Board Briefs—March 18, 2008 In This Issue... Public Comments Board Member Reports Highlights from Superintendent's Report PYP Update Technology Update Conduct and Discipline Policies       Security and Safety Policies Consensus

Public Comments
A long-time resident and parent of former Englewood students addressed the Board concerning the application for and membership selection of community members to serve on the Flood property development selection committee. She inquired as to who would select the members and was told the Board would make the selection. She also inquired if the selection would be done in an open meeting and Dr. McCabe explained that it would because all Board decisions are made in open meetings in accordance to Colorado law.

Board Member Reports
Ms. Thompson attended the Library Board meeting and was very pleased to announce a new on-line tutoring service, available at the Englewood Library, that students can access, at no charge, using their library card. The tutor service provides help with basic math, science, English, and socials studies from kindergarten through beginning college level. Students will be able to connect directly with professional tutors via computers at the library. Students and families will receive information about this opportunity in school newsletters and library inserts. This will encourage students to use the library and its many resources.
Ms. Howard attended the Nutrition Committee meeting and learned that Chartwells, providers of our district food service, plans to remodel the commons area at Englewood High School. Some great ideas were discussed,budget will determine how much can be accomplished. Ms. Howard also noted that the CDE Food Service Audit went very well. Recycling was discussed and more information is being gathered.
Ms. Howard also attended a recent meeting of the Cherrelyn PTO where the calendar for next school year was discussed. Parents liked the elimination of half days. At the EHS School Accountability meeting Ms. Torres answered questions about the calendar and also mentioned the possibility of moving graduation to Friday.
Mr. Gorsky attended an EHS student government meeting. The computer based scheduling system has been well received by students. Junior and senior students would like to have first choice of electives before underclassmen. Also mentioned was the possibility of reinstating the "Pirate Posse" to demonstrate student spirit and pride at school activities and sport events. Students also requested that opportunities, like student representative to the Board and the National League of Cities Conference, be made better known to students. Currently the counseling office promotes these opportunities.
Mr. Gorsky attended the recent Maddox PTO meeting when the new calendar was discussed and he reported parents understood the reasoning for the late start days and found the calendar acceptable.
Mr. Gorsky and Ms. Hunt attended a Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB) meeting to discuss the positives and negatives of the past CASB Convention and suggested topics for the next convention.
Ms. Hunt attended the Clayton School Accountability meeting to answer questions on the school calendar. Parents agreed that the work the teacher would be doing on the late start days was necessary and important. Some concerns were expressed but agreement was that those issues would be addressed.
Ms. Thompson thanked the Board Members for helping to get information on the new calendars out to the schools. She expressed her desire that the Board be more visible in the schools and that people have easy access to the Board.

Highlights from Superintendent's Report
Dr. McCabe thanked Mr. Sean McDaniel, incoming superintendent, for spending time this week in the district and attending the Board work session and Board meeting. He informed the Board of the need to schedule a Budget Workshop. The Board agreed to meet Saturday, April 5th from 9-11 a.m. to discuss budget issues.

PYP Update
Ms. Chris Laney-Barnes provided information on the learning activities at Charles Hay and the school's progress toward becoming an accredited Primary Years Program, International Baccalaureate (IB) school. IB requires action planning which is similar to school improvement planning, a Program of Inquiry that instructs students to become inquiry learners and a learners profile that defines the traits IB students demonstrate. Three students from Charles Hay Elementary provided information on activities at their school. Dakota Inscho talked about the student council service project Pennies for Peace. Students learned that children in remote villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan did not have schools or school supplies and that Mr. Greg Mortenson had formed a foundation to raise money to help the poor people in these villages. Charles Hay students are collecting pennies that will be used to buy school supplies and build schools for the children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Dakota also talked about a "spirit stick" that is passed to the class that shows the most spirit at school events. Charles Hay students attended a fundraiser skate party at Skate City, earning $1.50 from every ticket sold, half the money will go to student council and half to the Pennies for Peace project. Fridays are international day when students learn about the world, currently the focus is on Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mr. Thomas Rode had two of his students, Tori Madsen and Rachel Nickerson, tell about the web cast the students produce each week. Students select the job they want to help create the production which is available for teachers to download and show at a convenient time. The web cast titled HAY THERE, includes: international news, announcements of school events, student council report, weather report, news stories, and the IB profile of the week (for example IB learners are respectful).

Technology Update  
Mr. Dale Stout provided an update on technology available to Englewood students. Approximately 70% of students have computers in their homes however only 59% have Internet access at home. At school the ratio is good with approximately one computer for every two students. The computers at the high schools are newer, 90-100 percent are less than five years old. At the middle school 62% of the computers are under five years old. The elementary schools have older computers because computers from the high schools are passed down to the elementary schools. The cost to replace the district computers every five years is approximately $230,000 per year. Mr. Stout showed diagrams of the pathways for connecting computers to the Internet and the related cost. The many switch paths messages follow was also explained. The annual cost of computer infrastructure was reviewed showing the number of switches, access points, wiring, software and supplies, and contracted services. Annual infrastructure cost is $169,000. A diagram of the current Wide-Area-Network (WAN) in the district showed the demand on the system with Mr. Stout explaining choke points where there is an over-load of demand on the system. Another WAN diagram displayed a proposed network for the district using fiber that would significantly increase the capacity of the computer network in the district. Ms. LaPlante explained that interest earned on the invested Technology Funds is used to pay for the cost of technology in the district. A major concern is the economy and the extreme drop in interest rates that will supply considerably less money for technology needs. Money for technology is supplied from the Technology Fund, Capital Reserves, and Mill Levy money. This information will help the Board make decisions in the upcoming budget discussions.

Conduct and Discipline Policies    
The Board approved for a 1st Reading policies JICDA/JICDA-R Code of Conduct; JICDE Bully Prevention and Education; JICFA Hazing; JICH Drug and Alcohol Use by Students; JK Student Discipline; JK-2/JK-2-R Discipline of Students with Disabilities; JKD/JKE and JKD/JKE-R Suspension/Expulsion of Students which will replace Policies 5201, 5202, 5215, 5216 and 5221. This is part of the on-going work to update district policies from the current numerical system to the alpha system which is more widely used in Colorado and the nation.

Security and Safety Policies
The Board approved for a 1st Reading, policies GBGB Staff Personal Security and Safety; JICI/JICI-R Use of Physical Intervention; which will replace Policies 3436, 5211, 5212 and 5213. This continues the work of converting district policies to the alpha system.

Consensus Items
The Board approved the following consensus items:
a. Personnel Recommendations & Addendum
b. 2008-2010 Calendar 2nd Reading
c. Revised Policy GBGD Workers' Compensation 2nd Reading
d. Converted Policy JJJ Extracurricular Activity Eligibility and JJ Student Activities 2nd Reading
e. Policy ADF/ADF-R School Wellness 2nd Reading

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