Tension was high in the Jefferson County boardroom Feb. 9 as the prepared for what would end up being a seven-hour meeting. With five of the districtap elementary schools being considered for closure, the building flooded with students, parents and staff from the schools in question. So many people signed up for public comment that an additional 90 minutes was dedicated to that segment of the meeting with speakers limited to 60 seconds at the podium for individuals and three minutes for groups.
Large crowds of students and parents wore matching T-shirts to represent the schools they stood for — in blue tie-dye andin purple. But most overwhelming was the number of attendees in black T-shirts with “We’ve got your back” printed in yellow on the back — advocates for Wheat Ridge High School’s .
The meeting kept attendees at the boardroom until well after midnight, but the time spent was worth it after the board ultimately agreed to and continue funding the GT center with district dollars for the next school year.
The board, wanting to reallocate district funding, had stated in January that the gifted and talented center would no longer be supported by district funding. Superintendent Dan McMinimee said the program needed to move to student-based budgeting — allocating dollars to schools based on the number of enrolled students — like many of the other programs in the district.
“What we proposed is that now that the program is successful, Wheat Ridge High School, by virtue of having those kids come to their school, can pay for that program with student-based budgeting,” he said. But according to the nearly 170 students and parents who showed up at the board meeting, his suggestion was more of a problem than a solution.
Tom Coyne, co-chair on the Accountability Committee at Wheat Ridge, told the board there wouldn’t be enough student-based budgeting dollars to include the GT center in its funding.
“At Wheat Ridge High School, over 50 percent of our students are eligible for free and reduced lunch,” he said. “Among our incoming freshman, about 25 percent are reading at between a seventh- and fifth-grade level, and about 25 percent at fourth-grade level or less.”
Coyne said that as a result, a significant amount of the student-based budgeting funds have to be used to support the needs of these students — including remedial literacy specialists and social workers.
Parents’ and students’ concerns included the possible termination of the program’s co-facilitators Elliot Holm and Lisa Lee.
“Getting rid of both of them is the same as ending the program all together,” said Connor Horsman, a junior GT student, standing at the podium. “And in ending the program, you end the education and the futures of over 150 students.”
Horsman was just one of 30 students who spoke to the board. Each of them passionately shared their story and many of them claimed the GT program had “saved their life.”
Lee, who introduced herself at the meeting as “Mama Lee” and referred to her students affectionately as “her people,” explained the GT center as an autonomous learner model that works to help the students achieve success not just academically, but socially and emotionally.
“Itap not always a blessing to be gifted and talented,” Lee said. “With the high IQ you get the asynchronicity, the over excitability and lots of anxiety.” Upon learning about districtap plans to stop funding the program, Lee said she didn’t spare a second to worry about losing her job — she was far more concerned about students losing such a strong base of support.
“Itap a breath of fresh air, someone to talk to, a shoulder to cry on and a weird but intelligent family. It will never just be two elective teachers and a class for smart kids,” said Bella Briganti, a sophomore GT student at the board meeting.
Several hours and dozens of speeches later at about 12:30 a.m., when the room was far less crowded and the meeting almost adjourned, the board members began to discuss the fate of the GT center.
It was board member Ali Lasell who first broached the subject. “Out of respect for the Wheat Ridge GT program I’d like to vote we take it off the table right now… take it off the list (of potential cuts),” she said.
It was then suggested by chief of student success officer Kevin Carroll that the district continue to fund the program for the next year, and when the year is up, the district will “work collaboratively” with the board and the school to find a way to use student-based budgeting to sustain the program. Hopefully this program will never have to show up on a list like this ever again, he said.
“It was certainly better than we could have anticipated,” Lee said of the verdict. “We went from a no (to district funding), to deferred, to a yes all in one night.”
While the program is funded for the next year, some parents are troubled by the thought that student-based budgeting still won’t be enough even at that point.
“I’m ecstatic that the kids did all this work, and all the parents came together. They worked hard for what they believe in, and they were rewarded,” said Lisa Greenawalt, whose daughter Roberta is a junior GT student and presented the board with her own alternatives to cutting funding that night. “But we don’t want to have to fight this battle again next year, and we might have to.”
But the students are taking the board’s decision as a victory and are even planning a celebratory party. In fact, the kids were so encouraged that they are gearing up to take their fight a step further and plan on speaking to the state legislature at the capitol in two weeks.
“I am truly enjoying watching American democracy at its finest,” Ron Mitchell, board of education president, said at the Feb. 9 meeting. “Our students are pretty powerful, aren’t they?”
