News from
Sheridan School District No. 2Contact: Mark
Stevens
[email protected]
303-495-8699
(mobile) • 720-328-5488 (office)
News
Release
Nov. 29, 2017
New Board of Education Member Daniel Stange Joins Three Returning
Incumbents; Bernadette Saleh Elected President
The Sheridan
Board of Education at its meeting this week (Tuesday, Nov. 28) certified
results of the Nov. 7 election and immediately welcomed new board member Daniel
Stange to the board. Stange defeated outgoing board president and longtime
board member Ron Carter, 494 votes to 401, in District A.
In addition,
incumbents Sally Daigle and Bernadette Saleh won their elections (respectively)
over Karla Cuevas Flores and Indira Guzman-Sais. Daigle’s vote total in
District C was 468 to Flores’ 425. Saleh garnered 456 votes to 426 for
Guzman-Sais in District E. Incumbent Karla Najera ran unopposed.
The certified
results from Arapahoe County were delivered late in the afternoon Monday, Nov.
27. The swearing-in ceremony was delayed to ensure that the results were
accurate.
No candidates
emerged for District B, which has remained vacant since 2009. This means
the board will operate, as it has done for years, with four members.
In its first
activity, the new board elected Bernadette Saleh as president and Sally Daigle
as vice-president. Both Saleh and Daigle were the lone nominees for their posts
and both were installed by acclamation.
President Saleh
appointed Karla Najera as board secretary and board member Stange as treasurer.
Najera was also appointed as the board’s Head Start Policy Council
Representative.
Crisis
Team Praised
Superintendent
Michael Clough praised all members of the district’s mental health and crisis
response teams for its response to the tragic loss of SOAR Academy student
Steve Soledad-Lopez. In particular, Clough recognized SOAR Academy principal
Christian Ramaker and special education director Jenny Pilger. “You did an
amazing job of taking care of our children,” he said. “It reminds you that in
the toughest times what it means to be a family.”
Steve Soledad
lost his life in what Denver police believe was a random shooting around
midnight on Friday, Nov. 24.
Facility
Master Plan-Update
The district
appears poised to prepare another application for a grant under the state’s
BEST (Building Excellent Schools Today) program. Cyndi Wright, Director of
Facilities and Transportation, and Aimee LaLone, from WOLD Architects &
Engineers, walked board members through an overview of current facility
conditions. A Facility Master Plan Committee has been working most of the year
on an assessment of the district’s facility needs.
The committee’s
preliminary recommendations, to be finalized at a special morning meeting on
Tuesday, Dec. 5, are to:
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Replace the Sheridan High School building and improve the site;
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Consider targeted improvements at Alice Terry Elementary School and at the
Early Childhood Center and SOAR Academy (which share the same roof).
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Address the most urgent needs with building systems, such as mechanical and
electrical.
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Address safety, security and technology upgrades
Issues at
Sheridan High School, Alice Terry Elementary School and at the building that
houses both SOAR Academy and the Early Childhood Center include site drainage
concerns, gyms and lockers in poor condition, roof leaks, inadequate fire
sprinkler coverage, building code issues, asbestos, way-finding and signage,
confusing entryways, bathrooms, all-school gathering spaces, sub-par kitchens,
technology needs, cracking masonry, outdated interior finishes, and gloomy
spaces, among others.
The big question
is how much money Sheridan might be able to secure through the state’s
competitive BEST grant process—and whether Sheridan voters might approve the
required local match.
A previous BEST
grant, along with local voter approval in 2012, led to the construction of Fort
Logan Northgate School and many other improvements across the district,
including major upgrades for the Early Childhood Center and SOAR Academy.
Wright told the
board that the work on the new grant application is on a fast-track. The grant
process will open in January and applications will be due in February. Board
members scheduled a work session for Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 7 a.m. to take final
action on this proposal.
The city of
Sheridan and Groundwork Denver have applied for a grant through Great Outdoors
Colorado (GoCo) that would support the cost of improvements of outdoor spaces,
such as outdoor learning and play spaces for Alice Terry Elementary School,
Fort Logan Northgate School, and Sheridan High School.
Superintendent
Search
Superintendent
Clough, who has announced that he will leave the district in June of 2018,
presented the board with an overview of the superintendent search process and
the key decisions ahead as the board begins its work on finding a new leader.
In the process of
selecting this one particular employee, said Superintendent Clough, the board
acts as its own human resources department. All applicable policies and laws,
particularly around discrimination and equal opportunity, apply.
Superintendent
Clough discussed the need for confidentiality, the pros and cons of hiring a
search firm, and the options for the scope of the search (local or national).
He talked about setting a timeline, engaging the community, determining
compensation parameters, writing an application, developing a recruitment plan,
planning interview questions and the interview process, evaluating and
screening applicants, conducting background checks, conducting reference
checks, and many other steps.
While the board
is interviewing applicants, he said, the applicants are also interviewing the
board and evaluating the district, too. The more that the board
executes a well-designed hiring process, said Clough, the better chance of
landing the board’s top choice.
Seal of
Biliteracy
Language, Culture
and Equity Director Linda Chapman said Sheridan is among a handful of school
districts in the state that are pursuing an effort to offer a seal of
biliteracy on its high school diplomas. The district will develop and propose
specific criteria to the board, she said, but students who meet minimum state
requirements will be able to apply for the seal on diplomas awarded for the
Class of 2018.
The seal of
biliteracy recognizes students who have studied and attained proficiency in two
or more languages by high school graduation. Both employers and universities,
said Chapman, would view the seal as favorable in hiring students for work or
accepting them for further study.
Consent
Agenda
All consent
agenda items were approved.
About
Sheridan School District 2
Located southwest
of Denver, Sheridan School District 2 seeks high-level post-secondary options
for all students through continuous improvement of quality instruction. More: www.ssd2.org