A message from Superintendent Chris King - State Funding of K-12 Education in Colorado
At the October 13 board meeting, Superintendent Chris King addressed the ever-worsening financial picture for state funding of K-12 education in Colorado. Following is the full text of Dr. King’s remarks to the Board of Education:

I do not believe that BVSD can place its confidence in a state solution to this problem at any time in the near future. In fact, I would go so far to say that BVSD must, in the near term at least, address this problem locally. Otherwise, we will be forced to accept the consequences of relying on state government funding. We would make that decision at a time when our state government’s ability to meet its most basic responsibilities to Colorado residents is crumbling with each new quarterly revenue report.

Dr. King presented a graph that was recently released by the nonprofit Great Education Colorado:
This graph effectively demonstrates that K-12 Colorado per pupil state funding has been declining for two decades against the national average for student support. The recession of 2002-2004 and the current recession have only turned what was a long term decline into a near free fall. The governor’s office is preparing three alternative K-12 budget proposals for next fiscal year. One would represent a $150 million statewide cut; another would be for a cut of $250 million to Colorado K-12. A third proposal would be for a cut of $350 million.

There is hope. Good people from across Colorado’s social, political, and economic spectrum are, according to the media, meeting and forming the coalitions necessary to promote real reform of Colorado’s tax structure. But that reform effort, even if successful, will still take at least a few years to bear fruit for K-12 education locally.

In the near future, the BVSD community will be hearing about district efforts to engage local internal and external stakeholders in a structured, transparent and candid discussion of BVSD’s financial picture. The purpose of this community discussion will be to determine where current dollars can be saved, where necessary cuts should take place in the 2010-2011 district budget, and the advisability of creating a new local revenue stream to offset continually declining state support.

Mister President and members of the board, you know better than most people that I am not being an alarmist when I say that BVSD must act now to control our destiny and continually improve upon our commitments to excellence and to equity.
All of what I have discussed tonight about Colorado government’s increasingly grim financial picture indirectly relates to our most pressing BVSD issue – teacher negotiations.

It is my intention that the structured community dialogue that I spoke of a moment ago will include seats at the table for each individual employee association. Only by uniting our internal stakeholder community in a shared effort to meet this crisis head on can we hope to succeed. We are awaiting the Boulder Valley Education Association’s formal response to our fourth call for fact finding. I am still convinced that that is the best opportunity to find a fair path to a compromise settlement of the current impasse.

I close on a positive note. We in central administration have not altered our number of visits to our schools nor our conversations with teachers about student learning. I want each of you and everyone watching to know that I have been impressed and gratified by the positive, professional and good-humored learning discussions that each of us has participated in.

I look forward to moving past impasse, achieving as fair and sustainable an agreement as possible with current funding challenges and then partnering all staff and our full community to achieve workable and fair school funding solutions.

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Employee Contribution Campaign is Oct. 15-30
As most of you know, BVSD offers employees an organized approach to charitable giving through the annual Employee Contribution Campaign (ECC). The advantages of routing your charitable giving through this method are many, including the convenience of having your donations automatically deducted from your pay check (if you wish) and getting accurate receipts for tax purposes. Giving in this way also ensures that your dollars have the maximum positive effect of being used to help the people who need it. When you give through BVSD’s ECC, that’s it – once a year you write your check or authorize the payroll deduction, then your donations go to work helping people through the organization(s) of your choice.

The money from BVSD employees goes to four worthy nonprofit organizations that we support through this campaign: Impact on Education, Foothills United Way, Community Health Charities of Colorado and Community Shares of Colorado. Employees designate which agency or agencies they wish to receive their donations.

Go to the ECC website for details about these organizations and how to make a donation through the ECC. Both paper and online methods are available again this year. If you choose the electronic pledging option and want to submit a check, please make the check out to the recipient organization and send to Jeanne Aguilar along with a copy of your email pledge confirmation. If you have questions, please contact Jeanne Aguilar at 720-561-5093.

It's Not Too Late to Nominate!
Amazing admins? Brilliant bus drivers? Champion co-workers?  Priceless paras? Superb specialists? Top-notch teachers? Don’t hesitate, just nominate! Nominate your favorite for the 18th Annual Impact Awards. The deadline for Impact Award Nominations is November 2, 2009 at 5 p.m. Go to our website to nominate.

Impact on Education annually honors five individuals who have had extraordinary impact on student learning in BVSD by valuing education, service to students, and leadership by example. Each nomination will be read and scored by multiple community members through a blind read process (identity of the nominee and associated school is masked). Nominees receiving the highest median scores move on to one round of interviews conducted by the Impact Awards Committee to determine the top five recipients. Recipients and finalists will be recognized and celebrated at the Impact on Education Awards Dinner on February 11 at the Glenn Miller Ballroom at CU. Finalists will receive a $150 gift certificate to the Flagstaff House, and the 2010 Impact Award recipients will receive a $1,500 award for their school, a $500 personal award, an award plaque, and inclusion in an inspiring video shown at the dinner.

Founded in 1983, Impact on Education focuses on increasing excellence, innovation and equity in BVSD by creating opportunities for students from low-income families; increasing student interest and achievement in science, technology and math; and encouraging and rewarding teacher excellence. For more information, visit our website.

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BVSD offers seven different voluntary tax-deferred retirement savings opportunities that you can contribute to through payroll deductions: one 401(k), five 403(b) providers, and one 457(b). All BVSD employees are covered by the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA). These voluntary savings plans are in addition to PERA. Visit www.copera.org or call PERA at 303-832-9550 for more information on PERA. Contributions to any of the voluntary tax-deferred savings plans will not affect your PERA benefit.

Once a month, each provider will be contributing an article to BVSD on the Inside. Visit BVSD's Savings Plan and Retirement Information page for information on all the plans. This month’s article is contributed by Dale Forde at VALIC, one of the five 403(b) providers.

Can you afford not to plan for retirement?
Perhaps the most obvious reason to include retirement planning in your financial strategy is the high cost of not planning for retirement.

Here’s why: Without a retirement plan, you could be missing an important opportunity to accumulate money for the future. You also could be paying higher current income taxes than necessary.

Worse, PERA or other resources might not be enough to maintain the standard of living you envision, particularly since certain cost-of-living expenses (such as healthcare, household and recreational expenses, plus income and property taxes) might increase over time while your retirement income might not.

Those are compelling reasons to start planning for retirement now while time is on your side. The sooner you start saving, the more time you’ll have to make use of a powerful tool—compounded interest on your long-term investments.

Know the facts about your retirement plans
When you participate in one of the tax-advantaged plans through BVSD, your benefit is determined by the total of your contributions, plus compounded interest, at the time of retirement. These types of plans include 403(b), 401(k) and 457(b) plans.

Important tax advantages: pretax contributions and tax-deferred earnings
Contributions to these plans are generally made by payroll deduction, before tax withholding is calculated. This reduces your taxable earnings and, consequently, your current income taxes. In addition, taxes on interest and earnings from your account are deferred until withdrawal, usually at retirement. So money that otherwise would have gone toward federal taxes remains in your account where it can continue to grow through compounding over time. You can contribute as much as $16,500 to a 403(b), 401(k) or 457(b) plan in 2009—and if you are at least 50 years old, you could be eligible to make an additional “catch-up” contribution of up to $5,500 in 2009.

Your savings through these plans is a tax-deferred, long-term investment; income taxes are payable at withdrawal. Federal restrictions and tax penalties can apply to early withdrawals. For more information and help with enrolling in a retirement plan with VALIC, call your local financial advisor at 1-800-448-2542 (option 2).

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Membership Discounts for BVSD Employees
Our list of facilities offering membership discounts to BVSD employees keeps growing! We have recently added:

• Boulder Rock Club - 303-865-3605
• Colorado Athletic Club - Boulder - 303-501-1700
• Fitness for Living Boot Camps - Multiple locations - 303-550-3491
• Movement Climbing & Fitness - Boulder - 303-443-1505
• One Boulder Fitness - 303-447-8545

For a complete list of health clubs around the area, please visit our website.

YMCA improves benefit for BVSD employees
The Boulder Valley YMCA has significantly improved the discount for BVSD employees. For BVSD employees, the joining fee is waived and the monthly rate is now $38. For families, the joining fee is also waived and the monthly rate is now $62.50. This is a great new benefit for BVSD employees. For more information, or to change your monthly fee, contact Stacie Hoffmann, Corporate Relations by email or call 303-664-5455.

Dealing with type 2 Diabetes? Head in the Right Direction
Being told that you have diabetes can leave you with questions. Where can you get information? What should you look for? What changes should you make to your diet? Here is an opportunity to get some answers. BVSD is hosting two FREE workshops on November 11 (Aspen Room) and November 16 (Board Room) from 4 to 6:00 p.m. at the Ed Center. This will be the same workshop on both days; please sign up for just one.

• Find out how to manage your diabetes and plan meals better.
• Get your questions answered by a diabetes expert.
• Work in groups for a fun, interactive learning experience.
• Learn the importance of checking your blood sugar and what the results mean.

Call 1-877-532-4545 to reserve a spot at one of the workshops. Space is limited for this free workshop. We hope that you can be a part of this journey for control of your diabetes. For more diabetes information visit the Journey For Control website.

BVSD Blood Drive - Wed., Nov. 4 from 1:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Boulder Valley Schools is hosting a blood drive on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 from 1:30-5:30 p.m. in the Flagstaff Room. Bonfils Blood Center needs thousands of blood donors each week to meet Colorado’s needs and to be prepared for any unexpected events. To schedule an appointment online, please visit Bonfils website and reference site code 2721 when searching for a donation location. If your drive is more than a week away, extend the date by clicking on the calendar icon to ensure your drive is listed in the search results. Please contact Susana Aquirre at 303-447-5022 to schedule an appointment to donate blood. Be sure to remember to eat a full meal and drink plenty of water before donating blood.

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New Casey takes shape
Construction on the new Casey Middle School began in March of this year. The project is on schedule to be ready for students to occupy for the 2010-11 school year. The Casey Middle School project will provide a new 110,000 square-foot, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building for the students of central Boulder. LEED is the industry recognized, voluntary rating system that defines high-performing green buildings. The rating system provides proven strategies for achieving a green project. This will be the first LEED certified building in the district. At this time we are on target to achieve LEED gold certification, which is the second highest ranking.

Some of the noteworthy green building components of the project include an artificial turf playing field; PV panels which provide covered bicycle parking; high performance building envelope materials such as windows, insulation and roofing; water use reduction strategies such as low-flow fixtures and urinals; recycling and diversion of demolition waste; finish materials with renewable and recycled materials; abundant daylighting and high performance mechanical systems among others.

You can keep up with the progress of the Casey construction through the online webcam.

Seats available on the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee
The Bond Program is seeking a middle-level teacher and a middle-level principal to fill two vacancies on the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee. In addition, many other seats on the committee are up for renewal. BVSD employees may apply for any seat which is vacant or up for renewal.

The Board of Education created the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee (CBOC) to provide independent review and monitoring of the Bond Program. The oversight provided by the committee is vital to the success of the Bond Program. The members of CBOC reflect the diverse population of our school district. The committee is comprised of members that include school faculty and administrators, representatives from each community in the district, and a student representative. 

The committee meets approximately every other month except in the summer. Meetings are held the first Thursday of the month at 5 p.m. and last for approximately two hours. Between meetings, committee members are asked to review online financials and project status information to prepare for the meetings. The teacher representative will serve a two-year term and the principal representative will serve a three-year term. A complete description of the committee and application for membership can be found at on the bond website. Please direct questions to Susan Cousins by email or telephone 720-561-5793. Application deadline is November 30, 2009.

Phase 1 wraps up and Phase 2 ramps up
Many of the phase 1 projects wrapped up construction over the summer and will officially close out this fall. A slideshow of recently completed projects is posted on the Bond Program website.

Phase 2 projects are currently in the design phase. Some will begin construction as early as this winter. Phase 3 will begin the design phase in 2011.

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Fast Facts About Fire - Fire Prevention Week
President Obama declared October 4-10, 2009, as National Fire Prevention Week. Here are a few fast facts about fire from the National Fire Protection Association:

• Burn injuries result in hundreds of thousands of emergency department visits each year.
• Cooking is the leading cause of home fires, accounting for 40 percent of reported home fires, with unattended cooking as the leading cause of cooking fires.
• Smoking materials (i.e., cigarettes, cigars, pipes, etc.) are the leading cause of fire deaths in the US, with older adults being at the highest risk of death or injury, even though they are less likely to smoke than younger adults.
• Space heaters result in more fires and losses than central heating devices with most space heater fires being caused by the heater being too close to flammable materials.
• Properly installed and maintained smoke alarms play a vital role in reducing fire deaths and injuries.
• Having a home escape plan and practicing the plan significantly reduce fire deaths, although only 35 percent of  Americans who have a plan (66 percent) actually practice the plan.

The theme of this year’s fire prevention week: Stay Fire Smart! Don’t Get Burned!

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Thank you furniture, we'll see you AGAIN later!
Over the past spring and summer we were able to divert from landfills much of the furniture (more than 80 percent) coming out of our schools due to bond upgrades. Rather than going to the dump, our furniture will be reused (both within BVSD and the community) and recycled through partnerships with our incredible warehouse staff, Virco and Resource. We received some positive press on these efforts which you can find on the greenBVSD website.

Kudos!
A huge thank you to Bill Sutter and Don Orr for supporting this program and to Melinda Moquin-Gomez and Matt Stewart for their tireless efforts in the implementation of this program. Also thanks to bond, maintenance, operations and warehouse staff members who have helped break down furniture so it can be recycled.

Tip for all Departments and Schools
Looking for furniture? Contact the warehouse (Bob Ditlow ext. 6086 or Matt Stewart ext. 5281) before buying new items.  They may have what you need at no cost. This will save you time, money and resources, and help the environment. 

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Board Approvals

• A donation of $36,780 from the Douglass SIT/PTO to Douglass Elementary School and a donation of $34,000 from the Flatiron's PTO to Flatirons Elementary School were both approved by the board.
• A donation of $27,000 has been made from Organic Valley to Nutrition Services. The donation will be used to support the School Food Project.
• A donation of 24,000 Clif ZBars and Clif Twisted Fruit valued at $21,360 has been donated from Clif Bar & Company to the Transportation Department. The Clif ZBars and Clif Twisted Fruit were given to the students on the International Walk to School Day on October 7, 2009.
• A donation of $13,750 has been made from the Whittier International's PTA to Whittier Elementary School. The $13,750 donation will be used to support instructional materials, field trips and guest speakers.
• The board gave final acceptance to three Bond Program projects:
       - Foothill Elementary School addition and renovation
       - Douglass Elementary School playground and irrigation improvements
       - Nevin Platt Middle School Phase 1 renovations including the temporary facilities for Casey Middle School.
• The process for the distribution of surplus Bond funds was approved by the board.
• The Intergovernmental Service Agreement between BVSD and The City of Boulder was approved by the board. Family Resource Schools will provide a comprehensive array of services designed to improve family self sufficiency, healthy family functioning and to help remove barriers to educational achievement. FRS will operate in the following elementary schools: Columbine, Creekside, Crest View, University Hill and Whittier.
• The board approved the service agreement between BVSD and The City of Boulder, which allows the City of Boulder, through the Boulder City Prevention and Intervention Program (BCPIP), to provide prevention and intervention (P/I) services at the following BVSD schools: Centennial, Casey, Southern Hills and Manhattan middle schools, and Arapahoe Ridge, Boulder, Fairview and New Vista high schools. The prevention and intervention services provided will include: mental health and substance abuse assessments; brief, solution-focused counseling; school/community trauma response; referral and follow-up to community agencies and coordination of community-based services offered on-site at schools; consultation and action planning with school staff for prevention and intervention efforts; peer counseling and mediation programs; psycho-educational support groups; youth leadership/development empowerment program support services; classroom presentations; and in-service training for faculty and staff.
• The Memorandum of Understanding between the Boulder County Commissioners, Boulder Valley School District, and Boulder County Department of Community Services was approved by the board. The goal of this program is to increase knowledge and skills related to substance use among BVSD middle and high school students. The district will supervise and provide infrastructure support for a .4FTE Gateway Drugs program coordinator; recruit, and train Gateway Drugs peer educators; and coordinate presentation opportunities for Gateway Drugs peer educators, including excused absences from class for presentations, as appropriate.
• The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (Pub. No.67 July 2005) recommends Peer Education as the primary intervention tool for school-based programs stating “They follow social influence models and include setting norms, addressing social pressures to drink, and teaching resistance skills. These programs also offer interactive and developmentally appropriate information, (and) include peer-led components.”
• The purchase of Microsoft Desktop and Enterprise CAL licenses was approved by the board. The licenses are for software that allows our computers in the district to access our various servers.
• The following Policies were approved by the board for deletion: BCG (School Attorney), BB (School Board Legal Status), BBB (School Board Elections), BBE (Unexpired Term Fulfillment), BFD (Policy Dissemination), BFE(Administration in Policy Absence) and BDE (Hearings).
• The board approved Resolution 09-20 regarding a CASB Resolution supporting the funding for full-day kindergarten.
• The board approved Resolution 09-21 regarding a CASB Resolution that supports expanded Colorado Preschool Program funding.

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Hats Off!
Congratulations to this week's Superintendent's Honor Roll Recipients:
Fairview High School students Catherine Chen and Daniel Bragg were honored during the October 13 board meeting. The Boulder Valley students were recently two of just eight students in Colorado to achieve a perfect score of 36 on the ACT.
According to The Denver Post, Daniel and Catherine now rank in the 99.9 percentile among all students who took the ACT during the 2008-2009 school year.

The ACT, which is marking its 50th anniversary this school year, is a curriculum-based test with questions related to what students are learning in school in the areas of English, math, reading, and science.

Congratulations Catherine and Daniel on this outstanding achievement!

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