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January 12, 2023
Dear DCSD Families,
Happy New Year! We are so excited to have our students and staff back in the classrooms after the break. This afternoon I had the absolute privilege of visiting Sage Canyon Elementary and Rock Ridge Elementary in Castle Rock and reading to students. It does not get any better than seeing the eager faces of Kindergarteners as you share with them the wonder of reading.
Core Reading Programs in DCSD
Speaking of reading, earlier this we
ek at the DCSD Board meeting, principals and teachers from Cherokee Trail Elementary (Parker), Stone Mountain Elementary (Highlands Ranch), and Sage Canyon Elementary (Castle Rock) presented updates on how they are implementing our school district’s new core reading programs in their classrooms. These programs are already making a significant impact on student literacy at our schools. The principals and teachers who spoke used many words to describe these new programs, including: “stability,” “alignment across grade levels,” “student love of reading and writing,” “teacher collaboration,” and more. If you have a few minutes please view the recording of the presentations - they are absolutely worth the watch!
Staff Retention Strategies: Turning Disappointment into Opportunity
When the Mill Levy Override (5A) was narrowly defeated in November, it was disappointing as we had hopes of using that additional funding to make teacher and staff pay more competitive. While we’re not done working to pass additional funding in the future, we know that right now we must focus on retaining our amazing teachers and staff. During the Board meeting on Tuesday, we announced some exciting short-term retention strategies in hopes of encouraging our staff to stay with us for the 2023-2024 school year. We are able to do this by investing one-time savings from staff positions that were unfilled this year (due to current labor shortages) into our amazing teachers and staff. However, it’s critical to understand that this is only a one-year fix – our need for additional long-term funding to pay our teachers and staff more competitively with neighboring school districts remains. Last night, CBS4 Denver did a great job explaining this complicated situation. Check it out.
Transportation Challenges: We Are Listening
We have heard from many of our families about how frustrating it is to have last minute cancellations of bus routes. We absolutely recognize how challenging this is for our families who rely on bus transportation for their students. The ongoing labor shortage combined with our inability to pay competitively compared to other school districts (and other employers) has contributed to us often not having enough staff to run all of our bus routes each day. However, we have heard loud and clear that our families want and need us to prioritize finding solutions. Even with our limited resources, we have made the decision to increase compensation for our Transportation staff as a step in trying to alleviate this ongoing challenge. We will continue to provide updates to our families. In the meantime, you can help us by spreading the word about our need to hire additional bus drivers and transportation assistants. Encourage your network to learn more about these positions and to apply to be part of our team! www.dcsdk12.org/DriveDCSD
DCSD Board Adopts 2023 Legislative Priorities
Another celebration that I must share is that our Board of Education voted 7-0 to adopt 2023 Legislative Priorities for our school district. At their Board retreat last month they engaged in some amazing discussions about these legislative priorities and worked collaboratively to find consensus on each area of focus. I encourage you to read through the final version of these legislative priorities and thank the Board directors for their hard work.
As you can tell from the above, 2023 is already off to a great start here in DCSD and I’m feeling very optimistic about the future of our amazing school district. I will continue to provide regular updates via emails like this one, as well as through Week In Review.
Thank you as always for your ongoing partnership with our school district, but most of all for entrusting us with the education of your children.
Sincerely,
Erin Kane
Superintendent
Douglas County School District