May 20, 2005

2005-2006 Budget Proposed

Superintendent Jerry Wartgow presented to the Board of Education this week a proposed $576.1 million budget for the 2005-2006 school year that retains focus on the district’s three goals and represents significant spending reductions to make ends meet.

While the district’s overall revenue picture has "brightened considerably" due to the November 2003 mill levy election, Superintendent Wartgow said in his budget message that "maintaining current levels of service to schools remains a challenge."

Superintendent Wartgow cited a number of factors including relatively flat enrollment projections and an increase in the employer contribution rate to the DPS Retirement Fund. "These events and others have resulted in the district having to review school closure proposals, reduce central departments by over 7 percent, delay maintenance expenses, shift the purchase of a new Student Information System to the bond program, and reduce the work-year by three days for employees other than teachers and certain other workers," said Superintendent Wartgow in his budget message.

The proposed budget is posted on the district’s website at:

http://budgetandfinance.dpsk12.org.

In all, district expenses were reduced by nearly $12 million this spring in order to make spending match revenue next year.

Chief Financial Officer Velma Rose said revenues from state and federal sources increased by $9.3 million, not enough to avoid spending reductions. Of the $9.3 million, $4.4 million is attributable to additional revenue generated by Amendment 23.

"Enrollment growth is priority number one if we are to get out of the cycle of budget cuts," said Richard Allen, Assistant Superintendent for Budget and Finance. He also said compensation packages that exceed revenue growth and unfunded legislative mandates place a burden on the district.

A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held on Thursday, June 2 and adoption of the budget is scheduled for June 16.

The district’s Budget Office has also published a "Community Guide to Understanding the DPS Budget" (available on the budget office website).

DPS Budget Facts

 

Board Ups Contribution To Employees’ Retirement

The Board of Education on Thursday increased the dollars Denver Public Schools will set aside in two school years to invest in employees’ retirement.

"That is, effectively, compensation," said Board President Les Woodward. "It’s deferred compensation. It essentially means that money is put away now so when you finish your work at DPS, there will be enough funds to pay you for the rest of your life."

In 2006-2007, the district will contribute 11.14 percent of salaries to the retirement system. (Next year’s employer contribution rate is 9.48 percent; the current year’s rate is 8.12 percent.)

"For the last four years, the amount the district has contributed to the retirement plan has increased by $24 million," said Woodward.

In 2005-2006 alone, the district will spend an additional $4.3 million toward pension contribution.

"The cost is very real," said Woodward, explaining that the annual contribution reduces the amount of money available to spend elsewhere in the district.

Actuaries determine annually the amount the district must set aside to fund the retirement system.

 

Mill Levy Oversight Committee Finds Promises Kept

In 2003, voters approved a $20 million mill levy proposal to fund six reform initiatives – $2 million to improve graduation rates, $2.5 million to revitalize neighborhood schools, $6.5 million to boost art and music in elementary schools, $3.5 million for new textbooks, $3.5 million for full day kindergarten and early education expansion, and $2 million for additional maintenance and repairs.

This week, the Mill Levy Oversight Committee issued a lengthy report and concluded that "all mill levy money spent to date has been so spent."

On increased art and music, the committee found "an enriched learning environment and increased parental engagement in the elementary schools throughout the district."

The textbook purchases have relieved schools of pressure on their budgets, the report noted, and supported district curriculum revisions.

The funds for improving the graduation rate have been spent in two areas – implementing the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program in 22 schools and funding the costs of the Secondary School Reform Commission. "The committee believes that the Board must give serious consideration to the report of the commission and make decisions in the context of what voters were told about this portion of the mill levy increase," the report stated.

Mill levy money has yielded the addition of full-day kindergarten at 62 schools, the report noted. "All of the anecdotal evidence is that these programs are improving student achievement," said the report.

Revitalization efforts are the "least specific and hardest to implement and monitor," the committee found, and urged intervention" if no identifiable progress is demonstrated after three years." Funding for the first batch of 13 schools undergoing revitalization is set to end in 2007-2008.

Committee chairperson Steve Kaplan said the committee’s overall message is that the initiatives must yield improved results from students. "Reform means improved student achievement," he said.

Board member Elaine Gantz Berman thanked committee members for their work and analysis.

 

Ford, Stedman Revitalization Plans Approved; Gilpin, Sabin Plans Considered

The Board on Thursday approved plans to revitalize two additional schools – Ford and Stedman elementary schools – and also heard proposals from Gilpin and Sabin elementary schools.

In all, 13 schools are spending up to $2.5 million from voters to improve student learning and attract families back to their neighborhood schools. Ten of 13 revitalization plans have been approved.

Ford Elementary School

Ford Elementary School will convert to a "comprehensive instruction system for student-centered learning." The four areas of focus are teaching and learning, climate and culture, parental engagement and community engagement.

Stedman Elementary School

Stedman Elementary School will transform into a "high achieving learning community for student success." The four main areas of focus are: academic achievement, school climate and culture, parental engagement, and marketing and communication.

Gilpin Elementary School

Gilpin Elementary School, which will expand to eighth grade in the next several years, proposes: creating a full-time English Language Development Specialist to support English language learners and native English speakers in developing academic and social language; developing a Professional Learning Community among staff; "platooning" curriculum delivery (teachers in fourth through eighth grades would specialize in the subjects they teach); reorganizing into a lower school through third grade and an upper school for grades four through eight; adding a full-time math coach; partnering with Earth Force to create a service learning system for natural science, social sciences and technology courses; offering full-day kindergarten; fostering a school-wide approach to positive behaviors and character education; and supporting parental and community engagement.

Sabin Elementary School

Sabin Elementary School proposes becoming one of three Denver elementary schools to offer the official International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (beginning in fall 2006).

The IB Primary Years Program focuses on the development of the whole child through environments in which children learn – in the classroom and in the world outside. It offers a framework that meets children’s academic, social, physical, emotional and cultural needs. The program is based on student-centered inquiry and is a comprehensive approach to teaching and learning with an international curriculum that also teaches a second language school-wide.

This fall, Sabin would introduce several key elements of the program, such the student profile, calling for all students to be inquirers, thinkers, communicators and risk takers who are knowledgeable, caring, principled, open-minded, well balanced and reflective. Further, Sabin faculty and students will begin to adopt the essential attitudes of appreciation, commitment, confidence, empathy, enthusiasm, independence, cooperation, creativity, curiosity, integrity, respect and tolerance as the core elements of Sabin’s behavioral expectations during the coming school year.

Sabin currently is a K-6 school but proposes to return to the K-5 configuration in fall 2006 to accommodate the adoption of the IB middle years program at Henry Middle School beginning this fall.

The revitalization plan also calls for developing a Professional Learning Community among staff and supporting parental and community engagement.

 

Increased Flexibility For Graduation Requirements

The Board of Education approved a proposal that provides increased flexibility for high school students and allows them more post-secondary options. The proposal is designed in part to make college a much more affordable option.

The change allows students to be awarded a diploma under the APEX program if they earn 35 hours (rather than 85 hours) of elective credit and meet the requirements to earn an Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree from a community college. APEX stands for Achieving Personal Excellence. None of the non-elective requirements are changing.

 

Greenwood Elementary Could Expand To Grade 8

Greenwood Elementary School yesterday proposed to the Board of Education that it become the 11th upcoming elementary school to expand to serve sixth, seventh and eighth grades, adding one grade level each year starting with sixth grade in the 2006-2007 school year.

The proposal said the school has the facility capacity and parent, community and staff support to add the additional grades, providing more options for northeast Denver students.

"A well-designed K-8 school combines many of the best of elementary and middle school practices to create a student-centered, team-based approach to education," the proposal states. "Research shows that students attending K-8 schools generally have more positive relationships with peers and adults and experience fewer behavioral difficulties. This is attributed to fewer transitions and more consistent relationships."

The proposal follows the Board of Educations "Choice" resolution adopted in the fall, reaffirming a district commitment to offer more educational choices for families in Denver.

 

Board Notes

In other action this week, the Board of Education:

This page was last updated: Friday, May 20, 2005 at 11:30:21 AM

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