A message from Superintendent Chris King - Taking prudent fiscal measures
As everyone knows that has been following the media for the past year and especially since early September, the ripples of the national recession are being felt in Colorado. Along with BVSD Chief Financial Officer Leslie Stafford, I have monitored with growing concern some early warning signs of potential problems for this year and next. It is now clear that there is very real potential for a revenue shortfall to the district.

Some factors that could contribute to this shortfall include:

• We may see a drop in Specific Ownership Taxes from car registrations, due to the fact that car sales are down.
• We are experiencing falling interest rates on our investments.
• A state government rescission is also a possibility should state revenues fail to meet projections.

It is crucial that we implement a few cautionary preparations prior to midyear, at which time our revenue collections will become clearer:

• As of now BVSD is under what I am referring to as modified freezes on central administration hiring and travel.
• Central administration is to closely review their divisional and departmental operating budgets with the goal of identifying projects, conferences, and trainings that can be postponed or dropped for now with those dollars returned to the general operating fund for now.
• New initiatives, unless funded through grants, outside donations, partnerships or cuts from our existing budget, will have to wait.

These directives apply only to the general operating fund. They do not apply, for instance, to the 2006 bond program or dedicated funds such as transportation. I also want to make it clear that every effort is being made to avoid directly impacting our classrooms. It is not time to panic but it is a time of concern and preparation for difficult times that are certain to affect BVSD.

This is not new information to many of our sister districts that were hit hard at the end of last year. Only the unflinching support of our district’s taxpayers who have continuously supported BVSD initiatives have kept us from having to face this issue sooner. But even that strong support cannot keep the effects of this current recession from us.
My purpose is to exercise fiscal responsibility in uncertain times and position our district for possible revenue shortfalls this year and an expected very tight 2009-2010 budget.

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Update from Susan Cousins, Bond Communications Specialist
Students benefit from bond dollars
Since September, the Bond Program has celebrated a ribbon cutting at Lafayette Elementary; moved staff into remodeled administrative spaces at Boulder High, Centaurus and Manhattan; and moved students into new learning spaces at Manhattan and Boulder High. Students at Crest View recently began enjoying lunch in their new cafeteria. Students at Foothill Elementary will return from winter break to a brand new library. Boulder High has athletic events scheduled for their new gym beginning in January. Students at the school will soon be able to use the new stagecraft area for constructing props for theatre productions. When students at Fairview return from winter break, they’ll enter the building through a new entryway and will have classes in the new addition.

Casey and Platt prepare to share space
A multitude of parent and staff committees and the Bond Support Coordinator have been working for nearly a year to plan for the temporary relocation of Casey to Platt for three semesters. A lot of hard work will come to fruition over winter break when Casey moves into six portables and 11 classrooms at Platt. The two schools will also share the gym, auditorium, library and cafeteria. Everyone involved is to be commended for their teamwork and tremendous effort to make this happen.

Once the school has moved out of the building, we will begin to prepare for the demolition of most of the Casey building. Construction will begin in March 2009 and is scheduled to be completed in August 2010.

Schools begin to see the benefits of IT construction
To date, we are 65 percent complete with the fiber network construction project. We have installed 43 miles of conduit and about 23 miles of fiber. Platt Middle School is connected to the new network and is running the new LAN, WAN, and VOIP equipment. Douglass Elementary is scheduled to be the next school to come online.

Columbine community envisions a new school
This fall the district began a visioning process for the new Columbine building. This process will establish a set of guiding principles for the architects and DAT. These ideas will capture the Columbine community’s ideas about what it would like its new facility to be in terms of interior classroom spaces, library and technology facilities, space for use by the school community, use of outdoor grounds, etc. This process will conclude before winter break and the DAT and architects will begin their work in January. We are planning for the new school to be ready for students for the 2011-12 school year.
Keep up with what is happening with the Bond Program at our website.

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Deadline is fast approaching for Impact Award Nominations - Nominations are due by Jan. 12
BVSD is a great school district because of its excellent and committed educators. Classroom teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals or community volunteers can be nominated to receive an Impact Award. For 16 years, Impact on Education has annually honored five individuals who have had an extraordinary impact on student learning in BVSD by valuing education, service to students and leadership by example. Over this time, 82 excellent educators have received this meaningful and distinguished recognition, many citing it as a highlight of their career. Please think of who you can nominate to receive a 2009 Impact Award.

The deadline to submit a nomination is 4:00 p.m. on Monday, January 12, 2009.  The nomination process is online. To review information about the nomination and application, please go to our website.

All nominations will be evaluated and scored by community members through a blind read process (identity of the nominee and associated school is masked). The 10 nominees who receive the highest median scores will be Impact Award Finalists and will be interviewed by the Impact Awards committee (community volunteers) to determine the five 2009 Impact Awards recipients. Recipients will be announced in their schools on February 12 and will be acknowledged and celebrated at our 17th Annual Impact on Education Awards Dinner on April 16 at the Glenn Miller Ballroom at CU. At that dinner, finalists will receive a $150 gift certificate for dinner at the Flagstaff House and the 2009 Impact Award recipients will receive a $1,500 award for their school, a $500 personal award, a personal laptop, an award plaque and inclusion in an inspiring video shown at the dinner.

Impact on Education is dedicated to increasing student learning and support for public education in the Boulder Valley School District. The organization’s three focus areas are teacher excellence, science & technology and at-risk students. For more information, visit our Impact on Education website.

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Boulder Community Media invites you to check out some great programming on Channel 22.
Fairview High student Marisa Ishikawa checks out election day on the latest episode of Process Now!. The latest episode of Studio B features Boulder High student Angie Gaffney takes a crew through the BHS haunted house.

Contact BCM with news about an activity or event happening at your school or organized by a community-based organization-we're looking for stories. Call Alan O'Hashi at 303-910-5782 or send email to Channel 22. If you don't subscribe to Comcast, you can watch programs on our website.

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Nutritious Home-made Meals in Minutes
How would you like to come home and have dinner already made? Learn to prepare meals ahead of time in this recipe  and technique-filled class. Each Saturday, you will help make three different soups or stews. Learn to make favorites such as Gai Tom Ga, Fresh Tomato Soup, and Stewed Lemon Chicken with Spaetzle. Cooking techniques will include the use of a pressure cooker and slow cooker to create magnificent stock. Included will be ideas to round out the meal.
A materials fee of $35 is payable to the instructor in class.

January 24, 2009 - February 7, 2009
Location: Superior - Eldorado K-8
Saturday, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
3 sessions · Cost $115, Materials Fee $35
BVSD employees can enjoy a $10 discount on this class. Employees should call 303-499-1125 x222 for the discount.

Instructor: Deborah Dupuis graduated from The Culinary Institute of America with an Associate's Degree. Since then, she has worked in and out of resort and restaurant kitchens, including her own, all over the country. In addition, she received a K-6 teaching license from UCB and has taught in the public schools for the past eight years.

Go Gluten Free!
In one information-packed night, learn all of the essential elements of living the gluten-free lifestyle. Whether you are Celiac, gluten intolerant, or just looking to explore the health benefits of eating less wheat and gluten, this class is for you.
A materials fee of $15 is payable to the instructor in class and will include tasting and informative handouts.

March 10, 2009
Location: Boulder - New Vista High School
Tuesday, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM; 1 session
Cost $39, Materials Fee $15

Instructor: Lisa Lanzano, MS, RD, is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist with over 10 years experience in nutrition education and counseling. She is also the Director of Nutrition for the women’s wellness program, Shape Your Life, Inc., as seen in Shape Magazine. She is the owner of Essential Nutrition. Please visit her website for more information.

Register online at the Lifelong Learning website.  Please call 303-499-1125 x222 with questions.

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Winter Weather Tips, Part 2
In the last newsletter, we talked about bad weather tips. Here is part 2…

• Clear sidewalks of snow completely.
• Apply ice melt to icy areas, not rock salt, as rock salt damages sidewalks.
• Check areas prone to icing throughout the day, especially at dusk.
• Attempt to remove mounds of snow between parking blocks and sidewalks.
• Keep doorways free of snow as much as possible - apply ice melt to ice or ice chipped away.

At our November 21, 2008 meeting with Superintendent Chris King, the Teacher Advisory Council worked on the following:

• 2009-2010 Calendar: Dr. Judy Skupa told us that two (or more!) calendar drafts will be presented in mid-December. Teacher feedback on the calendar options will be collected shortly thereafter. The idea of creating calendars a few years in advance was discussed. We expect at least one of the new drafts to include a late-start schedule.
• Standards-Based Grading (SBG) at the Secondary Level: Dr. Rick Wormely will be presenting an SBG overview for all middle and high school teachers during the January 5th and 6th professional development days. Please attend these sessions. TAC requested that building-level discussions be implemented soon after the professional development for faculties to debrief, reflect and plan for SBG at their school. These all-staff meetings will give teachers an opportunity to discuss and collaborate on developing instructional and evaluative procedures, which will coordinate with the implementation of an intermediate standards-based grading policy.  Some of your discussion topics may include grading scales, missed and late work, using a score of zero, and the RtI interface with SBG. Be sure to attend the Jan. 5 or 6 meeting, so you can be prepared to have meaningful and collaborative discussions with your building colleagues.
• IT Service Agreement Discussion: Dr. King will work with IT to convene an Instructional Technology governance and decision-making group that will work in the “spirit of collaboration.” This group will consist of classroom teachers, administrators, students and other stake holders who are directly affected by IT decisions that are implemented district wide. One of the group's first tasks will be to create a more responsive Service Agreement system.  
• More: We received information on the re-keying of schools and the “greening” of BVSD, and we asked for another session to discuss the CSAP schedule.
  

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Greening up the Holidays
Leaving your office over winter break? Here are a few tips.

• If you or your office mates or fellow teachers use a refrigerator, clean it out and unplug it while you are away.
• Make sure any unused electronic equipment, excluding computers, are turned off and unplugged.
  

A few more tips for a green holiday season:

• Use old newspapers as wrapping paper.
• If decorating with lights, consider LED lights. They last longer and use less energy.
• Use cards made with recycled content paper, or make your own.
• When hosting events, use reusable plates, napkins and glasses when possible. All paper products (including paper towels and napkins) should be made with high, post-consumer recycled content.

Correction: In the Nov. 18 issue of On the Inside, a “greenBVSD” tip said Blackle is run by Google. This should have said Blackle is run by a private company and uses the Google search engine.

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Under New Management
Elisabeth Van Liere, Assistant Director of Special Education and Student Success effective January 5, 2009.

Other Board Approvals

• The board amended the Educational Facilities Master Plan as it relates to Fairview High School and Arapahoe Ridge High School/Boulder TEC. During the 2007-2008 school year, the district implemented a visioning process at the Arapahoe Campus. The Vision Team was comprised of teachers, counselors, administrators and community members from throughout the Boulder Valley community. During this process, team members realized there were compelling reasons to relocate the Teen Parent Program from Fairview High School to the Arapahoe Campus. Therefore, BVSD instructional staff has proposed relocating the Teen Parenting Program from Fairview High School to the Arapahoe Campus. Fairview High School and the Arapahoe Campus are both part of phase I of the Bond Program. This educational program change will affect the improvement work that is planned for each school.
• Director Districts boundary revisions were approved by the board.
• The board approved the Certification of Mill Levies. The district has received the attached certified assessed valuation numbers from the Boulder, Broomfield and Gilpin County Assessors' offices. District staff has calculated the mill levies for the coming year based on Colorado Department of Education requirements, estimated debt service payments for the coming year, and the certified assessed valuations from each county.
• The CASB/Schoolhouse Communications consultant agreement for the board's community engagement services was approved. The contract term will be from January 5, 2009 through June 30, 2009.
• The board approved the appointment of community member, James R. Topping, to the District Audit Committee (DAC). Dr. Topping has served as a member of the DAC for the last two years and his term has expired.
• Final acceptance for the Nederland High School Athletic Field Improvements Bond Program project was approved by the board.
• Chinese Level 1: Exploring Chinese by Joan G. Sheeran and Chinese Level 2: Integrated Chinese, by Tao-chung Yao and Yuehua Lin were both approved for use in Chinese Level 1 and 2 courses.
• Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma, by Richard van de Lagemoot was approved for use in IB Theory of Knowledge, I99. The IB Department at Fairview High School recommends the adoption of the following textbook for use in the class.

Six contracts and one bid award were approved:

• Environmental Demolition, Inc. was approved to perform the asbestos abatement work at BCSIS/High Peaks Elementary School as part of the Bond Program.
• ESA, Inc. was approved to perform asbestos abatement work at Casey Middle School as part of the Bond Program.
  Golden Triangle Construction, Inc. was awarded the contract for construction services for Flatirons Elementary School as part of the Bond Program.
• Contracts for 10 privately operated early childhood community centers were approved. Eighty-seven children attend half-day preschool sessions and an additional 28 children are funded to attend full-day preschool.
• DirSec, Inc. was approved for the purchase of a webfiltering solution. The contract with the current web filtering vendor, Websense, is expiring December 31.
• The board approved the purchase of two one-ton Ford pickup trucks with a snow plow package from Phil Long Ford in Colorado Springs.
• The district contracted Lunch Lessons, LLC, represented by Ann Cooper, to plan and implement the program shift as represented in the Nutrition Services Feasibility study. The term of the contract will be from January 1, 2009 to June 30, 2009. Funding for this contract is being provided entirely by outside donations. The consultants will provide the district with the initial foundation for the elements needed to transition the district's processed food-based meal program to a whole foods environment where food is procured regionally to the greatest extent possible and prepared from scratch.

Have you heard about the new school food project? Learn all about it by clicking the tomato on our BVSD homepage.

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Hats Off! Superintendent's Honor Roll!
Congratulations to this week's Superintendent's Honor Roll recipients:
Boulder Valley School District 2008 fall state champions were honored at the December 9 board meeting.

The Nederland High School Girls 2008 Cross Country 2A State Champions consist of 11 members and three coaches who are responsible for Nederland High Schools’ first state championship in 17 years and its first ever cross country championship. Those members and coaches include: Kelley Robinson, a freshman, who won the Limon Invitational, region championships, and ran to 1st place at the state championships. Kat Robinson, a junior, won the Estes Park Invitational, Nederland Invitational, Kadet Invitational, League championship and placed 3rd at the State Championships. Rebecca Hermann, a freshman, competed for the first time in cross country and placed 5th at the state championships. Katie Redmond, a senior, consistently ran top five all year and placed 26th at the state championship meet. Dyani Chapman, a freshman, also consistently ran top five all year and placed 32nd at the state championship meet. Jessica Ousley, a freshman, competed for three years in middle school cross country and was the state championship team alternate. Mackenzie Belden, a freshman, is a multi-sport athlete who had an incredible year with constant improvement. Bekah Mustain, a senior, competed for two years in cross country. Emma Stadele, a senior, competed for two years in cross country and ran in the state championships as a junior. Mariah Colton, a senior, competed as a junior and senior and had huge improvement in her personal best time. Heather Johnson, a senior, is team manager. Co-Coaches are Sabrina and Ken Robinson and Assistant Coach is David Femmer.

Kelly Donaldson, a junior at Broomfield High School, was honored for winning the Colorado 4A Boys Singles Tennis State Championship. His coach, Jim Vogel was also honored. Kelly’s overall match record for the 2008 fall tennis season was 20 wins and one loss.

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