SBE Special Meeting (Monday, June 6, 2005):

This special meeting was a hearing for the purpose of determining whether to grant exclusive chartering authority to districts that either didn’t ask for it last year, were denied the authority last year and asked for it again, or had circumstances change regarding their charter schools, necessitating another vote.

• We granted exclusive chartering authority to the Boulder Valley School District, reversing last year’s decision, on a unanimous 5:0 vote.  (Orr and Polis were absent; DeHoff recused himself from all votes because he is the Executive Director of the Charter School Institute.)
• We granted exclusive chartering authority to the Westminster (Adams 50) School District, reversing last year’s decision, on a vote of 3:2.  (The 3 Democrats in attendance, Middleton, Munn, and I, voted yes; the 2 Republicans in attendance, Littleton and Suckla, voted no.) 
• We voted unanimously to grant exclusive chartering authority to the Harrison School District (reversing last year’s decision), Denver Public Schools, and Colorado Springs District 11, and also to the following school districts:  Delta, Englewood, Fountain-Fort Carson, Garfield, Mapleton, and Thompson.

SBE Retreat (Wednesday and Thursday, June 8-9, 2005):

• CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP:  Based on the recommendations of a subcommittee that has been working on the requirement in SB 03-254 to define a “significant achievement gap” in schools, we decided to define the gap based on the differences between how minority students and white students scored, and between how students eligible for free/reduced lunch and students not eligible for FRL scored, for all students who took the Reading and Math CSAPs, when the school’s gap is significantly higher than the statewide gap for these groups.  (The statewide achievement gap is about 30-35% for both ethnicity and poverty in both Reading and Math.)   This definition should identify about 50-60 schools.  According to the law, CDE will have to provide a “program” to assist those schools in closing their gap, if they would like the help.  We decided that the program will include CDE convening a local collaboration to assess the reasons for the gap and to determine what strategies and priority areas to work on.
• LEGISLATION:  Of the 5 bills we asked the Governor to sign, 4 were signed.  The bill that was vetoed was SB 139, which would have funded supplementary online courses run by Colorado Online through CDE.  A key bill that was vetoed was HB 1216, which would have allowed options besides conversion to a charter school for schools rated Unsatisfactory for 3 consecutive years.  This veto means that the SBE might have to select charters for more schools next year.
• NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND:  We (finally!) came to consensus on aspects of the No Child Left Behind Act that we would like to see changed:  (1) Calculate Adequate Yearly Progress differently for special education students, so that high-performing districts and schools are not penalized for how disabled students do on state assessments.  (2) Allow the state to have its own policy for the inclusion of Limited English Proficient students, if it can demonstrate that its policy is valid and reliable.  (3) Redesign how AYP is calculated and reported, to highlight progress, and use a longitudinal model.  (4) Increase funding to the state department to allow for more technical assistance to districts.  (5) Target supplemental services to students who need them.  (6) Change the provisions for school choice and supplemental services to make sense for rural districts. (7)  Allow more flexibility in funding, so it can be used to address individual school and district needs.  (8)  No more mandates.
• A KEY RETIREMENT:  Roscoe Davidson, Deputy Commissioner, is retiring as of the end of June.  He will be replaced by Dorothy Gotlieb, currently the head of the Office of Professional Services and Educator Licensure.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• July 13 – Next SBE Work Session
• July 14 – Next SBE Regular Meeting
• August 10-11 – The SBE Work Session and Regular Meeting in August will take place outside the metro area, probably in or near Glenwood Springs.