News Release - State Board denies charter school appeal for Alexandria School of Innovation

August 16, 2018

State Board denies charter school appeal for Alexandria School of Innovation

2018 state assessment results release

DENVER - The Colorado State Board of Education at its August meeting upheld the decision by the Douglas County School District Board of Education to deny Alexandria School of Innovation’s application to operate a charter school in the district.

The state board did not agree with the school’s position that the Douglas county school board’s decision was contrary to the best interest of the students, district or community. The district was concerned over the lack of accommodations for students with Individualized Education Plans and the incomplete explanation of courses to be offered. There were also questions about how the school would fund a building.   

State assessment scores and growth results now available

Overall state-, district- and school-level achievement results from the 2018 administration of statewide assessments were released today along with academic growth summary information, showing areas of improvement throughout the state and increases in participation. View the news release for a summary of results.

Innovation Applications

The state board approved innovation school applications from Denver Public Schools for John H. Amesse Elementary, the Center for Talent Development at Greenlee and Beach Court Elementary.

The board also approved an innovation zone application from DPS for Northeast Denver schools, including McAuliffe International School, McAuliffe Manual School, Northfield High School and Swigert International School.

Innovation status gives district schools greater autonomy and managerial flexibility in order to implement diverse approaches to learning. For example, innovation schools have more control over matters such as budgeting, educational programming, personnel selection, evaluations, calendars and scheduling.

English Language Proficiency Act

Technical changes to the English Language Proficiency Act (ELPA) rules were approved by the state board. The rule incorporates technical changes to the statue set during the 2018 Colorado legislative session and allows the department to distribute all allocated funds to eligible school districts. The board also approved the distribution of $21,608,125 for the English Language Proficiency Program and $26,999,903 for the Professional Development and Student Support Program to eligible school districts. View the 2018-19 ELPA school district allocations.

Budget items for 2019-20

The board directed the Colorado Department of Education to submit three budget items to the Office of State Planning and Budgeting for consideration in the proposed 2019-20 budget. The three budget items would:

• Maintain funding for program activities for the Choice and Innovation Unit. The funding would sustain the department’s support of existing charter schools, authorizers and other stakeholders in Colorado.
• Increase support for schools identified for improvement by providing additional grant support to eligible schools, creating two staff positions to support local efforts to improve educational outcomes for students and providing resources for evaluating the improvement efforts. The funding would support the department’s strategic goal of ensuring that at least 80 percent of schools identified as Turnaround or Priority Improvement in the state's school accountability system improve and maintain their improvement.
• Provide the department with authority to spend $410,000 collected through the Colorado tax checkoff program for the Colorado Preschool Program (CPP). The department would provide a base amount of $500 to each district in the Colorado Preschool Program. Remaining funds would be distributed proportionally based on CPP enrollment.

Student art competition

The board recognized the following student artists who placed in the congressional art competition for their outstanding work:

• Mariely Marquez-Lopez, Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy, Denver Public Schools, 1st Congressional District
• Jackson Phillips, Legacy High School, Adams 12 Five Star Schools, 2nd Congressional District, 
• Isabella Tweed, Durango High School, Durango School District 9-R, 3rd Congressional District
• Evangeline Bowe, Legend High School, Douglas County School District, 4th Congressional District
• Anna Meyer, The Classical Academy, Academy School District 20, 5th Congressional District
• Christine Hinkley, Heritage High School, Littleton Public Schools, 6th Congressional District
• Gabe Messa, Golden High School, Jefferson County School District, 7th Congressional District

The student artwork will be installed in the State Board Room through June 2019.

Board Member Jane Goff Honored with Distinguished Service Award

Commissioner Katy Anthes congratulated state board member Jane Goff, who received The National Association of State Boards of Education’s 2018 Distinguished Service Award. The award honors current and former state board members who have made exceptional contributions to education. It is given to three outstanding leaders each year. Board Member Goff will accept the award in October during the NASBE national convention in Denver. View the full news release on NASBE’s website.

In other action, the board:

• Approved a series of waivers from state laws and regulations for Golden View Classical Charter School brought by the Charter School Institute. However, the board denied a waiver request by the school seeking to opt out of a state requirement for school employees to be members of the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association.
• Approved the July through November 2018 state share monthly entitlements to school districts.
• Reappointed Cyndi Wright, director of facilities and transportation for Sheridan School District, as facility planner/manager of the Capital Construction Assistance Board for the Building Excellent School Today (BEST) program. Michael Wailes, Weld County RE-5J school board member,  was also appointed as a board member for the Capital Construction Assistance Board.
• Approved changes to the Teacher Grants for Computer Science Education Program rules removing the grant award cap, previously set to $10,000, and allowing CDE to disseminate all allocated funds to eligible school districts. The grant program enables districts to provide direct training to teachers in computer science education or to fund courses, certificates or degrees in computer science for teachers.

Notices of Rulemaking:

• Approved a Notice of Rulemaking for the Rules for the Administration of Educator Licensing Endorsements. This was a technical change to clarify where a copy of the Colorado School Counseling Standards is readily available for public inspection.
• Approved a Notice of Rulemaking for the Administration of the Early Literacy Grant Program to incorporate changes made to the READ Act during the 2018 Colorado legislative session. Changes include modifications to the grant fund distribution and a simplified application for schools located in small rural or rural school districts.
• Approved a Notice of Rulemaking for the Administration of the Waiver of Statute. This was a technical change to incorporate statutory references resulting from passage of HB 18-1269 concerning notice to parents of alleged criminal conduct by school employees.