals $520,420,700. “They (the board majority) came back on the $18.2 (million) for compensation,” said board member Lesley Dahlkemper on the evening’s budget discussion. “I was ready to make a motion on that placeholder to $18.2, and that’s why it was terrific when Mr. Newkirk brought that forward.” The negotiated agreement between the Jefferson County Educators Association and the district is currently in the fact-finding process. In the agreement, negotiators wanted to see a step increase for all teachers, but the board majority wished to see performance measures applied prior, only offering raises to highly effective teachers. This measure increases the total compensation placeholder to $18.2 million from $13.4 million, which includes step increases for both educators and certified school employees. Along with compensation increases, the majority also proposed increasing charter school funding, increasing per-pupil funding closer to what other students in the district are funded at. For the 2014-2015 school year, charter schools will receive an additional $5.5 million, and more than $60 million in the general fund expenditures overall, an increase of nearly $7 million from the 2013-2014 school year. The board also voted 3-2 to not fund free full-day kindergarten or reduce kindergarten class sizes. The boardmembers said lack of district-specific study on the effects of full-day kindergarten played into their decision. District staff said that the current feasibility of reducing kindergarten class sizes was unknown. Among the charter school equalization and teacher compensation, the board also placed around $3.8 million towards primary math and literacy goals. “I’m delighted that through this year we’ve been able to direct funding towards early literacy, early math, equalization of funding for every student of public schools in Jeffco and I’m delighted with the budget outcome,” Board president Ken Witt said. “It takes a lot of work, it takes impassioned people focusing on what they believe the priorities ought to be and coming together and eventually arriving at the right answers and the right conclusions.”