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Education

  • Results on MAP tests a mixed bag

    Jeffco students are largely outperforming national averages when it comes to reading and math, but semester-to-semester growth is lacking.

    According to the Jeffco school district’s presentation of its year-long Measures of Academic Progress, student scores in math and reading improved over the last year, with about 60 percent of all students in grades three through 10 scoring in the high-average or above-average range for math and reading.

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  • School district to pursue bond issue of up to $535 million

    In an effort to fund its facilities master plan and other initiatives, the Jeffco school board decided last Thursday to put a bond issue of up to $535 million on the November ballot, as well as pursue a property-tax increase of between 3.69 and 4.31 mills. 

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  • School district employees cite concerns with workload, pay

    Overall positive feedback from parents and students was offset by some employee concerns about workload and pay in a recent survey taken by Jeffco Public Schools.

    The district’s Make Your Voice Heard survey, which polled students in second through 12th grades and was completed by about 77 percent of the district’s students, found that most students felt cared about and respected by teachers and school staff; furthermore, about 90 percent of all students said they had friends or people they felt connected to at school.

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  • School board OKs budget, contracts with unions

    The Jeffco school board on June 2 wrapped up two key priorities for the end of fiscal 2015-16: approval of agreements between Jeffco Public Schools and its two primary employee unions and approval of the district’s budget for fiscal 2016-17.

    In a unanimous vote last week, the board formally approved the ratified contract agreement between the district and the Jeffco Education Association. The five-year agreement includes $14.1 million in annual raises and $10.4 million for a one-time pay increase.

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  • Mixed response to school district’s facilities plan

    Community reaction to Jeffco Public Schools’ proposed facilities master plan is mixed, based on questionnaire responses from more than 800 community members since the plan was presented at a school board meeting last month.

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  • School district, teachers union reach contract agreement

    Jeffco Public Schools and its teachers union have reached a tentative contract agreement after months of negotiations.

    The five-year agreement includes $14.1 million in annual raises, $10.4 million for a one-time pay increase and a transparent pay schedule. It retains a slightly modified version of the controversial pay-for-performance system instituted by the previous school board.

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  • Superintendent: Options exist for addressing facilities needs

    If Jeffco Public Schools’ proposed facilities master plan isn’t approved next month, the district will have to consider other solutions to the issue of its aging buildings and the capital needs associated with repairing and replacing those facilities.

    According to Superintendent Dan McMinimee, year-round school, a split-shift schedule and a bond issue focused on deferred maintenance all are possibilities.

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  • Family’s lawsuit: South Jeffco charter school board violated sunshine law

    By Jeffrey A. Roberts, For the Courier 

    A Jefferson County charter school violated Colorado’s Sunshine Law and retaliated against a family when the parents asked questions about their daughters’ education, a lawsuit claims.

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  • Peiffer Elementary students rev up their reading skills

    Students at Peiffer Elementary School have logged thousands of hours in reading time while participating in Race to Read, a program sponsored by Bandimere Speedway in Morrison.

    “The kids are so excited about it,” said Peiffer first-grade teacher Tanya Rodgers. “They can read anything they want.”

    The six-week program that Tami Bandimere-Shrader, granddaughter of the speedway founder, began 20 years ago has been around the track many times while expanding among area schools.

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  • Board mulls grade shuffling, elementary school mergers

    A facilities master plan unveiled at last Thursday’s meeting of the Jeffco school board would require a bond issue to address capital needs among the district’s aging schools.

    In a presentation of the plan, Superintendent Dan McMinimee and facilities staff recommended reconfiguring grades at a number of elementary and middle schools, adjusting matriculation boundaries, and making significant renovations at schools across the district — all in a bid to address aging facilities within current budget limitations.

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