Edited by author 01-29-2003 10:33 AM
Hello All! So this Bulletin Board has been set up so that we might have whatever discussions bounce around concerning the School, kids, rides, etc. Pass it around and let's get all the parents, teachers and potential families involved.

David Mans

So the first topic of concern, which all those at the PTO meeting last night (wednesday) are aware, is that the School Board has put all the Elementary schools on the potential chopping block. We're trying to figure out the best ways to address the threat. First and foremost is to attend the scheduled meetings at the various schools around the district in February.

Once again, time to campaign for what matters to us.

I had a long discussion with Steven Vanek, the k-2 teacher at Gold Hill School this past weekend. They are planning on sending a parent to every Facilities Meeting. They want to be able to listen to each conversation to see if Mountain Schools are brought up. If they are, then they will present a case. If they are not discussed, then they decided to just be quiet. Gold Hill has read through their budget and figured how much the district will actually save if they were to close their school. Steven thought it was in the 20,000 ball park. He also mentioned that if the district was to close their school at least 4 families would home school their children. If that were to happen the district would lose $5,000 per child from the state. Therefore, they are not saving enough to make it worthwhile. I will have a sign up sheet on my classroom door of the dates for the Facilities Meetings. I think we should also have someone from Jamestown at each meeting. I am out of time now to post the dates on here. I will try to get back to this later. Then you can sign up here. bye for now, Jen

This is great information, Jen! It also looks like an excellent strategy by Gold Hill, one I suggest we use as well. Do we have any idea of a what similar numbers would be for Jamestown? Sather

Jen,

If Jamestown is closed next year we will be home schooling Shoshanna. Check with Karen too, it is possible she would home school Max.



< replied-to message removed by QT >

Thanks Jen, sounds like a great idea to have someone or a few someones at each meeting if we can. We should also have a few principle points in mind in case the "fly on the wall" approach calls for a little more input.

I'll list the dates below, maybe we can get at least one carload of folks going down for each one.

Feb 18, Tue, Monarch Cafeteria, 6:30 to 8:30
Feb 19, Wed, Centaurus Student Center, 6:00 to 8:00
Feb 20, Thu, Centennial Cafeteria, 6:00 to 8:00
Feb 24, Mon, Broomfield Heights Cafetorium 6:00 to 8:00
Feb 26, Wed, Nederland High Library, 6:00 to 8:00
Feb 27, Thu, Burbank Auditorium, 6:00 to 8:00
Mar 3, Fri, Columbine Cafeteria (In Spanish)6:00-8:00

I'm also wondering if we should check in with families of recent students and mountain families with kids at other elementaries in town, there are obviously plenty. They'll certainly have a stake in this also. There has also been a lot of interest in this subject by the community at large, let's be sure to talk it up with them too.

Jen, do you think it's a bit premature for trying to get a letter campaign going? Without hard numbers or facts the primary sentiment that could be voiced at this point would be emotional, but might still be helpful.

There's an interesting article in this weeks issue of the Ned paper The Mountain Ear. Here's the link to the article: http://www.themountainear.com/story1.shtml

There is actually the name of the "mountain representative for the Facilities Committee, Susan Femmer". They give a contact number for her and say she welcomes calls to answer questions.

The article is a bit scathing of the process but also seems to have some pretty good facts and figures. It mentions Jamestown and Gold Hill's situations extensively. It seems that the points most often cited here and otherwise are added cost of busing, lack of possible funds from selling the buildings, loss of State Funds for each kid that might be homeschooled.

Have a look.

Is there any need for drivers to the outing(s?) this week? How about parent participation otherwise?

Yes! We need a couple more drivers for lunch to Cheers-
Chinese-Vietnamese Restaurant. (Diagonal Plaza) We will leave
school at 10:30 and return 12:30. Lunch will be paid for from our 100.00 winnings from the coat drive. I just can't ask parents to drive to Denver for the Colorado Symphony with skiing coming up. So...we will be taking a big yellow bus on the 19th to Denver.

Good article. It sounds like closing mountain schools will be of no benefit to anyone.

I can take 6 kids in the back and Max or an adult in the remaining front seat -Egg Foo Yung for everybody !

I can drive 3 kids and 1 adult on Friday if needed.

Hi Heidi,
Great!! I could really use you!! Thank you! Jen

Jen, Did you get my message about driving Friday? I can drive three kids and one adult one way. I'm going to stay down there with Max after lunch, though, so I won't be able to drive back up. (I don't know if this is helpful or not.)

Hi Jen,
I made a mistake I can only drive 3 kids or 2 kids 1 adult. It would be real cramped with 4. I look forward to it .Heidi
>
>
< replied-to message removed by QT >

Thanks Karen!! Yes, that would be helpful for you to drive on Friday. Sal mentioned he would too. I could use him as well. Have a great day! -Jen

Great Heidi! Thanks -Jen

Tomorrow is our 100th day of school!! Be sure your child has 100 of something to share for show and tell. We will also weigh these collections and put them in order from lightest to heaviest.

We are going Cheers for an oriental lunch. So you only need to pack a snack tomorrow.

Smiles, Jen

So a week away from the first Community Meeting. Had hoped that this board might be a good forum for discussing the game plan but I guess there isn't all that much to discuss. We all know how important the school is to us and the 1/2 dozen or so reasons it can't be closed down.

My uncle made a couple of posters that I'm putting up, at the Merc and at the PO. It's a start. Have had a lot of folks asking what they can do, seems that attending meetings will matter the most. Still planning to make the issue the main topic next Wednesday the 19th after we have some idea of the structure of the meeting on the 18th. Hopefully we can get a good turnout and coordinate efforts there.

I'm wondering too whether we should get a petition circulated? Would having folks signing on to show their support be a useful thing to present? Hmmm? It's hard to have this kind of threat out there with so many emotional consequences and not really be rallying. Understood, however, that it's tough to know exactly how to proceed.

What about carpooling to the Sessions? Still seems we should try and have a car-full at least at each meeting.

David

This is what I know at this point. Marlene did attend a meeting on Monday for principals affected by scenarios. Both of her schools are in a scenario. (Jamestown and Community Montessori). She was given strict directions to not discuss the outcome of the meeting until Thursday morning with her staff. There is a press meeting Thursday afternoon and the Daily Camera will have an article printed on the possible scenarios on Friday. We know nothing more than we did at our last PTO meeting. AS SOON AS MARLENE GIVES ME MORE INFORMATION I WILL POST IT ON THIS BULLETIN BOARD. Yes, I feel a petition would be a great thing to start. We may not have a lot of time next week. It would be good to have that in place and in our hands. Please let me know which meeting you all plan on attending. I want to be sure we have a Jamestown representative at each meeting. There is also a sign up on my classroom door. I will place one in the Post Office too. I wish I had more information.
More later, Jen

Hi Folks,

I wanted to weigh in on the upcoming BVSD Meetings. As I understand it, the meetings will include a presentation( including the potential 'scenarios' - I sent them to David Manns they are also on the web) followed by a large group Q&A that will be facilitated and recorded.

I think it is important that Jamestown have a strong/unified voice at meetings. This could be accomplished by having a spokesperson(s) who outline how important the school is to our community, and the paltry resources that would be generated by closing the Jamestown school (including the potential of homeschooling, cost of busing etc...). Not to say that we should not have a presence at the Boulder meetings but I think our voice may be drowned out by the concerns in Boulder. The meetings in Broomfield, Ned, and at Monarch might provide more of a potential for getting our views heard.

These meetings are only the beginning and we need to make sure that the Board hears our views in other ways as well (letter writing, phone calls etc...) following these meetings.

Sorry we won't be able to attend as we will be in Mexico.

Jonathan Bartsch

Edited by author 02-16-2003 01:18 AM
So the Scenarios are out. Has still been a little hard to figure out where they're coming from or how threatened our school is. Obviously have to assume they're serious about all of these. I got a more involved copy of the scenarios but it's about 10 pages. I'm going to put the section concerning the mountain schools here.

From the BVSD web site: <http://www.bvsd.k12.co.us/down_pdf/FacilityPlanning.pdf>;

"Scenario H: Mountain Schools -- Considered for Possible 2003-2004 Implementation

Close Gold Hill School and reassign students to Flatirons Elementary; Close Jamestown School and reassign students to Nederland Elementary

This scenario could include closure of one or both schools. The Gold Hill school currently has 33 students and the Jamestown school has 18 students. These enrollment numbers are not sufficient to generate comprehensive educational programs. Music, art, physical education, resource and media are difficult to staff at these schools without additional resources to maintain these programs. Students in schools as small as these have less opportunity for social and emotional development with age-appropriate peers.

Fiscal Impact

The estimated reduction in general fund expenditures if the Gold Hill building is left vacant is $207,000 per year.

The estimated reduction in general fund expenditures if the Jamestown building is left vacant is $115,000 per year.


Scenario I: Possible Mountain Schools Future Scenario
The following option is not being considered for immediate implementation. It is being presented for discussion of longer-term possibilities.

Nederland Scenario

While both Nederland Middle/Senior High School and Nederland Elementary meet many of the criteria, no viable scenario is presented at this time. The committee discussed at length various potential options to reduce seats and increase efficiency in Nederland. This included bringing high school students to Boulder High and merging middle school and elementary students into a K-8 building.

The situation, however, warrants further study, and community input is desired.
This will include the monitoring of enrollment trends and growth in the Nederland and Boulder areas for future closure/consolidation considerations."



The sign up sheet at the school for the meeting attendance is filling up some. With all of the potential impacts around Boulder it seems that these meetings are going to be "active".

I did a check on the deed from the Town to BVSD. It was transferred for very little (looks like $100) but there were no other limitations or covents that went with the deed. If there were any limitations also transferred they would likely (should be?) recorded to carry any weight. Mary Ellen was having a look in Town records to see if the Town transferred the school with an explicit restriction that it remain an elementary school.

Other topics, issues, arguments to consider? Should we be thinking of cost cutting options? Potential increase in Volunteer efforts? Charter or Private school options? Potential home schooling families and reduced State Funds?

Also, have talked to the reporter covering the school issue for the Denver Post/Rocky News. He's planning on coming up next week to take some pics and write a story. Seems sympathetic to the cause. His first ever story as a professional was on Gold Hill Elementary in 1981. I'll give you a call about the visit Jen. Does anyone know the contact for the Camera? Probably the person that wrote the article yesterday.

Sorry for the long message. We haven't got long now. Time to ramp this up. We need participation at the PTO meeting and then the others. Seems that Ned will also be key, maybe the best chance to be heard? I think we should get letters and or emails going directly to Board Members, they're the ones that will be making the call.

David

I write the weekly column on Boulder history for the Daily Camera. Jennifer, you might remember me from the story I did on Don Ralston a couple of years ago. I now live in Bar-K, and I'm very sympathetic to keeping open both the Jamestown and Gold Hill Schools. When this issue came up a few years ago, I wrote a story on the history of the GH School. So, this time, I'm going to write one on Jamestown.
Keep up your contacts with other Camera (and other newspaper) reporters, as my story won't conflict. You need all the coverage you can get. I will write about the history of Jamestown and the community. About how the school has always been the center of the community, etc. I'll keep you posted on when I'll get it in the paper. Can you tell me if there is a family I could interview (probably just via email) who moved to Jamestown because of the school? Or someone who could have moved elsewhere, but stayed because of the school? Thanks, Silvia Pettem

Sylvia, My name is David Mans. I live in Jamestown and my boy Hayden is a student at the Elementary. Jen called and said that my family might be a canidate for interviewing with you. I went to J-town Elementary almost 30 years ago and have come full circle with my 1st grader there now. Obviously am interested in whatever publicity we can generate on this issue. Please email me @ drmans@qwest.net or give a call, (303)459-0203.

Thanks for your interest and support. David

Question:I have to work on Wed. 2/19 but my husband and son will attend the Jamestown PTO meeting-I am planning to attend the meeting Thursday at Centennial-is that still a good idea? When is the Ned. meeting? Is BVSD serious about busing our kids to Nederland (1Hr) vs. Boulder (30 min). This is really outrageous-I am willing to write letters, emails, phone calls, help draft petitions-tell me what to do and I'll do it. Thanks

Thank You Silvia ! Please read todays article on Jamestown School--http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/features_co...476_1756432,00.html

Edited by author 02-20-2003 03:13 PM
Post PTO Meeting: thanks to all that came last night, that was great. Hopefully we can use this board as the discussion/organization platform it could be, outside of actually meeting of course.

It felt like we covered a good deal of the issues and sentiments last night. It seemed that there was obvious frustration at the lack of hard numbers to go by. Other then that, good points made and hopefully reasonable arguments to carry to meetings and letters.

I spent about 1/2hr talking to Don Orr the Director of Planning, Construction & Engineering @ BVSD. He's also part of the Facilities Committee and at all of the Community Meetings. It was a good visit. He basically encouraged us to continue doing what we were doing. He felt like the key issues he'd heard from us and that were being understood were (in this order) 1. The Community Impact, 2. The quality of the education/experience our kids were getting, 3. The transportation issue, safety and practical concerns of bussing young kids so far. I thought it very encouraging that our fundamental and heartfelt issues were being appreciated.

As far as the Budget/Money side of the picture, he didn't have answers. When I asked whether there was a source for actual brokendown costs for each school, he said they weren't available! So no lack of effort on our part there. He suggested that we address the financial officer tonight at the meeting to see if we can scare up those numbers. He also said that the BVSD has not set any target figures on the amount meant to be saved with this effort. It sounded like, from where they're coming from, they want to get schools closed that don't make long term sense. It's going to be tough to find any community that feels like the closure of their school will make sense.

Bottom Line: make noise. Come to the Facility Meetings, send emails, send letters. Make your argument based on your issues, you won't be wrong. No need to have every opinion in every message, just so long as each one comes from the heart. I hate to be overly optimistic, but I think they're listening.

Very curious too, how Jen's meeting went this morning.

A number of folks have asked to have this list transmitted. I apologize if it seems too much.

School Closure Points/Issues
Attend the meetings to voice dissatisfaction with scenarios A-E and H and I. These are the scenarios that affect mountain schools the small neighborhood Boulder Schools. To read the scenarios in full, go to www.bvsd.k12.co.us and click on “school consolidation scenarios”. Please go to the meetings in a spirit of negotiation. There are financial challenges in this economy, but we can find creative solutions to them without sacrificing our neighborhood schools.

Many of the following points emphasize the importance of smaller schools vs. larger “mega-shcools” in a general sense. The issues pointed out are significant for Jamestown, our other mountain schools, and the small Boulder Schools that many will eventually attend.

1) Much of what is special about Boulder County is preserved and exemplified by its neighborhoods including its small towns. Neighborhoods cannot exist without neighborhood schools – they are the center of each community.
2) Small schools consistently achieve high academic standards. The students that have moved on from Jamestown to larger Boulder Schools have excelled, demonstrating the value of the personal education they receive. If these small schools had program deficits as claimed, they would not be vigorously patronized and supported by families whose children’s education is their first priority. Parents and teachers should be the primary judges of their school’s program adequacy. The number of hours that an arts or P.E. teacher is at a given facility is less important than the access and time each child has with that teacher. Such one-on-one contact is greater in small schools.
3) Neighborhood schools are safe for our children, and allow them to develop confidence and independence by walking or biking in familiar surroundings. They foster children’s knowledge of and connection to community, producing grounded youth that are more knowledgeable about local issues and more civically active. Jamestown Elementary students regularly participate in Town projects/productions. Alternately, School productions and projects are enthusiastically attended by Jamestown residents.
4) Small neighborhood schools have lower incidences of disruption and violence, higher willingness of students to discuss and report such problems, and lower drop-out rates. If we ignore the harder to quantify, but equally powerful, benefits of small schools, then we are not educating our children as much as we are processing them.
5) Proximity increases children’s time at home and parent and local business volunteerism in school. Jamestown parents meet daily at the school when picking up/dropping off kids. Students and parents universally recognize and know one another by name. The accessibility of the Jamestown school to its parents translates into significant parent participation and volunteer hours when the need arises. It reduces transportation costs to the city, and improves air quality. Studies show that transportation costs per student go up as schools become larger.
6) Small downtown schools contribute to the economic health, safety and attractiveness of our downtown neighborhoods, commerce and city center. Local retail sales in a studied town dropped 8% when only one neighborhood school closed. Additionally, the National Trust for Historic preservation has shown that property values often decline as much as 20% when an historic school closes in a neighborhood. This threat is hard to measure for Jamestown where every community resource is essential. There are historic communities and towns throughout the mountains that have either been abandoned or become strictly “bedroom communities” due to a lack of local resources. Jamestown, Gold Hill and Nederland are the most desirable mountain communities in Boulder County due in large part to its schools. The loss of the mountain schools could devastate the heart of these towns.
7) These schools are part of Boulder County’s living history, and the historic buildings are well-utilized. Altering their use would be both expensive and controversial, in fact, evidence suggests that the BVSD may use or sell the Jamestown building only as a school. The additional expense of maintaining them is part of caring for our state’s heritage, and could be offset by applying for preservation monies for landmarked sites.
8) In the last BVSD closing/consolidation, the district lost 100 students whose parents were dissatisfied with the change. That change affected three schools. In scenarios that potentially affect more than triple that number of families, the district stands to lose hundreds of students at over $5,700/year per student. About half the families at Jamestown have committed themselves to home-schooling their children if the school is closed.
9) In most circumstances, when asked, Boulder County has overwhelming supported its schools. According the BVSD own reports, Boulder County has “generously approved override funding for their district”. We must infer from this support that our citizens support the current system of smaller neighborhood schools.
10) The Facilities Committee and School Board must provide and consider alternative means of reducing expenses. All of the scenarios suggested focus exclusively on the closure of schools, the most disruptive option available. There are other options.

Where to send letters: If you email David Mans: drmans@qwest.net I’ll send you an email with all these addresses and other links for info. Below are the key players.

All Snail Mail may be sent to each individual at:
BVSD Attn: “board member” 6500 Arapahoe, Boulder, CO 80303

District A
Bill De La Cruz
bill.delacruz@bvsd.k12.co.us
voice-mail: 303.245.5815
fax: 303.402.0760

District B
Julie Phillips
julie.phillips@bvsd.k12.co.us
voice-mail: 303.245.5814
fax: 303.449.7783

District C
Angelika Schroeder
angelika.schroeder@bvsd.k12.co.us
voice-mail: 303.245.5817
fax: 303.494.1594

District D
Janusz Okolowicz
No e-mail address
voice-mail: 303.245.5813
fax: 303.449.5239*51

Also Important are any of the Boulder City Council. They have resources and influence. They have even offered to use an “Education Excise Tax” to assist BVSD. So far don't know a lot about this argument but there is something to it.

Mayor: William R. Toor toorw@ci.boulder.co.us
Mark Ruzzin ruzzinm@ci.boulder.co.us
Dan Corson corsond@ci.boulder.co.us
 BVSD Superintendent
Dr. George García
superintendent@bvsd.k12.co.us
phone: 303.447.5114
fax: 303.447.5134

District E
Stan Garnett
sgarnett@BHF-Law.com
voice-mail: 303.499.6864
fax: 303.223.1111

District F
Jean Paxton
jean.paxton@bvsd.k12.co.us
voice-mail: 303.245.5818
fax: 303.438.8572

District G
Teresa Steele
teresa.steele@bvsd.k12.co.us
voice-mail: 303.245.5819
fax: 303.665.2847


(More Boulder City Council)
Spenser Havlick havlicks@ci.boulder.co.us
Don Mock mockd@ci.boulder.co.us
Lisa Morzel morzell@ci.boulder.co.us
Francoise Poinsatte poinsattef@ci.boulder.co.us
Gordon Riggle riggleg@ci.boulder.co.us

The article written by Bernie Morson from the Rocky Mountain News was in Friday's paper:

Backers plead for schools
Parents, educators, students speak out against closure plan

By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News
February 21, 2003

BOULDER - Parents, teachers - even the kids - pleaded with school district officials Thursday not to close their schools.

"I don't know anyone who hates our school or anyone who wants to leave," said Emma Martens, a seventh-grader at Base Line Middle School.

Martens was among several hundred people who packed the gymnasium at Centennial Middle School to speak against proposals to close up to six schools to cut costs.

The closures are included in 10 "scenarios" devised by the district's facilities committee, composed of school administrators and residents. The panel selected small schools that administrators say are not cost-effective.

Included are some of the oldest schools in the state, dating back to the late 19th century.

The residents who spoke Thursday disputed the amount that could be saved through closure, as well as the wisdom of shutting facilities that are mainstays of their neighborhoods.

"Smaller is better," said Gretchen Lang, the parent of two Mapleton Elementary school students. Small schools foster parent participation, she said.

Busing Mapleton's 128 children to other schools won't save much money and will contribute to traffic problems, Lang said.

One scenario calls for closure of Whittier Elementary School, the oldest school in the state operating continuously in the same building. It was built in 1882.

Also on the list are Washington Elementary School, constructed in 1904, and schools in the mountain communities of Gold Hill and Jamestown. The mountain schools also date to the late 19th century.

Burbank Middle School could close under one scenario, or it could get the students who now attend Base Line, which would become an alternative high school.

The most vehement opposition came from the mountain communities. Those children would be bused to Boulder or Nederland on twisting dirt roads.

"It's too dangerous for buses," said Kevin Tone of Gold Hill.

Dedra Buckley of Jamestown said a kindergartner would have to spend more than two hours on the bus to attend a three-hour program.

"How many of you would ever do that to a child?" she asked.

The comments were directed to the facilities committee. But several board of education members - who will make the final decision - listened from the back of the room. They were noncommittal.

"Something will happen," board member Julie Phillips said of the closures. "I'd be very surprised if it all happened."





morsonb@RockymountainNews.com or (303) 892-5072

Was this really the extent of the article? There's got to be more to it! Do you have a link to it? I'm wondering whether it was just a lead or something for the real thing.

Anyway. Great showing on Thursday, by the way. I think we rocked 'em. Certainly confirmed that well spoken, from the heart comments were the most effective. Seem to have had a good reaction to our work so far.

Going to try and enlist the help or support of some local politicians. We'll certainly need to have all the folks we can at the Ned meeting. How about a carpool plan? Also thinking that maybe a visit to the PI, or NedMex afterward might be in order.

I found that article while looking around on www.rockymountainnews.com Didn't see anything else besides that.

We can take some folks to Ned. in our car Wed., but we may pass on the extracurricular activities if we have Max with us (and we probably will), since it'll be a school night.

My meeting with Dr. Williams this morning felt productive. She did not have a budget that she could give. Which was unfortunate.
However, she believes our school will not be closed because of the busing issue. This she mentioned a couple of times. This felt
positive and relieving. Thank you everyone for your support!
Smiles,
Jen O'Brien

Tricia, that is the plan.

Sather


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| | 02/19/2003 10:25 AM |
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  >---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | To: Sather P Flynn/Boulder/IBM@IBMUS | | cc: | | Subject: Jamestown Elementary | >---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|



< replied-to message removed by QT >

Thanks to David and Emma for organizing the meeting last night and to Jen and Kael, Laura and all the school folks who have to attend the eternal meetings and hear the spin from all sides. I hope you all know how much you are appreciated. Thanks for summarizing the pertinent issues/concerns. It will make individiual/personal letter writing a lot easier. See y'all tonight.Thanks again
Tricia Meyer

Hi everyone,I can watch kids on Wednesday evening so parents can go to the meeting. We live a couple miles off the Peak to Peak. It takes about 20 mins from Jamestown to get to our house and about 30 mins to get to Nederland from our house. You will need a 4 wheel drive to get in and out of our road.I can supply macaroni and cheese for dinner, a movie for the kids along with some pop corn. All I ask is not to leave them to late as Ben can get grumpy in the morning if he is up tp late. And it is a school night. Maybe if there are to many kids Gregg will even want to go to the meeting. let me know so I can plan. Thanks for everyone working so hard on keeping the school alive. Heidi

Thanks, Heidi.....we may take you up on that...we'll let you know (How late is too late?... can you give us a time frame?)
As I mentioned before, we can take people in our car...just let us know.

Edited by author 02-24-2003 02:06 PM
Somehow there had been word that there would be child care at the High School also. Does anyone know about that rumor?

Lot of mostly good press everday. It's great to have so much exposure out there. Still haven't seen anything more substantial from Bernie & the Rocky Mtn News.

Here's the online version of the RM News article. For those that have seen the print version, I wonder if this is the whole enchilada? Lot of work for comparatively few words. Sounds good though. Here's the link:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/educ...957_1766305,00.html

You can drop the kids off at 5:30 and maybe pick them up no later than 10:00 ? Hopefully they would all be passed out by then. Supply us with toothbrushes and PJs.Heidi

Hi all,

Might I hitch a ride from someone to the school meeting in Ned Wednesday? Can meet you at Merc, your place, my place, on the county road near my place (towards Jimtown from the Bar K), whatever. Would prefer to stay for dinner afterwards, but can likely sort that out once I get there. Thanks!

(And don't worry. I've got my speech down well under half an hour so far.... )

Glenn Short
Crystalline Acoustics LLC
PO Box 346
302 Bramer Road
Jamestown, CO 80455-0346
(303) 459-0120
GlennShort@AOL.com

Hey all,

A few things:

1) I have heard rumor that there will be childcare available at the Ned Meeting tomorrow night.
2) I think it would prove to be highly valuable to have our kids present and perhaps speak at the meeting. Please speak to your children about the importance of the meeting and bring them if possible.
3) I spoke with Mr. George Johnson who is on the Facilities Planning Committee and he recommended that we focus on three points: the bussing issue, the fact that many of us will pull our kids out of BVSD and homeschool, and lastly the fact that it is rumored that Jamestown School and Gold Hill were given to BVSD with a promise from BVSD to keep the schools open.
4) Please email bounds@dailycamera.com (Amy Bounds, Journalist for Daily Camera) and request her presence at the Ned meeting. I think we will really need some good media coverage present to drive our points home to the Boulder Community and school board. Again, Mr. Johnson provided me with her email.
5) Pick two topics that are most important to you to speak on at the meeting. Be clear, concise and have numbers ready to back up your claims. Unfortuantely, dollars talk.

See you all there. Feel free to call me at home to discuss strategies for the meeting. 303.459.3550

-Asa





>From: QT - Heidi Kummli <qtopic+19-uHNSjCkMkVh7@quicktopic.com>
>Reply-To: QT topic <qtopic+19-uHNSjCkMkVh7@quicktopic.com>
>To: soulevolution@hotmail.com
>Subject: Jamestown Elementary
>Date: 24 Feb 2003 18:06:37 -0000
>


_________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
< replied-to message removed by QT >

Good Evening...
I emailed our State Representative Tom Plant (former Jamestown resident as you may know) and asked him for advice on our meeting in Nederland (thats where Tom lives now so maybe he will be attending this meeting)I copied that email below and also have included a quote from him and a link to his webpage. See you all in Ned !

Quote from Representative Tom Plants webpage:

The greatest legacy we can pass on is an educated
generation. I am committed to a strong, vibrant, challenging and rewarding educational system in Colorado.
Based on interviews I have conducted with several area educators, parents and administrators, I have identified several areas we need to address at once in order to improve our public school system:go to the website here:

http://www.tomplant.org/education.html

Copy of email:

Hi Tom,
As you probably know the fate of small schools in Boulder County is at risk and Jamestown Elementary is one of the targeted schools that may be closed. There is an important meeting in Ned tomorrow night (Wed) at the High School at 6:00 PM. Many Jamestown residents will be there and I was wondering if you had any additional advise to give our speakers, (all of whom have become very persuasive speakers due to this issue) or if you would be there. We have a Jamestown School Bulletin Board set up which I invite you to subscribe to and reply to this message at this web address --->

http://www.quicktopic.com/19/H/uHNSjCkMkVh7/
 
Thanks for any help with this issue,
Sal DeVincenzo

I spoke to our representative, State Senator Joan Fitz-Gerald. She told me that she was very concerned about the proposed school closings and that she spoke to board member Stan Garnett. He told her that he doesn't think there's the political will on the board to close the mountain schools.

While that statement is hopeful, I don't suggest doing anything differently, nor did Joan. I invited her on short notice to Nederland to hear for herself what people have to say but she has another commitment.

Hello everybody.

I will be there tonight. I am going primarily to listen to your thoughts and hear how the board responds, but I would like to meet with you to discuss the options that are available to the Jamestown and Gold Hill communities if the board should close the two schools. It seems like closure is neither in the best interests of the parents nor the students. Nor the school district for that matter.

Thanks for contacting me.

Sincerely,
Tom Plant
State Representative
House District 13

On the home front... I was supposed to have attended a meeting on Thursday with about 6 other school reps at the Capitol with a number of our State Representatives, including Tom Plant. Unfortunately it was postponed due to the illness of a couple of the Reps. I have been meeting with a group that's heading up an effort called Save Our Schools. Not too original a name but a great group. There's about 20 folks that have participated and are trying to keep up the energy that started with the Community Meetings. It seems like a good bunch with a lot of great ideas and energy. I'll keep you posted on any developments that we could make use of.

Meanwhile, we need to keep the pressure on it would seem. Letters, emails, any media attention. Good for us so far on the effort.

There is a gentleman named Parker Fowler who seems to be an expert on Charter schools. He would be willing to come to our community and Gold Hill on a Monday or Tuesday evening to educate us on the process and definitions of what a charter school is all about. Anyone interested? BTW, did we set a time for our next PTO Meeting? If so, when is it? I feel it's time to regroup and discuss our next set of options.

_________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.
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I am VERY interested in a possible charter school option. I have alot of information - a handbook on starting a charter school, financial info, grant info, etc. I can give it to anyone else interested on CD-Rom or floppy. Just let me know. monrovia_74@msn.com or 303-417-1834.

Though I think it prudent to explore all options and possibilities, my thoughts about a charter school are:

1. I've "heard" that they are a tremendous amount of work (which may or may not be an issue)
2. I'm assuming we would lose Jen because of her tenure with BVSD (Jen?)...and what about Kael? In my opinion, the school is what it is mainly because of these two women.
3. I don't think we're going to have to resort to that. I think the school will remain open.

I don't think we would have to lose anybody on staff because a charter school is still part of the BVSD school district. The difference is more autonomy, more control over our own budget, and more work. I don't think we'll be closed now, but chances are BVSD will always look to closing mtn. schools whenever there are budget problems. I think of a charter school as one possible preventative measure...maybe.

Hello All, so to keep on track with the school closure deal, there's a rally at the School Board Meeting tomorrow. It would be great to get some folks down there. I've signed up to speak at the public forum in the beginning. It certainly seems that turning our focus toward the School Board will be important at this point. I think there's some newer info about the District Budget on their website but I haven't had a chance to have a look yet, anyone else?

Check out this website organized by some folks in Boulder. They're getting quite a bit of info posted, including a notice about tomorrow's meeting.

www.sosbouldervalley.org


Here's the message from one of the organizers of the Rally tomorrow:

Calling all who's down in whoville!

Just a friendly reminder to COME TO THE SOS RALLY TOMORROW and invited all you know to join us! At the very least it should be alot of fun! Don't forget your cameras, kazoos, drums, and most important SIGNS, BANNERS AND POSTERS! Not sure if there is still room to speak to the board but call the secretary at 303-447-5114 if you are moved to do so.

TUESDAY, MARCH 11TH, 5PM-6PM AT 6500 E ARAPAHOE AVE, HERE IN BOULDER! IT WILL ONLY TAKE AN HOUR OF YOUR TIME, BUT COULD CHANGE THE LIVES OF THOUSANDS OF KIDS!

NO SCHOOL TODAY !

A classic Jamestown fundraiser to benefit Tom Rabbitt is planned for Sunday April 6 (tomorrow) from 2-6 PM at the Town Hall. Food, Music & Refreshments will be provided.
Tom Rabbitt is facing serious health problems from cancer. Suggested cash donations are $20 for adults and $5 for children. You may also donate baked goods or a service for the raffle-bake sale. Additional information available from robert.hastings@earthlink.net Tom is a good friend and master sculptor and painter whose work has been shown in numerous galleries and private collections. To see some of his art work visit http://www.wordcrafters.biz/rabbitt/art.html
Hope you can help make this event a huge success !

I will be out of the office starting April 2, 2003 and will not return until April 7, 2003.

For urgent matters please contact Mark Vitanza at 8/855-1016

A late reminder of the PTO Meeting tonight. It's a potluck at 5:30. See you there!

There's also another School Board Meeting down at the Board's Meeting room on Arapahoe, tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6PM. I found the meeting a few weeks ago very interesting, it's nice to hear the Board speak for a change. If anyone wants to go down from here let me know, I might be into carpooling.

David Mans

Apologize for the following long message but we've not got long to go before the school closure issue is resolved for this season and I think that there's still work to do.

There is some feeling that Jamestown and Gold Hill are sitting fairly well at this stage. I'd like to think so also but after hearing some specific comments at the Board Meeting last night, I don't think our work is done. There is a good chance that there will be closures, which will effect us regardless. We need to make a strong stand to be certain Jamestown's not on the list.

My feeling is that we can finally learn where individual Board Members stand and try and focus a final campaign with individual members. If anyone can attend the Working Session it's tomorrow April 10th at 5:30 PM at the Education Center, 6500 E. Arapahoe Ave. I think if we can get someone to go and take notes on where these guys are specifically it will be a big help. At this point Sather is going to go and I'm going to try and make it but any and all ears will be useful.

Will continue in another message, David

So I'm going to try and summarize the notes I took on where the Board stands right now. Everyone should also check out the Save Our Schools website it's really great and has a lot of info. The following link is to the page that also summarizes the Board Members positions:
  http://www.sosbouldervalley.org/NOTESBVSDBOARDMEET20030401.htm

Here's basically what I took away last night specifically about the mountain schools. Remember, I'm only learning these folks' names, I don't claim to know what they are thinking. The following members seem basically sympathetic to the Mountain Schools:

Bill De La Cruz: Wants to know the goals. Wants analysis from prior consolidations and whether we've solved any problems with those consolidations voting for more. Feels that there's got to be a way to integrate the ideas from the community into the solution. Generally feels like he's not willing to vote for (any?) closures at this time, wants a more thorough assesment and plan.

Teresa Steele: She said that "we need to split out the Mountain Schools, I'm sorry that they have to be dragged into this." Obviously encouraging. She's pro neighborhood schools and doesn't want to split up the children populations or groups.

Stan Garnett: Very much wants to vote on the 22nd, doesn't want to postpone this. Appearently said at a previous meeting, “I don’t support the mountain scenarios”. He said something along these lines last night but I don't have it written down. He wants more concrete recommendations from the staff.

Janusz Okolowicz: Sounds like he's going to vote for some closings, feels that this is a necessity. However, he's after "bang for the buck" and doesn't want to wast time on things that won't pay. About Mountain Schools he says he's willing to listen but don't think they're worth spending time on. But again: “everybody knows we have to close some buildings” “[small schools] don’t have comprehensive programs”.

Julie Phillips: Not sure where she's at. Had a very interesting comment which we need to understand. She said that she feels that Gold Hill and Jamestown are not the same issue and wishes to debate them seperately. So far do not understand this reference. Expressed strong support and concern for neighborhood schools, central Boulder schools, and impact on neighborhoods and community. Seems to be paying attention to the concerns.

Definately need persuasion:
Jean Paxton: Sounds very committed to some closures. Still has a lot of questions. Feels like they've got to clean up the "feeder systems", appearently streamline and make more obvious the school order as in this elementary to this middle to this high school(?). Also believes in Admin reform.

Angelika Schroeder: Going for the closures. Feels like Jamestown and Gold Hill are draining open-enrollment kids from Nederland. Will be the most healthy thing to get them back in their district and to Nederland. Feels like they're just extending the pain if they don't close all these schools, it's inevitable down the road. Points out how 7 of 14 kids in Jamestown's Boundries open-enrolling out. (Anyone know the details of this?) Not sure how much persuasion it will take but still worth the effort?

That's the story. I feel like we need to stay on it although I think we're in pretty good shape. If we can get a little more confirmation from the meeting tomorrow on where everyon's at and then address comments to them directly it can only help. Let's not forget to include the other affected schools, they're seriously concerned and have been wonderful in including us in all their efforts.

LET'S KEEP IT UP!!! David Mans

Bad news folks. We've gone from a fairly reasonable hope that we were OK with the Board on Tuesday to a Staff recommendation of Closing Jamestown and the general agreement on the part of the Board tonight. In other words, we've got a lot of work to do in the next few days if we want to keep our school. Stark, depressing and not very encouraging but there we are.

I've got a number of things that I think we need to research. Whoever can help and get some figures together please step up. We need everyone's help. Letters will still be useful but we need to focus our attentions in a big way.

Hate to be on the pessimistic side of things but we're on the verge of losing our community as we know it. Let's beat this or at least go down kicking and screaming.

In the effort to keep our school, we're trying to get all our info together with the hopes of meeting with members of the Board and persuading them with our reality.

First we need to get reponses from currently enrolled families on what it is they feel they would do if they had to find an alternative for next year. If everyone could weigh in with where they would likely end up. Choices would be: 1)Home School, 2)Private, 3)Charter(if seats are available), 4)Moving, 5)Stay with BVSD. I'm going to put together a tally, something that we can use to create a dollar loss to the District.

Second, we need to get together a list of up and coming kids, one that will be using the school in the next years. We also need the same info for these folks, what will they be considering if the School Closes.

Other than that, we need ideas for creating some dramatic attention. None of us feels that it's time yet for the "hate mail" although we do only have a few days. There seems to be a realistic concern that the Board might decide to hurry up the vote and do it Tuesday. EVERYONE needs to weigh in on this, today.

Thank You,

We would home school, or move.




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The Meyer family would home school or private school-does anyone know the status on the use of school vouchers-are they available yet? This would be a big way that BVSD would lose revenue if they close our school.
What time is the meeting on the 15th and are community members allowed to attend that meeting and provide input? I would think it is crucial for many of us to be there. Has the board or any members of the board come to Jamestown since this debate started? Are they willing to explore other cost saving methods vs. closure? Thanks for keeping us posted. The
Meyers:mwmtgm@aol.com

Thanks for the response. Don't know anything about the voucher idea. Can you look into that Tisha and get back?

There is a 6PM meeting on Tuesday. Here is the BVSD description: "April 15, 2003 - Tentative Special Board Meeting - 6 p.m. - Space in the board room is reserved for those who wish to address the board. Overflow seating with a live video feed will be in Conference Room 1, 2 and the Library Conference Room. This meeting WILL NOT be televised live in any of our communities. However, a taped rebroadcast will be shown on Boulder's Channel 8, Friday night at 6 p.m., and Saturday at 12 noon. The meeting will also be rebroadcast in Broomfield, Thursday night at 7 p.m." So we should have attendance. To address the Board call the secretary soon at 303-447-5114 to schedule it. I've done it twice, it would be great to get some other folks signing up. It would also be good to get as many people there as we can although I don't know how increased visibility there will help but can't hurt.

Also there is a rally being organized by SOS on Monday: "At the close of the school day on Monday, April 14th, students, parents, teachers and neighborhood residents plan to "stand out" in front of several highly visible public schools currently targeted for closure. SOSBV invites all other public schools in the District to participate in solidarity. "A big piece of our current dilemma is the size and fragmentation of our district," say Ms. Lang, a writer, former teacher and school administrator with two children in BVSD. "SOSBV is working to establish an inclusive communication system between schools, and a voice for the school communities in local leadership and legislature."

Let's stay on it.

Anyone know any attorney's that might be able to lend a hand on this School effort? It might be nice to have one in the wings.

We cannot count on having until the 22nd to present our arguments, word is they're leaning towards voting on the 15th, Tuesday.

David,
Regarding the rally, I would be willing to help the children make signs Monday morning. We could, if we had parent drivers, drive down to Boulder and join Mapleton. I would need permission slips signed beforehand. It might be good publicity to see a large crowd from Jamestown.
-Jen

  |be: 1)Home School, 2)Private, 3)Charter(if seats are
  |available), 4)Moving, 5)Stay with BVSD.

We don't know. (By the way, why did they bother having open enrollment for schools they might close???) BVSD says they will do another open enrollment, but I wonder how many seats will be left -- seems like we would get the last choice for BVSD schools.

We wouldn't be home-schooling. It's too late to get into any private schools, I would guess. We're not moving. We don't want have Odelia (and then Henry) to go to Nederland every day (too much time on the bus, too great a distance to drive -- Bar-K -- Ned -- Boulder -- Ned -- Bar K for me). We would support an effort to do a charter in Jamestown (still a possibility?). If that were not to happen, we would stay in BVSD, trying to find a place in one of the Boulder elementary schools.

  |Second, we need to get together a list of up and coming
  |kids, one that will be using the school in the next

We have Henry coming to kindergarten age in the 2004-2005 school year.

  |Other than that, we need ideas for creating some
  |dramatic attention.

How about inviting BVSD Board members to take the Jamestown -- Ned bus ride, back and forth, and lecture them about how little time our children would spend at home after that commute.

Joe Ryan

An important bill is soon to become state law in Colorado supporting school
voucher programs. This may or may not be an option to look into on the Jamestown school situation-- but might be worthwhile taking a look at...

While the voucher program is designed to benefit low household income children (who might face an undesirable schooling situation due to their neighborhood or poor), it might be worthwhile looking into legal justification and application of this from the standpoint of the
undesirable impact/situation for the school kids in Jamestown. Gov. Owens has pushed for this to provide " access to a quality education for every child". I don't think a 45 minute mountain-road bus ride from Bar-K to
Crestview or Ned, constitutes "access". Last June, the Supreme Court ruled that school voucher programs are
constitutional if they provide parents a choice among a range of religious and secular schools. The court endorsed a pilot program in Cleveland under which parents may use a tax-supported education stipend to move their kids out one of the nation's worst-rated public school systems.
If the voucher amounts per student for all the Jamestown students were applied together, it might be enough annually, to run a small private school for 20 or so students [perhaps, where it is right now].Additionally, the aggregated voucher stipend $$ amount could be enough
leverage to offset any cost savings Boulder County Schools would achieve (i.e. funding NOT going back into their operating budget) to put their school-closing plans for Jamestown into moth balls for a while...
Just a thought...
All the best,
Mark Anton

Hey all. Good Rally. At least you can make some noise huh?!

We should keep sending the emails to the Board. I still think they are reading them especially if they have a good subject and are relatively to the point and not too involved. At this point I don't think they've got a lot of extra time to carefully a pile of long messages but they do seem to being paying attention.

Our strongest card right now is that we have 26 students enrolled for next year. They discussed at length on Thursday that the target for an efficient school is an enrollement of 21 or better. We've got the 26 with 24 if you adjust for Kinders=1/2. So make sure to make that point at the least.

I'm wondering if anyone's signed up to speak tomorrow at the School Board Meeting? At this point I'm not sure what slots we're going to have to speak and I think this might be key. Any one who even vaguely might speak at the meeting on the 22nd should call and sign up. It's more important to get on the list then not, we can always trade minutes. If anyone is signed up for tomorrow, get a hold of me at (303)459-0203 or drmans@qwest.net

Otherwise, let's stay on it and beat this rap.

David Mans

We asked a lawyer friend about two issues, (1) the poor timing of this process (i.e., after open enrollment, with no time consider other options after the decision would be made) and (2) the distance of the bussing. The friend referred us to a Boulder lawyer familiar with school issues, and she did not want to get involved in any way since she works in Boulder, but she gave us a list of school issue lawyers in Denver. Martha called them all today.

The only lawyer she got on the first set of calls is actually a lawyer working for BVSD! "Off the record," he said that a case could be made that the poor timing damages the childrens' education by limiting choice and that there is precedent for suing school districts over lengthy and potentially hazardous bussing.

Another lawyer returned Martha's call later today and said basically the same thing. He is interested in working with small communities and interested in working on the case. He even gave some rates for a group of plaintiffs (not cheap...). The first step, he said, would be to wait to see if BVSD votes to close the school. If that happens, he'd come up to Jamestown and talk to the affected families.

Edited by author 04-15-2003 01:09 AM
HAVE YOU SENT YOUR EMAIL TO THE SCHOOL BOARD?

Clock's a tickin'. I hope that most folks have managed to send at least one email. This is key, they are reading them and we don't have much time left to persuade the Board. Do this now if you can. Here are the Board's email addresses: (teresa.steele@bvsd.k12.co.us); (bill.delacruz@bvsd.k12.co.us); (sgarnett@BHF-Law.com); (jean.paxton@bvsd.k12.co.us); (julie.phillips@bvsd.k12.co.us); (angelika.schroeder@bvsd.k12.co.us)

If you need some motivation or ideas, here are snipits from a couple of letters. And remember that Julie and Teresa have expressed their support and all of them have had lots of mail:

"We are writing to express our strong support for keeping the Jamestown school open. We are new homeowners and were attracted to Jamestown by the unique and community-based school for our child (now 2 years old) in the years to come. The Jamestown school serves as a lifeline for the community and provides quality education. Kids are not merely students at the Jamestown Elementary School, but are members of the community and do not 'fall through the cracks' as children are more likely to do in larger contexts.

The proposed alternative proposed by the BVSD Staff is unacceptable. Alternate full days for kindergardners would be extremely taxing for children that age. The amount of time on buses would diminish opportunities for our children to participate in extra curricular activities. We urge you not to close a school that has been an educational success since its inception.

We recognize the School District's need to cut costs and to make schools more efficient. However, Jamestown School currently has over 26 confirmed students enrolled for next year. This number far surpasses the stated goal by Board Members of having over 20 students for school efficiency. Regardless, it is far more acceptable to look at 3-5 year enrollment averages for the Jamestown school.

We are dedicated to the Jamestown School and are willing to would work with you to cut our budget and find ways to assist in any way other than the closing of our school.

We respectfully urge you to consider the impact of closing the school on the community and to the kids in and around Jamestown." OR ANOTHER:

"As of today, Jamestown has a confirmed 26 students for 2003-2004, well above your target efficiency number of 21 suggested, discussed and agreed upon last Thursday. We have spoken to a number of the Board Members who have been surprised and persuaded by this current number. It is unfortunate, first, that a brief effort on the part of the Staff finally established such a number and second, that they were working with figures that were inaccurate. We feel that this has been cleared up and Jamestown should be comfortably within the target enrollment (our adjusted enrollment with 4 incoming Kindergartners is 24).

With regard to Cost Savings, we would also question how the district plans on accommodating the Upper Left Hand kids who would be bussed to Nederland? Any additional bus route would certainly negate a large amount of projected savings. Furthermore, your transportation coordinator, Bob Young, anticipates a $7,000 increase in bussing costs just to get Jamestown Attendance area kids to the Crestview option. That comes right of the top of the savings number. With regard to other small but significant $ savings, we have had volunteers step up to offer services for maintenance, custodial, or other positions. We are aware that there are issues here but we’ll help to work them out. And when discussing your potential savings, there are 7 kids dedicated to home schooling that have been before, plus at least 3 that promise to, in the next year alone! That’s 10 kids or $58,000 off the top lost to Home Schooling!

In looking at the whole picture a decision on the most recent Staff suggestions seems difficult to justify. BVSD has directed an investigation into Closure Scenarios for nearly two years. A huge, involved and time consuming Public Meeting process was conducted. Considerations were presented to the Board by the Facilities Committee. One week ago the “Staff” was asked for recommendations. All the work of the Facilities Committee and Public Meetings seems to have been largely disregarded in a single day when the staff changed the Mountain Scenario (Jamestown to Crestview, changing the Nederland boundaries) and made a recommendation that is difficult to surmise from the Facility Considerations. The Board then basically accepted or leaned toward accepting these recommendations. It feels that the process is incomplete. It seems that Mr. De La Cruz’s suggestion to hold off and study both the results of prior closings (have they worked?) and study ALL the options when considering further cuts would be the most prudent course.

At the least a Closure cannot occur for this coming year. In the first place, we have the enrollment numbers to justify our staying open and the numbers look good for the next few years. You have a growing number of young families in our area plus a very dedicated citizen population. Further, to make a decision for the following year would put our Children at a distinct disadvantage in their options for next year. Despite a promise of holding OE seats, a call to Whittier on Friday resulted in the instruction that any OE students coming from the Closure Schools would be put at the top of the waiting lists. Certainly the options for our Kids enrolled in Jamestown (Mapeleton, Washington?) would be limited compared to those with OE options from months ago. Also we would have no opportunity to come up with alternatives with regard to keeping the school an Elementary. We have a lot of folks dedicated to keeping an Elementary in Jamestown who will be exploring various options such as Charter, Private, or a recently debated (approved?) State Voucher system. There is no way that we can respond to a closure in a few months and come up with a viable Elementary Option.

There has been some concern expressed about the OE circumstance contributing to a disruption of an efficient feeder system. From a quick poll and assessment over the weekend we feel that a detailed investigation would show that the children from Jamestown end up in numerous Middle and High Schools after Jamestown including Nederland, Centennial and others.

We need to agree on some sort of reasonable assessment process before any school is entered in another round of Closure Threats. Enrollments should be based on a “rolling 5-year average” or something like it. A target may be set and monitored over a period of time to determine enrollments. Tangible data should be used when exploring the Attendance Area population thus enrollment trends and futures.

Bottom line, this is too important a decision to A) Rush into, B) Base on mis-information. Please consider all the facts (derived from the most thorough research possible) when making you decision in the week to come. Our small schools work, they are effective, efficient and much loved places to grow, learn and thrive. The goal of our school system should be to educate as well as possible, not simply process our children."

Thank you David for your incredible support for the school.

Photos from yesterdays rally at Mapleton can be seen here

http://www.bar-k-ranch.com/School_Rally/index.htm

If anyone has a contact to send photos to the Daily Camera please let me know. sdv@qwest.net

JAMESTOWN SCHOOL WINS 4-3 VOTE AND WILL REMAIN OPEN !
TRY THIS LINK-
http://www.thedailycamera.com/bdc/schools/...488_1892579,00.html

IF OTHER LINK DOES NOT WORK THIS ONE SHOULD
http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/local_news/

Just in case you felt like doing a little reading up on how Tucson felt about our Superintendant, George F. Garcia...

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/1999-12-16/skinny.html
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/1999-11-25/skinny.html
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/03-11-99/curr2.htm

I'm sure there are more, but surf's out for my day.

Hey, thinking ahead, do you think we can get the subdivisions up here -- Bar-K, etc. -- which have Ward street addresses "re-districted" so that the default school is Jamestown and not Nederland? Are Raymond and Riverside in the Jamestown district?

Hey All! Good for Jamestown, a bunch of good news on Tuesday. Schools Open, Roads Closed. Whew, what a session. Let's not forget though that the work's not over. When this current slaying is over we need to regroup and get with the School Board to put together a real program. I think that we need to pin them down contractually to a real and reasonable standard for Jamestown and Gold Hill. Somehow we've got to get some security for our future so we can keep kids involved and commited to the school.

I also think that we need to start really promoting our school. Not hire some New York Publicity firm, just talk it up, maybe get a package together to get out to prospective families. We've got a lot to offer, they need to hear about it.

Joe, as far as the Attendance area I do think we need to try and revisit that. Bar-K used to be in the Jamestown area but it was changed to ensure that the then new Nederland Elementary would have enough kids. I think we should have a look at it though.

Interesting links Dedra. "King George" wasn't overly popular in Tuscon. Sounds like he got run off for consistently making sure he was paid while teachers and others went without. Hmmm.

Let's not forget to email the board with thank you's, to those that voted for us anyway. And remember that Mapleton and now Whittier are still on the table for closure Tuesday. Send letters if you can, it'll all help and they sure helped us.

Those that voted for us: Teresa Steele, Stan Garnett, Bill De La Cruz and Julie Phillips: bill.delacruz@bvsd.k12.co.us; julie.phillips@bvsd.k12.co.us; teresa.steele@bvsd.k12.co.us; sgarnett@BHF-Law.com

Disturbing News. Our dear friend and neighbor Phil Arter passed away last night. No other details at this point but it seems he had an asthma attack. I will try to find out more and pass along any additional information. Sal

PHIL ARTER
FUNERAL SERVICE
Thursday, April 24th 1:30 pm
St. Andrews Presbyterian Church
3700 Baseline, Boulder

FOR SALE

NIKON CP 5000 5 MEGA PIXEL DIGITAL CAMERA PACKAGE DEAL
TONS OF ACCESSORIES (BATTERIES, MEDIA CARDS, LENSES, HARD CASE, ETC.)OVER $2000.00 INVESTED, LISTED ON EBAY NOW FOR $1200,00 -WILL SELL EVERYTHING FOR $1099.00
INTERESTED ?
CONTACT ME 303-459-3359 OR sdv@qwest.net

FOR SALE

SEXY,RED MAZDA MIATA CONVERTIBLE .
PERFECT FOR YOUR MID-LIFE CRISIS! (WORKED FOR ME)
1 OWNER/HARD TOP/SOFT TOP/COVER/AIR BAG/AC/PS/CD
PLAYER/NEW ENGINE/NEW CLUTCH.
MINT CONDITION INSIDE AND OUT AND FRONT TO BACK !
ABSOLUTE DELIGHT TO DRIVE UP THE CANYON
$5495.00 BUT I WILL HAGGLE SOME.
STOP BY THE HOUSE FOR A TEST DRIVE.
OR CONTACT ME 303-459-3359 OR sdv@qwest.net

I will be out of the office starting August 1, 2003 and will not return until August 11, 2003.

For urgent matters please contact Randy Willis 8/379-9939

Does anyone have a dog bark control collar we can borrow to see if it works on Lady ?
Please call if you do.
303-459-3359
Sal

Collen Williams may have one.


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