October 8, 2015
VOICES
Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel • Westminster Window 9
LOCAL
No attention given to charter schools If you are interested in the Adams 50 School Board candidates who are running for the three available seats, you might have noticed that the recent termination between Adams 50 School District and Crown Pointe Academy charter school is not on the radar or being mentioned by candidates. The topic of Crown Pointe Academy and the School Board not reaching a new agreement or charter schools in general is not a topic of discussion. Why is that? From my point of view, there was a real “missed opportunity” for the school district to show their support for at least one charter school when negotiating a new five-year agreement with Crown Pointe. The previous agreement was under the reign of terror when Roberta Selleck was superintendent and had the three school board members’ votes in her hip pocket. It was not a favorable deal for Crown Pointe. Will there be a future charter school? Last month Crown Pointe, the school district and the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) settled a lawsuit brought by the school district. CDE had ruled in Crown Pointe’s favor to let them cut the ties with the district as well as taking away the district’s authority on any charter school authorizations in the future. The settlement allows the charter school to come under Charter School Institute (CSI) and reinstates chartering authority with the school district. So, now that Adams 50 School District does not have a charter school for families to consider, what will happen? Will there
Bill Christopher
CROSS CURRENTS
be a new charter application develop which will come to the school board? If so, what will the new school board’s (after the election) position be? Thumbs up or thumbs down? Ask the candidates where they stand on establishing a new charter school for Adams 50 students. We shall see, as my mother would say.
Jeffco and Adams 12 school districts Besides Adams 50 School District candidates, Adams 12 and Jeffco R-1 have their own excitement. Adams 12 has a plethora of candidates for their four open seats while Jeffco R-1 is embroiled in a recall election (and replacement board candidates if the recall is successful) involving three of the existing board members, including their Board Chairman Ken Witt. There has been a lot of upheaval and unrest since the three board members in question took office with their conservative focus and running roughshod. Their position on a major overhaul on American history curriculum was the straw that triggered the recall. My prediction is that the three will be recalled. While I am not a supporter of teachers’ unions (who have a major hand in the recall), all the turmoil, unrest and
uncertainty created in the school district is not conducive to a productive teaching environment. Keep state funds or refund? Also on this fall’s ballot is a statewide issue pertaining to excess revenues above the original 2014-15 state revenues, which are subject to spending limits. The question is whether voters want a refund or want to allow the state government to keep the excess and spend it on specified purposes. The average refund per single tax return would range from $6-$16 depending on your income level and a range of $12-$32 for joint tax returns. If the state is authorized to keep the excess revenue, $40 million would be spent on school construction, and $12 million would go to a variety of programs relating to education, marijuana and substance abuse prevention/intervention and other miscellaneous programs. The balance of the funds in question has not been allocated since the state Legislature at the time had not yet been determined. Follow-up action would take place by the Legislature if voters allow the State to keep the funds. All things considered, I have reversed my original thinking on the state refund. For the small amount of money that each tax return would receive, the administrative effort to accomplish the refunds and the positive uses which the funds would be put to use, I say vote to let the state keep the funds.
With football season underway, Colorado Community Media visited the Mountain Toad brewery in Golden to find out who everybody’s favorite Denver Broncos player is. This is what they said.
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QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Who is your favorite Denver Bronco?
A publication of
“Von Miller because of his dance moves.” Brian Sammons of Golden with his goldendoodle Howard
“Emmanuel Sanders. He’s fast, always reliable and always on point.” Chrissy Kelly, Golden “She stole my favorite player.” Luke Kelly, Golden
“Demaryius Thomas. He’s one of the best wide receivers in the league. He is the engine that drives the Broncos’ victories.” Bruce Honeyman, Boulder “Britton Colquitt because when a drive fails, he has to save the day — get them out of trouble by kicking well.” Jim Ranville, Golden
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