May 6, 2005

2005-2006 Teacher Contract Ratified

The Denver Board of Education unanimously approved a new contract with the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) this week. Members of the DCTA approved the contract by an overwhelming majority earlier in the week.

The two negotiating teams "worked very hard," said Board president Les Woodward. "It is not easy work, but it has resulted in a contract that teachers have approved by a very large vote."

The three-year agreement includes:

• A new article that addresses teacher involvement in student achievement, instruction and education reform at the district, area and school site levels.
• Professional discretion over teacher time.
• Enhancements to the salary schedule include the return of a salary schedule step that was frozen in 2002-2003. That step that was identified earlier this year by the Joint Market Compensation Task Force, which was created during last year’s teacher contract negotiations.

The improvements to the salary schedule – with the return of the additional step – yields a range of individual annual teacher pay increases from $250 to approximately $4,000.

In all, the agreement adds $11.7 million to total teacher compensation, which includes $3 million in additional funding anticipated through the state School Finance Act, which is pending in the state legislature.

The pay proposals include an increase in the pay rate for daily substitutes, from $81.20 currently to $85 next year. In addition, all retired teachers would be paid at a rate of $100 per day to fill substitute requests.

Seventy-four percent of teachers approved the agreement – 1,767 of 2,384 ballots cast.

 

MLK Middle School Proposes Plans for Revitalization, Expansion to Early College

The Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School revitalization committee proposed its plan this week for raising student achievement and attracting students to the school.

First and foremost, the committee recommended reorganizing the school from a traditional middle school with grades six through eight to an early college high school with multiple career path options. The transition to high school would occur with the addition of one grade every year beginning in August 2006. As such, the proposed changes include renaming the school "Martin Luther King Jr. Early College."

Second, the committee recommended curriculum enhancements to further support the district’s studio literacy course and Connected Mathematics Program. This includes re-staffing the school consistent with the superintendent’s recent "redesign" designation. The plan also would implement Read 180 (literacy support); hire literacy and math coaches; implement AVID strategies in all classrooms to support teachers in the delivery of instruction across all grade levels; and implement "Measures of Academic Progress" (MAPS), a well-respected, data-driven benchmark assessment system that tracks student performance.

The school also suggests being included in the district’s pilot programs for both science and social studies as the curriculum materials become available as early as the 2005-2006 school year.

The committee’s plan for revitalization boosts the level of ongoing professional development for all teachers and staff and integrates "project-based" learning opportunities across all grade levels.

Among the goals of the revitalization committee’s plans are: increasing the responsiveness to learners’ needs; teaching real-world application of ideas, concepts and skills; expanding choices to students to pursue their career interests; improving staff dialogue through open and honest communication; encouraging staff to become instructional risk takers who are willing to apply new learning approaches and expand growth opportunities as professionals; and institutionalizing ongoing celebration of individual strengths and providing a variety of leadership opportunities for teachers and staff to grow professionally.

MLK Middle School is among 13 schools designated by the Board of Education to tap into $2.5 million in funding from voters to revitalize neighborhood schools.

 

Third-Grade Reading Scores Dip One Point

Denver’s third-grade Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) reading scores dipped slightly in 2005. The dip follows 2004, when scores held steady following a significant increase in 2003.

In 2005, 52 percent of Denver third graders scored at or above the proficient level, down from 53 percent in 2004.

In all, 4,769 students in 98 Denver schools took the test. Of these schools, 97 tested at least 16 students, the minimum number required to have results reported.

Among the schools, one-third (32 schools) increased their "at or above proficient" percentage. Of these schools, 11 made gains of 10 or more percentage points including Smedley (46 percentage points), Fairview (23 points), Colfax (23 points), Harrington (21 points), Garden Place (21 points) and Goldrick (20 points) elementary schools.

Chief Academic Officer Sally Mentor Hay noted the "numerous success stories" within Denver Public Schools and said these results would be analyzed for patterns in the schools’ approaches to instruction. All elementary schools are implementing the district’s literacy plan, she noted, but some schools may be emphasizing professional development or using their literacy coaches in ways that have had a meaningful impact on results.

Of the 97 schools with results reported this year, six schools reached 90 percent or more "at or above proficient" levels. Those six are Challenges, Choices and Images Charter School (100 percent), McKinley-Thatcher Elementary School (100 percent), Polaris at Ebert Elementary School (96 percent), Bromwell Elementary School (92 percent), Steck Elementary School (92 percent) and Slavens School (90 percent).

Last year, two schools had "At or Above Proficient" percentages greater than or equal to 90 percent.

Of the 810 students who took Lectura, the Spanish-language version of the reading test, 59 percent of students scored at or above the proficient level, up from 58 percent in 2004.

Complete school-by-school scores are available on the district’s website at http://testing.dpsk12.org.

 

School Principal Appointments Approved

The Board of Education on Thursday approved Superintendent Jerry Wartgow’s recommended appointments of 12 school principals and a new director of the English Language Acquisition Department.

Mary Ann Baca will become the director of the English Language Acquisition Department. Baca currently is the interim principal at Brown Elementary School.

School Principals

• Brown Elementary School, Suzanne Loughran – An award-winning principal from the Cherry Creek School District.
• Bryant-Webster K-8 School, Pat Salazar – With 30 years of experience in the district, Salazar is returning to the Bryant-Webster principalship after a year as assistant area superintendent for the northwest quadrant.
• CEC Middle College of Denver, Scott Springer – With 21 years of experience in DPS, Springer has spent the past six years as assistant principal of Denver School of the Arts.
• Columbine Elementary School, Stephen Wera – With a decade of DPS experience, Wera currently is the interim principal at Columbine.
• Cowell Elementary School, Tom Elliott – Has worked in DPS for 19 years, having served as the assistant principal at Cowell for three years prior being interim principal this year.
• Ellis Elementary School, Khoa Nguyen – With 17 years of experience in DPS, Nguyen currently is in his tenth year as principal of Rosedale Elementary School, which will close after this school year.
• Knight Fundamental Academy, Leonard Fox – Has worked for DPS for 19 years. Currently he is the interim principal at Knight Academy.
• Mitchell Elementary School, Jennifer Barton – Currently the interim principal at Cole Middle School.
• Oakland Elementary School, Reggie Robinson – Has been the principal of Maria Mitchell Elementary School for five years.
• Rishel Middle School, Sylvia Bookhardt –With 13 years of experience in DPS, Bookhardt currently is the interim principal at Rishel.
• Schenck Elementary School, Kristin Nelson-Steinhoff – Has been with DPS for nine years and is in her third year as the assistant to the principal of El DIA (Dual Immersion Academy) de Fairmont.
• Thomas Jefferson High School, Sandra Just – With 16 years in DPS, Just has spent this year as a principal on special assignment in the Northwest Superintendent’s Office after serving immediately prior for three years as principal of Rishel Middle School.

 

Board Hopes To Name Superintendent In June

Board of Education President Les Woodward said this week that Denver Public Schools hopes to name a new superintendent in early June.

"We’re optimistic that while we won’t find another Dr. Wartgow, we will find someone who can carry on the work that’s been started these past four years under his leadership," said Woodward.

The search firm contracted to identify candidates held a series of meetings in April with community members and stakeholders to identify leadership attributes for the next superintendent.

Candidates currently are applying, although Board members won’t receive candidate names and information about the pool of qualified individuals until later this month. The Board subsequently will hold interviews and announce finalists as the process unfolds. The new superintendent could be named as early as the first week in June.

Superintendent Jerry Wartgow is retiring from Denver Public Schools in June following his four-year tenure.

For information about the search for a new superintendent, access the Board of Education website at www.board.dpsk12.org.

 

Changes Proposed To Community Use Policy

The Board of Education this week agreed to consider changes to its policy that governs Community Use procedures.

Through the Community Use office, a broad array of government agencies, non-profit agencies and for-profit groups rent school space when students are not using them.

During the 2003-2004 school year, more than 228,000 hours (12,000 days) of activities were scheduled in classrooms, gymnasiums, auditoriums and on athletic fields across the district.

Changes to the policy include:

• Reducing from seven to four the number of categories used to determine the rental rate paid by each user. The four new categories would be school or government organizations; community-sponsored youth groups; non-profit purposes by adults; and profit-making or fundraising uses.
• Sharing proceeds of the community use system with the schools.
• Adding a fee for renters when they change events they have already booked.

Additionally, some groups that are not being charged would begin paying for their use. Those groups include Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. The proposed policy allows for all groups to perform community service projects in exchange for the rental fees.

Within the fees and procedures of the Community Use policy, the proposal would also slightly increase the labor costs charged to renters who require school staff support or overtime.

Public comment on the changes is invited at the regular public comment session, scheduled for Thursday, June 2. A complete draft of the proposed changes is posted on the district’s web site along with a brief survey that asks for feedback.

• » Back to Top