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Education

  • Attorney hired by school board’s conservative majority resigns

    Jeffco school board attorney Brad Miller, who was hired by the ousted conservative majority after they gained control of the board two years ago, has resigned, according to a letter he submitted Monday.

    Miller, who was hired in December 2013 to provide independent legal counsel to the school board, wrote that he’d learned from incoming board member Ron Mitchell that the newly elected board didn’t intend to retain him.

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  • Conservative board members approve $9,500 in bonuses for superintendent

    Jeffco schools Superintendent Dan McMinimee will be paid $9,500 in bonuses after his first year of work, the outgoing school board decided on a 3-2 vote Nov. 5.

    McMinimee’s awards represent 24 percent of possible bonuses in his contract. The bonuses hinged on his meeting goals set by the district and the school board.

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  • D’Evelyn named best public high school in state

    D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School has been named the best public high school in Colorado for 2015 by the educational research website StartClass.

    The ranking is based on D’Evelyn students’ average performance on a variety of standardized tests, along with other statistical information. SmartClass is operated by Graphiq, a statistical analysis company that works in a variety of fields.

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  • PBS show will look at Jeffco’s fractured school district

    A PBS program called “Postcards from a Divided America,” set to air next summer, will highlight Jeffco’s contentious school board election, a producer said.

    Producer Paul Stekler said the project will focus on state and local politics in different states, “the dynamics of which may be relevant to the outcome of the November 2016 race for president.” A short film on Colorado will highlight state politics as well as the Jeffco school board election of 2015.

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  • Voters recall conservative school board members

    By Gabrielle Porter

    Staff Writer

    Jeffco’s conservative school board majority was overwhelmingly recalled in the Nov. 3 election, and the so-called “clean slate” of candidates backed by the Jefferson County Education Association and the recall organizers swept all five seats on the board.

    As of Nov. 6, unofficial results showed:

    • 64.3 percent voted to recall Julie Williams in District 1. Brad Rupert, the sole successor candidate, received all votes cast to replace her.

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  • McMinimee earns 24% of possible bonuses during first year

    Jeffco schools Superintendent Dan McMinimee met benchmarks to qualify for about $9,500 in performance bonuses after his first year on the job.

    McMinimee’s contract allowed for up to $40,000 in bonuses if he met a number of goals set by the district and the school board.

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  • Columbine Kiwanis Club donates $3,250 to 5 grade schools

    The Columbine Kiwanis Club donated $3,250 last week to the five elementary schools that feed into Ken Caryl Middle School to help pay for sixth-graders to attend the district’s Outdoor Lab Schools.

    The money, split among Normandy Elementary, Leawood Elementary, Columbine Hills Elementary, Governor’s Ranch Elementary and Dutch Creek Elementary, will help students unable to afford the week-long stay at either of the Outdoor Lab locations in Jeffco.

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  • Watchdog group files complaints against nonprofits pushing recall

    A Colorado Springs-based watchdog organization has accused groups involved in instigating the recall of three Jeffco school members of violating state campaign finance laws in two lawsuits that will go before Colorado’s Office of Administrative Courts.

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  • Security team staying busy at schools during 2015

    Reports detailing a surge in threats handled by Jeffco Public Schools’ security and emergency management team led school board members Oct. 15 to approve funds for the department to hire four new staff members.

    The department has seen a 100 percent increase in threat assessments in the past year, said John McDonald, the district’s executive director of safety, security and emergency planning. Also, in the last two years, assessments performed on potentially suicidal students have increased 600 percent.

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  • School board names 11 to District Accountability Committee

    The Jeffco school board’s conservative majority seated 11 members of a new District Accountability Committee at an Oct. 15 meeting in what has become the latest battle for the deeply divided board.

    In a process that liberal board members Lesley Dahlkemper and Jill Fellman likened to throwing darts or drawing names from a hat, board members selected committee members without having interviewed them or being provided with resumes or detailed biographical information.

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