Some of the issues parents and students face at Adams County School District #14 Hanson PreK-8 School include a possibility of losing their very well loved Principal - Judy Jaramillo.Judy Jaramillo was recently placed on Administrative Leave.
Hanson also had a change from a year round calendar to a standard year, despite numerous of parents protest.
The statement by the Adams County School Administration is to move towards a School District, rather then a District of Schools.
What do you think?
Comments can be posted directly, call in at 720-221-7352 or
email to: dustin.mcintyre@yahoo.com
120 comments:
There is a possibility that a emergency Executive Session may take place as soon as possible to discuss this matter.
Could be as early as this Saturday.
The Principal Judy Jaramillo is a personnel issue and that is why it will take place in Executive Session.
My God! I look at that picture of the little boy and it just breaks my heart!
I dont care what you think Judy did or didn't do, have a heart and let Judy come back!
Remember you are here for the children, not yourselves!
Supporter of the Children of District #14
Kyle Irwin, Reunion
Judy Jarmillo was the last Hispanic person left for top level staff.
The District is not listening to the parents.
I heard around 200 of the 500 students at Hanson K8 were absent today for protest!
Good Job Parents and Students of Hanson, you chose your battle and you are sticking to it. I am proud of you.
I will be right behind you all at the emergency meeting, if they even have one.
I am so very proud of the parents and students of Hanson School. Finally someone is taking a stand for these precious children. What the hell is wrong with "Dr" Sue Chandler and where the hell was Lewis, and Smith and the drug felon Vashaw? The entire group of Lewis and her friends are nothing but a bunch of criminals and should all be locked up. God commands that we take care of the little children.
The picture of the little boy student should win a Pulitzer Prize. The face of education in America today. A bunch of power hungry politicians who are uneducated themselves, ripping hope out of this little ones heart for no reason but to be mean and coldhearted and because they can. Shame on you Susan Chandler, shame, shame, shame on you. You are completely unqualified as is the board you work for.
sos save our schools where are you? now is the time you could recall this whole group of idiots. we need more parents in our district to take the stand that the awesome parents at Hanson took today.
RESIGN VASHAW RESIGN LEWIS RESIGN SMITH how can you sleep at night knowing the destruction you have wrought on so many lives????? for the first time ever it looks like Quintana might finally be caring about the right things THE CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you voters of 27J for putting good people on our board. I hope the voters of ACSD14 will now finally see the light and really find out who they are voting for this next election. All of us in Commerce City need to care about ALL the children of our city. Let us help you with your next election and let us help you find good leaders. You don't have any leaders now. We do feel sorry for you but most of all for the poor innocent children.
McIntyre,
How did you get the meeting video?
just curious.
Media was allowed to attend the meeting between the parents and the staff.
I want to say thank you to the school district for allowing the media in on the meeting.
Interesting....this school board is so "supportive" of the kids??
Seems like they are axing everyone one that supports kids.
The power tower they are building is not stable, it will fall!
I have questions and I tried to post them on Sue Chandlers blog and they never showed up so I will post here!
Did Judy Speak out about calendars and that is why she is on the path of getttin fired?
Why clean out her office?
Were Kids told that if they protest they would be punished by not having a Dance?
Melany, Concerned Parent
Look at Sue's body language in video when asked by the parent if Judy is coming back. Nothing but a blank stare. I think that sums up the Judy’s career with D14!
What a mess, better then Bog Gate!
Thanks for the entertainment Gateway!
Ryan, 27J Parent
Judy is going for CCPBA Person of the Year 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!
funny!!!
It was reported by the Commerce City Police Department that the Judy Jarmillo demonstration walk on Feb.12 was very well organized and peaceful.
The parents provided water and trash bags for along the route. Thank you to the Commerce City Police Department for the escort of the children.
A school bus was provided to the students who were on protest back to Hanson PreK-8. Thank you to School Board member Larry Quintana.
There is no emergency executive session set as per my last phone call to the school district.
Have some heart at least take down the Judy Breakfast that is still up on the School District #14 website.
I knew they would not take Larry and the parents seriously!!!!!!!!!!!
are all of the gateway news sites blocked at the school district #14?
I wonder if they blocked the ROBERT VASHAW and/or ROBERT VASHAW daughter website?
The issue at Hanson is not a racial issue but rather a issue of what is right and wrong.
I see nothing being printed about Judy being put on leave for criminal act, so it must be purely because of personality. That makes me upset.
To me the supporters of Judy Jaramillo lost all credability when you brought race into the picture. We want this distict to grow and improve and now you are making us look ignorant and uneducated. Again the media can put us out there to be ridiculed because of the ignorance of a few. I am sure the way to show kids how to deal when you do not agree with someone is to miss work or school. Most of you are acting like spoiled brats! We have to rely on our leaders to guide us and if we do not agree change it during elections. I voted for Larry and I can guarantee you that will never happen now that he keeps playing the race card. I do not feel that I can get a fair shake from him and no I am not caucasion I am american!
I was under the impression that principals had a contract with the district and for her to be put on administrative leave she had to of done something insubodinate. She has always thought she could do what she wanted for her mexican school and that is what it is referred to by the parents. If you do not speak spanish they speak that exclusively in the front office. AMERICA! I would imagine the secretary is a little nervous as she is rude to most people even district does not do her job and the one who proected her was Judy. She is not held to the same standards as the other secretarys. I wonder if they looked at her files what they would NOT find.
Dont be fooled by the two faced Larry Quintana! Judy trusted Lewis and her friends that's her own fault. Dont get in Lewis's way or off with your head.
Is it ture? Did Lewis shut down her own long time cheerleader Serna? The world is coming to an end.
I love the sound bite Quintana gives when he says how the district can bend over backwards for some groups....lol.... and he couldnt come up with an example? How about Community Leadership Academy! The year round issue is one that deals with money, jokes on you Hanson parents Lewis is not in it for you, CLA will always be her favorite!
So how did this march get off so perfectly? I think there was a great deal of planning prior to the big event. Perhaps some rules were broken, rules that can get you fired. I heard flyers were sent home with student's and that's a big no no. Dont get the big bad wolf mad or she will huff and puff and blow your house down.
If Ms. Jaramillo gets caned for using district equipment to address the public,then St. John should be next for using district email to address voters on behalf of Mr. Vashaw. Sham Sham on double standards.
Let's Get Ready To Rumble!
In the left corner wearing the red, white, and green trunks; we have the the high and mighty,talking in toungs, two faces L-A-R-R-Y Q-U-I-N-T-A-N-A! And in the right corner wearing her Depends is the one and only, gavel pounding, freedom of speach destroyer herself J------- L-E-W-I-S! This is going to be an awasome fight folks, get the popcorn ready. Ding' Ding'
This is really bad timing for the students. They have to do their CSAP in just a few days. Why would the district do this at this point in time?
I strongly suggest that the students of Hanson do take the csaps, regardless of what they are feeling about their principal.
I wonder??? If you want to turn your district into a charter school district - then it would be benificial to screw up CSAP. Not only will Hanson be affected, so will Alsup. Devious move School Board.
If Sue Chandler brings the reccomendation to the board of education to terminiate Ms. Jaramillo's contaract then the five can say yes or no. If they say no then Sue can either bring her back to full duty or keep her on paid administrative leave. So we have to see whats in it for the five individuals the citizens voted in to take care of their childs education (great move voters). Lewis - if she fires her she will loose what she values most and thats public approval. If she keeps her, then she risks being exposed for allowing a paid andministrator who had to have broken policy keep her job. Vashaw - Ummm what ever you say mama lewis. That was easy.
Quintana - He cant go on record that he approves of such a move because his "people" will want to tar and feather him. On the other hand if he keeps her then he goes on record that he too is okay with administrators getting away with the rules.
Klocker - Ummmm Mr. Go With the Flow, he will go with the majority.
Oh and the other guy, whats his name? Ah forget it he will do as Ms. Lewis says.
I don't get it? Who are the parents mad at right now? Sue Chandler or the Board of Education? I seen on the video clip that Chandler looked to Quintana for clarification on who had the power to bring back Ms. Jaramillo, and he for the first time ever, had nothing to say. If you didnt want to be held accountable Quintana then why were you there? Say it in English or Spanish brother, the board has the power.
I always thought of Commerce City as a spanish area like those of LA or Miami. I dont have a problem of them teaching in spanish, as long as they also teacher English as a subject.
Nancy Morgan, Denver
Dear Ms Morgan, FYI
Commerce city is very diverse. Yes it does have a large number of spanish. Some of the latino population doesn't speak English, but many due. The majority as in most cities, live in the older area. Many move frequently, which adds to the problem to educate them properly.
The newer north portion of the city, has a very diverse population as a whole.
I dont think race is the issue. You can go all over the state of Colorado find a mixed population that includes Mexicans. Commerce City is no different. So let's just stop there. The issue is that spanish speaking citizens are not learning english. We have become comfortable addressing Mexicans in their native tounge so much so that some Mexicans get upset when they call the school not to find a spanish speaking employee. This has been the case for the last two years. I think it is very important for students in our district who only speak spanish to be in an enviroment that pushes their need to learn English. That's not a race issue thats an educational fact and it's not just Commerce City schools it's Denver, Boulder, Brighton, Thornton, must I go on. So I dont think it's the Mexican parents who have the wrong Ideal. Instead I think blame needs to be transfered to the individuals that take advantage of these people. The Serna's and the Quintana's who use them for political reasons. Quintana said in the video clip that the Mexican students are no better or worse off then the english speaking students so once again how can this be a race issue? Kids are not learing across the board.
Please bring Judy back, she really did nothing wrong.
SM, KS, and GM
I have to say I agree with most the earlier blogger said, this isn't a race issue it is a language learning issue.
This a problem in all of the school districts.
We are doing little to encourage the students/families to learn English. No one wants to take away their native tongue, but if this is the country they call home, then they should try to learn the language that will help them to get ahead with a stronger future.
I can tell you all as someone close to the school board and the higher levels of administration that 100% this is purely a issue of the performance of the Hanson school as a whole and not anything to do with the principle Judy Jarmillo as a person or the race she is.
Hanson is near the bottom of the school district when it comes to performance levels. The school district owes it to the parents and the students to make improvements. It may be difficult but in the long run it really is what is best for the students.
Dear Anonymous, if it is true that you are close to the school board and higher up's in the administration department, then please explain why you are even aware of what they are thinking? All discussions regrading employees are done in executive sessions. If you are priveledged to the confidential issues, then you must in fact be a "board member" or an "administrator" yourself. But dont be afraid because as far as we are all concerned you are just Mr/Mrs Anonymous. Also if you are close to the board, why is Quintana making himself out to look like he is oblivious?
The hanson situation is nothing new, it has been look at before, the board is now just taking action.
It is purely a performance issue and nothing else. The board is not racist or do not hate judy as a person.
If this is true that it is a performance issue, then why did they wait until the middle of the year to make the change? Why did they not let her go last summer or wait until this school year was over? Why do they think that changing a principal mid-year is going to help the test scores?
Fine, let it be a performance issue of the school, but I thought that they allowed the school to come up with a plan of action. Was that plan not working?
Why not put Judy Jarmillo on leave at the end of the year, why was she put on leave right at the start of the CSAP tests?
June, 27J Parent (very involved) and Supporter of District 14
Maybe some board members want the kids to drop out and go to CLA?!
Larry Quintana I saw the video and I want to say THANK YOU for standing up for our voice. You are the only one!
Larry Quintana your are standing up for the more then 80% of the population.
Parents of 5 District 14 school kids
LOL CLA is at capacity all a Hanson parent can do is put their child on a waiting list there.
And ya, thanks Larry your doing such a great job on the board of ed the voice of all chicano parents and kids what would we do without you? Oh ya we could loose our principal, we could loose staff, we could loose programs, we could loose valuable components to the New High School, we could loose everything and with you on the board looks like all those things are happening. Ya Thanks Larry Quintana.
I am proud of School Board member Larry Quintana
What that the Priest there at the “ignore us” meeting, Damn this is a serious issue?
A closer look
You know a excutive meeting was never promised to the parents, only a request by Quintana, Larry. That is all.
Board procedure would have to have 3 board members to call a meeting.
I take offense to Larry talking about his people, I thought he was on the board to represent all of us no matter the race.
I happen to agree, Larry Quintana step over the line, It should not matter what race anyone is. The school distrct needs to do one thing and one thing only, educate the children.
No place for race issues!
To the person who posted the last post, I am afraid that your post might be taken the wrong way and get this blog kicked off blogspot, it is one of their rules. I had some other then a white race read it to get their take on it, and they actually understood where you were going with it.
Please call me and we can discuss further, 720-221-7352
Dustin McIntyre, Gateway News
I must assume that the post you are refering to is not on here, is that correct Dustie?
It leaves us the readers a little confused.
Yes the comment in not published yet. I am waiting to see if publishing it will violate any of the rules with blogspot.com
There is more then just the idea of Education of our children, The district slogan is to INSPIRE, EDUCATE, EMPOWER.
Judy did all three of those very important components. The Latino community, was inspired by Judy Jarmillo. Getting rid of her in this manner is appalling.
If you can think of a way to write what I sent you feel free. It was sent to me. I want you to know that I come from a very diverse family gay family members who have had african american partners, and yes I stayed with them and they with my family. I have cousins who are married to african americans and have children who we love, and finally I have grandchildren that are the light of my life whose father is. I sent that trying to make people realize that race should not be brought into anything. I see people for who they are not what they look like. I don't care what your religion is as we are all allowed to believe the way that inspires us. I feel that when you bring people's race into any situation it muddies the waters about the real issue. I am sending this to you and would like that you not publish it. I just wanted you to understand where I was coming from.
First Issue I have: Larry is now the only one on the school board that makes any sense these days. Why is he the only one that is listening to the parents of the children at Hanson.
I am seriously beginning to wonder if maybe the rest of the board is even fit to run this. I am not a fan of recalls, but I guess we really don’t know what we are getting as a leader until they are already in office.
Second Issue I have: I would like to commend the parents of District #14 in taking a very active part in the students lives. You are doing something very special and unfortunately not all that common BOTTOM LINE.
Stacey M
Well, I have two issues too.....
Hanson has been in the 30% CSAP wise for awhile. How long can a school perform at such levels. Won’t the state of education eventually step in?
The Hanson year round calendar is not about educational benefit. It is about keep kids off the street and out of trouble during the summer months.
HANSON PARENTS AND STUDENTS PROTEST LOSS OF THEIR PRINCIPAL JUDY JARAMILLO
Opinion Article by Editor Kathy McIntyre
On Thursday, February 12, 2009, almost two hundred parents and students of Hanson School held a peaceful demonstration against the Adams County School District 14 Board of Education and the “Superintendent” Sue Chandler. The parents assembled at the school, removed their students from class, and marched from the school to the Administration Building, where Sue Chandler met with the demonstration’s organizers.
The demonstrators held signs that stated “NO JUDY NO CSAP”. (Eventually the students did take the CSAPs in honor of Principal Judy). The cover on the front page of today’s paper tells the whole story. A young man holding a bilingual sign mourning the loss of his mentor and friend, Principal Judy in his country, America, the land of the free. His Principal Judy could speak to the students in Spanish and they learned their new language and the freedoms that living in America will provide for them. The American Dream.
I applaud the parents and the students for taking a stand against a board that not only does not communicate with them, but does not let them speak at board meetings and is making decisions in a vacuum without them, that defies logic as no research is done ever and statistics are so twisted by them to serve their own agenda, that the truth of any situation with them or any decision made by them is nonsensical at best.
First the award winning Superintendent Dt. John Lange was fired, with reasons that were so far from the truth a person actually had to laugh. Then Sue Chandler who has been the Chief Academic Officer of the district is appointed “Superintendent”, not acting, but just appointed with no national search being done. Several other decades committed high level employees have either been fired or have left the district.
The part that would be funny if it is was not so sad, as the students are the victims, is the fact that Sue Chandler, former Chief Academic Officer, now “Superintendent”, should have been responsible for the very poor academic levels that are now being blamed on others.
So why was Principal Jaramillo humiliated and put on administrative leave with no reason, I think it was because she disagreed with Jeanette Lewis. Judy Jaramillo wanted to keep Hanson on a year round calendar that has been working well for two years and she dared to stand up for her students. And the board under Lewis wants to change the policy for students who are learning English as their second language. Only one board member, Larry Quintana, speaks Spanish. None of the rest do or any other language as far as that goes. Judy Jaramillo did speak Spanish. I also think it was because Judy Jaramillo told the students and the parents that they had rights and could stand up to the board.
It is well known and well researched (research is not something the current board or administration bothers with) that Year Round Calendars are very effective and many schools are moving towards them or already use them. Without them there is a “summer learning loss” and also “choice” in learning is the hallmark of America’s strongest schools. To blame the year round calendar for poor academic performance is ridiculous because if that is the case what happened in the rest of the district, like Adams City High, Adams City Middle School, Community Leadership Academy, Rose Hill, and Dupont. They all had the same “low” rating as Hanson. Maybe it was the Chief Academic Officer and not the year round calendar. Or maybe it was the view of the brand new high school from Hanson’s windows that are the problem. Find any excuse and I am sure it will do.
And as far as the cost to have year round school, let’s all remember that Lewis’s friend, former board member Sally McIntosh sued the district for no reason and it cost the kids way more money that having a year round calendar. Maybe we should publish the entire budget and see exactly how this board spends your tax dollars.
Something else that would be funny again if the students were not the victims is the fact that Lewis’s “baby” has always been Community Leadership Academy, the near failing charter school in ACSD14 that is a school of “choice”. So it appears “choice” is good if Lewis likes you and not if she doesn’t. So Chandler states “we want to be a school district”, “not a district of schools”. Wow, let’s make all the schools the same uniform institutions with no “choice” then. And for a real mindbender, what about Lester Arnold High School, also being taken off the year round calendar along with Hanson. Lester Arnold has been a “pet project” of Lewis, because they were an alternative high school, a school of “choice”, why now take the “choice” away? Oh yes, it is Lewis making the decision so it does not make sense. Sorry. I got confused.
Well again I congratulate the students and parents of Hanson School and I hope you show up in huge numbers for the board meeting on Tuesday and I hope you do not give up. You can make a difference. Even if you are dealing with Lewis absolutely does not know what she is talking about. And remember parents, there is a school board election this November where we can replace enough seats on this board to get the whole district back in order. Please consider running for this important work.
I am very proud the Students and Parents of Hanson in the decision of going back to school and taking the dreaded CSAP in honor of Judy.
You are true leaders and I hope you can find common ground with this apparently difficult school board.
Erin NW
Over 100,000 grand to keep Hanson year round. Parents said they would fund raise to help defray costs of transportation?
Yes it has been talked about it before.
The Hanson year round calendar is not about educational benefit. It is about keep kids off the street and out of trouble during the summer months.
If Hanson is about keeping kids safe and off the street during the summer, why does this not apply to the entire district?
A answer might be that it s just too costly. Reports are that it is around 10s of thousands of dollars for just those couple months in the summer to stay open. I just do not think the school district can handle this type of cost anymore.
June
Hanson has been in the 30% CSAP wise for awhile. How long can a school perform at such levels. Won’t the state of education eventually step in?
Curious in 27J
I hate to be hard onthis one, but why can't the kids of Hanson just walkto school during those summer months?
I did when I was a kid and I don't consider myself very old. I asked my wife, she grew up in California, she too walked to school. How far do these kids live from Hanson?
That would save them the transportation costs at least.
Bethany and Brian
D #14 PIO gives wrong numbers to media about students absent?, no wonder they had to give money back to the state for inaccurate student counts.
I have not been back to the blog in a while, looks like I missed a couple of fun events.
Why is Albright reading the letter from Sue when Sue is right there? Why can’t Sue read her own letter to the parents of Hanson?
It made me laugh, it looks like a message from the king and Mr. Albright is a squire. Funny.
And I guess if Lewis is the King, that makes Vashaw a, well, you get where I am going…….
King of Olive Street
It is concerning the district has such a issue with giving out correct information such as student counts. Does the district that we trust with our children even know where they are?
I support you Hanson Parents and Students
Déjà vu.
Hanson parents, you came out, voiced your opinion and it will fall on deaf ears on the calendar, you came out in masses and voice your stance on Judy and it again falls on deaf ears. Bottom Line: This Administration and Board will never take you seriously. They are always going to look down on you and they do not care about what you say.
Some say it is because of who you are, some say it is because of vengeance, some say it is because you shouldn’t “argue with the administration. What ever the reason, the issue is there and it is not going away.
I wish you the strength you will need to keep up your fight.
Weldon, 27J parent and I am also a District #14 Supporter
Round 70% to 80% of the student population in D#14 is Hispanic but ZERO Hispanics involved with any authority in the administration building period.
When asked why Ms. Jaramillo was pulled out of Hanson the reason why was because of something very very serious. Why would you say such a thing, are you trying to ruin her reputation?
Conflicting information, memo says total dollar amount to do the year round calendar for Hanson is $43,125. During board meeting, dollar amount was given to BOE as $131,000? $88,000 difference. How can this be?
District is continuous buying of contracts to keep personnel for telling the truth.
COLORADO TO RECEIVE NATIONAL GRANT TO IMPROVE LOW-PERFORMING SCHOOLS
The National Governors Association’s (NGA) Center for Best Practices announced earlier today that Colorado is among four states to be awarded a $150,000 grant to support the development of a comprehensive strategy aimed at improving chronically low-performing schools. Other states receiving grants include: Maryland , Massachusetts , and Mississippi.
The grants, awarded as part of the NGA Center ’s State Strategies to Improve Chronically Low-Performing Schools initiative, will assist Colorado with developing a school turnaround strategy that will implement new legislation intended to align and better organize our system of accountability, support, and intervention.
“This funding will help develop new flexibility and innovation in working with schools that have historically low scores,” said Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien. “There are few options now other than turning these schools into charters.”
"Identifying our low-performing schools is just one piece of the puzzle," said Commissioner of Education Dwight D. Jones. "We want to work with our low-performing schools to strengthen and help them to find solutions and implement what works."
Using the grant, state teams will be asked to include the following strategies in the plan:
· Identify clearly the indicators that distinguish chronically low-performing schools;
· Assess the degree of authority the state has to intervene, and if necessary, offer proposals that strengthen and reinforce that authority;
· Recommend state policies regarding hiring, staff allocation and compensation, budgeting and contracting with education personnel.
More than 3 percent of America ’s public schools are in the most extreme federal designation of restructuring. This will represent an estimated 2.5 million students in 2009-2010. In all levels of restructuring in Colorado , 2.6 percent of public schools fall in this category, representing 29,817 students in 2008-2009.
The grants are made possible with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Prudential Foundation. To learn more about the efforts by the governors to improve America ’s schools, please visit: www.nga.org/center/edu.
Dr. Chandler, Board of Education and Our Community:
First of all, I would like to clear a few things up. I would like to stress and explain my purpose(s) of being involved in the situation at Hanson Pre K-8. Let me stress I do not agree that we should cater to or allow our students to only speak Spanish. I do agree that our students should speak our native tongue, which is English. That is why I have involved myself. I have a student that attends Hanson and I feel it is time for our community and our Administration to bridge the gap in open dialogue considering the community and school district, we have all chosen. Our schools are made up of a high percentage of non-English speakers. I believe it is important to offer an effective English language acquisition program. If we offer a consistent, fair and upfront transitional program it would benefit our entire district.
Secondly, I am standing by the fact that we are still demanding that Ms. Jaramillo be re-instated. I believe there has been reliable information that Ms. Jaramillo is on Administrative leave for reasons not given and for reasons pointing to a personal vendetta by the superintendent.
Next. Our district has given information out showing the low scores of Hanson Pre K-8. But it is important to be fair and consistent and why haven’t the failures of every school been highlighted or their principals placed on Administrative leave? We also provided data that support Hanson is showing growth in various grades.
I walked up during a conversation between Mrs. Lewis and a community member, Dave Rolla. Mr. Rolla was angry at feeling “segregated” by not being allowed to sit in the board room*. Mrs. Lewis said, “If they would have let us know yesterday, we would have moved it!” I then said to Mrs. Lewis the information and request had been done since a week in advance. Mrs. Lewis then became aggressive and we began arguing. I asked Mrs. Lewis, why didn’t she stop the others when they mentioned names during Audience Comments. And she answered, “I didn’t want to embarrass them because of their language!” This is a very disrespectful and unprofessional comment made by the Board of Education President. As a result, Mrs. Lewis, you need to publicly apologize to me for your aggressive demeanor and to those parents that you segregated and humiliated due to their language.
Furthermore, the district’s stance has been the ELA (Bilingual Education) is not effective. But, did you know there was a Spelling Bee last week and Hanson Pre K-8 students took first, second and third place. Also, two of the top three finishers started at Hanson and at that time but not at Spelling Bee time, were non-English speakers. This is yet another indication of Hanson providing a positive transitional educational experience to our kids under the direction of Mrs. Jaramillo. Again, we say if you start the transition process at the 3rd Grade, of course our scores will suffer but you must look at where they are when they finish the 8th Grade. Just imagine if this is the end result with initially non-English speakers, what do you think the end result is with students that speak our Native Tongue. Again, I ask for you to sit down with the community and resolve these issues.
Mark Gonzales
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK MARK!
Can students take CSAP test in Spanish?
The CSAP assessments are available in Spanish for 3rd and 4th grade reading and writing.
I strongly think the BOE of D#14 should hold off on voting on the new language policy until after the public meetings about the language learning in the schools
Erica Holemberg
I just read this blog and there are a couple things I would like to comment on.
First, Kathy McIntyre I agree with almost everything you said in your blog but I believe that the war between you and Lewis should be between the two of you. Although, I do not like Lewis and would like nothing more than to see her recalled or not on the board anymore. I believe that there is enough going on in this district that the last 4 years can remain in the past and let’s try and figure out how to deal with what she is doing now. I truly believe that she is going to try and sneak Sue Chandler in as the new Superintendent.
A few board meetings ago the board agreed to open up a national search for a new Superintendent. What has happened with this search?? It is not listed anywhere!!! This tells me that they are not searching for a new person and that they are going to keep the current one. This is not the only issue that we are dealing with but also the issues with Hanson and Lester Arnold losing year round schools and the policy change with how kids will learn English.
I know I said that we should leave things in the past and worry about what Lewis is doing to this district now but I really feel I have to say something about your statement “as far as the cost to have year round school, let’s all remember that Lewis’s friend, former board member Sally McIntosh sued the district for no reason and it cost the kids way more money that having a year round calendar.” You mentioned Dr. John Lange being the award winning superintendent. I have heard rumors from an employee at Kearney Middle School that Dr. Lange is also suing this district for over 2 million dollars. Wasn’t he for kids or is he kidding now?
I really feel that this district works on a buddy system. Lewis and Chandler are buddies so Chandler will get the job of superintendent, because of this allegiance. The principal at Adams City High School will become the new assistant superintendent. If you are in this “in” group you will also benefit and receive a promotion that is not based on ability. Just ask the four new academy leaders (coordinators) for the new high school.
In closing, I would just like to comment on how the school board members regard the public during public comments. Four of the five board members blatantly disrespect the speaker by not making eye contact or showing any sign of interest.
Is this who we really want running our schools?
A lot of what you are saying is some of the same stuff I have been hearing too. Very interesting. You hit it right on the head about the buddy system, I really don't think that is much of a secret.
What did happen to the national search of a new Superintendent? I know I heard that in a meeting, I am sure of it.
Karen L., Commerce City
I think that the S.O.S should start up a recall for Bill Klocker. I think that Vashaw and Lewis will not be re-elected in November and that leaves the next weakest link Klocker. He is so afraid to do what is right in fear that the ramifications will be taken out on his wife so he goes along with what Lewis, Vashaw, and Smith are doing. It seems to me that Quintana is the only board member right now with the kids best interest at heart.
I agree that Lewis will try to appoint Dr. Chandler as the next superintendent, and the other three will agree to it. Not keeping the community’s best interest at heart.
My opinion is that the S.O.S should start up a recall before they decide to appoint Chandler as the new superintendent.
Board Approves 3 Year Contract for Dr. Chandler
Adams 14 Board of Education approves 3 year contract for Superintendent Chandler
COMMERCE CITY (March 25, 2009): The Adams 14 Board of Education last night approved a three year contract for Dr. Susan Chandler as Superintendent of Schools. The contract was approved in a 4-1 vote, with Board Member Larry Quintana dissenting.
Board President Jeannette Lewis provided a strong statement of support for Dr. Chandler’s leadership. “Dr. Chandler and the Board agree that academic success for all students is the top priority of the District. The Board is confident that Dr. Chandler is the best choice for Superintendent. She has shown herself to be a hardworking, compassionate and creative leader.”
With the new Adams City High School opening in the fall and the District strategic plan in place, the Board approved the three year contract to maintain established leadership and preserve continuity in the District. Board President Jeannette Lewis cited several reasons for approving the contract with Dr. Chandler.
Dr. Chandler has exhibited ability to nurture and develop relationships that are critical to the success of the District.
Dr. Chandler has made significant progress in meeting District goals approved by the Board of Education.
Dr. Chandler has been recognized as a positive force in the District by state educational experts. Dr. Chandler is a highly qualified instructional leader.
The Board of Education solicited requests for proposals and contacted board members in other school districts to obtain information on what a superintendent search would cost and the impact a search has on operations of a district The Board came to consensus that a costly – up to $100,000 – and extensive search would prolong the leadership transition of the District during a critical time. Board President Jeannette Lewis noted that in recent months other school boards in Colorado have chosen to hire from within to ensure stability.
President Lewis remarked that “continuity in leadership is important for the District. The Board is pleased with Dr. Chandler’s performance, and we wish to build upon the work that she is doing for the District and the community.”
Dr. Susan Chandler has served as Superintendent of Schools for Adams 14 since September. Under her leadership, the District developed a new strategic plan that is highly focused on academic improvement through effective teaching. Addressing the Board at the meeting, Chandler said, “I have all confidence that in working together and implementing the strategic plan we can increase student achievement.”
The following comment was read before the vote on this recommendation was taken.
On November 25th, 2008 the Board passed a Recommendation for an RFP to conduct a search for a Superintendent. Now some 4 months later we are informing the public that the recommendation is voided despite the fact that a number of organization sent in request to do the search.
Some of us were elected on the premise that we would be a transparent and open Board, yet in reality it is Politics as usual and one or two individuals are promoting their agenda and the rest have to go along with it, well I am not.
Once again we are short changing the voters, taxpayers and students of this district by not making even a feeble attempt to seek out the best possible candidate to lead this district. In the same breath we say we are going after the best candidates to educate our kids, what kind of a message is this?
It would have been better to attempt to find the best candidate for Superintendent and failed then to make the assumption we already have the best. Haven’t we made that mistake before, and in fact several times this mistake has been made and every time it is the taxpayer and our students that pay for this mistake and Board Member walk away absolved from the responsibilities of doing what we were elected to do and that is to make the hard choices.
I hope the citizens of Adams 14 take a good hard look at this Board and hold our feet to the fire, because catchy phrases such “a years growth in a years time” and “were doing it for the kids” are meaningless unless we are able to produce bonfied results.
I will not vote in favor of this Recommendation.
Additional Note: My vote against this recommendation was not a vote against the candidate for Superintendent, but a vote against the manner this action was implemented.
Larry Quintana
WOW! whatever happened to the national wide search!?
What a mess. I'm with you Larry!
Cheo Larcombe
I think sue was in charge of CSAPs under lange, are we sure she is the best?
Just a question
Questions for Adams County School District 14
Is the District an equal opportunity employer?
Did the District post the superintendent's job, inside the district, the Front Range or the State?
Has the District violated any State or Federal labor laws in the unprecedented firing and dismissal of employees?
Did the District violate any Equal Opportunity Laws in not posting the Superintendent's position?
Did the District violate its own goals to embrace the community as partners in making the decisions it has made?
Didn't Lewis make public statements that a search would be done to find a Superintendent?
Lewis stated in the district's most recent press release that a search would cost up to $100,000. We would like to see ALL of the proposals and outside consultation remarks regarding this issue including State education officials responses. Our research shows that these searches do not cost this amount, particularly the Colorado Association of School Boards, which does many searches for Superintendents. It is our opinion that the District made no attempt to look for the best candidate for our children. (City's nationwide search for a new city manager cost only a fraction of the amount Lewisi is purporting in her recent press release).
How much money has been spent paying off contracts and other fees accompanying the dismissal of employees since September 1, 2008?
What double amounts have been paid to cover those positions?
What are the legal fees incurred by the District since September 1, 2008? What are the categories and what are the amounts?
How many candidates were interviewed for the Superintendent's job? When did those interviews take place?
When was the community consulted for the Superintendent's job? What other input did the community have in the hiring of the Superintendent or any of the decisions made this year?
At what time this year has the District "embraced the community" – one of the board’s goals?
What are the benefits and compensation for the new Superintendent?
As the former Chief Academic Officer, wasn't Sue Chandler responsible for the past 3 years test scores and CSAP which haven't been the highest?
Hasn't the current administration and school board put their own spin on the CADI report?
Didn't the CADI report say that the Adams 14 individual schools and principals implemented their respective bi-lingual programs as they each saw fit and that Sue Chandler was the direct supervisor for those schools and their principals? (See "Hodge-Podge" comments in Denver Post article on Adams 14, March 26, 2009).
Isn’t Lewis and her board and administrators continually dishonoring the community by not allowing their input?
Since appointing Sue Chandler interim superintendent, hasn't the school district been in constant and uncontrollable turmoil every week?
Since Dr. Chandler took office, isn’t it true that the District has had one financial crisis after another due to her inexperience in supervising a school district?
Why haven't Lewis and her school board taken into account the lowest employee morale in decades – maybe for all time?
Why hasn't Lewis and her school board taken into account the worst parent/community -school district relationship of all time?
Who is running Adams 14? The unqualified PIO (the video guy for the district a few months ago), the completely unqualified and uneducated Lewis or anyone else?
What happened to the concept of the new high school being a high school/community college –the only reason that voters approved its construction?
Someone from the district, please take all 4 points made by Lewis (on the website) regarding the 3 year contract of Sue Chandler and prove them. What are Chandler's credentials?
Does anyone of the new administrators speak Spanish or can they relate to our very diverse community?
What are her top administrator's credentials?
Please produce Sue Chandler's resume. What previous superintendent's position has she held? Has she ever been a principal of a school so that she can understand how a school operates? Why?
Real Talk
Feeling Left Out?
If you are feeling a little left out of the district’s educational decisions you are not alone. I am talking about Adams County School District 14.
Perhaps the latest news of the Adams County School District 14’s Board of Education decision to employee Sue Chandler as the district Superintendent for the next three years came as a shock to you as well.
I personally was waiting for the press release informing the community that the national search for the highest qualified applicants had been completed. Perhaps an invitation to get the citizens valued input on what we would like to see in the next leader of our district would have been nice.
But no such press release or invitation was sent to the citizens residing in District 14, instead a press release stating that they "The Board" had made the decision for us.
Was it because no other applicant wanted to come to District 14 and work with a school board that ousted it’s former superintendent in a public flogging setting up the district for more lawsuits?
Ms. Lewis states that the decision was made after seeking the advice of other districts and their quote of the cost involved. An outrageous $100,000- dollars was published by the school district as an official cost but after talking to a few districts on my own the quote published seems awful high.
Lewis also states that the decision was made because she did not want to prolong the leadership transition of the District during a critical time. Getting rid of the previous Superintendent during this critical time will have lasting ramifications on the opening of the new High School for years to come.
And finally Ms. Lewis states that continuity in leadership is important to the district, that statement makes me question Sue Chandler’s involvement in Dr. Lange’s firing. Did she know prior the board meeting that Mr. Vashaw was going to throw Lange under the bus and had she already accepted the position to replace him?
The BIG question on my mind is: will we as a community accept being silenced?
I have watched way too many board meetings where board president Lewis is shutting down the freedom of speech of citizens on a regular basis.
All elected officials should uphold a citizen’s right to address them publicly, but am I surprised by her behavior? Absolutely not!
The community wanted to see a less argumentative board if my memory serves me right. They wanted a board that got along and agreed with one another all the time. The problem with this is that opinions are not questioned. Policies are passed with no opposition. Citizens are silenced without a single elected board member to stand up for them.
How is this progress? You hear comments that people don’t like change and that in the end it’s all for the good of the community. So who will stand back and wait to see if they are right? Who will step us and demand to be a part of the process?
Thanks for reading,
Richard A Ford Sr.
720-422-0610
I agree with almost everything that “Questions for Adams County School District 14” says. The only thing that I don’t agree with is when you state “Lewis and her board” don’t you mean Lewis and her three (Vashaw, Klocker, and Smith)?
If you work for the district you pretty much know that the unqualified PIO is the guy running Adams 14 and the unqualified and uneducated Lewis spends most of her time during the day in Sue Chandler’s office. Just drive by the ESS building and you will see this for yourself.
I for one would love to see Sue Chandlers resume! Or would like Lewis to prove all of the points she made about her and have her justify the three year contract. Why not just a one year contract??
I really feel we need to hold the four board members that voted for her contract accountable for what they have done!
We also need to know what did happen to the community college/high school?
Richard, I think that most of us already know that if Lewis’s mouth is moving she is lying! She has her own agenda and now she has the majority of the board to back her. She has her puppets Vashaw, Smith, and Klocker. They will do what she wants. We need to find a way to stop her before she completely ruins this district!
Thank you Larry Quintana for becoming a leader last Tuesday night at the Adams County School District 14 board of education meeting. You rose above what you so rightly called “politics as usual” and you stood up for what was right for the students of the district in spite of all the other board members voting as if they don’t care what is needed in the district. You should be the next President of the Board of Education for doing the right thing. I am so disappointed with the rest of the board. We are the voters who passed your bond and we trusted that you would do the right things for the students. Now you and Mark Gonzales are our heroes. Thank you Mark for leading our group to make things right for our boys and girls. And everybody should think again if they think that just because someone is Hispanic we don’t vote, you are wrong, many of us vote and we will show you how many in November.
Mrs. Rojas
Parent
ADAMS COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT 14 IGNORES PARENTS ONE MORE TIME – DOES NOT ANSWER ANY CONCERNS
Opinion by Editor Kathy McIntyre
Last week in the Gateway News, we printed a list of questions for the Adams County School District 14 Board of Education or for anyone who works there in administration to answer. The list was compiled from a group of several hundred parents in the district who are being ignored by the current board and the current administrators.
The parents have picketed, marched over a mile to protest and attended school board meetings in large numbers, hundreds of parents and students. They have been promised communication and none results. No questions are ever answered.
The Gateway submitted the questions to the district via John Albright, who is the Public Information Officer, with the hope that he would direct them to the board. As of the printing of this week’s paper, we have not received the answers to any of the questions.
We did receive the following reply from John Albright:
“Please refer the group of concerned parents to me directly to address their questions. Per Board Policy KE, District staff is available to address public concerns or complaints. Additionally, members of the public are always welcome to voice their concerns during audience comments at the Board of Education meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. The guidelines for audience participation in Board meetings are outlined in Board Policy BEDH. All Adams 14 Board Policies are available online: http://policy.ctspublish.com/adams14-casb/. Thanks for passing this along to me.”
We responded to John Albright that the questions were already “directly” sent to him via the newspaper’s email. We also pointed out that attempting citizen communication at any Adams County School District 14 Board of Education meeting was a completely futile exercise as Director Lewis cuts every speaker off, does not let anyone complete a sentence, uses irrelevant and invalid reasons as to why they cannot speak, and NEVER answers anyone’s questions or concerns.
The other item that would be funny if it did not concern the education of almost six thousand students was that at the end of Mr. Albright’s email were the following three words, “Inspire. Educate. Empower.” Really???
The questions can be seen in last week’s Gateway and also on our website at www.gatewaynews.org. Click on “Your Opinions” and go to the ACSD14 blog.
I know everyone already knows, but D-14 let Judy go.
A sad day in history
Latoya
Adams School Board let Judy Jaramillo go on Tuesday.
Did she resign or terminated?
Melany
It was a 4-1 vote to terminate Judy. Just goes to show you that Lewis, Vashaw, Klocker and Smith have thier own agenda and they do not care what the parents of this community or the students of this community think. They will continue to run this district into the ground......
BY THEY WAY NICE JOB LEWIS,VASHAW, KLOCKER and SMITH thanks for listen to the people that voted you in. We will see what happens in November!
Budget Reductions in Adams 14
I will just post the highlights of this update. If you want to read the whole thing it is on the distrtict profile.
The net impact in Adams 14 is that we are currently developing a budget for 2009-10 that reduces our expenditures by $3 million. At the District level, we have identified potential reductions of about $1.5 million from a variety of programs and services.
Every part of the District will feel the financial crunch next year. Logically, since 80% of our budget is tied up in staff, we must make some cuts that will be felt at the school level.
The vast majority of cuts will be handled through attrition.
We began conversations with building leaders today. We also want to include your thoughts as we make decisions that impact all of us.
If you have recommendations on cost saving measures for Adams 14, please send your comments to finance@adams14.org. We will compile all comments and review them when finalizing our proposed budget for 2009-10.
My first recommendation would be to staff out our finance department. Sandy obviously can not do her job. she can not maintain the books proficiently. There are constantly accounting errors on her part. But yet we do not fire her, we promote her.
My other recomendations for the district are as follows:
1. Close the district for 2 weeks in July. This means that all the year round employees will take a 2 week furlough without pay. State workers had to do it why not school employees?
2. What if we started charging our kids for athletics? Other schools in Colorado do this why not us?
3. Having a 4 day work week. (This includes the ESS building.)
4. What about cuts at the ESS building? Currently there are 9 employees in IT, 5 in HR, 6 in finance and 7 secretaries… (We are a small district do we really need all them?)
5. The new high school has an assistant principle, a dean, a counselor an attendance liaison, a secretary and a coordinator/TOSA in each academy. What exactly does a coordinator/ TOSA do? Do we really need that many?
How do they help our students?
Juanita,
Very good information and well presented.
I am concerned that the new ELL Design team does not have anyone on there that speaks Spanish. I do not think that this current board knows what the hell the are doing.
Nothing shocks me anymore
C. Larcombe, Commerce City
Appareently you are misinformed about spanish speaking people on the ELL design team, there are more bilingual speaking members on the team.
I found some more places were the district could make some cuts:
1 Admin. Asst. to the Superintendent $48,415 $50,230 $52,114 $54,068 $56,096 $58,199 $60,382 $62,646 $64,995 $67,433 $69,961 $72,585
2 Childcare Coordinator $52,784 $54,763 $56,816 $58,947 $61,158 $63,451 $65,830 $68,299 $70,860 $73,518 $76,274 $79,135
3 no positions $57,152 $59,296 $61,519 $63,826 $66,220 $68,703 $71,279 $73,952 $76,725 $79,602 $82,588 $85,685
4 Assistant Elementary Principal (208
days)
$61,521 $63,828 $66,222 $68,705 $71,281 $73,954 $76,728 $79,605 $82,590 $85,687 $88,901 $92,234
Public Information Officer
5 Middle School Assistant Principal (208) $65,890 $68,361 $70,924 $73,584 $76,343 $79,206 $82,176 $85,258 $88,455 $91,772 $95,214 $98,784
Manager, Nutrition Srvcs./Warehouse Ops.
Manager, Transportation
Manager, Service Center Operations
Risk/Facilities Manager
Manager, Financial Services
6 High School Assistant Principal (220) $70,259 $72,893 $75,627 $78,463 $81,405 $84,458 $87,625 $90,911 $94,320 $97,857 $101,527 $105,334
Elementary Principal (208 days)
Student Achievement Resource Center Admin
7 Middle School Principal (213 days) $74,627 $77,426 $80,329 $83,342 $86,467 $89,710 $93,074 $96,564 $100,185 $103,942 $107,840 $111,884
K-8 Principal (213 days)
Alternative High School Principal
Manager of Information Services
8 Director, Student
Information/Evaluation
$78,996 $81,959 $85,032 $88,221 $91,529 $94,961 $98,522 $102,217 $106,050 $110,027 $114,153 $118,434
Dir., Instructional Mangmt./Student Srvcs.
Director, Migrant
Director, Elem. or Secondary Curric./Instruct.
9 High School Principal $83,365 $86,491 $89,735 $93,100 $96,591 $100,213 $103,971 $107,870 $111,915 $116,112 $120,466 $124,984
10 Chief Human Resources Officer $87,734 $91,024 $94,437 $97,979 $101,653 $105,465 $109,420 $113,523 $117,780 $122,197 $126,779 $131,533.
And one more cut I have found.
ARTICLE 4 – MILEAGE
4-1 The Principals at Adams City High School and Lester Arnold High School, Assistant Principals at Adams City High
School, as well as, Directors and Division Level Executives will be provided a mileage allowance at the rate of one
hundred seventy dollars ($170.00) per month. All other administrators will be provided a mileage allowance of one
hundred ($100.00) per month. Stipends cover travel in the six county Denver-metro area including Adams,
Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson Counties. Travel beyond these counties will be reimbursed at the approved district mileage rate in addition to the monthly stipend.
So not only do they make on average $90,000 to $100,00 a year we the tax payers of Commerce City have to also buy their gas to live outside our city? Does anyone else have a problem with this?
I personally would love it if the tax payers of Commerce City would give me a gas allowance to get back and forth to work.
WOW great stuff, thanks for the work you put in this.
Very informative!
Patty C.
I am very curious about why district 14 needs to cut $3 million from the budget and they didn’t have enough money to do a nation wide search for a new superintendent so they “settled” with Dr. Sue Chandler but, they have enough money to send 4-5 principles to different states to search for teachers. When asked why they are doing an out of state search for teachers they said “because teachers in Colorado do not want to come to Commerce City and teach.” BUT they are non renewing teachers that already work here. Does this make any sense? This district has no accountability! They just do what they wish and they do not have to answer to anyone about their spending.
No doubt!!
Plus they will be on the hook for the bonds for CLA if they can't pay them back.
That school was built in spite of the NO vote by the citizens.
Guess when the board Pres wants it....it happens!
Too many examples to mention, use your imagination!
Agree,
Not only are they just doing whatever they want, they are not listening to the parents and/or voters that put them their.
I have never heard of 803 parents sign a petition and have them just completely ignored!
I hope that Nov. will bring change. I can only hope.
Cheo Larcombe
ps: Larry Quintana, stay strong, you have many supporters.
OH I SEE!
keep on bashing the d14 BOE except for Larry, Lets not all forget what the embezzlement, and the fact we have basically failed teaching the children d14 English. Our CSAP are nothing to be proud about, the list goes on!
This board is trying to change things for the long term good.
And there is nothing wrong with Sue Chandler!
We need to all support this board and their decisions, they are not out to hurt us, they are trying to make a bad situation good again!
and ps, larry is not perfect!
no one said Larry Quintana was "perfect", but he is the only one listening, so in my book he is the only one doing his job that we elected him for.
AKA
I know Qunitana is not perfect, but at least he is hearing the parents of District #14, can't say the same for the rest of the board!
DeeDee, Commerce City
What's wrong with Klocker! why doesn't he speak up!
Irene,
What has Larry done? He walked with the protesters at Hanson, he listened to the parents and their concerns with letting the principle go right before CSAP. Lets not forget how he questioned the other board members about NOT doing a nation wide search for a new superintendent (when it was promised to the community that they would). Oh and he also questioned the new ELL program that the district is trying to implement. When we are in a budget crunch.
You say the BOE is trying to change things for the long term good? Tell me how? Do you realize that in EVERY building in this district the employee moral is at an all time low? This is for the good? How can you say that? What about Firing that principle after over 200 parents begged the board to reinstate her was that for the long term good? So Irene, tell me what good do you see with this?
You say there is noting wrong with Sue Chandler? What’s so good about her? Since she has been our new superintendent she has managed to fire a principle that parents wanted and lets not forget how she handled the blizzard warnings this year. You say nothing is wrong with her? Really are you kidding me?
We need to support this board why? You say they are not out to hurt us maybe you should tell Judy that or the other staff members whose jobs are being cut or not being renewed. While they are promoting and giving raises to Sue’s friends in the ESS building. You want us to support that? Tell me what good will come out of this? Oh maybe the new teachers that will be here from another state is that the good you are seeing?
No one is saying Larry is perfect. BUT I am saying that he is the ONLY one that is willing to take a stand for the community and the staff. The others just follow Sue and Lewis’s lead. We voted them in and the 3 plus the one that Lewis elected are not listening to the voters! AND you are asking for support for them? Well I think we should RECALL them before November and start with a new board!!!
P.S. Irene is your real name Toni
to Irene,
Wasn't Sue Chandler the academic Director under Dr. John Lange. So, where is her accountability of the low CSAP test score of the district and where is her accountability of the children failing in learning English?
It would be like the Denver Broncos hiring last years defensive coordinator as the head coach.
We need a good leader, not the boards friend!
Cheo Larcombe
Change is scary I know, but I believe in this board. If we continue down the path that we are currently on, we are going to be in big trouble. Eventually sooner or later the state will step in! I am tired of being the black sheep of the whole state. There was obviously something wrong with the Hanson deal, otherwise the vote would have been a little closer then 4 to 1. I don’t know the details, but I am sure it was not a good thing.
As far as Sue, I do not know of anything she has done wrong, bottom line, we need to give her a chance before we start criticizing.
Hey Irene,
What flavor of Kool-Aid did they make you drink? Was it Grape?
Cheo
Irene, no offense, but when has more than one person on the board voted against the Presidents direction??
She owns them and they do her bidding.
They are afraid of her wrathe if they don't agree.
None of them have the backbone or intellegence to stand up and do what is right, or....the path of this district would have been better.
She has been in charge long enough to have made a positive difference. That hasn't happened!!
If she likes you things go good for you, if she doesn't she is like a dragon and you'll be burned!
looks like D14 did pretty good on CSAP all things considered.
Sally, Commerce City
Adams County School District 14 Shows Complete Disrespect of Memorial Day
Opinion Article by Editor Kathy McIntyre
Several years ago, the Gateway News made a public information request for emails of Director Jeanette Lewis, wife of Commerce City Councilman Orval Lewis. Ms. Lewis, as of today, several years later, has yet to turn over the emails requested. Instead, she sued the newspaper for charges for emails that were never produced.
The newspaper is refusing to pay for emails never received. So what does Ms. Lewis do? She has me, Kathy McIntyre, served papers during the playing of “Taps” during the Commerce City Memorial Day Parade.
I am shocked, as is everyone else that has heard about her actions, that someone could be this disrespectful to the memories of the men and women, our blessed veterans, who gave their lives for our freedoms. Yes Ms. Lewis, our freedoms, which include freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The newspaper will continue to shed light, as much as we are allowed, on everything that Ms. Lewis does in her present position.
The legacy that Ms. Lewis is leaving is one of a school district in complete shambles.
Kathy,
I am not surprised by this action.
These are mean, mean people who enjoy seeing others hurt and embarassed, especially people that disagree with them.
Keep up the good fight and don't let them take over your spirit.
~sis
Memorial Day Opinion Article by Reba Drotar
This past Monday, our City joined thousands of other cities across America as we all stopped to take time to remember those that have given their lives for us and our country. In fact, many of our fallen gave their lives for the safety of the entire world. Their numbers are legion. It has been said that our city had more young soldiers die in Vietnam than any other city in our State. Many were my personal friends. In actuality, many were just children right out of Adams City High School.
Memorial Day is vastly different than any of our other holidays. Veteran’s Day celebrates all veterans – both living and dead. –The 4th of July celebrates our independence. Memorial Day alone is separated out as a sacred day for the brave fallen of our country..
Commerce City has stood out among all other cities in Colorado and, indeed, in the United States, as so respecting our war dead that we have managed to now be holding the largest Memorial Day Parade in Colorado. For 45 years we have brought our treasure, time and energy to make this day as sacred as possible. Two years ago, we moved the grandstands so that our War Memorial and our Wreath-Laying Ceremony would be the total focus of this most honorable day. Complete with the ROTC Honor Guard, the singing of the National Anthem, the playing of Taps and a prayer, the beautiful wreath is laid in the greatest silence and honor.
This year, though, the most disrespectful, most despicable thing happened and I cannot be silent about it. During the most sacred time of our Wreath Laying Ceremony – the playing of taps –yes, I said- during the playing of taps -- , Mrs. Jeanette Lewis, Mr. Robert Vashaw and the Board and Administration of the Adams 14 School District – had the owners of the Gateway News served a summons for a lawsuit. Right there in front of the War Memorial. The timing was carefully calculated and Lewis and Vashaw had been invited to be special judges. They used their positions not in a way of respect for our fallen heroes, but to their great shame, (Ms. Lewis was seen walking off laughing at her appalling deed) – during our ceremony. Why this district and these people choose to use our most sacred event – and not an event of their own ---- they certainly would never have done this at their own student’s graduation----shows such a disregard for the day and all of Commerce City’s and the nation’s war heroes that it is beyond anyone’s imagination. This is especially true since their own ROTC unit was standing right there at attention and many of those youngsters will now join the almost 100 years of students walking out of Adams City High school and into war. Some, like their older brothers and sisters, may not return.
By our own rules – if a group or individual does not comply with the sacredness and respect of the day, they are not to be invited back to participate. These individuals, their board and administration should stand alone in their disrespect- they should never again be allowed to participate.
This then is their legacy – a shocking and wholly despicable disregard of the most sacred day in America and of our city. And Mr. Lewis, I am completely stunned that you used your position to conspire with your wife and this group for such a shameful moment.
Let us then do everything we can to strive to bring back the great honor and respect due our war fallen it ---is the very LEAST that we can do for them and their memory and their families.
Thought of an 8th Grade student
First of all, I would like to say that CLA (Community Leadership Academy) was doing well until we moved into the new building. I remember Mr. Jajdelski saying to all of us students, "This is yours and we need to take care of it." But now it seems like they did for their selves. I feel like they are doing everything that they think is right for us but is not. They do not care if we like it or not. We have no freedom. They said that of we don't have a fever then we can't call home even if we don't feel good. Still the nurse told me that it is not fair to them that we go home if we don't have a fever when they have to come to school sick. They didn't hand out a student handbook for us to sign. They decided to change all the rules how they want. We can't have food or drink in our classroom over a little bug. I feel that they care more about the school building than us the students.
Larry Quintana via email said...
You be the Judge
This past week an attempt was made by either the Adams 14 administration and/or by some of the Adams 14 Board of Education to prevent me a member of the Adams 14 Board of Education from representing the District at Derby Daze. Monday evening after a special meeting of the BOE, I found out for the first time in 10 years the District would not participate in Derby Daze, an event that involves the Commerce City community and in particular the core community or Adams 14.
The following evening in a conversation with the Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Susan Chandler I express my willingness to sit at the table designated to the district and pass out literature. My reasons for this were straight forth and simple.
First I wish to thank the voters and taxpayers of Adams 14 for the passage of the Bond Issue that brought us a New High School on behalf of the district.
Second I desired to encourage student in the Commerce City community and neighboring communities to think about attending the New Adams City High School in the fall.
Third I also wanted to encourage individuals to participate in the college courses and the adult educations classes being offered in the evening at the new high school.
In an e-mail sent out to the members of the Board of Education the following was one of two questions asked.
2. As a board member do you feel comfortable having Mr. Quintana managing a table for the Board of Education and distributing Adams 14 materials at Derby Daze?
My reply to this question was as follows.
I find not problem with this arrangement, I believe it is fair to all given the circumstances.
On point 2, please let me know how my fellow Board members vote by name, yes or no.
I received an e-mail with the following information.
I was unable to get a majority vote from the board on question number 2. I’m unable to divulge everyone’s individual vote. If you are interested in knowing this information you are welcome to bring this up to the board.
Three of the four members of the BOE opted to support the Administration in the attempt to allow me to perform my duties as an elected official of the Adams 14 BOE.
Three of the four members of the BOE opted to support the Administration in the attempt to keep me what is my right as a citizen of Commerce City and a citizen of this Nation to exercise my right to free speech.
Three of the four members of the BOE opted to violate what I see are my civil rights as a person of color in this district.
Board member Robert Vashaw informed me he sided with me.
After consultation with other individuals on the question of this action I asked that the district Legal agency review this matter and after reviewing the State Statute it was evident the District (Administration and BOE) were in violation of the Law.
Saturday I was participating in Derby Daze executing the functions I had requested to perform.
This matter will be addressed in the June 23rd Board of Education where the matter in hand will be corrected and I will be seeking an apology from the parties that attempted to keep me from performing my duties as an elected official of the district. This matter I believe could have been addressed in private between myself and the Administration, however I have to ask myself if this was an attempt of certain parties to keep me in what they believe to be my place, and for that reason I am making this matter public. You be the judge.
Larry Quintana
Adams 14 BOE, Director
Off 303-288-2249
Cell 720-308-8720
Love the Video Gateway!
Great Memories!
Post a Comment