Alameda, and Wheat Ridge school plans discussed

The Jefferson County Board of Education discussed the following legislation during its Jan. 15 regular business meeting. Board members in attendance were President Ken Witt, First Vice President Julie Williams, Second Vice President Lesley Dahlkemper, Secretary John Newkirk and Treasurer Jill Fellman.

Alameda expansion

The board heard a presentation from district staff around the proposed Alameda International High School expansion. This project would address the current overcrowding issue the district is seeing at Stein, Deane, Kendrick Lakes and Lasley Elementary Schools by creating one, seventh-12 grade high school.

If approved, the proposal will create the new school in the existing building, housing two grades in each of the specific halls. The school would also create an International Baccalaureate Primary, Middle and Diploma Program for all students in the area.

The board advised staff to continue developing the plan, which will be voted on at a later date.

Jefferson Articulation Plan

The board of education heard a presentation regarding the Jefferson Area Articulation Plan, a model addressing student attendance, achievement and teacher performance in the Jefferson area.

The model would create a seventh-12th grade neighborhood school that offers multiple pre-college/career pathways for student success, such as college prep, career focused pathways, STEM classes, certificates of workforce readiness and more. This building would house students from the Jefferson High School, Wheat Ridge fifth-eighth grade, Edgewater Elementary School, Lumberg Elementary School, Molholm Elementary School and Stevens Elementary articulation area.

In addition to the new structure, the plan also incorporates having committed and effective educators in every classroom, and utilize problem based learning communities to ensure best practices are used and implemented in every classroom.

The board advised staff and plan organizers to continue researching and developing the plan, which will be voted on at a later date.

PARCC Waiver

The board voted 3-1 with Dahlkemper opposed (Fellman abstaining) to apply for a waiver from all performance based testing on the PARCC assessments.

If granted this waiver would affect 3rd-11th-grade students, who , would not take the Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) English Language or Math assessments in March.

This request came from Board President, Ken Witt, following the State Board of Education’s Jan. 8 decision to allow districts to ask the state Commissioner of Education, Robert Hammond, to be waived from testing if they so choose. Colorado’s Attorney General’s office is currently exploring the legality of this issue and will issue a statement within the coming weeks.

Budget Forums

The board of education will host three community budget forums to hear input on the 2015-2016 budget cycle.

The meetings will be:

6-7:30 p.m., Jan. 22, at Bear Creek High School, 9800 West Dartmouth Place, Lakewood and Pomona High School, 8101 West Pomona Drive, Arvada.

10-11:30 a.m., Jan. 24, at Columbine High School, 6201 South Pierce Street, Littleton and Alameda International High School, 1255 South Wadsworth Blvd., Lakewood.

6-7:30 p.m., Jan. 28, Conifer High School, 10441 County Road 73, Conifer and Wheat Ridge High School, 9505 West 32nd Ave., Wheat Ridge.

The next Jeffco Board of Education meeting will be 5:30 p.m., Jan. 29 at the Jefferson County Education Center, 1829 Denver West Drive, Golden.

–; Compiled by Crystal Anderson

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