Tag: Education
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Denver schools advisory committee recommends $44 million tax hike in November ballot
Owners of median-priced Denver homes can expect to pay an extra $72 in school taxes annually if it passes A district advisory committee is recommending that Denver Public Schools ask voters to raise their taxes but, after receiving community feedback, differed sharply over how the money should be spent. The mill levy override committee prioritized…
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Cherry Creek school board fills vacancy left by Terry Bates’ resignation
In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the Cherry Creek School District Board of Education appointed Keith Frazier to the position left vacant by former Director Terry Bates, who resigned abruptly after making “racialized remarks.” The board considered five eligible candidates. The other candidates interviewed were:Christopher Locky, April Rasheeda Ouedraogo, Ross Peterson and Amanda Thayer. It’s unclear…
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U.S. Department of Education threatens to pull JeffCo Public Schools’ funding over trans student policies
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The U.S. Department of Education issued a warning letter to JeffCo Public Schools on Wednesday, threatening to pull federal funding over alleged Title IX violations relating to the district’s policies on transgender students. In March, the department’s Office for Civil Rights said a nine-month investigation revealed that “male students” occupied 61 spots on girls’ sports…
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DPS students back bell-to-bell phone ban | CLASSNOTES
The bell-to-bell cellphone ban doesn’t just enjoy wide support from the Denver Public Schools committee that recommended it, but also an overwhelming number of students are ready to ditch their devices during school. A survey of parents, students and staff found: The results of the survey were to be presented at Thursday’s board meeting. The…
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Cherry Creek School District withholds cost of investigation of former top officials
The Cherry Creek School District hired an outside law firm to investigate former Superintendent Chris Smith and former Human Resources Chief Brenda Smith, but officials are withholding records that would reveal how much taxpayers spent on the investigation. Chris and Brenda Smith are married. On May 15, The Denver Gazette requested under the Colorado Open…
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Cherry Creek School District leaders likely violated policy through travel, vendor dealings, investigation finds
An independent investigation into the business travel and vendor relationships of former Cherry Creek Superintendent Chris Smith and his wife, former Human Resources Chief Brenda Smith, found a pattern of poor judgment, favoritism toward a vendor and lax oversight that investigators concluded likely violated district policy. Investigators with Caplan and Earnest found no evidence of…
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GUEST COLUMN: When higher ed addresses real needs, Colorado wins
As a resident of Gunnison for more than two decades, I have heard the same story told in different ways. A hospital administrator explaining why they pay travel nurses three times the going rate just to keep the lights on. A school superintendent is describing the rural district that’s been without a permanent math teacher for two years. A tech…
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CU Regent Wanda James sues over censure, claims retaliation for criticizing THC campaign
University of Colorado Regent Wanda James has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the regents who censured and stripped her of committee assignments, alleging the action was retaliation for speaking out against racism on campus. James’ attorneys also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against seven of her fellow regents. “Indeed, it is…
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Denver teacher fired after ‘same-gender’ kissing skits in French class
An administrative law judge has recommended the dismissal of a teacher at Northeast Early College — a high school in the Denver Public Schools district — after finding classroom activities and personal disclosures to students amounted to “incompetence and neglect of duty,” setting up a final vote by the school board. After meeting in executive…
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DPS to formalize CORA policy practice that lumps multiple requests to collect fees
Denver Public Schools is proposing changes to its CORA policy that would allow the district to combine related open-records requests for fee purposes, raising transparency questions from advocates about how broadly and retroactively the policy could be applied. The proposed update to the policy says: “Multiple record requests submitted from an individual or entity, related…