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The vision of the Douglas County School District is to help students acquire the knowledge and abilities to be responsible citizens who contribute to our society.

Timely Topics

Bond and Override Factual Information

For factual information regarding a bond and budget measure the Board of Education is asking voters to approve in November 2008, please click on the following link.

International Baccalaureate meetings

Meetings for students interested in the International Baccalaureate (IB) programs at Douglas County High School (DCHS) and ThunderRidge High School (currently being considered by IB as a candidate school) are coming up. Meetings begin at 6:30 p.m., and are scheduled as follows: October 15 at Mesa Middle School, November 12 at Douglas County High School; November 6 in the ThunderRidge auditorium, and December 2 at Ranch View Middle School. For more info, click here.

DAC Meeting coming up

The District Advisory Committee will hold their monthly meeting Tuesday, October 14, 2008 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Board of Education room (620 Wilcox St, Castle Rock). Topics for discussion will include: Understanding of Policy Governance, District Accountability and the responsibilities of the District Advisory Committee. The public is welcome to attend.

Fundraiser to benefit National Association of Student Councils conference

A fundraiser is scheduled at Highlands Ranch High School on November 1, 2008 from 4 - 9 p.m. to benefit the National Association of Student Councils (NASC) 2009 conference. HRHS will host this national conference next June. The fundraiser includes dinner, entertainment and a silent auction. Tickets are available at HRHS: $10 adults, $8 children 12 and under, children 4 and under are free. Contact Ryan Shiba at ryan.shiba@dcsdk12.org.

District News

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DCSD managing budget challenges

Following $21 million in budget reductions to the 2008-09 school year, Douglas County School District (DCSD) continues on its path of prudence, addressing student needs and strategically planning for the future.

DCSD is curtailing the hiring of new positions and evaluating the need to fill positions that go vacant. School District staff are carrying on efforts to minimize expenditures without impacting student learning. School leaders have been making site-based decisions, further scrubbing their budgets to find areas for reductions. In addition to scrutinizing hiring, some ideas include ramping up energy conservation efforts, cutting back on color copies and limiting mileage reimbursements.

Fuel, health care, and utility costs continue to rise beyond the funding DCSD receives from the state. An average yearly student growth of 2,400 over the past 5 years has put pressure on the School District’s ability to fund programs and resources. Without new funding, an additional $16 million in reductions will be necessary in 2009-10.

The Board of Education is asking voters to approve a $17 million mil levy override (3A) and $395 million bond (3B) for funds to build and support schools. Override monies will be directed to maintaining student achievement, providing a competitive compensation package to recruit and retain the best teachers, and providing per-student allocations for technology tools. Bond funds will build 10 new elementary schools, renovate, update and repair almost 50 District schools and sites, and improve technology infrastructure (Wide Area Network fiber optics, wiring, etc.) and equipment.

The combined cost of the 4 mil solution for both the bond and budget measures is 33 cents a day on the average Douglas County home ($372,000). 4 mils is roughly 9 cents a day per $100,000 of home value.

Also in the news...

Photo of the week...

Board Briefs

The Board of Education approved under consent changes to Policy JF: Student Admissions and Denial of Admissions. Language was added concerning enrollment of students in out-of-home placements and immunizations for these students as required by law. Language changes for IMDB: Flag Displays were also approved. Language changes comply with “state laws” and notes that effective September 11, 2009 flags displayed must be made in the U.S. per statute.

Students with Chaparral High School’s ACE (Alternative Cooperative Education) program, which runs a sign printing shop, presented the Board with a banner commissioned by the BOE for the upcoming 2008 Colorado Association of School Boards Annual Convention.

The Early Childhood team provided Board Directors with an update on preschool and early childhood in DCSD. Information was shared regarding Child Find evaluation teams; Preschool Programs; and Group Intervention sites. Child Find, which is responsible for looking at all areas of development to identify student needs for special intervention ages 0-5, evaluated more than 1,180 children. The Preschool Program now serves 1,333 students in 38 preschool classrooms - a growth of 925 students in ten years. DCSD has five Group Intervention Sites which provide intervention for students with singular areas of need are now serving 300 students. Results show 95% of Colorado Preschool Program Grant students attending DCSD Preschools scored proficient or above on the 3rd grade reading CSAP evaluation (05-06 and 06-07 CSAP data). Additional space is needed to expand the program.

Director of Schools Brenda Gifford provided information regarding DCSD’s full-day kindergarten program’s progress. DCSD is currently serving 400 students in 18 full-day kindergarten classes at 10 schools. Positions are funded by a share of state formula per-pupil funds, tuition, and where applicable, scholarships from increased state resources. Additional space is needed to expand the program.

State Treasurer Cary Kennedy addressed the Board of Education regarding Amendment 59 which will appear on the November 2008 ballot. Kennedy said the amendment would require the state to transfer future surplus revenues into a “rainy day fund” that would be dedicated toward a state education fund for K-12 public education. Kennedy further shared that Amendment 59 will provide a lasting and permanent source of revenue for K-12 education that grows when the economy is healthy without raising taxes yet preserves the voters’ right to approve future taxes. Kennedy informed the board that the amendment would effectively strike a balance between protecting taxpayers while requiring surplus money be saved in an account for education that must be spent on programs that improve student achievement.

Adequate Yearly Progress

The Colorado Department of Education recently released statewide information about Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) of school districts. The report shows that in 2008, Douglas County School District met 141 of 152 – or 93 percent – of its applicable AYP targets.

AYP is the primary accountability measure of federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. It measures progress by districts and schools towards the NCLB goal that 100% of students will be proficient in reading and math by 2014. AYP progress targets must be met by all students in a district or school, and by subgroups of 30 or more students. NCLB identifies eight student subgroups based on ethnicity, English proficiency, poverty and disability. Note that Partially Proficient and above on CSAP, and Emerging and above on CSAP-A are considered proficient for Colorado AYP performance determinations.

The overall achievement of DCSD students in 2008 continued to be very high. The AYP reading and math targets increased in 2008 and there were fewer appeals available than in previous years. 11 of 152 District AYP targets were missed by the Students with Disabilities, English Language Learners, Economically Disadvantaged, and Hispanic subgroups. Because DCSD did not receive NCLB Title I funds for both of the past two school years, there are no specific consequences for not meeting all 2008 AYP targets. However, addressing achievement gaps such as these, continues to be a key goal of our School District.

At the school level, 73% of DCSD schools met all of their applicable 2008 AYP targets. In general, larger schools with greater student diversity populate more AYP subgroups and are required to meet more AYP targets than smaller, less diverse schools. Schools that met a relatively high number of AYP targets included: Acres Green (34/34), Pine Lane Intermediate (30/30), South (30/31), Sierra MS (42/42), Douglas County HS (28/28) and Highlands Ranch HS (32/34).

The summary of AYP results for all Colorado districts and schools is posted on the Colorado Department of Education website, http://www.cde.state.co.us/FedPrograms/AYP/Results.asp. Detailed results for DCSD and its schools will be published in the 2008 ONE Report to be posted to the District website in December.

ESL Family Night is Thursday, Oct. 9

News, Information and Resources

Spotlight

Foundations

*Take a look at Foundations,* our quarterly district publication created to inform you, our stakeholders, about what's happening in Douglas County School District, particularly in the areas of construction and finance.
Fall 2008 537.68 KB PDF file	October 2007 484 KB PDF file	July 2007 2.68 MB PDF file

District Publications

2008 DCSD Annual Report
2008 DCSD Mini Annual Report
2007 The ONE Report
School Annual Reports

50th Anniversary

DCSD At A Glance
Newsline Archive
Published Materials Archive

school_closures_DP.html

School Weather Closure Status for 10/12/2008

All Open

Additional Weather Closure/Delay Info

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Board of Education

Next Meeting:
10/21/2008 at 5:00pm

Agendas and Minutes
Administrative Policies
District Advisory Committee
School Advisory Councils
End Statements (70kb PDF)
Long Range Planning
Members

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Did You Know?

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Technology in the classroom
Douglas County's classrooms integrate tried and true educational approaches, including a wise use of technology that provides students with a foundation of skills for lifelong learning. Professional development opportunities and an investment in current hardware and software combine to provide teachers with the latest advances in technology to enhance student learning.

Feedback Central

Do you have comments or suggestions for the District? Appropriate areas to direct feedback can be found at Feedback Central.

Key Vision Statements

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1.8 Students have an understanding of a core body of knowledge in: Science, Information Literacy, Social Studies, World Languages, Literature and "Great Works" Across All Content Areas, Physical Education and Health, Personal Business and Finance, and Math.