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Education

  • McMinimee says compromise was close on curriculum review

    Jeffco schools Superintendent Dan McMinimee believes he almost negotiated a compromise on the school board majority’s controversial proposal to create a curriculum review committee at the board’s Oct. 2 meeting. 

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  • Harsh lessons: Classroom work a casualty as politics plague Jeffco school district

    Student protests and teacher sick-outs in Jeffco Public Schools have put the county’s K-12 system at the center of national media coverage and further polarized the already-strife-torn school district.

    Two weeks ago, school board member Julie Williams, one of three conservatives elected last November, proposed a curriculum review committee designed to boost patriotism and downplay civil disorder in Advanced Placement history classes.

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  • Massive protest lines Wadsworth Boulevard

    Hundreds of community members lined Wadsworth Boulevard on Friday evening to protest recent actions by the Jeffco school board.

    “The school board is making some poor decisions,” said Don Weeks, a Jeffco resident, as he stood at West Bowles Avenue and Wadsworth.

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  • School board urged to refine details of performance-based pay

    The details of Jeffco Public Schools’ recently approved performance-based pay structure for teachers need to be hammered out, and soon, human resources director Amy Weber told school board members last Thursday.

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  • Education forum features board member, superintendent

    Student achievement and Jeffco’s top schools were the two main themes at the Public Education in Jefferson County forum in Marshdale on Nov. 10.

    The Evergreen Tea Party teamed with 13 other Jeffco-based Tea Party and GOP groups to sponsor the education forum. More than 80 people braved the slippery roads to attend the meeting at The Barn at Evergreen Memorial Park.

    “We wanted to meet to show our support for the board and the direction this board is taking in Jefferson County,” said Ed Sutton, president of the Evergreen Tea Party.

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  • Jeffco school board tables controversial curriculum committee

    The Jeffco Board of Education tabled last Thursday its proposal to create a curriculum committee tasked with evaluating the district’s Advanced Placement history class after heated discussion at the meeting and dissension from the PTA earlier in last week.

     “I have to say, I find this resolution chilling,” said board member Lesley Dahlkemper after reading the proposed guidelines for the committee.

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  • Teacher salaries capped in compensation plan

    The best-paid teachers in Jeffco will earn just more than $81,000 this year.

    The Jeffco school board continued its work on the district’s new teacher compensation model at its meeting last Thursday, which included the maximum $81,030 salary.

     “Having that high-water mark, we will not only attract but also retain the great teachers we have in our system,” said Jeffco Superintendent Dan McMinimee.

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  • Mortensen Elementary turns 20

    By Stephanie Alderton

    Staff Writer

    Twenty years ago, the gym at Mortensen Elementary had pink walls before the school's first students came through the doors.

    Last Thursday afternoon it echoed with the voices of more than 400 students, staff and guests wishing happy birthday to the school. And the walls were a less-eye-popping gray.

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  • Incidents prompt board member to enroll daughters in private school

    Graffiti targeting school board member John Newkirk near his youngest daughter's elementary school prompted the family to enroll their girls in a private school for the 2014-15 school year.

    “After much thought and discussion, our family made the decision to move our daughters to an alternate school environment for the 2014-15 year,” Newkirk said.

    Newkirk declined to name the school his daughters are attending but said it is a “faith-based” school in Littleton.

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  • School Board renews attorney's contract

    On a 3-2 vote, the Jeffco school board extended the contract with its attorney for one year.

    The board hired Colorado Springs attorney Brad Miller last Dec. 12 on an identical split vote, just one month after members Ken Witt, John Newkirk and Julie Williams were elected. Board members Jill Fellman and Lesley Dahlkemper voted against and have been questioning Miller’s hiring for the last eight months.

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