May 12, 2016
VOLUME 32 | ISSU E 46 | 50 ¢
HOME STRETCH Teams look toward the post-season as spring sports start to wind down on PAGE 19.
WheatRidgeTranscript.com J E F F E R S O N C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
A publication of
Jeffco schools budget explored Board of Education prioritizes pay, mental health in new plan By Crystal Anderson canderson@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Zac Smith, wearing the black cap, and father Michael Smith, on the right, enjoys a meal at the Apple Ridge Cafe. The local favorite is often crowded, especially for breakfast and lunch. Photo by Amy Thomson
A home away from home Jack of all trades, the Apple Ridge Cafe satiates all tastes By Amy Thomson Special to Colorado Community Media The Apple Ridge Cafe in Wheat Ridge is known for many things: a
family atmosphere, a solid country breakfast, weekly pork chop nights. But what brings people from across borders is the green chile. “People come in and ask for a togo order in a quart-size container,” said Patti Huff, who’s been working as a cashier for 10 years. “Then they drive it home to Kansas.”
The house-made green chile recipe has been a stalwart to the menu since Roy Jones opened the restaurant in 1986. “We make everything from scratch,” Jones said. “Homemade soups, pies, cinnamon rolls.” Cafe continues on Page 7
Students time-travel through words Writing challenge recognizes student writers in Jeffco
By Christy Steadman csteadman@coloradocommunitymedia.com The theme this year was time travel. Some students wrote about meeting dinosaurs or famous people. Some
wrote about where they’d like a to travel. Others wrote about building a time machine or why they would travel back in time — or to the future. About 45 K-12 students from the Jefferson County school district were recognized for stellar writing in a work of short fiction or poetry.
NATIONAL WINDOW CARE 7 20 . 3 79. 45 65 i n fo @ n at iona lwindowcare.co m w w w.n at iona lwindowcare .co m
ABOUT THE SPONSOR The Education Nonprofit Corporation is an organization dedicated to the advancement of education. It is based in Golden and serves students and schools across Jefferson County. To learn more, visit www.educationnonprofitcorp.com or call 800-978-4290.
To make Jefferson County school district jobs more competitive, the school board has allocated $24.5 million for compensation increases to all employees. “I believe our directive has been very consistently that we want to compensate comparably all employees across all groups,” said board President Ron Mitchell. “I hope that we have put enough money in the placeholder that will do that.” On June 2, the board is scheduled to approve the 2016-17 school year budget, including the placeholder for additional employee compensation, pending the outcome of ongoing negotiations with the teachers’ union and the classified workers’ union. This year, the district has a roughly $1 billion budget to operate from, a number that staff said is not reflective of the actual spending, but rather represents each dollar which moves through the district. For information about what is funded, refer to the draft budget at www.jeffcopublicschools.org/finance/index.html. Jeffco as a whole Jeffco is the state’s second-largest district with 86,000 students and 14,000 staff, of which 5,000 are licensed professionals. Currently, 77 percent of the district’s budget goes toward compensation, a major item in the budget and one on the minds of teachers and professional support staff across the district. General Fund The General Fund is the district’s largest individual fund and is responsible for paying administration costs, compensation, operational and maintenance costs.
Writing continues on Page 5
Budget continues on Page 5
OUR
SE RV I CE S
R ESIDENTIAL / CO MM E R C I A L
1 5 % OF F F O R N EW C U STO MERS
Window Cleaning / Washing
Pressure Washing
Solar Panel Cleaning
Gutter Cleaning
VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR A FULL LIST OF SERVICES
WHEAT RIDGE TRANSCRIPT (ISSN 1089-9197) OFFICE: 722 Washington Ave, Unit 210, Golden, CO 80401 | PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Jefferson County, Colorado, the Wheat Ridge Transcript is published weekly on Thursday by West Suburban Community Media, 722 Washington Ave, Unit 210, Golden, CO 80401. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT GOLDEN, COLORADO and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 DEADLINES: Display: Thurs. 5 p.m. | Classifieds: Tue. 8 a.m. | Obits: Tue. 12 p.m. | Legals: Thurs. 11 a.m.
FREE E ST I M AT E S