The Jefferson County School Board has been a hot topic of conversation since three Republicans won seats in 2013 to give conservatives control of the 5-member board. From surprise announcements about hiring decisions to forcing retiring Superintendent Cindy Stevenson to leave her post before the end of the school year (which she had previously announced), new board members Ken Witt, Julie Williams, and John Newkirk have been pushing the limits of legality since being sworn-in to office in early December.
Jeffco Public Schools just released the results of its Community Survey, conducted from Feb. 5-11, and it's a good bet that many of the 13,000 responses came from parents and residents who have been concerned about the direction of the new board. The Community Survey is intended to help the district set its priorities for the coming year(s), and the results showed some clear preferences. You can see the full results here, but respondents overwhelmingly prioritized three goals: Sustaining Program Electives, Reducing Class Sizes, and Paying Competitive Salaries. On the question, "Jeffco Should Expand Options Schools," a sizable majority of 61% disagreed.
Take a look at a summary of the response totals after the jump…
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I'm pleased that the support is so high for increasing salaries, with about 3/4 of the respondents being parents and/or community members. Not that that has a chance in hell with the current Board makeup.
I really don't know where Jeffco schools can go from here without a grassroots revolt and recall of the new board members, particularly the charter school advocate who is the new Board lawyer. . It's a pity, because it's a good school system.
Ken Witt took to the airwaves this week to explain his position. He did a good job explaining his goals, but did not talk much about how he wanted to achieve those goals. I was encouraged hearing him say "Jeffco is not Douglas County" and explain that Jefferson County is both physically and politically between Boulder and Colorado Springs. Here are the links to his show appearances:
The Jimmy Sengenberger Show: http://www.velocityradio.fm/jefferson-county-school-district-controversy/
The Michael Brown Show: http://www.khow.com/media/podcast-michaels-podcasts-michaelbrown/21114-4pm-jefferson-county-schools-24322788/
The Mandy Connell Show: http://www.khow.com/media/podcast-mandy-connell-mandyconnell/feb-12-2014-7am-president-of-24325560/
I'm curious about the spot the new board members are in. They now need to make a choice between doing what their donors and voters want and doing what their community wants (I think they should pick the latter).
I hope they do feel contrained by the reasonableness of the Jefferson County families they serve. Unfortunately, I doubt his words will prove true. We can never let this happen again here.
“…Jefferson County is both physically and politically between Boulder and Colorado Springs…”
Strictly “politically,” probably so. As far as education politics, however, the 18 or so separate school districts in El Paso county are all over the place. So I don’t know what Witt means, and I’m not sure he knows what is is taking about with that statement.
This was a response to ScottP.